The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 (41 page)

It had been a long day of traveling, and Lucy was tired. She thought she might fall fast asleep, but she didn’t. Part of it was sleeping outdoors in a tent. At least they had the tent. It gave her the illusion of a line of defense between herself and anything out there. There were noises that made her jump even though there was nothing malicious about them. Added to that was the fact that she was sleeping in a tent with other people. She was less scared about what might be outside with other people there, but she was never good at sharing a room. It became quickly apparent that Gavin snored. On her left, Maya was breathing heavily, obviously asleep so the snoring didn’t bother her, but it grinded on Lucy’s nerves. Tired of staring at the ceiling, she rolled onto her right side, coming face to face with Justin who smiled. She smiled back.

“
What did you think of your first day?”
he asked.

“
Not bad. I liked the traveling. I like horses. It’s the night I’m finding I’m not fond of,”
replied Lucy, glad they could talk and not disturb anyone, although she was getting the impression that Maya could sleep though almost anything.

“
Why’s that?”

“
I’m not used to sleeping with other people in the room, and Gavin snores loudly.”

“
Yes, he does. I could muffle my ability to hear, but that seems like a dangerous idea in unknown territory.”

“
I suggest we take turns. I’ll muffle my ears tonight, and you muffle yours tomorrow.”

Justin quietly laughed at her.

“
What about you?”
asked Lucy,
“You seem at ease.”

“
I am. Taran and I spent lots of time camping together while we were growing up. However, I should point out, Taran doesn’t snore.”

“
I suppose we’ll have to get used to it or we’ll never get any sleep.”

“
Don’t worry, some nights we’ll be in inns. Also, I think we are going to have to make some changes to this tent. Not so many that it’s obvious to someone else, but enough to make things more reasonable. If we section it off so you girls can have some privacy, you could make that curtain sound proof,”
suggested Justin.

“
Good idea. I’m interested to see what the inns are like here. You can read about places, but you don’t really get an idea of something unless you experience it.”

“
True, the books I’ve read generally work under the assumption that your travel companions don’t snore.”

They both smiled at this.

“
Tomorrow is going to be another long day of traveling. You should try to get some sleep,”
said Justin.

“
You too.”

“
Goodnight, Lucy.”

“
Goodnight, Justin.”

Lucy closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on anything other than Gavin’s snoring. When she finally did fall asleep, she slept fitfully and dreamed of being chased by really fast tortoises. Justin watched Lucy for a few moments longer. Then he too closed his eyes and fell asleep. He did not dream of tortoises. He dreamt of Kleth.

Lucy awoke the next morning shortly after the sun rose. Between the light and Gavin’s snores, there was no way she was getting any more sleep. She supposed it was for the best. That way they could all get an early start to the day, but she was tired and could have used the extra sleep. Gavin had no problems snoring away while Lucy got dressed and went outside. She left the illusion of the guard against his tree. It didn’t hurt anything for him to be there, and it gave Lucy the illusion of company. The small pond nearby was only a couple of feet deep and so dirty that Lucy felt she could start the day without a bath. She did consult her book to see what other ideas it had about cleanliness. There was a spell that made dirt fall off clothing. She tried that, and even though her clothes didn’t seem that dirty in the first place there was a small pile of dirt when she was done, which made her feel better. She decided it couldn’t hurt to try the spell on her body as well. Since she was already wearing her clothes, to get the full effect she had to use the spell on her clothes again because all the dirt from her body fell off her and right onto her clothes. Feeling much cleaner, she reached into her pack and took out a piece of travel bread for breakfast as Justin walked out of the tent.

“Morning,” said Justin looking more refreshed than Lucy felt he should.

“Morning,” she replied with a smile.

“How much longer do you think we should let them sleep?”

“How much longer do you think they will sleep if we let them?”

“Maya will probably roll out of bed shortly, but Gavin would sleep longer than we want to wait for him. Morning is not his best time of the day.”

“You’d think with how deeply he sleeps, he would need less.”

