The Threshold Child (47 page)

Adesina provided cover for them until they were once again under
the safety of the trees. She held the shield until they were all able to draw
the long hooded cloaks around themselves, then she let the illusion drop.

The group continued riding through the trees in silence. Gruesome
memories of what took place there haunted Adesina as they traveled through the
shadowed domain. She was so distracted by these thoughts that it wasn’t until
the second day that she noticed the almost inaudible whisper of leaves.

“We are being followed,” she said quietly to L’iam, who was riding
next to her.

He frowned. “Are you sure?”

Adesina raised an eyebrow at him. “Of course.”

L’iam brought the group to a stop and turned to face the direction
Adesina indicated.

“Whoever you are, come out willingly or you will be driven out.”

There was a slight pause before the rustle of underbrush grew
louder. A slender figure stepped out from behind a tree, her expression
chagrined.

L’iam’s face flushed with anger. “L’era!”

Adesina stared at her in exasperation. “What are you doing here?”

The princess tried her most winning smile, to no effect.
“Following you.”

This only seemed to goad her brother. “Father will be furious! You
must go home!”

She came forward, leading her snowy white horse. “Well, if Father
will be furious, why would I go to meet his anger? It would be better for me to
wait until he will be merely relieved to see me alive.”

L’iam took a calming breath. “L’era, this is serious. We are
talking about a very dangerous mission, not some countryside picnic.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I know that, L’iam.”

“You are not trained as a warrior!”

L’era shook her head obstinately. “I am not suggesting that I be
placed in the middle of the fighting, but I can still help!”

Adesina was growing impatient. “L’iam, we do not have time for
this.”

He nodded in agreement. “L’era, there is nothing you can say to convince
me to let you come along. Go home right now.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I will just follow you if you do not let me
travel with you.”

“Not if I send someone to escort you home,” he retorted heatedly.

She gave an unamused laugh. “Whom would you send? You cannot wait
for them to catch back up, and you cannot do without any party member.”

L’iam turned to the only one who would be able to take L’era back
to Yavar and then catch up without any problems. “Ravi?”

Ravi shook his head apologetically. “I feel very strongly that I
should not leave Ma’eve.”

L’iam looked around at the faces of the others in the group. He
did not see anyone who he felt they could do without.

His sister suppressed a triumphant grin. “Does that mean I can
come?”

L’iam turned to Adesina and spoke to her in a low voice. “Do you
have any suggestions? No matter what I say, she will not listen to me.”

She frowned. “Do you think she would listen if
I
told her
to go back to Pevothem?”

Ravi quietly cut in here. “She cannot travel by herself. She will
be captured if left alone.”

He spoke with a certainty that sent chills of dread through both
listeners.

“We cannot let her come,” L’iam said hopelessly.

Adesina sighed heavily. “We have very few options. We cannot wait
any longer for this mission, and we cannot spare anyone to take her back.”

His expression was void of its usual light. “I know.”

Adesina fixed her most intimidating expression on her face. “You
many only come on one condition, L’era: you
will
listen to everything I
say and obey without argument.”

The young princess nodded instantly, her eyes solemn. “Of course.”

Her brother’s tone became sharp. “Do not say ‘of course,’ L’era,
because you know that a time will come when you are told to do something that
you will not want to do. No matter how ridiculous our orders may sound to you,
must swear to obey them instantly.”

She lifted her hands defensively. “I promise!”

Ravi got to his feet. “We must hurry if we are going to leave the
forest by nightfall.”

L’era meekly mounted her horse and moved to ride next to Sa’jan.
He was farthest away from her brother, and she felt the distance was wise at
the moment. They passed through the rest of the forest without any other
problems. They didn’t run into any others travelers, but Adesina could tell
that they were being closely watched. Words of warning about the silent cloaked
strangers seemed to have spread since their last visit, leaving a wake of fear
before the L’avan.

They continued southward, saying very little to each other even
after they passed out of the thieves’ forest. It took L’era a few days to feel
secure enough in her position as their companion to return to her usual
chatter. Once she did, it lightened the mood considerably. She seemed like a
ray of sunlight in the gloom of the knowledge of their final destination.

The L’avan chatted amiably as they rode the duration of each day.
Adesina was instructed on L’avan history, shown the finer points of how to work
with her
vyala
, and taught various
folk songs. Ravi even began telling her about the history of the Rashad, which
predated the L’avan by many thousands of years.

They sat around the campfire every evening, sharing stories of the
past and dreams of the future. Adesina tried to pry more information from E’nes
regarding her
dava
, but he firmly
refused to discuss it with her anymore. He merely insisted that it didn’t
matter and told her to put it out of her mind. Adesina rolled her eyes at the
suggestion, but eventually stopped pestering him.

Every once in a while they discussed the mission, but this wasn’t
done very often. Adesina was still working out details and contingency plans in
her mind. She assured them that she would fill them in as soon as she
determined the best course.

There had been a lot of apprehension about starting on a mission
without a set plan, but Ravi had informed them that if they didn’t leave right
away they would arrive too late. Therefore, in spite of all the reluctance felt
by many parties, they had left Yavar as soon as their bags were packed. Now they
drew closer and closer to the southern lands, still not knowing what was
waiting for them or what they would do when they arrived. It left them all
feeling unsettled, which even their nights of music and merry tales couldn’t
dispel.

