Beyond the Barren Mountains

Shawneth

Shawneth

Prologue

The caravan wound its way slowly through the treacherous mountains. The tired horses walked gingerly; their sides heaving with exhaustion. Every so often one of them would shake his weary head and send foamy spit flying. The men, however, were too tired to care and not one of them bothered to wipe himself clean as they rode, drooping in their saddles. More than one of them had to jerk upright in order to stay seated in his saddle. They were trained to stay alert but the frantic return journey to their home had proven to be too much for even these well-trained men.

The caravan consisted of a jewel-encrusted carriage containing the royal family of Dokia and one hundred of the best of the royal guards. They were traveling through the only overland route from the eastern kingdom of Craval to the western kingdom of Dokia; a trip that should take four days. At the insistence of the king, they'd done it in three. The several carriages full of nobles who had originally accompanied the royal family had all been left behind at this point, some of them because they had been stripped of their fastest horses and, in two cases, wheels, so that the king could have them for his own carriage.

They had been visiting in the kingdom of Craval for the past month to finalize arrangements for the betrothal of Dokia's only prince to the oldest of Craval's three young princesses. It was an arrangement that would benefit both the large and rich Dokia and the smaller but even richer Craval. The relationship between the two countries had been strained for decades and no trading had gone on between them. But the king of Craval had heard such good things about the many fine things produced in Dokia, he had offered his little girl of only five years old as a peace offering. King Jacob of Dokia jumped at the chance to marry off his only child, a son of three years, to such wealth and a deal was struck.

After the last of the details had been hammered out, the king couldn't wait to get back home. A month in the company of his respectable wife rather than his young, eager mistress had put him in a foul mood. Everyone, including the unfortunate queen, knew they were being pushed so hard so that the king could rush home to the woman with whom he was infatuated. Unfortunately for the people at the king's mercy, the only way to get from Craval to Dokia in less than three weeks was through a dangerous mountain pass called the Narrow Blade.

Narrow Blade was known for its use as an attack point for thieves as well as dangerous rock slides. There were no trees or any other kind of vegetation in the Barren Mountains that lay to the north of the pass. The legend behind the unusual mountains was that they had been cursed long ago by a powerful witch while the world was still full of magic.

The mountains on the other side were normal but that only seemed to make the passage even more dangerous since the rocks would hit the tall pine trees on the other side and end up piled in the road. As bad as the rock slides were, it was the Narrow Blade Thieves who had the king's men feeling utterly terrified. The thieves were known for being vicious and no one was ever left alive when they attacked.

The attacks happened infrequently, sometimes several years apart, and always at night. The king was confident that they would be able to travel safely through, especially if they went into it during the daytime. And they had, after all, made it safely through on their way to Craval. But the first time they had gone through the pass it had been during the early afternoon. This time the caravan reached the eastern entrance just as the sun was starting to set. The weary guards bolted upright in their saddles, all of them suddenly very alert. The head guard commanded them to halt so that he could find out the king's wishes. The king immediately ordered him to continue forward rather than backtrack to one of the many inns they had passed and lose time the next day. In his arrogance, he was certain that his guards could fight off any attack that might come their way.