The Dragons Queen Saga

Part 32: Knight and Rook

The next morning Dresden woke up to the sun shining in through a busted window next to the bed; a simple cot that was not nearly as comfortable as the fur roll in the yurt had been. Midge had kept him up quite late the night before, bringing up good memories and just enjoying the company of an old acquaintance who was just passing through.

She was still asleep by the time he left. He decided to leave her with a gold bit and some of his stash of dried salt he'd wiled away, as a gesture of thanks for her hospitality and continued friendship. When he left her house, he walked the main road heading out of the village of Tibuk and was stopped by the Elvish woman he'd seen the day before.

"Hey, you sir!" She came up from his right side, out of an alleyway, as though she'd been waiting for him to pass by. "Stop walking and talk to me!"

He didn't stop walking, but she caught up anyway.

"Why in such a hurry?"

"Talwen I do not have time for you today." Dresden adjusted the pack on his back and Kizjin Kol let out an abrupt and sharp tone that made him stop in his tracks.
Talwen eyed his sword. "Thank you Kizjin Kol, it's nice to see you too. At least one of you has the sense to entertain me. I am not here for pleasure. I mean to tell you something important." She came up beside him. Her bright clothes were out of place with the dreary, dilapidated houses and broken fences.

"Get to it then and do not delay me." Dresden was short with her. He did not want to speak with Talwen. She often spoke in riddles and never said anything he was interested in. He couldn't imagine what she might have to say that would be of any importance to him. But he heeded his sword, who had always liked the Elvish woman for some reason.

"Now, do not dismiss me so quickly, Dragon. I have news from the South. I know you came from Sveldin and that you will be returning there." He didn't allow her to finish.
"You can't possibly know my movements as I have not decided myself where I am headed at this moment." His shortness with her was more out of frustration and he didn't want yet another person to tell him what his plans should be.
"Oh, you are going to Sveldin." She said confidently and added, "They have been under attack, for two days now, sustaining heavy cannon fire from the Islanders. And there's something else you should know." Dresden turned to face her, stopping abruptly. Her petite frame and posture were graceful like her kind were known for, though she had a gentleness in her eyes that was not quite typical of the Elves. Perhaps her time on Earth had changed her too, he considered to himself, feeling suddenly more receptive than before.

"I know they have been in a war with El Rey for three years now. It is not surprising that they are being attacked again. Why does this concern me?" Dresden asked lazily.

Talwen shifted her hood, blond tresses flowed from each side down her chest. "It should concern you. The Alchemist tells me that you will play a big part in Sveldin. I need to come with you."
"The Alchemist you say? Do you happen to know the man's name? I am sick of being played by those who think they can lure me from place to place in order to create a future that means nothing to my present." He studied her from head to toe, openly gawking. "They will not welcome you there. You can be certain of that. Elvish folk have not been allowed to mingle with human beings in over three hundred years. The treaties don't exist anymore. You would be stoned to death or worse. Humans are not friendly to anything outside of their own kind and oftentimes, they are brutal to even their own." He waited for her to speak. He wanted her to argue with him, just for fun. He knew what the truth was and he could tell that she had been a resident in Tibuk for so long that she didn't know what the rest of the world was doing outside of the vague description of the war between two competing kingdoms that most of the world was aware of. He found it suspicious that she knew the Alchemist though. How was she connected to him and could she give him more insight into how the Alchemist was involved if he allowed her to accompany him?

"I won't tell you his name, Dresden. But I am not bound to secrecy like your Dragon kind who seem to think you don't deserve to know up from down. You know me better than that." She grinned and put her hand on her hip like most women who had decided they'd won a conversation with him. "I won't be a bother to you. I will keep my hood up and assist the Kingdom of Sveldin. I have urgent business there but I need an escort as it is not ideal to travel the human world alone. We would equally benefit from this transaction." Talwen shifted her weight, waiting for him to respond.

Dresden did not want her to come with him and he wasn't sure he was heading back to Sveldin right away. But he thought now about Vlad who had reserved his room at the inn. Perhaps he could let Talwen stay as well if he came back with her. He wasn't sure what to expect on his return. Would Vlad hold to his word or would he return for nothing? There were too many questions and Talwen just added more for him to think about. He wanted to know who the Alchemist was and he could protect her if anyone discovered her true nature.
"Fine, I agree to allow you to join me on my travels. I will go back to Sveldin and see what the situation is there. First, you must tell what business you intend to complete in Sveldin and with whom.

Talwen rocked on her feet, not so sure of herself now that Dresden wanted her to reveal her intentions. She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. Dresden waited. Kizjin Kol hummed quietly, a melodic and soothing sound, the resonance moving into the ground at their feet. Talwen smiled.
"Your sword likes me! It always has. That should be enough to accompany you without telling you what I need to do there. It doesn't concern you and I won't involve you in it. I just need someone to go with. I can't go alone. I tried once. It ended... badly." She offered a fake smile, grinning wider than an Elf ever should. She was almost childlike in comparison to the sophisticated Elves he had interacted with in the past. Even the Alchemist had a sophistication that Talwen lacked. He wondered what made her so very different. He sighed. He didn't want her to come with him, she was trouble. He understood that from the moment they had first met on one of his initial visits to Tibuk during the first few years of exile.

"Do you remember when I met you Talwen? What were you doing?" He raised his eyebrows in an intimidating gesture.

Talwen blushed but gave a defiant stomp. "That was hundreds of years ago Dresden! Do you expect me to remember something like that after so long?" She twisted the toes of her leather footwear in the dirt, dislodging a rock and kicking it forcefully. Dresden held his penetrating gaze, and added, "You should remember. You were about to be eaten by wild bears and I flew down and enjoyed the meal and spared your life." He indulged in the memory smugly. She owed him a debt and was asking again for another favor without repaying him for the first one. Talwen rocked a little from side to side now. She was looking at her feet, or the grass at her feet, with her hands clasped behind her back. He regarded her attire once more. There was a dagger at her hip. Her breeches were loose and comfortable, like what a man might wear, with a tight-fitting tunic top and her satchel strapped across her chest that hung at her side. Her hooded cowl was finely embroidered by a master craftsman and was her most treasured piece of clothing to be sure. He wondered if it held any enchantments, due to how well it had lasted the ages. He remembered it being in just as fine shape when they had met the first time, which was not typical of ordinary clothing.

"Why are you bringing that up again?" She huffed indignantly. "I'm still alive and so are you. I promised to repay you and I will make good on that. Now, let's just go already! You know you're taking me with you, you're sword said so."
"This is a bad idea and you know it as well as I do." Dresden tipped his head, defeated.
"But it'll be fun! You, my friend, could use a bit of fun. I saw you last night with Midge. You danced like a raving fool." She had an envious tone to her words that surprised him. Over the hundreds of years they had known one another they had interacted only a handful of times. Her reluctance to share her business in Sveldin worried him, but Kizjin Kol seemed to insist that she go and he had learned to listen to his sword.
"I'm going to regret this I'm sure. Let's go. Keep up or I'm leaving you behind. We will walk part of the way, then I will fly us to the forest just outside of Sveldin Donan otherwise it will take us weeks to walk over hostile terrain." With his agreement, she bowed her thanks and they left Tibuk together.