Young Writers Society

Keeper was turning the lock in a massive bronze lock on the front of his shop, his coat collar flipping in the wind. He had his face buried in his chin, squinting in the flurrying snow and dust that hit the door and swept upward as a wave hitting a rock.

Carris and Miles approached him, Gwyn tagging along at Carris's hip. Alec had taken the cart up the road and off to the right behind a row of buildings, content to feed Smoky and lie down for a nap. He had muttered something about finding some herbs and making tea, and Carris had just halfway registered it with a nod.

Miles now approached Keeper, putting a hand up to Carris. She and Gwyn hung back a few feet. Miles muttered something to Keeper, too quiet to be heard in the wind with his back to the girls. There was an exchange of words, and from the sharp whispers that pierced the wind, it didn't seem to be a particularly successful discourse.

After a minute, Miles shook Keeper's hand and turned back to the girls, tightening his cap.

"He says there is a small library on Fincher Street, but if we want what we're looking for, we'd have better luck getting into the Royal Bedchamber than into the Red Keep."

Carris pursed her lips. "Keep? You mean that big tower on the hill?"

Miles nodded, walking past them toward the main road that split with the left leading towards a series of inns, and the right leading towards stables and common-houses. Carris hurried to keep up with him. "Well?"

"Well, what?" Miles said.

"How are we going to get in?" Carris asked, hiking up her skirt. It turned out that as much gusto as she had, her body was still healing from her run down the river, and her legs were quickly tiring from the uphill walk.

Miles laughed, his head tilting back. "I don't think we are. That place is the heart of this military occupation. They certainly aren't going to let civilians in."

"Aren't you part of the Royal circle?"

"Yes. You and Gwyn are not." Miles said. "And besides, I'm undercover. Sneaking in there could give away my allegiances to anyone watching. Now, I'll take you to your ward, and you can leave when this storm passes. As you said, you'll never have to see me again."

"Where will we go?" Gwyn muttered, looking up at Carris with wide eyes. It was the first time since the attack at home that the reality of what new life would be like without any parents or home was setting in. And Carris didn't have the faintest plan on where to go from here.

Carris took a deep breath. No good answer, is there?

"I'm working on it."

Miles raised an eyebrow and Carris wrinkled her nose at the look and said: "As long as we can leave here safely we'll be out of this whole situation. Anything is better than being stuck here. I suppose we could go back with Alec, as he offered me."

"Okay," Gwyn said, holding onto Carris's hand. "I don't like it here."

Carris squeezed her hand. "Me neither. Rather sick of the cold and wind."

Miles clapped his hands together. Well then, let me get you to the stables, and then I will be on my way to the keep. I will say this though: if this storm lasts the night, and the gates stay shut, there is a room available in the inn. I'm sure Gwyn wouldn't mind sharing it with you. I'll be performing this evening if you'd like some respite from the constant looming threat discussions."

"Performing?"

"Yes!" Gwyn interjected. "He sings. He's got a good voice, Carris."

Carris raised her eyebrows. "Ah. Well, I'm not sure that I'm into that sort of thing, but I suppose if Gwyn would like to listen in I can accompany her. I don't have any desire to sleep in the stables."

Miles gave a quick bow, without ever stopping fully. "You grace me with your presence. Gwyn can lead you and Alec to the inn this evening. Be there by sundown." He flipped a few coins to Carris who snatched them out of the air. "Treat yourself. You girls have been through quite an ordeal. It's time you got to enjoy some good food and live entertainment. I'm sure you don't get much at Potter's Creek."

Carris shrugged. She wasn't sure exactly what response he wanted, and she wasn't thrilled at the thought of staying the whole night. Gwyn seemed enthusiastic about it though, and she supposed it was better to keep her preoccupied. "Hot food from a real cook does sound nice," she admitted.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A five-minute walk led them to the stable where Alec had paid for a stall for the night. Smoky was munching out of a bag of oats and snorted when the trio entered the stable. It was a small affair. Four stalls on either side, three occupied with horses, one full of crates and feedbags, and one where Alec had made himself a pile of hay for a pillow and was fast asleep, snoring as if his life depended on it. Carris held back a slight laugh, realizing she hadn't been amused by much of anything recently.

Miles whispered to them as he lit a lantern hanging on a support pole between Smoky and Alec's neighboring stall. "Sit tight. Remember, sundown at the inn. If you need anything before then, wait for me there. I would advise staying out of sight."

He gave a quick smile and spun on his heel, exiting through double-wide doors in three long strides. He shut the doors with a thud. The stable went silent except for the crunching of Smoky and the subtle pop of the lantern's flame. The wind hummed outside like an afterthought. Carris sank onto the walkway, her back against the rough pole beneath the lantern. Gwyn plopped down beside her, crossing her legs.

"Are you okay, Carris? What happened to you? They thought you were..."Her voice trailed off. In the face of all the deaths she had witnessed in the last week, it was clear that even the thought of Carris dying was something she did not want to consider. She cleared her throat, even as her cheeks flushed a light pink. "I believed in you. I was the only one." She paused. "Well, I guess Miles did as well. Said he would write a song about us."

