Failed Plans
Valerien looked over his shoulder and was glad his father could not see him. Lord Astir would threaten to throw himself onto his sword if he saw his son leading such a ragtag procession.
Dark clouds followed them down the mountain like a bad omen. They had to hurry up before a storm caught them on this perilous road, but his unwanted retinue was moving too slowly, since the miners were on foot. The ponies drawing the rickety cart with the Fae prisoners were not much faster either.
He turned back to Kirin, who was riding next to him, holding Daffyd in his lap. The bard was in the middle of a story about a hero called Bran the Blessed, but his voice kept wavering. He wasn't an experienced rider to begin with, and the child kept sliding out of his grasp.
Catching Kirin's pleading looks, Valerien scowled sternly and jerked his head back at the cart to suggest putting Daffyd on it with the rest of the baggage. The bard's blue eyes filled with reproach. He tried to steady the child with one hand and clumsily tugged at the reins with the other.
Valerien sighed inwardly and admitted defeat. If the small human fell to his death, Kirin would never let him hear the end of it. Worse, he would recoil from Valerien's touch again.
He reached out and lifted Daffyd by the back of his tunic. Kirin broke off his story with an indignant sound, but the child gave a delighted whoop as it flew through the air before it landed in Valerien's lap. One of the tiny hands immediately reached for his long hair, followed by a happy giggle.
"Sit still," Valerien told him, redirecting the small hands to the pommel of the saddle.
A frightened call echoed from behind, and the child's father came running.
"Give him to me, lord. I'll carry him," the man said, his pale face distorted in fear.
"But I want to stay with the angel," Daffyd objected.
"He'll be safest if he is with an experienced rider," Kirin told the father with a reassuring smile.
The man hesitated for a moment, but then inclined his head and returned to his comrades.
"Give him to Meeran then. He was training my brother's horses before I was even created," Valerien muttered to Kirin.
"You put me in charge. Don't undermine my authority now," the bard replied haughtily, in an exact imitation of Valerien's inflection and tone.
"Stop doing that," Valerien hissed, then winced as the child tugged at his hair again.
"Where are your wings? Can you fly down the mountain with me?" Daffyd asked.
Valerien glanced pointedly at the abyss to their left and raised an eyebrow at Kirin.
"Everyone can fly once."
The bard scowled at him, then quickly smiled at the child and said, "We all have to stay together. You don't want to leave your father behind, do you?"
Daffyd shook his head, then happily nestled against Valerien and covered himself with the long green cloak. Kirin continued his story to keep him quiet, but fell silent once the child was asleep.
"Go on," Valerien said.
"But he is asleep," Kirin objected.
"I know. He is drooling on my sleeve. The least you could do is continue the story to distract me from that."
The bard grinned, but picked up the tale readily enough. Quite a while later, he had just arrived at the interesting part with severed talking headswhen Valerien noticed the gleam of Arcanite armour in the valley below.
He brought his horse to a halt and said quietly, "Can you sense what kind of Fae it is? If it is Beneth, we need to attack from the high ground and quickly."
Kirin stopped, but didn't send his magic ahead. He shaded his eyes instead and smiled.
"It's Elinor."
"How can you tell?" Valerien asked.
Kirin pointed at the waterfall, where another figure stood with two horses. "Who else would it be with Owain?"
Valerien nodded, but a sense of foreboding took hold of him. Those two should have been miles away, searching in the opposing direction.
"Maybe they have news," Kirin said optimistically, and called out to the miners that he and Valerien would ride ahead.
As soon as they reached the valley, Elinor ran towards them. For a moment, Valerien thought she would drag him off the horse to either punch or embrace him, but she came to an abrupt halt.
"I thought you were dead," she said breathlessly and threw something at him.
He caught it before it could hit his chest and cursed when he saw it was his sigil. His outburst woke Daffyd, who peered out from the folds of the cloak.
Elinor blinked at the child and groaned. "Have you gone insane? You stole another human!"
"He didn't steal him. Or me, for that matter," Kirin corrected her.
Valerien sighed and handed the child to Elinor so he could dismount. She quickly put the small burden down as he began to whine.
As soon as Valerien was off the horse, Daffyd clung to his leg and whimpered, "Don't give me to her. She will put me in a cage like that other lady."
"It's all right. She is a friend," Kirin said.
Daffyd sniffed and didn't let go. "No cage?"
"Commander Elinor doesn't take prisoners," Valerien informed him.
The sticky small fingers finally let go of his leg, and Kirin suggested, "How about you pick some berries over there by the trees? But don't go where I can't see you."
Daffyd nodded obediently and finally scampered away, running past Owain, who came towards them with a visible limp. His face looked haggard, and his hand was bandaged. Much to Valerien's annoyance, he pulled Kirin into a bear hug, then ruffled the blond locks.
"Gods be praised, my boy. I thought I lost you, too."
Looking slightly embarrassed, Kirin asked, "How did you get injured?"
Owain glanced ruefully at his bandage. "It looks worse than it is."
"That is what you always say, and it is never true. What happened?" Kirin insisted.
"We followed rumours about strange riders in the north and found a monster instead. It tore into a flock of sheep and then went for the shepherds when they threw stones at it. I've never seen anything like it. It took both of us to take it down," Owain explained, then looked at Elinor.
She nodded and continued, "It was Rhian's battle hyrox. It carried the Astir sigil on the collar, so we followed the tracks back here. What is going on here, Valerien?"
Valerien pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed again. He wanted to growl at her that she should not have allowed herself to be distracted from her search, even by his alleged death, but pulled himself together. It was no use blaming her. Some bonds were stronger than duty.
"It was supposed to bring a message to Lioren," he finally told her through gritted teeth.
"I thought as much. Except it looked like it was carrying a message of your death," she snarled.
Kirin stepped between them with his hands raised in a placating gesture and said, "It's all right. Just take me to the place where you found the hyrox. I am sure I can find Lioren from there."
Valerien nodded at him and grabbed the reins of his horse. "Let's go then."
No one else moved as thunder tore through the sky. The dark clouds were catching up with them.
"It is more than a day's ride from here. It's too dangerous for the horses," Elinor said and moved her eyes discreetly towards Kirin.
Valerien understood. Humans were in even more danger than horses in such weather.
"Fine. We'll make camp," he said grudgingly.
"And then you will tell us what happened," Elinor said firmly.
Owain squinted at the slow procession coming towards them. "Is that Rhys ap Madoc?"
"It's a long story," Kirin said with a sigh.
"Where should we put them all?" Elinor asked sceptically.
Rhys raised his pickaxe in greeting, and Owain smiled.
"We can make it to my wife's estate before the worst part starts. It will certainly be more comfortable than a flooded tent, and there's enough space for a whole army," he said.
"How convenient. Are you planning another ambush?" Valerien asked.
Owain narrowed his eyes at him, but Elinor stepped between them and said, "We accept your kind offer, Owain."
They walked away to get the horses. Valerien stared at the sigil in his hand. The first drops of rain hit his head, and it felt like this whole realm conspired against him.
As he pulled up his hood, a hand sneaked under his cloak and callused fingers intertwined with his.