The Threads of Destiny - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Return to Farvale

The walk back to Farvale was going to take them at least two full days. They spent the first night at Jasper’s cabin, or at least camped near it, and the next walking through north through the forest. They’d at least made good time, and Rowan thought they’d make it to the city just after dark the following day.

Osric thought that was probably a good thing. Considering how they’d left the city, the fewer people that could notice them, the better.

The long walk did give Osric more time to think. Even though their quest was going well, and it looked like they were nearing at least knowing where the other half of the document was, things between himself and Talia had not improved. If anything, the longer they walked without addressing it, the icier the space between them became.

When Rowan called a halt for camp that night, Osric stopped Talia short, so they could talk outside of the earshot of the others, who’d begun to set up for the night.

“Talia, can we talk?”

“About what?” Talia asked coldly, folding her arms across her chest.

“I hate how things have been between us the past few days. I wanted to apologize for snapping at you the other night. It was uncalled for.”

“You’re right, it was uncalled for. There was no reason for you to act like that, no matter how tired you were.”

“It wasn’t actually because I was tired,” Osric admitted, looking away from her, to the ground near their feet. “I was upset because of how you were talking to Rowan, the way you were laughing and joking with him. And then when you said you and I were just friends...”

“We are just friends,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I know, but... after everything we’ve been through together, I realized that I like you. Well, I think I’ve always liked you, but these last few weeks it’s... I don’t know, more.”

“Osric, I like you too,” she said, her expression finally thawing a little.

“I don’t mean like that, I mean...”

“I know what you mean,” she said, laying a hand on his arm. “And I mean it the same way.”

“You do?” He said, honestly shocked.

“Yes,” she said softly, before quickly shifting her tone back to more direct and no-nonsense. “That doesn’t mean what you did was right. We’ve never talked about being... anything, and you have no claim over me. To be mad because I was talking to someone else when you and I have never even discussed being anything more than friends, is unfair to me. Now, I admit we’ve been a bit busy lately, what with all the life-threatening situations we’ve found ourselves in, but that isn’t an excuse either. I’m sorry if you thought I was flirting with Rowan, which I wasn’t, I was only being friendly. Even if I was, though, I’m allowed to talk to or flirt with anyone I want. If we’d discussed things or done... anything that indicated we were more than friends, that would be different, but we haven’t. Which is why, when he asked, I said we were just friends. It was the truth. I’m not saying we’ll always be just friends, but you can’t start acting like we’re something we’re not. Do you understand?”

She put particular emphasis on that last statement, sounding frighteningly like Master Ironhand when he was lecturing Osric on some mistake or error he’d made. Not that she was wrong. He’d overreacted and been unfair to her and then been mad at her for being upset at his unfairness, which was also unfair.

“You’re right, I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

“Good, cause I hated being mad at you,” she said.

“Maybe, sometime, we could talk about being more than just friends?”

“Maybe,” she said, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “But I don’t think maybe it will have to wait until we aren’t constantly fighting for our lives.”

“That’s fair. When this is all over then?”

“When this is over,” she agreed, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on Osric’s cheek, her wild red curls brushing against his skin. “Until then, let’s just go back to being best friends, okay?”

“Deal,” Osric said, his chest feeling lighter than it had in days.

With a final smile, Talia turned and walked back towards the others, beginning to unroll her bedroll for the night. Osric watched her go, admiring the sway of her hips as she set about her task, thinking about the future they might have together.

The group timed their arrival in Farvale so they could slip into the city under the cover of darkness, taking a roundabout path Grace said she knew of that would keep them off the main thoroughfare, hopefully to avoid much attention. While they’d made it out of town successfully the last time, after fighting Godfrey, it seemed likely that someone had noticed the group when they’d first arrived, especially considering the presence of Cinder, who would have stood out in a major city even more than he did in small villages.

The streets were quiet, a far difference from the bustling markets they’d gone through the last time. Even with that, Orsic couldn’t help but worry that eyes were following them as they went, watching them.

