FreeHolds Adventure Cycle 3 Part 9a
Adwin
Adwin felt a thrill of excitement as they left Predost. If the weather held and there were no more unexpected delays along the way, he and his companions would be in Hadden’s Fort in four or five days. He was surprised that he felt such anticipation. Last year he had wanted nothing more than to be away from the place… A lot had happened since then. He had travelled to GreensBridge, wintered there and soon he would be back. A number of harrowing encounters, new experiences and new friends had helped him gain a much better understanding of the wider world. He was curious to see what had changed at home and what was going on with the folks he had spent most of his life with.
He was concerned about the fact that he had left his vocation and travelled abroad without seeking Lord Willik’s leave. He knew that there had been a number of people who sought refuge in Willik’s Hold from the mind-witch in Aramy, many of whom had settled there, most late in the autumn. Had there been food shortages? Would Willik accept Adwin’s apology and gifts? Would the lord of the hold allow him his freedom to continue his travels? He expected things to turn out well enough, but part of him worried about the consequences of his hasty departure. Perhaps he should have heeded the widow’s advice.
He sighed and pushed those thought away, all things in their own time. It was something Lilly said often enough, it was wisdom he was trying to take to heart. He had spent much of the spring worried about what had happened to Tipper, enough so that it distracted him from the events taking place in Lekas. He would always care for and be concerned about his companions’ well being, but he had resolved to fret less and be more present for them.
Adwin watched Calathy for a while, she was at the reins of the wagon’s team. The two horses plodded along, the trail was dry and Calathy had gained more confidence with them. She was at ease with her task, there was little for Adwin to do.
It was warm and sunny, with few clouds, the afternoon was likely to get fairly hot. The ripe grass rustled in the slight breeze. Whyse and Tipper were riding ahead of them, surprisingly the two had formed a bond since they had left Kaymere. Despite Tipper’s general distaste for all things Maldorn, she did seem to like many of the individuals from there.
Calathy yawned, stretched, then encouraged the horses to pick up the pace. She glanced over at Adwin and smiled, “Happy to be leaving Predost behind?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t that bad. You stayed up late last night.”
“We did.”
“Anything interesting?”
“I guess. A lot of star gazing and old stories. There was some singing as well, I learned a couple of new songs.”
“Sounds pleasant. No weird ceremonies?”
“No, not really. Just a night for the women to be together. How’s the new hat?”
Adwin adjusted the floppy hat that Maradda had made for him, “Fits well enough and it keeps the sun out of my eyes. I still miss my old one.”
“How do you feel about leaving them behind? Lilly seemed sad to part ways with you.”
“She was. I’ll be going back eventually, maybe this time next year, depending on where we are and what we’re doing.”
“I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you. I hope all of them have healthy little Adwins.”
“I hope they don’t name all their children Adwin. That would get rather confusing. Besides, it’s not a great name for a girl.”
“Adwinna?”
“Gods, seriously?”
“Why not?”
Adwin shrugged, “Sounds a bit silly to me. Besides, they’ll chose their own names eventually.”
“I guess.” She grinned. A couple moments later she continued on a different track, “I was surprised Tipper let us stay in Predost as long as she did.”
“Me too. I guess she’s relaxed a bit since finding the sword. Her people are gathering for a moot during the equinox. There’s plenty of time. Darner’s Hold is only a couple eight-days east of Willik’s Hold.”
“How long do you think your visit will be?”
Adwin was not sure, it would certainly be longer than he wanted if Lord Willik was displeased with his absence, he hoped that would not be the case, “A few days, I think. There are a couple of people I should make a point of seeing.”
“I’m excited to see the place where you grew up.”
“Oh? It’s not much, really. Hadden’s Fort is the only town, and that might be a generous term.”
“Still, I’m curious.”
“That’s fair, you never talk much about your early life. I assume you were not born into the service of the Greenslys?”
“No. I was born in the Grey. My family was poor with too many children, most of us kids were placed elsewhere as soon as we were old enough to be useful… I hardly have any memories of my early years and none of them are good. Really, being placed in the kitchen at the Greensly Manor was a big step up for me. I don’t know where most of my siblings are and the last time I saw my parents was yuletide, when I was fifteen.”
Adwin was quiet for a long time. Being poor and living in the Grey would not have been pleasant. “Well, I’m glad you’re here with us.”
“Me too.” They settled into a companionable silence, the day slowly passed as they rolled along. Everyone stopped for a break near midday. Whyse looked the horses over while Tipper scouted around the area and he helped Calathy prepare some food. As he had suspected, the day turned out to be very warm.
