Eryn
The shock nearly made her fall to her knees. The cart was filled with things she recognized. Tools from her father's forge, clothes from Laia's shop, a sack of grain from the Dunn's farm. Even the blanket had belonged to someone in her village, she realized.
"Eryn, I'm sorry," Tanner said. She could tell he was moving towards her. She spun around on her knees and lashed out with the sword, not caring if she struck him or not. He fell backwards to avoid it.
"What did you do?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears again, her anger building.
"Eryn, wait. We can explain," Magret said. "We aren't bad people."
"What did you do?" she repeated, her voice louder.
"Please, Eryn," Tanner said. "You'll bring the soldiers down on us."
If he hadn't said that, she might have exploded, screaming at them in anger. She remembered when she had yelled at Roddin, and slapped him, how it had brought Lia right to them. She wasn't going to do that again.
"I don't understand," she whispered, distraught at the sight.
"They killed them," Tanner said. "Your village. They killed all of them. Last night."
"But, Master Lewyn-"
"Your woodsman? They would have killed him too, once they had you. I bet they sent him out looking for you before they did it. Magret and I, we follow the soldiers leaving from Root, that's the town between here and Elling City. We wait to see if they come back with the Cursed in chains, or in a sack, or not at all. Then we go in and collect whatever we find that we know we can sell. It isn't a glamorous life, or even much of an honorable one, but it beats going hungry."
She could hardly believe it was true. "How can you live like that?" she asked. "How many villages do they destroy?"
"Too many," Magret replied. "Elling is only one of the thirty provinces in his empire. It used to be that we would visit one village each year, and collect just enough to get by. Yours is the fourth village that has been put to the torch this year. As near as we can tell, the number of Cursed is growing."
"As is the number of people trying to hide them," Tanner added.
"If you only need one village to live, then why? Why scavenge from the innocent dead if you have enough to eat?"
"We take these things and sell them, and then we pass the coin on to the resistance," Magret said.
"Resistance?" Eryn asked.
Tanner nodded. "Each province has an Overlord, and each Overlord has a number of Lords, depending on the size of the province. The Lords are usually in charge of a town or two and whatever villages fall in their jurisdiction. Some of the Lords are sympathetic to those who have lost their children, their families, and in some cases their whole village to his soldiers. They have been helping to organize an army to rise up against him. There have already been a couple of skirmishes in Aspin; that's another of the provinces."
Eryn was amazed. If there was a resistance, she wanted to be part of it. "How do I join them?"
"I'm sorry, Eryn," Magret said. "They won't allow the Cursed to fight. If you seek them out, they'll do what they can to give you shelter and try to protect you, but that will be the end of it."
"They won't let me fight?" Eryn asked.
"No. They can't get in the way of his edict on the Cursed, if they do the whole force of his armies will come to bear against them before they can gather enough resources to fight back. They will try to help you hide, but they will not let you participate."
Eryn shook her head. That wasn't good enough. She wasn't going to hide somewhere while other people died trying to keep her safe. She had sworn she would end his reign.
"Eryn," Magret said. "We can help you get to them. You don't have to run. You can try to go on with your life."
"Go on with my life? Everyone I loved is gone. Everything I knew is either gone, or in your cart. Take it, sell it, help the resistance, that is well and good. If you want to help me directly, get me to Elling City."
The married couple looked at one another again, and then back at her.
"We can help you to the north side of Root," Tanner said, "but it will be suspicious if we bypass the town completely, and Rappett will be waiting for us. You'll have to make it the rest of the way to Elling on your own."
"How are we going to get past the soldiers?" Eryn asked.
"Don't worry, child," Magret said. "I have an idea."
She stood up and joined Eryn by the cart, pulling back the blanket and pushing aside a few of the things. Resting at the very bottom was a scissor.
"They're looking for a girl with short brown hair," Marget said. "Not a boy with a shaved head. You're tall for your age, I think we have some clothes in here that will fit you."
Eryn reached up and stroked her hair. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of cutting it off, or pretending to be a boy, but she was willing to do whatever she had to. It seemed fitting that she would be wearing one of the villager's clothes to evade the soldiers.
"I have a razor you can use to finish the shave," Tanner said.
They sat her down and Tanner held the lantern to her head while Marget cut her hair and then used the razor to remove the stubble. It felt weird to Eryn to be bald, and to feel every prick of the wind on her scalp. She ran her hand over it, back and forth in disbelief. Then Marget rooted around in the cart again until she found a brown tunic and pants.
"They're a little big, but it will help hide your breasts," she said.
Eryn took the clothes and walked into the darkness, quickly changing and returning. "Well?"
"Perfect," Tanner said.
"Get some sleep, Eryn," Marget said. "We'll be leaving at first light. I have to warn you though, if any of the soldiers who came to your village stop us, you may have to run. They'll know it was just the two of us."
"I don't want to put you in danger," Eryn said. "Maybe I should just go ahead on my own."
"Nonsense. You'll stand out less with us, especially now, and the road will be a lot faster. Plus, we have plenty of bread, and we're not that far from Root as it is. You'll be on the north side in a couple of days at most."
"How can I ever repay you?"
Tanner and Marget's faces both turned grim.
"If your goal is to kill him, you can repay us by killing him," Tanner said, while Marget nodded her head.
***
They were on the east side of the town Tanner had said was called Root, on a smaller dirt road used mainly by farmers to bring their harvest to either the north or south side of town, when they were stopped by his soldiers.
It had been good fortune that Eryn had been pulling the hand cart at the time, having insisted on sharing their load, especially since she was younger and stronger than both of them. It made her appearance as a boy even more believable. They had thought ahead to put her bow, quiver and the sword she had taken at the bottom of the cart, covered by all of the other items the two had scavenged from her village.
