Chapter 10
For Heldraine’s Sake!
Eldric tried to let go, but something was gnawing at him since the day he had left the canyons with Alissa and Freyah beside him.
In his line of work, Eldric had been everywhere in this country; he knew it like the back of his hand, and still, their accents were unlike any he had ever heard.
It baffled him that they had never heard of Golheim before.
They did not know anything about the canyons or the twins, who were, in fact, very common characters in children’s horror stories.
They didn’t even know what blue cheese was, for Heldraine’s sake!
It was strange to him how ignorant Alissa and Freyah could be of their customs. He understood that in some parts of the kingdom, women did not have easy access to education, but he had never encountered anyone who would fit their level of naivety.
While they rested for the night, sitting on the grass together, he watched them talk about how great the weather had been when he decided it was time to put his mind to rest and let go of these questions eating at him.
“You never told me where you two are from,” he said, his thumb patting his lower lip.
They surveyed him, their eyebrows creased. Alissa’s mouth opened slightly as Freyah tilted her head to one side. “We’re from Bryniard,” she said naturally, as if it was not world-shattering news.
“Bryniard?” Eldric blinked, then widened his eyes like he had seen a ghost.
“Why are you so surprised? We were literally inside the barrels you brought from Bryniard!”
“Well, yes, but I assumed you had climbed up at some point after the wall, not before!” He stood up, the information clearly too overwhelming for him to remain seated.
“How would we have done that if you hadn’t stopped the carriage any time sooner?” Alissa asked with a half-smile, amused by the man’s state of petrifying shock.
“How would I know?” His voice turned squeaky when he spoke. He glanced at Freyah, his eyes landing on her pink eyepatch and the scar that cut through the left side of her face. “Was that…” He trailed off, averting his gaze. “…the work of one of the beasts?”
“It was a wild boar,” she answered, confused by the sudden change of subject.
“What about the beasts?” he insisted.
Freyah pursed her lips. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you okay, Van Myr? You are not making any sense,” Alissa intervened.
“The beasts inside Bryniard.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “What are they like?”
Alissa’s eyes squinted as she watched the weird interaction develop. “Who told you there were monsters in Bryniard?”
“Everyone knows it. It is in every textbook of this kingdom. They teach it in every school. It is of common knowledge that the wall protects us from the monsters within,” Eldric explained, shrugging as if it were obvious.
The women exchanged glances. This confirmed Alissa’s first suspicion from when she saw the guards by the walls. They were protecting the outside world from Bryniard, not the other way around, as everyone in her hometown seemed to believe.
She took a deep breath, turning to Eldric. “There are no beasts in Bryniard. We were also told that monsters lived on this side of the walls. It’s the reason no one ever dares cross it.”
“I see there are no monsters out here either, are there?” Freyah asked, finally coming to the same conclusion Alissa had before. Her voice was no more than a whisper when she realized all she had known was confirmed to be a lie.
Eldric shook his head in denial. Nothing made sense. What could have led an entire kingdom to create such a despicable rumor about a small forsaken town in the middle of nowhere?
Alissa narrowed her eyes. “Did you not find it weird that you were picking up a shipment of ale from a place where monsters supposedly reigned?”
“Honestly, I hadn’t stopped to think about that. I didn’t even know we imported goods from Bryniard until they randomly assigned me to pick up this one shipment. This was my first time anywhere near the walls of your hometown.”
Alissa nodded in understanding.
“Didn’t you think the same about us on the other side of the wall?”
“Well, yes, but I was born and raised within those walls without any glimpse of what society was like out here. For all I knew, Bryniard could be the only place where humans still lived.”
“What about you?” he asked, looking at Freyah.
“My father told me about the tunnels when I was younger. I helped him prepare the shipment to send out of the walls for years. He never explained what the shipment was for, no matter how many times I would ask him.” Freyah sighed.
“He always insisted the monsters would kill me if I ever crossed the walls. I wonder now if he actually knew the truth all along.” She looked away to hide the tears.