As for Adesina, she was fairly fixed in a world of her own. She
enjoyed the company of her companions, and she warded off the tension by
engulfing her mind in planning. She frequently asked the others to tell her all
that they knew about the Shimat, and coupled this information with everything
that she knew. With these two contrasting views, she filtered through a
multitude of variations in the mission they were attempting.

In spite of her efforts, most of the details would have to wait
until they could contact Kendan. He would have access to important information
that Adesina was currently without.

Her stomach jolted when she realized how long it had been since
she had seen Kendan. Her heart ached with missing him, and she felt sorrow for
all the worry he must be going through. She was anxious to see him again and to
let him know that she was all right. She also felt a wave of confidence knowing
that he would not hesitate to do what was right once he knew the truth about
the Shimat order.

Together they couldn’t fail.

Adesina passed the days in relative contentment. It wasn’t until
they started coming across civilization again that she was pulled back to
reality.

L’iam surprised Adesina by directing his horse out from the protection
of the trees. The group of L’avan had not traveled in the open since leaving
the Rashad lands.

“What are you doing?” she asked, perplexed.

He gave a strained smile. “We left in a hurry, so we did not
prepare as well as we could have. We will need to stop and get supplies from a
nearby village.”

She didn’t understand the forced expression on his face. “What is
wrong?”

He exchanged glances with Sa’jan and E’nes. “It is not going to be
easy.”

“Getting supplies?”

L’iam merely nodded and nudged his horse forward. They emerged
from the trees, moving at a slow, deliberate pace. They left the forest in such
a manner as to make it appear that they were approaching from the west. The
L’avan topped a small hill, and Adesina saw the village set before them.

It was small and simple, made up of small shanties and a few
farms. Adesina could see the figures of its citizens walking down the dirt roads.

The group of travelers was spotted quickly, and a cry of warning
sounded. The villagers hurried to ready themselves for the arrival of the
intruders. They gathered their families into their homes, grabbed pitchforks
and stood by their fences to watch the L’avan ride by.

The closer the L’avan drew, the clearer the scene became to
Adesina. Unlike Yavar, which was beautiful from a distance as well as in
proximity, the village looked dirty and run-down when observed at a nearer
interval. The roads were muddy, and the daily traffic had spattered everything
else. The people and the animals were all worn and bore hostile expressions on
their faces. It was painfully clear that Adesina and her companions were
unwanted.

L’era seemed to be the only one, other than Adesina, who noticed.
The others had impassive expressions on their faces and they rode into the
center of town. They stopped in front of what appeared to be a trading post.

“L’era, Sa’jan and Ravi, stay here with the horses,” L’iam
instructed as he dismounted.

They nodded, although L’era was reluctant to do so. L’iam, E’nes
and Adesina walked up the uneven wooden steps and into the dim interior of the
trading post.

A dirty man with a thick, mangy beard stood behind the counter.
The room was filled with an unorganized mess of trapping and hunting tools,
bags of flour, dead animals and pieces of dried meat, bolts of rough fabric,
and so forth. Adesina had to fight to keep the look of disdain from her face.

The shopkeeper, on the other hand, felt no such need. He surveyed
the visitors with open scorn. “We dunnot serve yor kind heer.”

L’iam looked politely puzzled. “I beg your pardon?”

The man spat at their feet. “Willno’ do ya no good to beg for me
pardon. I dunnot serve yor kind. Take yor selfs outta my estableeshmen.”

L’iam cast a glance at E’nes and they both started to turn away,
but Adesina refused to join them. She firmly stood her ground with an enraged
glint in her eye.

 
“Why?” she demanded.

The shopkeeper was surprised that she dared to argue. “Wha’?”

“Why do you not serve
our kind
?”

The man was speechless, daunted by the icy glare he met in this
bold young woman dressed in black. E’nes tried to gently lead her away, but she
jerked her arm out of his grasp.

“Have you ever been treated dishonestly by the L’avan? Have you
ever been wronged?”

The shopkeeper stood dumb, his face a mixture of fear and hatred.
L’iam laid a hand on her elbow, speaking quietly in her ear in the language of
the L’avan rather than the common tongue.

“It does not matter, Adesina. At a time like this, it is more
important to stand on the higher ground.”

She reluctantly allowed herself to be led from the trading post.
The look on Sa’jan’s face when they emerged with no supplies showed no
surprise. This only provoked Adesina further.

“They do not serve our kind?” she spat.

L’iam nodded with a sad expression on his face. “There is a lot of
ignorance and prejudice in these parts. A portion of that is fueled by the Shimat,
another portion by the fear of the locals. All we can do is show them that we
are not dangerous, try to cultivate friendships, take the high road when things
get petty…”

She shook her head stubbornly. “Something should be done. That
stain
of a human being refused to serve us because he knows he can get away with
it. He enjoys the feeling of power he gets from pushing people around. If you
stood up to him, he would not do it anymore. You are better than him!”

L’iam paused before mounting his horse again. “Which is why I
choose to walk away.”

As the group of L’avan rode out of the village, L’era quietly
asked, “Where are we going to find food?”

Sa’jan shrugged. “In the next village, perhaps.”

“Where is that?”

He pointed south. “A few hours’ ride that way. Honestly, though,
we will be more likely to have luck if we come across a group of one of the
Northern Tribes. They are more willing to do business with the L’avan.”

Adesina pulled her horse alongside Sa’jan’s. She knew it was a bit
childish, but she was still angry with L’iam and E’nes for making her walk away
from the shopkeeper. She turned her attention to Sa’jan, ignoring the others
completely.