Finding Heathcliff

Seventeen

The irrational anxiety fell on Astrid like a thick, heavy blanket, crushing her under its weight and making it difficult for her to breathe the moment she mounted her horse.

However, it wasn't just the threat of the sky, today covered with a churning mass of silvery-grey clouds that made it look closer and heavier; there was something else, too... She felt as if the old trees surrounding the clearing were watching the group of riders, or better, someone observed them from beyond the ancient trunks, someone silent, patient... Invisible. Try as she might, Astrid couldn't see anyone, and apparently, her companions perceived nothing-- the men seemed perfectly undisturbed.

Shaking her head to banish the feeling, Astrid made her horse follow Orion's steed towards the crossroads, then down a path leading into the forest, which Izar had indicated. It led directly south from the inn for a while, then wound its way through the underbrush towards the river Comete, and followed its meandering course.

Astrid soon realised that she felt better than the day before-- either because the thickly grown trees offered a cover and protection from the sky, or maybe because she was getting used to spending more time outdoors. Finally shaking off the thought of being watched, she let her eyes stroll to the trees and bushes lining their chosen path and observed the vegetation changing rapidly the farther from Starling they went. Trees which Astrid didn't recognise lined Comete on both banks here. The smell of their leaves, and of several different kinds of flowers she spotted within the long grasses underneath their wide crowns, mixed with the river's scent of water and mud, creating a unique perfume filling the air around her.

It was beautiful, it felt pleasant, actually, to be outdoors and discover new things elsewhere, not only between the lines of her favourite novels... Just why had she always listened to her uncle blindly, why had she never put up a fight to be left to travel, to be allowed to see the world and get familiar with it and its inhabitants? Maybe this task would have felt easier if...

Lost in her reverie, she didn't notice that Orion had ridden on to join Izar, leaving her alone, until she found Rigel riding at her side. Astrid smiled at him thankfully-- she knew that Rigel had noticed her anxiety and understood that she felt better when someone distracted her by talking. There were many things she wanted to ask him, but she didn't know the young guard well enough not to risk offending him by a wrong question. Astrid liked Rigel; she could feel the sort of honesty about him, which she hadn't noticed about the other guards, or Achernar and the people in his inn.

"You said you come from Vega?" she asked at last, starting with the simplest thing.

Rigel nodded, glancing at her as if to see where she was heading with that question.

"I have never been farther than Starling before this journey, Vega seems incredibly far... How did you even get into my uncle's guard? I would have thought that his men's families lived closer to the castle. How long has it been since you last visited your parents?" She wasn't sure that what she was saying and asking was making much sense, but hoped that her interest would make him open up and allow her to ask other things.

"It's been nearly a year since I have seen my parents," Rigel said wistfully. "I joined the guard because my mother thought it was better than making me stay in Vega, a way to keep me safe. The protection of the castle's walls guaranteed to all the guards is tempting, especially for poor people like my parents who can't make their dwelling as safe as the nobles. My father's cousin works in the castle, in the stables. When I turned sixteen, he spoke to the captain of the guards, and I was assumed. And since then, I haven't seen my family."

He looked at her directly, and something in his eyes made Astrid feel like he didn't... agree? Or was it something else?

She didn't speak for a few seconds, just listened to the lively splashing of the river against the rocks lining its banks, selecting her next words carefully, feeling that if she asked him the right thing, he wouldn't hesitate to tell her what he knew or thought.