The Fallen - Chapter 6

The sun was high and warm on her face late the next morning when Royan finally shook her awake.

“Rachelle.  Come – wake up.  It’s well past time for us to be on our way.”

Confused, Rachelle muttered unintelligibly and tried to roll over.

Astonished, Royan walked to the other side of her and pried open an eyelid.  He was startled to find an iris the like of which he’d never seen before.  It was like…well…an iris.  Disgusted with himself, Royan snorted.  How clever he was.

Rachelle’s forehead wrinkled and she grated, “Gah.  Let go me eye, you fiend!”

Royan raised a skeptical brow and asked, “Fiend?  Me?  I believe I let you sleep well past time for waking, took the time to take care of the animals, cook some food, refill our water supplies, and repack the horses.  I hardly think that is the work of a fiend.”

Smiling in spite of herself, Rachelle begrudgingly sat up.  She took a moment to stretch her stiff muscles before standing and excusing herself for a few moments.  She walked far enough down stream to be out of sight of the camp and relieved herself.  Walking slowly back toward camp she marveled at the strange choices she had made so easily the night before.

What am I thinking?  I can’t travel with a total stranger…  Can I?  He seems safe enough.  He doesn’t seem to judge me.  What other choices do I have?  I have no home and I’m weeks away from any lands that I know.  Plus he knows people that could train me.  If I can’t control this…magic……  Anything could happen.

She stopped at the edge of the camp and watched Royan puttering around doing a few last minute chores before they would set out for the day.  Surely, everything would work out for the best.  It had to be her turn for a run of better luck.

~*~

Unsettled and uncertain about the wisdom in offering protection to this strange young woman of whom he knew nothing, Royan double checked the horses gear and their provisions.  He had to admit to himself that what had seemed such a sensible idea in the dark of the prior night seemed somewhat impulsive in the light of day.  Her eyes…  And her hair!  In the firelight, he had assumed it a light blond – not that different from his own.  But in the sunlight, it was obvious that it was pure white.  Pure white hair, brilliant purple eyes the color of early summer irises.  She seemed tiny and perfect even with bruises and cuts on all the parts of her that showed.  He could only imagine how bad the rape had been.  For obviously that’s what it must have been…  She shrank from his touch and always watched where he was in relation to her and to her horse.

He hadn’t lied when he told her he could be a good friend.  It was the truth.  But could he be a good enough friend to keep her safe and sane in the turmoil that must be coming?  He felt the Hundred stirring and he suspected she had a role to play in whatever storm was coming for them all…  Was he strong enough to do this?

Twigs snapping in the underbrush indicated that she was coming back to camp.  He heard her stop at the edge of the clearing but thought it better to continue what he was doing rather than indicate that he knew she had returned.  She was probably struggling with this travel arrangement even more than he was this morning.  He didn’t want to do anything to add to her stress.

~*~

Having watched long enough to shake off her fear and uncertainty, Rachelle stepped back into the clearing and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?  And I’m sorry I wasn’t more help…  You should have woken me much earlier.  I’ll make a poor traveling companion if you insist on doing all the work.”

Royan turned and smiled, “I think perhaps that, this morning at least, you needed the sleep more than I did.  I can see that you are still healing from some fairly serious wounds – the extra sleep will help to keep you strong and healing faster.  And no – there’s nothing more that really needs doing.  If you’re ready to mount up, we can head toward Gallia City.”

Rachelle nodded and walked over to rub Bella’s nose before mounting up.  Royan watched the gentle affection she treated the horse to and the way it made the mare’s eyes light up.  He wondered if Rachelle knew that Bella would die for her if need be.

“What will you do with the horse when we reach the city?” he asked.

“Oh…The city.  I hadn’t really thought about it.  I guess,” Rachelle stammered, “I guess I’ll have to sell her.  I can’t afford to pay to have her stabled.”  Rachelle’s voice trailed off and her eyes filled with tears.”

Quietly Royan asked, “Did you want to sell her?”

