Falling Feathers Book I - Rogue Without Fear

Chapter XIV

>>> Soren Hawethorne <<<
    A month and a half had passed. It was a warm Spring day, but the sun was setting. It was due to be Summer any day now. Almost every day, Autumn disappeared to some unknown location. There was something wrong, I knew it. Over the course of the last month and a half, every day that passed, the worse I felt. She would come to the inn exhausted and tired. For the past month I didn't ask her where she went. Today, I planned on going to watch her today when she left at noon. I would see where she disappeared off to that left her coming back so exhausted.
It was about noon now.  She should be leaving soon, I figured.  She was upstairs, undoubtedly grabbing her cloak before she left.  I was in the closet, pretending to grab a broom.  The stairs began to creak, indicating to me that Autumn was on her way down.  I didn't turn around.  Instead, I shuffled things around, and accidentally knocked over a bucket.  I looked behind me and saw her at the door.  Time to go.  I picked up the bucket and set it down, then closed the closet door.  I hastily made my way out of the inn, and looked around me.  She was nowhere in sight. I was furious. Where did she go that she was gone this quickly? She could only have been going to the bridge to the left or to town on the right. Either way, I would've seen her. How was it possible?
I spent a moment just listening to my surroundings. I knew I couldn't find her, but I didn't know what to do. There was no wind.  The only sound I could hear was one lonely bird sounding it's call. A crow? No, a raven. I could hear mixed voices talking. Some were of people walking down the street, and others were of villagers in the tavern laughing and drinking and making quiet conversation. It seemed to me that the tavern was the usual gathering place. Coincidentally, it was  among the few buildings that weren't burned when the town was attacked, and one of the first buildings built in this town. Just like my inn.  So, why weren't they burned?  What set them out besides them being old?
I went back into the inn, and began thinking about Autumn again.  If she wasn't doing anything wrong, she would have nothing to hide.  I'd ask her where she went, and if she looked nervous or lied, obviously something is wrong.
After looking around my inn, I noticed something.  Chase was gone, too.  How odd. Or perhaps not so odd. I thought back to the day when I saw them together at the bridge. What business did Chase have with Autumn?  When I saw Chase, I knew Autumn didn't mean for me to come.  She did seem very nervous...  I didn't want to start a fight, not there, not then. I left just as they wanted.  I wondered for a moment, what did they really want? What were they discussing that they wanted me gone for?

>>> Chase Ashfield <<<
She lunged towards me with incredible precision. I parried her blade neatly, and she stepped back. She watched me eagerly, a smirk playing itself onto her face. I advanced and feinted, first throwing my attack to her left then quickly changing direction to her right. Predicting my move, she parried me to the right and lunged forward. I retreated hastily, and thought for a moment about what I would do next. She waited patiently for me to make my move. She's getting to be better than even me, I grumbled silently to myself. I took a step forward and she didn't flinch. I smiled to myself, thinking I had the perfect plan mapped out. I hit her with a volley of attacks, and she parried each one. Right when I made my move to her head, she parried my blade, drew it into a neat bind, and pointed her blade to my chest. I nodded my defeat, and dropped my blade, prepared to get off the log. She stepped forward, pressing the blade to my chest.
"What was the second thing you taught me?" She snickered. I smiled. Never let your guard down.
"You have learned well," I praised her. "And, I think we might be ready to move on." She raised an eyebrow.
"Move on?" She repeated my words with doubt and slight suspicion.
"Yes, it seems to me that you have near mastered the art of the sword, and after that duel I'm confident you can take on an opponent who truly means you harm." I chuckled softly to myself. "Have you ever used a bow, or a gun?" I asked her. She shook her head.
"My pa used to have a rifle at the house, but I never dared touch it," she muttered. I nodded.
"Well I shall teach you how to handle a gun then," I told her.
    "So when do I start?" She asked. I waved my hand the same way someone would wave away a fly.
    "You can go back to the inn for today, we'll start tomorrow."  She left, and I went to my room.  It looked similar to her room, except mine was more worn in and sloppy.  Candle wax was on the small nightstand next to the bed.   Tomorrow night, I need to meet Lux.  We need to talk...  We were going to meet unaccompanied, at the bridge.  I'll have to make sure no one follows me.  If anyone sees, I could suffer the same fate as Artemis and Scarlet.  A shiver went down my spine.  Though, I'm not in love with Lux, k.not any more at least.  She's also not going to give birth to my child.  I began thinking of Autumn, and I wondered if she knew who her parents were truly.  I suppose not, considering she was born a human.  I thought about Lux again.  Because Autumn has the key, Lux and I will have to do a lot of talking.  We need to confirm a plan.  I remembered my dream, with Lux talking to me, but quickly dismissed it.  It was just a dream.  It meant nothing, I assured myself.
    I spent a while in my room, not really doing much. Then, when it was evening, I got up. I went out my room and closed the door behind me. I quickly looked around and saw a few people walking around. I didn't mind, they didn't mind me either. I went in the direction of the ladder and saw Felix in the training room. He was wielding a sword with amazing accuracy. He will be good edition to our guild. I observed how powerful yet graceful he was. His stance was impeccable, and his attacks were always on target. I left Felix alone.  I didn't want to distract him. I continued on my way, and climbed up. I covered the trap door and looked at the orange and yellow leaves of the Ash tree. The leaves were always so beautiful.
    I looked up at the darkening sky, and to the stars. Then, I began steadily walking towards the gate. I put a good distance between myself and the town. Then, once I was satisfied with how far I'd gone, I climbed a tree and sat in one of the high branches. I looked up into the sky again, mindlessly gazing at the endless sea of stars.