Justin shrugged in response and went to check on the horses. Since Justin was awake, Lucy decided she could let her illusionary guard evaporate. Maya came out of the tent shortly after Justin returned from checking the horses.

“I’m amazed he can sleep though his own snoring,” said Maya.

“You slept through it too, he’s been doing that all night,” replied Lucy, offering her a piece of travel bread.

“You’re kidding. I slept through that? I must have been more tired than I thought I was. We’ll have to set a steady pace today to make sure I’m just as tired tonight,” Maya said with a smile.

“That, or find an inn where we can get him his own room,” suggested Justin.

Since three out of four were awake, they voted to wake up Gavin as well. As soon as Gavin ate some travel bread and fruit, they packed up, saddled up, and left. Lucy and Justin took down their wards as they left. Certain myths that started about places were caused by wards that wizards had forgotten to take down when they left a spot. Nothing strange or mysterious had ever happened there, but a small oasis that you couldn’t see unless you were in the middle of it was something that could cause stories to start.

Maya continued to lead them south. It progressively got warmer. Lucy made sure she drank enough water to stay hydrated. The last thing she needed to do was fall off her horse with sunstroke. The wind picked up, too. It was a warm wind and steady. It wasn’t enough to make forward progress difficult or blow them off course, but it was enough to dry the sweat on Lucy’s face. Lucy reached up to push an errant lock of hair out of her face and realized she was brushing salt as well. She made sure she ate some of the salted jerky when they stopped for lunch to replenish the salt her body was losing. They didn’t talk much during the day. Lucy wasn’t sure if they were all tired, or they simply didn’t have anything to say. She was content to ride and watch the surroundings.

This time when they stopped for the night, they decided not to build a fire. Their travel rations of bread, cheese, jerky, and dried fruit would suffice for dinner. They did not need the heat, and the less obvious they were about their current position, the better. Lucy set wards while Justin made some adjustments to the tent. When he was done, things were much better. He made it so that it looked the same size, but you could walk through the back wall into a second room that was about the same size as the first. It was enough to make Maya and Lucy happy for the time being.

The third day passed much the same. On the fourth evening, when they stopped for the night to make camp, it was Maya who announced she couldn’t take it anymore and needed a bath. Lucy agreed, and the two of them went to the edge of the pond they were camping near, stripped down, and waded into the water. The water was warm enough that Lucy did not need to use the warming spell from the book. She did use the spell to change a rock into soap and enjoyed the feeling of being clean. The dirt removal spell helped, but there was something about soap and water that made Lucy feel better. It felt great to wash her hair. Maya looked equally happy.

They finished their bath, dried off, got dressed, and walked back to camp. When they arrived, their mouths dropped in surprise as Gavin stood over five bodies looking shocked. Lucy spun in alarm as she heard someone behind her, but sighed in relief when she saw it was Justin.

“Good, it’s you,” said Justin. “I was worried that something might have happened to you and snuck down to the pond when we had finished here. By the time I got there, you had left so I followed you back to be safe.”

“What happened here?” asked Lucy. “I heard the fighting, but thought you were sparring to keep in practice.”

“Bandits, it seems. I guess they decided that they liked the odds of the five of them against the two of us. They probably wanted our horses.”

Maya walked over to Gavin who was still standing looking down at the bodies.

“Is he alright?” Lucy asked Justin.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “I thought it was more important to make sure you were safe.”

Gavin looked up at them, a level of anguish in his eyes that Lucy had thought she would never see in someone as strong as Gavin.

“I’ve never killed anyone before,” he said. “I don’t like it. I think I’ll be able to get used to it because I know I have to, but I’ll never like it.”

“Good,” said Maya. “We prefer you that way.”

Gavin looked relieved to hear her say that, and Justin and Lucy nodded in agreement. Lucy was sorry he was hurting inside, but glad to hear him say that. She couldn’t imagine anyone more dangerous than someone with Gavin’s skills who enjoyed killing. Justin stripped the bodies of anything valuable. There wasn’t much, but the dead didn’t need money. Lucy helped dig the graves with magic and offered to help lift the bandits into it with magic, but she refused to touch the bodies. She knew it was silly, but she decided she was going to be silly while she had the luxury to be.

