"Come and help me. He's heavier than I can handle myself," Sia said to her younger brother, Doren. Doren reluctantly rose up off of the small cot that he slept upon, tending to his sister's demand. Doren was the youngest Jurjrey, four in all. Edmond Jurjrey, and Kent Jurjrey were each older than Doren, but came after Sia, the oldest.
The four were orphans, in a sense. Sia could hardly remember her mother, and even her father's face grew dim in her mind. He spent most of his days wandering through the streets and alleys of the Westbottoms. He drank away his past and forgot of his wife and his children. Sia would see him in the streets or at the pub, but she could tell he had erased her from his memory. Sia raised her younger brothers on her own, in their small house in the Westbottoms.
"Where are we taking the man anyways, Sia?" Asked Doren.
"The Canstein. We'll drop him there and then go to fetch more Calsheth in the South. Now lend me a hand, I can't get him into the wagon alone." They took Lord Siln by the arm and lifted him from the cot on which he lay.
"Come. Here Doren. Outside and into the wagon," Said Sia and she lifted with all her strength. Sia was a thin girl, and had just passed her eighteenth nameday. But Doren bore even less strength, being just an eight year old boy.
"I'm trying Sia. I'm trying. Why not wake Edmond or Rowlin? You know they're stronger than me," Said Doren.
"They're going to be waking in just a few hours, before the sun rises. Fishermen need to get to the water early, and they'll be working the whole day" Sia said. "Lift him here, into the wagon. Set him down slowly."
The two placed a wool blanket over Lord Siln, to cover him from sight. Sia stepped up onto the wagon which she so often used to carry Calsheth, and sat ready to steer the horses. "Alright, back to bed Doren. That's all you'll be needed for," Said Sia.
Doren hopped onto the wagon himself and sat down next to Sia. "And how do ya plan on getting the man down, Sia? Have ya not thought that far ahead? Looks like ya may need me, after all. Besides, I'm awake now, and I never leave the Westbottoms. Let me come with you," Pleaded Doren.
"I can pull the man down myself. And where I'm going is no place for a peasant boy such as yourself. Go back to bed, I'll be home by early morning."
Doren stepped down off of the wagon. Sia grasped the reigns in her hands and cracked them against the horse's back. She yelled out for the horse to move and the wagon was off.
She was most at peace when driving a wagon. She rode often to the South to collect her wine. It was when Sia could think, it was when the responsibility of caring for her brothers seemed to lift of her shoulders, if not just for a moment.. The daily struggle of feeding them often weighed upon her mind. Her tired eyes and aching legs did not match her youthful age. Yet, for all the difficulty, she would have no other way. Sia loved her brothers and she valued their happiness over her own.
The night was still and cool as Sia steered the wagon through the winding streets of the Westbottoms. The streets of stone rocked the wagon back and forth, rattling Sia's tired bones. The roads of the Westbottoms were littered with horse manure, and rats the size of dogs. It was no place for a girl of eighteen to be traveling in the night. Though the streets were calm and quiet, the taverns were not. Drunks, murders, thieves, the criminals of the city, went on drinking all night.
The ride to the Canstein was not long. It would be sunlight in just a few short hours. She would reach the Canstein Woods around sunrise. Sia did not care for the Queen, she was ready to be done with her bidding and collect her gold. The. Young girl was not one to take orders, instead, Sia preferred to give them.
Circumstance, however, had deemed otherwise. The Queen had offered her work, and Sia needed the gold. With the gold in hand, Sia could finally take her younger brothers and leave the Westbottoms, leave Ferenor for good. She had never liked living there. The world was big and there must be more to see, more to live for.
She planned to go South, until the land met the Sea. Southwest of Cranst, there was a small town, called Evington. It was no city, it had no walls and it had no king. She had heard other Lords in the noble district talk about it, over tea, as she delivered goods in her wagon to the Noble Markets. It was where the Noble's wine came from.
The Evington's flew their own banners, they were a wealthy family, but not a noble one. They had lived in the South for many years, producing wine for the Nobles of Ferenor and Kessex alike. The imports would reach the Westbottoms. It was from here that Sia would take the wine by wagon to the Noble District. She had done it for year, working the winewagon was all that she knew.