“No!  But I don’t have any way to pay for her stabling.  For that matter, I don’t know how I will pay for my own lodgings…  Apprentices aren’t paid, are they?  How will I feed and clothe myself?”

Seeing the panic rising in her eyes, Royan tried to head off the rising tide of emotion threatening to overwhelm her.  “Whoa – hang on a minute.  Calm down.  No, apprentices aren’t paid, but it’s traditional to share lodgings with your Master.  There’s no dress code amongst the Guilds, so whatever clothing you brought will be fine.  And I’m sure I can stable Bella with Ghost.”

Confused, Rachelle looked at Royan astride the large black charger and wondered, “Who is Ghost?”

Royan flushed and patted his horse’s neck, “Erm…This is Ghost.”

Rachelle’s eyebrows shot to her hairline, “But – he’s huge and black!  Aren’t ghosts ethereal – white, silver, whatever?”

Caught off guard by the amusement on Rachelle’s face, Royan muttered, “Well he can be very quiet when we are in the woods.  Besides – who says color matters?”

Rachelle laughed outright at his discomfort.  It was light and carefree – a happy sound that touched something tight within his soul.  It must have been a laugh like this that inspired the adage ‘laughter is the balm of the soul’.

“Whenever you are done laughing at me, perhaps we could head out?  Or should we just make camp here again this evening as you are so clearly overcome with mirth?”

For some reason this only made Rachelle laugh harder, but she did incline her head toward the game path to indicate they should make their way back down to the traders’ road.

Royan cursed himself for blushing but couldn’t seem to make the heat leave his face and neck.  Rachelle snickered and giggled all the way down the game trail occasionally muttering “Ghost” to herself and bursting out laughing again.

Well, ‘tis better to start a journey with laughter than with tears, Royan speculated to himself.  Even if it is laughter at my expense.

~*~

They passed the hours easily.  When it seemed right to talk of small things, they did.  But the silences were also comfortable and companionable.  Rachelle found herself marveling how easy he was to be around.

Shortly before dusk, Royan pointed off east of the road, “This is where we leave the road for the night.  We’re fairly close to a wayfarer’s cottage, but I don’t want to push us beyond dark.  It’s too easy for the horses to misstep and break a leg.  There’s a small pond not far from here.”

Rachelle nodded tiredly and asked, “How far in is the pond?  Can we ride or should we walk them in?”

Royan was impressed with her question – clearly, she was well versed in how to care for her mount.  “Good question.  I think it would be better if we walked them.  If you are up to it?”

Wearily Rachelle dismounted and explained, “For selfish reasons I would love to be able to ride in.  However, I won’t allow harm to come to Bella through my own negligence.  I can walk it.”

“Good girl!  Follow me?”

Rachelle nodded again and led Bella along behind Royan and Ghost.

~*~

Half a mark later, they reached the pond and Royan began unsaddling Ghost and removing his saddlebags.  Watching Rachelle fumble with Bella’s straps, he felt a rush of compassion.

“Rachelle…You are nearly falling over.”  He pointed to the end of the small pond at what looked like a small pile of brush.  “Do you see that wood over there?”  When she nodded, he suggested, “Why don’t you go see if there is enough dry brush and twigs there to start a fire.  There should be some larger branches stacked there as well.  I try to keep a stash of wood near all my camps so I don’t have to spend a lot of time fumbling about in the dark looking for something to make a fire with.”

When Rachelle started to argue, he cut her off, “Go see to the fire.  I will take care of both Ghost and Bella.  No arguments.”

Rachelle looked speculatively at him before meekly walking over to pick through the stash for appropriate firewood.

Certain that she was well occupied with the task at hand, Royan turned back to the horses.  He unburdened them and took the time to check their hooves for stones and remove any burrs from their coats.  After giving them both a bit to eat, he picketed them near the pond.

Picking up the saddlebags and bedrolls, he walked over to where Rachelle had a small but cheerful fire going.  He tossed Rachelle’s stuff next to her and said, “Thank you for starting the fire.  It will make dinner preparation that much quicker!”

