Elf Sight

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“Roll out!” a soldier bellowed at daybreak. “Come on you mangy curs. Get moving. No breakfast for any slug-a-beds.”

There were grumbles and groans as soldiers rolled out of swags and quickly readied themselves for the day. A man, who stood beside a large pot hanging over the fire, filled the bowls each soldier brought to him with the serving spoon he held.

“Hey lad,” Carson called out to Irlan.

Irlan and Shadow looked over. Carson held up two bowls and then pointed towards the campfire. Irlan nodded and he and Shadow made their way over.

“Any second thoughts, yet?” Carson asked as they joined him.

Irlan shook his head, but Shadow was tempted to say she certainly had more than second thoughts.

“So, if you’ve got no kin, what have you been doing?” Carson asked as their bowls were filled.

Irlan looked over at Shadow and she saw the sudden look of panic cross his face.

“Peddler,” she whispered, just loud enough for Irlan to hear.

“Speak up kid, I can’t hear mumbles,” Carson said.

“We travelled with a peddler. He dumped us in the last town,” Irlan said.

Carson looked from one to the other. “He’ll never learn to speak if you always answer for him.” He gestured towards their bowls. “Better get that food in you. The General doesn’t wait for anyone.” With a last glance at them, he walked off.

Shadow and Irlan found a place by themselves to eat. “I keep thinking someone is going to see through me,” Shadow whispered.

“Why would they? People only ever see what they expect.” Irlan shovelled in another mouthful of food.

“I don’t know. Every time the Captain looks at me I think he suspects something.” Shadow’s gaze strayed across the camp until they rested on Carson. He turned in her direction and she hurriedly stared at her bowl.

“Nah. Anyway, he’s a dodgy character. He’s far too young to be a captain. I was talking to one of the soldiers last night and they said he’s twenty-one. And, considering he’s only a captain he seems to get more respect than the General. Makes you wonder what he’s planning. It might be rebellion.”

“You wouldn’t think the General would be that dense, would you?” Shadow glanced over to Carson. His back was to her again. She returned to staring at her food, not wanting to draw his attention.

Irlan shrugged. “Who knows?”

They fell silent for a while as they ate their food. Shadow scraped her spoon around the bowl. “I hope we don’t take too long to get where we have to go. This not being able to speak when I want is frustrating.”

Irlan laughed. “You manage to hold your tongue when the old bugger’s in one of his rages. Just think of it being like that.”

“Yes, but that’s not all the time. Not every day, every minute. I’m going to go crazy with only you to talk to.”

“Time to leave,” a soldier standing beside the General’s tent, which was being packed away, bellowed. “Saddle up.”

“Come on. We don’t want to get left behind.” Irlan shoved the last spoonful of food in his mouth.

“That’s what you think,” Shadow muttered as she rose to her feet. How was she to manage long hours of no talking, ducking her head in supposed shyness and fading into the background? None of it was her strong point. She could manage for short lengths of time, but hours? Days? Irlan expected the impossible.

The whole day was spent riding. Even the midday meal was broken on horseback with soldiers taking jerky, flatbread and fruit from their saddlebags. Shadow and Irlan had been given food to put in their saddlebags before they’d ridden out that morning. By the time the sun was setting and the light starting to fade, Shadow could no longer feel her legs. At some stage her backside and then her legs had grown numb. Now that they were stopping she wondered how she’d ever get off her horse. She watched as Irlan staggered to the ground, groaning. When some soldiers turned to watch him, he straightened and led his horse to where the others unsaddled. Shadow started to smile at her brother’s behaviour then remembered she’d probably look worse. She didn’t get to ride anywhere near as much as he did.

Taking a deep breath, Shadow dragged her leg forward over the saddle. There was no way she’d be able to dismount properly. She tensed, slid off the saddle and grabbed at the stirrup as her knees gave out. A hand grabbed her mid arm and hauled her up before she hit the ground. Looking up, Shadow saw it was Carson. She quickly looked away from his piercing brown eyes and tilted her head forward so the hat hid her face.

“I’m fine,” she said in as deep a voice as possible, her words little more than a whisper.

“Thank you.” Irlan appeared at her side. “I’ve got him now.”

When Irlan took her other arm, Shadow gratefully pulled away from Carson who nodded sharply and then moved off. She watched him cross the clearing.

“Are you crazy?” Irlan hissed.

“You didn’t stick around,” Shadow hissed back. “And it wasn’t like I asked for his help. You can let me go now.”

“I’ll unsaddle your horse,” Irlan offered.

“I can do it.” Shadow snatched the reins from Irlan.

“You’re drawing attention. Let me deal with the horse. It’s not like you ride every day like I do.” Irlan tried to pull the reins from her.

She refused to let them go. “I know even you must feel sore after this amount of riding.”

“Shut up Shadow, and quit drawing attention to yourself.”

Shadow breathed out heavily and let go of the reins. Irlan led the horse away and she turned in the opposite direction. Seeing Carson under a tree watching her, she froze. She wondered what he had made of their whispered argument.

“Hey kid,” a soldier said behind Shadow. She spun quickly and then had to stop a groan at the effort the movement took. “General wants you to collect firewood.”

Irlan returned to her side the moment the soldier stopped near her. “I’ll help him.”

The soldier shook his head. “General wants you to groom horses. He said to tell you everyone pulls their weight.”

When Irlan would have continued to argue, Shadow shook her head and moved away. Collecting firewood was a job even little children could do. The soldiers would wonder if she refused to collect it. Even though she would have preferred to collapse in a heap and not move she forced herself to search the densely treed area for deadfall. It didn’t take her long to collect enough firewood and pile it beside the campfire before she found a quiet place to relax. The tree trunk she leaned against was hidden by bushes and felt as comfortable to her aching body as a feather mattress. Exhausted from the long hours of riding, she fell asleep.

Low voices woke her. She looked around, trying to see where they came from in the last of the day’s light. She couldn’t see them for the trees, nor could she recognise the voices since she could barely hear them. About to rise to her feet, she froze as the occasional word became clear.

“No one yet… King… who’d suspect… anything… crown… mages… elf sight… careful.”

“Dinner!” The word rang out through the camp and cut off the whispered conversation.

Shadow huddled against the base of the tree she leaned on and stayed deathly still. The words had made no sense, but alarm bells rang in her head at the snippets she had caught. Was Irlan right? Did Carson have a hidden agenda? She didn’t want to know. She wanted to stay out of any possible trouble. Escaping the tavern was meant to save them, not put them in more danger. When she thought it was safe, she crept around the outside of the camp, staying in the trees. When she felt she was far enough away from where the conversation had been held, she walked into the camp and lined up for dinner.

“Where’ve you been?” Irlan demanded as they found a place to eat.

Shadow shook her head. She couldn’t mention what she’d heard. That’d be completely insane. And what had she heard anyway? Nothing really.

“Don’t give me the silent treatment. I was worried something had happened to you.”

“I shouldn’t talk. Who knows who’s listening.” Shadow couldn’t stop thinking of the bits of conversation she’d heard. They made her food sit heavy in her stomach.

“No wandering off on your own again. Anything could happen.”

Shadow nodded. She wasn’t going to argue that order. She didn’t want to put herself in the path of any more secret conversations. She didn’t have a death wish.