“We don’t feel what you do,” Tater said, standing as if readying himself for a fight. “And insisting on anything is a poor way to treat strangers.”
Scratch stood, too. “We, all of us here want to know why you’re running the wrong way. Are you joining them?”
Even though Springer sat quietly and calmly beside Tater’s leg, Tater reached down and took a firm grip on the fur at the dog’s neck, pulling it back so hard it almost fell over backward. He snapped, “Calm down dog. You aren’t biting nobody else today.”
Kendra placed a hand on her mouth to cover her smile. The dog was small and ugly, and if it had done anything but lick someone, none of us would believe it. Springer was exactly what Tater had asked for. He was a barker. All bark and no bite, but in the middle of a dark night in the wilderness, it was the kind of dog a traveler wanted.
My eyes roved over the people at the other two fire pits. All had ceased their chores and were watching us. Their facial expressions went from distrustful to hateful. None were friendly, or even disinterested. The next observation was that they were scared. People who are frightened of the unknown react in bad ways to strangers.
The last of the daylight was fleeing, as we might consider doing. There were a lot more of them than us. I prepared to fight alongside Tater and knew Kendra and Elizabeth would join right in. It seemed like we would either fight or face-down a dozen people who didn’t want us near them. I turned to Elizabeth for direction.
“Why are we here, you ask? My father, the king, sent us here. That’s all you need to know, other than my name is Princess Elizabeth, and you will all bow in my presence.” When Scratch didn’t immediately bow, she continued, coldly. “Damon, if this man does not show me the proper respect due to a princess, kill him where he stands.”
My hand already rested on the hilt of the knife, my magic ready to aim my throw and speed it along to wherever my target stood. The others at their firepits watched coldly. They looked either scared or aggressive—or both.
Scratch suddenly threw his hands to grasp the sides of his head, as if he heard a sound so loud it hurt. His face twisted, and he fell to his knees in the dirt. He begged forgiveness and for us to stop hurting him, thinking it was something we did to him. Finally, he stood, backed away from us in terror, and turned to see if he had help from those he traveled with.
However, before they could respond, Kendra said, “Leave this place. Take the others with you. To return here before morning means your death. I speak for my princess and her mage.”
That did it. A woman gasped, another squealed, and people began moving. Belongings were thrown together, although they didn’t take time to get them all, and a dozen people faded into the darkness as if they had never existed, leaving the campfires burning cheerfully. They fled up the path to the road, and we heard them rapidly and quietly crossing the stone bridge.
Springer would wake us if any returned. It was easy to feel sorry for them—or not.
Kendra said, “The man called Scratch claimed to have powers. It seemed a lie, but when he fell to his knees and grabbed his ears, my head hurt, too. I heard what he did, but not as loud, maybe. The low throbbing became intense and turned into pain as black as the darkest night.”
Tater said, “You’re feeling it too? Like these other people?”
Elizabeth had been tossing wood onto the fire and paused, her attention on Kendra. It had been a slip of the tongue, and now there was nowhere to go with the information but ahead. Ignoring Elizabeth, she said, “Yes, don’t you hear it Tater? Damon?”
While shaking my head, I said, “Scratch said he had a touch of the powers, or something similar. He said the air is buzzing and driving people away. How about you, Elizabeth?”
“No, not for me, but he was the only one to fall to his knees. However, he as much as said everyone in Mercia could hear it.”
“Tingling like before a storm,” Tater said. “I can feel that but thought it natural. Like a storm is coming . . .”
“No tingling here,” I said.
“Nor here,” Elizabeth added. “Maybe when we get closer. Some people might be more sensitive.”
Elizabeth had provided the excuse we needed for Kendra’s slip. My mind was almost convinced when I happened to catch the glint from her eyes as she watched me from the other side of the fire. Nothing got past her. She was worried.
I helped with the blankets and food, always keeping my face turned away from Elizabeth. The only way out of this was to share some small item and hope that was enough to keep her off the scent of what was happening. Kendra would need to figure out what powers she had if any, and what to do about them. Plus, what to share with Elizabeth and when. It was not my decision.
The last two wyverns that had flown past had made Kendra tense, but her eyes remained alive as she had watched them. As she had said, she was learning how to close her mind to them, whatever that meant.
We ate in near silence, tired and withdrawn. The simple trip from one end of the kingdom to the other had become anything but. Tater seemed to sense the tension and resolved it by eating his fill quietly and laying down. His snores soon followed.
“A wyvern comes,” Kendra muttered.
“What about it?” Elizabeth asked.
“I sense one coming near.”
“You can sense them now?” Elizabeth asked. “In the dark? How?”
“They do something with my mind. I’m fighting it. Maybe all the people who have left Mercia feel it too.”
Elizabeth said, “If a whole city full of people fled, why didn’t we meet them on the road?”
My turn to speak. “They left days ago. Scratch said months, I think.”
“We didn’t see them anywhere,” she continued as if my words went unheard.
“That’s because we avoided the road by taking that mountain pass, and then we went to get some of our things back. By then they were either past us, taken other roads, or had found places to stay. Those are just guesses.” I firmly closed my mouth because it even sounded stupid to my ears.
Elizabeth waited before talking. “If that is true, tell me why the Heir Apparent’s chief servant, a lord, a princess, and three mages are all going the other way? What do they know that we do not?”
“The Blue Lady said there are six mages,” my mouth said before I could make it stop.
“She said a lot of things, some of which we know are not true,” Kendra said.
Elizabeth said, “But the central question remains the same. Something important is happening less than a day from here, and we have no idea of what. It’s like stumbling ahead in the dark and knowing there are things waiting to trip you.”
Kendra cast me a glance and looked away. Then she said, “Elizabeth, there is something else happening. There is a dull roar in my head. The closer we get, the louder it is.”
“Have you any idea of what it is?”
“I think it might be magic or caused by magic. It might be what sent the others away. If they can faintly hear it, they are scared, it’s that sort of sound. Like the low growl of a wolf just before it attacks.”
“Magic,” spat Elizabeth as if the word was a curse.
Kendra closed her eyes and spoke softly, “When Damon does his magic I can feel, or sense, it. At least, lately. Not much, just the smallest touch of awareness deep inside me. That’s how I know when he does it. It scares me, so my reaction is to make him stop. It’s not natural.”
“Go on,” Elizabeth prompted.
“The sound in my mind is sort of the same, but also the difference in a burbling creek and a raging waterfall. Both are water, but the magnitude is immense. That is what is in my head right now. A waterfall. No, ten of them.”