Things Unseen: (An epic fantasy adventure series) (The Caris Chronicles Book 1) (7 page)

Finishing with the food preparation, Caris went over to where Bonny was brushing down Clover. “Poor girl, this journey is hard on her even without a rider,” she commented to Caris.

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you? You’re doing a good job,” Bonny cooed to the patient mare.

“I was wondering if I can come into the village with you, when you go in? I was hoping to wash my clothes in hot water, but I don’t think anyone would appreciate me using the food pots to clean my soiled clothes. I don’t think I’ll be able to do my pants as that will leave me nothing to ride in, but I can wear my dress over the top of them and at least clean my top.”

“Of course you can” Bonny replied enthusiastically as if Caris was bestowing a huge treat on her.

Caris smiled, “I’ll get you some food”.

“Thanks” Bonny replied warmly. Caris went and got a plate of food for each of them.

After they had finished eating, she grabbed her hunting shirt and soap and she and Bonny joined Syngar and Belti and headed to the village square where people had gathered with bags of grain, dried meat, hard cheeses, blankets, twine, needles, and an assortment of other items that are needed on a long ride. Some of the women had been up early baking and the smell of fresh buns made Caris’ mouth water even after her big breakfast.

Belti walked around, pointing at different items, while Syngar and Bonny followed him, Bonny handing coin to the owners of the items they required. After a while, Syngar walked over and bought three rolls, crossing to Caris he handed her one, “I’m not really needed here, Bonny always overpays everyone in remote villages anyway,” he said with a grin. Before Caris could ask him why he was there, he asked her, “Why are you here anyway?”

“I wanted to wash this,” she replied, holding her shirt out.

“Well you better get a move on; we won’t be here for long.” Seeing Bonny glance his way, he sauntered over to join her. Caris heard him calling out, “not a very good quality grain Belti, I don’t think we need it anyway,” before she turned away to the daunting task of approaching someone to beg for the loan of a large pot.

Finally, she approached one of the women with some tasty looking iced buns; she decided to buy one for each of the band, handed over the coin and begged the use of a large pot. The woman looked at her clothes dubiously, “I’m new to The King’s Horse, we don’t get our uniform until we reach the army,” Caris explained, red faced. With a shrug, the woman nodded to her daughter, a tall thin girl with dark blonde hair, only a couple of years younger than Caris.

With a shy smile, she led Caris back to her house. Once out of ear shot of her mum, her shyness evaporated and she talked incessantly to Caris about her excitement over seeing The King’s Horse, plying her with questions about what it was like to ride with them, and not giving her any time to answer. Caris had thought to take the pot back to camp to do her washing but Sudi insisted on heating the water herself and so Caris found herself, for the first time, hearing about what life was like, for a girl almost of age, in another village.

Sudi’s village was a little larger than Caris’ had been, and, with the river only a hundred paces away, food was easier to grow, and fish added another staple. The belt of trees growing fifty paces to either side of the river meant wood was plentiful and creatures to hunt more numerous. Sudi had never worked the land and found the idea quite humorous; young women in her village were expected to cook, sew, look after families, and nothing else.

As she walked back to the camp with her dripping shirt, Caris mused over what she had heard. In many ways their village sounded very similar but for all their prosperity, Caris thought their roles were even more limited than where she had grown and she didn’t think she would’ve liked living in Sudi’s village very much.

Caris arrived at the camp to find everyone packing up. A few of the men were loading the new supplies onto the back of the packhorses as the villagers dropped them off. Caris was surprised to see the grisly man with the old grain and his red-faced son dropping off six large bags.
We must have needed it after all,
she mused.

Before long they were all mounted, Caris wearing her dress pulled up around her hips over her trousers. She had planned to lay her shirt over her pack to dry but with the day heating up already, she opted to tie it round her shoulders and let the wet material cool her. Crispin set out at a fast walk until they were past the village and then he started to canter, ignoring the groans of a few of the young men who were nursing headaches.

