Chapter 64: AN UNEXPECTED QUEST

Risens contemplated his next movements as the stone ravens tracked him through the Roost. He’d contemplated remaining here, attempting anther trial, yet without extra ravens feathers, the feat would likely be futile. It was relatively trivial, yet he needed new clothing. His training had allowed him to blend into the environment of the city drawing little to no attention to himself. His tattered clothing, beyond the confined of the Broad would unfortunately draw far much attention.

Reaching the portal, he stopped. Several of the windSteps that led him back to the main tunnel beneath the hedge maze had been closed in the wake of his attempted assassination. Accessing his hidden quarters in the castle would assuredly be noted and reported to the King. If his experiences in the Roost held true, time had been irrelevant while he labored at the whims of its varied tests. Even if he’d lingered in the ravine for several days, his return to the city would not be expected so soon.

The reasoning behind why no transportation had been set up for their return was now glaring. Why have him travel across hundreds of miles of territory on a quest to assassinate a foreign warlord without a means to transport him back home. He had no doubt that some convenient mode of transportation would be waiting for Orio and Feylen.

They would not be leaving any time soon.

May they rot in the bowels of Pylkev with his failed assassins.

Risens knew that he would have days to kill, yet he had no intention of spending the time in idle rest. Securing new clothing would be his first priority. Thankfully, there were several discrete vendors he could procure the correct attire from where money would be no issue. All were on some sort of retainer with the Kingdom, though he knew of a few who’s duplicitous dealings would earn them a elongated and brutal execution should the crown find out 

Beyond that, he felt the unexpected urge to check in on Tawny and Marlaine. Both were strong and competent women.m, bound like him to a bizarre twist of fate. He rarely gave much thought to the repercussions of his actions, yet he felt a surprising amount of guilt that both were now entwined with him. It was by no fault of their own that they had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time when their paths had crossed with his.

It was a strange feeling plotting his own tasks while hiding from the crown that had trained him, given him the access to nearly all that he was. Lathrenon’s rule had protected him as a child, forging him in the fires of war, molding him into the killer he was today..Even though he was certain it was the King who’d ordered his death, his planned actions sent a shiver down his spine.

The path he would now walk, if any word of it was discovered would ensure his exile from the only life he’d known. He would milk the benefits of his station as long as he could maintain the ruse, understanding that every quest he was assigned was likely the next trap set for his death.

As strange as the concept sounded, he was looking forward to the few moments of downtime, regardless of where the would come. It felt like a lifetime ago that he’d infiltrated Lady Myrenas’s estate, stealing the coded pages that bore his title. He’d received the cipher from Fendri, the King’s irritating steward before departing for Shial, though with his deadly company there had been no time to puzzle out any meaning.

With a tentative and dangerous path laid out before him, he bid the watching ravens farewell with a wave of his hand before stepping through the portal.

The crushing weight, infinite chill and terrifying speed seemed dramatically less potent this time as he stepped out into the Raven’s Court. The long, harsh shadows of early evening had fallen over the city shrouding most of the small courtyard in deep shadows. With her back turned to him, Mother Raven’s hunched figure was silhouetted in the crumbling entranceway.

“The winds have returned you far sooner than expected, fledgling,” she crowed without turning her head or body to greet him. “By the grace of wings that were not your own.”

“How early am I?”

“The sun has but risen five times since you entered the mountains,” she replied turning to face him this time. She moved slowly across the court, brushing past him to the long dead fountain and stagnant pool in the corner. He noted the hitch in her step, a slight limp that he’d not seen before. The observation was dwarfed quickly by the peculiarity of her response.

“How did you know where I went?”

With the sound of flapping wings, she was at his side, slowly circling around his body.

“Eyes are used for seeing as ears are for listening, are they not?” She whispered in his ears. “There is little of note that escapes my knowledge.”

“Then teach me, share the knowledge so that I may learn,” he snapped, immediately regretting the sudden frustration of his words. “Your cryptic responses only add more questions to the initial inquiry.”

She hobbled around him stopping when she reached his front. For a few breaths she stood watching him, cocking her head to the side.

“Ah, in that, as with most things we have a difference of opinions,” she replied. “You seek easy solutions, convenient answers, ones that do not fill your head with questions. You’ve been tough to rely on your blade when the mind is a far more capable weapon. We’re you to be granted the skill without effort, be provided the answers without forming the connections in your mind, you would reap only hollow rewards. You would fail.”

The dull wind moved her to the opposite corner of the Raven’s Court this time. Her body exuded an unexpected sadness as she peered at the long-dead bed of plants along the edge of the wall.

“This used to be a place of such majesty. Would the storm that is brewing bring rain. I fear that it will only bring fire and ash,” she sighed. “I exist to be your guide and will give you nothing you have not earned. I will nudge you from the nest but cannot flap your wings for you. You will need to fly sooner than you will be ready.”