Carris's eyes went up at that. "A song? What for? He doesn't even know us."

Gwyn recoiled a little at the dismissive, almost angry tone. "I don't know. Something about us being strong, maybe? It's not a bad thing. You don't like him, do you?"

Carris closed her eyes. She scooped up a piece of straw from the stone floor and twiddled with it in her hands as her arms rested over her knees. "Gwyn, why would I?"

"Because he's been nice! He was the only one that talked to me. He helped me get clothes. He wants to help us."

"Or he's just being nice because he's not a total miscreant. Doesn't mean he's your friend, just because he showed some basic decency." Carris said.

"It's more than you show sometimes."

Carris actually laughed at that. "Gwyn, did you just say something mean? To me, no less? What has come over you."

Gwyn sheepishly looked at the ground, finding her own straw to fidget with. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be mean. I ju-"

"It is okay, Gwyn." Carris interrupted. "It's not untrue either sometimes. Just surprised to see you being so forthright." there was silence for a moment. Another impressive mood-killing performance.

"Would you like to hear what happened to me?"

Gwyn's head snapped up. "Yes! They all thought you wouldn't make it. You should have been here before us. What happened?"

Carris crossed her legs and shifted to face Gwyn. "I was ahead of you. I was so hungry too, but that's not important. I found them, you know? I tried to cross the river and Eridan just, well I don't know how to say it."

Gwyn's eyes were wide, hanging onto every word.

"He parted the river. Split it in two. Gwyn, I was on solid ground in the middle of the Gnofen River!"

Gwyn's mouth hung gaping wide.

Carris couldn't help the slight smile that escaped and planted itself across her cheeks. "And that isn't the only thing. He tossed me with that sword of his, up into the air. Must've been thirty feet in the air."

"No!"

"Yes!" Carris realized that while it was terrifying in the moment, there was a certain fantasy and wonder about whatever power Eridan had wrapped into that blade. To be able to soar through the air like that, to watch a river crack in two like a broken walnut, was something truly awesome to behold.

"And you survived?" Gwyn was fully invested, the slight cloud of frustration in the earlier conversation already miles behind.

Carris continued on, explaining how Alec had found her, leaving out his troubling family history, and the argument with Laura. There was no sense in weighing Gwyn down with irrelevant information. I'm not even sure how I feel about it.

By the time the story had wrapped up, Gwyn had wrapped her arm around Carris's as they sat side by side. She sighed a deep sigh. Carris was unsure if it was relief, exhaustion, or worry. She supposed it could be all three in one. After all, what in the world was going on? Even retelling the last few days seemed absurd. And what was frightening was that the future was even less certain. Gwyn seemed to cross paths with Carris's thoughts.

"What now?"

Carris shrugged. "We go to the inn. I hear you're quite the supporter of fine music."

Gwyn shook her head, wiping a loose strand of hair from her cheek. "I mean after that? Where are we gonna go? If you don't like Miles I'm sure you don't like Alec, so we won't be staying there.

"Who said I don't like Alec?"

"You don't like much of anybody. Especially men. Malcolm, Miles, Devlin, and so of course, Alec."

Carris stumbled over her words. "Wha-we- listen." She laughed incredulously at the accusation. "I don't like people who are mean or who want to take advantage of us. I never said I don't like Alec. He did take me in and give me food and shelter. So, that's a better start than the rest of them."

"Miles did the same for me."

"So, maybe he's not a bad guy. Doesn't mean I have to like him, does it?"

Gwyn bit her lip and thought about it for a moment. "I guess not. But you did say you like hot food, and he gave us money for that. I think that means we owe him common courtesy." She held up her hands in protest. "At least, until he turns out to secretly be a villain working for the wrong side."

Carris laughed. "I can agree to that proposal. Not sure which side is right or wrong here, though. I'd prefer to be off to a different side. Let these men fight their wars. You and I are not soldiers."

"No, but if the Black Bull travels across the country he will do the same thing to other small villages and towns, just like he did to ours. That's doesn't seem right, does it?"

Carris said nothing. In truth, she hadn't considered it much. She wasn't going to be the one to stop him anyway, and she had made the effort to warn Atheron that he was coming. Wasn't that enough?

"What would you have us do?" She looked back at Gwyn, who had curled up, eyes closed.

In a soft voice, Gwyn replied, "Whatever I can so that no one else loses what we lost"

"It's not our responsibility to save these people, Gwyn."

"Then it wasn't Alec's to save you either, or Devlin to help us escape" Gwyn said.

"So, you think we should help them stop Eridan? You don't want to leave?"

"No, I do want to leave. But I don't know where we will go if we don't stop him. At least here we have friends. You always wanted to go to the Royal City. He will come there. Alec wants to go back to his village. Eridan destroyed our small village. Where will we run?"

Carris shut her eyes and wrapped her arm around Gwyn. "I don't know, Gwyn, I don't know."