Masquerading

12. A Cryptic Message

"RELEASE one of the others and keep me."

Eldri's sharp gaze silenced all three of Leif's cursing companions, and he eyed them all for a long time after Leif's unexpected words. He was unnaturally still, only his ears shifting to listen to each man in turn. When he finally moved, it was with a small twitch of a fuzzy finger, and all four found themselves free of their bindings.

"I am amending my offer of safe passage through our land to all four of you. Prince Leif of Leressea, you cannot remain here as you are needed elsewhere in the realm. Should you have any hope of being there, you will need your men at your side." Eldri stared each one of them down again, before returning his gaze to Leif with an eyebrow raised. "I have listened to their hearts and yours."

Eldri turned on his heel and spoke as he left. "Come. You will need fresh weapons and some food before moving on. I have had your horses taken ahead to a safe place; it is my understanding that you will need to make the next part of your journey on foot."

Following Eldri through the cavernous city, Leif wondered where the orlies were taking his friends. First Killi and then Tavis, they were being separated in the same way they had been before and, wondering if Eldri had lied to them, Leif instinctively held on to Kyden's arm.

"Ah, here we are." They had stopped in front of a building made of roots from the above trees, formed and shaped to make a large round structure. Inside were several orlies discussing something over maps, and Leif felt surprisingly at home as he walked in. Eldri's eyes lingered on the hold Leif had on Kyden and nodded knowingly. "Your friends have been taken to be fitted with armour and weapons more suited to them. Worry not. Please," he used that very human word that was hard-formed in orlie mouths, "come, learn what you must."

Releasing Kyden's arm, Leif flushed under Eldri's gaze and accepted his invitation, crouching to look over the maps. He found it hard to concentrate as Kyden leaned over him to spread his own map on the table, his hand gently brushing the top of Leif's head as he stood. He knelt close to Leif, crowding his side as they looked over the maps.

"Loricai are here." An orlie placed Kyden's map over one of theirs and pointed at an unmarked area. "The second gorge at the opposite side of the White Wood is where they hold your Princess."

Kyden noticed how his and several of the other orlies gazes flitted to Leif more often than was normal. He put it down to the fact that Leif said he knew orlies in Aradanas. If Leif noticed, he paid it no mind, and tapped his finger on the map.

"The second gorge?"

"The first is here at the edge of our land. Once, great twin rivers ran through the gorges, then they dried and the land between them died."

Kyden copied their map onto his and asked about the terrain they would face.

"There isn't much to worry about in the White Wood; there are no creatures, eerie or otherwise, except for in the gorge"

"I presume you mean the gorge the Princess is in?"

"You presume right, Prince." The brown orlie bowed. "The Loricai are holding her in the tunnels of the olm." When they looked at him blankly, he elaborated, describing the blind, four-legged, snakelike creatures to them. "Tread lightly in the tunnels; do not stay long enough for your scent to call to them."

Sound advice, Kyden thought, and not something he or Killi, as avid hunters, did not already know.

"The enemy you think you face is your ally."

Leif opened his mouth to protest but withered under Eldri's sharp glare. The Elder and a selection of orlies were guiding them to the edge of their land. Leif waited for Eldri to elaborate on his statement, but it was some time before he spoke again, slowing so the others were a distance ahead of them.

"The enemy you face is no enemy to you. The true threat will make itself known soon. Prince Leif of Leressea, I wish Mother Feyrie to grant you the knowledge you need when you need it." He stopped suddenly and took Leif's hand, pressing their palms together. "We will leave you now. Orlies will travel no further."

Leif looked at his hand after Eldri was gone; a small tuft of hair tied like a talisman onto a leather cord sat in his palm, an orlie custom of blessing that Leif had often wondered about. He resisted the urge to snort or discard the hair and slipped the cord over his head. What was Eldri's hair going to bless him with? Absolutely nothing, he knew since he'd received tufts of orlie hair before.

"I am quite sure he knows who the enemy is already, and what I am supposed to know, and when I will need to... Why in the name of all wishes are orlies so cryptic?"

"Because," Killi said, "if they weren't, then no one would ever do anything."

Looking comfortable—and more like the boy Leif had known—wearing the bone armour of his people, Killi cautiously ventured into the space between two vibrant green plants that the orlies had pointed out to him.

"I suppose."

Killi did not return; the orlies had told them it was the safest exit from their land. Leif made the same careful steps and whooped as the earth tilted and he slid down into a gully. The other side was not similarly sloped, in fact, it was a straight upwards climb, and footholds had been carved into the rock face for aid.

Another whoop, this one less surprised, preceded Tavis sliding down on a large leaf with childlike glee. Now wearing the fitted armour of an Aradane youth, he moved with much more ease. Kyden came after him with a boyish grin, attempting to stay standing as he rode his leaf down.

Both their smiles died when they laid eyes on the climb ahead of them; it had not been as small a gully as the one Kyden had fallen into. They would need to be careful in their ascent, a fall could mean death, and that wasn't something they wanted to think of so soon after their recent evasion of its clutches. They took a few silent moments to prepare themselves, attempting to steel each other's resolve with looks that barely concealed their own fears.

Killi eyed the cord around Leif's neck as he checked that his quiver was properly secured. "He gave you his hair."

With a chuckle, Leif touched the bit of fluff. "They say it's a blessing, for what, I don't know."

"It's a ward. For spirits, or eeries, or both... In Themi we learn of this in the histories that are passed down. But it has been very long since an orlie was on our land, so I am not sure which version is right."

"We are told it is for luck," Kyden mused and gently touched the tuft of hair

before stepping to the wall. "Let's hope it does its job now. Tave, Leif—you go first."