[podlove-web-player]
Allabva felt some gentle prodding on her shoulder and opened her eyes under the starlight. The shadow standing over her was Qurast, holding a finger to his lips to signal her to stay silent. She could not have truly yelled out even if she had wanted to because of the gag in her mouth, but since Qurast had stood up in favor of her virtue in the campfire light, she felt inclined to listen to what he might have to say, anyway.
“Everyone is still asleep,” Qurast whispered softly. “You’ll need to go back to sleep as well. Tunbloth is on watch out at the road right now. I told him I was going to come back to check on you, just like Nillan said. I have something for you, but you cannot speak of this to anybody. Do you understand?”
Allabva nodded.
“Alright. Can you keep this hidden?” He held up her knife. “I never lost it.”
She nodded again.
“I don’t think it’s right that we abducted you. I’m trying to free people from the illusion cast by the unicorns. I never set out to kidnap anybody. So, I’m giving you your knife back. Please, please, do not attempt to escape tonight. Try tomorrow night, instead. Can you do that? Good. But this may be my only chance to pass this to you unobserved. And then you can escape tomorrow night, when it’s my turn to get a full night’s sleep. That way, nobody will accuse me of cutting you loose. I’m going to put this in your boot now, all right?”
Allabva nodded, recognizing the danger she could cause him if she didn’t execute her escape with care.
“Alright.” Qurast shoved the sheathed knife into Allabva’s boot, lodging it so it would not fall out.
“Now go back to sleep. This never happened.”
He silently departed into the darkness. Allabva listened for a time to the sounds of the night and fell back asleep to a chorus of frogs from the lake.
The next morning was uneventful. Allabva continued to wonder if Hronomon would show up to help her, and continued to look for some opportunity to escape. She could have bolted a few times, but she knew that would not have helped her. These highwaymen would easily run her down and capture her again. She had to make sure that they couldn’t do that whenever she tried to secure her freedom.
She wished her mother were here. Mother would give these Disaffected a piece of her mind and they would agree to let her go inside of ten minutes. Of course, Allabva would like to see Mellier as well, but she had her doubts as to how successfully he could annoy them into allowing her to go free.
When the crew set out and resumed their easterly travel along the Palf Road, they untied her as they had the day before, but today they allowed her to ride in the wagon. She was glad for that. She felt that sometimes one needed to move, and sometimes one needed to rest. Yesterday she did plenty of moving, so today she could bear to rest a little.
On this day, they encountered a man and a woman coming from the other direction. Nillan warned Allabva to keep her mouth shut or she would cause problems not only for herself but also for this couple. She dutifully kept silent, not offering any correction when Tunbloth volunteered that he could tell the other people that she was his sister.
As it happened, they merely shared a simple greeting and continued on. The men seemed to tense up before meeting with the couple, and then to breathe a little more easily again once the encounter was over. In contrast, Allabva felt disappointed that nothing had happened. Just about any possible change would have to be an improvement on her current situation.
The day passed, and the mountains loomed larger. The group of Disaffected was willing to talk to her, though they limited how much they would share along certain topics. They told her that continuing along the Palf Road would eventually take them to Palf Glen, but that their plan was to take a side road that would return them to the Tallen Road, which they would then follow east until nearing the encampment they sought. The turn towards the north near Palf Glen, and then east along the larger road, would take the mountains that she saw ahead of them and put them to their right.
Allabva sometimes rode in the wagon and sometimes got out for a fast-paced walk-jog. On this day, she spent more time resting than on rapid foot travel. She was still recovering from the day before. At one point, she found herself sitting in the wagon when she heard a shout of anger from Nolder, who was taking his shift with Qurast to drive the horses in the afternoon. She looked up and saw the unmistakable white coat of a Nomord in the distance, peeking out from among some trees.
“Cursed, stupid horse!” Nolder shouted. “Go away!”
It was staring at Allabva. She sensed as surely as she could see the white equine body that he was watching her. It was Hronomon. Allabva felt excitement racing inside her, which she kept hidden. She was just a normal girl, she told herself. That was just some silly Nomo-Nomo. She had to wear the disguise to hide the truth from the Disaffected.
That didn’t mean she couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity to ask some questions.
