Yuragwyn: Ours

---Chapter 15

₰Traugott₰

                A servant brings us hot tea, and we sit in Master Hulderic’s study and stew over maps and tolls.  The numbers turn my stomach, and I want to pick up a sword and go right back out there.  I can’t let this happen; I have wasted enough time. 

                “Where is Kaitra?” Lord Cadfael asks suddenly.  “There was no one at Llyendal when we arrived.”

                “I asked her and Eglantine to take a letter to Honorable Urien for me four days ago, but they have yet to return,” Master Hulderic answers. 

                I cradle my head in my arms.  What has she gotten herself into?  Did she leave again, as she threatened? 

                I sigh and stand.  “I shall go after them.  Perhaps they’ve been turned around and have lost their way.”

                “Traugott,” Lord Cadfael says, “You must rest, or you will wear yourself away.  Think of Calanthe; she needs your comfort in her brother’s place.”

                I nod and take my seat respectfully.  Lord Cadfael and Master Hulderic resume their plans, but my mind drifts away to Kaitra and her safety.  I suppose I should be nothing but grateful, for she came back and sent us help, but I still harbor a grudge of sorts against her.  I wish she could see how much she means to us- to me.  She is the beacon of hope for this war-torn country, for peace and prosperity.  Without her time alone keeps us from falling slave to Granziar and its king. 

                The evening is late when Lord Cadfael and I take our leave from the palace and trudge silently back to Llyendal.  The friendly walls, the bath, the warm blankets: all of it is foreign and strange.  I try to block out my doubts and fears with the fabric, close my eyes, and claw at fistfuls of peaceful sleep. 

∞Kaitra∞

                With daybreak on the fifth day we are up and riding again towards a hive of enemies in the mountains.  Hiltraud leads the charge into the stony pass, and even as we go I quail at the memory of the attack from above and keep my bow trained on the puffs of cloud that float innocently by.  Eglantine rides pensively behind me, her eyes moving covertly from left to right.  She holds the bow Hiltraud gave her as though it will pop out of her grasp and shoot an arrow into her own thin chest. 

                I must be a bit more trusting now, for her bravery likely saved mine and many others’ lives, but still something about her sets me on edge.  Then again, just until a few weeks ago I felt the same way about Hiltraud, whom now is a trusted confidant and even friend.  She needs a chance. 

                 “Honorable Urien! Lady Kaitra!  I bring word from Lord Cadfael,” A centaur gasps, thundering up beside us. 

                Honorable Urien motions to me to take the letter.  I open it gingerly and scan over the contents.  As I read, I can feel the color drain from my cheeks.  My eyes lose their focus and my throat becomes dry. 

                “What is it?” Honorable Urien questions. 

                “They have returned from Shajen,” I begin.  But even as he smiles in hope, I bear the bad news, “Briallen did not live through the fight.”

//•••//•••///•••\\\•••\\•••\\

                I am in shock at my words and the evil horror they admit and am hardly able to move even when Honorable falls from his pegasus in a dead faint.  A soldier kneels down to revive him, and Hiltraud calls out to those behind us to keep calm.  Finally, Honorable Urien comes to and stares up at me through his tears.