The Silver Arrow (6 page)

It wasn’t long before the
setting sun, that was grayish—orange, turned into complete
darkness. Lights soon appeared in windows above some of the shops
and they could see the silhouettes of people moving about in their
homes. They followed an alleyway to a gate just wide enough to
admit two mounted riders. Tremay stepped off his horse and tapped
the gate three times. Someone slid open a peep hole to see who it
was. He looked at them for a second and then slid it shut without
saying a word.

They heard two short squeaking
sounds of something being disengaged just before the gate was
pulled open and they rode in.

Inside the gate stood a single
three-story building made of stone; it was cylindrical in shape,
with an archway that led inside. In front of the structure was a
long pole that held the banner of the Silver Scroll on top. The
walls inside the gate had fire posts mounted around them. Led by
Tremay, they rode in a procession as they made their way through
the archway to the heart of the courtyard in the center of this
cylindrical-shaped building.

Iseac couldn’t help noticing
how well designed their fortress was. As he looked up and around
the building complex, he could see doors through the wooden balcony
on the second and third floors.

They stopped at the center of
the courtyard and their horses were taken to the stable at the
back.

Tremay led Iseac to the second
floor and stopped at the entrance to one of the rooms.

“I will bring you word on any
information I gather tonight,” he said before nodding to excuse
himself.

As he turned to leave, Iseac
called in a tone just high enough to get his attention. “Ashra!” he
said, asTremay turned. “Meet me at dawn in my quarters.”

Tremay nodded his head in
acknowledgment of Iseac’s request. Iseac, in turn, nodded his head
to excuse himself before walking into his apartment, closing the
door behind him.

It was early in the morning
with the sun still below the horizon when Tremay walked up to
Iseac’s door. “Come in,” a voice audible enough to be heard outside
called before Tremay could knock.

He stepped in and saw Iseac
looking over what he suspected was a map. He gestured for Tremay to
join him, which he did, walking over to stand by his side. He
looked at what Iseac was staring at on the table. It was a map,
just as he suspected.

“So, what information were you
able to gather?” Iseac asked as they studied the map.

“There are rumors that everyone
from one of the villages outside Bremah called Utorm disappeared
about a week ago, and no one knows what happened to them,” Tremay
said.

“Some of the king’s men were
sent to the village to find out what happened; they found nothing
but empty homes. From what I gather, they found tracks of a large
number of people herded into the woods, and then their tracks ended
abruptly, as if they all vanished. They questioned neighboring
villages, and the only thing they found common amongst the
townsfolk was a short period when their animals went wild.”

Tremay paused for a second.
“The word of a whole village disappearing has started spreading,
and people in the neighboring villages are worried.”

“Was there anything else?”
Iseac asked.

Tremay shook his head.

“Hmm…it is beginning to
spread,” Iseac said, not explaining what he meant. “We will be
heading to Erua…” Iseac said, pointing at a location on the map,
“and then continue into Bayshia proper.”

Iseac was already dressed for
travel, with his quarterstaff leaning against his bed.

“Let your men know we leave at
sunrise,” Iseac said, turning to face Tremay.

“We will be ready,” he replied.
With his right hand on his chest, he bowed to excuse himself and
walked out of the room.

When Tremay returned to Iseac’s
quarters, he was packed and ready to go. So they made their way
down the stairs in front of the courtyard, where a stableman stood
waiting for them with their horses. Once Iseac mounted Durack, his
horse, they rode out of the courtyard toward the main gate that was
pulled open as they approached. They turned left and headed for the
western gate.

In the land south, in a small
town called Chartum-Valley, morning dew was still over the farm
when Samuel woke up. The aroma of pork and fresh bread filled
his nostrils as he rubbed his eyes and sat up by the edge
of his bed. Looking around the room, the other two beds were
empty.

Samuel hurriedly put on his
trousers and wool shirt, pulling both laces to close the top half
of his shirt. He found his boots by the side of his bed, slid
his feet in, and tightened the laces.

