They reached the hills of Angarad three days after leaving the Splinter behind.
Despite being a thousand years old, it was yet another place Arianne was never able to visit. It was not that she had no desire to, but due to the reclusive nature of the elves since the Primordial Wars, travel beyond the Veil was greatly discouraged. She wondered what it was like for her people in the days when they had explored about the world extensively, basking in all its richness and variety, freed from the limitations of mortality.
Had the wars with Mael been so terrible that it drove out of them the adventuring spirit for good? What had happened during that war that made them decide seclusion behind the Veil was much safer than living in the world? These were questions not even her mother could answer, and Arianne shuddered to think what would happen if she failed in her quest and Mael was returned to the world. What would they do then?
Still, despite never having set foot within its territory, Arianne knew Angarad as the land of the Warrior Caste. Its people had become tempered by years of war and hardened by the harsh weather this country endured. During the spring and summer months, Angarad was a beautiful place with rolling hills and grassy plains that were home to the magnificent Angarad horses. The rest of the year, the harsh winds from the Jagged Teeth and the Frozen Mountains created a perfect storm of wind and ice that brought hard winters to Angarad.
The extremes of weather made the people of Angarad hardy and disciplined. They were accustomed to living a rigid existence during the winter months and as a result they were known for their endurance. Until they discovered their propensity as warriors, the people of Angarad had been horse masters and animal breeders who dealt in livestock such as cattle and goats, driving their herds across the land like migratory birds. They were for most part a peaceful folk.
Their army was moderate, formed only because its people were occasionally plagued by the remnants of Mael's army from the Primordial Wars. The evil god had created many fell creatures from the depths of his twisted imagination, and not all of them were destroyed when he was cast into the Aether. From time to time the beasts would emerge from the Frozen Mountains and descend into Angarad, wreaking fear and destruction on the outlying villages. It was this duty that mostly occupied their time.
However, Balfure’s invasion of Avalyne changed all that for good.
When the forces of Abraxes forces swept mightily throughout the whole of Carleon and bringing an end to two thousand years of rule by House Icara, it also ended the peaceful existence of Angarad. Overnight, Angarad found itself bordering a neighbour that was preparing for invasion as it surely as it had done to Carleon. Horrified by the thought of occupation, particularly after witnessing the brutality of Balfure’s Berserkers and his ruthless Disciples upon Carleon’s population, Angarad knew it had little choice but to fight.
For the thirty-five years that would follow, Angarad would be constantly fighting battles to protect its borders against the relentless efforts of Balfure to add it to his empire. While they escaped the occupation that befell Carleon, the price of freedom was great and bloody. More sons and daughters of Angarad lay dead from its defence that any other land occupied by Balfure. War became a way of life for the Angarad and the result was the creation of a warrior society that was second to none in Avalyne.
It was into this world that Celene was born.
By the time of her birth, so many warriors had fallen in battle that there were not enough men left to replace the ones lost and women were left to fend for themselves. It seemed an almost natural progression that led to the conclusion that if women were under the same threat from the Enemy as men, then they ought to learn how to defend themselves. The decision to allow women into the ranks was born out of desperation, but succeeded in setting apart Angarad from every other kingdom in Avalyne.
Women now found themselves applied with the same expectation to fight as any other men. Those who could not fight bore children to become warriors who could. This distinction gave them greater power over their own destiny, as young girls grew up knowing they did not have to be protected when it was entirely up to them to do it themselves.
Children of Angarad now began their instruction with the War Masters at the tender age of eight. By the time they had reached their fifteenth year, they were proficient in the use of the sword, the bow and the horse. On their eighteenth year, they were conscripted into the ranks and would remain so for ten years until discharged. If they survived, they were released from service and allowed to begin their lives anew. However after a life dedicated to soldiering, most did not know of any other existence and usually remained in the ranks.
Now that there was peace for the foreseeable future, Arianne had to wonder what came next for this country. What became of warriors when there were no more wars to fight?
*******
Melia was true to her word when she claimed to know of an alternate route across the Baffin that did not require retracing their steps back to the Splinter. Instead, the path across took only a few hours to reach after departing the way station they used to spend the night. It involved using a goat track known to some of the Watch Guard, but mostly by shepherds who tended the flocks. While they saw neither goat nor shepherd when they travelled across the narrow and uneven trail, the evidence of their presence was left behind by the spoors in the dirt.
They reached Angarad at dusk and it became difficult for the company to see much of the land, except for the silhouette of the Eirian Hills in the distance. Once across, their route took them west near the trading post of Horwyck. With the sun surrendering the sky to the night and the crescent moon gazing down upon them, Celene suggested they take shelter in the town. Once they had left Angarad behind them, the opportunity to find a place capable of providing them with a warm bed and meal would be far and few between, if there were any at all.
