The Woven Crown (Completed)

Chapter 22

Ryla helped stack the horses' water buckets in the back of Willem's wagon. The week at Wheatford neared its close and they readied the Caravan to leave early the next morning. They had heard no news of a missing patrol. Ryla had finally stopped jumping at the sound of every hoof beat coming their way. But, as the crew made their last minute adjustments, a city guard approached the wagons. Graphiel went to meet him.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but this won't take but a minute. I'm on orders to ask you about your ride over from Starling." There was a pause in the activity around the wagons as everyone stopped to listen. Ryla hoped the guard hadn't noticed.

"Our ride over, you say?" asked Graphiel, doing a wonderful job of acting like the question was a bit daft.

"There was an incident, you see, out on the high road a day or two ago. Some men got themselves killed. They're looking for anyone who might have seen something of it on their journeys. You did take the high road a few days back, right?"

"Yes, of course we did, but we didn't see anything out of the ordinary. We arrived to Wheatford early. Must've happened after we passed through there."

"You didn't see any strangers on the road? They're saying it might've been Woven who attacked them."

"Well, it's a bit hard to tell who's a Woven unless they're using magic, huh?" Graphiel talked as if he thought the guard might be a little touched in the head.

"Yes, I guess that's true. Well, if you didn't see anything then..." he trailed off, looking like he wished he was anywhere but there.

"We'll let you know if we hear anything," finished Graphiel helpfully. The guard nodded and left them to their work.

"I guess they had to find them and come asking questions eventually," said Firdas.

"Yes, and I think that should deflect them awhile, as long as they don't start asking questions about what day we left Starling and start doing the arithmetic."

"I wouldn't be worried about that," said Rhid, "I hear they only test your belching and gambling skills before becoming a city guard."

"Nevertheless, our time here is definitely up. I'll be glad to get a move on in the morning."

Danelle, Dhavlin, and Rhid decided to take Yulia and Ryla to one of their favorite pubs to hear some musicians on their last night in Wheatford. Rhid ordered a round of cold ciders for them and they sat a little ways off in a dim corner. The pub was bigger than most, but that only meant their group went that much more unnoticed. They kept their hoods pulled up, like many of the other patrons, as a a precaution.

They sat enjoying the music and the colorful crowd. The band played a few lively songs that had half the pub tapping their feet along with them, and then they, along with the crowd, persuaded one of the barmaids to sing for them. It was a slow and soulful ballad. Ryla had never heard a voice so full of longing and sadness before. After a round of well-deserved applause, the band took a break. With the music gone, conversations struck up at the tables around them.

"I saw him, I did. Riding off towards Aelham as fast as he could go," said a man at the table next to them. "Huge fella, dressed all in black. I could see his red eyes all the way from where I was standing, tendin' to my goats. 'Twas the same that killed them soldiers." Gasps issued from several mouths except from one man with a nose that resembled a ripened tomato who slapped his cards face down on the table.

"Ah, c'mon Lonnie! You didn't see no Woven. You're always tellin' tales. Fish the size of your leg, takin' a tumble with a noble woman. We all know it was jus' Berta from the ale house!" Several men around the table started snickering. A blush crept out from underneath Lonnie's hairline. He muttered something about how would he know.

"She told me herself when I took a turn with her!" the man guffawed before being knocked backwards out of his chair by the man called Lonnie.

The other was up in an instant, lunging after him. "I'll teach you to tell tales!"

More men jumped in at the opportunity of a brawl and the innkeeper came out from the kitchens brandishing a fire poker. Rhid and the others decided this would be a good time to take their leave. They left some coin on the table and skirted around the clash in the middle of the room, dodging a rather sizable tankard someone had thrown.

Once outside, they found the alley almost just as crowded. It seemed word had spread of the mysterious attack on the Prestige's army and stories about what or who had done it were being traded like good coin. As they passed a group of men loitering under a flickering street lamp, Ryla heard snippets of their conversation.

"I heard it was valkrin that done it. There's a whole nest of 'em out by the Mabry's. Gotta be twenty, no fifty of 'em in that one brood."

"No," said another. "I heard a man say it were Woven. They took off towards Aelham, he said."

Yulia grabbed Ryla's arm.

"What is it?" Ryla asked. Yulia's face was sheet white.

"Whatever it was, it's long gone from here," continued the men. "Miss!" One of them broke off from the group and turned towards Ryla. "Miss, you dropped this."

He bent down and picked up a scrap of parchment. When he held it out for her, he tilted his face under his hood just enough that the street lamp caught his eyes— deep honey-colored eyes.

Killian.

Her stomach flipped over. He pressed the paper into her palm and then walked down the street, melting into the shadows before Ryla could even think of something to say. She tucked the paper safely into her pocket and turned back towards the way to the Caravan.

When they were back, Ryla pulled the paper out of her pocket.

"I knew it was him!" said Yulia when Ryla explained to the others. "I could pick out his life thread in any crowd." They crowded around as Ryla unfolded the note.

Meet at Sugared Lilies, dawn.

"Cassandra's bakery?" asked Dhavlin.

"Yes," said Danelle, a mirror image of her brother's confusion. "But what's he doing here?"

"That's what I want to know," said Rhid. Ryla was wondering the same thing. As much as she was excited to see him, she couldn't help but worry about what had brought him here.

"I hope everything is all right with the Refuge," said Ryla quietly. "Go get Graphiel and the others."

"You said you saw him outside the Lion's Paw?" Thistle asked them while Graphiel re-read the note. Mae stood on tip-toes to get a better look.

"He was just outside, mingling with the crowd in the streets," said Dhavlin.

"And you're sure it was him?" he asked Ryla.

"I wouldn't mistake my brother's life thread for another, I'm sure of it," said Yulia.

"If Killian has been staying at the bakery, he's been in safe hands," said Graphiel, patting Yulia on the shoulder. "We were already planning on taking Mae there tonight, just before dawn when the town is at its quietest. We'll see what news he brings then."