Eldric didn’t want to let them see the real effect of their words on him, the shame of not realizing before how difficult it must have been for them to grow up trapped in a small town, blind to the truths of the world.
It made sense now, how their eyes glimmered at every ounce of land they passed by.
They all fell quiet for a long while. Eldric was still adjusting to the new idea that a whole city lived in a place he had always believed to be the home of darkness and evil.
“If there are no monsters in Bryniard, then what is the wall for?” he asked, hoping Alissa and Freyah would know the answer to that question.
They didn’t.
A deep, heavy silence settled, hanging between the three of them. It filled the atmosphere, full of meaning, because that was the fundamental question.
They sat there long after, lost in their own thoughts, trying to grasp what this all meant, quietly speculating on the reasons why they had been lied to their whole lives, and most importantly… what was that damn wall even for?
170 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.
“Will you please stop?” Eldric asked in annoyance.
Alissa arched her brows. “Don’t you think you might be overreacting a little?”
“Overreacting?” Eldric said, blinking repeatedly while Alissa tried to take the reins off his hands. “You make me take you across the country in this wretched carriage and still won’t let me do my job, which is taking you there?”
“I wanted to see if I could drive the carriage.”
He huffed. “Have you ever done this before, Kriegen?”
“Of course not. We don’t have carriages in Bryniard. Have you forgotten I’ve lived my entire life surrounded by walls?” Her voice was full of sarcasm.
Eldric rolled his eyes. “If you can tell me the name of our country, I’ll let you take the reins for the day.”
Alissa snarled, realizing she wasn’t capable of answering even the simplest of questions about this new world she had just emerged into.
“Why don’t you go back to humming songs again?” she teased, a mischievous smile on her face.
It was only then that Eldric realized Freyah and Alissa had heard all the singing he did when he believed he was alone. They had been hiding inside the barrels the whole time.
His cheeks turned red, and he tried to remember if he’d said anything compromising in the times he talked to himself.
Freyah stared at them with a bored expression. All this bickering between Alissa and Eldric was becoming more common as the days passed. She didn’t know whether it was exhaustion or their naturally bad tempers. All she knew was that she had to play the peacemaker role very often.
Freyah closed her eyes and wished she could go back to hearing the sound of her father playing his flute in their living room instead of this stupidity. “What is it, by the way?” she interrupted, her eyes still closed.
“What?” Eldric only then acknowledged Freyah’s existence.
“The name of our country.”
“Heldraine,” he murmured.
“That’s a terrible choice of name!” Alissa twitched her nose in disapproval. “It sounds like the name of a potion to ease flatulence.”
Freyah burst into laughter. Eldric only stared at her in disbelief. “It’s not like I came up with the name, Kriegen. Also, it’s not very respectful of you to say that about your country,” he scolded her, not really sure why—he hadn’t exactly been the proudest of patriots himself lately.
“Oh, the same country that showed us so much respect by making up stories of monsters to keep my people trapped by walls?” Alissa’s words hung there, the seriousness in her voice fading Freyah’s laughter and easing Eldric’s gaze.
“I’m sorry… that you had to live that way for so long.”
They glanced at him, surprised that the tall, strong man who was usually too blunt had shown signs of empathy.
“It’s not your fault,” Freyah said.
“Still, it’s not fair.” He watched them with sympathy. “Is that why you left?”
Freyah glanced at Alissa for any signs of what she should trust Eldric with. This was not her story to tell, and Alissa should be the one to decide if, when, and how much of their reasoning Eldric should know about.
Eldric noticed how Freyah was silently asking Alissa for permission to speak.
He had the feeling they had left Bryniard for a deeper reason than simple curiosity about the exterior world.
Anything that would make someone willing to face the Canyons of Truths—and give up their hand for it—should not be taken lightly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Alissa cut the subject short. “How long till we’re in Porjea?”
Eldric frowned but let the matter go for the time being. “Almost there.”