And she could do so for the Evington's. Henry Evington was Sia's age, and he brought the wine wagons from the South. Sia often wondered what it may be like to marry Henry, he seemed like a nice enough boy. Sia figured if she had gold, and could afford the supplies needed for the trip to Evington, they would find work for her and her brothers in the fields of the winery.
But she had no gold, she had no supplies, she earned just enough food to feed her brothers. If Kent and Edmond caught fish, they could all eat proper meals. But neither of them were good fishermen, and they often returned home empty handed.
Sia tried her best to focus upon that which was before her, the Queen's request. Lord Siln was to be delivered, she was to return to the Westbottoms, and that was all. She knew her role in whatever this may be, was soon to be over with.
Hollering and shouting from the tavern became a faint echo as Sia began to approach the Southern Gate.
"What business you have traveling South, girl?" A guard of the gate shouted as Sia approached.
"I have an empty winewagon that needs filling. The Nobles seem to drink it quicker than I can fetch it for them," Sia responded.
"Never did see why the wine of Ferenor isn't good enough for the Nobles. Tasilmire wine does just fine for me," The Guard said as he and another opened the large Southern Gate.
"The rich will only drink Evington wine, and so I must go retrieve it for the bastards," The guard laughed as he let her through the gate.
Dusk was nearly formed, and the skies were filled with what lasted of the night's dark. She took the road past the Grounds and finally arrived at the Canstein Woods.
The trees were so large, each time she returned to the Canstein they seemed to grow even larger. There were docks to the South of Kessex, a guild of fishermen claimed them. But it was there that the Evington wine arrived by ship. It was also there, that Sia purchased, with her own coin, the Calsheth wine that she sold in the market. The fisherman had told her of it, they seemed to like her. And she liked them.
Each time she traveled through the Canstein, her eyes stayed fixed upon the trees. The woods were said to be filled with thieves and highwaymen. But Sia was not afraid. She would kill if need be.
The Westbottoms had forced her to kill before, drunkards in the taverns who tried snatching her up as she traveled the winewagon by night. Sia always carried a dagger with her. An iron handle, and carved in it, a rolling tide. Sia found the blade in a pile of her father's belongings that he had left in their home, before he left.
She often thought to ask her father about the blade. But each time she saw him, the less familiar he looked. His eyes were blank, his skin frail and his voice shrill. He looked so old. Robert never seemed to recognize Sia. He was usually staring off into a drunken glare, many times looking right through his daughter. To Sia, he had been dead for years now.
She stepped off the wagon and readied herself to remove Lord Siln. Sia took the Royal Servant Sigil which Queen Wullmont had given her, and tossed it to the ground, where she planned to drop the Lord. She stood to the rear of the wagon and grasped the wool blanket that she had used to cover over the wagon. But before she did, Sia heard a noise. Suddenly, something moved from under the blanket.
It was a small movement, but Sia felt the wagon shift. Sia grabbed for her dagger with her other hand and grasped it tightly with anticipation. The Queen had emphasized that Lord Siln was to be kept alive, but it seemed that Sia may have no other option. She had to protect herself, after all. Again, movement from under the blanket. Sia took a deep breath, and considered whether she should run.
She was unsure of what to do and her mind scrambled to find an answer. But while her thoughts danced in a whirlwind of uncertainty, Sia's hand made a decision of its own. She quickly lifted the blanket high and thrust forward her dagger, ready to pierce through flesh.
"Sia no! It's me! It's your brother, Doren!" Doren yelled, as loud as any boy could. Sia's hand stopped frozen, just shy of her brother's throat. She could not believe what she saw in front of her. The screech of Doren startled the horse that was hitched to the winewagon. The horse reared its head high into the air, and turned the wine wagon with it. The force knocked Doren and Lord Siln from the wagon, crashing them towards the dirt.
"Doren, you damned fool of a brother," Sia said as she watched the Lord fall to the ground before her eyes. Doren leapt to his feet, trembling with guilt.
"I'm sorry Sia. I wanted to see the Canstein, and the docks to the South. I thought if I kept silent, I wouldn't cause any harm. I just wanted to help."
Sia was furious at her brother. How he could be so stupid, she was never to know. Nevertheless, Lord Siln was where he needed to be. They drug him up against a tree, the Sigil sat next to him in the dirt.
