Yngvild and the Forest of Dreams

Rojden

We left the troop outside the walls, Major Duerte, Noren and I carried on into the city accompanied by the pack horse with our gear, Troopers Jerre and Javier and five others. The Major lead, with the rest of us in pairs, me with Jerre, and Noren with Javier. We went to the main citadel in the heart of the city. The gates there were also open, with more cavalry troopers in the same uniforms as our escort. In the courtyard inside there were piles of sawdust in seemingly random places. Discarded dented and mishapen armour and broken weapons in the corners told their own story. Along with a couple of splintered long spears and a dead horse.

'Looks like we fought for this.' Major Duerte said.

We dismounted and passed the reins to our partner troopers. Major Duerte ushered us to follow him into the Tower.
The main door into the tower was splintered off its hinges, and was propped up next to the doorway. More sawdust in the corridor and gouges in the wooden panelling testified to the resistance of Rojden's forced entrance into the tower. There were still several arrows embedded in the ceiling of the corridor, too high for anyone to reach without a ladder.
Another officer came down the corridor towards us. He had less lace, but it was gold rather than silver.
'Major Duerte! His Grace is expecting you upstairs, two levels up, second door on the right. Guards'll show you the way.' The officer said.
'Thank you. On my way, Colonel.'

We took the stairs, on the first level a guard halted us.
'Major Duerte and guests, His Grace is expecting us.'
'Pass, sir.' The guard stood out of the way.

On the second level the guard wasn't one of the familiar cavalry troopers. He was clad from head to foot in steel plate armour. It bore some dents and scratches. He must have been one of the assault troops that had forced their way in here earlier today.
On seeing us the guard stood aside and pointed us down a passage. The passage contained three more guards, one outside each room, and all in full plate armour. We went through the door that was opened for us into a room lit by high level windows and with hanging tapestries on all four walls. The wall to the left also had a fireplace, the tapestry came short above it. The centre contained a table with six chairs set round it. One of these was occupied by the man we'd met earlier. He was still dressed in the same clothes we'd seen him in before lunch.
'Come in, sit down. Eat.'
The table was set for six, and there were several dishes on the table, including some of the same vegetables I'd had at lunchtime. I still didn't know what they were, but I'd loved eating them. There was also some chicken, I recognised the whiteness and the texture of the flesh, and lamb or beef, and some fish.
We sat down and dug in.

