The Witch of Storn

Chapter 11

The convoy had been travelling for one and a half hours, according to Malra. To Rey it felt like forever. She had been on her butt all through the journey and now that they were almost at the end of it she couldn't push down her restlessness any longer. Malra wouldn't let her get out and walk beside the carriage, with the reason being that she would slow the party down, as everyone was either riding on horses or in the wagon. So instead Rey worked off the wanderlust by kicking her legs and rolling around on the seats. It earned her a Look from Malra, of course, but to her surprise the girl didn't comment on Rey's childish activities.

Soon Rey grew tired of it, and she lay for a while on the seat staring up at the roof and taking stock of her environment, something she did whenever she got bored. Malra had her head in one of her trashy romance novels that Rey had begun to sneer at on sight, after being offered one the previous day. She had forced herself to finish it, even though the first few pages had made her toss the book away in disgust. She tore her eyes away from Malra and looked up and out of the window. From her position she could only see the blue sky, partly hidden by fluffy clouds and the partially drawn curtain of the carriage.

From the outside she could hear the mellow buzz of muted conversation, the clip-clopping of horses along the road, and the sounds of the wheels as they rolled underneath her head. The gentle motion of the carriage made her sleepy, so she shut her eyes and breathed, dozing off almost immediately.

******

Rey was jolted out of her sleep. She got up slowly, frowning and rubbing at her drowsy eyes. Then it came again, the sound that Rey thought had woken her.

"Put your hands up!" A harsh voice shouted from outside the carriage, somewhere near the front. "Give us all your valuables and we will let you pass safely!"

Rey sat up sharply, fully awake now. Was this a robbery? And where was Malra? Rey was alone, with the curtains tightly shut. She put out one hand to pull back a curtain. It froze in the air as she thought better of it, then she pulled it back. It would be fine, right? The guards were capable, right? Even these thoughts couldn't quench the fear that blazed like a newly made fire in the centre of her chest. The fire shot to greater heights when she heard a thud accompanied by a sharp scream. The silence that followed frayed at her already worn out nerves.

Rey summoned all her bravery and poked her head out of the window. The robbers surrounded their party in a tight circle, facing off against the guards who all had their backs to the carriage, protecting it. She noticed Malra crouching over a man some distance away from the carriage. Her heart pounded even faster when she caught sight of the blood seeping through the cloth Malra pressed against his side. Slowly she retreated, letting the curtain go before sinking into the seats. What was she going to do? The robbers had shown they were willing to injure the members of her party — maybe even to kill. Suddenly she didn't want to go back to Earth, not if it meant dying this way.

We'll give them whatever they want; maybe they'll let us go.

She had grabbed hold of the curtain to put her head out again when a conversation suddenly started up. She recognized the voice of the leader of the guards, but the other one was unfamiliar.

"And if we give you what you want, can we go safely?"

The strange voice replied in a scratchy voice that sounded like it had seen a lot of use. "Why not? We are men of honour —" he broke off in a hoarse laugh, and the robbers followed shortly after. When they were done he carried on.

"Of course you can go...but the girls stay behind."

Rey shrank back in her seat. Girls? She and Malra were the only females in the group... Her heart pounded in her throat, and she had to put a hand over her lips to keep her heart from ejecting itself through her mouth, or even worse, from screaming. She placed another hand over her mouth and told herself to calm down and breathe. It didn't work. Her heart was still running at a thousand beats per minute, it seemed.

Outside there was not a sound to be heard. Suddenly, the clashing of metal rang out. Are they fighting? The curtain was yanked back and Rey jumped away from the door, suppressing a shout and sighing in relief when she saw who it was. Malra wasted no time in covering Rey with a dark cloak and then pulling her out of the carriage by the wrist. Well, she would have pulled Rey out of the carriage, but Rey ripped her wrist out of Malra's hold. It smarted, but she ignored it.

"Lady Rhaenar! We need to go, now!"

