The Daughter Of Stones

Chapter Nine. Potions and Explanations

Bal Harriott has witnessed much in his thirty years - from Golem Riders in the mountains to the Giant Lizards of the north, and even drunk arcanists creating fireworks that nearly destroyed a small village. But never before has he seen a person being packed and locked in a crate, transferred as if they were mere merchant goods.

The sight of a prisoner being moved to another dungeon would have been understandable to Bal. However, the young woman who emerged from the crate in front of him was no ordinary prisoner. She was accompanied by goblets, plates, carpets, and vases.

Standing still, she carefully surveyed her surroundings, her head unturned as she examined the premises. When she ensured there were only two other people around her, she gave Bal a long stare. Bal slowly approached her, stretching out his arm as a gesture of peace and tossing aside his axe.

"Shh. We're not going to hurt you, see," he said, unwrapping his belt with a sword hanging on it and lowering it to the ground. He came closer to the girl, who hadn't taken her eyes off him.

"Let me just help you get out, right?" said Bal. Filled with doubt, the woman put her palm in his hand, and Bal gave her a reassuring smile. At that moment, the woman grabbed his hand, pulled it, and delivered a hard punch to his face. Bewildered, Bal took a step back, holding his nose, giving the woman a chance to jump out of the crate, roll, and pick up Bal's sword. A second later, Bal found himself standing with a cold, sharp metal blade pressed against his neck, completely lost and utterly confused.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, raising his hands in the air. Brienne, who stood on the other side of the crate, strained her muscles, ready to attack, but she didn't move, considering Bal's pitiful position.

"Alright, alright, let's all just relax, okay? Brienne, put that knife away," Bal gave Brienne an angry look. She resisted for a moment but finally followed his suggestion and returned a long, sharp dagger to its sheath. Feeling the cold blade, Bal continued, "Good, we are not fighting. How about we talk?"

"Let me go, now!" the woman demanded, firmly holding the sword.

"We just did, haven't we?" said Bal, laughing nervously.

The woman shook him, showing her dissatisfaction with a witty answer and displaying no intention or desire to listen to jokes.

"Go tell your masters if they come after me, I'll kill them all!" she yelled, and Bal squinted from her loud voice. Bal exhaled and grabbed the woman's hand, forcefully moving the blade away from his neck, twisting the woman's arm, and ending up standing behind her. She still held the sword, only now Bal pointed it at her throat, clutching her wrist.

"A lesson for the future - never point the sword so high. You will cut the jaw area, and that will do very little harm. You need to aim a little lower, that's where the artery is," Bal lowered the woman's hand, moving the sword down an inch. The woman tried to break free, but Harriotts' grip was firm. However, to her surprise, Bal didn't proceed with cutting anything. Instead, he unclenched his fingers and let her go, stepping back.

"See, I mean you no harm. My name is Bal Harriott, and this is Brienne Goff."

"Kaya," the woman said, squinting at Bal and not letting go of the sword.

"You can drop the sword, Kaya. We have no intention of hurting you. Whoever captured you back there is far away and probably dead," Bal said, giving Kaya a reassuring wink. After a moment of hesitation, she finally dropped the sword and wobbled, losing her balance. Bal ran to her, holding her elbow and gently lowering her to the ground. She sat and rubbed her eyes.

"Do you have any water?" she mumbled.

"Here you go," Brienne's deep baritone sounded, and a bag filled with water landed in Bal's hands. He opened it and handed it to the woman. Kaya grabbed the bag and began gulping down the water greedily. Bal's eyebrows raised.

"Take it easy. You will suffocate," he said with a smile. "How long were you in that crate?"

"Five days," the girl answered, pausing to take a breath before returning to the water bag.

Bal and Brienne shared a surprised glance. Brienne calculated something, moving her lips without making a sound, then whistled in astonishment.

"That's far. If they came from the north, it's almost the Deep Lake and Smoggy Islands. If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing so far away?"

"I appeared there," Kaya replied, studying the now-empty water bag as if it were a normal thing to emerge out of nowhere at the border of a kingdom.

"You appeared there?" Bal repeated.

"Yes, I was in my chambers, and then there was a bright light. The next thing I know, everything around me is covered in mist so thick you can almost touch it. I walked for a day, and then at night, some people attacked me and put me in this box."

"And your chambers, where might those be?" Bal asked, his mouth slightly open in disbelief.

"Well, Feringor, King's Castle," Kaya said casually, stretching her arms. Brienne almost choked on the water behind them. Bal's dull smile left his face, and he rose to his feet.

"Excuse us for a moment," he said to Kaya and walked to Brienne, who was coughing, inviting her to follow him. They stopped at a nearby tree, and Bal made sure Kaya couldn't hear them.

"Did I hear correctly? She said Feringor?" he whispered to Brienne, who turned red after an extensive coughing fit.

"I only know one Feringor, Bal, and it's impossible," she said, shaking her head.

"So, she's not from the North."

"Oh, she is. She's just not from Grailand. Feringor is a kingdom far, far north. And I mean very far. We are talking outside of the Stone's power far!" Brienne whispered nervously.

"Okay, let's just assume she, well, appeared, right? But she said she was in her chambers in King's Castle. That and the dress she's wearing makes me think she is not exactly a maid. I am afraid we have a princess from another kingdom on our hands."

Brienne started coughing again, rounding her eyes at Bal. He gave her a few strong hits on the back to ease the cough.

"Easy there. We'll figure it out. I'm worried about another thing. If she's a Feringor princess, then she appeared here for a reason. Someone important wanted her to appear in Grailand. You saw it back there - augmentors, arcanists, the guild members. And this someone will be looking for her, meaning there is a big damn target floating above our heads."

"What are you suggesting? Bal, look at her, we can't leave her here!"

"I know, I know," Bal bit his fingernail in annoyance. "That's just what I needed, first a curse, now every wielder in the area is after us."

"What do we do?" Brienne began panicking. Bal let out a heavy breath, looking at Kaya, who was busy straightening her hair with her spread fingers.

"I have only one bottle of potion left, so I say we pay Muddy a visit. This time he owes us some potions and explanations."