When the bodies were buried, Gavin and Justin went to the pond to bathe while Lucy and Maya got ready for bed. None of them felt like eating. As usual, it took Lucy awhile to fall asleep. She was still not comfortable sleeping in a tent. For a moment, she wondered if she was getting used to Gavin’s snores because they weren’t bothering her. Then, she realized she wasn’t the only one lying awake. It was a long time before the snoring started and he was asleep.

Maya and Gavin were still sleeping when Lucy got up. It wasn’t that she was a morning person. She just couldn’t sleep with so many distractions. She found Justin sitting down by the pond, staring at the water. Lucy sat down next to him.

“Gavin’s still sleeping, and I think we should let him sleep for awhile yet. He didn’t fall asleep right away last night,” said Lucy.

“I don’t think anyone fell asleep quickly last night,” replied Justin.

“I’ve never killed anyone either, and I’m not sure how I’m going to react if and when I have to, but I hope he gets past this quickly. I don’t want him to like killing, but he is our main non-magical fighting force.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about that too. If he can’t do this and it becomes a problem, we’ll have to find someone who can.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes, watching the ripples on the pond as fish nipped at insects flying too close to the surface.

“I never asked,” started Lucy, “Are you all right after yesterday?”

“I don’t enjoy killing either, but it’s not the first time I’ve killed someone. I accept death as a part of life. One day I will die. I do my best to train well and put off that day. Being good at staying alive sometimes means having to kill others. I also don’t try to do things like steal horses. I guess it comes down to the fact that death is and sometimes I am the bringer of death.”

“It sounds like you are trying to justify not being affected as much as Gavin was.”

“Perhaps, in a way, I am. I don’t want you to think I’m a monster, but I’m more practical about it, I guess.”

“I could never think of you as a monster.”

“I appreciate that.”

Again, they sat there watching the pond. After awhile Justin rose, offering Lucy a hand up, and they walked back to camp. Maya was stretching when they got there. She was better at riding, but she still got sore from it. Then, they woke up Gavin, packed up, and rode on. Today, Lucy asked Justin to tell her more about Kennemt. She could have asked Maya, but at this point she wanted the basics, not the intricate details Maya would provide. She’d get the details later, but not yet.

“Kennemt,” Justin warned, “is going to be hot and humid.”

“I don’t mind that, I’d rather be too hot than too cold.”

Justin laughed, “Believe me, you’ll mind this. It’s so humid, it takes forever for things to get dry. Nothing can be too closed up. If it wasn’t for the winds blowing off the coast, the whole city and everything in it would rot. All the buildings are made of stone.”

“Doesn’t that make things worse?”

“Wood would rot. Besides, they aren’t buildings like you think of them. Think more like an open air temple with pillars. Everything is open during the day, and fine netting is drawn across them at night to seal off sleeping areas.”

“That sounds practical,” said Lucy.

“It is in theory. Given the thin curtains, the echoing stone, and the Kennemt pension for exhibitionism, it makes things interesting. The city is all about creating desire. Desire starts in the mind so everything from clothing, to food, to music, and dance are meant to arouse.”

“This is sounding intimidating,” said Lucy.

“It certainly can be.”

“Wait, if it’s so hot and humid, that can’t be good for books,” interrupted Lucy. “I thought this place had one of the oldest and best libraries.”

“It does. I should have been more specific. The library is not comprised of books. There are paintings, stone tablets covered in writing, and most importantly, scrolls. Each scroll is rolled up and sealed in an airtight jar. The jar is inscribed with a summary sentence and a date. We are lucky; the Kennemts appreciate knowledge and keep it safe, but few have any interest in actually reading any of the scrolls. Some of the scrolls probably haven’t been read since they were written. They also have an interesting definition of knowledge. If it’s written down, it’s worth saving. There may not be much educational value to some of what is there, but you also never know what you might find.”