Out of the Faold (Whilst Old Legends Fade Synchronicles) (35 page)

“She can be a child out here. And Coral can be a Brother leading ducklings and fall in love across a camp fire,” he said smiling back at his wife, who didn’t hear their conversation so gave him a questioning look. “Pearl just wants to relive childhood maybe.”

Fredrick thought about that. He’d been putting so much pressure on her lately. And so had her position. She had to be adult and grown up most of the time. Still a girl, she needed freedom to be both. He nodde
d. He understood.

“It’s hard to think of anything other than being an old man.”

Amias laughed. “Out here you can be anything. You aren’t the King, you are just a rider. Enjoy the sun, the road, the horse. And later you get to enjoy half burned rabbit over a camp fire.”

The evening was pleasant. They’d found a camping spot off the road away from other travelers beyond a stretch of trees and near a stream. Darius ran around while others set up camp. The fires were lit, the bedrolls unfurled. He finally settled into Pearl’s lap as the men started telling their stories. The one of the Marshalls finding a lady Brother and three small girls perilously hanging from trees in a mudslide went over well with Darius. He giggled that it was his mother needing to be r
escued.

They told of Pearl’s quick action to help them escape from the Sisters, and how Krisa spent a few days at the top of a tree looking for the Marshalls to appear behind them. The ladies all blushed at that one. Coral recounted the declaration Pearl had made while rolling around in a big bed that Tucker could have fit three of his whores in it, and even though no one knew who Tucker was they thought it was quite charming
of the young street wise Pearl.

Fredrick watched her and wondered what her life had really been like as a small child. She joked about being a street rat and sleeping with dogs but what had she really endured. And to see her now, in court, a strong, intelligent woman. She could have turned out so differently. He smiled at Coral, a silent thank yo
u for changing the girl’s life.

Darius was passed to his mother, his head hanging and his limbs limp deep in sleep. Pat and Krisa disappeared off into the dark to scout around like they used to. A few of the men took out their pipes and Cor
al smiled serenely.

“So this is what it was like,” the King asked quietly, not wanting to break the mood.

“Well, we had storms and Sisters and danger following us,” Amias said.

“I think I want to be a Marshall,” Fredr
ick said and everyone chuckled.

“I don’t think they make poof pillows for Marshall saddles,” Pearl told him and the King threw a twig at her.

One of the men started humming and lamented that Glory wasn’t there to start singing. “Can anyone remember the words?” Coral laughed.

Amias leaned over to Coral and said, “That’s the same look you used to give me.”

Coral watched Pearl’s eyes study the King. “And he gives it right back,” Coral sighed, looking at the King. Amias put his arm around his troubled wife. “Do you think it’s real? Do you
think it is just…”

He said, “And what if it isn’t? Nothing you or I can say would change anything, not with those looks going back and forth.”

She nodded. She looked down at Darius asleep in her arms and kissed his forehead. And then they were gone. Amias jumped up, grabbing his hatchet instinctively. Kel and the others rushed forward. Amias was the only one among them who could force himself into the world of the gods. Pearl leapt to his side with her hand out to grab
his and they slid out of sight.

Kel shouted for Krisa. Fredrick sat frozen in place, unsure what happened or what it meant. The feeling of bile rose in his throat with the realization Pearl had just disappeared into the unknown. And the Marshalls standing around him ready for battle assured it was not a good thing.

Glory and Thomas sat hand in hand in the gardens. Their chaperone, a page, had been instructed to stick with them and not accept b
argains for leaving them alone.

Glory whispered, “I wish he’d just let us get married.”

He smiled. “I think he’s hoping to marry again. If I get married it will make him feel too old.”

“At least with Darius following we get a few minutes alone,” she grumbled looking over at the page.

“I have to go sit in the library anyway,” he told her. “The others are there waiting to bore me.”

She smiled. He kissed her softly and rose to go. “Dinner tonight?” she asked.

“Jimm and I are dining in the war room if you want to join.”

She wrinkled her nose. Glory couldn’t find anything to do. Coral, Pearl and Darius were off on their ride. The kitchens were running smoothly. Tomas was busy putting his signature to parchment a
nd listening to the old men instruct
him
in
how things were run in the country. Even Jimm, who often came to her aid when she was lonely, was off with friends. Glory had dinner in their suite then took a stroll to the lounge where women met to gossip or serve tea or play cards. It was the sort of place she and Lady Marden would do very well in. But Glory wasn’t invited to tea, wasn’t offered a seat at a game table. Ladies would smile at her then exchange knowing looks and whisper. A rush of an unfamiliar emotion coloured her cheeks,
shame. And she had no idea why.

She turned and left. The corridor that held the King’s library was busy with staff. Several guards stood at the door, two pages,
and four
housekeeping staff with empty food trays. She glanced at them briefly, curious. When she asked for entrance one of the guards
shook his head and apologized.

“I want entrance.”

Laughter could be heard beyond the closed door. She gave the guard a look that told him she meant business. He opened the door slowly but she pushed it open. Inside Tomas was in the King’s chair, a pipe in hand, with his brother Jimm and the rest of their noble young friends lounging around, sipping at ale and smoking pipes or otherwise in the pretense of being twenty years older than they were. Tomas peered over to her then the guard. The guard got a glower from him. Glory saw the look of shame and apology on one face. Jimm’s. Not on Tomas’, who sat smugly in his father’s seat. As she spun to go back to her rooms she could hear the laughter of his friends follow her down the hall. Jimm called h
er name. But then she was gone.

