FreeHolds Adventure Cycle 3 Part 9b

FreeHolds Adventure Cycle 3 Part 9b

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Two days out from Hadden’s Fort they decided to stop earlier than usual. Not far from the road was a seasonal brook, a place Dawdwin and he had come to a number of times. This time of year the brook started to dry up and within its various pools were fish from Lake Nayawhe. Adwin and Tipper spent some time fishing, not with nets or lines, but with their bare hands. The fish could not go anywhere, some few threw themselves from their pools and flopped along the mud and shallow water until they happened into another deeper stretch. Most of them could easily be plucked from the pools, with little effort they had caught a dozen fish.

Calathy was delighted, “Do you think we could break up one of the shipping crates from Roburns? I could cook these right on the coals, wrapped in spinach leaves. I also found some radish, onions and garlic. The spinach is bitter this late in the season, but perfect for what I want to do.”

Adwin shrugged, “Sure, I’ll unpack the crate with the stuff for Hadden’s Fort, we’re nearly there anyway.” Everything in the crate was well wrapped.

“The three of us also collected enough wild grains to make a bit of a mash. I’ll get started.”

“Sounds good, did you want me to break up the box for you?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

“Sure.” Adwin left her to it.

Whyse was looking after the horses. Sefla sat on the wagon’s bench playing Mokha’s lute, she often complained that her hands were too small for the instrument, but he thought she played pretty well regardless.

Tipper returned from a quick patrol around the camp, “Want to do some training?” Adwin suggested.

“Sounds good.”

He went to the wagon and gathered the bundle of sticks they kept, “We’re going to train for a while.”

Sefla nodded but continued playing, Whyse said, “I’ll join you guys shortly, I’m nearly done here.”

Tipper and he started with the short batons, she came on strong and he was hard pressed to defend against her attacks. His best counters were knocked aside easily and she eventually closed and tripped him, she pushed the end of the baton against his throat, “You’re dead, Adwin. Again.”

He grabbed the end of her baton and tried to sweep her legs. She let go and backed away, “You’ll have to do better than that.”

Standing, he tossed the batons aside then raised his fists. She laughed, “Really? You think you can out-grapple me?”

He did not reply, instead he tried to close quickly and grab her. A few days ago he had come to the realization that he was now as strong as she was, maybe stronger. She evaded and tripped him again. They did this for a while, eventually she let him catch her and they struggled to gain a dominant hold. Despite his hard earned strength, she was the better fighter, she took him to the ground and pinned him.

Whyse and Sefla came over and, with much less ferocity, they moved around each other with a steady clacking sound from their batons. Sefla’s form was improving but she tended to be overprotective of her hands when they were using the batons. He felt her caution was reasonable, it would be difficult to play the lute with broken fingers.

There was a big difference between the way the two of them fought and the way Tipper was training him. They were all speed, dance-like footwork, quick thrusts and parries. Tipper showed him how to best use his strength and weight to overcome his foes, as well as any number of dirty tricks and wrestling techniques.

The four of them kept at it until Calathy called them over to eat. Adwin was surprised by how much he enjoyed the training now, even the bruises were something he cherished, as well the comfortable ache of being well exercised. They were all hungry and the fish was excellent, they feasted in relative silence. When the meal was done, Tipper boiled more water and made some mint tea. They all pitched in to clean up.

Afterwards they laid out their bedrolls, the weather remained fair and neither he, nor Tipper thought there would be rain. Tipper said, “I’m going to take a walk around, then sing the setting of the sun. Anyone want to join me?”

Whyse volunteered. The two of them headed off to the west.

“I’m going to go wash up.”

“Have fun. I think I’ll sun bathe.” Calathy said.

Adwin washed. The sun was still a few fingers shy of the horizon, the insects were thick, especially near the water and there were many dozen small birds darting through the grass, feeding on the bounty.

He returned to the camp. The insects had forced Calathy to change her mind about basking naked in the last of the day’s sunlight. She swatted at something that landed on her arm and observed, “So many bugs these days, I never realized how much misery Mokha’s magic was saving us.”

“I know,” Sefla agreed, “If I could cast spells that is one I would surely learn.”

Adwin shrugged, “You get used to it.”

Calathy regarded him with a skeptical expression, “If you say so.”

In the distance they could hear Tipper singing. Everyone listened in silence for a while, the day turned to twilight and the three of them sat down together where they had laid out their bedrolls. Calathy seemed excited, she looked at the two of them, “Well…”

Oddly, Sefla was awkward, she was having a hard time keeping eye contact with either of them. Adwin had been surprised when he had fully realized why Sefla had rejoined them so quickly. Calathy was disappointed that they had not stripped naked and ravished each other already, while Selfa seemed in no rush to be intimate, despite her intent to do so.