Rey hissed back, "Go where? How? They're fighting out there!"

Malra's eyebrows were already furrowed deeply, but now they went down even more until her eyebrows were almost vertical. There was a short moment during which the girls' gazes clashed, and finally Malra sighed and dropped down gingerly onto the seat, next to Rey.

"Rhaenar," at this Rey's eyes widened, "the guards can deal with the bandits — your father wouldn't have hired them if they couldn't deal with such...rubbish." She spat the word out like it was poison.

"But we need to get you away, and fast. We don't have much time till your exile comes into being, so we need to go. Now."

Rey looked at the grave look on Malra's face and nodded slowly, sighing internally. She wanted to ask more questions, but it would be stupid to do so. They didn't have much time, from the looks of it. When Malra stood to leave, Rey stopped her though.

"Just one last thing," she said quickly on seeing the impatience in Malra's face. "Is he okay? The man who was hit." She added on seeing the other's confusion. Malra nodded a yes and the girls sighed simultaneously; Rey because nobody was dying for her sake, Malra because Rey had finally gotten up. She looked Rey over, adjusting the hood of the cloak so that it covered Rey's eyes and then taking hold of her hand in a secure grip.

"Don't let go, I beg you," she said.

Rey nodded fervently. Let go? It was the last thing she would ever think of.

Malra sent her a small, fond smile. Then she threw the curtain up and away from them, bursting out into the open and dragging Rey along with her. There was an alarmed shout when they were spotted, but one of the guards swiftly intercepted the man who had shouted, engaging him in a fierce fight. Rey only managed to form the impression of a chaotic skirmish from her surroundings before Malra pulled her away. She followed, keeping up as best as she could. They ran into the forest away from the path the carriage had been travelling on. Once or twice she heard footsteps behind them. Soon after that, however, those footsteps would be joined by another pair and then there would be only the sound of the girls hurrying as fast as they could away from the fight.

Rey rushed after Malra. The girl had let go of her hand a while ago. It was obviously very inconvenient to dart through trees and leap over roots while pulling along another human being behind you, Rey mused as she carefully picked her way over the giant, intertwined roots of an equally giant tree. No, she wasn't grumbling, she replied to the little voice in her head. She tried to reason with it, but it was having none of her excuses. So what if she should've at least looked back when she let go? So what if you keep stumbling? She's not your mother!

Rey was about to respond with a sensible argument when her eyes finally got through to her brain. She stopped as quickly as she could. Fortunately for her it was just enough to keep her from bumping into Malra's unmoving body and then falling and taking the other with her.

"Mal—"

Rey stopped short. Malra was so still. She should have at least turned around when she heard Rey's voice. What was she looking at?

She took a step forward. Her other foot was about to follow before she saw the reflected glint of light and hastily pulled it back. She stood there in silence. Nothing happened. The forest around her was the same; birds called to each other high above, leaves rustled in the slight wind. Everything was as it should be.

Why did she feel a thousand ants biting at her skin then? They clawed at her and it itched so much. It was even worse at that instant she had tried to move forward. What was ahead? Why did Malra stop? And more importantly, what was Rey going to do about it?

Her questions quickly answered themselves when a grey-cloaked individual stepped out from behind the tree in front of Malra. Rey stepped back reflexively. This person seemed to be trouble. How did she know? Rey couldn't say, but it must have been the smile that peeked out from under the hood. Or was it the large, long, wickedly sharp knife that twirled around those gloved fingers?

Finally she found her voice. "Who—who are you?" It was meant to sound confident, but instead it came out shaky. Rey cursed her lack of courage when she spotted the smile grow even wider. Then her eyes grew wide. Was that a fang peeking out at the edge of the mouth?

The person took one step forward and Rey's attention snapped to them.

"It doesn't matter who I am. On the contrary, the same can't be said for you. Isn't that right, Lady Rhaenar Aera, il Tsaen?"