“What else can I do to help you, Royan?”

He pointed to a small camp pot that he had just pulled out of his saddlebag, “Could you fill that about half full with water?  I have dried meat and vegetables that we can make a stew out of.  If that’s alright with you?”

Rachelle grinned weakly, “Beggars can’t very well be choosers.  I have trail bread in my pack.  And cheese.  You are welcome to either.  Or both.”  Rising stiffly she bent over to grab the kettle and Royan saw something sparkling on her hand.  Reaching out he gently touched her finger.  It was a ring.  Made of some sort of fine wire with tiny iridescent gems nestled in the wires.  The ring itself felt warm.  And almost seemed to hum.  He knew it was a crazy thing to think, but he couldn’t shake the sense that it was watching him somehow.

Self-conscious, Rachelle pulled her hand away and looked at the ground.

Fascinated, Royan asked, “That is a beautiful piece of jewelry.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen its like.  Where did you get it?”

Uncertainly Rachelle answered, “I think it was my mother’s.  Mistress Evangeline, the woman who raised me, found it with me when I was but a babe.”

Sensing how uncomfortable he was making her, he turned back to his packs and continued pulling out ingredients for a travel stew.  “The cheese would be wonderful to have with the stew.  I love cheese.”

Rachelle hurriedly grabbed the pot and darted over to the pond while Royan talked about all the different kinds of cheese he liked.  Rachelle hadn’t imagined there could be that many different kinds of cheese, but to hear Royan talk, there were more kinds than there were days in a week.  What a strange man he was.

Gently setting the water beside Royan, she walked back to the other side of the fire and spread out her bedroll to sit on.  Once she was comfortably settled, she pulled out Evangeline’s creams and ointments and applied a thin layer to her scrapes and bruises.  The stitches on her breast would have to wait until she had a private moment in the morning to tend to it.

At the bottom of her saddlebag, she saw her favorite bone comb.  Delighted she pulled it out and looked at it in the firelight.  How nice it was to have a little piece of what once was home here with her.  Sighing, she began running the comb patiently through her badly knotted and tangled hair.

Out of the corner of his eye, Royan could see her calmly combing her long, shining white hair.  It was reassuring to see her doing something so mundane.  Perhaps she was stronger than everything that had happened to her.  He could only hope so.  For her sake and the sake of the world.  A mad mage – particularly one untrained – could cause a lot of damage before they were stopped.  He shuddered at the thought of what she could do to his beloved Gallia City were she to go mad.  And wondered again – was he doing the right thing?

~*~

Two hours later full dark had settled over the camp.  Royan and Rachelle had eaten their simple but satisfying meal and sat in companionable silence.

“Rachelle?” he asked.

“Hmm?...”

“How do you feel about all this?”

“All what?”

“Everything…  Are you all right with all these changes?  I can’t imagine what you have been through, but I can hazard a couple of guesses.  Frankly, I don’t know that I would have made it as far as you have…”

Rachelle shrugged and sensed this was becoming a fairly frequent result of her conversations.  He posed such interesting and difficult questions.  It was rather unsettling.  But she answered him the best she was able, “What’s to be all right with?  This is my life as it is now.  Fighting against it won’t make it any different or any more bearable.  If this is the lot I’ve drawn, then I need to come to terms with it and make of it what I can.”

Royan nodded and said, “That’s a very mature approach to life.  I have to say that I’m impressed.”

Flushing with pleasure, Rachelle simply nodded her thanks.

“If you are content m’Lady, we should turn in.  I’d like to make better time tomorrow if we can.”

“Yes, I’m certainly ready for some sleep.  Wake me at a reasonable hour tomorrow – don’t let me sleep half the morning away again.”

“As m’Lady commands…”

They both settled in to their bedrolls and Rachelle was asleep in a matter of minutes.  Royan on the other hand found sleep somewhat more elusive.  He still was uncertain what to make of his travel companion and the puzzle she posed.  But eventually sleep overtook him as well.