SONG OF POWER

Chapter XVII: Camp

SONG OF POWR

CHAPTER XVII:  CAMP

“So how, exactly, did this happen?”  Jigger asked his cousin as they stood at the edge of the firelight, looking off towards the north as if they could see those they were pursuing.

“Tyroce asked me to brew for her a collection of potions, saying she might have need of them.  She told me of a secret quest she was undertaking; that’s when I sent for you.  I helped them get into Emeria without too much fuss.  Once you joined me I decided we should strike out and catch up with Tyroce and the rest, because they might need more than potions,” Jake explained to his cousin.  Jigger nodded his head, the small bells on his cap jingling softly.  “And would you mind taking those off?  We’re out in the wilderness, not in your lord Ambrose’s court!”

“Well, according to you, Cipher is my lord now.  While in his presence I am in his court, so no, I’ll not take my bells off.  Besides, I like them.  Well…maybe I’ll take them off in the morning, but they remain for now just to spite you!”

“Speaking of which, how is it you came to pass through Emeria and into Ruto without being captured?  A lone gnome in Emeria fetches a high ransom these days, and Ruto pays dearly to free such unfortunates,” Jake queried.  His voice was a fearful whisper, and he switched to the Braltian tongue to ask the question, knowing that fewer of their companions would understand, if any of them.  His gravity was not lost on the jester.

“You forget, cousin, that though I play the fool, I study illusion,” Jigger boasted. “No gnome passed alone through Emeria; I took the guise of a necromancer, and the Emerians were glad of heart to see me pass through their realm and into another.”

“You disguised yourself as…” Jake was afraid to ask the question, afraid to hear his cousin’s answer.

“I traveled in the guise of Ambrose,” Jigger boasted, and his cousin groaned.  Ambrose was a well-known and powerful necromancer, and in their younger days Jigger and Ambrose had travelled together.  To the relief of nearly all who dwelt in the True World, Ambrose had graciously accepted an invitation to live and study in Everton, for he cared for nothing so much as his dark art.  In Everton he was free to explore this unsavory career with little oversight or opposition.

“You doorknob!” Jake blustered, “You’re lucky you weren’t set upon by some foolish group of adventurers seeking to carve a name out of Ambrose’s hide! Why, just the mention of his name gives me gooseflesh.”  Jigger merely laughed, and the cousins continued their banter as they kept watch over the camp.

Cipher and Ninthalsaya stood for a time in silence.  The moon was bright in the sky, a waxing moon nearing fullness.  Ninthalsaya stared at it for a time, while Cipher stared at his wife; she had doffed the veil she constantly wore that concealed all but her eyes, and her witch’s hat lay beside the fire, allowing Guts to sleep warmly.  The moonlight danced along her skin, as if beauty was some sort of moon-granted liquid that trickled across her flesh.  Of his three wives, he had thought of giving her a token for the longest time.  Cipher’s mind wandered to when he first arrived in Cyen.

“It was very long ago,” Ninthalsaya began, her words echoing Cipher’s thoughts. “We were both children.  I remember how you used to find any excuse to hide by my hut, watching my mother and I as we tended to our little patch of Gaea.  Mother used to tease me, saying we would…” Ninthalsaya suddenly stopped, realization stilling her tongue.

“In Demarest we were taught that witches were evil; I refused to believe you were anything but good,” Cipher said, altering the path of the conversation slightly.

“Why would you refuse the knowledge of your elders, flawed though it may be?” Ninthalsaya asked, turning to face him.

“You always seemed so…beautiful…to me,” Cipher chose his words carefully, unwilling to stoke the fires of Ninthalsaya’s fury.  He was glad she lacked her veil, for he saw the blush color her cheeks at the unexpected compliment, though she quickly turned away.