His concern that the death of Godfrey would have been taken seriously by the town authorities was confirmed when they finally reached the outskirts of the main square, and saw a pair of city guardsmen standing at the bottom of the steps leading up to the front of the mansion.

“That’s a problem,” Osric said.

“Could we go around?” Jasper asked.

“We can try, but I’m not sure how much good it will do us. I didn’t really put it together before, but I think he built this place to be hard to enter. We had to walk up those huge steps to get to the front door, and it looks like the bottom floor is all foundation. Look at the windows on this side of the building? They’re a little higher than even the second-story windows of the buildings on either side. We’d heard the man living here had set himself up in high style, so at the time I’d just written it off as wanting to be seen as important, above everyone else. Looking at it now, though … I don’t know.”

“Look at how the foundation slopes outward slightly as it goes up. Maybe to make it harder to climb?” Rowan said, pointing at the base of the structure.

“So we’re stuck?” Osric said, disheartened.

“You all give up so easily. I can get us in. Follow me around back.” She darted down a side street, motioning for them to keep up.

Osric still wasn’t completely sold on the little thief, but she certainly was confident all of the time. He and the rest hurried to catch up to her as they made their way around the rear of the structure. Thankfully, there weren’t any guards here, but there wouldn’t be, considering how the building was constructed. The closest entry point, a darkened window, sat well above their heads, out of any of their reach.

“Wait here,” she said, disappearing down another narrow alley.

While it was a big building, and they were well on the other side from the two guardsman, Osric and the rest remained silent. If getting noticed was a bad idea, getting found lurking behind the house of the man they killed was certainly worse. As the minutes ticked by, Osric became more and more worried. Grace had made enough comments about not wanting to be on this adventure with them that there was every possibility she’d decided this was her moment to run. With what she knew about them, she could cause big trouble if she decided to try and sell it, or even if someone like the Brethren found out she’d been with them and forced the information out of her.

“Did she just ditch us?” he finally said, breaking the silence in frustration.

Jasper opened his mouth to respond, but stopped as Talia gasped, pointing upward. “Look!”

Above them, a lithe figure leaped from a nearby rooftop, landing on the mansion’s roof in a crouch. He could just make out the thief’s short, messy blond hair before she disappeared from sight again.

“Impressive,” Rowan said.

She wasn’t done yet. A few minutes later, the window directly above them swung open, a rope dropping down out of it.

“Guess that’s our cue,” Osric said, and then knelt down next to Cinder, who definitely wouldn’t be making the climb with them. “We’ll be back in a little bit. Find a place to wait for us.”

Cinder gave a soft whine and licked Osric’s face, but obeyed, slinking off into the shadows. Osric wasn’t concerned for the wolf. He’d shown a good instinct for being able to stay hidden and had found them before, even when they’d run in separate directions.

“Osric grasped the rope, testing its tautness, and then started to climb, hoisting himself up hand over hand. Grace’s face appeared above him, smiling mischievously.

“Nice work,” he said, pulling himself through the window.

“I told you, I could get us in,” she said, rolling her eyes.

As the others followed up behind him, Osric let his eyes adjust to the darkened room. With its massive four-poster bed, this was obviously a bedroom. The nicest one Osric had ever been in. Calling it opulent would have been an understatement. If he had to guess, he’d say the contents of this room must have been worth more than his entire village.

“Which way?” Grace said as she pulled up the rope and put it back in her pack, closing the window to remove any sign of their entry.

“This way,” Osric said, leading them in the direction of the study on the first floor.

They moved quietly, just in case there were any guardsmen stationed inside, but the entire place was silent. Someone had closed the double doors leading into Godfrey’s study, but thankfully, hadn’t locked them.

“Looks like quite the fight,” Grace said, giving a low whistle as Osric ushered them inside.

“You have no idea,” Osric said.

The room was much as they had left it, in utter disarray with papers scattered across the floor and furniture overturned. The piles of sticks and wire, the remains of the animated statues, were where they’d been left, along with a large dark spot on the rug where Godfrey had fallen.

Other than the removed body, it didn’t look like anything had actually been touched.

