I stood in the front row of the crowd, gripping the edge of the wooden barrier, with Leo frozen beside me, his breathing fast and shallow.
Right in front of us, a woman in a plain gray dress was fussing about. With trembling hands she adjusted the straps on the leather cuirass of a young man standing at his horse.
A blue-eyed youth with blonde hair, whom she called Elen, gripped the hilt of the sword at his belt. His face was pale, his jaw clenched tight. His mother was crying, she pulled at his shoulder and begged him to come home, but the boy just silently adjusted his belt. He wanted to prove he had become a grown man, paying no attention to the fear in his mother's eyes.
The sharp, ceremonial sound of horns silenced the square in an instant. Figures appeared on the wide stone balcony above the Southern Gate.
First came Ulrich Thorne, the Queen's Hand, dressed in emerald aristocratic robes with a steel pauldron on his right shoulder bearing a silver stag's head. Beside him stood Sir Alister Sterling, head of the knightly order, his steel cuirass gleaming in the rays of the setting sun. Behind them came two representatives of Aisengard in their black uniforms.
Then a woman stepped onto the balcony in a long emerald dress with gold embroidery, cinched at the waist by a rigid leather corset. Her light hair was arranged in a stern and heavy crown of braids. It was none other than the Queen of Waldruhm herself — Edith Waldrich.
Edith placed her palms on the stone parapet. She looked down at the warriors assembled below. There was no warmth in her gaze, only cold, hard resolve.
"Warriors of Waldruhm. Every man standing before me today continues a chain that stretches back to the very origins of this kingdom. Your fathers passed through these gates, and the fathers of your fathers passed through them as well, and every generation proved its right to this land with steel and blood. The Great Forest remembers all who came to it with a steady hand, and today it is your turn to write your name into that memory. The Code of Land and Blood guides you, the Mother Goddess watches over every one of you, and may your trophies be a worthy answer to everything your ancestors poured into this land and into you."
The square erupted. Hundreds of voices merged into a single deafening roar that rolled across the white walls of Oskhaven and struck the sky.
Then an officer of the forest watch stepped forward before the warriors, his cloak dusted gray from the road. He unrolled a scroll and read the intelligence report aloud.
"Brave warriors! Listen carefully! Both Magical Creatures and Forest Predators have been recorded in the border zones of the forest. You are given exactly four days to complete the mission. Those who do not return to Oskhaven by sunset on the fourth day will be considered fallen. Remember the boundaries. In the forest you will see trees with steel plates driven into them. These are markers of the forbidden zone. Crossing that line is prohibited. Camp may not be established closer than five hundred meters to these boundaries. By violating these rules, you expose yourselves to certain death at the hands of those who live beyond that line."
When the watch officer finished, Edith waited a brief moment, then made an imperious gesture with her hand. At that same second the massive oak gates began to part with a groan. A horn sounded the signal to march.
The knights of the Green Order on heavy horses, clad in plate steel, surged forward first, their green cloaks streaming in the wind. Behind them rode dozens of volunteers in leather and steel armor, gripping spears and swords. Dust thrown up by hundreds of riders enveloped the square. I watched Elen merge into that current and vanish in the gray cloud, while his mother remained standing at the barrier, pressing her hands to her chest.
The thunder of hooves faded into the distance, replaced by the muffled hum of the crowd. I shifted my gaze to the barrier, where Elen's mother still stood motionless. Her shoulders trembled finely, her palms clenched white-knuckled on the rough wood. She stared after the departed column, as though trying to will her son back by sheer force of thought.
Eric spat into the gray haze hanging in the air and adjusted the strap of his bag.
"Same thing every year. Young blood thinking steel and ambition are stronger than the fangs of the Great Forest."
I looked at the balcony. The Queen had already turned to leave, her green cloak flaring for a moment before she disappeared into the shadow of the inner chambers. One of the Aisengard representatives lingered at the parapet. He slowly swept his gaze across the square, and it seemed to me that his cold eyes fixed on my face for a second. His eyes held a calculation that sent a chill across my skin.
Eric nodded and pointed toward a narrow passage between the residential buildings leading toward the apothecary rows of the inner city, and we moved away from the gates.
---
Along the way I kept scanning for reagent stalls, until luckily for me we came out onto a small square packed with stalls selling reagents from a region called Fen-Crest. We slowed our pace, looking over the counters with their multicolored bottles, while I in turn tried to find a man matching the description.
Finally, I spotted a stately man in dark robes standing at one of the counters, with two guards who were evidently his bodyguards. Glancing at Eric and Leo, I waited until they were distracted by some of the stalls and then quickly slipped into the crowd, carefully making my way toward the man.
I moved through the dense rows of stalls, my hand resting on the satchel, feeling the weight of Ingrid's package. The man stood in the shadow of a stone ledge, hands clasped behind his back. The guards at his sides turned their heads in unison as I stepped out of the crowd.
The right guard tilted his halberd shaft, blocking my path. His gaze settled on the black lines of runes on my neck. Magister Kyle slowly turned his head. His face was drawn, with deep creases at the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were dark and still.
"M... Magister Kyle?" — I asked, uncertain, glancing at the imposing guards.
"Depends on who's asking," the Magister replied.
Swallowing, I slowly reached into the satchel, explaining as I went:
"Ingrid sent me, with a request to deliver to yo—" — before I could finish, one of the guards immediately shifted into a fighting stance, freezing me on the spot.
Magister Kyle tilted his head slightly. He signaled to the guard, who reluctantly drew back the halberd, clearing my way. Exhaling heavily, I carefully withdrew my hand from the satchel, holding the package, and slowly extended it to the guard, who watched me with suspicion and wariness, but took the package all the same.
He examined it quickly, then held it out to the Magister, who received it with long, thin fingers. He didn't unwrap the cloth either, only weighed the object in his palm and gave a satisfied grunt.
"Ingrid never disappoints. Though..." — Kyle ran a suspicious gaze over me from bottom to top.
"Her people sometimes raise certain doubts..."
He tucked the package into a deep fold of his dark robes and threw a quick glance toward the crowd, where Eric and Leo were still browsing the stalls. The Magister drew a small leather purse from his belt, which clinked softly with silver.
"Tell her I'm in her debt."
Kyle turned sharply and headed into the alley leading toward the Intendants' residential quarter. His bodyguards fell in behind him, their steps ringing on the stone. I remained standing in the shadow of the ledge, the purse gripped in my hand, and my heart beat faster than usual.