Though Bonny was always good company and everyone friendly, the days seemed longer to Caris without Janen by her side. Caris was aware that one day she would never be able to ride beside Janen whether he was scouting or not, so she resigned herself to get used to it. Knowing it was probably not a good idea for her own peace of mind, she defiantly allowed herself, for this one day, to think over the fun she’d had, dancing with him in the village, the evening before. Bonny eventually gave up trying to make conversation and, with a laugh left to find someone else to talk to.

As Bonny rode over to talk to Belti, Garner took her place by Caris’ side. Caris, startled out of her reverie by Bonny’s laugh and sudden departure, pushed herself to pay more attention to what was going on around her. To her surprise, it was almost midday. “Did you enjoy the village yesterday?” she asked Garner, unable to pull her thoughts far from the topic that was filling her thoughts.

“I did, even though I didn’t get to dance with you,” he replied with a smile.

Caris laughed, “I’m sure that’s what you were thinking about!”

“It was,” he said looking at her intently. Caris looked away, not sure what to make of his strange comments. After a moment, Garner broke the uneasy silence by commenting on the heat. Caris replied and Garner managed to steer the conversation into talking about the different people in the village. Caris enjoyed the conversation for a while but soon found her thoughts drifting again.

She was surprised, when Crispin called the order to stop for a break, to find Garner still by her side. He jumped down quickly and coming to her, commented with a shy smile, “Remember the second night after you joined us and you couldn’t get out of your saddle?” Caris began to laugh a reply when he reached up and putting his hands around her waist lifted her down again. Embarrassed, Caris stepped away from him quickly but allowed him to stay by her side as they ate a hurried meal.

The afternoon passed quickly for Caris as she rode lost in her thoughts. During dinner, she was disappointed, that while the other scouts returned, Janen, Tilda, and Bek were still out. Bringing herself back to reality after a day ignoring it, Caris sat despondent in the knowledge that in the future she would spend a lot more time without Janen than with him. Shaking herself out of her melancholy, she set herself to focus on those around her and to find happiness in friends.

After her meal, Caris found herself sitting next to Syngar enjoying a mug of hot cocoa. She watched Kalen who once again had Jispri and another young man vying for her attention. “If I didn’t know better, I would think that they had feelings for Kalen, the way they act,” Caris laughed.

Syngar looked at her quizzically. “What makes you think they don’t?” he asked her.

Caris laughed again. “Be serious Syngar”.

“I am being serious for once; it is you that has me confused.”

“Kalen is very nice,” Caris said cautiously, “but why would they be interested in her when there are young women who look like Bonny and Tilda around?”

Syngar continued to look at Caris as if she was talking another language. “Kalen is very beautiful,” he said seriously.

Turning serious herself, Caris admonished him “Syngar! Don’t mock!”

Syngar sat thinking quietly for a while before saying, “I don’t think Kalen would mind my telling you as it is not a secret and indeed those young men know it themselves. Kalen has made it clear to them repeatedly that none of them will ever win her heart as it is already taken.”

“By one who doesn’t return her affection?” Caris asked sadly.

“By one who does. The love of her youth. They were betrothed and should’ve been married two years ago. He rode to the east on a mission for The King three years ago, he was expected to return after six moons, but he never did.”

“That is so sad.” Caris said watching Kalen, “but surely, after three years no one would blame her for falling in love with another?”

“No one would, least of all those young men,” Syngar said with a laugh, “but Kalen says she knows he lives, and her heart is as loyal as ever”.

“It is sad though, that she will grow old waiting for someone who will never return, can’t her friends encourage her to move on?”

“Her friends know that when Kalen says she knows something, she is seldom wrong.” Caris looked at him, not knowing how to reply to such a strange statement.

After a while, Syngar spoke again. “In your town, all the women have blonde curly hair and blue eyes, yes?” Caris felt a lump rise to fill her throat; she nodded in reply to Syngar’s question. “It is common in this part of the land.” He paused. “They didn’t like your difference?”

“What’s to like?” she replied, forcing a smile.

