It runs in the family

Chapter 30

Erica

The wind howled shaking the canvas of the tent as Bessie clung to me in her sleep. I wasn’t sure if it was fear, cold, or both that had us huddled so close and it didn’t matter.

“Lady Erica, all is well,” Marlow’s deep gravelly voice resonated in my mind. The elemental earth hound was my son’s appointed guardian, but he’d left it to guard us instead. It acted as an intermediary between us and sentinel, but it still made me uneasy.

“Tell me, what exactly does your kind eat?” I asked, feeling I’d regret the answer even as I did.

“Pure earth and water mana, though we can chew things like wood and stone. I enjoy licking dew in particular,” He responded, seeming not to sense my feelings about him. Though it might have simply been that he didn’t care. He was a placid creature most of the time.

“The pup is whimpering, why?” he asked. I pulled Bessie a little closer.

“She’s just cold, the wind has been strong and frigid,” I said, not certain why the beast asked.

“I see, I have to continue my patrol,” Marlow said quitely. I heard him leave with heavy steps that soon dissapeared. It wasn’t long before the wind died down though I could still hear it howling in the treetops. It was strange, but despite my misgivings, I fell asleep. I woke to the men talking excitedly.

Putting my blanket over Bessie I stepped out of the tent and was surprised to find a low earthen ramp surrounding the camp. Coming up to my shoulder in height with a long smooth slop it was just tall enough to act as a windbreak for the tents. Looking around I caught a faint glittery of unearthly eyes in the woods.

“Mistress Erica, do you think its fey work?” August asked in a hushed tone and I shook my head with confidence.

“I doubt it, it's no fairy ring,” I said, and the men nodded along. “These woods are thick with natural mana. It was probably just a minor spirit.”

Spirits were considered standoffish but generally docile. The murmur of panic that had been building in the camp tapered off and was replaced by relief. Feeling a bit better myself I joined in setting up for breakfast and went into the woods with a sling. By the time Bessie was up, I’d caught a plump rabbit that Graham was spit-roasting over the fire.

“Gramma, where’s daddy?” Bessie asked, still half asleep as she plopped down by the fire and snuggled against me. She wasn’t a lark child, up with the sun. Only the scent of her third favorite meat was enough to get her up without prodding.

“Still setting up our house,” I said gently. It had been a half a month and I would have settled for having my son back and our old cottage over a mansion. Why he’d suddenly become bent on taking back the Silverleaf estate was a mystery to me. Even so, I wouldn’t complain. Whatever had set him on the path, it was something he needed to see through. I’d known that much by the set of his jaw after he told me, awaiting rebuke but unyielding.

His jaw, square and sturdy just like his father Castors’. I smiled at the thought, able to enjoy their similarities rather than looking restlessly for signs that he resembled Linden. Looking toward the wagon my expression softened.

Castor and June had both been raised up to be moved along with us. Our family would remain together, their bones added to the Silverleaf graveyard and our own one day going to rest with them, the gods willing. I hugged Bessie close as I thought about everything that our family had been through but still smiled.

I’d been so relieved when 42 confirmed Castor as Elim’s father instead of Linden that I cried. All the years of worry had just fallen away. I only regretted that Castor hadn’t lived long enough to know that truth. It wouldn’t have changed anything, he’d always been Elim’s father, but it would have brought him the same peace.

“Piss,” Betsy mumbled as she got up from her spot beside me and started trudging into the woods. I laughed as I watched her go, making sure she wasn’t heading for the nearby stream. I didn’t need her tumbling half-asleep into the frigid waters. I took our shares of breakfast and was chatting with the men when I realized that Betsy had been gone a bit too long.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, getting up and heading where I’d last seen her. It wouldn’t be the first time she fell asleep doing something awkward and she hadn’t gotten much rest the prior night.

“I can go with you,” August offered but I waved him off. I did take up one of the spears and put some stones in my apron with my sling. I was almost certainly overly armed, but I didn’t mind that a bit. I found Betsy squatting with her back against a tree, grunting and whining with constipation.

“Take your time and sit a bit lower, it can help,” I offered, standing on the other side of the tree while she labored. Three years old she was still a baby in my eyes but old enough to want privacy.

“Lady Erica-” Marlow’s voice startled me, and I could hear Betsy squeal with surprise. Coming around the tree I found him sitting a few yards away, not looking at Betsy but where she could certainly see him.

“Beast! Don’t come near a lady doing her business,” I said irritably, putting myself between the two of them. The hound looked at me then tilted his head.

“There are strange men at the camp, you should come further into the woods,” He said, seeming to choose to ignore my rebuke.

“Betsy, we need to go-” I started and stopped when I felt a tug at my skirt.

“I’m done,” She said, patting her bottom with an unhappy look in her eyes. She gave Marlow a dirty look that suggested his appearance had helped expedite the matter painfully.

