“What’s it like?” he asked.
At first, she thought he was still being lascivious. Then she recalled that he was from the mountain clans and had never even seen a real town, much less the grandest city in the entire realm. He was asking about Castlemont, the capital city of the Kingdom of Wildermont. She smiled at him as she answered.
“We will be at the town known as High Crossing soon. That is where we will cross a river called the Everflow. The river separates the Leif Greyn Valley from Wildermont. High Crossing is more of a village than a town. As we pass through, imagine a place more than a thousand times as big, with buildings built on top of other buildings, and towers that reach all the way up into the sky, like the Spire.”
He asked about the people and their ways, and she answered him as best as she could. Money, it seemed, was what made one strong in the kingdom cities. He understood. It was just a larger, more permanent version of the Summer’s Day Festival. He couldn’t wait to get there and see it all for himself.
Night settled on them quickly. The sky was gray and cloudy, the early summer air thick and warm. The bridge that Shaella had spoken of seemed to come up out of nowhere. It was wide enough for two wagons to cross at the same time.
The roar of the dark river that churned swiftly under the span filled Gerard’s ears. The bridge was a lot longer than it had looked at first. It took a few minutes for the horses to trot all the way across it. The bridge didn’t cross the Leif Greyn. It spanned a smaller river that met the bigger flow there. Gerard could only imagine the skill and the time it had taken to build such a thing. It amazed him. Even in the dim light of the few lanterns that wavered at intervals along the span, he could see that the stonework was carefully crafted. The flowers and leaves carved into the retaining wall that lined each side of the bridge looked almost real, and the gargoyles that held the lantern poles seemed to snarl and growl as he passed them.
“Why are there none of these buildings on the other side of the river?” he asked as they entered the village of High Crossing.
“We just left the sacred valley,” she answered. “It’s still considered sacrilege to build or claim land there; but this side of the river belongs to King Jarrek. Welcome to Wildermont.”
Just then, a dozen or so armored horsemen emerged from the shadows. Gerard didn’t even hear the jingle of their tack as they moved to block their passage.
Light could be seen coming from a few of the windowed buildings that lined the road, but most of the structures were only hulking shapes in the darkness. A nervous looking man brandishing a torch strode out of the building nearest the end of the bridge and motioned for them to halt. Cole, who had been leading the group while Shaella rode with Gerard, turned and looked back at her sharply as he reined his horse in.
“A copper a man, or a silver for the lot of ye to pass,” the old toll man called out. The presence of the soldiers on the road lent confidence to his voice.
Shaella spurred her horse up to the old man.
“Here!” she snapped, as she flipped him a silver coin. “If King Jarrek is too poor to make change, then I’m the Queen of Westland,” she added with a chuckle.
Cole and Flick both gave her a warning look.
“We would have you come with us!” a commanding voice boomed at them. It was the Captain of the Redwolf Guard troop, who was now completely blocking their way.
From his place at the rear of their group, Gerard saw Greyber’s hand reach up over his shoulder to his sword’s hilt. He looked again at the men blocking the road. Bright polished plate armor and shiny chain mail reflected back at him in the torch light. Above the soldiers, a stalking wolf’s silhouette danced crazily in the wind on a fluttering crimson banner. Even the horses they rode were strapped with leather and steel. The idea that Graber would even think of drawing his blade against men such as these, made his stomach clench. What was about to happen here?
As beautiful as Shaella was, and as much as he wanted her, and as much as he wanted to be on this grand adventure, Gerard suddenly found that the only place he really wanted to be was home.
Chapter 19