>>> Autumn Rose <<<
    Even though the stranger had told me I could go back, I wasn't in a pressing rush to get back to the inn. Instead, I decided to enjoy a nice walk around town, and was on my way to the inn now. I was down by Antony's farm, and now I was walking up the slope to the inn. It wasn't really a hill, it wasn't steep enough to be a hill in my opinion. The ground was just slightly inclining, thusly I viewed it as a slope.
    It's getting dark, I observed. I knew if I stayed out much longer Soren would surely become suspicious. I could see the inn and pub just up ahead, they weren't too far now. The closer I got the more I felt like that wasn't really my destination. It was odd, something was telling me to keep walking. I made my way to the top of the slope, the inn just a few paces away. Once I was at the door, I stopped walking. This didn't feel right. I looked ahead, to the gate, and deep inside I felt so at home. Last time I felt something like this, I didn't leave on my own. I shouldn't go back, just incase something similar happens, I figured. I turned back to the inn, and reached to grab the door handle. I stopped myself. I couldn't go in. I had to go to the gate. I had to. I turned once more, and went forward towards the gate.  I listened to the dirt under my feet. In that moment, the whole world seemed to fall silent. I stood at the gate and looked out into the woods and the wilderness, gazing mindlessly into the trees.  Suddenly, something grabbed my attention.  It was a wolf, out in the woods.  Strange, I thought.  A wolf this close to town?  I found it hard to believe, but there couldn't be any other explanation.  It looked at me with a pair of emerald-yellow eyes.  Then it loped away into the dark, where I couldn't see it anymore.
I felt like a part of me had left with it.  That was odd.  I thought to myself.  It was just a wolf, wasn't it?  I blinked to snap myself out of my trans.  I had no idea how long I'd spent at the gate staring, but I knew that now it was surely time to go to the inn.
    I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. No one was in sight. Soren must be upstairs then. I went up the stairs, and to my room. The door was closed, just as it always was. I reached out and opened the door, just opening it enough for me to slip in. I was too tired to push it all the way open. I went to my bed, and took off my cloak. Just as I put my cloak down on the bed, I heard the door close behind me. I whipped around, prepared to fight. I felt a little jolted when I saw my opponent. I put my hands down at my sides, in awe.
"Soren?" I barely whispered. He was frowning, and looked annoyed. I didn't blame him, I'd come back very late.
    "Where were you?" He demanded. I figured he must've been standing behind the door, counting on my exhaustion. As soon as I was in he pushed the door closed. Sneaky.
    "Just walking around town."
    "That can't be it! Every day at noon you disappear to some unknown location. No one sees you and no one knows where you go. Where are you going, and who are you visiting?" Soren snapped. He's been watching me! I realized.
    "Nowhere!" I exclaimed.
    "That's a lie and I know it! Where are you going?" His tone was rising. This was unlike him. He normally never got angry. He wasn't that type. I wanted to flinch away, but I didn't. I wasn't about to back down. I opened my mouth to tell him, then I stopped. As much as I wanted to tell him, I knew I couldn't. Danny would undoubtedly kill me, if the other werewolves didn't kill me first. "I can't tell you." I muttered. Soren's icy stare felt like it was piercing through my soul. I wanted to hide even more now. He shook his head, and his glare left me.
    "Fine then. Go to bed. You're hiding something and I know it." He opened the door to leave. "But whatever you do, you'd better not make trouble in my town," he growled before slamming the door shut behind himself.