"Come on then, you idiot. We need to go. This is not the time to defend your stupidity," Sia said.
Doren stepped his way towards his sister and the two turned their back to Lord Siln, ready to make their way down the alley to find the wagon.
An inaudible grunt, like the sound of a hound waking from a dream, called out from the trees. Sia and Doren turned to see Lord Siln, his head wobbling slowly and his eyes half opened.
Sia grabbed Doren's hand tightly. "The poison is starting to wear." The horse was lost, roaming through the Canstein. But they had to disappear quickly, for Lord Siln could wake at any moment. There was no telling when he would regain a conscious mind. Sia heard the heavy hooves of a horse and looked up to see the beast galloping to the South. It trotted past them, freed from the wine wagon. With Doren's hand held tightly in her, she began to run. If she lost that horse, she would never again travel South, and selling wine would become a far less profitable hobby.
They followed the horse down the road and through the Canstein, until they were near the wood's end. The horse had stopped, grazing not far from them. Sia stopped, and the two knelt low to the ground, out of the horse's sight.
"You absolute idiot of a boy," Sia said firmly, keeping her voice low, as she tried to catch her breath. "You're lucky he was far from conscious. If he had been, he would've easily seen our faces."
"I'm sorry Sia, I didn't mean for it to happen," Doren said much more loudly than he should have.
"Quiet, Doren. You'll scare off the horse."
"Why can't we go back home?" Doren whispered.
"There's no returning to Ferenor without a wagon full of wine. That's what the guards at the gate are expecting, and if we return empty handed, and a Lord has been found half dead in the Canstein, they'll hang us," Sia responded.
She crept low to the grass, slowly approaching the feeding horse. He was still far off, in an open prairie within the Canstein. Woods surrounded the horse's every direction, as he grazed. Sia and Doren had made their way to the very edge of the wood. All that separated them from the horse was a grassy field.
"Stay here, I'll approach him steadily. The both of us may scare him off." But just before Sia could begin her walk towards the horse, a burst of noise came from the other side of the prairie.
Two trappers, each on horseback, shot out from the woods like a strike of lightning, and closed in on the unexpecting horse. They circled around him, and cast a large net over the animal, as it kicked back onto its hind legs and tried with all its might to escape.
"Quiet, don't say a word," Sia said to Doren as she stepped back into the woods. Sia's horse had given up its fight and simply stood under the large net.
"Well come on then, lasso the horse and let's be on our way. We can still get to the market in Kessex to sell the damn thing," One of the men said.
"Wait until the others see this. A thoroughbred. We'll pocket some pretty coin for this one here."
Sia watched on in disbelief. Her horse had been with her for so many years, and now he was to be sold in a foreign city. Anger swelled in her heart, and tears formed in her eyes. She wanted to draw her dagger and step into the prairie, to face the thieves and bloody them both. But before she could even make the rash and unwise decision, Doren pulled her by the arm.
"Sia," He whispered. "Look."
Sia looked down in front of Doren, where her frightened little brother pointed. In the leaves and dirt before, slithered a beast like Sia had never before seen. It was as dark as the soil beneath her feet, and it moved through the leaves like rolling water. It's dark slimy scales slowly inched forward, as it circled around their feet.
Within seconds, Sia felt the cold, slithering beast wrap around her and Doren both, and squeeze with a great force. It was a Canstein Snake. They were said to be the largest snakes in Miriela, other than the fabled stories of those in the North. They could kill a full-grown horse within minutes. Sia had never seen one before, but had heard plenty of them during her time traveling the Canstein.
The snake tightened around their legs, then their bellies, quicker than Sia could manage to think. "Sia, I can't breathe," Doren said faintly. His face was already beginning to turn blue, and his eyes looked as if they were ready to pop out of his skull.
Sia's torso was covered by the beast, but her hands were still free. She started punching down upon the snake, but its armor-like scales deflected each blow. A sharp sting began to develop in her lungs, and Sia felt her bony ribs began to push inward. She fought to slip her right hand in between the snake and her belly, as she desperately reached for the dagger which hung at her side.
