The Silken Key

Chapter 1

Twenty years later...

When you were paid to protect someone travelling a long road across the country, but there didn't seem to be anything they actually needed protecting from, you had to try to earn your money some other way. One way you could do that, was to be a sort of 'tour guide', pointing out every interesting thing along the way.

Detlef couldn't help but feel his present company didn't appreciate his efforts to make the journey less dull. Which was a shame, because Corynne - the Bishop of Tollensrift's niece - was a very pretty woman and Detlef had been hoping to make her smile at least once. So far, he had utterly failed. And they'd been on the road for three days. He'd told her about the Gravewood, the Colspan valley, the Eglea falls...but it seemed like every time he spoke, she simply hummed and looked away.

The forest was alive with birdsong and the sound of the wheels of the cart on the dirt path, as well as the breathing and trotting of the two horses pulling it. Next to them, a farmer and his son who happened to be going the same way were riding along on their own horses. It was a sign that they were just a mile or so from Alresbay. Soon their journey would be over. Detlef had not given up on making Corynne smile, but he was running out of time.

"What sort of weapon is that, then?" the farmer's son asked rather scornfully, pointing at the side of the cart.

Detlef reached down and pulled up the long pole - a good foot taller than most men, with both a sharp point and a curved blade at the end - to show to the boy. "It's called a 'halberd'. It's good for keeping troublesome people from getting close enough to hit you."

The boy snorted. "It looks like someone couldn't decide whether they wanted to make a spear or an axe, so they tried making both."

"You may very well be right," Detlef laughed, putting the weapon back on its mount along the side of the cart. "Combining ideas is a common practice of great craftsmen. God himself, for example, must one day have been unable to decide whether he wanted to invent a creature uglier than a gnome, or a creature more annoying than a goblin..."

Detlef turned his head towards the boy and raised an eyebrow. "...so he did both and created you."

Both the boy and his father seemed more confused than offended. Detlef turned to Corynne, who was seated next to him, hoping to see a glimmer of amusement on her face. Instead, she had her face set forward but turned away the moment he looked at her.

Detlef sighed, partly out of frustration at her lack of response, and partly in admiration of the way the mottled sunlight cascaded through the trees and illuminated Corynne's beautiful strawberry-blonde hair and her immaculate sky-blue dress.

To distract himself from the awkwardness, Detlef reached into the pouch on his belt and took out a couple of sliced, dried mushrooms. He ate one, hummed approvingly at the taste and then held the other one out to Corynne.

"Morelmoss mushroom?" he offered. "They're delicious and nutritious. Perfect for long journeys like this. They don't go stale like bread, or sweaty like cheese."

"No thank you," Corynne replied curtly. She turned her head even further away, yet Detlef still thought he saw her wrinkle her nose.

He ate the mushroom himself, then lashed the reigns to get the horses to pick up a little speed. Somewhere in the distance, there was the cry of gulls. Through the trees to the south, he noticed the blue and white sparkling ocean.

I give up, Detlef thought, she just doesn't like me for some reason. But that is fine. It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining...and when I get back to the temple, I will finally get to fulfil my lifelong destiny of serving God.