‘We’ll tie my horse’s reins to your saddle so you can lead it. I’ll hide behind you as we approach, and once we’re in view, I’ll use a vanishing spell and keep it up as long as I can. I’ll wear your spare cloak instead of my hat.’
Thelonious sniffed.
‘Will that be long enough?’ he asked, adjusting his seating so he could pull his spare cloak from his saddlebags for her. He swore he’d be walking bow legged all night and that was not something he was happy about.
‘The guards shouldn’t have any reason to stop you two. So, just try and get through the gate as fast as you can. As soon as you’re through, I’ll dismount and run into an alley before the spell runs out, then meet you around the road’s bend.’
Thelonious gave a nod and Amberly grinned in assent. They quickly tied Syline’s horse to Alma, and Syline huddled up behind Thelonious, shushing the groggy Corax who cawed as he awoke, having slept through most of the trip. They approached the gate from there. Powerful, imposing, and a good six metres high, the wall was the bastion that kept the city safe. A pair of guards stood high above it, cast in silhouette by the torches behind them. The snow had just begun to fall; it looked like a storm was brewing. Thelonious absently brushed his shoulders. As they came into view, Syline drew out her wand and made herself disappear, holding her breath she focused on keeping the spell steady.
‘Hoy, riders! What’s your business in Russenholde!’ yelled the guard.
Thelonious looked to Amberly. He wasn’t good at thinking on his feet. Amberly threw back her hood, revealing her long white hair and pointed ears. She gave the guards a bright and sunny grin befitting her old god.
‘My business is pleasure, sir! And it’s my pleasure to come to Russenholde! Travelled all the way from Dawnsteel to taste the finest foods in this kingdom!’
‘Ah, a holiday is it, then? Who’s the big fellow?’
‘He’s my guard, sir! Would you set a waifish lass such as myself out on the open road?’
‘Hellblooded, is he?’
‘Would you not rather the scarier monsters be on your side?’
‘Aye, aye, you have a point. What’s the third horse for?’
‘My sister; she fell ill halfway here and had to stay behind. She had gifts for cousins here, and I had not the room upon my packs to carry them, so her horse joined us, even if she could not.’
‘Alright.’ The guard had run out of questions, and Syline had run out of breath, now doing her best to breathe shallowly and somehow willing herself to not make a move that would disturb Thelonious’ cloak. ‘Open the gate!’ the guard called, and Amberly shot him yet another smile.
‘Thank you, sir! Have a fine evening, now.’
‘You too, ma’am.’ The gate opened and the horses trotted through, the guards returning to their conversations.
At the first alley they passed, Syline dismounted and ran for it. She was left panting for a few moments. Though the magic had not overtly drained her, the tension definitely had. They were at the point where she couldn’t afford anything going wrong. They’d come too far to fall to a bribed guard now. She threw up her hood and kept a hand on her wand as she jogged through the alleys to the next street over. A few homeless vagrants watched her, but the sight of a wand in hand and her expression as well, warned away any ne’er-do-wells. She found none of the old fear danced in her breast now. She was too focused to worry about bullies and braggarts.
‘Well, that went swell,’ Thelonious commented to her as she met up with them, the pair still calmly trotting along on their horses. The enchantment on the horses’ hooves fading as they drew into town.
‘That was some nice bluffing, Amberly,’ Syline told her friend with a grin as she mounted back up on the third horse.
‘Oh, that was nothing! Any Morning’s Fury should be able to bluff their way into a cult without batting an…’ Amberly’s attention was grabbed from the conversation when she saw, on the sill of a shop window, that songbird, bright scarlet red. It was staring right at her and, as she looked its way, it sang a beautiful song just for her as it took flight off into the night. It was the one from the island where they’d fought Teagan, she was sure of it; she’d never seen another bird like it. But could it have followed them all this way? Surely not.
‘What is it, Amberly? See something?’ Thelonious asked, looking the way she had, but not seeing anything.
‘Did you not?’ Amberly rubbed her head. ‘I must be tired. Syline, what way’s your manor? Lead the way.’
‘Right,’ Syline said, giving her a concerned look. ‘Right this way! Come on, not far now.’