But the snake's strength was far too great and there was simply no room for Sia's hand to reach. She looked over to check upon her little brother, who was now either unconscious or dead. His body was limp, his eyes were closed. But Sia had not time for emotion or thought, only time to act.
Breathing had become nearly impossible. Her vision began to grow hazy, and she felt her face begin to swell. Her hand desperately searched the ground beneath her, feeling for anything sharp.
Amongst the leaves and dirt which fell through Sia's hand, finally came something hard, something sharp. A rock. She lifted the small rock high above her head, as the snake wrapped its body around her left arm, which remained at her side.
She closed her eyes. There was no force which Sia could produce that would allow air to return to her lungs. Her crackling bones were ready to pierce through her lungs like a sword through a pig's flesh. Everything seemed to slow down, and her ears only heard the popping of her rib cage as the snake's grip grew tighter and tighter.
With her hand held high in the air, Sia cast down the sharp edge of the rock with all her might towards the snake's slithering body. Instantly, a breath of air returned to her desperate lungs, and the snake's deathly grip lessened. Again, she rose the rock high above her head and slammed it down, and she felt the snake uncoil from around her chest.
Sia dropped the rock to the ground and enjoyed the feeling of cold crisp air returning life to her body, even though it was painful to breath. She dropped to the dirt, and finally opened her eyes. As her senses all began to return, Sia could see Doren lying next to her, his chest slowly moving up and down as his lungs reached out for the air that they too, so desperately craved.
She could see the snake's body, thick as an oxen's leg, laying still in the dirt around them. And as her eyes followed the beast's body before her feet, she saw steal. A large sword was plunged deep into the snake's core, dark blood surrounding it.
A hand grabbed Sia under the armpit and pulled her up to sit next to a tree, where she sat next to Doren. Her brother now sat with his eyes opened, but a look of confusion was still drawn out upon his face. But there was no time for Sia to check upon her little brother, for two more beasts now stood at their feet, ready to strike. It was the trappers.
"This one's got some fight in her," Said one of the men. "Would have fought to your death if I hadn't pierced the beast with my blade."
"Crashing a rock against a Canstein Snake? Better chance of one slithering through the eye of a needle," Laughed the other thief.
"By my estimation, it seems we came to catch a horse and found two slaves in the process." The thief took a rope which was tied and hanging from his waist. "On your feet then, both of you. Hands out in front of ya."
Sia could hardly speak let alone stand. She still hadn't quite caught her breath, and adrenaline still pumped in full course through her veins.
"We are no slaves. That is my horse, which you plan on taking," Sia pointed past the men to her horse which still stood caught underneath a net.
"We saved your lives, the both of ya. It seems only fair that in return we should have your horse. A repayment for our deed of goodwill," Said one of the men. He pulled his sword out from the snake's belly, the steel still covered in dark black blood.
"And as for the two of you, well we can't just let you two young ones be traveling alone in the Canstein. It's just not safe for ya out here. We're heading into town and it'd be best for us to show ya the way. Now, on your feet and hands out in front."
Sia felt she had no choice. She was injured, and she was sure that Doren was as well. She was in no shape to fight, and even if she was, she knew she was no match for two armed thieves.
"Can you stand, Doren?" Sia asked her brother. Doren nodded uncomfortably and worked his way up to his feet. Sia did the same. She put out her hands and the men tied them tightly together with rope. The other end was then fastened to their horses. They did the same to Sia's horse and the group all continued South through the Canstein.
"What are they going to do with us, Sia?" Doren quietly asked as they walked.
"We're going to be traded as slaves. We'll be sold off for coin," Sia said. She felt cold and hopeless. She feared the snake's grip may have been a better fate than what waited before them.
"We can't. We're not slaves, we belong in Ferenor," Doren said.
"You don't anymore. Your fate rests in the hands of the highest bidder. Gold is your God now, boy," One of the men yelled back from his horse. The two thieves began to laugh and Sia knew that their words were true.
They soon left the Canstein and came across the large open fields which awaited to the South. Kessex was visible out on the horizon, its large stone walls and tall towers. Sia walked on strongly, yet felt cold and hopeless. She had to pretend for Doren, she needed to be his beacon for hope. But her heart felt otherwise. She feared that the snake's grip may have been a better fate than whatever waited for them South. But she knew she must do as she always had, and continue to fight.