“What is the issue that the Disaffected see with the Nomord?” Allabva asked him. “I understand that you each have your reasons for why you don’t like the Nomord, but why do you think the world would be better without them?”
“Because human adoration of the Nomord is based on lies. Don’t you think the world would be better with fewer lies in it?” Nolder spoke plainly, not roughly.
“I never thought of it that way,” Allabva replied. “But people do genuinely receive help from them.”
“We’ve been over this, little girl,” Nillan jumped in. “Occasional teasings of assistance from beings with the capacity to help much more. All it does is make us believe that they are helpful and kind, whereas if you look at the pattern of them leaving us to our own wiles, then you see a very different story.”
“How do the Disaffected propose to make the world a better place? What would you do about the Nomord?” Allabva pondered aloud.
“Education, first off,” Nolder offered. “A widespread campaign to get people to start thinking about it the right way.”
“No disrespect intended,” Allabva prodded, “but why would you consider your view to be the right view?”
“Because it is. Because it’s obvious.” Nillan interjected.
“Because it is according to our experience.” Nolder spoke more sagely. “We have observed a pattern, and we believe other people are simply overlooking it, or in some cases, willfully choosing to ignore it and brushing it under the rug. If we can get people to start seeing the unicorns for what they are, people will feel more inclined to face and try to fix their problems themselves.”
“That’s what I’ve observed people do, trying to fix their problems themselves.” Allabva replied. “I don’t think anybody I know has relied on the Nomord even though they knew they could be helpful. I’ve known a couple of people who were blessed by the Nomord, but before and after that, they never hoped to rely on the Nomord’s help.”
“Isn’t that just good for you?” Nillan’s voice was saturated with sarcasm. “People in the Cleft must be sooo holy.”
Nolder looked at Allabva and then at Nillan. “You’re both right. I have also seen people, although very aware of what the Nomord potentially could do for them, still only rely on themselves. But I’ve seen other people who owned fertile farmland let most of it lie fallow, wishing the unicorns would come and do all the work for them. The first type of people needs no correction, and will do just fine in life even if they never receive any help. The second group of people needs to be guided out of their indolence. That will make the world a better place.”
“What if it’s not even on purpose?” Allabva said tentatively.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nolder asked. “Of course, the beasts do things on purpose.”
“Alright, but what if their inconsistency isn’t on purpose? What if their minds just don’t work the same way as ours?” Allabva tried.
“Do you think you know something we don’t, little girl?” Nillan shot back bitterly. “You believe that all your years of wisdom entitle you to tell us what to think?”
Allabva was a little taken aback. Maybe she should be more careful. She certainly didn’t want to let them know that she did, in fact, know something they did not about the Nomord’s minds.
“Of course not, sir,” she intoned more meekly. “I just mean, what about how cats stare at the wall, or dogs howl in the night? We don’t understand exactly why they do that, but it apparently makes sense to them.”
“So you mean it’s because they’re stupid,” Nillan put words in her mouth. “A cat stares at the wall because it’s dumb, and dogs howl just because they feel like it. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. So you’re saying the freaks are just stupid.”
“Well, I—”
“There is an obvious problem with your theory, Allabva,” Nolder said more gently. “Unicorns can speak. They’re obviously not as simple creatures as dogs and cats are. They are wise enough to speak, they have magic they can wield to help people, and yet more often than not, they withhold it. This speaks to me of malicious intent. They actually want to watch us suffer.”
“I’m afraid I still don’t see it that way.” Allabva had received an explanation from Hronomon that seemed to be plausible, and she preferred to believe that. “So, what else would you do to convert people to your point of view?”
“Oh, there’s more we can do than simple education.” Nillan spoke as if he knew something that might change the world. “There are ways to counter them directly. Unicorns aren’t the only source of magic.”
His words sent a chill down Allabva’s spine. “Where—what magic are you thinking of?”
“Nope. We’re not talking about that. For all I know, you’re in league with the animals. You can find out along with the rest of the world when those of us who are more Enlightened are prepared to take action.”
Nillan turned to face forward to the road, intentionally exiting the conversation.
Allabva felt an ominous pall settled over her. She tried to dispel it as the wagon rumbled forward, silently reminding herself now that she had seen Hronomon, telling herself that he was coming to help. And yet, after this discussion, she felt she should stick to her plan to escape, pointedly not waiting for the Nomord’s help.
