Chapter 11 #2
With the prospect of getting out of the city, each member of the group ate their breakfast quickly, and it wasn’t long before they were ready to depart. Elowen had found Lady Sophia as she’d promised, and the two of them rode side by side behind Theo and the duke.
Theo tried at first to find out more about the progress of the investigation, but in the absence of the king, the duke was even less inclined to give him information.
Once they’d cleared the city, the duke increased his pace to speak to a member of the Craftsmen’s Guild who’d accompanied them, and Theo drifted back toward Elowen and Lady Sophia.
The loose ring of guards shifted seamlessly to accommodate the change, Paulson falling in with their formation.
The group rode for a couple of hours before crossing a river by means of a wide, stone bridge. On the far side of the river, the road plunged immediately into a forest large enough that Theo hadn’t been able to see either end as they approached.
“No time for a wolpertinger hunt today,” Elowen said lightly, as their horses carried them beneath the arching branches that now formed a roof over the road.
“No,” Lady Sophia agreed. Theo had never seen much liveliness from her, but during the ride she’d been especially subdued. There hadn’t been much light chatter between the two young women.
“I’ve never been to this area before,” Elowen said. “Isn’t this the region Simeon’s family comes from?”
Theo’s eyes flicked over to them at the name, noting the quick, conscious look Lady Sophia shot in his direction.
“Yes, it is,” the noblewoman confirmed. “At least, his mother’s family. His father’s family have lived and worked on our estate for several generations.”
“And didn’t he just visit his family recently?” Elowen pressed.
Lady Sophia cleared her throat, once again glancing at Theo before she spoke.
“Yes, I think so. That sounds right.”
Elowen’s brow crinkled as she studied her friend, but she didn’t push further.
They rode for less than an hour through the trees before emerging into a large, cleared area.
They were met by a collection of scattered stone cottages nestled below a wooded slope of surprising height.
It would have been a picturesque scene if not for the enormous section of slope that had fallen sharply away and the signs of several ruined houses under the debris at the base.
There was rubble and dirt everywhere, and branches stuck out of the mud at strange angles, bearing testament to the trees that had been ripped out by the motion of the landslide.
Everyone had fallen silent at the confronting sight, dismounting in silence as the village head approached. The duke took the opportunity to address his daughter, his voice stern.
“Sophia, you and the princess are to keep well back. Stay with the guards, all right?”
“Yes, Father, we will,” Lady Sophia said earnestly.
Theo handed his horse over to Paulson, following the duke with only a swift glance back at the women. Elowen looked disappointed but resigned. Given the events of the dam rupture, not to mention the tower collapse right before he arrived in Toledda, Theo was relieved she was being cautious.
He, on the other hand, intended to be right among the action.
He shadowed the duke closely as he spoke to the village head, and heard several similar accounts of what had occurred.
The incident was bizarre, given the mild weather they’d been having and the absence of any known cause of the landslide, but there wasn’t anything beyond that to support the view that the event was suspicious.
Until the village head took them around the far side of the destroyed area, and introduced them to one of the men working to clear it.
“You’ve heard the basics of what happened,” the village head said. “But Ralph is the one who was closest, and he reckons he saw something none of the rest of us did.”
His interest caught, Theo strode alongside the duke to meet this Ralph. He was a muscled man in middle age, with graying hair and work-roughened hands.
“Yer Grace, Yer Highness,” Ralph said, bowing briefly to them both after the village head had explained the purpose of their visit.
“I doubt I can help much, but I’m happy to answer any questions.
Only I’d prefer not to leave the fellers to continue without me too long, since I’m directing operations. ”
“We won’t keep you long,” the duke said. “Apparently you were close at hand when the landslide occurred?”
“Aye, that’s right,” Ralph said. “Not a blessed thing I could do to stop it, though.”
“Of course not,” the duke said reassuringly. “Are you familiar with Dust? Magic, I mean?”
Ralph looked bemused. “I know what it is, if that’s what yer asking. But I don’t know how to manipulate it. Never learned. Never learned much beyond my father’s trade, actually. My family’ve been woodcutters long as anyone can remember.”