They had decided to take a short detour to a small village Eldric called Porjea to restock their provisions as the recently added destination had significantly extended their travel time.
To make matters worse, Alissa and Freyah had nearly exhausted their supplies; they hadn’t anticipated an extra mouth to feed on their journey, and Eldric apparently hadn’t been well-prepared for this trip—he hadn’t been counting on having to transport this shipment from Bryniard after all.
According to him, from this day forward, it would take them about two months to reach Golheim, with reasonable stops for rest. Alissa didn’t like the idea of having to deviate from the route and waste precious hours, but she had done the math.
If they took a maximum of two months to get to the capital and the same time to go back home, they should be back in Bryniard with two months to spare and in time to save Dhalia.
“Before we enter the village, be mindful of three things,” Eldric explained as he lifted his index finger, counting. “One, don’t let anyone know you’re from Bryniard. Two, don’t speak to anyone, your accent would raise questions about your origins. Three, don’t look men in the eyes.”
Alissa furrowed her eyebrows. This was way too specific for her taste. “Great! On our first stop, there were people who collected body parts, and on our second, people we can’t look in the eyes. Should I be worried about our third stop?”
“That depends on what our third stop is going to be,” Eldric said with a smirk, a failed attempt to scare her.
“Explain, please,” Freyah spoke, bringing the conversation focus back to where it should be.
“In some small villages, women are still regarded as merchandise. In such places, looking a man in the eye can be interpreted as a request for purchase. They will assume I’m your owner, and if you make eye contact, they will start bidding to buy you from me.
” His voice was rough, underscoring the danger they would face if they forgot to follow this one demand.
Freyah bit her nails. “Is it going to be like this in every village we stop on the way?”
“No, only this far west of the capital,” Eldric explained. “You should leave all your weapons in the carriage.”
Alissa shot him the most skeptical look. “I’m not leaving them here.”
“If you do not do as I say, you will get yourselves hurt or killed.”
Alissa crossed her arms, the thought of leaving her weapons twisting in her gut—without them, she’d be completely vulnerable, and that terrified her.
“Okay then, do as you wish. But if I’m given the chance, know that I will sell you both to the first alcohol-smelling pervert who offers me five silver coins.” He stomped his feet toward the town entrance.
Alissa held his wrist, and he came to a halt before reaching the gates. “If what you say is true, then how come we can look into your eyes?”
He rolled his eyes impatiently. “Because I’m not a savage, Kriegen.” He sighed. “Look… just trust me, and you’ll see.”
Alissa glanced at Freyah, and she understood her nod as a plea to comply. Alissa had a harder time trusting people than her warm-hearted friend; even when Eldric had no motive to trick her into this, her mind tended to do a good job of convincing her otherwise.
“Okay, we’ll do as you say, but I’m keeping my dagger.”
“Fine,” Eldric grunted. “Don’t blame me afterward if anything goes sideways.”
Alissa noticed Eldric’s eyes scrutinizing, measuring her every inch from head to toe.
At first, she thought it was the most pathetic attempt at flirting she had ever seen.
But his glare wasn’t one of admiration; it was a look of disapproval.
His gaze drifted to her clothes, still ragged all over from her sprint through the canyons.
He bit his lower lip and shook his head. “You can’t go inside wearing that.”
Alissa frowned, glancing down at herself. “What do you mean? This is good-quality clothing.”
“Not only are your clothes in tatters, but they’re also men’s clothing. Do you have a dress?” he asked, his face a portrait of boredom.
“This is not men’s clothing,” she declared.
“Do you have one or not?” Eldric asked in resignation, not much patience left at this point.
“I have an extra dress she can borrow,” Freyah interrupted, casting an outrageous look at her friend.
Eldric took the extra dress from Freyah’s hands and threw it in Alissa’s direction; the light-yellow dress fell on top of her head.
“Fix your hair, too,” he said, turning his back on her. “It looks terrible.”
Alissa murmured curses as she slipped the dress over her head.