The sky seemed to reflect her mood as heavy clouds appeared in the east, to the north of the looming mountain.
“Might rain,” Halmon observed. “Probably coming in from the Fonglan Gulf. Tallensworth likely received a dumping this morning.”
“What mountain is that?” Allabva asked. “It’s taller than the clouds.”
“That’s Tallen Mountain,” Nolder answered. “See the two peaks? The southern peak is the Bay Peak, since it lies a little further east and closer to the Gulf. The northern peak, the higher of the two, is much higher, reaching up to where the air is rarified. It sits bald without trees, and is often called Aspen Summit. But anyone who’s ever seen a very old map knows that’s a shortening of the original. Its real name is the Summit Above the Aspens.”
“You dusty old man,” Nillan accused. “Nobody cares enough to know that.”
“Thank you for sharing,” Allabva told Nolder. It sounded like he had spent some time in libraries. His manner when he spoke, except when he was speaking ill of the Nomord, made Allabva feel almost as if she had another ally apart from Qurast.
Nolder continued, now talking mostly to himself. “We were looking to pass through Palf Glen tomorrow, mid-morning, but if it rains on us very much, that’ll slow us down. This road by the lake will get muddy and make the horses work harder. Mid-morning can turn into late afternoon if we don’t push forward steadily enough.”
The traveling party continued to make their way along the shore of the South Roula Sea, the wagon bumping along over the still-dry road. At dusk they pulled off of the road and traveled a few hundred paces south, away from the lake before setting camp.
“Enjoy the fire tonight, boys,” Nillan suggested. “We likely won’t find dry lumber tomorrow.”
Allabva was given access to her bag, her captors now evidently supposing that they had rendered her harmless. She ate well, intending to cut herself free tonight with the knife Qurast had returned to her. She may need to maintain a high pace for some time to ensure she stayed free of them, so she ate her fill with this in mind.
As they tied her down in the same fashion as before, she hoped the knife in her boot wouldn’t be too far to reach. She wriggled a little as she settled in, testing the amount of play they were giving her hands. Qurast caught her eye as he tightened the knot, looking back and forth between her hands and boots. Apparently thinking the same thing, he gave the rope a tug as if to test its strength and the sureness of the knots. It reassured Allabva that there was enough length there. But the tug was hard, causing pain in her wrists.
She released a short exclamation, causing Tunbloth to smirk. “Is it tight enough?”
“Just enough,” Allabva grunted.
Qurast gave her a nod. “Good.” Then he turned away, preparing his bedroll underneath the wagon. Halmon and Nillan were also setting theirs under the wagon, with Qurast in the middle. Their two-man watch rotation occupied a total of four of the five throughout the night, affording the remaining man the opportunity for a full night’s sleep. With tonight being Qurast’s turn to sleep undisturbed, the other two on sleep shift bedded down on either side so they could more easily be woken and have their bedrolls replaced by the two men serving on the first watch shift.
Allabva listened to the three men below her doze off and snore, while the two remaining men stalked silently off into the darkness to watch for anybody who may catch their trail and approach from the road.
Her fingers itched to reach for her boot and extract her knife. She resisted, forming and clarifying a plan in her head. Allabva would not leave without Delgan’s flute. She was certain that Nillan still had it in his inner coat pocket. She determined to pilfer it from him when it was his turn to sleep. He was on second watch shift, so that meant she had to snatch it during the first shift and be gone.
She hadn’t spent today running behind the wagon, but instead she had been allowed her choice of riding or going on foot. She had walked a fair amount because she found herself getting restless if she sat still too long. Despite her mild fatigue, she mentally held onto consciousness.
But she was tired. Every day was a long day. Perhaps she could allow herself some rest—not sleep, of course—to be ready for what could become hours of jogging to stay out of reach of the five Disaffected. She just needed to make sure that she waited long enough so Nillan would be fully asleep when she went to retrieve the instrument.
Wishing she could commiserate with Mother, tease Mellier, joke with Brelin, and hold Delgan and apologize for allowing his grandmother’s flute out of her sight for even a moment, Allabva waited.
Leave a Reply