Midnight Moon

Chapter 41 - Encounter by Moonlight

Veanna closed her eyes as the cold night breeze hit her face, and her gaze rose inexorably to the moon. It was waxing, almost full; only a sliver would be left dark by tomorrow night. And it was tomorrow's moon that would be important.

House Risalus will rise when the midnight moon shines bright.

What would happen tomorrow at midnight? Was she ready for her House to rise?

"There is someone ahead." Tia's murmur brought their group to a halt. As they rounded a corner a bridge had come into view, a pair of silhouettes lounging against one side.

"Do you think it's the Order?" Veanna asked quietly.

Calu shook his head. "I doubt it - this isn't how they do things. They'd have attacked us by now."

"Shall we turn back?" Tia suggested, her gaze fixed on the strangers.

"Not unless we want a large diversion," Neyerith said. "This is the only bridge for miles."

Veanna peered at the figures on the bridge, focusing on what she could see from this distance of their clothes, their equipment, their stances. "They're soldiers."

Tia's head snapped to face her. "Then we must turn around," she said sharply.

Veanna's lips twisted. "They've already seen us," she pointed out, "Running away as soon as we spot them is more noteworthy. If they report it to a superior, the Order might hear about it, even if these soldiers don't work for them."

Tia shifted uneasily. "It would take some time for the Order to act, if they even hear of this before tomorrow night."

"We take a risk either way," Neyerith interjected. "I vote we take the one with less walking." He paused briefly before setting off towards the bridge, and Tia's protest faded on her lips.

Veanna gave her friend a helpless shrug and followed, Calu stepping behind her. She felt an urge to grip the sword at her hip, but that could draw the attention of the soldiers. Restraining herself, she prayed the four of them looked like regular travellers, unremarkable and forgettable.

They reached the bridge in silence, Neyerith giving the strangers a friendly nod and Veanna keeping her head ducked within her hood. One soldier's collar was unmarked, the other bearing the rank pins of a Corporal. What were they guarding out here?

The pair shifted as they neared, planting themselves firmly across the bridge and dispersing hope of a silent passage. "Hold it there," the Corporal said, his voice deep and slow. His hands hooked casually into his belt, within grasping distance of his sword.

They stopped a few metres from the soldiers. Tia took an extra step to position herself in front of Veanna, her hand twitching towards her weapon.

"Is there a problem?" Neyerith asked with an easy grin, his tone calm but his stance uneasy.

"Not if you comply," the Corporal responded. "There's a toll on this bridge; pay up and you can pass."

The second soldier puffed his broad chest. "Fifty gold," he added authoritatively.

Veanna narrowed her eyes. Was this some ridiculous joke?

Neyerith let out a laugh of his own. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, we're very serious," the broad soldier said, drawing himself taller. "And if you don't pay up quickly, it'll become fifty each."

"For defiance of the King's wishes," the Corporal supplied.

"That's nonsense!" Veanna exclaimed, unable to stop herself. It was so comical, so stupid. After the winter she'd had, after everything she'd faced, these two soldiers barely out of training were trying to stand in her way - and using her father's name to do so.