Jahrra smiled despite the sad memories and continued to help the young Nesnan man seek out spices and dried meats. She had told him much, but she hadn’t told him who exactly she was. She couldn’t. If she was being completely honest with herself, she hadn’t quite accepted the truth yet herself. She still saw herself as a poor Nesnan girl who had a tendency to pick up dragon guardians.
By the time they had everything packed up and ready to go the sun was just beginning to peak over the mountain ridge. Jahrra handed Lahnehn what she owed him, plus a tip for letting her in early. She was reluctant to leave him behind, for even though he had been a fleeting acquaintance from several years ago, he had helped her then and he was helping her now.
“Why did you leave your post at Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s house?” she asked from Phrym’s saddle.
“I grew tired of their uncaring nature towards others,” he answered simply.
Jahrra looked over her shoulder. The town was still quiet but she saw a few lights burning in the windows down the street. If she left now, no one but Lahnehn would have seen her. She turned back to the grocer.
“Come with us,” she blurted. “My, um, friend and I. We’re headed for a far greater city than this.”
She knew it was risky inviting him along without Jaax’s permission or knowledge. The Tanaan dragon would be furious if he knew. Despite their new-found, cautious respect for one another Jahrra couldn’t help but be overwhelmed and sometimes intimidated by the constant presence of her new Tanaan guardian.
Lahnehn shook his head. “No, I’m happy with my new life here. I hope to start a family soon and I’m sure my fiance would not wish to leave her family behind.”
Jahrra smiled, warmed that this kind person had found happiness.
“But I wish you luck, Jahrra, whatever your future might hold.”
Jahrra nodded and straightened in the saddle. She hesitated before pulling her hood back over her head.
“Lahnehn?”
The young man turned to look at her once again. He quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head. Jahrra swallowed.
“Thank you, for everything. For helping me six years ago and for helping me now.”
He shrugged and grinned. “No thanks are required.”
“But I must ask for one more favor,” Jahrra nearly whispered.
Lahnehn leaned closer. Jahrra took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Someone might come looking for me, someone who has connections with,” she almost said connections with the Crimson King, but stopped herself.
She hadn’t told him the whole truth about Hroombra’s death either, just that someone had attacked and killed him. She swallowed and tried again, “Those who killed Hroombra, they might come looking for me. If they come here can you act as if you never saw me?”
Lahnehn stepped closer and placed a hand against Phrym’s neck. The semequin whickered softly and pressed his nose against the grocer’s shoulder.
“Jahrra, are you in trouble?” he whispered.
“No, no, not really. My traveling companion is nearby, but he felt it best to stay outside the city boundaries.”
Lahnehn looked truly surprised and worried. “Jahrra, how well do you know your traveling companion?”
“Oh, quite well, I assure you. I’ve known him my whole life,” she assured with a laugh, though the aftertaste of untruth tainted her throat.
If you were being completely honest Jahrra, you would have said you really don’t know him that well at all, she thought bitterly. But that would only worry Lahnehn and although she didn’t really know Jaax all that well, she did trust him, to some extent. Well, she trusted him to keep her alive at least.
“Well then, I swear I will keep your appearance secret,” Lahnehn said, holding up his right hand. “Now you had better go before the people of Glordienn get a good look at you.”
Jahrra smiled and reached down to shake Lahnehn’s hand. “Again, I thank you.”
Lahnehn shrugged and urged her to get moving. The eastern gate was only a few blocks away and as she passed through the wooden arch she glanced back over her shoulder to catch Lahnehn waving her on. She returned the gesture and kicked Phrym into a quicker pace, disappearing into the shade of the forest just before the morning guards took their posts.
-Chapter Two-
Into the Wilderness
Jahrra found Jaax standing behind a group of thick trees a mile outside of Glordienn.
“Were you able to get everything on the list?” he asked.
Jahrra moved Phrym off the road and gestured at the large bags hanging from his neck.
“Did many people see you?”
“No,” Jahrra said. “In fact, I think Ethoes might be watching out for me.”
Jaax cocked a scaly brow.
“The manager of the trading post is a young Nesnan man who used to work for Eydeth’s and Ellysian’s parents.”
The Tanaan dragon sucked in a breath and donned a look of worry.
Jahrra simply held up a hand. “No, you don’t understand. He helped me out of a confrontation with Eydeth once. He has no loyalties to that family.” She looked up at Jaax. “He was the only one who saw me and he swore not to speak of my presence in Glordienn.”
“And did he ask you why?” Jaax growled.
Jahrra glanced down and gingerly slid from the saddle. Her ankle felt better today but she didn’t want to risk upsetting it.
“I told him what happened to Hroombra but I didn’t tell him about you or who I really am. If the people who–”
Jahrra paused. She still had trouble speaking of her mentor’s death but if she wished to move on, she had to push the sorrow away, or at least learn to live around it. After a heartbeat she continued.
“If the people who killed Hroombra came looking for me, I asked him to act as if he never saw me.”
Jaax took a breath to say something, changed his mind, and simply nodded. “Very well. We had better keep moving then, before the road becomes crowded.”
He peered up the side of the hill and sighed. “We’ll stick to the hills and the back country, keeping the Raenyan River in sight. Perhaps your sudden luck will follow us.”
They traveled until late afternoon, moving farther and farther north and deeper into the foothills and mountains of eastern Oescienne. Before nightfall they made camp in a high, secluded clearing. Jaax felt it safe to risk a fire, so Jahrra was able to enjoy roasted meat for the first time in several days.
The next morning was clogged with low clouds and a deep chill. Jahrra arose early and made her way to a tiny spring they had passed the day before. While she was gone, Jaax closed his eyes and mapped out the next leg of their journey in his mind. They would continue moving east, following the river into the Elornn Mountains, passing through the treacherous Raenyan Canyon.
This was where he planned on losing any of the Tyrant’s men, should they discover their trail and follow them. Few who had traveled along the steep, rocky cliffs above the turgid river had ever come out of that wilderness to tell their accounts. Jaax hoped that this would deter anyone who might be after them, or that the canyon’s reputation would cause them to believe it not an option for the dragon and his ward. Jaax knew it was risky but he had been through the canyon before and there were just some things dragons were better at than the other creatures of Ethoes. Making it through the dreaded Raenyan Canyon unscathed being one of them.
The crunch of underbrush told him that Jahrra had returned and he left his contemplating for later. She had braided her hair and changed into a fresh set of clothes but the dark circles under her eyes and her slight limp told him that she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as he was to get moving.