The Book of Terrus: A Land of Sunlight

Chapter 8 - A Wider World

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For the men of Trosk, every step closer to home was agony.

            They set out from Geristan with the rising sun, streaming out beneath the town's front gate in a long column of men, metal and horses. Captain Jerriod led the way, flanked by Pedrum on his left and Lieutenant Neel, leader of the princess's Knights, on his right. The townspeople watched their departure, crowding windows and doorways on all sides. Princess Ellorae spent the whole route from barracks to gate waving her handkerchief at everyone from the plush comfort of the carriage. People ate it right up; some parents even sent their children running forward with handfuls of yesterday's flowers or sweet treats for the princess and her ladies. Personally, Tarun thought it rather poor form on the part of the Knights of Amenthis to be letting even children pop up to the carriage window unchallenged like that. What did he know though? He was just a lowly footsoldier, doomed to walk all the way from Geristan to Derbesh while the Knights rode.

            'May they all go saddle-sore', thought Tarun to himself.

              That had been nearly three days ago. In that time, the Fourth Company had only managed to reach the halfway point of the Old Mountain Road through The Teeth. Just that morning Tarun had looked up and seen the faintest thread of what he knew to be a wooden bridge, suspended nearly a league overhead from the northern stretch of the mountains to the south. Here, at the intersection between the Ridgeline on the roof of the world and the Old Mountain Road on its floor, they stood at the center of the world. Unless of course you asked a loyal subject of Goran, in which case Amenthere was the center of the world.

            Yet another rattle from the princess's carriage wheels made Tarun twitch his head in annoyance. If it weren't for that infernal thing, they might have been on the eastern side of the Teeth by nightfall. As it was, the carriage and accompanying cart made for slow going. That and the chill autumn wind that whistled through the mountain pass only served to make the men of Trosk more depressed than they already were. To be passing so close to Trosk and yet be forbidden from turning their sore feet homeward...

            The only thing that kept Tarun from being as utterly miserable as the rest of his companions was the ever-present lure of The Academy. He had always intended to leave Trosk anyways, hadn't he? If he could just maintain his composure, keep his mind on the present and his eyes on the prize, then he could perhaps endure that torturous moment when they passed by the branch off the main road that led north to Trosk. Tarun didn't know how the other men were going to cope when that time came.

            Unlike their company's unhappy newest recruits, the rest of the Fourth was in downright high spirits. Being tasked with even the unexpected duty of escorting Princess Ellorae east seemed to have been received as a great honour amongst the other soldiers. No amount of shrill gusting or stuck carriage wheels on the rocky mountain ground could dampen their spirits. The Gorian soldiers bantered, laughed, and even whistled little tunes as they plodded their way across The Teeth. Jerriod seemed to be willing to allow this slight dip in professionalism, seeing as the princess had commented on the second night about how 'delightful it was to see such happy subjects'.

            Tarun had another problem too, besides the ever-looming nearness to Trosk, the misery of his neighbors and the contrasting cheer of the rest of the Fourth Company. This particular problem wore a sunflower-yellow cloak. Without warning, Tarun found himself unable to think a logical thought whenever the princess' strawberry blonde handmaiden left the confines of the carriage. Their traveling convoy had to stop before sunset every night to set up a proper camp, complete with pavillion and central fire circle for the comfort of their royal nusiance. The significant irritation which built in Tarun's gut as he pitched tent poles seemed to evaporate without his consent when the carriage doors opened and the princess and her entourage appeared. It really was becoming something of an issue. What he wouldn't give to catch the handmaiden alone for another witty exchange.