“So there’s no one in this village proficient enough in magic to tell if anything was different at the time of the landslide?” Theo pressed.
The man shrugged. “Don’t reckon so, Yer Highness.”
“And what time did it happen?” Theo asked.
Ralph scratched his chin, considering. “I’d had cause to stop home at lunchtime that day, and was just leaving the village again. I reckon about half past one.”
Theo said nothing, but he was silently calculating.
It was a similar time to when he’d felt something strange in the maze run.
A chill went over him. There wasn’t enough evidence to draw a clear connection between the two events, and he found himself hoping it was only his imagination bringing them together.
He didn’t like to think how significant a magical event would be required for something happening out here to affect the movement of Dust in the capital.
“We were told you saw something no one else did,” the duke prompted Ralph.
“Aye, Yer Grace.” He nodded. “I saw a young feller running away just after the landslide.”
“Someone you recognized?” the duke asked.
Ralph shook his head. “His face was covered with a scarf, so I can’t be sure. But I know all the lads in the village, and I don’t reckon he was one of ours. Mebbe that’s why, but it seemed odd to me, the way he was running away.”
“Wasn’t everyone running away?” the duke asked.
“Yes, but from the base of the hill,” Ralph clarified. “This feller was at the top. Mebbe he was just scared of sliding down the hill along with all the mud and rock and trees, or mebbe he had something to do with it. Who knows?”
“What else can you tell us about him?” the duke asked, his eyes sharp with interest. “His clothes, any details you can remember.”
“I didn’t get that good a look,” Ralph admitted. “All I could see was the purple scarf over his face. And he was cradling something in his arms. Couldn’t tell what, but it must’ve been valuable, because he didn’t drop it when he was running.”
Theo looked from Ralph to the duke, to see a small frown creasing the older man’s forehead. He seemed to be deep in thought over Ralph’s tale. It certainly gave them something to look into.
They were subjected to accounts from many more people, some of whom hadn’t even been present, but were still eager to share their speculations.
Nothing more of interest was added. They were well and truly ready to leave by the time the guild member completed his inspection of the site.
The whole process had taken longer than hoped, and they were unlikely now to make it back to the capital in time for the dinner hour.
Thanking the village head for his hospitality, they rode out of the clearing, eager to be on the road.
“What’s your conclusion?” the duke asked the guild member as they passed beneath the trees once again.
“I examined the source of the landslide. While it’s possible it was caused by magic, there’s no great evidence of that,” the guild member said, frowning. “But the magic in the area feels strange, even now.”
“Strange how?”
“Well, I used Dust generated by the movement of the trees to fuel some simple enchantments. And while it worked as normal, the Dust didn’t settle like I expected once my enchantments were complete.
The branches were still moving, but the magic issuing from them was unsettled and uneasy, as if my minimal access had exhausted it. ”
Theo frowned, shooting a look at Paulson, who happened to be riding very close by. The guard looked somber, his expression when he met Theo’s eye seeming to give confirmation of the guild member’s words.
The duke relapsed into thoughtful silence when the report was finished, and Theo didn’t try to press him for his conclusions.
He fell back, riding alongside Paulson for a while, although they shared no words, only a troubled silence.
After a time, the road through the trees widened enough to allow several people to ride side by side.
Paulson moved to join the guards’ new formation, and Theo found himself alongside Elowen, Lady Sophia on the princess’s other side.
He’d heard nothing of their conversation, so was caught by surprise at Lady Sophia’s words to the princess.
“Simeon told me once that there are sometimes carbuncles in the cliffs on the other side of this forest.”
Theo stiffened, engulfed by the same rush of emotions—none of them pleasant—that he always felt when carbuncles were mentioned.
“It’s such a shame it’s not the solstice,” Elowen said brightly. “Or we could have gone hunting.” She looked over at Theo, those piercing blue eyes too perceptive for his current state. “What do you think, Theo?”
“I have no interest in the creatures,” he said curtly.
One of Elowen’s perfectly sloping eyebrows rose, but it was Lady Sophia who responded, surprising them both by speaking up.
“I do. I would give a great deal for a carbuncle favor.”
Theo eyed the noblewoman’s wistful expression.