Collector of Oddities - A Stormlight Archive FanFiction

(9) Squad Seven

[Zez]

Zez finished loading the trunk with various things from her personal chamber; from clothes and jewelry—of which she owned little—to writing supplies and books. The scribe had very little in the way of personal belongings beyond those things yet she did have one small framed photo of her parents. Her mother had been a ward of the Stoneward, the investigator of rocks and soil around the kingdom, and her father merely a soldier in Amaram's army. She never really knew them, but knew they were wonderful people. She loved them—

"Ready, Brightness?" Her parshman servant appeared at the doorway, which was already open to signify they could come in at any time.

Zez nodded confidently, holding the small photo of her parents while the servant lifted the trunk and hauled it from the room. When they had turned the corner and gone a bit down the hall, she unzipped her left sleeve and slipped the picture into her safehand pocket.

They'd be with her throughout the whole adventure, no matter what happened.

What would father say to this... Would he be alright with me making this decision? Am I being too reckless? Is this even a good idea... She thought, the doubts only now starting to flood into her mind. Even after telling the guards she had made up her mind, was there really still part of her that was scared to go?

The halls were even colder than they normally were this time of day. Her footsteps echoed down against the stone in either direction, causing her to flinch halfway down the hall, thinking there was a second set of footsteps from behind her. She looked back quickly, breathing heavily after her heart jumped, but there was nobody there. Simply the same old hallway with the same old lack of decor or liveliness.

Zezilia made her way down the largest staircase in the Amaram castle that led straight down to the main foyer of the structure. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling here, glowing with Stormlight from small spheres that were changed every other week, or when old ones became too dim.

To her chagrin, Zez found not just her parshman at the base of the stairs, but also the entirety of Heral's crew. Qork, Xe, Temo, Jal, and Captain Heral himself. They didn't seem to notice her approach and continued on with what they were doing—tightening the straps of backpacks and preparing waterskins with fresh water.

She stood a few steps up the staircase, baffled and amazed, her mouth open slightly.

Qork noticed her first, looking up from his coat which he was busy dusting off: it must have fallen to the ground, he seemed quite clumsy. The nervous soldier smiled to her, then looked to his fellows and to his Captain.

Heral looked up to her and nodded respectfully. "Looks like we're really gonna do this. Got water, food, and basic supplies to last us two weeks on the road, plus a few hamlets and villages along the way. We're only looking at about 2-3 days on the road, though, to Kholinar."

Zez remained frozen. She stuttered; "W-we?"

"Well, of course! Can't let a lighteyed lady travel alone on an open road for multiple days. Especially with so much fuss of assassins about." Jal said, raising his waterskin to her. He was a lighteyed soldier, as well, but had a large scar that ran across his face from ear-to-ear. If you looked at him right, it almost looked like a pair of bifocals without the frames around the eyes.

Qork nudged Xe in the shoulder with some enthusiasm and looked back up to her. "We can leave tonight and get a few hours behind us, then stop in Gaval tonight to look for warm food and a bed. If we can help it, we'll try to stay away from camping on this trip, Heral says." He stated, trying to sound official like his companions.

"W-we—" Zez helplessly repeated again, processing everything that was happening. "You're going to come with me? D-did Highprince Amaram approve of you leaving? I know you have posts and duties here that... are important."

Captain Heral waved his hand again, as he had done before. It really did have an odd, magical way of settling her doubts. "The Highprince issues each of us a number of days to be used for escorts and that sort of mission. Whenever a Brightness needs to be somewhere, we can tap into those days. Don't worry about us, Zezilia."

That time he had said it to pick on her, she knew it. "Th-thank you, Captain. It seems you all have done far more planning than I have about this..."

"Course," Jal repeated, offering his hand out to her to help her down the last few steps. She hadn't expected the gentlemanliness, but she certainly did not complain. "Now, Qork, get that other end, we'll get the ol' trunk out to the wagons."

"Wagons? You got carts for us, Captain?" Zez asked, looking over, and up, to him now that she stood on the same level as he. "S-sorry, as in, multiple carts?"

Captain Heral hooked his waterskin to his belt as the final piece of equipment across his backpack, harness, tunic, and more. "I thought we could use a bit more space from one another, and most certainly wanted to make sure you felt comfortable, so I checked out two for us to use. Squad Seven will take one and you, Brightness, can have the other to yourself."

Zez, once again, was amazed. Her own coach all to herself? This might not be the most difficult trip, after all.