enough, but a reminder that we needed to hurry if we wanted to get through the mountains to the temple before winter closed the passes on the west. We were midway through the month of Harvestide, which meant summer was winding down, and the western road that led down into the Kvanas lay at the far end of Dalridia. Though travel usually continued well into Talewynd, early blizzards had been known to shut the passes down before Harvestide’s end.
By the time we descended into the mountain valley that held the kingdom of Dalridia we were all pretty ragged and grimy. Fortunately, the royal castle Jax’s brother had set aside for her and Loris and their students was on the south end of the kingdom, and we didn’t have to pass through any heavily populated areas to get there.
When we reached a point on the road where the castle was visible high on the slopes of the mountains ahead, I waved our little group to a stop. “I think it might be best if Kelos and Chomarr waited here in the wood below the village, while Siri and Faran and I go on ahead.”
It was a cold afternoon with a fine rain falling, and waiting in the evergreen forest wasn’t going to be much fun, but Kelos nodded. “That’s probably the wisest course, given the time Jax spent with the inquisitors of the Hand, and Loris’s death. I don’t think she’ll be at all happy to see either of us.”
“Neither will her students,” said Faran. “Most of them would kill you both given the chance.”
Chomarr pointed back up the road. “Perhaps we should meet you above the western pass? We could wait for you at Riada on the lake.”
It was tempting for a number of reasons, not least that it would give the rest of us the option of simply skipping over the part where we picked them up, but I shook my head. “No. We have plans to make with Jax and her students and we’ll need you both close for that. I just want to warn them that I’m bringing you in so that no one does anything hasty.”
“Premeditated, on the other hand . . .” said Faran.
I shot her a look, but she ignored me. And that kind of closed the conversation down. With a sigh, I turned toward the castle and started walking. Siri and Faran fell in behind me.
An hour later, as we finished climbing the steep series of switchbacks that led up to the castle’s main entrance, the drawbridge came down to let us pass. It was a rough-looking old fort built heavy both for defense and to withstand the terrible mountain storms. Like the mountains behind, it was carved of some rough gray stone, but I knew the inside was comfortable enough, having been retrofitted as a luxurious royal retreat and then later converted for Jax’s use. Though she had surrendered the title when she was inducted into Namara’s service, Jax had been born a princess of Dalridia, and her brother now sat the throne.
A trio of figures was waiting for us at the far end of the plank bridge. Jax stood in the middle, looking ridiculously tiny between Maryam, a tall slender woman with black hair and beautiful eyes, and Roric, who was shaped like a bog troll—deep chested, long armed, and preposterously broad of shoulder.
As I got closer I couldn’t help but focus on what the Hand had done to them, and what I was about to ask. Jax’s entire skin was threaded with fine scars, like intricate lace, and she was missing about half her left hand, including her pinky and ring fingers. She hadn’t brought her cane, but I expected that she could tell the weather from the aftereffects of a legbroken in four places. Maryam had a huge burn scar across her right cheek and neck from the fall of the temple, and she’d lost the ear above it to the events that had brought Jax and I back into contact two years before.
Roric had fared the best, with only his missing right ear to mark his time in the dungeons of the Hand. Well, that and the fine scars across his cheekbones, but then Maryam and Faran and I all shared those, as did Javan, who was
By the time we descended into the mountain valley that held the kingdom of Dalridia we were all pretty ragged and grimy. Fortunately, the royal castle Jax’s brother had set aside for her and Loris and their students was on the south end of the kingdom, and we didn’t have to pass through any heavily populated areas to get there.
When we reached a point on the road where the castle was visible high on the slopes of the mountains ahead, I waved our little group to a stop. “I think it might be best if Kelos and Chomarr waited here in the wood below the village, while Siri and Faran and I go on ahead.”
It was a cold afternoon with a fine rain falling, and waiting in the evergreen forest wasn’t going to be much fun, but Kelos nodded. “That’s probably the wisest course, given the time Jax spent with the inquisitors of the Hand, and Loris’s death. I don’t think she’ll be at all happy to see either of us.”
“Neither will her students,” said Faran. “Most of them would kill you both given the chance.”
Chomarr pointed back up the road. “Perhaps we should meet you above the western pass? We could wait for you at Riada on the lake.”
It was tempting for a number of reasons, not least that it would give the rest of us the option of simply skipping over the part where we picked them up, but I shook my head. “No. We have plans to make with Jax and her students and we’ll need you both close for that. I just want to warn them that I’m bringing you in so that no one does anything hasty.”
“Premeditated, on the other hand . . .” said Faran.
I shot her a look, but she ignored me. And that kind of closed the conversation down. With a sigh, I turned toward the castle and started walking. Siri and Faran fell in behind me.
An hour later, as we finished climbing the steep series of switchbacks that led up to the castle’s main entrance, the drawbridge came down to let us pass. It was a rough-looking old fort built heavy both for defense and to withstand the terrible mountain storms. Like the mountains behind, it was carved of some rough gray stone, but I knew the inside was comfortable enough, having been retrofitted as a luxurious royal retreat and then later converted for Jax’s use. Though she had surrendered the title when she was inducted into Namara’s service, Jax had been born a princess of Dalridia, and her brother now sat the throne.
A trio of figures was waiting for us at the far end of the plank bridge. Jax stood in the middle, looking ridiculously tiny between Maryam, a tall slender woman with black hair and beautiful eyes, and Roric, who was shaped like a bog troll—deep chested, long armed, and preposterously broad of shoulder.
As I got closer I couldn’t help but focus on what the Hand had done to them, and what I was about to ask. Jax’s entire skin was threaded with fine scars, like intricate lace, and she was missing about half her left hand, including her pinky and ring fingers. She hadn’t brought her cane, but I expected that she could tell the weather from the aftereffects of a legbroken in four places. Maryam had a huge burn scar across her right cheek and neck from the fall of the temple, and she’d lost the ear above it to the events that had brought Jax and I back into contact two years before.
Roric had fared the best, with only his missing right ear to mark his time in the dungeons of the Hand. Well, that and the fine scars across his cheekbones, but then Maryam and Faran and I all shared those, as did Javan, who was
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