Chapter 22
For the next two weeks, Tal tried to keep busy by taking on as many bounties as possible, but she still brooded over her conflicting thoughts.
Madge hired her to gather a few different herbs that could only be found a few hours' ride outside the kingdom.
It would have been a good day away from life at the docks.
It should have been, but Tal was a glutton for punishment.
While packing her weapons, her eyes brushed past the two battle axes laid out before her.
She considered chucking them into the river, but it would have been an insult to the talented blacksmith who crafted them.
“Where did you get those?” Sybil stood in the opening, curiosity filling her features.
“They were a gift.” Tal eyed the design stamped into the metal. “From F—”
“I could take them off your hands if you don’t want them.”
“You can take them off my dead body.” Tal grabbed the axes and strapped them onto her back. She hefted her satchel, filled with enough food for the day, and faced Sybil. “What’s with the face?”
Sybil’s eyes shifted from a glazed stare at the wall to focus on Tal. She blinked, like she hadn’t been paying attention. “If you want to chat, you know where to find me.” She lingered, blocking Tal’s exit.
“Thanks, but I’m fine.”
Sybil waited a moment longer then stepped aside. She watched silently as her friend passed.
Tal ignored Sybil’s odd stare and left the tunnels. The weight of the axes pressed against her back, and she vowed to find some beast to sink the blades into. Perhaps the fight would calm her fury a bit.
Madge had already paid for her to rent a horse from a nearby stable, but Tal had other plans.
Adrenaline rushed through her system when she snuck into the palace grounds.
She’d done it plenty of times to meet Daire.
The palace stable was relatively quiet aside from the horses left in their stalls.
She snagged a bridle, saddle and reins and found the gray speckled mare.
Pepper recognized her and snuffed out a greeting.
Quietly, Tal prepared the horse who nuzzled her playfully.
When she mounted the saddle, a pang of disappointment clawed at her stomach at the ease of her escape.
She urged Pepper forward, and Eddard stepped out from the side of the stables, blocking her path. Tal pulled on the reins and slouched in the saddle. “Move aside, Ed. I’m going for a ride.”
His finger tapped on the handle of his sword, his palm resting on the pommel. “You know I can’t let you go alone, Tal.”
“He can’t stop me from fulfilling my bounties.” She narrowed her eyes.
“I won’t interfere. I could use a little fresh air.” If his reason for stopping her had been anything other than Faron’s orders, Tal may have considered allowing him to join. But she needed to get away from the constant reminders. She needed to free her mind.
“I just need a moment, Ed, a quick ride north. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
His finger drummed along in the waiting silence. Tap. Tap. Tap.
“I’ll bring back fresh water from the stream,” she offered in a sing-song voice.
He sighed. “Fine. Take my waterskin. It’s bigger.” He stepped into the stable and rested a hand on Pepper’s shoulder. “If you’re not back in four hours, I’m coming after you.”
“Good luck finding me.”
Eddard stepped back, shaking his head. “Faron is going to kill me,” he said under his breath.
Jens waited outside the stables. When Ed told him to let Tal go, he narrowed his eyes at her before wordlessly marching to the gate.
Tal gritted her teeth and kicked Pepper into a slow trot past the guards that watched her with apprehension in their eyes.
Once she allowed the mare to open up, a sense of release came over her, and she relaxed into the ride.
Pepper, it seemed, was all too eager to be set loose.
Tal’s recklessness gave her an adrenaline rush that eased some of the tension she’d been feeling.
She’d purposefully chosen Madge’s bounty when Rainier listed off those remaining.
He hadn’t questioned her judgement, and Tal appreciated the return to normalcy.
The mountains were full of predators, animal or otherwise, and she welcomed the danger.
She leaned into the horse, smiling at the wind. It was a small jab at the man who had lied to her the whole summer, but Tal felt some satisfaction. She would return Pepper as soon as she finished the job. Though, a part of her hoped Faron would fret over the missing horse for a little while.
The long ride to the mountainside required several stops to allow Pepper to rest and hydrate.
Difficult terrain sometimes demanded a slower pace, and once or twice, the mare’s ears pricked up at something that caused her unease.
