Temple Knight

4. First Patrol-1

Summer 1095 SR

Two days later, Cordelia organized a patrol. With less than a dozen sisters housed at the outpost, it was, of necessity, small, consisting of herself, Charlaine, Danica, and Aurelia.

“Normally,” explained Cordelia, “I would take only two fellow sisters, but we tend to pair up the new recruits, so you’ll ride up with me, Charlaine, leaving the other two to ride together.”

They mounted up and rode south, towards the coast, a trip of only a few miles. The warmth of the morning sun bore down on them until a faint breeze arose, cooling them slightly.

“The water is close now,” said Cordelia. “You haven"t seen it yet, but up ahead, there are some cliffs that overlook the Shimmering Sea."

"Where I’m from, the kingdom is landlocked. The best we have is rivers.”

“Then keep your eyes trained to the south, you’re about to get the sight of your life.”

The wind picked up suddenly, and then the land before them dropped off abruptly. As they drew near the edge, Charlaine looked out over the cliffs that fell straight down to the sea below. Its azure waters ran south, as far as the eye could see.

“Breathtaking,” she uttered.

“Isn’t it, though,” said Cordelia.

“How big is it? It looks to go on forever.”

“The Shimmering Sea stretches for hundreds of miles to the south, and they say that its eastern approaches are almost two thousand miles away.”

“I can’t even begin to imagine that kind of distance,” said Charlaine.

They had halted at the top of the cliffs, allowing them to look to the south, where distant sails struggled to make headway.

“It seems there are ships at sea this day,” said Cordelia.

“Is that common?” asked Charlaine.

“Common enough. They usually sail within sight of the coast. I’m told it makes navigation easier. Have you ever seen a ship before?”

“Once,” said Charlaine. “Well, only the wreck of one, but it was one of the smaller craft that frequents the riverways. Those ships look enormous.”

“And so they are. They carry cargo from the port of Rizela to cities up and down the coast, though it"s rare to see them going westward.”

“Why is that?" asked Charlaine. “Wouldn"t the western cities have goods for sale?”

“Yes, but we lie on the very edge of the Petty Kingdoms. To the west lies the Empire of Halvaria, and we don’t trade with them.”

A silence fell over Charlaine, something that was noticed by her leader.

“Something wrong?” asked Cordelia.

“Halvaria conquered my homeland,” she confided.

“I thought you said you were from Hadenfeld?”

“I am, but my parents were from Calabria. It was conquered by Halvaria just before I was born.”

Cordelia nodded her head. “A common enough story, the Empire has been expanding for generations.”

“Can nobody stop them?”

“Many have tried, but their army is massive. Only the combined might of the Petty Kingdoms could do so, and even then, the outcome would be in doubt.”

“But what of the Church?” asked Charlaine. “Aren"t the Temple Knights the best-trained warriors on the Continent?”

“They are, but we lack the numbers needed to take on such a power.”

“And the Petty Kingdoms?”

“Too self-absorbed to organize themselves,” said Cordelia. “They spend all their time squabbling over things that, in the long run, are unimportant.”

“Is this part of our normal patrol route?”

“As a matter of fact, it is. We’ll typically come here, then turn either east or west, depending on what strikes us as interesting,” Cordelia said, turning her gaze eastward. “The city of Rizela lies about half a day"s ride away.”

“And to the west?” asked Charlaine.

“The coast is pretty barren in those parts, so there"s not much there. It curves north, and if you kept going west, you’d eventually get your feet wet.”

“How steep are these cliffs?”

In answer, Cordelia dismounted. “Get off your horse and take a look.”

Charlaine did as she was bid, handing off the reins to Sister Danica, then made her way to the edge of the cliffs, peering down at the beach below. “Not as steep as I would have suspected,” she said.

“There’s a path a bit east of here that allows easy access.”

“And an inlet,” offered Danica.

“Yes,” agreed Cordelia, “that’s right, shallow enough for small boats to pull in if the weather turns bad.”

“Does that happen frequently?”

“No, at least I’ve never seen it happen, but then again, I’m not usually out in bad weather. Shall we go down to the water?”

“Perhaps another time,” said Charlaine. “I’m curious to see what else you have around here.”

“Very well, I’ll take you to see the farms that lie just off the main road.” Cordelia began climbing back into the saddle. “Our main job here is to keep them safe.”

“Is that difficult?” Charlaine asked as she hauled herself onto her horse.

“Hardly,” said Cordelia. “The coast is calm these days, with little to keep us busy. I wish the rest of the Petty Kingdoms were so peaceful.”

“I thought you said the Halvarian Empire was close?”

“It is. Close being a relative term, as it’s still some two hundred miles or so away.”

“Doesn"t that make them a threat?”