Even though excitement filled Syline’s heart at the thought of going to see her family again, they still made a point to take it slow, avoiding any patrols if they could and always keeping Syline swaddled with a scarf and a hood. Few questions would be asked about that, especially with the snow falling heavier with each passing moment. Corax, robbed of his usual nest, sat sulking on her shoulder as they approached the Petranski manor. Seeing the great, three-storey mansion coming into view, a tumult of emotions played in Syline’s stomach: fear that her mother would still be poisoned, hope that soon she’d be able to come home, grief that all of this had happened and excitement at seeing her sisters, mother, and Alexis again. Thelonious practically had to lead her horse in, for Syline sat slack in the saddle, staring at the lit windows of the house.
‘Syline, that’s your house. Shut your mouth, you look like a hayseed seeing a cathedral for the first time,’ Amberly told her, snickering. Syline flushed and brought herself back to reality as they approached the front gate.
‘Want us to stay out here?’ Thelonious asked.
‘No, just… let’s get inside the gate first. I can get a servant to fetch you both some refreshments and stable the horses, but I-I would like a moment with my family before I introduce you both, if that’s alright.’
‘’Course Syline,’ Thelonious said softly. He and Amberly had both known Syline was wealthy, a proper noble girl, but seeing the mansion she’d grown up in really pressed that home for them. Syline dismounted from her horse, stroking its neck and taking her staff from the saddle before approaching the gate. The guard must’ve been in the foyer staying warm, but that was exactly why they had the bell. Syline reached into an opening in the stone pillar that supported the gate and tugged twice on a rope just hidden from sight. A bell could barely be heard ringing through the great, blackwood doors of the manor.
A few moments passed, and one of the home’s few guards came out of the front door – Feliks, it looked like. He was probably a decade older than Syline and none too bright, but he was very friendly, stocky and strong in a similar sort of way to Thelonious. He held his cap on as he ran through the light snow to the gate.
‘Hoy! Who’s calling at this hour?’ he asked the cloaked figure as he approached.
Syline lowered her hood and scarf from her features, letting him get a clear look at her. The man lost what little colour he had and looked about to yell before Syline held a finger to her lips.
‘Please don’t yell, I don’t want the guards knowing I’m here. Can you let us in, Feliks, and stable our horses for us?’
‘R-right away Syline, right away. We thought you were… well… No one wanted to say it, but…’ He busied himself unlocking the padlock on the gate and swung it open.
Thelonious and Amberly dismounted and offered their reins to him. Syline noticed the guard give Thelonious a suspicious once over, but he didn’t seem to make eye contact with Amberly. She couldn’t blame him: Amberly was very pretty and Feliks never knew how to talk to women he didn’t work for. He still struggled to talk to Kat sometimes.
‘Well, I’m home, now.’ Syline felt her chest tighten, just saying those words. She stepped in through the gate and pulled herself up from sprinting for the front door long enough to thank the guard. Then, it was all her friends could do to keep up with Syline. Corax cawed in surprise from his shoulder roost at the sudden haste. Syline’s composure was broken. She didn’t want another second without her family, and now that they were through the gate, she no longer feared discovery.
Syline threw the door open and stepped in, white staff tapping against the floor. She shouldered it just long enough to undo her cloak and toss it onto the rack by the door, snow flitting from the garment to lay on the tiles. She looked around; she couldn’t see anyone. Her heart began to race. For a moment, Syline was alone and felt terribly so. The house was all too quiet, and memories of that terrible dream came back to her. Rationality forced its way in, though, and reminded her it was right around dinner time; it was likely all her siblings were in the dining room, several halls away from here. She set off, steady at first, but as she caught the first hints of their voices, she began to speed up.
In her fervour, she very nearly slammed into a servant girl as they rounded the corner from another hallway leading into the path to the dining room and other entertainment areas. The servant girl faced away from her, and Syline had to skid to a stop along the tiles. Still, she bumped the girl’s shoulder, and the servant turned to see who was behind her. Alexis dropped the plate she was holding, and neither girl noticed as it smashed across the tiles.
‘Sy-Syline?’ the servant girl managed before Syline threw her arms around her friend, crushing herself to Alexis as tears came out in full force.
