A week had passed since the first day of the council, and most of us were fairly satisfied with our stay, having gone to the main market where all sorts of items, trinkets, and elixirs could be purchased at reasonable prices.
Ed finally recovered from his wounds and was able to walk, so we invited him to come with Batch and me the morning we were meant to leave. Irun and a few others had gone back to Codrean a day before to scout the roads ahead in case of another incident.
We roamed the market early in the morning while the stalls were still being set up, buying trinkets and other mementos we could bring on our journey home. In the meantime, the Master and the other synners were gathering their gear and packing their newly acquired items.
There wasn't much time left before we would have to ride back to our fortress, so most of the others were already grabbing their gear and packing their horses.
After about an hour or two of scouring the marketplace, we made our way back, but noticed everyone was nearly finished packing. "Shiiiit, we took too long. We should hurry," I said, urging my friends to break into a run to grab our belongings. Batch, after having gathered his own small amount of gear, helped Edryd with his while I got my own.
"Oh, I was beginning to wonder when you bastards would show face. Must have been a fun night out on the town," Bernar grinned sarcastically, having noticed us scurrying about. "How much longer before we set off?" I asked, ignoring the shit-eating grin on my older brother's face.
"Not much longer than you think, so hurry up," he replied. "It's not as if we knew we'd have to leave today," Edryd snapped back. "Yeah. Normally, we have at least a twelve-hour warning before we go anywhere," Batch chimed in. "We did, we just fucked up and should have kept a better track of the time we spent outside," I felt a tinge of embarrassment come over me as I could feel Bernar's head shake in disappointment behind me.
"Well, the Master has declared that we should leave as soon as possible, so I gave out orders for everyone to pack their shit up and get going immediately," Bernar shrugged. "We weren't told that," Edryd began, as we all looked to each other for confirmation. "I'm sure that's because we weren't even here in the first place," I said, not having any other answer.
"Where the hell were you guys, anyway?" Bernar asked. "We were at the market," I replied matter-of-factly. "Riiiight, the market. Of course. Prey tell, doing what, exactly?" my brother asked, completely unconvinced of my response.
"Oh, fuck off, will you? We bought trinkets and such for ourselves," I replied quickly, producing a small sackcloth bag and waving it in front of him. "Shouldn't you have done that yesterday?" he swatted the bag aside. "Ed's shoulder has only just gotten better, and we were not going there without him," I replied
"Now, if you'll excuse us, big brother, we've got to finish packing up our shit and get going before the Master verbally and morally destroys us," I continued. "Alright, alright. On your way, young ones," Bernar said through a small burst of laughter.
We quickly gathered the rest of our gear, which, once again, was hanging on their bedsides, cleaned and dried; just like the first morning they had been put there. I found a note pinned to my jerkin, and unfolded it to read the contents.
Remember me, please. Yours, M. I read, scratching my head to try to figure out who the hell this M person was.
The words had been messily scribbled on the small parchment, and I looked around to see if I could find whoever wrote it, but it was hopeless.
Was it the servant girl from the first night? Damn it, what was her name again? I rummaged through my memories, finding nothing.
I decided that I didn't have time to try to figure that out, so I scribbled my own note, folded it, and left it on my pillow, praying she would find it. I placed her note in my riding bag in a pocket where I was sure it wouldn't be wrinkled or torn.
The others finished gathering their things and I noticed no one else had gotten a note. I chuckled and grinned from ear to ear, thinking I, momentarily, was privileged.
We rushed downstairs to our horses and tied our bags to our saddles. We looked around for the Master, but he was nowhere to be seen. Garett was already mounted and called for attention.
"Listen up, you lot," he began as everyone turned to face him. "We're heading back to Codrean, and the Master has given me and Bernar explicit instructions to go ahead without him. He will catch up to us soon enough," he said. We all looked at one another, as this was both unprecedented and unusual behavior for the Master.
Something's not right, I thought, trying to piece together any semblance of reason I could.
"Let's move!" he called out. We spurred our horses and followed him out of the large gate before us. Just as we were about to cross the threshold, I thought it might be a good idea to get one last look at the palace itself. It was beautiful in its design, to be sure, but I quickly noticed something even more beautiful stood in one of the lower windows.
That's her! I thought, barely able to see her through the reflection of the glass.
She was, apparently, looking for me as well, as she held up the note I'd left her and waved it from side to side. Her hair was tied up in a strip of cloth that wrapped around her forehead and covered her ears, tying itself together at the back.
She found me amid the other riders and our eyes met.
I humbly nodded to the figure in the window. My eyesight was good, but I only noticed the tear running down the left side of her face a little too late. I felt I had no choice but to continue on ahead, not looking back another time lest my heart drop further. I couldn't figure out why she was crying; after all, she had only known me for about a week, but I was sure I wouldn't get an answer soon.
After riding for the better part of an hour, I could feel the sun's early rays begin to warm my back. The air was still a little chilly, and I was more than happy to feel those rays welcoming me into their embrace.
However, just as I was about to get lost in a daydream of my muse, I heard hooves thumping in the distance, ones that didn't quite match the pace we were at. I glanced over my shoulder to see what it was, and sure enough, I saw a familiar figure coming towards us at nearly a full gallop.
The Master had finally caught up to our group.
"Well, well. I'd say it's about half past the time you were supposed to catch up to us," Garett was saying as the Master rode beside him. "My apologies, I had some rather unpleasant business to attend to back at the palace," the Master said, his eyes glowing like they would whenever he was angry.
Bernar noticed, and sent a nod back to me, even though I had already guessed as much.
"Well, aren't you glad that's over and done with," Garett said cheerfully. "I suppose I am. Although I doubt that that was the end of it," the Master grimaced, prompting Garett to raise an eyebrow, but shrugged soon after. "Bah. With all due respect, Master, fuck them sideways," he spat. "Tell me, since I'm sure you must know more than I do regarding them, what respect are they due?" the Master asked angrily.
"I meant with respect to you," Garett said calmly. "But to answer your question: Not even the amount a beetle can shit," he said. "Glad to hear we're on the same page," the Master said, finally calming down a little. Garett, who had known the master since he was a boy, knew his personality well enough to be the only one able to calm him down in times like these.
I wonder what happened back there, I thought after their brief exchange.