The Curse of Kalathan

Six: Campfire

Every morning began with the sword ceremony, with the brothers, Pralin, the priest, and the two guards standing in a circle around a sword in the ground. They recited the words that they all, even Maikal, knew by heart, words in the Old Tongue which Theo suspected only he and perhaps the priest understood. The twins and Kaspar had learned it, of course, and Ben was struggling through it now, but he knew his brothers had never mastered the complex, formal language that had come so much more easily to him. He had thought to get it over with and had volunteered to go first to be the one to draw the sword across his hand for the blood offering. He had been tempted, the first morning, to pull his rank and cancel the whole thing, but he decided that the pompous priest wasn't worth antagonising. It was the fourth evening already and the cut on his hand still smarted. He sat by the campfire and held it out towards the flames, hoping the warmth would soothe the sting.

The twins were singing again on the other side of the huge campfire they had made, a jolly song about a travelling tinker that had the fat old priest roaring with laughter and slapping his knee. Ben was listening, his eyes wide, and Maikal was fast asleep. The journey was hard on the little boy – it was hard enough for Theo to ride all day, and he had done it before, many times. Theo knew that Maikal missed Mother, although he insisted his tears were because of the way his back and legs hurt from riding all day.

"Not much longer, Maikal," Theo had said, crouching down beside the boy's bed in one of the tents that evening. "We're almost there."

"I know. Tomorrow we will reach the shrine, we'll pray there, and then we will go home," he said, sleepily.

"See you in the morning, Mouse," said Theo quietly, making sure the blankets and furs were snugly around him. Maikal smiled a little as his eyes closed. Maikal slowed things down, thought Theo as he had stepped out of the tent. But he was enjoying having him along.

Kaspar came over to him and sat down, also holding out his hands towards the dancing flames. He nodded towards the twins and the priest. "They're enjoying themselves," he said.

Theo nodded. "Perhaps a little too much."

Kaspar smiled, pulling his jacket tightly around him. "It's cold, isn't it?" he said.

Theo shrugged. "It's warm enough in the tent with all of you."

Kaspar looked over to where the two girls huddled around the much smaller fire they had made after they had cooked and served the meal to everyone else. "Those girls," he said. "Why do you think they are travelling with us?"

"I did wonder," said Theo. "But I'm not complaining. The food is better than it was last time, when Pralin made it."

"It's the taller one who makes it," said Kaspar. "Did you know they were both in prison?"

Theo hadn't known. He had assumed that whoever had been tasked with organising this trip had just decided to send some female servants along this time, maybe for Ben and Maikal's sake. Beyond that he hadn't given it any thought. "What for? Have you spoken to them?"

"Not really," said Kaspar. "I asked where they were from and the small one said they were brought from the prison. I tried to ask more but the other one just looked down and said she wasn't allowed to speak to me."

"Why on earth do we have servants who were in prison?" Theo asked. He looked around for Pralin, but the old man usually went to sleep when Maikal did.

"We could ask them," said Kaspar. "They will talk to us if we tell them to."

Theo looked over at the girls. They were both very thin, the smaller one especially. She looked Northern, with her dark skin and small eyes. The other one was typically Kalathan –lighter in colouring than the other girl, her long hair braided into a loose crown. They don't look as if they came from a prison, he thought, although what that should look like he didn't exactly know.