“They certainly have the strength, but there’s little of value for them in Ilea, and Rizela would be a difficult prize to seize.”

“Why is that?”

“It has massive walls, and a large fleet, not to mention the difficulty of approaching the harbour.”

“I would have thought a port easy to enter,” said Charlaine.

“And in most cases, you’d be correct, but the shoals around Rizela make navigation difficult. As a result, they’ve marked off a channel to make things easier, and to either side, they’ve built towers out amongst the rocks.”

“Sounds fascinating.”

Cordelia smiled. “I"m sure you’ll get to see them one day. We do visit Rizela from time to time.”

“I’d like that,” said Charlaine.

“Now, ready for a ride? We won’t reach the nearest farm for some time yet.” She spurred on her horse, galloping eastward, leaving her charges struggling to catch up.

They paralleled the shore for a while, then turned inland after passing another inlet.

“Are there many more of those?” asked Charlaine, indicating the tiny bay.

“This part of the countryside is littered with them,” Cordelia answered. “They’re a haven for smugglers, but that’s not our concern.”

“It isn’t?”

“No, that’s the responsibility of Baroness Francesca. We look after the farms in these parts.”

Cordelia slowed, looking down at the ground.

“Trouble?” asked Charlaine.

“There are tracks,” she answered. “Cunars by the looks of it, they must be on patrol.”

“Is that unusual?”

“No, not really. We run across them once in a while, but they don’t speak much.”

“Must be their vow of silence,” said Aurelia, breaking into a grin.

“Or their vow of obstinance,” offered Danica.

“That’s enough out of you two,” said Cordelia. “We must show proper respect for our Holy Brothers.” She urged her horse onward, picking up speed slightly.

“Do they really take a vow of silence?” asked Charlaine.

Danica chuckled, the sound coming out like a snort.

“No,” said Cordelia, “the sisters are just making things up.”

“They ARE obstinate,” added Danica.

“Now, that,” said Cordelia, “is true.”

“Why do you suppose that is?” asked Charlaine.

“It"s said they’re the premier fighting force of the Church. It gives them a sense of superiority.”

“And are they?” asked Charlaine. “The premier force, I mean.”

“Their history would certainly seem to suggest so,” Cordelia answered, “but the other orders have not been idle, either. Our own has seen battle several times in the last few decades.”

“I was aware of that, but I was under the impression that it was always in small numbers.”

“Did you not hear of the battle of Erlingen?”

“No,” said Charlaine, “the instructors in Eidenburg tended to concentrate on older campaigns. Why? Were there sisters present?”

“Yes, an entire company, and they played a significant role in the battle. I’m surprised they didn’t teach you about it.”

“Was it a great victory?”

“Blood bath might be a better description,” said Cordelia. “We lost almost an entire chapter.”

“Where were the Cunars that day?”

“They were there too, along with the Mathewites.”

“Ah, yes,” said Charlaine, “our healing brethren. I learned we do a lot of work with them.”

“Not here, we don’t. They do maintain a small mission in Rizela to help the poor, but we don’t interact with them much.”

“I take it we’ve never had wounded?”

“Not from battle,” said Cordelia.

“But Sister Erika had a scar that looked fairly recent. Surely someone had to look at that?”

“That was a training accident. She let her guard down while working with a new knight. In any event, she refused to have it seen to.”

“How long ago was this?” asked Charlaine.

“About three months ago.”

“And who was she training?”

In answer, Cordelia turned to look at the two behind them. Relieved that they were far enough away, she returned her attention to her companion. “It was Sister Danica.”

“Oh, dear,” said Charlaine, “no wonder the woman hates her.”

The sun had reached its zenith by the time the first farm came into view. It lay just north of the main road, though perhaps calling it a road was overstating its usefulness. Charlaine travelled along the rocky path with the rest of the patrol, the ancient cobblestones pitted and worn by constant erosion.

“That,” said Cordelia, “is the Venucci estate.”

“Estate? Are they nobles?”

“No, worse,” said Cordelia, with a chuckle, “vintners, though I must confess they do produce the best wine in these parts.”

“Will we stop and talk with them?”

“Not today. They’re never any trouble, and we have many more to visit before we return to the outpost.”

“So, you have some farms that are trouble?”

“I see you picked up on that,” said Cordelia. “You’re quite observant.”

“I’ve always been detail-oriented. It"s part of being a smith, I suppose.”

“It"s the Travarre farm that gives us the most trouble.”

“And by trouble, you mean?”

“The patriarch is quite callous to the women in his household. We’ve had a number of complaints over the years.”

“What kind of complaints?”

“He uses his fists to settle matters,” said Cordelia, “and he doesn’t like it when the unexpected happens, prefers to blame others. We’ve talked to him on multiple occasions, even had to warn him we’d intervene if he didn’t mind his manners.”