"Hold," the voice shouted from behind them. The three turned as one while the two soldiers rode up on the backs of their large black chargers.
"Can I help you, My Lord?" Tanner asked, giving them a bow of subservience.
"We're in search of two fugitives," the soldier said.
Eryn tried to mask her surprise. Two?
"One is a young girl, with short brown hair, about the same height as your boy. Her name is Eryn Albion. The other is a tall, thin, older man with shoulder length white hair and blue eyes, goes by the name of Silas Morningstar."
Tanner and Marget looked at one another, and then at Eryn. She shrugged.
"We haven't been on the road more than a few days, My Lord," Marget said. "You're the first person we've seen who wasn't a merchant or a farmer."
The other soldier circled around the cart, looking down at it. "What do you have in the wagon?" he asked.
"Found merchandise," Tanner replied, pulling back a corner of the blanket. "We picked it up from a village to the east of here. Are you interested in buying anything?"
The soldier examined the uncovered items. "That garbage? No."
"You're free to go, merchant," the other one said. "Be sure to alert the guard if you happen across either of the fugitives. There is a substantial reward for information leading to their capture."
Eryn watched Tanner and Marget's faces, holding her breath and waiting to see if she had misplaced her trust yet again.
"We will. Of course, My Lord," Tanner said. "If we see the girl, or the man with the long white hair."
The soldier nodded, and the two of them rode off together, north along the road.
"Thank you," Eryn said to them, once they were gone. "You could have turned me in and collected the reward."
Marget looked hurt by the statement. "It's hard to trust in this world, child. I understand that. Know that you can always trust Tanner and me."
Eryn knew the woman would never understand how much that simple statement meant to her. She smiled and took the handles of the cart, turning around and pulling with renewed strength.
***
"You be careful, child," Magret said, wrapping Eryn in a tight hug.
"I will," she replied, returning the hug. She fought against the tears that threatened to come. She had only known Magret and Tanner for two days, but in that time they had been like surrogate parents to her.
"We'll miss you," Tanner said. He was holding her quiver in one hand, and the sword in the other. She saw he had placed it into a simple leather scabbard. "It was in the bottom of the cart. I thought it would come in handy, so the soldiers wouldn't see the blade. The way it shines, it's bound to draw too much attention to you."
She smiled and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Tanner."
He dropped the quiver to return her hug, and then handed it to her when she broke the embrace. Eryn slipped it over her shoulder, and took the sword, unbuckling her belt so she could slide the scabbard on. Then she took her bow from them.
"You look like a woodsman's apprentice," Tanner said. "Or a mercenary."
Eryn couldn't help but think about Roddin. She hoped Amman was taking good care of him and her parents, and that they were pleased to see her this way.
"It will take you five or six days to reach Elling City on foot," Magret said.
"We put the rest of our bread in your quiver," Tanner added. "If you stay close to the Baden, you should have no shortage of water to drink."
Magret reached out and straightened her tunic. "Try to stay at the side of the road, and travel as much as you can under darkness, that will reduce the number of soldiers you run into. The ones who do pass by will probably stop you and ask where you're going with a sword and a bow. Just tell them you're headed to Elling to audition for the Overlord."
"Audition?"
"Yes. There are many young men who want to join his army, but they only take the ones that have potential with the sword and bow. If you want to enlist, you must audition in front of an Overlord, a Lord, a General, or a Constable."
"Why would anyone want to join his army?"
Magret shook her head and sighed. "Not all families have been affected by the Curse. The ones that haven't, they don't always understand why what he is doing is so wrong. They haven't lost a child, or had a cousin or a brother sent to the ore mines as punishment. Besides, being a soldier can be a trying but comfortable life. They are fed, clothed, and housed by the Empire. They want for nothing, and they have more power than they ever would as a farmer, or all but the wealthiest merchants."
"I know so little about the Empire." Eryn said. "What are the ore mines?"
Tanner pointed to her sword. "They are great big caves in the side of mountains, where thousands of prisoners dig out the earth in search of the metals his smiths use to make all kinds of incredible things. That sword of yours is made of an alloy, that's a mixture of different metals, that comes from his mines."
"You mean this sword exists because of slaves?"
"Not slaves," Tanner said. "Prisoners." She didn't miss the sarcasm in his tone.
"What are their crimes?"
"We don't always know. Sometimes, it is for unknowingly aiding a Cursed. Sometimes it is for stealing bread. Sometimes, it is for nothing at all. I have heard that his soldiers will work with the Overseers of the mines to collect more prisoners when they have not delivered enough ore to him."
Eryn couldn't believe it. Things were so simple in the village. Everyone worked together, to help one another survive as one big family. "What does he need it all for?"
"He doesn't need it all," Magret said, her voice full of venom. "Even if he did, he could pay people to work the mines, instead of having the soldiers take them." Her voice softened. "You will learn what you need to when you get to Elling. Find your way to the Tenders district. It isn't the safest part of the city, but that is where the truth lives."
Eryn took a deep breath, and thought about her promise again. She was afraid of the city, and of being around so many people. Her entire life, she had known less than a hundred, and she knew from Tanner and Magret that Elling was much bigger than that.
"I hope I can survive there," she said.
Tanner smiled and rubbed her bald head. "You're a strong one. Smart and resilient. You'll do more than survive there."
She gave both of them another hug. "Thank you again, for everything."
"Good luck, Eryn," Magret said. "I hope we see you again one day."
"Me too," she replied.
She turned around, and started walking.