A Tale of Time: The Malice of Men

Chapter 29: Sacrifices

    Give up what you have for one who doesn't. 

Make the ultimate trade. Make it last come sun or shade.

To get, you must first give. To die, you must first live.

No duty, no honor. No strength, no power.

They never stopped for long anywhere. Father ordered them to take her to Windsvale as fast as they could. The longest rest in their journey so far was the one they were taking right now, and the guards only risked it because they were really close to Windsvale. Cor was their leader. Father ordered him to accompany them and to personally guard his daughter. For that small relief, Silvya was glad.

Their passage was swift and safe. There were plenty of inns along the road and the innkeepers were very homely, although they couldn't offer much food. Silvya wondered if they would have provided better service still if they knew who she was, but she was not permitted to reveal that.

Windsvale was mostly dry and barren. Not to mention windy and cold, especially this time of the year. The tallest tree was nothing more than a glorified bush. Animals were small and scanty and so were the people. It was a unique place. It was the only spot from which people could look at lands beyond Ëra. It was a land as rich as Ëra, waiting for someone to claim it. It was proof that the world was bigger (and possibly better) than the land the inhabitants of Ëra knew. People called this cliff 'the watch' for what most people did when they stood on it. To the people of Windsvale though, it had always been known as 'the temptation'. No signs of human life had ever been spotted there, but nobody on the other side had managed to go down the fatal cliff that separated the two contrasting landscapes. People said it was due to magic, but that couldn't be more than a rumor. Silvya did not believe in magic or anything of the sort. She was ready to reconsider that if she could be reunited with her father though.

She didn't understand it at all! Why did father send her away? Why to Windsvale? Why did he not even mention a time when she could return? Try as she could, she couldn't get these answers from him. Kevin Ironsborough, true to the family heritage, could be iron if he wanted to. In the end, nothing would do except that Silvya accept his decision without any more questions. The decision clearly came as a surprise. People did not even know she was leaving until she told it to them. This was strange, because her father never kept any secrets from the household. Many came to console her and bid her farewell. Her memory of the farewell was blurry, maybe because she had been crying. She remembered taking one last, long look at Ironsgate, her home. After that, nothing. She couldn't even try to run and get back home. The duties of Cor and his guard was not just to escort her. Silvya couldn't even make it past Cor, much less the whole retinue.

She took her anger out in swordplay. Every evening, she practiced with Cor, who was ever- obliging. She didn't get any better, although her trainer showered her with words of encouragement. Silvya knew better though, Cor was only fighting with half his mind in the fight. There was something about the sword her father gave her that got his attention.

She thought getting further away would help ease her mind. She tried to keep herself as busy and occupied as she could, but even now, standing at the edge of the world, doubts plagued her. Cor came up to her and stood beside her, hands on his hips. He was so reassuring in his mail armor. "So this is not the end of the world, then." Cor spoke, attempting to pull her out of her melancholy.

"Of course this is the end of the world!" Silvya protested. "No man lives there."

"No man. Cor agreed, turning around to make preparations. "Men don't define the world, my Lady. I have learnt that much." He stopped in his tracks and for a brief moment, Silvya had a suspicion he was hiding something.