After a while Calathy sighed, “Would you like me to give the two of you some space?”

Sefla was very quick with her reply, “No!… No, that’s alright. It not like that at all Cal…” She trailed off, leaving whatever she was thinking unsaid.

Adwin suggested, “Might be best to get some sleep then.”

Calathy ignored him and moved closer to Sefla and took a hand in both of hers, “Why so shy, little dancer?”

Tentatively Sefla reached up and ran a hand along Calathy’s cheek, she said nothing though. Adwin remained quiet. Eventually Calathy said, “Another time then. Let’s get some sleep.”

Sefla seemed relieved, she lay down and pulled her blanket up. Calathy also settled for the night, they lay in silence as the darkness settled. Eventually Sefla said, “I’m a virgin.”

Adwin heard Calathy sit up, “What! No way. How?”

In a small voice Sefla said, “Sorry.”

“Ah… that’s nothing to be sorry about. I had just assumed you were nothing of the sort. My bad.” Calathy was silent for a moment, then added, “There’s no rush. Sorry if I was pressuring you.”

Sefla was quiet. Adwin said, “Goodnight. Sleep well.”

Calathy settled back down, “Sleep well.”

A moment later, Sefla replied, “Thank you.”

Adwin slowly faded towards sleep, vaguely aware of the other two returning to camp a long while later. He dreamed of Sefla and Calathy. In his dreams Sefla was no virgin.

He woke earlier than he had intended, the eastern sky was still dark, in the distance he could hear some coyotes yapping. Quietly Adwin rose and went to the edge of the camp, he was wide awake and surprisingly clear headed. He gazed up at the sky, eventually he found the long star, near the horizon to the northwest. He could not imagine it lighting up the night sky, but Maradda had said that by next spring, depending on how close the errant star was to them, the night sky would be bright as day for about a month. She had also said that if it passed towards the western horizon there would be falling stars and fire storms, while if it passed to the east there would only be falling stars the following year. Adwin was impressed by the knowledge. The women of Predost had been passing this lore from one generation to the next for at least four hundred years, likely a lot longer.

Tipper joined him a while later, “Still obsessed with the Dragon Star?”

He shrugged, “I guess. Curious more than anything.”

“I’m going to sing the dawn, want to join me?”

“No, I think I’ll start breakfast.”

Calathy woke next in her sleepy headed, muddled morning way. She joined Adwin and they worked in companionable silence.

The other two were up and about ahead of breakfast, the camp had been mostly packed up and the team hitched before they ate. They were soon heading out along the road towards the rising sun.

They followed the trail towards Hadden Fort, Adwin enjoyed seeing familiar places again. The weather remained fair. Their food reserves were pretty low, but Tipper hunted, managing to bag a few grouse. Calathy sang through much of the afternoon, mostly funny little songs one might sing to a child but also a few moody songs about travelling lonely roads. When they stopped to make camp that night, they were in sight of one of the outlaying homesteads within the boundaries of Willik’s Hold.

Whyse and Tipper went off to sing the passing of the day. He and the other two sat together, chatting about what life was like for Adwin in Hadden’s Fort. He spoke a lot about Crinokk, Sister Ghwend at the orphanage, Breggan and the old ruins. That night they cuddled close together and fell asleep before the other two had returned to the camp.

Tipper had them up with the dawn, they ate a light breakfast and it was not long before they were back on the road. They passed more homesteads and a partially buried pile of large stones which was a common landmark for most people in the area. Looking at the stones, Adwin thought it to be an old Pwhanna low-house, funny that he had never realized that before. The morning passed, they decided to forgo the midday meal as the heat of the day settled across the plains. The homesteads became closer to one another and eventually the ruins came into sight, the old curtain wall seemed shorter than he remembered.

A while later they crested a rise in the land and moved alongside the ruins. There were a few people along the road, they moved off to the side to let the wagon pass and gave polite greetings as the folks stared with open curiosity, most of them seemed not to recognize him. Adwin was taken aback by how small the town appeared, as was the case with the keep and the town walls. He suspected that after having seen GreensBridge, most rural places were going to seem small. He was confused. People he had known all his life did not realize who he was. Had he changed so much?

Crinokk’s place was up ahead of them, “The lane on the left.” He advised. By the time they had rattled up the lane both Crinokk and, surprisingly, Leysha had come around to the front porch. More of a shock was Leysha’s big round belly, she was very pregnant.

 

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