Gadolor

Sombron’s Eye

Word spread with shouts and running feet. The northern royalty had been caught! Their gray horse had given them away, the one with the dark stripe down its nose. A farmer had seen it and told a nearby patrol of soldiers. The man and woman insisted they lived nearby and were only visiting their relatives, but obviously, that was a lie. Oddly enough, the soldiers never found the prince’s sapphire ring.

Entressa heard the news from a servant at the house where she and Andel were resting. The man rushed in during breakfast and announced it with a thick eastern accent. Instantly the whole household began asking questions and debating details, so excited they spilled something. Entressa showed appropriate surprise and glanced at Andel. He was bent low over his plate of oats. She could tell from the wrinkles in his beard that he was struggling not to laugh.

Huan didn’t have a dark stripe on her nose. When they were alone, the pair decided the confusion would help them, even though it kept them fresh in the people’s minds. The unfortunate impostors were eventually cleared by their relatives, who swore they had never even visited Esthena. The bounty on the royal pair kept the people excited. Sombron still had his army searching the road to the West, leaving the northern road quiet.

But the pair’s fortune changed one afternoon as Andel and Entressa entered a quaint trading town, hoping to buy food. Buyers and sellers haggled over bags of grain, barrels of beer, animals, and various tools. Here and there, a chicken scratched in the dust or ran from playful children. A man in a dusty hat sat, chewing old bread.

Alarm shot through Entressa’s mind like an arrow. Faded clothes. Dusty hat. Bright eyes that stared directly at Andel and Entressa and Huan. The man, obviously a traveler like themselves, sat alone in the market, surveying it until his gaze settled on them.

Andel held Huan’s reigns as usual. He was leading them toward a little bakery, just beside the dusty man’s seat. Entressa grabbed the horse’s bridle and pushed the other way. She answered Andel’s confused look with a sharp glance and whispered, “Walk.” As they passed by, she said more loudly, “We don’t have time to stop now, Pellas. Mother wants us home to help gather strawberries.” After passing the shop, she whispered, “Keep going. It isn’t safe.”

“‘Scuse me, master,” a gruff voice said. The dusty man had come up behind them. “Is there a good inn at this town? I’m tired of getting eaten by them bed bugs.”

Andel lost a moment. She willed him to answer tactfully. “I. . .know of one or two. There’s one over there that doesn’t have any bed bugs.”

The man grunted. “Them critters are mean.” His hooded eyes roved from one to the other. “Strawb’ries are out of season,” he commented. Entressa berated herself for the mistake. No one spoke. Then, with the flicker of a smile, the dusty man turned and ambled away.

Andel turned to Entressa. “What was that about?”

She fought the urge to sprint up the street. Instead, she grabbed Huan’s bridle again and started walking. “He knows us,” she said. “He knows who we are.”

“Are you sure?”

“He knows. I can tell when someone’s watching me. I’ve learned that.” Without thinking about it, she tugged at her collar.

He smiled. “Yes, you have. Well done, my lady.” The pair pressed on past the village without bread, but still with their freedom. Afraid of being followed, they left the trail and picked their way through a rocky, bushy country. Entressa led the horse while Andel did his best to cover their footprints, but she couldn’t help worrying they were still leaving a trail.

— § —

Next morning found them walking up a narrow gully, hoping the rocky ground would make them harder to follow. Entressa rode on Huan’s back instead of walking, allowing herself rest at Andel’s urging. Great gray stones crowded the twisty trail, each a different shape, some of them reaching twice the height of a man. Voices sometimes sounded from a nearby road, though it couldn’t be seen. Since they didn’t want to be found, the pair kept quiet.

It was their silence that gave them an ear for the crunching of gravel. Both Andel and Entressa stiffened at the sound—footsteps coming from behind. He wordlessly stepped from the horse’s head to its tail, handing the reigns to her as he went. In another moment, a man came into view, not a nimble man, but muscular. A long scar showed on one arm. He carried a drawn stabber.

Andel and the stranger faced one another. “Northern blood,” the stranger growled. He looked the pair up and down. “I  can smell it.”

Sweeping back his cloak, Andel drew his own sword. “Beware,” he said, “I am a warrior of Astor. Test me at your peril.” Silence settled around the three people, except for the noise of birds in the trees. The stranger’s face twitched, and he glanced at the space separating them. Then he lunged forward with surprising speed.

The clash of metal echoed from the rocks. The two fighters blocked each other’s blows, hesitating a moment or two in between. They tried to flank one another, but the path was too narrow. Andel was pushed back until he almost bumped Huan’s tail. Looking back at the fight, Entressa urged the horse forward, but it didn’t move. One misstep put the stranger at odds with the warrior, and Andel’s boot crashed into his back.

Huan nickered beneath her. Turning away from Andel, Entressa looked to the path ahead—and gasped. The dusty man from yesterday was sneaking toward her, through the alley between two boulders, with a spear poised in one hand. She might have turned the horse to gallop away, but here she sat, trapped between rocks and enemies.

Entressa dug her heels into Huan’s side. The horse leapt forward, rearing up to kick the man. He dodged the animal but stumbled sideways. She jumped out of the saddle and tackled him with a yell, punching and kicking, desperate to stay too close for the spear. They grappled for a moment. The smell of bitter wood smoke on his clothes. Greasy, hairy arms. An elbow hit her jaw and great strength heaved her up. She felt every bone in her back hit the rock’s face, and she slumped, breathless.

“Andel,” she managed to gasp. The warrior was there with blood on his sword. For a few rapid breaths, the two fighters squared off as Entressa lay between them, hoping not to get stepped on. Huan had edged away from the fight. Andel stood downhill from the dusty spearman, at a sure disadvantage.

They rushed together with massive strength. Andel’s sword wasn’t heavy enough to cut through the spear shaft, so the man used it to spar. They swiped and stabbed, snarled and pushed, every muscle straining. This enemy had more skill than the burly man. As their feet stamped the dirt close by, Entressa suddenly saw a chance.

Letting out a groan that should have been a scream, she shoved one leg between the spearman’s feet. He stumbled only slightly, but it was enough. Andel grabbed the man’s shoulder and threw him onto his face. A moment later, the sword opened a red fountain in his back.

The warrior threw back his head and howled victory at the treetops. Rage flooded him like the current of an overfull river. Then, seeing Entressa, he put his sword down with an effort and touched her with shaking hands. “Are you all right?” She searched herself for wounds. Finding only bruises, she began to laugh. After a moment he chuckled too.

A sound came from the path, where the first attacker had appeared. A youth stood there, his face showing shock at the bloody scene. He glanced from Andel to the bodies and back again. After a moment, pebbles scattered from under his shoes as he whirled about and disappeared. Dread settled over Entressa once more.

“We’ve been found,” Andel said at last. “The whole country will hear of this.” Entressa struggled to think clearly. Shock from the fight overtook her mind. Setting her back in the horse’s saddle, Andel broke their enemies’ weapons and left them where they lay. “Others will find and bury them. They will see we are dangerous bounty,” he said.

Andel stopped and looked up admiringly. “You’re dangerous! You fought well, sister.”

She tried to laugh and thanked him. She had seen death plenty of times, but the ferocity of battle had shaken her. The royal pair moved on, leaving behind two men who would never walk or talk again.