“Help me look through these books,” Jasper said, heading to one of the large bookcases against one wall, while pointing at another one. “It’s in one of these two. It didn’t have a name on it, and the text is in multiple hands. I think it said something about the ‘true and just history of the world,’ or something to that effect.”

Rowan and Talia moved to follow his instructions, pulling books down one at a time, flipping through pages. Grace didn’t even bother pretending to help them. Instead, she started opening drawers and containers on shelves, occasionally pocketing something she found inside, as she began to thoroughly loot the place. Osric shook his head, but didn’t say anything. They had promised her access to treasures they found, and considering Godfrey had tried very hard to kill them in this very room, he couldn’t bring himself to care about the man’s house being ransacked.

Besides, Osric’s attention turned to the desk. It had been covered with various letters and documents, most of which were scattered on the ground by Godfrey’s magic. Osric began scooping up as many as he could, looking through them. Godfrey was not only the leader of the Brethren in this area, he’d known about Osric, either by description or because of their mention of Eldham. That had all happened far from here, deep in the forest, and Osric had gotten the impression from Jasper that the leaders of these sub-groups of Brethren had a limited geographical jurisdiction. Which meant someone had been keeping Godfrey up to date on Osric and his actions, and Osric wanted to see what they were saying about him.

The first few were innocuous, detailing mundane matters of estate management and requests from the Farvale city council for his assistance. There were letters to the Conclave, requesting access to a few tombs of instruction, and even a response to a letter that suggested Godfrey had been trying to pawn off his student, the young girl they’d sent to Elder Miriam, on another instructor, going so far as saying he would be happy to ‘be rid of the pest.’

While this all painted Godfrey as a thoroughly unfriendly but educated and important man, it wasn’t what Osric was looking for. Not until he finally found what he was looking for in one of the last letters he grabbed. The bottom of the letter had partially burned, wiping out some of the last paragraph and the signature, although Osric could still make out the first name Ranulf.

It detailed the loss of junior members of the Brethren, sent to scout for ‘the artifact,’ focusing on small villages near the Wyndmere and describing a ‘boy from the village of Eldham, possibly accompanied by a girl from the same village,’ as having the ring. It instructed Godfrey to send notice to the Brethren in his area of operation to be on the lookout for the pair, as they lost them near the borders of Avendell, and have not been able to find them again. It says he is sending most of the men from near the Wyndmere toward Avendell, in hopes of finding them, but that it is possible the boy slipped through. The last paragraph, which was partially destroyed by fire, makes mention of the other half of something, although the part of the sentence with the specifics was burned away. The next sentence, and only other partial sentence Osric can see, says ‘send more men to guard,’ and then disappears again.

It sounded like they did not know who Osric was, at least not his name. They knew he was traveling with Talia, but hopefully that would be harder to work out now that there were five of them, instead of just the two. Something finally in their favor.

Osric was distracted from looking through any of the other papers when Jasper suddenly explained, “I think I’ve found it.”

“You did?” Osric said excitedly, joining them at the bookshelf.

“Well, not it exactly, but a reference,” Jasper said, pointing to a page in the large book opened in his arms. “There are references to the battles, including several landmarks. Ones that I recognize. I’m pretty sure I can get us at least close to it. The section also indicates that the ground is still scarred with the remnants, and something about an obstacle surrounding it to discourage any from stumbling into the site unknowingly. I don’t know what that’s about, but it means we should know it when we find it.”

“That’s good enough. We can figure out the rest when we get there.”

“Good, the sooner we get out of here, the better,” Grace said. “This room gives me the creeps.”

“Not enough to keep you from stealing anything not nailed down, though,” Rowan said. 

It was clear the Ranger wasn’t a fan of her less than honest living. For her part, Grace didn’t seem to care, just giving a disinterested shrug in response.

Before they could discuss it anymore, or leave, the door to the room slammed back open, revealing a woman in ornate armor, flanked by a dozen guardsmen, all bearing the insignia of the Farvale Guard.

“In the name of the Farvale Guard, you are all under arrest.”