Finding Heathcliff

Eighteen

They stopped for a quick lunch on the river bank, then moved on south again. Orion never left Astrid's side this time, his close, watchful presence making her feel like a child who needed his supervision rather than a woman he cherished.

He must have noticed her growing familiarity with Rigel and didn't approve of it, Astrid realised while they rode in silence. For the first time ever, she found his behaviour difficult to tolerate, his patronizing overprotection felt as stifling as the cloudy, menacing sky hanging low above their heads.

Astrid couldn't talk to him now-- if she did, she was bound to say something that she would regret later-- and hoped that Orion would understand her silence as weariness from the journey and her anxiety. She did not protest when he settled for holding her hand instead of talking, she welcomed the feeling of his warm hand wrapped around hers, his fingers pressing the stone of her ring into her flesh reminding her that they belonged together, had been promised to each other their entire lives. Astrid had been happy about it until now, and she didn't want this mission to change it, to change them.

Maybe they didn't know each other as well as she had thought, maybe they needed to grow together and learn to respect each other anew now that their eyes had opened to a different reality, in which they were expected to resolve a conflict they did not start and protect people they did not know, but surely they could do it, and more, with a little patience, understanding, and mutual respect.

After all, they didn't have to agree upon everything and still be happy together, Astrid mused as she cast a few inconspicuous glances behind her, catching Rigel's reassuring smile-- she regretted losing his company for the day but she was happy to see that he knew that she was expecting more answers, and, so far, seemed willing to provide them on the next suitable occasion.

Astrid didn't know how much time they had spent on the road-- the sun was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds whenever she got a glimpse of the sky through tiny gaps among the thickly grown trees, resembling holes eaten by moths in a green canopy woven from branches and leaves-- when, finally, they reached a village spreading around a great water mill which stood directly on their path.

"Could we spend the night here?" Astrid called, asking no one in particular, as she observed the mill's huge, wooden wheel turn and splash noisily at the ceaseless current's command. Suddenly, she couldn't face spending the night under one tent with Orion; if they found an inn in the village, she could try to insist on getting a room alone.

All the men stopped and turned towards her, and she saw Izar glancing at Orion before he replied, his words following a brief nod from her fiancé, "We can try to get rooms in one of the inns. There are two in the village, but neither of the landlords are as friendly as Achernar, Princess."

The words that were most likely supposed to dissuade her made Astrid feel more curious. It would be interesting to meet someone who showed less loyalty to her uncle's guard...

"Please, lead the way," she said, urging her horse to follow Izar into the village.

The few cobbled streets they rode through were deserted, and it seemed to catch Izar's attention as something unusual. He exchanged a few hurried lines Astrid could not hear with the two guards riding at the front of the group with him, making them stop and wait before he rode back to Astrid and Orion, and the other two men bringing up the rear.

"I'm not certain what this means. This place is normally very busy... It might be better to go back towards the river and avoid the village," Izar announced, looking tense.

"Where's everyone?" Astrid asked, her curiosity growing as fast as Izar's nervousness. She could feel that he knew exactly what was going on and wasn't going to tell her. "Could there be an event that requires everyone's presence somewhere?"

Even as she pronounced those words, a sudden gust of wind brought a scent of burning wood to her nose, and an image from one of the old novels she had read to her mind... Fire... People forced into an ancient church, the door bolted with heavy slabs of wood from outside by cruel hands, an eerie silence flooding streets usually filled with life... The sound of a lit torch being thrown on the roof, the whisper of hungry flames licking, devouring wood, the building catching fire, its roar and hiss followed by the first desperate screams...

"They might all be attending a witch trial. People's presence in those is compulsory."

It was Rigel who spoke, pulling Astrid from her reverie, not Izar-- the older guard simply scowled at Rigel for having told her, breaking his vow of secrecy.

Astrid's mind was now ablaze with flickering images which the new information brought, growing into long, flame-like tendrils weaving themselves with the intensifying smell of smoke. She did not doubt Rigel's words at all. Her uncle really allowed witch trials then; he burned women accused of witchcraft and obliged the people to attend the cruel executions.

Without thinking about what she would do once she found the fire, Astrid urged her horse towards the smell now accompanied by the first visible wisps of grey smoke, when Orion's hand snatched the reins from her.

"You are right, Izar. Let's avoid the village." Orion spoke to the guard without paying any attention to her, her reins safe in his hands.

"No," Astrid said silently, and when everyone ignored her and followed Izar, she pulled her reins from Orion's hands, made her horse stop and repeated what she had said, loud and clear.

"No."

"Astrid..." Orion said, approaching her as much as their horses allowed, looking at her nonplussed.

She had never disagreed with his decision before, and she could feel that he didn't quite know how to behave now. Hopefully, he wouldn't start arguing. She didn't know how to argue with him; they had never quarreled, Astrid mused, waiting for his reaction.

"Come on, let us follow Izar. We have no business here," Orion said after a while, offering her a smile that did not reach his eyes, his hand reaching for hers.

"You can follow Izar, Orion. I want to know what is really going on here," she insisted, ignoring his outstretched hand, making her horse take a step away from his.

"Whatever it is, it's happening upon your uncle's orders, Astrid."

She took a deep breath, giving herself a moment to choose the right words.

"My uncle is a regent, Orion. I'm on my way to becoming the queen. I can as well start remedying his evils now. I won't allow atrocities in Eurovea, and if you don't agree then... then..."

Astrid stuttered and blushed when she noticed that the eyes of all the men huddled around her were studying her, all apart from Rigel's filled with silent disagreement. There was anger in Orion's irises apart from disapproval, and it startled her; she had never seen him angry. She hated having said that in front of the guards, it was something to solve in a private discussion between her and Orion, she regretted having spoken to him like that... And then she didn't. Just as Rigel had done, all these men should decide with whom their loyalties lay. She wasn't her uncle, she wasn't Orion...

"You'll obey me, Astrid, as you have always done. You are not supposed to see this, for your own good. You'll come with me," Orion said, making her anger rise, devouring her in an instant like the fire she could perceive in the air around them.

It took all her will to calm down; this was one of those rare moments when, in the past, she had set things on fire without wanting to, moments when she couldn't control herself.

Astrid took a deep breath, then another, and one more, before she said simply, hoping that her voice would not shake, "I won't."

She pressed her heels into her horse's sides, forcing it into a gallop towards the thickening smoke, leaving the guards and Orion behind.