“In many places your type of looks are afforded special esteem, even when not coupled with your winning smile and high cheek bones.” Caris had no idea what he was talking about. Smiles and cheekbones were never things she had considered when assessing beauty. “At any rate there are a couple of young men who have no question of your beauty, even young Janen, who grew up with your town’s prejudice, is well aware of your attractiveness.”

“Ha!” Caris laughed without humour, “Now I know you’re joking.” She rose, sick of the conversation and went to prepare her bedroll.

Caris watched in horror as dozens of derks swept up the road overwhelming anyone in their path. Her father, mother, and sister seemed to be moving in slow motion toward her, looks of terror on their faces. A scream erupted inside her, never reaching her lips, as the derks fell on her dear dad and beloved sister. Her mum was still running ever so slowly.

The derks pounding toward her, filled her vision, Caris knew their tanned skin, as tough as saddle leather would prevent any serious wounding by her arrows. She could shoot them in the eyes, but there were so many of them!

She raised her bow and set her arrow to it but her arms felt like they were moving through water and she just couldn’t move fast enough. In overwhelming heartache, she watched the derks gaining on her mum.

“Caris!” her mum screamed. For the longest time, Caris was lost in that moment, her arrow ready to loose, trying to get a fix on the closest derk’s eye, he moved so quickly!

“Mum!” Caris awoke with Bonny by her side shaking her.

Caris sobbed into Bonny’s arms “Why couldn’t I save her, I should’ve saved her. I’m useless. I was never any use to any of them. Oh, my mum. She was so close to making it Bonny,” she said looking up into Bonny’s caring eyes. “She was almost to the ladder. If only I had shot that derk, she would have survived. It’s all my fault.”

“I don’t understand,” Bonny said. “Were there no other derks? If you had shot that one wouldn’t the next derk have caught her?”

Part of Caris knew the truth of what Bonny was saying but her deep feeling of guilt wouldn’t allow her to accept it. Shaking her head she mumbled, “I let her die, I should’ve saved her.” Caris lay back down with her back to Bonny. Bonny remained sitting behind her, gently stroking Caris’ hair back from her face, soothing her, until she eventually fell back asleep.

As the band rode out the next morning, Caris’ thoughts were full of derks. She could not seem to shake the previous night’s dream from her mind. She had had nightmares a few times since her family’s deaths but none as vivid as this latest. Caris looked around at the others, trying to distract herself. She noticed Syngar and Kalen speaking quietly; she seemed to ask him for some privacy, and with a nod of his head, he rode forward.

Before he had been gone long, Jispri rode up beside her; she greeted him seriously with none of her usual warmth. He chatted away but, instead of seeming interested in what he was saying, Kalen looked distracted and only half attended to what he was saying.

Losing interest in Kalen, Caris found her thoughts filling again with horrible images of derks, not only those of her family or even of others from her village, but of strangers. People she had never met before were screaming and fleeing from derks as they chased them down, slaughtering and devouring them. She watched a mother carrying two small children, another running beside her clutching her skirt. She ran way too slowly past small colourful houses that Caris had never seen before.

“Caris, are you okay?” Bonny asked, bringing her back to herself. Caris turned to Bonny, forcing her eyes to focus on the friend walking her horse quickly beside her own. “You’re shaking” Bonny said.

“I just can’t seem to get my nightmare out of my head.” After that, Bonny stayed by her side chatting lightly about whatever happy thoughts occurred to her. Caris was thankful for the distraction, though the thought of derks still sat, like a cloud, in the back of her mind.

Midmorning, Bek came into view, galloping at full speed toward them. Crispin, along with Syngar, who had been talking to him, urged their horses forward to meet him. Caris saw Bek urgently speaking and gesturing off to the southeast. Crispin was two-hundred paces in front of the rest of the band. Caris glanced around and saw everyone’s eyes trained on him and Bek. He half turned his horse to face them, lifted his arm in the air and brought it down in a quick gesture in the same direction Bek had been pointing too.