The Illyrian Series: The Oracle Of Rosedale

"Wake up, Princess." Violet's yell pulls me from my slumber. I stare outside the tent, the sun is barely up.

"It's too early." I complain and drift back to sleep. She crawls towards me and yanks the brown blanket off my body.

"We need to move now, it'll be best to leave before the sun rises." She's already packing her things. I begrudgingly get up and change into clothes for the day.

I glance down at my exposed skin and shiver when I remember the fake plague from yesterday. Violet got rid of it when I arrived. When I asked why it didn't go on its own, she shrugged and said she wanted assurance that I'll come back.

I change into a white flannel shirt and a dark brown V-neck vest with a large chunky belt at the waist for my weapons. On my legs are black pants and brown knee-length leather boots. I pack my hair into a tight bun and we're soon ready to go.

"First thing we're doing in town is getting you your tent." Violet says as she dismantles hers. "Since you apparently forgot to bring yours."

"I couldn't reach any, I barely got the horse. Also we should leave before the trackers find us." I get on Apple's back.

She scowls. "Of course that's a stolen horse." She finishes packing up and climbs her horse.

We gallop out of the forest and past villages. An hour later, we stop at the city, it's thirty miles from the castle.

I climb down from my horse feeling sore and hungry. "Give me your jewels." Violet commands.

"No." I refuse. I'm not sure if it's because I don't trust her or I'm just not ready to part with them.

"I don't trust you to bargain." She argues. "I wouldn't want you being cheated. Those pieces can go a long way for us."

"Why are we surviving on my money? Didn't the guild give you any?" She doesn't reply. I walk past her and into the blacksmith's workshop. She makes sure our horses are secure before following me.

The shop is very hot, I use my hand to fan some of the heat away.

The blacksmith notices us and I put on my nicest smile. "Good afternoon, mister."

He looks me up and down and grins. "And what can I do for you this fine day? I didn't know the whorehouse started doing deliveries." He laughs at his joke.

Violet appears beside me and has a very straight expression on her face. "We're looking for the owner of this establishment."

"And I'm looking for the owner of your whorehouse." He laughs again, rapturously.

Violet maintains her straight expression. "Hilarious. Now are you ready to do business or are you going to keep making childish jokes?"

He stops laughing and steps up to her. I grab her hand so I can drag us out of the shop but she shakes me off. She stares back at the large man, daring him to react. He finally does.

"My partner is in the back. If you're interested in doing business, he's the one you talk to."

Violet hums and walks past him. I stick close to her and we soon reach the door to the backroom. She opens it and an even larger man is seated behind an old battered desk. "Why are you in my shop?" He demands.

"We're here to sell some pieces. We have diamonds, rubies, emeralds. Even a rare pink diamond ring. I imagine some of your customers at the capitol would be particularly interested in those."

"How do you know what I have?" I whisper to her, she ignores me. Of course she searched my belongings while I was asleep.

The man leans forward on his chair. "I might be interested." He says. I produce the silk, silver pouch from my pocket and Violet snatches it from me.

She brings out the pieces one by one. The man's eyes grow wide and I have to look away.

I'm selling my jewelry for money, this is a feat only the most desperate nobles succumb to. If word got out that a member of court was doing this, they'll be ruined.

The man picks up the ring Violet was talking about and inspects it with his glass. "It's authentic." He remarks.

"Of course it is." I almost snap.

He looks at me and laughs. "Another powerful Liege and Lady have fallen from grace." He mocks.

I want to retort but I hold my tongue. I look at the other pieces and my fondest memories of wearing them come to mind.

My emerald necklace with matching earrings was a birthday gift from my grandmother. I wasn't a fan of it but I wore it anyway.

A gold chain that was given to me by a distant relative. I wish I wore it when I had the chance, now it's gone forever.

My heart drops when I see a tiny silver chain with a little heart shaped sapphire pendant. My father gave that to me when I won my first archery tournament. I must have accidentally grabbed it yesterday. Now it's gone forever, along with that memory of him.

"I need to go check on the horses." I mumble and leave the room. I run out of the shop and see the horses trotting around in circles. I see Apple in the full light of day and remember the first time I saw him.

"Your first horse, he's from a long line of champions. A special breed, and now he's yours." My father said as he led me to the stables.

"What's his name?" I asked, watching the small black horse.

"He's yours, you get to name him whatever you want."

I had a name instantly. "Apple. Because horses love apples." He laughed and let me play with the horse.

I stare at Apple's shiny mane and feel overwhelmed. No, this isn't the time. I can't do this now. I turn away from the horses and rest my back against the blacksmith's soot covered building.

Take deep, calming breaths. It's fine, you're fine. Don't let the emotions take control of you. I repeat this over and over again. This goes on for some minutes.

"There you are," Violet says. She takes in my state and rolls her eyes. "Get it together, princess. It's a few jewels, you'll get more."

"Let's just go." I walk past her and back to the horses. Apple whinnies and I brace myself to mount her. I rest gently atop her and stroke her nose lovingly. "I missed you," I whisper into her ear as Violet rides off.

