Hal - The Duellist #1

Chapter Thirty-Three: Brennac

Hal gorged on the generous breakfast of fruit, bread, cold meats and cheeses which awaited her the following morning. The girls had washed and mended her clothes, and Lavinia presented her with a fur-lined greatcoat and woollen hat. "You'll need it if you're going north. The cold can kill a person up there," she explained.

Hal was beginning to feel more like her old self again: her wounds were healing and her stomach was satisfied. She re-entered the courtyard to find the horse saddled and waiting. Lavinia stood holding the reins, her golden tresses tumbling down her back ─ the same colour as the autumn leaves which spun about in the air and were blown across the ground by the chill wind.

"Here," she handed Hal a small bag.

"What's this?"

"I told you we'd get it back for you," she smiled.

Hal opened the pouch to find her coins returned.

"The town guards paid us a visit last night. At your expense, which now means at their expense! I took a little out of it for keeps. I'm sure you understand." Lavinia leant forward and whispered in Hal's ear. "Dead men don't bury themselves."

She nodded, about to speak, but Lavinia shook her head. "Don't ask any questions, child. Just take it. You may need it. Along with this. It was in your trouser pockets. One of the girls took a liking to it, but I thought it may have more than just ornamental value." She handed Hal the signet ring that Marc had given her when she left Colvé.

"Thank you. I almost forgot that." Hal turned it over in the palm of her hand, and then placed it back in her pocket. "Marc would never have forgiven me," she added. She embraced Lavinia warmly and mounted her horse.

"Stay safe now, Hal. And come back to us some time. I'm sure Asha would appreciate it," she winked.

"How did you...?"

Lavinia grinned. "No more questions. You've a long ride ahead of you."

Smiling for the first time in days, Hal directed her horse through the wide open doors of the courtyard. The town was busier than it had been upon her arrival of two nights' previous. She trotted slowly in the direction of the town gates towards a pair of guards who now seemed the worse for wear. "Need to check my papers, gentlemen?"

With a light groan, the first man waved her on. "Get out of here, laddie."

She favoured him with a low bow from the saddle and then, slamming her heels into the mare's flanks, she was gone.

***

A vast expanse of water, the Lake of Brennac stretched between Caraden and the escarpments of The Eagles' Nests. A road skirted the water's edge, winding through isolated fishing villages in which men mended nets and traps, or sat with their backs to low-roofed crofts smoking pipes. Few paid her much attention, although some tried to sell her something from a recent catch. She held out until midday, when the hunger pangs grew so intense that she jumped down from her horse to purchase a plate of bread and smoked fish which an old woman offered her. The mare wandered over to the lake's bank to drink her fill, and as Hal chewed away on the salty fish, she coaxed the villager into conversation.

The woman's face was as brown and wrinkled as a walnut. She contemplated Hal impassively as the girl attacked her plate. "You're headed for Hannac, you say? Well it'd be a good few hours before you get to the end of Brennac. And then the Eagles' Nests lie some few miles away from the shore ─ or so I've heard. Never been there myself. You won't get there before nightfall, lass."

Hal looked at her sharply. She was used to being taken for a boy by strangers. The old fisherwoman flashed her a toothy grin which lit up her entire face, making her appear much younger. "Oh we see things as they are round here, girl. And we accept them, too. Life's too short to do otherwise."