In truth, once they left Angarad and entered what was known as the Torn Lands, they had no idea what awaited them.
As much as Arianne wished to keep going, she knew that she needed the respite from travel. Elven fortitude could only withstand so much, and after weeks in the saddle and sleeping on the ground, she wanted a little creature comfort, even if it was to sleep in a comfortable bed with a roof above her head.
As they approached, they saw that Horwyck was protected behind high walls constructed by the logs of thick alpine trees, shaved to a point at the top. The entrance was barred by a set of equally formidable wooden gates that could only be opened from the inside by the watchman on duty. Above the points of the tall fence, Arianne could see the roofs of merchant buildings, with only a few windows flickering with light. Considering the late hour in which they were arriving, she was not surprised.
Celene dismounted and took the lead, approaching the gate and tugging at the chord that rang the bell mounted on a pole at the gate. A short time passed before a dour and grimy looking man peered through the small peephole and glared suspiciously at the four strangers that had come to Horwyck at this time at night. For a moment it appeared as if he might not let them in, until he realised that he was facing four women, whereupon his manner softened considerably and he opened the door, bidding them to enter with hint of welcoming.
Once safely inside its walls they saw Horwyck appeared much larger than its fortifications would have visitors believe. Although it was difficult to tell because they arrived in town so late and most of its inhabitants were still in bed, there were more than enough homes and merchant houses to show that this was a thriving community. Arianne was quite amused when the inn they happened upon for their lodgings that night was called The Mysterious Elf, and she wondered if its proprietor had ever actually met one of her kind.
It appeared not, because the round faced matron who owned the establishment was quite chuffed to meet Arianne and while the lady knew she was an elf, she had no idea that she was playing host to the Queen of Carleon. Mistress Dora was more than capable of providing her four new guests with rooms to suit their needs and was also happy to provide them with a warm supper before they turned it. This suited Keira greatly as she was happy to relinquish the cooking duties for the night.
It was almost dawn when they finally slipped into their comfortable beds, sated by a hearty repast that had them all falling quickly into a fitful slumber.
*******
It was mid afternoon-when Celene and Melia awoke. They were accustomed to riding for days, and so they were faster on their feet than Arianne and Keira, who were not accustomed to the life at all. Instead of waking their two sleeping companions, Celene and Melia went into the town, attending to their horses and also looking to purchasing food supplies and warmer clothes for their journey north.
As they moved through the market square perusing the wares, Celene took the opportunity to speak of something that had been on their mind since she had let Sandrine. She said nothing to Arianne for fear of worrying her, and Keira had reservation enough about her part in this quest that Celene did not wish her to doubt herself further by bringing up something that may have no foundation. Melia, however, was a Watch Guard who had fought in battle as she had. Together they share enough common ground for Celene to bring Melia into her confidence.
‘What do you know of the Torn Lands?’ Celene asked as they walked back to The Mysterious Elf, saddle bags filled with supplies slung over their shoulders.
Melia threw her a sidelong glance and shrugged. ‘Very little,’ she confessed. ‘I know that because of the Primordial Wars, the land is scarred. I know of folk who have attempted to settle the Torn Lands but whether they survived or not remains unknown. They did not return to tell the tale.’
‘My knowledge of the place is the same,’ Celene admitted with a frown. ‘While we were in the market I thought I might consult a map maker, but there are none to be found of that land.’
‘There is rumour that one has to pass an ancient wood to reach the mountains of ice, but those woods are cursed. Something lives in the trees, something that feasts on the flesh of men,’ Melia said, reluctant to pass on that bit of information because there was no real proof of this. Men in taverns often told each other fanciful stories to make themselves look knowledgeable to their friends. ‘But that is just a rumour,’ she emphasised.
‘It may have some truth,’ Celene returned. ‘Dare’s mother Queen Syanne, gave us a similar warning about the Frozen Mountains when we were in Eden Halas.’
‘The elves are long lived,’ Melia replied. ‘Her information might come from a source that was actually there.’
‘Perhaps,’ Celene frowned as they turned up the street and saw the lodging house in the distance. ‘There is more about this quest that bothers me.’
‘Such as?’ Melia raised a brow and waited for an answer. The lady of Gislaine commanded respect and what concerned her, concerned Melia. Celene’s reputation was strengthened by the fact that she was one of the King’s trusted companions before the war. She had travelled with him across Avalyne as he rallied support to fight against Balfure. She herself had battled at Astaroth.
‘The Enemy,’ Celene stated flatly. ‘If he has been watching Arianne all this time, waiting for a baby to come. He must know that she is on the move.’
‘I thought you were hoping that he would think that she is cloistered away in Sandrine and it is the King he thinks is coming for him.’
