Chapter Five

Selene was woken by the sound of a sharpening stone over metal. It took her a minute to regain her vision. When she sat up she felt as if someone had placed her head in a vice. The pain was almost unbearable, and the noise, the noise was chiseling away at her consciousness. She felt dizzy and nearly vomited just as she heard him speak.

“Dreadfully sorry about your head, darling, but I had no choice. You were bumbling through the underbrush like a retarded sow. Gods be gracious, I should have left you there. I suppose I have a soft spot for foolish little girls, though.” The voice was calm and soothing, fatherly even.

The man was sitting across from her in the small, what was it around her, a cave? There was no light except that which crept in from the moon, and she could not seem to focus very well in the darkness. He was a featureless shadow amongst shadows.

“I am no girl. I am a woman grown.” She did not know if she could remain alert, her head felt as though she had fallen from a tower, a very tall tower.

“Well, had I known that I would have left you for the wolves and crows,” his voice had the hint of a smile on it. “Here we are though, veiling ourselves away in this fissure of the mountain. Here, drink this. I am sure your head hurts something fierce.” He handed her a small piece of dipped wood with an almost paste like substance on top of it.

Selene looked at it for a long moment. ”It is a solid.”

“Lick it then,” he said with a shrug.

She frowned and licked the paste. It tasted like nothing she had ever tried, and nearly caused her to vomit once again. She spat and rubbed her mouth with her sleeve, but the taste would not go away. The man laughed and she threw the wood down and shot him her meanest scowl, though it was lost in the darkness for no one to see.

“It is a little mixture I came up with, dulls the pain, but tastes like straight ass. Dreadfully sorry, my dear, I suppose I could have warned you, but where is the fun in that?” He clapped his hands and stood up. His head nearly scraped the top of the small cave. He moved closer and squatted down in front of her. She was finally able to look upon his face. It took her by surprise, for the man in front of her was not the least bit hideous or frightening. He had olive skin and light brown hair that hung just atop his bright blue eyes. His teeth were the whitest teeth she had ever seen, and his smile could have won the hearts of a thousand maidens. In an instant, all of her anxiety flooded away and she felt completely safe and content with this stranger sitting in front of her.

“Do you have a name, child?”

She tried to smile. “My name is Selene. I work at the Inn of Stones, and you are?” It was odd, for she knew that she should be trying to escape, that she should feel some apprehension at being in a cave with a complete stranger who had just recently rendered her unconscious.

He returned the smile. “Seros, of Ovum.” He executed a subtle bow of his head. “Now tell me, why were you blundering through the forest with a small host of men and dogs chasing you?”

This Seros seemed friendly enough, but she was not sure if she could trust him. There was nary a man in the empire that she had ever met worth a strand of honor, and this one was much too beautiful to be the exception. Still, something told her that she could trust him, something more than just his handsome face and flawless smile.

“There was a knight and… he wanted to, well he tried to –”

He cut in. “Rape you? Kill you? Plunder your bones and steal your virtue?”

“Something like that. He visited a friend of mine the night before,” her words caught in her throat. “I never saw her again,” she said with a shudder. They would have mopped me up from the floor.

His face was wrapped in compassion. “So you fought free and ran. Good for you. Tell me, this knight, what was his namesake?”

She bit her lower lip. “Sir Veran Meyser is his name, a Westerlay knight, I think.”

“Ah, yes, the Butcher, but he is not from Westerlay. No, I am afraid that he resides in a much worse place. It is certainly best that you got away from his paws.”

“You know about the Butcher?” It was a stupid question, for every person in the empire knew about the Butcher. Word travels fast amongst commoners, and no words travel quite as fast as those of carnage and death.

“That I do, Selene. He’s a rabid dog, let loose by a rabid king. If I were you, I would find somewhere far away to call home and never think of that inn again.” He was as serious as a justice.

“Gladly,” she would love nothing more, but where would she go? And more importantly, how would she get there? She knew little about where she was or what free cities were near, much less how to survive apart from any civilized, or at least partially civilized, city or town..

Seros moved away from her and back to the cave wall were a small pack leaned against the choppy stone wall. He opened it and pulled out a few apples and tossed her one. “Eat. They are mushy, but still good.”

The apple was the first food she’d had since she broke her fast earlier the previous morning. It was indeed mushy, but it might as well have been from a fresh bushel. She did not complain. “What were you doing in the forest, if I might ask?”

He had a small dagger and was cutting another apple into pieces before popping them into his mouth. “I often move through the woods during the night. It is safer for a lone traveler than the long road—or any other road for that matter—especially now that the Silent King has loosed the empire’s knights on the people.”

“The roads have never been so busy.” Selene found herself cutting in. “The inn has been bustling for the last fortnight, we nearly ran out of food more than once.” She finished speaking between bites.

“Nothing like a little fear to get people out and moving, aye? The good knights of the Vint and the rest of the realm out hunting one man, hah! Tell me, my darling, how much damage can one man do? Not so much I would think, but then again, what do I know?”

Selene raised an eyebrow at the stranger. “King Maras is right to fear the Lost Prince. He has never been defeated in a fight, even when they were unfair for him. I have heard he is the fastest man alive, and he even killed Sir Fenley not a moon’s turn ago.” Talking about the great Prince always got her excited. She took a breath and noticed the large smile across his face.

“The Lost Prince, that what they are calling him now? I have yet to hear that one. I must confess that it is not surprising, for I stick to the woods and leave the humble gossipers to their own. So tell me, how is it that you know so much about this Prince who has been lost.”

She frowned at the question. “Well, he is no longer lost—nor was he, I think, only on a hiatus perhaps. And I know as much as anyone else. Everyone in the realm knows about him. The Silent King would see his head dangle from the Black Bridge, but the Prince is cunning, too cunning for the likes of him.” Selene took pride in defending the Lost Prince’s honor, though she was not sure why.

“I see,” Seros said with a grin as he popped another piece of apple into his mouth. “And what do you plan to do now, darling, now that you are free from the Butcher, and the Inn of Stones?”

Selene had so many dreams of what she would do if she was ever free, but now that she was, she felt lost. “I.. I don’t know…”

Seros nodded as if it was exactly the response he had expected. “Listen, dear, I am heading north to Adremia and Garr. You are more than welcome to accompany me to either, or both, if you would like, and from there make your own way.”

She had heard of Adremia before, the City of Mirrors it was called, though she was not sure why—she assumed that the city was made of mirrors, but never had the courage to ask. Either way, she was sure that it would be perfect. “If you would have me,” she said with a smile, “but how far is Adremia?”

“Four days as the crow flies, which those of us without wings will not be doing. I would venture a fortnight afoot, less if we can come across some mounts.”

A fortnight was not a terribly long time. Once, Grest had made her sleep in the cleaning pot for a whole week for dropping a tray. She had to admit, she had never walked for a week though, much less a fortnight. She looked down at her bare feet and frowned. Her soles would be shredded after the first league, no doubt.

“Worry not, child. I will find you some shoes, but you must rest. We have but a few hours until first light, at which time we will need to set off. The cave here is safe enough, I promise.” He stood and moved to the mouth of the small cave. “I would start no fires and be quiet though, just in case.” With one last smile he vanished into the night, leaving Selene alone in the cold, dark cave.