Chapter 1, Pages 16-20
Making
her way up the street several blocks Rielari stopped in front of the
Rocking Horse Lounge. The owner, Greb, was outside shaking the hands
of a rather rich couple.
“Lady
Rielari,” he sneered, “How can I help you.”
Rielari’s
lip curled up with distaste, “I need to ask you about a customer
that might have visited your establishment in the last few days.”
“Oh
my,” Greb feigned surprise, “Who might that be.”
Scowling,
Rielari took the snobbish owner by his scrawny arm and lead him away
from the noisy entrance.
Placing
a few gold pieces into his greasy hand Rielari looked at Greb
sternly, “He went by the name of Zefrik, have you seen him around?”
Greb
scratched the rather long goatee at his chin, “Yes I think a
gentlemen by that name was in here last night.”
Slowly
rolling the goatee around his finger Greb looked at Rielari, “If I
recall he was a noble from Friat, he was here with a rather large
party.”
Rielari
smiled, it confirmed what Brinarey had told her, “Did he happen to
say were he was going when he left Geal?”
“You
know I don’t ease drop on my customers,” Greb pretended to be
offended.
Sighing
loudly, Rielari placed another gold coin in the greedy mans hand,
“Did you perhaps accidentally hear him say anything that might be
helpful in locating him?”
Greb
smiled, “Well I think he said something about returning home to
Friat. Maybe he stopped by the whore house before he left, you
should ask there.”
Rielari
grit her teeth, “I’ve already been there, do you know what kind of
transportation they had, what he was wearing, anything like that?”
“Oh
my,” Greb lifted his nose, “That’s a great deal of personal
information.”
Rielari
gave Greb two more pieces of gold, she hoped silently that it would
be worth it. The man hemmed and hawed as if put out by the knowledge
she was asking for. She started tapping her foot slightly impatient
with the arrogant bar owner.
“Well,”
Greb’s voice took on a higher tone, “He was garbed in the usual
Friatian clothing, bright colors. Um, I think they were traveling by
coach, using those useless horses that Friatian’s are so fond of.
I’m pretty sure he left with a smaller group of people than he
arrived with, maybe two body guards and a lady.”
Greb
gently started to tug on his beard. Rielari glared at the pompous
man, she knew he had more to tell her. Impatiently, she grasped her
hands behind her back and unobtrusively began wringing her hands.
“I
think I heard him say something about traveling with two large
hunting dogs. The lady he was traveling with had unusually colored
hair, purple if I remember correctly. Is that enough information for
you?”
Greb’s
sarcastic tone angered Rielari, she took a deep calming breath,
“Thank you, you have been very helpful.”
Spinning
on her heels, Rielari left Greb with his mouth hanging open. She
walked back towards the smithy’s shop, hoping that he had finished.
Softly she whistled a tune she remembered from her youth, it was a
haunting sound and the few people out steered clear of her.
“I’m
all finished,” Enerak stated pro
udly as Rielari walked through the
door.
“Thank
you, friend,” Rielari smiled and placed a large purse of gold on
the work bench. Lifting the two small blades, she inspected the
beautiful work. They were perfectly balanced for throwing or
thrusting. The light weight blades had Enerak’s seal on them, a
falcon in flight.
“These
are perfect,” Rielari admired.
Enerak
beamed at her approval, “Come back safely.”
“I
will,” Rielari said gathering the weapons.
The
weapons were heavy but Rielari walked with a light step as she made
her way to the back entrance of the brothel.
“Your
grouper is packed and ready,” Joreb said handing Rielari the reins,
“Please be careful.”
“Don
ye bei gibin hur a ard tym,” Asunjia said nudging her husband out
of the way to hug Rielari, “Bei saff deer.”
“You
two need to stop worrying so much, I’ll be fine,” Rielari squeezed
Asunjia reassuringly.
Opening
one of her saddle bags Rielari found her leg straps, each with a four
inch sheath to hold her new knives. Tying one on each thigh she
carefully placed the deadly blades in them. Riffling through the bag
again she pulled out a small square pouch. Attaching it to her belt
she put the throwing stars in it and closed the pouch with a little
piece of bone and a leather thong. Grabbing her double baldric she
drew them around each shoulder and cautiously put the katana’s in the
sheaths.
Feeling
ready Rielari agilely swung her leg over the groupers back and smiled
at the couple, “I will be back soon, take care.”
Rielari
nudged her grouper forward and left the town the way she had entered
it, anonymously. The sun was setting as she crested a hill and
looked back on the bright lights of Geal. A single tear finally
fell, I will avenge you my love. Turning quickly in the saddle she
pushed her ride to a fast gate, hoping to put as much distance as she
could between her and the town.
Rielari’s
anger fueled her energy as she repeatedly was forced to check the
tracks she was following. Horses, unlike groupers, left plenty of
evidence of their passing. The carriage wheels left ruts in the soft
ground, but when the earth was hard the only trace was the occasional
shod hoof print or a few droppings of horse dung. Her grouper helped
with the tracking, his keen sense of smell picked up the smallest
scent.
The
sun disappeared below the horizon, plunging the world into darkness
for a brief moment before the two moons rose high in the night sky.
Saptyrn, the larger and first of the two moons to rise, illuminated
the world with it’s red glow making it easier for Rielari to continue
tracking her prey.
Lord
Zefrik was traveling in a southeastern direction towards the rich
town of Sairk. At least that was the direction the tracks were
leading.
Rielari
stopped her grouper, “We will rest here for the night.”
It
grunted in agreement as Rielari dismounted. She removed her saddle
bags placing them under a near by bush she pulled leafy branches down
and effectively covered them. Turning back to the grouper she
loosened the saddle and took it off making it sigh happily.
Affectionately she scratched the matted fur were the saddle had
rubbed all day. The grouper emitted a low rumbling sound similar to
a cat’s pur.
Leaving
the grouper to graze Rielari walked into the woods to find some
kindling and wood to start a fire. The forest was very dense and the
light from the moons barely filtered through the leaves. She kept
her boot knife drawn and her senses alert, ready for danger. Making
her way slowly through the undergrowth she gathered enough wood for a
nice fire.
With
a very skilled hand Rielari built a nice fire, banking it for the
night. She took out a strip o
f dried meat and slowly chewed on it
thinking back on all that had happened. Her beautiful Yislon was
dead, another tear fell down her face. They had grown up together,
remembering the day they had fallen in love pained her. It had been
a beautiful sunny spring morning in Geal. They had been out picking
flowers together and Yislon had grabbed her hand. She could still
remember the sweet smell of the field of flowers they had run
through. The first time they had kissed made her smile and color
rise to her cheeks.