‘I assumed that ruse would only last for a few days at best and eventually he would know that something is happening. So far, we have no indication that he is even aware that she is not where she should be, and if so we have heard no news of anything hunting us. What peril we have encountered is due to chance encounters with creatures left over from Balfure’s forces, not anything that was directed at us specifically.’
‘Perhaps he waits for her to come to him,’ Melia suggested, but she saw Celene’s point.
‘If all his plans are dependent on Arianne delivering her baby, would he allow her free reign across Avalyne where any number of threats might kill her?’
‘He might believe that we are capable of protecting her,’ she pointed out, but that was assuming much. Still, Celene’s fears though real did not have shape.
‘Something capable of taking Mael from the Aether and placing it in an unborn child must have same way of keeping track of his prey. That we have not seen any trace of it worries me,’ Celene said as they finally reached the inn and stepped inside.
‘Perhaps he is not as clever as he thinks,’ Melia pointed out, stepping inside.
‘Or maybe,’ Celene said glumly, ‘he is exceedingly patient.’
*******
Arianne was none too impressed that Celene and Melia had allowed her to spend almost a day in bed, but understood their reasons. That she had not awakened herself until well into the afternoon spoke to her state of exhaustion and she supposed that Keira needed the rest too. As the sun began to set on their first day in Horwyck, she felt more rested than she had in weeks and the ache in her limbs subsided somewhat. She stood in front of the mirror in her room and examined herself, taking note of the slight swell in her abdomen that showed her little Prince was growing steadily.
His growth was another reminder why they had to leave. The next full moon was weeks away and they had much grown to cover. It was agreed that they would eat one last meal in Horwyck and be on their way again. They had the whole of Angarad to cross and then they would reach the Torn Lands, a place that was mysterious as it was supposedly full of peril. Arianne tried not to think about Dare, about what he must think of her for embarking on such a quest without telling him, and she knew in her heart that he was most likely in pursuit, that if she lingered in Horwyck long enough he would find her.
But she would not do that. His safety was everything to her and Arianne could not bear to sacrifice the life of the father for the son. For a thousand years she had awaited someone to whom she could give her heart completely and the cruelty of fate had seen to it that he was human. One lifetime was all they had together when they should have had all the ages of this world. Now this quest could break them apart even sooner.
No—she would not risk his life. She would deal with the Enemy. She would save their child.
There was no room for all four of them to eat together in the rooms provided by Mistress Dora, but fortunately the tavern was not terribly busy yet and they were able to share a table without much scrutiny from the men in the place. Four women alone would not go unnoticed by the male patrons, especially when all were young and fair. Their mission had been carried out so far on the strength of its secrecy and Arianne did not wish that to change.
‘So, where to from here?’ Keira asked as she sat at the long wooden table situated in the farthest end of the tavern, away from the bulk of the Inn’s patrons. The evening was starting to draw the working men into the establishment for their evening’s drinking and Keira ignored the sound of their raucous conversation several tables away. Below her the meal of meat shanks was almost gone and Keira had to give her compliment to Mistress Dora who certainly knew how to provide a good meal.
‘Do not look at me,’ Melia commented when she saw Keira’s eyes on her. ‘This is Celene’s country,’ she said to the Lady of Gislaine. ‘I only brought you across the Baffin. From here on it’s her job to guide us.‘
Celene lowered her glass of draught and wiped her lip daintily before replying with a chuckle. ‘I am up to task, I assure you,’ she lifted her glass at Melia who did the same. Although not usually a drinker, she could not resist drinking at least one mug of Angarad brew while she was home. ‘We will head across the Safrie Plains towards the river.’
The Safrie was the main waterway of Angarad. It began its life at Lake Twyn and ended at the mouth of the Brittle Sea. Parts of it were deep enough to sail and some ships travelled up its length to the second largest city of Angarad, Korrigan.
‘We will keep our direction easterly,’ Celene continued. ‘I would prefer we stick to the plains. At this time of year with the weather turning cold, there will be few people about and we can maintain our anonymity.’
‘Good,’ Arianne agreed, finishing the last of her meal and pushing away her plate. In truth, the meal was not sitting well with her and she suspected she was going to start experiencing some of the less charming aspects of pregnancy. In particular the morning sickness. ‘The second full moon approaches and I do not want to waste any time if we can avoid it.’
‘I agree,’ Celene replied when she noted Melia’s eyes were staring intently past them. ‘What is it?’
Melia dropped her gaze to her glass as if caught doing something she should not be doing and then spoke in a quiet tone. ‘There’s a man in the corner table. He watches us intently.’
‘Well, we’re four women unescorted.’ Keira glanced back and saw the man staring at them. ‘He’s probably just ogling. I don’t think he means any harm.’
