Finding Heathcliff

Fourteen

As they rode over the drawbridge spanning above the glimmering ribbon of the river Comete rushing towards the distant waterfall, the echo of the horses' hooves hitting the hard wood pelting the air around them, Astrid, blinded by the strong, golden light of the rising sun, pulled her wide-brimmed hat lower over her eyes.

It had been several weeks since she had last joined Orion on a trip to Starling, and she couldn't suppress her excitement of leaving the walls of the castle. She breathed in deeply-- the air up here on the castle hill didn't carry any particular smells, apart from the fresh scent of the river, this early in the morning, but she could easily recall the scent it carried at sunsets, the perfume of bare rock heated after the day in the warm sunshine, or sometimes, the same rock cooled and washed clean by a falling rain.

The small group reached Starling after half an hour of slow, careful, and silent descent, leading their horses down in a single file. The hill on top of which the castle stood was too steep, and the road curling around it in increasingly widening loops, following the course of the Comete, too narrow and precarious for anyone to ride side by side, until it left the river behind on reaching the first houses of Starling. But even if anyone could ride next to her, Astrid wouldn't be able to speak. She couldn't focus on anything other than the footing of her horse, following Orion's, which crawled behind the stead of the guard who had introduced himself to Astrid as Izar, the patrol leader. Somehow, she had never felt entirely relaxed outdoors; after a while she started to miss the safe walls around her, the protective roof above her head, and the unpleasant feeling was always stronger on this road.

However, she remembered that she had a voice and a mind overflowing with questions the moment they entered the first cobblestoned street of the town. Astrid wanted to talk to Orion, but seeing that he was absorbed in a conversation with Izar, she let her horse fall back to ride at Rigel's side.

"Are you from Starling?" Astrid enquired, casting Rigel a curious glance.

She had liked Rigel at first sight; she could feel that he was different from the other people living in the castle. Astrid thought, she was almost certain, that he was open and honest, and she couldn't detect the slightest hint of fear of her uncle around him. Moreover, with his skin nearly as light as hers, his curly hair which fell on his shoulders from under the black guards' hat several shades brighter than Orion's, he looked... exotic. Someone from far away, maybe far enough to be able to help them, if what Sir Altair had told her wasn't just wishful thinking.

The young guard shook his head. "My parents live in Vega." He looked at Astrid, and having guessed correctly that she couldn't place that name on her mental map of Eurovea, he explained, "It's a small village far beyond the Starfall Forest, several days' ride south from Vesper."

Astrid nodded, unable to grasp that someone could live that far from the castle, that anyone could ever travel so far. They hadn't reached the end of Starling yet, and she was already feeling anxious. She let her fingers trail along the safe, solid stones of the tall houses lining both sides of the street until they reached the main square. There they had to weave their way carefully around the vendors setting up their market stalls, raising their heads and waving at them as they rode past, while others, too busy to look up, loaded small carts with products to take up to the castle, heading up the same road which Astrid and her group had just descended. Astrid smiled, she could picture that, she had seen it many times-- the first merchants would appear in the courtyard, filling it with their chatter and the scent of their goods, meeting the just awakened, still yawning maids and cooks.

She had never been farther than the Starling's main square, she realised, and her anxiety which had scattered momentarily returned as they followed Izar down a narrow lane leading them across a poorer-looking part of the town, and then, through an arched gateway opening in its wide and tall ramparts, out of Starling, down another winding road.

Now that the sun had risen entirely, a wind had picked up, carrying the scent of the small field that stretched at the foot of the hill. It took them less than ten minutes to reach it and ride along one of its edges towards the Starfall Forest, looming at its end. Its trees looked huge, dark, ancient and scary, but Astrid couldn't wait to dive into the forest's cover, the open field seem to undulate like water under her horse's legs, the bright blue, cloudless sky looked as if it wanted to crush her under its weight, there were no walls around her to support it...

She took a deep breath, then another, before Rigel, eyeing her with concern, asked, "Are you quite well, Astrid? Do you want to stop and rest...?"

"No!" she called, then forced her voice into a calmer timber. "No, please. The sooner we reach the forest, the better. I'm just not used..."

But she had no time to explain her fear, Orion seemed to recall that she was there too and made his horse slow down and fall back.

Rigel left his place at Astrid's side to him, and Orion took her hand into his the moment he reached her, murmuring, "I'm sorry, I forgot. You were always fine when we rode to Starling lately."

Orion's fingers brushed over the ring he had given her as he squeezed her hand tightly, the simple motion making Astrid feel instantly better. Orion was with her; he always had been, and always will be. She could never do this alone, but they could do anything together.

"I'm fine," she said, taking another deep breath, closing her eyes briefly. "But I'm sure I'll feel better once we reach the forest."

Orion nodded. "Just a few more minutes."

He was right; they reached the cool shadows of the huge trees in no time.

"Here. Are you better now?" he asked, pulling her horse close enough to wrap an arm around her, and she bestowed a grateful kiss on his cheek as they rode under the first trees.

"Where do we go from here?" Astrid asked when her eyes detected more than one well-tread path leading through the thick underbrush swaying in the wind.

"South," Orion replied without hesitation. "We will follow the guards as far as Vesper."

So he knew... "And then?" she asked, her eyes darting to the deep, moving shadows pooling under the trees that lined their path.

"By then, I'm sure we will have a clear idea of where to go from there. We'll have to find somewhere safe to stay during the Black Night, and then use your uncle's money to buy both information and new men to escort us wherever we'll have to go."

Astrid simply nodded and did not delay Orion at her side when Izar called him a few moments later. She had many more questions but she couldn't talk now, she needed more time to adjust to the relative safety of the trees, to the too wide streaks of the oppressive sky showing in the gaps of all the greenery.

She welcomed Rigel's company when he led his horse next to hers again, allowing his words, his knowledge about the old trees towering around them to try to soothe her anxiety.

At midday, they reached the river Comete, which flew south in a wider meander than the path they were following, again.

Dismounting their horses, they settled on the grassy bank for a quick meal, then crossed the watercourse at a nearby ford the guards knew of and rode until dusk. Their path, having widened significantly, issued from the trees into a great clearing then, creating a crossroads with another path it met there.

An ancient-looking inn stood in the middle of the clearing, hunched and huddled like an old, tired man. It didn't look inviting or comfortable, but the sight of its candle-lit windows and the plume of smoke rising half-heartedly from its chimney made Astrid realise just how tired she felt. She could not ride any farther.

"Are we staying here tonight?" she asked hopefully of no one in particular.

"Yes, my lady," Izar replied. "We always stop here during our patrols. The landlord knows us, and he will treat us well."

"Let us go in then," she added, almost begging, as she urged her horse to walk towards an outbuilding, which seemed to serve as a stable, judging from the sounds and smells emanating from its direction.

Orion caught her in his arms as she let herself slip off the horse once their group was joined by a man who promised to take care of the animals. Every single muscle of her body hurt as she forced her legs to walk towards the inn, leaning heavily into Orion, who, in the end, half-carried her up the four crumbling stone steps leading inside.