fandomania | The Adventure continues...

We arrived at Riverford just before sundown. The only inn there was full and we could find no place to stay. Orlando, with his superior vision, did a flyover and found us a deserted barn well outside of town. It wasn’t ideal, but it would allow us to all stay together for the night.

The next morning, Donal and Orlando walked into town to get more information and to reconnoiter. They returned mid-afternoon and I could tell from their demeanor that the news wasn’t good.

“How did it go?” I asked anxiously, as they walked into the barn.

“THE PEOPLE OF RIVERFORD ARE VERY CLOSED-MOUTH AND SUSPICIOUS OF STRANGERS. IT TOOK FOREVER TO GET EVEN THE SIMPLEST QUESTIONS ANSWERED.”

“Yes,” agreed Donal, “we had to get some of the locals very drunk before they really started talking.”

“So what did they say?”

“That the pass to Tuščia Žemė is closed due to avalanches and snow. It probably won’t open again for another three months. This apparently isn’t unusual. The pass is only open for travel late spring and throughout the summer. Otherwise it is impassable to everyone but the extremely desperate. It is thought that even those don’t make it through, but die a slow, freezing death. Apparently, the patrols going through the pass after Thaw find the dead bodies of the foolhardy.”

“Oh dear.” I said glumly. “We are stuck here for three months?”

“So it seems. But we did run into a man who was willing to rent us a cottage and barn while we wait. The price he was asking was astronomical. I wasn’t going to pay it, but we couldn’t find anywhere else to stay. This is obviously one of the money making schemes of the place. Renting out cottages for those who arrive too late to go through. Or too early. If Orlando hadn’t given me the money, we would have been stuck for sure.”

Orlando chortled. “IT IS MOSTLY FAERY COINS THAT I GAVE HIM. I HAVE PUT AN ENCHANTMENT ON THEM SO THE LANDLORD CANNOT BRING HIMSELF TO SPEND THEM AND, ONCE WE HAVE LEFT THIS PLACE, HE WILL FIND THAT THREE QUARTERS OF THE MONEY IS DROSS. THAT IS WHAT HE DESERVES FOR BEING GREEDY.”

The cottage was tiny. It had two small bedrooms, a central kitchen/sitting area, and a tiny, open bathing alcove with a real bathtub. Also, there was an outdoor outhouse and a laundry area. The barn was a lot bigger and gave enough room for the hatchlings to sleep there. It had a second story loft. In addition, there was a large yard in back that was surrounded by a ten foot high hedge and a small corral. After much discussion, it was decided that the babies and I would sleep in the smallest bedroom, with Reuel and the girls sleeping in the larger one. The hatchlings and eggs would stay in the bottom level of the barn and Donal and Orlando would share the loft. The ox would stay in the corral.

It was very tight for all of us. But no matter how hard we tried, there were occasional moments of awkwardness, especially at bath time. Donal had an uncanny knack for walking into the house just as I was getting up from my bath. The tension between us was starting to be noticed by everyone. Something had to change or the unthinkable might happen.

Several weeks later, I awoke to find a note on the kitchen table. It was from Orlando. It read:

“I have been experimenting since the weather has been clear of late. I find that I can easily fly over the mountains. It shouldn’t be difficult to do so with one passenger, so I am flying Donal to Rawn-Devu. Both of you know why. I should be back in eight to ten days. Orlando.”

He was right. It was the best thing to do. But despite the rightness of it, I wept for hours after reading it. It felt as if my heart had been torn from my body. I thought about Donal every minute of the day and the dreams I had of him at night were shameless.

I tried hard to keep myself busy. With four children, two babies, and many hatchlings, I had very few minutes to myself. But even then my waking moments were dominated with thoughts of Donal.

Our hatchlings:

Our eggs:

Orlando returned around noon on the tenth day. I was in the middle of feeding the children lunch when he walked into the cottage. The children got up, rushed over to greet him and clamored for his attention. When it looked like his patience was wearing thin, I told the children that it was nap time and shuffled them all off to their room. Once they were napping, I returned to the sitting room.

“YOU LOOK LIKE HELL, LITTLE ONE! IT IS OBVIOUS THAT YOU HAVEN’T BEEN TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF AS WELL AS YOU TAKE CARE OF EVERYONE ELSE. YOU LOOK AS THIN AS A RAIL AND HAGGARD. LITTLE ONE, YOU MUST NOT FRET YOURSELF TO DEATH OVER HIM. HE IS FINE. WE MADE IT SAFELY TO RAWN-DEVU AND WE FOUND HIS FAMILY, ESPECIALLY HIS FATHER, IS LIVING THERE NOW. THERE WAS GREAT REJOICING, AS THEY HAD LOST HOPE OF EVER SEEING HIM AGAIN ALIVE.”

“So he is okay? Is he happy?”

“AS WELL AS A MAN CAN BE WHEN HIS HEART IS HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY. BUT HE KNEW THAT THIS WAS THE BEST SOLUTION FOR THE BOTH OF YOU.”

I sighed and nodded mutely in agreement.

“How are things in Rawn-Devu?”

“LIVELY. THE MILITARY IS ON HIGH ALERT, IN CASE OF INVASION. SPIES ARE BEING SENT OUT TO LISTEN FOR INFORMATION AND RUMORS AND WATCH FOR ANY MOVES THAT THE GEORGISTS MIGHT BE PLANNING TO MAKE NEXT.

“QUEEN LYNNARIA AND HER COURT ARRIVED THERE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. THEY MANAGED TO ESCAPE FREEDONIA IN AN ALFARIAN MERCHANT’S SHIP. ”

It took me a long time to ask this “Was my husband with them?”

“NO. HE ARRIVED SEVERAL DAYS AFTER I DID, WITH WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS ARMY. THEY APPARENTLY CAME BY WAY OF MAHAJATMA.”

“So he is alive…”

I barely heard his “Yes” before the room started spinning and everything went black.

I cannot tell you what happened in the days thereafter. I felt detached from everything. I heard babies crying, but I didn’t know why or where they were or what to do about it. I heard children crying and I wondered who they were and why their parents weren’t comforting them. Someone would talk to me but I couldn’t understand what they were saying nor could I say anything back to them. I just … existed.

I woke up late one night. The cottage was very quiet; everyone must have been asleep. A thought occurred to me. It was the first purposeful thought that I had had in a while. I got up from bed and went into the kitchen. I heated water and then filled the bath tub with the hot water. When it was full, I disrobed and got into the tub. The water was hot and relaxing. I then took the knife I had taken from the counter and slashed my wrists. The hot water soothed my pain. The water turned a beautiful red, I thought, as I fell asleep.