Silvae thought some more, while it would be advantageous to use the Marchioness’s identity for his own gain he wouldn’t feel right about it. Moreover, he was sure it wasn’t wise to cross the gods and break oath of the Forest…
Silvae had always been an adherent of the old ways and wasn’t about to end that tradition.
“Your secret is safe with me… Tally”, Silvae replied, slightly smiling at his use of the girl’s informal name. He felt a deep calmness wash over him; he was doing the right thing.
“Excellent, I do appreciate your candour Mr Herbalist”, said Tally who too was slightly smiling, more so out of relief. She wasn’t entirely trusting of this stranger yet, but she felt she might be able to soon.
“Come now” said Silvae, “we must make for my camp before nightfall. It’s not too far from here, and the Forest isn’t particularly dangerous, but it’s best to shelter after dark, especially when wounded. My clan, the Heveaan’s, have called these Trees home for 1000 years, and we pride ourselves on swift and safe navigation through even the most remote parts of the Forest!” Silvae, invigorated by his clear conscience, increased the length of his strides and marched with intent in the direction of his camp.
The Marchioness, not used to walking on anything outside manicured garden paths or marbled palace halls, felt slightly out of breath as she tried to keep pace. Although, the younger of the two by what she estimated as several decades, she was unable to match the vigour with which Silvae moved. A lifetime of walking these paths had given Silvae an instinctual sense of where to place his feet, something that the Marchioness was unable to replicate.
After several hours of what seemed like an endless cycle through the same patch of landscape, Tally, nearly defeated by the constant stumbling cried out, “Might we stop for just a moment Mr Herbalist… I’m not quite used to this form of travel, and my feet are terribly sore”, slumping down on a nearby log, Tally removed one of her boots and began to inspect it inquisitively.
Silvae, who until this point had been entirely possessed by the journey snapped back into the present moment. “Oh yes, you’re quite right my dear. We can certainly rest a moment… although… we’re about 100 metres from camp now, so if you can find it in yourself to make one last push, we might take a spot of rest in much greater comfort”. Tally, hungry, cold, and exhausted, really didn’t want to go on but she took comfort in the knowledge that she might better recover next to a warm fire. Struggling, she put her boot back on and slowly stood up. “Yes, you’re quite right Mr Herbalist, on we go”.
Tally walked the final stretch in silence. She was exhausted and her head was starting to throb again which blurred her vision. The mystical treatment Silvae had given her must have started to wear off, as she was becoming increasingly conscious of the need to rest and recover. “Here we are” said Silvae abruptly. Tally, confused, looked around intently. They had stopped in what seemed like the exact place they had started. There was nothing to indicate any kind of camp let alone any difference from the rest of the trail. “Sorry Mr Herbalist, I don’t quite see what you mean… Aren’t we supposed to be approaching your camp by now? This seems like any other patch of land on the trail we just walked” replied the bemused Tally.
Silvae, turned and smiled wryly at Tally. “That is precisely what it is my girl, a place like any other only different.” Tally looked around even more intently, her vision although blurred was not so bad as to miss the camp. Silvae, noticing the look of confusion on her face realised that the omission of detail might be causing the girl some distress.
“Sorry my dear, I should have explained it to you in clearer detail. We’re standing on top of the camp right now!!! In fact, most of my people’s homes are underground, a necessity of living so close to nature. You see, it is because of the trees! The branches stop us from building anything higher than a single floor, and the roots in the ground wreak havoc for any form of foundations being placed. So, as a practical people who prefer to live with and not against nature we decided to settle underground or in caves. It might not sound glamourous, but we have all the amenities one might desire.
Tallerius, fatigued to the point of collapse, slumped to the ground. “I would love to hear more about your people Mr Herbalist, but I do fear that I am in somewhat of a need of a good rest. This wound of mine is rather bothering, and I do fear falling asleep before having it tended to.”
Silvae, now alerted to the deteriorating state of his guest acted quickly. He bent over where he stood and picked up a thin cylinder of wood from the ground below. Taking the cylinder in hand, he walked over to a large birch tree and placed it firmly in what seemed like a knot in the tree’s exterior. Watching him from her place on the ground, Tallerius felt the earth begin to shift beneath her. Silvae, without breaking focus on the task at hand, moved swiftly over to where Tallerius was seated and took the hand of his new acquaintance. “A door will open just over there” he said as he pointed to an ordinary looking bolder obscured by some undergrowth. Tallerius, at this point so fatigued fell asleep in Silvaes arms.
Only vaguely remembering the journey underground she awoke to a stinging pain on the back of her head. “Ouch” she cried out, as she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Seated next to hear was Silvae, who was applying some sort of balm to the back of her head with a silk cloth. Beyond him, she could make out clay walls ordained with animal skins and bones, as well as a shelf containing vials of what seemed to be black goo and other plant material. She could not see beyond the adjacent room, but got the impression that this was a temporary shelter that Silvae had turned into a workshop of some kind.
“All done” said Silvae, as he removed the cloth from the back of her head. “The poultice I applied earlier was a temporary remedy. This, however, is much more potent and should keep the pain at bay until you are fully healed. It seems the blow to your head was worse than on first inspection, luckily, I had some Xertus balm I acquired off a merchant several months ago”. Silvae, remembering the strange encounter felt a sudden shiver tingle down his spine, it had been an intensely uncomfortable experience to find a stranger on his doorstep. The Merchant, Xenter, although not a danger to Silvae, gave off a strange impression that had never quite left his consciousness. Regaling the Herbalist with a tail of a faraway battle whose places and names Silvae had no reference of, Xenter let slip that there was something coming, some unspeakable force that had prompted their journey this far and would prompt it further still. Silvae, disturbed at the thought that his camp could one day be the front lines of some unknown foreign conflict had buried this memory deep in the back of his mind, and it was only the use of the Xertus balm that brought it back into the forefront of his memory.
Snapping back to the present moment, Silave noticed that Tallerius was drifting off to sleep. Not wanting to wake the girl, he slipped quietly out of the room and into his study. He thought about the coming days and his options with the girl. The Oath of the Forest meant he had a duty to protect her, but he also did not want to upset his Lord by not formerly declaring that he was traveling with a foreigner through his land.
Silvae was left with a choice,
1.) Head to the Lord’s court and introduce Tally
2.) Avoid the Lord’s court and make for the Villages at the edge of the Forest
3.) Avoid the villages and the Lord’s court and make for the Mountain Pass
Silvae, wanting to do right by Tallerius would deliver her in one way or another to a friendly post with which she might make her way home. The question was how far was he willing to go?
Snapshot for voting: