I was seven when my parents where killed in front of me. That was eleven years ago.
" I am ready."
"Are you sure?"
"I said I’m ready." I can see frozen air curling off my breath. It's cold, too cold for this time of the year, but nothing will deter me.
" Alright , alright, your ready. Take off your jacket and your skirts." The slightest bits of snow begining to fall, landing lightly on Henry and I. I wonder if this will be a problem,we didn’t factor in any snow. But I dismiss the idea as soon as it enters my head, I’ve been waiting too long for this moment to be slowed down by a little snow.
As soon as I take off my jacket I can feel the cold biting into my skin and my resolve weakens and I think I might fall but Henry holds out a hand to steady me as I fumble with the leather fastening on my heavy skirts.Then he looks down at me and smiles.
" I should wish you luck but you. I know you won’t need it." I allow myself to laugh even though I throw my skirts at him and tell him to hush or someone might hear us. He is right though, I don't need luck. I never do. This is as much a part of me as my raven black hair or my blue green eyes.
I watch as Henry crushes down and picks up his heavy rucksack from the frozen earth. I breathe in the bitter air and know I'm alive, fully and totally alive.
I can sense the crunch of frosted grass under the pressure of his feet, hear the cry of small finches in their nest somewhere behind us, I can feel blood and adreniline pumping though my veins.
"Here, M'lady." Henry passes me a pair of worn boys trousers and a cloak equally tattered. The trousers are tight around my hips and I curse under my breath, it’s getting harder to disguise myself as a boy. Soon I’ll have to find some other way to travel the Northern Aaun Passageways. The cold begins to burn my cheeks and sting my eyes but in a matter of seconds we'll be off. Nothing will matter then.
Henry clasps his hand onto my arm and pauses to look me in the eye," Are you absolutely sure you are ready?". Henry cannot be serious, if he does not know how I have been longing for this moment he does not know me.
" Henry. If I were not ready I wouldn't have wasted all this time of preparation. Everything is in place, it is either now or never." I walk towards Ari, Henry's horse and begin to mount as Henry walks towards the older,slower horse, Marnie, he insisted it would be safer if I were to ride Ari.
" Fine. You’re right of course. It' is just... be careful."
I laugh ruefully and pat the dagger I keep in my sheath as if to make sure it is still at my side.
" I'm always careful. Otherwise I'd be dead."
For nearly twenty minutes Henry rides cross bow in hand, though I haven’t a clue how he can manage to handle both the weapon and the horse, especially one so unsturdy as Marnie. Spirits help him, I know if I weren’t riding with him he wouldn’t be half as cautious.
Even at this hour of the night , even with me dressed as a boy he still cannot let go of the fear that accompanies riding on this side of the Northern Aaun.
Theives, cut-throats and bandits oh my. Henry and his brothers travel this side of the Aaun almost once every month to trade or sell what ever suplies they can get their hands on.
Even though there's less to risk with the five of them, five strong able-bodied men who are always armed with weapons. It's still dangerous.
No matter I'm in everyway Henry's match with a sword and I'm nearly twice as accurate with a bow, there are still reasons why it's more dangerous for me here, physically men are stronger.
It would be easier for a man to break my neck than it would be for me to break theirs, I'm not to pround to abmit that. But tonight there seems to be no one out, Henry and I haven't come across another living soul since I changed clothes.
We are riding hard through dense forest and that’s taking it’s toll on the horses but I can see the trees beginning to thin out. Henry stops riding.
“ Do you smell that?” White puffs of smoke form when he speaks and he pulls at his cloak so that it no longer hides his face, brown hair tumbles down hanging in his eyes. I could kill him...I want to scream at him, what are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?
But then I smell it: smoke.
“ Hah, come on girl.” Henry coos at Marnie and slowly the old horse starts moving towards the smell of burning wood, Ari following behind.
I am the first to dismount when we spot the small stone cabin in the distance, hidden veiled by the darkness of night, I’m so excited that I almost forget Ari, and leave her to Henry’s care but the voice in the back of my head, the voice that has almost always gotten me out of near death situations tells me to keep my wits about me. So I stick my boots in the mud and wait for him to tie Ari and Marnie together and secure them to a tree.
“ Well, come on then.” Henry pats the neighing Ari and pulls his cloak tightly around himself shielding his body from the snow. I could care less about the weather, the snow that’s falling more and more heavy by the minute. We are so close now, that is the only thing that matters. My body is literally aching with anxiousness. Darkness and cold envelope us as we trudge towards the cabin.
“ You nervous?” Henry’s voice is impassive.
“ No.” I answer quickly, the answer I have been drilling into my head for the past eleven years of my existence. And now, I’m surprised to find that it’s true.
Five minutes and a dragged out silence later we are at the door of the cabin. Lamp oil light spills from the place, and carved neatly above the door post was a greeting, reading
Sanctuary.
I raise a clenched hand to the door, minuscule speaks of paint drift aimlessly to the floor under the pressure of my gloved fist. Once, twice and once again I knock and no one comes, Henry and I stand in nervous silence.
“He was supposed to be here.” I look at Henry and my hand ,almost instinctively, touches the handle of my dagger.
“ Supposed to.” He whispers to himself. Now Henry reaches for his crossbow and begins to say something when we hear a voice from behind us.