“There really isn’t much out this way, past Aramy.” Whyse commented.
“No, there isn’t. A few homesteads scattered here and there away from the road, but even then, unless you knew where you were going, you could walk for days without seeing another person.”
“Does the company know how thinly populated this area is? How will they maintain way stations?”
“They know. I’m not sure what their intention is for the short term, but given a few years I think they will have the Eastern Line set up and supported properly.”
Tipper joined them by the fire and pointedly said, “Better if they just stayed out of the area. What need is there in Willik’s or Darner’s Holds for such a service?”
Adwin sighed, refraining from responding. He did not want to spend the rest of the day arguing with Tipper about this, again. Whyse countered, “What about the goods and services that the company can provide?”
“Seems we’ve done well enough without them.” Tipper said dismissively.
“Predost would have benefited greatly from hosting a station. They’d have had regular traffic coming through.”
“Maybe, but how long until the company’s influence leads the youth from the oldways? Or they decide to set up a mine in someone’s back yard?”
Despite his intention, Adwin could not help but join in. “The mine in Darner’s Hold is not a Roburn’s operation. It’s a military project.”
“Maldorn’s military.”
“It’s still not Roburn’s Trading Company’s, just because it’s a Maldorn mine.”
“You’re splitting hairs, Adwin.”
He sighed, “Maybe if Predost had been more open to outside influences, they would not have ended up so short of men.”
“It was outside influence that created that shortage. The Queen’s Bane. The orc migration. The Winter War.”
“Those affected everyone in the region, and far beyond in the case of the first two.”
Calathy made an attempt to change the direction of the conversation, “Will you show me how to shoot, Tipper? During our training session later.”
“Sure, Calathy. If Adwin does not mind lending you his bow.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Good.” Calathy grinned, “Should we get back on the road?”
Both Adwin and Tipper said, “Yes.”
“Could I get in on that?” Whyse asked. “I think it would be pretty handy to be able to use a bow. Especially if I have to travel this part of the Eastern Line very often. Arrows are way cheaper than kryl ammunition.”
“We’ll do archery this evening then, all of us.” Tipper confirmed.
They cleaned up and were soon back on the road. The afternoon passed, the heat of the day left Adwin feeling drowsy. Thankfully Calathy was content with handling the team. He wished he had thought to pick up more books before leaving GreensBridge. They had read everything that he had brought twice through now, including Greener Fields, which seemed better the second time.
When they stopped for the day, the camp was quickly prepared. Tipper walked her patrol of the area while the animals were looked after. They ate a simple meal of dried bleek deer and berries. In short order two simple targets were placed and Tipper reviewed the basics of archery with the others. Unlike Calathy, Adwin no longer struggled with the draw of his bow, the months of hard labour in the ruins had built up his strength considerably. Whyse could also handle the draw on either bow with a bit of effort but she was not very good at hitting the targets, while Calathy was hitting them after her third shot.
Adwin surprised himself by putting three arrows into the target, a close grouping at fifty paces, in rapid succession. Calathy clapped with delight. Their practice was interrupted when Tipper called out, “There’s a rider approaching! From the west.”
They moved back over to their gear and the animals, the rider was still a ways out when Tipper said, “It looks like Sefla?”
“Sefla!” Calathy shouted out.
Adwin immediately started to worry. Had something happened to Mokha and the others? He waited anxiously near the wagon as Strawberry closed the distance, “Everything okay?” He asked when she was close enough.
“Now that I’ve found you guys, it is.”
“Did something happen to Mokha?” Tipper queried.
“No. He’s fine. Setta arrived, ahead of the Arcanium expedition. I’d imagine Chance and they are a third of the way to Janderton by now.” She dismounted.
Adwin asked, “Why are you here?”
She smiled, a bit sheepishly, “I really wanted to be with you guys. It seemed like Mokha and Setta could use some time without me being around.”
“What about your training?”
She untied Mokha’s lute case from the back of the horse, “He lent me his lute, said he expects me to have mastered it by the time we see each other again…” She removed the saddle and the rest of the gear from Strawberry, Adwin gave her a hand. A few moments later she continued, “He says I’ve a good grasp of the ruddahs and that I’m an excellent dancer, the first part of my training is done. The next part is the mystical arts and the romantic arts. I’m not even a mage, I’m not sure why he’s going to teach me about magic, so I thought I should focus on the romantic arts first.”
“Won’t that be difficult if he’s not around?”
She gave Adwin an enigmatic look, “I thought I should explore the basics first, to gain some experience before delving into the ruddahs on the subject.”
Calathy smiled, “Oh, goody.”
Adwin was confused, “But, how are you going to do that?”
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