‘Perhaps,’ Celene said, not liking the attention. ‘But maybe we should consider leaving nonetheless.’ She swept her gaze across the table and saw that they had all finished eating. Melia and Celene had brought the horses to the hitching rail outside the tavern so they could leave immediately after their meal.
Arianne had no argument with this and was glad her hair covered her ears. She stood up from the table and slid her hood over her head, concealing her face even more. Keeping her eyes fixed on her companions, she did not turn her attention to the man at all, wanting to give him no sign that she noticed him. Melia took the lead, keeping Arianne behind her with Keira following the Queen.
Celene allowed all three of her friends to go before she cast a final look at the man whom she now saw to be an older man, with a scar running over a milky eye that obviously saw nothing any longer. He looked like a trapper, for he wore the furs of various small animal pelts against the leather of his clothes. When their eyes met, she nodded in a gesture of politeness, seeing no reason to be rude or behave as if she and her companions had something to hide.
They left the Inn, rumbling with chatter of people, into the relative quiet of the evening outside. When Celene emerged through the doors, she saw Arianne, Keira and Melia already at the horses, preparing to leave.
‘Perhaps he recognised one of us,’ Celene shrugged, trying to dispel the worry she could see in Arianne’s face.
‘You, perhaps,’ Arianne pointed out, ‘but he could have seen me at Dare’s coronation.’
‘You might be just a face he found pretty to look at,’ Keira declared, trying to dispel the tension. They would soon be away from here and on route across Angarad. The man was of little importance.
Until the door to the Inn opened behind them and he stepped out into the night.
‘I know what you are,’ he said pointing at them.
Celene stepped forward, placing herself between the man and the Queen, ‘Arianne, get on your horse and get going.’
Arianne did not argue and quickly climbed the saddle though she disliked the idea of leaving Celene to deal with this man when it was clearly she had issue with.
‘She’s a monster!’ the man bellowed louder, this time attracting the attention of the few people on the street. They stopped to stare at what was happening.
‘Go!’ Celene ordered, taking a step backwards towards her own horse. ‘Melia, get them away from here. I will follow shortly.’
Melia nodded and mounted her own horse quickly, even as Arianne and Keira were starting to trot away. She cast a gaze back at Celene, reluctant to leave the lady of Gislaine but duty bound to stay close to the Queen. ‘We will wait for your beyond the gates.’
The man lurched forward when he saw Arianne and Keira riding away. Celene raced forward brandishing her sword and swinging it in a neat arc to halt him in his steps as the blade held poised before his neck. The action made Melia pause momentarily, but when Keira and Arianne continued down the street, she dug her heels into her horse’s side and trotted after them.
‘You’re letting it get away!’ the man cursed her. ‘You need to kill it before it escapes!’
‘No one is killing anyone!’ Celene barked, pressing the blade against his throat with enough pressure to let him know that she would use if he pushed her to it.
‘You don’t know what you’ve done!’ he spat. ‘I know their stink. They look like us but they’re not!’ He tried to convince her, a hint of desperation intermingled with the fury in his eyes.
‘I know well what they are,’ Celene retorted. ‘Or what she is, and she has never been anything but kind. I do not know where this hatred comes from but that is your own affair. I give you one warning old soldier, come after us again and this conversation will not end so calmly. Understood?’
By now, they had drawn a crowd which made Celene even more frustrated by the situation. She had hoped to keep their presence a secret, and without knowing what means the Enemy was using to keep Arianne under observation, she had no idea where this episode would give him intelligence he did not have before.
‘You can’t trust them!’ The man tried to convince her. ‘They’re not like us! They have no allegiance to anyone but their own. If they’re kind it’s because they’re trying to trick us!‘
‘I have no time to bandy words with you, old soldier,’ Celene lowered her blade, conscious of her audience as she retreated to her horse. It was safe to leave now that she could no longer hear the hoof beats of Arianne and the others’ horses.
‘Do not follow us,’ she warned.
Celene turned around and quickly mounted her horse, grateful that the old man had not decided to put up a fight once she sheathed her sword. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, staring at her with that unsettling look of desperation.
‘You’re a fool! I have dealt with them before. You think she’s your friend but she’s not! She’ll turn on your like a rabid bitch dog and tear our your throat while you sleep. It’s what her kind do! They pretend to be one of you but they’re really not!’
What possible experience could this man have with the elves that could make him hate with such vulgar hatred? Celene thought of Arianne and Aeron, of the friendship and trust between them. She could never imagine them behaving the way this man was describing.
‘I do not know where this hatred comes from, but it has nothing to do with me or my friends,’ Celene declared as she stared down at him from her saddle. ‘But we are done here. Follow us at your own peril.’
With that, she tugged the reins of her horse and rode away into the night.