Risens was taken aback by the statement. He knew that his trials were preparing him for something, yet he knew not what. Again, he had the distinct impression that the true test would not be merely the drought or the political machinations of a violent and wicked king. Before he could question her meaning she interrupted his thoughts.

“I have a task for you, fledgling. I need you to collect something.’

“What is it you need me to collect?” Hi curiosity was piqued, though much of his frustration had yet to fade. “Why can you not collect it yourself?”

She turned back toward favoring him with an icy stare. He was surprised that he didn’t feel the pressure of her blade against his throat once again.

“It is a task for you, not I.” Her words were cold, biting through him with a chill far deeper than he’d experienced in the icy peaks of the mountains. “Nobility is more than just a title. One can be noble without the privilege of birth. Few who possess the status truly earn it. They are content to be spoon fed answers as if the required thought is beneath them. There is a place in Windwake where their false sentiment is encouraged under the guise of teaching.”

“Excelsior.” Risens groaned.

“Perhaps you do listen,” she grinned. “They have long possessed an item that has never belonged to them. It is an jeweled egg— fragile and delicate. It demands the incubation of its rightful owner. Return it to me.”

On occasion he’d had the opportunity to skulk around the grounds of the heavily guarded academy. He agreed with her assessment of the general character of the population that moved through the opulent halls, as if it was the grace of their presence alone that made it grand.

“How will I find it?” He inquired.

“The vain will always show off their treasures.” She replied. “None will hold your hand and as such you forge ahead making your own destiny, but consider leaving the talons you wear at your hips in their sheaths. Their lust is far less gentle. Perhaps the ravens can assist?”

She placed her hand gently on his shoulder, offering a slim grin. It was a genuine albeit surprising act from the normally prickly woman. An instant later she flapped into the darkening firmament above. Risens watched her retreating silhouette as she moved to toward the north.

He pondered her words for as he considered the next steps forward. His gaze rolled over the decaying remains of the Raven’s Court. The had never cared much for architecture. Its decorative featured sparked no real.interest beyond providing avenues for him to climb during dark task he was currently set upon. As he viewed the dilapidated court, he wondered what it would have looked like in its full majesty. With the true purpose of it known to him, how many people would have frequented it at the height of its grandeur. The Brand it bestowed was exceedingly rare.

It was curious that King Lathrenon had forbidden any from seeking its blessing. There was nothing here, why go through the effort to bar access to a Shrine that no one would benefit from?

His eyes turned to the sky for a moment. Perhaps one day, if it rained again, it could wash the dirt and grime, and his dried blood from the stones. He surprised himself with the thought. Manual labor was never his station, yet if time allowed, he would consider making an exception.

He shook off the peculiar thought as he adjusted the tatters of his cloak. Stealth would be more important now than every. His presence in the city would demand questions that he was unwilling to answer. Were any in the King’s employ to recognize him nearly a week in advance of his expected arrival there would be problems.

The questions of the Dreamcatchers still swirled in his mind as well. He’d learned nothing of the organization during the quest for the Warlord. Fendri had provided the cipher, yet time hadn’t allowed him to decode any of text bearing his title. With a new task at hand, he expected that it would still be some time before he would be able to make the effort.

Risens stopped as he reached the gate of the Raven’s Court. Perhaps the birds could be of some assistance to him now. Like each of the other skills they were limited in scope, growing as he used their abilities throughout his tasks. He’d noted none of the symbols that denote a countdown when he’d called for their assistance in the ravine. The area was connected, at least through portal, to the Roost where the limitations didn’t apply. With the sun still up and other affairs to attend to before making his way to excelsior he could afford a period of cooldown now. Leaning his head back, he cupped his hand to his mouth calling for thier assistance.

It was again, an awkward sensation hearing the sound of a birds call issue from his lips, yet the peculiarities of his life now seemed to surround every action he undertook. His eyes scanned the cloudless sky watching for any signs of the ravens approach. He didn’t have long to wait.

Flying side by side, the birds entered his view from the east, darting high over the top of the wall before circling as they descended to the court below. They alighted side by side on the top of the crumbling arched entranceway. Both offered a dip of the bodies, what looked almost like a bow as the focused their attention on him.

For a moment, he watched the ravens as they stared at him. There was an intensity to their intelligent gazes. They seemed to be appraising him as they waited. The top of the stone where they waited was partially concealed in shadows yet, they appeared to glow with a peculiar aura. It was faint, like light reflecting off the sheen of their feathers though it was a dull green. The peculiarity of their appearance aside, he didn’t know if they would understand him yet if they were bound to his summons he expected that it would be true.

“I need to move undetected through the city.” He was surprised to find himself talking to a pair of birds, though he’d accepted that the Raven Talons, the blades strapped to his hips could communicate with him, that birds could do it was far less strange. “Show me a path where none will see me.”

With a shrill reply, the ravens took to flight.