We ride after her and deeper into the city. I buy a tent, more blankets, new horse shoes so we can lose the trackers, and everything else I need for this journey.

"We should cover more ground before it gets dark." Violet announces after the fifteen minutes break she allotted for lunch.

We continue our journey.

Later that night, at our makeshift camp, Violet looks through the map and charts our course. "We should be crossing Caledonian borders in two days. Luckily, the castle is basically at the edge of the city. Outside King Evander's borders is a lawless land for miles. We'll be at the mercy of bandits and thieves. Are you ready for that?"

I pat my weapons, a bow and arrow, and a dagger. The latter's my favorite one, it's never been used in war but I keep it in my room for emergencies. It was a gift from my mother when I was younger. The only weapon she's ever given me.

The sheath is made of a glowing green metal and rusty copper covering. The main dagger is a light blue crystal with gold carving along the blade, and the hilt has jewels painted on with dark red colouring. Mother said it wasn't for killing, it was for decoration. Father rolled his eyes behind her.

The bow and arrow are both brown. The bow is made up of a strong poplar material with silver strokes carved into the middle. The arrows are a light shade of brown and are made of sturdy wood with very sharp blades at one end and feathers on the other end. The quiver is leather with black edges and everything is the perfect weight and shape to accommodate my 5 foot 6 height. My dagger rests safely at the botom of my bag.

***

The next morning, we set off on our journey. We're able to ride for most of the day and rest during the night.

The day after that is the same. We reach the village that borders the kingdom and rest in one of the barns.

Tomorrow, the quest becomes more dangerous. I recount my training and hope more than anything that I won't freeze during an actual battle. If I make it out of that situation, Violet would definitely murder me for letting her do all the work.

The next morning, we leave Caledonia and the experience feels freeing. I pick up speed and race across the field. I made it out of there, I'm no longer in King Evander's territory.

"Please don't run off like that. We need to move together." Violet catches up to me on her horse. We race along the fields all day and set up camp for the night not far from a pond.

As the horses are drinking, I stir up a conversation with Violet. "I know almost nothing about you. Strange because we've been traveling for three days."

"Not much to tell, I grew up at Lockheart castle with the other mages. That's it, my entire life story."

"What was it like?" I ask. "Do you miss them now that you're away?"

She sighs very deeply. "How about this? If we survive this quest, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

I nod in agreement.

I then leave to gather kindling for the fire. When I get back, she's already started on dinner. "How did you light the fire without enough wood?"

She wiggles her fingers and the fire grows momentarily stronger. I throw the bundle on the ground. "Then why make me fetch wood?"

"As a mage, the first thing you learn is to not always rely on magic." She replies. "Also a few minutes away from you didn’t hurt."

And I thought we were becoming friends.

***

The next day, we see a fight taking place on the road below us. "Keep to the wall." Violet orders. "Hopefully, we can pass along quietly."

"At least pretend to care." I whisper but follow her advice.

I look down and see something I haven't seen in far too long. "That's the Illyrian insignia." I could recognize it anywhere. It's a shield divided into four squares. In the top right and bottom left is a black patch while the other boxes hold blue dragons breathing fire into the corners. Above the shield is a mantling made of a green wreath decorated with red roses.

Violet looks down and nods. "Fascinating, now let's leave before we're pulled into this."

We're currently above the fight. It's one guy defending himself against three attackers. Doesn't seem fair

"I feel like we should help him," I say to Violet. "We can't just leave him like that."

"You can't help every unfortunate person you come across this quest. Let's go."

I don't listen to her. I steady my bow and aim for one of the men. Violet looks alarmed and hisses. "Don't even think about firing that."

I release the bow and it flies into the target's left thigh. He howls in pain. He and his friends notice us. One of them, an archer, shoots at us. We dodge it and it hits the stone wall behind us. I grab the arrow and cock it with my bow.

I release it and the man easily deflects it with a shield. "Okay then. We're doing this." Violet grunts and takes the forked path that leads to the bottom part of the road. She comes at them in full force and sends blue smoke that knocks them to the ground.

I shoot another arrow that hits one of the men in the stomach. Did I kill him? Please let me not have killed him. I've never killed anyone before.

His legs give way and he collapses in pain, his friends gape at the arrow I left in his stomach. They quickly rush to him and aid him onto his horse. They gallop away and disappear down a corner.

"Are you alright?" Violet asks the man while I pick the second bow I shot from the floor.

The stranger groans in pain and doubles over on his knees. Violet helps him onto his back and I see the deep cut on his side.

"Thank you for helping me. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived," he says.

His voice sounds familiar. It comes out pained and in sharp breaths but it's still so recognizable.

I look down at his face and feel my knees buckle under me. I haven't seen him in three years and he just appears at the same place as us, in need of assistance. It's not possible.

He looks up at me and my suspicions are confirmed. The look he gives me proves that I correctly guessed his identity.

"Malin?"