“What sort of men?” I asked as we followed the hound. Though the forest was thick, the path Marlow led us on was easy.

“I do not know, but they are not Master Elims,” Marlow said simply. It was a bit paranoid, but I couldn’t fault him for that. We would have already been in the estate rather than skulking in the woods if things hadn’t been amiss when we arrived. That was when I heard a horse scream.

Pulling Betsy behind me I dropped into a defensive stance. Castor hadn’t only taught Elim to look after himself.

“We are not being pursued,” Marlow said placidly. I glared at him, then shook my head.

“If that’s true you ought to protect the camp, we need those men,” I said flatly.

“You are safe for now, but I cannot watch you from so far,” Marlow said, not even entertaining what I said.

“Ask Elim if he’s fine with losing the bones of our kin,” I said, and the hound flinched. Rather than look at me he looked at Bessy, then sighed.

“Ahead is a glade protected by earth spirits, remain there and you will be safer than you are alone,” He said then turned and seemed to melt into woods. Dislike him or not I set off for the glade, feeling the loss of his protection.

“Do you have your dagger?” I asked Bessy and she nodded, patting her apron pocket.

“That’s my good girl,” I said with a smile that she returned, happy to be praised. The glade when we found it looked a bit richer than other places in the forest but otherwise the same. One would need to be a mage of some kind to see more than that and I was no such thing.

It didn’t matter, however. I’d been a Lady once, but I’d become a village woman and village women didn’t get by without wisdom.

“Your dagger dear one, and watch close,” I said, and Bessy obliged me, handing over the knife Elim had given to her which she considered more precious than her dolly.

“Earth and water, they are two, yet in me, they are one,” I said softly. The bare blade in my hand glittering in the early light.

“That cannot be,” A chorus of faint voices said, and I felt relieved. There was no guarantee that they would respond.

“Protect this child until the coming dawn, and I will prove it,” I said and nearby a tunnel opened into the heart of a thicket of thorn bushes.

“Prove it now,” The voices said, and I used the knife to cut my arm. A pop up offering me a healing potion appeared. I accepted it and felt the weight in my apron pocket, the magic that granted them considerate of the fact that my hands were closed.

“Taste it and know that I speak the truth,” I said and felt the faintest caress, like a hundred little kisses as the spirits tasted my blood and the iron it contained. My arm was healed, and the blood was gone by the time I felt the last of them take its fill.

“It is true, you are true,” they whispered, and Betsy looked all around us with big eyes, trying to find the source. I cleaned her knife on my apron before handing it back.

“Go on now, the spirits will help us,” I said, wrapping my cloak around her to keep the chill off while she waited. She put the knife back before nodding solemnly and darting into the tunnel. It closed behind her, creating a green fortress of barbs an inch long between her and anyone with ill intent. I could have asked to go with her and receive their protection, but spirits were known for being more helpful to children than adults.

I found my own place to hide then searched out some good sling stones. The ones I’d found near the camp had been fine but the ones in the glade were better. Smaller but still heavy and smooth which made them fly more predictably. In a perfect world, I’d have had iron balls to use but they were reserved for the military and getting caught with them wasn’t worth the trouble when stones were free and plentiful.

“Mistress 42, it seems there's trouble at the camp. Bess and I are safe,” I said when she picked up my call. Mistress 42 had refined her magic enough to allow us to speak directly and I was glad for it. Without it, Elim might come back and think the worst had happened.

“What? I’ll let Elim know right now!” She said with a frantic edge to her strange voice. I smiled a little despite the situation. Elim was a good boy and he’d found a lady to serve who genuinely seemed to care about people instead of caring for profit.

“We have Marlow and are in a spirit’s glade, you needn’t worry,” I said gently. I was lying a bit but not that much. Unless something went quite wrong, we should be safe. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t armed or short of wits.

“Besides, if it’s not bandits then it’s those looking for him. Coming to us might be what they want,” I added. I’d only been the daughter of a Baronet, a non-inheritable title, but I’d had a basic education in intrigue thanks to my father. No matter how low his standing or poor his coffers he’d had a prince’s ambition and the vile mind to accompany it.

“Even so, I have to tell him. If only so he knows you aren’t in the camp,” 42 said. I agreed with her, not wanting him to come rushing in thinking we were in danger. He was clever but good-hearted, he might well lose his wits if he though we in danger there.

“Shit, he’s not answering,” 42 growled and I was taken aback. I tended to think of her as refined but there were moments where she’d let some fearsome curses slip from her mouth. I smiled, remember how Elim would always laugh at the oddest moments when speaking to her. It explained where he’d gotten the new swear words he mumbled so often under his breath as if eager to use them.

“Let me know when you get through. I’ve some matters to attend to here,” I said as I heard a metallic jingle in the distance. I hung up before 42 could say anything else. I knew the sound of heavy horse tack, it seemed that someone was coming after us after all.