'Who are the other two place settings for?' I said.
'The table takes six, so the servants set it for six. Just in case.' Our captor said.
'You're not expecting anyone else?'
'Not expecting them, but ready should they arrive.'
'You are a prudent sort of man, aren't you?' I said.
'Very much so, it's the best way to live.'
'No rush to die. Eh?'
'You know, I used to have a very old great uncle who said that a lot.'
'My adopted dad said it a lot too, and he is unspeakably old.'
'That would be Old Bjorn, wouldn't it?'
'How do you know Old Bjorn?'
'Old Bjorn is a legend. Anyone that studies the Skyssian Heroes, like I have, knows of Old Bjorn.'
'I've never heard the legends.'
'Well you wouldn't, not if you lived with him. He doesn't like people telling the stories.'
'He's modest, I think, he never talked about his past, before he came to live quietly on Straven.'
'Secretive, and devious, more like. Old Bjorn is the oldest living Hero, bar none. The legend says that he is over a thousand years old and was one of the founding fathers of Kronstadt.'
'But the city is nearly eight hundred years old.'
'Exactly. He's ancient. As old as modern civilisation itself.'
'What else does the legend say about him?'
'Old Bjorn acts with the best of intentions, but often what he does backfires. He tells people what they need to hear so that they will do the things that Old Bjorn needs to have done. He keep secrets because he can't bear the scrutiny he would get if people knew what he was up to. People have died, or had their lives wrecked, because of the secrets that he has kept or the mistakes made.'
'How do you know all of this?'
'There are many legendary tales about. When you can you should listen to them, or find a written copy somewhere. The saga of the Seacrest is a good one to illustrate the point. But there are others, and I've seen some of them personally.'
'I know the Seacrest, isn't that the one where the captain doesn't tell the crew where they are going or why, and then they end up being eaten by a sea monster instead of killing it?' Noren said. 'The captain goes back later on his own to avenge the death of his crew.'
'Yes, that's the one. The crew die because the Captain wasn't straight with them about what they had set out to do. None of them were prepared for the sea monster and it took them by surprise.'
'I didn't know it was about Old Bjorn.' Noren said.
'In his youth, long before Kronstadt was founded. He still makes the same mistakes though. How much did he teach you about the mysteries or your heritage?'
'Nothing in my case.' Noren said.
'I got a little, but only when we decided to leave the island.' I said.
'I don't want to turn you against Old Bjorn. His heart is in the right place, but he's just not reliable enough, and he makes mistakes. Some of his advice has been awful. I think it's probably his advanced age.'
'Lady Helga said something similar.' I said.
'She's a very smart woman, she'll go far. I expect that she'll be King of Skyss within a decade. Definitely the smartest one in her generation.'
'You think my mother will be the King of Skyss?'
'She's your mother? Ah! That explains your talent. It also means that Noren is probably my son.'
'You're Rojden!' I said.
'Yes, that's me. Don't believe all the propaganda you've been fed. I don't kill people indiscriminately. Quite the opposite.'
'You killed my father!'
'I didn't kill him, but I was there when he died. It was a tragic waste, and completely unnecessary. I killed the man that stabbed him to death.'
'I thought the man that killed him was working for you?'
'He was a double agent.'
'Who else was he working for?'
'Old Bjorn. He didn't trust me, and spread a lot of misinformation. I had to leave Skyss because of it. I couldn't trust anyone.'
I was confused. He seemed sincere, but so had Old Bjorn and Lady Helga. But the stories were all different. My amulet betrayed me by its silence.
'Oh. I don't know how to make sense of all this.'
'Take your time. I mean you no harm, and I doubt Old Bjorn does either. There's plenty of time for you to figure out what you think happened and who you believe.'
'Noren, you knew who he was?'
'Yes. I did. He asked me not to tell you anything until you worked it out for yourself. He said it would show that you could think clearly, and if you could think clearly than you would be able to come to your own conclusions and not rely on what others told you.'

I didn't quite know who or what to believe. 

How much of what I had grown up with was based on secrets and lies. I knew Old Bjorn had kept secrets from us. I'd found out some of them, and he'd bound me to keep his secrets.

Did that binding affect how I thought about things? Was it stopping me from seeing lies?

How did Jafnadr come into this? Could I trust what the sword told me, were the dreams true. Did the man that passed the poison do it on the orders of Old Bjorn, or Rojden, or someone else entirely?

'I think I need some time alone to think about all of this.' I said. 'Is there a bed somewhere I could lie down?'
'Of course, Yngvild. If you go through that door there' Rojden pointed 'then a servant will show you where you are sleeping.'
'Thank you.' I pushed the chair back and stood up.
'Sleep well, dear Yngvild.' Rojden said.
'Good night!' Noren said.
Major Duerte also stood and accompanied me to the door, opening it for me. Outside a female servant stood waiting. She bobbed down as I came into the corridor.
'My lady, if you please.' She said.
Major Duerte closed the door behind me.

We went down the passage to a set of back stairs, which we took up to a higher level. There were no guards on these stairs. We went past the next level, a passage branched off the side of the stairs. At the top there were three doors around a tiny landing. We went left, into a carpeted room. A fire provided light, and a lot of warmth, more than was really needed given it was early autumn. A very large bed stood in the middle of the room, with hangings on the top and sides to keep the heat in. They were open on the side nearest the door, but closed on the other sides. The room also had a very large shuttered window on the side opposite the door. Under the window was a small table with drawers in it and a mirror on the table top.
'My lady, if you need me call me Eva.' Eva shut the door behind her, and drew a bar across the inside.
'Are you worried Eva?' I said.
'There are a lot of strange soldiers in the city, my lady. It pays to be ready to defend one's honour.' Eva said.
'I don't think we have anything to worry about.'
'Better safe than sorry, my lady.'

I stood for a moment looking at the fire. While I did Eva started to loosen the ties on my clothes and helped me to take them off. I lifted my feet off the floor one at a time when she took my shoes and hose off. Once I was down to my shift I shrugged it over my head and climbed into the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.