Tal also felt the familiar chill on the back of her neck from being watched.
But other than a mere feeling, they encountered no trouble on their journey.
They reached their destination, and Tal dismounted.
She grabbed the horse’s lead and walked ahead as she scanned for the signs Madge mentioned.
The first herb proved easy enough to spot.
The tiny blue flowers grew on the western side of a cliff face.
She dug up the plant, roots and all, and placed it carefully in the pouch Madge had insisted she use to transport the item.
The second herb grew on the edge of a stream. “Don’t go grabbing the first mossy rug you see. This one has gray hairs growing in it, like the hair of a woman a few years past her prime,” the healer had said.
Tal walked Pepper to the water and let her drink.
She regarded the mare while she sat on a rock and indulged on bread and a bottle of ale.
Tal found nothing but peace this far from home.
The shouting of fishermen and sailors didn’t cover up the calls of the birds.
The air here was crisp and clean, not muddled by garbage and filth.
And the painted landscape displayed colors unlike anything Tal would find by the docks.
Life flourished in the misty mountain air—life ruled by a set of laws that man disobeyed.
At the docks, the hierarchy constantly changed, creating danger everywhere she turned.
While Tal’s fury could save her from almost any situation, she’d complicated things when she’d opened her heart.
Without fury like hers, her friends were vulnerable.
And Tal would be much happier with them far away from a kingdom like Meladair.
She finished her refreshment and searched for the hairy green moss, telling Pepper not to wander off.
As she cut the moss away from a river rock, she noticed how eerily silent it had become.
Pepper no longer grazed along the bank of the stream.
Tal jumped to her feet and quickly searched the area to no avail.
She cursed herself for getting so distracted.
Quickly packing up the moss and tossing her satchel across her back, she pulled out a second dagger and went in search of the wandering mare.
The tracks were easy enough to follow. As the mud turned into grass, signs indicated something very heavy passed through.
She found Pepper grazing on the other side of a rocky outcropping.
Tal shook her head at the mare. “While I don’t think he’ll be too upset that I borrowed you.
” Pepper lifted her head at Tal’s approach, “I’m not sure the man will forgive me if I lose y—”
Before Tal could finish her sentence, the horse let out a frightened whinny and took off toward her.
She barely had time to jump out of Pepper’s path.
She hit the ground and rolled, landing back on her feet.
Not a moment later, a dark blur shot past, followed by several more. Tal swore and took off after them.
She sheathed her two daggers and reached inwardly for her fury, praying she had built up enough magic stores to avoid crashing out here by herself. She launched one fireball after another, missing all but one of the predators. It erupted in a column of flame as the others ran past.
A massive brown wolf circled back and turned its attention on her, snarling viciously. It leapt at Tal as she dropped to the ground. She thrust her dagger upwards as the wolf passed overhead. Its pained yowl died when it landed in a bloodied heap.
Tal jumped to her feet and followed the snarling wolves, holding onto hope with each of Pepper’s distressed whinnies.
The mare found herself cornered against the high walls of a cliff face.
Five wolves surrounded Pepper. The sixth, a smaller black wolf, lunged and received a hoof to the snout.
It yelped and jumped back, shaking its head.
Without a moment to catch her breath, Tal threw a flame high above and sent a prowling predator crashing into the stone behind it.
It fell to the ground with a sickening thud.
Ten eyes snapped to Tal and a chorus of answering growls filled the area.
She grabbed her axes off her back as the pack stalked around her.
Her chest heaved with each breath, her fury pulsing with each thunderous heartbeat.
A rusty orange wolf lunged and forced Tal into the path of another.
She pivoted and sunk an axe into the black furry neck.
A third wolf’s brown muzzle clamped down on her arm, pulling a shriek from Tal.
She shot off a blast of fury into the wolf’s face.
It released her, and Tal wasted no time pulling her axe out of the black wolf.
She swung her weapon into the beast again for good measure and turned in time to ram it up into the brown wolf’s jaw.
Its head and snout displayed a gruesome series of burned fur and flesh.
With a fierce cry, Tal spun and hefted her attacker over her shoulder.
The sight of the dead animal did little to soothe the searing pain in her arm or the tightness of her lungs.