Wraith Walker

Chapter 15

     An hour and many offers of help and goods later, they were riding through the gates of the port toward Marvres. Word got around quickly that seven Witches on large recognizable horses were around and it seemed everyone in the port had interest in a Witch being indebted to them. Offers of flowers, of food, wine, clothing, and even weapons came flooding at them as they rode their horses down the stone road. They politely declined every one of them, growing more and more on edge with each refusal. Helisant finally snapped at a child—threatening to cut her tongue out for offering a blessing after a sneeze.

     It was Merrant's doing, ensuring they were so easily identified. A fun Fae game for him to play: could the Witches make it through Kendecier without becoming indentured servants? But the joke was on Merrant. He was an asshole and Tamsin would pay him back tenfold when they got to his palace.

     Many of the other territories refused to travel through Kendecier on due to the Fae tricks. Merrant hadn't become King through any great trials or wars as other Kings and Queens did, but through tricks and treachery. It's what the Fae cherished the most and Merrant had scrambled his way to the top through his dealings.

     It was nearing nightfall when Helisant and Ymayne scouted a camping spot just off the King's Road. The land outside the port had opened into a set of farm fields, lush with late season lavender, turnips, and squash. Fewer and fewer people were seen on the road as they rode farther from the port, passing only a few people scurrying to reach the port gates before night, and some merchants with their wagons heading to sell. Sasha had lifted his shield from her, so quiet was the road. As the sun began to dip behind the mountains, the trees thickened and they reached the mouth of a forest.

     It was a bit foolish to find a camp in the dark, but it was more foolish to camp out in an open field with no cover. Two miles into the forest, when the horses where beginning to get nervous from the blackness quickly settling around them, Tamsin lit a few torches and sent Helisant and Ymayne to find a campsite. Miriald took Helisant's place at the front of the riding group, Sasha in the middle and Thiphania and Iola bringing up the rear.

     Helisant and Ymayne had been gone nearly an hour when the faint glow of a torch could be seen slowly bobbing through the trees around the next bend, interrupting the bawdy joke Sasha was telling.

     "Is that someone walking?" Miriald asked. Tamsin turned her horse in front of Miriald's, stopping the group. She watched the light thread through the trees, assessing the situation. The trees were thick enough on each side that they could take cover in the forest if need be. They travelled this road every year so she had some idea what the terrain was like. Still, she wouldn't want to get in a fight in Merrant's territory.... But whoever—whatever—it was moved quickly. They had almost cleared the bend.
  

     "Put the torches out. They might not have seen us yet." Tamsin ordered, but Thiphania had already extinguished hers and Miriald's followed a moment later.

     "It's too late to walk, right?" Miriald whispered.

     It was. The forest had been dark, pitch black since Helisant and Ymayne set off for a campsite. 

     Any normal traveller would have pulled off and stopped before now. Whoever it was, they weren't looking for a campsite.

     "Stay here," Tamsin said. She pulled the reins steering her horse forward. None of them wore armor, save for the light leather that Sasha wore anytime he was outside of his quarter. They were guaranteed safe passage by Merrant and in years past had only worn their traveling clothes with no issues. Maybe it was time for her to change that, especially with tensions between territories so high as they searched for the Seer.