Something wet hit my head. I looked up at the sky as black clouds started rolling in. She was close, or back. I wasn't sure which one. It only rained when she was in the country, and it had been a long time since the skies last broke open. I pulled my hood up over my black hair and began jogging towards the village. By the time I reached it, the rain was pouring down so hard that I could hardly see ten feet in front of me.
Is that her? It can't be! I mean, it could be, but it can't be! It just started raining!
She was small, like I remembered, just barely reaching up to my shoulder, and topped with the most beautiful brown hair that always seemed to be in just the right place. She was not as put together as she normally was, but that was understandable. She’d been gone a long time.
What is she thinking in those clothes? She stands out too much! She should know better! And...what exactly is she wearing anyway?
She’d always stood out, but in a good way, but not like she was at the moment. I was not exactly sure what it was she was wearing, but the combination suited her. Her multicoloured pants were caked with mud, and the boots she was wearing were of a fashion he had never seen before. She looked like she had come from a different world, but that was ridiculous, and rather impossible.
I watched her for a moment to see where she would go.
Oh, no! Not in there! You know better, Fall! How am I supposed to get you out of there before somebody slips you something or recognizes you and calls the constable?
It was the local tavern, and the place was notorious for drugging the ale of pretty girls and forcing them into slavery. Her father had banned such places, but out in the very edges of the kingdom like they were, such places didn’t exactly shut down, and with the Nithardas running the country these days... well, let’s just say that they flourished under the rule of the usurpers.
I walked around the outside of the tavern until I spotted an open window. The stench of unwashed bodies and stale ale wafted out, and I'm not sure what was burning in the fire, but it sure wasn't wood.
No wonder she chose a seat next to the opened the window.
The sight of the matron sent shivers up my spine. I had seen her before, several times, in the capital on market day recently. What she was selling, no upstanding man would buy.
The matron handed Fall a bowl of something that actually looked descent and a flagon of ale before doing a fat woman’s impression of scurrying off. I knew if I didn't let her eat it was going to be a long time before her next meal, but if she even touched the cup, I was picking her up and carrying her bodily out of there, too much attention or not. There was no way I was going to let her end up as a prostitute! Besides, it would give her time to warm up, and rest. She looked beat, and was going to need all the energy she could muster if we were going to get anywhere remotely away from this town before night.
A few minutes after she had finished eating, the front door of the establishment flew open, crashing against the wall. In the doorway stood a man that I had hoped wouldn’t be there; this was going to make things much more difficult for us. He was almost my equal in height and strength. We would make a good match in a fair fight, but this was not the time nor the place to fight him—and he would never fight fairly. It was now or never. The man hadn’t seen her yet, or she’d probably have been dead already.
I slid the window up a bit further, and whispered in her ear, “Put tha’ pendent awey, and come with me if ye want to live.”
She only hesitated for a fraction of a second before slipping out the window. I knew she could tell the Tracker was dangerous. What was really confusing was that she didn't recognize me.
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