“I can’t believe they didn’t
wake me up, today of all days,” he said as he rushed out the door,
following the direction of the scent inside the house. He heard the
low murmuring of conversation in the same direction he was
heading.

"Come!” Harold said, when
Samuel was in sight. “Sit down, boy. Your food is
getting cold. I was going to send your brother to come get you. We
need to get the bales and crops on the wagons before sunrise.”
Samuel walked around the table to an empty seat. He could see his
father’s bowl was already empty as he continued to listen.

“As you know, we have a long
day ahead of us, and we need to get your mother some
supplies,” Harold said as if it was just another day, even though
he knew the harvest festival was in three days.

The harvest festival was the
biggest celebration in the known Kingdoms, and it was being held in
the city called Bayshia.

The ride to Bayshia was a
three-day journey, and his boys were looking forward to it. They
all knew this, and since he was the last one at the table, Samuel
ate fast, trying to catch up.

"Slow down, boy, or
you might just choke yourself,” Harold said with a smile
while shaking his head. “We aren’t planning to leave without
you, you know.”

Samuel caught himself; his
thoughts had been racing with all the things he was
planning to do in the city, and he didn't realize how fast he was
eating.

“I will pack some extra
food for your journey,” Celina said. Faray, her oldest son,
and Elye, the youngest of the family, finished their food and
hurriedly headed for the door. Their excitement was just as
apparent; they were going to the city!

It wasn’t long before
Samuel joined Elye and Faray outside as they enthusiastically
loaded the wagon, doing it faster than their normal pace. They each
talked about what they were going to be seeing, buying, and doing
in the city.

When Harold came out to join
them, the wagon was already packed. “If only they were this fast on
other days,” Harold said to Celina as he kissed his wife by the
front door entrance. He moved to the wagon and checked to make sure
everything was secure and ready to go.

Samuel and Elye jumped in the
back of the wagon, legs dangling as they rode toward the farm gate.
Faray, who was the oldest, rode his brown bay next to Harold at the
head of the wagon. They waved at their mother, who stood by the
side of the house waving back as she watched the wagon roll out of
their farm.

Chartum-Valley was a small farm
town with two mills owned by Peter Lyman and Godfrey Cherie. Stan
Martin ran the blacksmith’s shop with his son, Owen.

They had three stops to make on
their way to Bayshia, first in the town of Orie, which was a
two-day ride, and then at three inns in the next town, where Harold
did his trading before going to the city.

Whitney Gaynor’s inn, the
“Ladies Nest,” was always their first stop. When they arrived, they
stopped at the corner of the inn and Harold asked Samuel to join
him.

They went through a side
entrance into the building. As a boy, this was the first two-level
building Samuel had ever seen. The inn was always clean, with
plenty of food, drink, and music. Rich merchants and nobles only
used Whitney Gaynor’s inn when they were in this part of town, and
it was rumored that Prince Paron had visited once.

As mistress of the inn, Gaynor
was poised, with a face that was always welcoming, yet at the same
time, one not to be trifled with.

“Welcome!” Betria, one of the
waitresses, said, seeing Harold from a corner table. “I’ll let the
mistress know you are here,” she said before darting away.

A few minutes later, Gaynor
stepped out from behind the double door that led into the kitchen
and other rooms at the back.

“It’s good to see you, Harold,”
she said with a smile as she turned to look at Samuel, who was
standing next to his father.

“He’s turned into a handsome
young man. I still remember your first visit to Orie as a little
boy. How the years truly go by quickly.”

“Yes,” Harold said, agreeing
with her sentiment.

“So, is he still fascinated
with the bow and arrow?”

“Yes, he is. Ever since he
could walk,” Harold replied, “and he is impressively good,
too.”

Samuel felt embarrassed hearing
them talk about him. He was now seventeen, but they talked about
him as if he were still nine, even though he was proud to hear his
father speak of him with such high regard. The topic changed to the
rest of his family, and then to the purpose of their business.

