Time of Destiny (book 3)

Chapter 38

Selene and Iorveth had finally arrived in Spikeroog and decided to head straight for the Jarl's home, hoping that they would be able to find Cerys without much trouble or before she somehow ended up in trouble. "Right, let's see if we can't find Cerys." Selene nodded as she walked up the steps that would lead her to Udalryk and hopefully Cerys. As the two neared they house they could hear some hushed conversations but none of which interested either of them. Until they heard a different conversation.
      The two shared a look before heading inside to see both Udalryk and his advisor Hjort speaking. However before they could speak with Udalryk he left the room and went into his own. "Hello." The man quickly turned with wide eyes, taken aback by the sudden voice. "Oh, ah hello. Oh...oh! It's Lady Selene of Vesina!" Selene shifted slightly before she nodded. "That's correct." The man smiled a bit before looking at her companion. "And this must be Iorveth, the leader of the Scoia'tael." Iorveth felt his eyes widen as he heard the man address him. "I'm sorry how do you know all of this?"
        "Oh, pardon me, my name is Hjort. The two of you are quite famous in these parts. Even the rumors of young Selene leaving Geralt have reached our home." Selene wanted to groan, she should have seen this coming and Iorveth felt his eye twitch in irritation. "Right, of course it has." "Indeed, and the fact that Iorveth has been pardoned also reached here." Selene looked over at Iorveth and shook her head.
     "Right well, that's not why we're here." Hjort raised an eyebrow as he listened. "May I ask what has brought you here then?" Iorveth nodded before he spoke. "We are looking for Cerys, Crach an craite has requested we find his children." "Ah, young Cerys was indeed here. But alas I do not know of her current where a-bouts." Selene looked at Iorveth and frowned as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Who might know where she is?" "A couple who go by the names of Bergthora and Eiric, they both knew the Jarl years ago and were fairly close to him. Perhaps they can be of help."
      Selene nodded and bid the man a fair Well before both herself and Iorveth left the Jarl's house. Upon finding the couple they quickly asked where they could find Cerys only to learn that she had left the town in order to go to Udalryk's childhood home up in the mountain area. The two shared a look and asked how long she had been gone only to learn it had been a few hours and night would soon be falling upon them. Selene thanked them for their help before running off to find Cerys before she possibly froze to death.
      As the two climbed the mountain taking the main path did Iorveth finally realize that Selene was beginning to shiver so he threw his cloak around her. "Wear that, don't take it off. We should be there soon." Selene nodded as they continued making there way up the path and towards what was hopefully Udalryk's childhood home. By the time they arrived the sun had finally set and Selene was worried. Where was Cerys and was she okay? Looking at Iorveth the two finally ran into the house to escape some of the harsh winds. Yet the house was in ruins. "Okay, let's split up and see if we can't find her."    
      Iorveth nodded and watched as she ran towards the other direction while he checked the rooms, looking for any sign of Cerys or a clue as to what was going on. Upon finding nothing aside from a broken mirror did he let out a sigh until he heard Selene yell for him. "Iorveth! I found her! She's still breathing but she's getting to cold!" Iorveth felt his eyes widen before he ran out of the room and towards the women before he picked up Cerys. "We need to get a fire going and wait for her to wake up before we can figure out why she was there.
     The two sat by the fire as they waited for Cerys to finally wake up. Selene was safely curled up in Iorveth's embrace, as they kept a watchful eye on the young woman. When she finally woke up the moon was high in the sky but she was no longer shivering. "Cerys!" Said woman slowly opened her eyes, her voice groggy from sleep. "Ugh my head.....wait Selene is that really you?" Selene nodded as she shifted in Iorveth's hold. "Cerys, you need to go home. Why the hell did you come here?" Cerys frowned as she listened to Selene speak. "I am not leaving. Not until I help Udalryk. What's going on with him is not normal so I came to find his family's sword."
      Selene blinked before groaning. "What sword?" "Brokvar, it was suppose to go to Aki but instead went to Udalryk. Which left a bad blood between the two." Now Selene was even more confused. But groaned. "I'll go get the damn sword. You almost froze to death in there." "But..." "No, Selene is right. We found you half frozen. Now tell us where the sword would be." Cerys frowned before she sighed. "The basement. I have the key but..." "you blacked out from the cold before you could get down there." Cerys nodded and handed Selene the key. "Iorveth..." "Absolutely not. I will wait here with Cerys until you've returned. You can not and will not change my mind."
     Cerys nodded In agreement. "I agree with him. We will wait here." Selene sighed before she nodded and went back inside the run down home. She needed to find this sword and now she had to find out who Aki was and why there would be bad blood between the brothers. So taking a deep breath she unlocked the basement and started to head down into the dark and inky depths of what seemed like a never ending abyss.