Captured: A White Road Tale novella #1

Chapter Four: Tarek's Birthday

Six months later

Tarek's fingers ran over the smooth wood of his new red oak bow. The polished leather quiver, filled with a dozen arrows, was finer than anything he'd owned in his whole life.

"I can get you in on our next hunt, boy." Olden clapped Tarek on the back.

Pop wore a gray hunter's smock. The Racan moon and stars was stitched onto the front in silvery thread. The emblem matched the tattooed mark they had all received on their upper arms when arriving in Racah.

"Really? I can hardly wait." Eagerness to try his new gear charged through Tarek. His heart sank, knowing he had work to do first. But maybe he could sneak away during the night.

"Absolutely, my boy. You jus' keep practicing. Don't want you out there making a fool of me. Once you're officially accepted into the crew, you'll have more freedom to roam the city. I'll show you some great—"

"Olden," Ma scolded. "He's only turned eighteen. Not near old enough for those awful places I know you have in mind."

Despite her disapproval, Tarek grinned. More freedom to roam. No more cleaning floors and dusting banisters. No more playing errand boy for the head servants who thought they were royals in their own right. He planned to sneak off to that small pond he'd found in the woods and hunt in private. The extra meat would sell in town for a good price. This time, he would hide all his coins somewhere Olden would never find.

"Happy Birthday, Son." Brie cupped his face and kissed his cheek. "Do you like your gift? So nice of your father to get it for you."

Tarek beamed. "I hope it didn't cost you—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ma shook her head, while Pop chuckled. "Dinna cost anything. Belonged to a daft fool who got too careless poaching the king's stock."

Olden leaned back in his chair at the head of their little dining table. Breakfast crumbs littered the weathered pine surface. Vesia worked on clearing off the dishes before she and Ma had to get on to the kitchen.

"Not that we frown on personal hunting. We all do it, you know. Just, we expect everyone to share the spoils when they do." Pop stood, dusted bits of biscuit off his stained shirt front, then retrieved his coat from the pegs beside the door. "That's why there's a spot open for a new hunter. We divided his gear. I won his bow and arrow."

For a moment, Tarek feared the ground had opened beneath his feet, the way his equilibrium tilted and spun. "Wah-uh-what happened to him?"

Olden patted his stomach. "The dragon is happy, I dare say."

Ma's face paled as her fingernails dug into Tarek's arm. When he flinched, she jerked away. "Best you get ready to go, too, boy. You're still a house servant tonight, and they expect you to serve at the ball." She moved toward the table beside the kitchen hearth and sat heavily in the chair.

Tarek stared down at the row of crescents indented into his skin. He hung the quiver on one of the wall pegs, then started toward the loft he shared with Vesia. Before his foot landed on the first ladder rung, his sister waved a wrinkled paper in his face. "I made you something, Tare."

He unfolded the parchment, thinking she'd gotten too old to be drawing him her silly pictures. Instead, he found a diagram of the castle and grounds. He moved closer to the small square window and held it up to the dim sunlight. Her map contained such intricate details, he couldn't help but be impressed by it. "Looks like you're getting to be quite the artist, runt."

She made a half-shrug. "I can't draw people like you, but… anyway, thought it would be useful when you're hunting to know where you're at."

"How did you find all this out?" She'd even drawn the castle's various upper floors. He sighed. She had been warned several times about not going out of her boundaries, which consisted of the bottom floor and the servants' quarters only. "You've not been—"

"No." She glared at him a moment. "Mostly I find things in the library books. I swiped a couple when I was sent in to dust shelves. It's not an impressive collection. And they're really dusty. Don't think anyone ever goes in there, so don't lecture me. I put what I borrowed back." Despite Tarek's scowl, she grinned the same way Pop did when he pulled off something sneaky. "One day while cleaning one of the study rooms, I met this girl who knows all about the castle. She can even see the land from high up in the towers. We've compared notes a time or two." Vesia rocked on her toes, her eyes bright with her secret.

He folded his arms over his chest and stared down at her. "A girl? Who?" Vesia would make friends with anyone who paused long enough to listen to her silly stories.

"She won't tell me her name."

He examined the diagram again, figuring she'd probably met up with one of the younger servants. Vesia had spread out the various levels of the castle, even showing where the king's private study was. Who would know this? More importantly, who would tell his sister? And why? "Ves—"

"She tells me about the castle, and I tell her about the outside. I'm a kid. Nobody pays any attention to me roaming about."

He leaned in closer. "You be careful out there. The dragon's not too far from us."

"Duh, I know about the dragon." She pointed to her map where she'd drawn a blue drake. "The woods are mainly along the western slopes, as I'm sure you already know. However, to the south of the dragon's keep, there are more woodsy areas. And a river runs along that way. One book showed how it pours down the mountain in a series of waterfalls." Her finger traced a blue line that zigzagged past the dragon. He once explored some of the places she'd drawn, but had kept clear of the canyon where the king's pet was kept. Tarek hoped to never see one of those horrid lizards up close.

"Since when did you get interested in maps?"

She shrugged, glancing over her shoulder where their ma worked at putting away the dishes while Olden finished gathering his gear. Ma wore one of her usual plastered-on smiles. Olden, looking pleased, was telling her about his last outing with the other hunters.

Leaning closer to Tarek, Vesia said, "Some have made it down the mountain. Past the dragon. A whole family disappeared not too long ago, and everyone believes they succeeded."

"Ves…"

"If that's true—"

"Just rumors, Ves. The dragon probably got them, and nobody will ever know."

"Tare, there're other stories, too. One has to be true. And if so…" She let her thought go unfinished. He didn't need her to finish. Ma hated Racah. When Olden was gone for long stretches, she often cried herself to sleep, grasping that strange disk in her hands.

"It's not so bad here," Tarek said as he folded the map and stuck it into his pocket.

"I know. I'm training to work in the kitchens with Ma. Everyone loves her pies. So that's what I get to do. Cook. I'd wanted to draw and paint, but you know how they feel about that."

"How Pop feels about that." Olden considered such things wasteful. Even dangerous, as he'd often called some of Tarek's abilities.

Tarek pulled his sister into a one-armed hug. Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, "Thanks for the gift. If you have another map, keep it to yourself. And be careful with this girl who's giving out information. Some people around here enjoy getting others in trouble."

She nodded. "Don't think so with this one, but I hear you."

He set his foot on the rung. "What does she look like? Is she one of the servant girls? Maybe I've met her."

Vesia's nose wrinkled as she thought about his questions. "She's close to your age, but I don't think she's a servant. Honestly, she dresses like she's part of the royal family." She shrugged again. "She has gorgeous, long auburn hair. Curly. Which I'm so jealous of." Vesia tugged at a lock of her unruly, straight brown hair. "I call her Sue, because that made her laugh."

A girl with curly auburn hair? The princess? No!