The Tale of Five Heirs

Chapter Ten, in which we figure out who is following us

Kelvin's whole body was aching. He had never been a very good horseback rider, and they had been trotting north on an increasingly rocky mountain road for about eight hours now.

His heart leapt as Skeena turned to the rest of the crew. Would they finally be stopping?

"Let's go one more mile, and then make camp for the night," she said.

Kelvin sighed. At least she didn't say five more miles, like she did six miles ago.

The sun was hanging low on the horizon and Kelvin's hands were nearly frostbitten by the time Skeena finally called to stop. Kelvin set up his canvas tent, which he was sharing with Ronnith. After dinner when he and Ronnith both lay down on their bedrolls, Kelvin had to move over to the edge of the tent since Ronnith's hulking body took up most of his side. To make matters worse, Ronnith started snoring within only a minute or two. Kelvin took at least fifteen minutes to fall asleep, and that was in his own bed alone at home.

Frustrated, Kelvin sat up, unbuttoned the tent and stepped out into the frigid night. A few feet to his right a bush rustled. Kelvin peered at it suspiciously. He stepped towards it. It stopped rustling. He stepped forward again. Suddenly a person jumped from the bush and began to run away into the woods.

"Hey!" Kelvin said, and he began to pursue the shadowy figure, who was wearing a forest green cloak and a scarf covering their face.

As he thrashed his way through the sharp spruce needles of the forest, Kelvin wondered why he was doing this. Normally he would have cowered away from this stranger in fear, but something about them didn't seem threatening to him. Plus, if he returned to Skeena with the spy who had been following them, he'd earn some serious gratitude points.

Now where did that spy go? The rustling in front of him had stopped abruptly as he entered a clearing. Kelvin stopped and looked around the clearing he had just entered. He began to pace quietly around the clearing, listening carefully to the silent forest. Presently he noticed that the moon was full, and unusually white and shiny in the sky. Quite picturesque really...

Suddenly, Kelvin tripped on a root and careened into the foliage. He landed on something soft, which emitted a high pitched shout upon his fall. The Spy!

Kelvin grabbed the green cloak and dragged the struggling stranger into the middle of the clearing. He grabbed the scarf and ripped it from the stranger's face.

"Kelvin!" the spy said.

"Olwyn?" Kelvin said, shocked. Olwyn had been the daughter of the local goatherd in Everwinter. Before he moved to Aranthopolis at the age of nine he had spent many a chilly Everwinter morning playing kick the can with her and the other village children. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been following you and your team of Aranthian scum. The secret of the Princess' disappearance has reached Lady Gwenyth," she replied.

"Aranthian scum?" Kelvin replied. "Aranthopolis is the greatest city in the known world! An economically prosperous hub of worldly knowledge and—"

"Can you let me sit up please, traitor."

"Oh, sorry," said Kelvin as he awkwardly unpinned Olwyn's wrists.

She sat up. "I can't believe what's become of you: working for the Conquering Queen."

"Well at least I'm on an adventure now. I'm accomplishing things," Kelvin said. "Mom always said I was a spineless bookworm and would never amount to anything."

"I don't know," Olwyn replied, smirking. "I've never seen an Ironfist as scrawny as you."

"I can't deny that," said Kelvin. "Remember how little Ggeoff Windsor could touch his pinky to his thumb around my arm?"