“I’ll have someone open the
cellar so they can start unloading,” Gaynor said.

Calling on one of her maids,
she instructed her about what she needed done and promptly sent her
away. She turned her attention back to Harold.

“If I may be excused,” Samuel
said, bowing his head toward Gaynor, “I will join Elye and Faray to
unload the wagon.” He made his way to the main entrance as the
voices of Harold and Gaynor talking slowly faded behind him.

By the time Samuel joined them,
they and Gaynor’s male helpers were almost done unloading the part
of the wagon that belonged to her.

Their next stop was Wayk
Ritchie, a man just past his middle years with a little streak of
white on his hair.

He always had a pipe at the
side of his mouth. When he smiled, you could see the gap in his
front teeth. Ritchie had come a long way since owning this
tavern.

Where there had once been
frequent, violent brawls, there were now only the occasional
quarrels. Most wives came to his tavern when they were looking for
their husbands, and he knew a lot about the affairs of those who
Patronized his establishment.

It was dusk by the time they
got to Silla Coal’s inn. She was Harold’s older sister—skinny and
small, but she had more white streaks in her hair.

They unloaded the rest of the
items on the wagon, and that evening had supper in the kitchen.
Elye, Samuel, and Faray shared a room, where they spent the rest of
the night playing a board game and talking about what they were
going to do in the city of Bayshia.

Samuel was looking forward to
trying again at the archery competition. He was not going to settle
for second place this time, after barely losing by two points in
one of the challenges. He’d spent a lot of time practicing when he
wasn’t working in the field.

Elye was looking forward to the
magic show that always came into town at this time; there was
always something new in every show, and he’d enjoyed the show since
the first time he saw it with his father.

Faray was looking forward to
seeing Klair, the daughter of a wine merchant named Aram. He and
Harold were friends before they moved from Chartum-Valley to
Bayshia, and Faray had known Klair since they were young. He hoped
that one day she would be betrothed to him, if he ever mustered the
courage to ask her out on a real date. “I’m going to do it this
time,” he thought to himself.

Faray seemed lost in his own
thoughts when Elye said to Samuel, “Well, we know what he’s
thinking about…Klair!” he said in a teasing whisper.

“No, I’m not,” Faray
sneered.

“I don’t know much about
girls,” Elye continued, “but I know that until you summon the
courage to ask—”

“Yes, you don’t know anything
about girls,” Faray cut in, “and the delicate act of courting.” His
tone had a slight agitation in it.

“Okay…” Elye said, dousing the
little spark of irritation he seemed to have kindled. They went to
bed some time later after finishing the game.

It was early morning the next
day and the sound of roosters crowing could be heard at different
parts of the town as Harold, Faray, Samuel, and Elye made their way
out of town. A few people were in the street, sweeping around their
shops, while others were getting ready to leave for their varying
tasks.

The morning was hazy, with the
sun still behind the horizon, as they rode out of Orie. Once the
town was behind them, the horses picked up their pace. With the
wagon empty, they rode faster toward Bayshia.

The city of Bayshia was
fortified by an inner and outer wall. It was the first of its kind,
built generations ago by an ingenious king. In an attack, it was
said that the city could sustain itself and its people for
years.

Bayshia was known for its
industries and goods, which were popular around the four Kingdoms.
The city seemed to draw master craftsmen of all kinds, including
wood and stone, which was evident in some of the amazing structures
inside the inner wall. But what set the city apart from the rest of
the Kingdom was its advancement in weaponry, which King Portman
sometimes showed off to his people so they knew they were safe.

Beyond the city were miles of
open meadow, with rolling hills and trees at the horizon.

During the celebration of the
harvest, which happened every three years, peasants were allowed to
set up camp inside the outer wall of the city for a small fee.

The inns inside were filled
with travelers from around the land, with merchants arriving days
ahead of time, making the prices during this time outrageous.