Between the Veil and Crown

Arvek 39

When morning arrived, the suns teased their appearance through a veil of clouds. Their warmth certainly did not touch the earth, as the small puddles made overnight were turned into thin sheets of ice, broken by the slightest amount of weight.

Unable to wait much longer, Arvek had the crew up and going still early in the morning. Chester was not too far, and that meant the Veil wasn't either. It did appear as though Rasinod was going to voice the hundreds of complaints at following Arvek's instruction, but one withering look reminded him of the promise he made to the prince in order to get him to take the much needed medicine. So he settled for an eyeroll instead, twisting his mouth this way and that as he prepared his horse and cart.

It was all he could do to prevent himself from breaking out into a canter. He was in full health again, he was sure of it, so he felt he had no reason to hold himself back. He had been sleeping well as of late, something he had been making sure of since he did not want to hinder himself again.

They breaked only for a light lunch, one that Arvek would have eaten in the saddle had it just been him. Instead, he hovered. That was enough to remind the rest that they should not take their sweet time.

As the suns went down in the afternoon, the walls of Chester no longer appeared in the distance. Instead, they loomed tall over the travelers, casting out a shadow to try and reach them. When they arrived at the gate, there was light enough light. The guards made to enter the city, but Arvek held back.

"Is there a problem, sire?" one of them asked when he noticed that Arvek was not following suit.

Arvek looked down the path that led to the pass, then glanced back at the tall gates. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but the last time he had gone through the gates of Chester, he was held by the lord until his father arrived. There couldn't possibly be the chance of that happening again, but the thought of going back in there made him uneasy.

You'll come back out, he told himself. You'll come back out in the morning. However, it did little to convince him.

"I think there is light enough for us to continue," Arvek declared. "I think we should make as much progress as we can before settling for the night."

The guard pursed his lips, not loving the idea of possibly spending the night out in the open again. But the set look of determination on Arvek's face clearly said it was not going to be swayed. So the guard whistled to the others and motioned them to continue on.

"Understand, Your Highness, that you may not have a roof over your head tonight, or even a hot meal," the guard warned him. "I do not know if anyone has set up a shelter close to the pass."

"We will make do," Arvek said. "Tomorrow night we will be in the Veil, and we will be able to rest in their shelter."

At those very words, his heart did a little flip. Tomorrow night. It was almost unbelievable.

Selim would just need to hold on a little longer.

The plan set, the party headed down the path to the pass. It did not escape Arvek's notice that, unlike the rest of their travels on the main road, they were the only ones on the path to the pass. Certainly he could understand no one wishing to travel in the dark as he was making his crew do, but wouldn't there be any trader coming from the pass? Leaving the Veil and heading to Chester? It seemed odd. It was as though they were missing a detail about traveling this path that no one thought to tell them.