"Gracious spirits have mercy on me."
Henry and I turn around just in time to see a young woman's wicker basket crash out of her hands and onto the snow. For a moment the three of us just stand there, frozen in place.
The woman doesn't even dare to pick up her baskets - or it's contents - from the frozen earth. She looks like a deer with a spear pressed against it's chest; eyes wide, shallow breath and ready to sprint if need be.
" Who are you?" Henry doesn't have to speak loudly cut through our silcence but I suppose it was enough because the woman said something.
"I'll be thankin' you kindly for putting that away," She nods at Henry who still has his notched crossbow in hand. " And then I be thankin' you for telling me what you two are doing on my door step."
I look at Henry as he slowly lowers his crossbow and let my fingers brush against the leather grip of my dagger wondering if I'm going to have to us it. Somethings wrong, either Henry and I made a terrrible mistake or this woman is a lier.
."Your door step?" I ask.
"Yes my door step and it's been mine for nearly three years, now you don't look like any squatters I've ever seen so you'd best be telling me what bussiness you have on my property."
For almost eight months each time Henry and his brothers have gone to the Northern Aaun to trade they leave with a whisper or rumor more of information. Anything, no matter how small or improbable was valuable to us.
Three months ago they meet a man from one of the Newurst Eastern ports who said he hadd just the rumor that we were looking for, it took two more trips to the Aaun and payment but he gave us a map and name. There was supposed to be a man named Shamus inside but obviously somethings not right.
" We were told that this house belongs to a man named Shamus, do you kno-"
" Shamus McKellen is my husband, curse his wicked soul. I told him not to get involved with the likes of you. Whatever yeer seekin it'll not be here, Shamus left for port nearly an hour ago, leavin' me here to clean up this bussiness. You'd best git out, now. The lot of you." The girl spit out curses as she drops to her knees and starts shoving snow covered cabbages, leeks and potatos back into her rattan basket.
I glance at Henry, who is at the woman with doubt and hit him on the arm.
" Well that clears things up now doesn't it?" I half whisper half laugh.
"He didn't tell me he was married, though it would have been something nice to mention." Henry grumbles. I just smile because even when we were children he hated being wrong, making mistakes and this was most certinly a mistake.
I look at the woman crouching down gathering the last of her food and my stomache turns. Henry's right, little mistakes and loose ends are the type of thing tht can get people killed.
" Look I know you don't want your old man involved with this type of, bussniess but we're old friends of his. He had something that belongs to my friend over here and it's be a shame the two of us coming all this way and then leaving without it. Perhaps he mentioned us." Henry hops down to two shaky steps on the porch and offers to take the wicker basket from the girls hands.
" Ha, old friends? Honestly what do you take me for, I grew up in the house next to the one Shamus was borne in. I'd know any old friends of his." The girl pushes past Henry and walks up to the porch, in the dim light I can see her face, she's pretty enough and young. Maybe three years older than me with red hair curling out of her chignon.
" Um, perhaps Shamus mentioned us before he left and it just slipped your mind," I step infront of the woman and press a leather purse full of coins into her hand.
She stares me in the eye and then turns to glance at Henry." Well, obviously whatever Shamus has for you it's important. Spirits help me," She looks me in the eye again and then down to her hand at the coins, probably asking herself it the payment is worth helping us.
Then she groans and opens the wooden door, " Fine, if yeer coming in, come on then. I don't want the cold air in my house. And you fine sir I'll be askin that you not take your weapon into my home."
I laughed and Henry smirks as he put his crossbow on a wooden stool next to his rucksack.
Fire crackels through burnt logs in a small fire box that's in the corner of the little cabin. I sit in the shadows and hug into Henry's jacket as the girl pours tea into mine then his mismatched mugs.
" Alright, I'll ask once. What do you both want, or do I have to start guessing?" She leans into a wooden chair, slowly sipping from the jar of steaming beer in her hand.
Well this girl is certinly no longer the frightened young woman we startled outside, she wants to know what bussness we have with her husband and why. I catch Henrys glance, and then look back at her, bravery is admirable, but it can get people hurt.
I glare down at my cup as Henry starts speaking. Just as we planned, just as we had always done, Henry speaks unless I absulutly need to. It wouldn't really fit for me to disguse my body and not my voice.
" No need to guess, it's simple bussiness. Shamus owed us a favour, some money from a bad trade he suggested."
The woman shifts in her chair and shoves a tuft of her hair behind her ear.
" I don't believe you. Who comes to secure a bussiness deal in the wee hours of the morning armed with weapons?"
" This is the Northern Aaun."
"Never the lest."
Henry just smiles at her, " He said he put the coins in a box."
The woman narrows her eyes at him and starts of to a wooden tea table near the fire-side. " Here, take it and leave," She thrust a woolen bag into Henry's arms and glares at us both for a moment before saying " My husband is a good man, I don't know what you paid him to get involved with, whatever it is yeer doin'. But I'm begging you not to do it again, for the sake of a wife plea-"
" Ma'am, I've'nt the slightest idea of what you could mean. But I asure you after his last wee bit of advise went arseways, I don't think we'll be looking for his help anymore." Henry grins up at her releaved face, my word