Jimm slid to a stop in the corridor and looked both ways. The servants pointed in one direction but looked confused because she’d just been there and she couldn’t have just disappeared…

Krisa lay in the grass with Pat. The night had enveloped them completely. They whispered sweetly to each other, touched each
other’s
faces with their fingers and lips, held each other. Pat had just pressed himself against her and nuzzled her neck when they heard Kel shout her name. And then she was gone. Pat rolled forward onto the grass where she’d been. Tears welled up in his eyes as he jumped up and started running, his hatchet hitting his thigh as he went. In camp he found the women gone, Darius gone and Amias as well.

Coral lurched to a stop unsteadily holding Darius in her lap still. Glory appeared beside her, tears in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away when she saw where she was. Amias and Pearl forced their way in, Amias rushing to Coral’s side to make sure they were okay. Krisa slid to a stop, looking bewildered, laying on the ground. Around them stood the emotionless gods. In the arch was the image of the men standing around the campfire bewil
dered. The goddess was missing.

One god stepped forward, one who had taken to Amias previously and in hushed tones said, “Things are not right.”

But he said no more. The goddess appeared. She serenely greeted them with a smile. “You are looking well,” she said. “The boy is getting big.”

Coral smiled with pride, standing with Darius still asleep in her arms. The goddess’ eyes lingered on Coral’s. She looked to Pearl. She scanned her dress. Pearl felt g
uilt for not wearing the robes.

The goddess whispered to her, “It doesn’t matter what you wear. But who you are inside the clothes, god-
smiter
.” And she smiled proudly.

The god stepped forward with an urgent look on his face. She turned back to Coral and said, “Get to a Well.”

And suddenly they were flung back, back to the campfire, back to the Marshalls. Their voices all called out as they re-appeared. Glory stumbled and almost caught her puffy skirts on fire. The King jumped up and caught her, offering his seat. He settled onto the ground next to Pearl, who seemed to hold onto her bedroll tightly as though s
he didn’t know she was sitting.

“They are watchin
g,” she told them in a whisper.

Amias nodded. Krisa took Pat into the dark, Amias and Coral disappeared as well. Glory took Kel by the hand. The others stood around looking confused but sat to smoke their pipes and hum songs, knowing they’d get the news before long. Pearl lay down on her bedroll and tugged at Fredrick’s jacket. He moved to her sid
e, a wicked twinkle in his eye.

“With all these people here?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

She swatted him with a smile then put her hand on his chest for support. “They took us there, to where they are. And there’s something wrong. One of them told us things are not right. And the goddess, the one who is always so lovely, she told us to get to a Well and they tossed us out.”

“What does that mean?” he asked placing his face close
to hers and a hand on her arm.

“We told you of the well, the pool where we first met the gods,” she said to him, running a finger absently down the line where his cheek and beard met. “We had visions and they helped us. She’s told us to get to one. We must have to see something again.”

“Is that the only well?” he asked.

“No, there is another. Doran estate. Amias built it with the house. The gods have blessed it. It is the closest unless…”

“Yes?” he asked moving his chin so h
er whole hand touched his face.

She leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth softly then whispered, “Darius.”

He looked puzzled as she jumped up from the bedroll, leaving him to take two deep breaths, one of joy at the kiss, and one
of disappointment there were no
more. Pearl pulled another Marshall off into the dark. Fredrick bristled in jealousy then realized he was stupid, she was just tel
ling the man what had happened.

“Darius?” he questioned silently, looking around at people slipping in and out of view. “And who is watching us?”

The morning dawned finding Tomas and his friends still in the King’s library, feeling unwell with the cloud of pipe smoke and the smell of ale in the room. A few had stumbled out to go find their own rooms. Jimm had not come back. Tomas finally woke enough to give orders to clean the library and leave no evidence and to shoo his friends away with promises to go
hunting later in the afternoon.

Jimm was meeting with a guard captain arranging a sweep of the castle in search for Glory. She had disappeared. He couldn’t find her in her rooms, the gardens, the lady’s parlor, the brunch room, the kitchens, anywhere he could think to look. No one had seen her. He met with the kennel master, who assured him if he gave his mastiff a whiff of her they’d find her in the castle. Housekeeping opened up their rooms for him and he pulled the pillow sham from her bed for the mastiff. He smiled, knowing it was her bed by the multi-ruffled quilt, as opposed t
o the plain one on Pearl’s bed.

The mastiff tracked Glory’s scent in different places but came to a stop and circled many times that one spot in the corridor outside the library. He lost the scent there. Jimm, puzzled, appeared distressed. His father wasn’t here to guide him. Tomas was sle
eping off his irresponsibility.

Hurriedly Jimm penned orders for the guard to spread out into the city and surrounding countryside in their search. He eventually went to Tomas with his concerns but his older brother didn’t want to hear about it, saying she was just pouting and she’d come back when she was ready. He wasn’t going to go chasing her down. That’s what she’d want him to do to
prove she had control over him.

Jimm shook his head. He left Tomas stewing in his self-absorption. He called for a horse to be prepared and he went off in search of Pearl and Krisa and his father. They would know where to search. With only two guards in tow, Jimm took off to the south after the Marshalls.

“Darius,” a voice whispered to him. “Darius.”

He turned over and said, “Why is everyone always waking me up?”

His mother smiled at him and kissed his cheek. She pulled him up into her arms. He looked around and found the Marshalls all watching him, the King, Pearl and even Glory in her fan
cy dress in the middle of camp.

“How did you get here in that dress?” Darius asked her, his eyes half open in the morning sun.

“Darius, remember the day in the jail? And where we went?” Coral ask
ed, keeping her question vague.