Private Tales Broken Compacts

[Cal]

With a gentle yank Cal pulled Orlaith up into the saddle.

The Mantic seemed to shift it's weight for a moment, clearly getting itself comfortable with the two riders atop it. He grasped the reigns, and then quickly snapped them forward. Just like the day before the beast lurched forward and rushed off into the woods.

Cal took them along the same path as they had been traveling before, rushing deep into the woods and traveling eastward towards the mountains. As they rushed through brief clearing the Spine came into view.

Still hundreds of miles away they still towered over the land. Snow capped peaks sprouted in the horizon, as they rushed through the clearings, and each time they entered a new one they seemed to draw a little bit closer.

At midday cal pulled on the reigns, the Mantic slowing it's pace as the sound of a rushing river echoed out ahead.

 

[Órlaith]

The icy air cut deeper with the mantic's speed, and Órlaith peeked out from behind Cal's back only to set her gaze upon the mountains of the Spine, her lips parting in awe.. "We're going to cross those?" she asked, her voice raised above the sound of rushing wind and the mantic's thundering paws.

Again she took the time every now and then to glance across her shoulder, watching their back, and she tried not to allow herself to fall into a false sense of security when she saw nothing following them. Her gut told her otherwise, and she'd learned a long time ago to trust it.

As they slowed, her grip on his waist loosened, but she stayed huddled close to him for warmth. "I never thought I'd miss my cot and blanket.." she laughed noiselessly as she shivered.. "Can we build a fire for a little while?.." she asked hopefully..

 

[Cal]

Cal looked back at her for a moment, then towards the river just ahead.

After a second he nodded his head. "Sure."

They were deep into the forest, so deep that he doubted anyone had been out here for nigh on a decade. Most did not travel through the wood, but rather preferred to skirt around it. Usually you made better time. Fast as the mantic was the beast still needed to dodge trees, roots, and anything else that fell into the way.

With a snap of the reigns Cal maneuvered them a bit away from the River. He brought them towards a Clearing and pulling himself off of the great beast before helping Orlaith down a second later.

"Layers." He told her. "Wear a few shirts, two coats. It helps."

They would have to get something for the mountains in the village they were headed to.

 

[Órlaith]

She let him help her down, landing as gently as she could and gripping onto him until she was certain that her legs weren't going to buckle. She let out a quiet huff at the pain and stiffness in her legs, but at least the cold had numbed them a little. "Thanks.." she nodded with an awkward smile and wrapped her arms around her ribs, her shoulders bunching up around her ears.

His advice was met with a short nod. She'd only ever had two sets of clothing, they were no different, and one was worn until it had to be washed and then she'd change into the other and so on. She was grateful for the coat of his mother's that she wore, but she had packed a few things of hers and made a mental note to pull another couple of layers on under the coat before they set off again.

"Do you know how to pass through safely?.. Aren't the mountains supposed to be treacherous? I've heard stories about them, about wendigos, and wolves the size of trees.." her head tilted and she continued to shiver.

 

[Cal]

"I know...in theory." The Inquisition did not tend to tread east of the spine unless it was hunting a mage or conducting some sort of other business.

The Dwarves did not like Rhagos, and through their efforts the city had stopped it's expansions into the mountains long ago. Most of the time they preferred easier prey than the stalwart folk of the mountain. Though he suspected most would deny that fact.

He motioned towards the middle of the clearing. "Why don't you try starting a fire?"

The more practice she got the better. Especially where she was going.

"They teach us some of the ways, mountain passes, the old roads, even a few Dwarf holds that will take in humans." He shrugged. "I figure we'll decide which route to take when we're closer."

There were a few other things they'd have to do first.

 

[Órlaith]

She nodded, and rigidly moved around the little clearing gathering what kindling and wood she could find. "Dwarves hm?.. Never met a dwarf." she commented and bobbed her head. "Noticed you didn't confirm or deny the monsters though." she frowned and let out a shuddered breath, sending a stream of white mist onto the icy air.

Perhaps she should just keep going in search of warmer climate..

Órlaith made quicker work of getting the fire started this time, and she let out a sigh of relief as she huddled over it, letting the growing flames warm her hands as she rubbed them together above it.

 

[Cal]

He shrugged his shoulders in reply. Cal hadn't...ignored the question, it was more like he had no real answer for it. "I've never been there, I can't speak to monsters but..."

Cal shrugged his shoulders and motioned towards the mantic's pack.

"We'll deal with them if we find them." He said with confidence that was entirely a lie. He had never seen a 'monster' before, nor had the Inquisition taught him anything about them. Rhagos focused on the Monsters of mages, not the things that hid in the dark.

Yet he didn't want her to be scared.

He didn't want her to have another reason not to go.

 

[Órlaith]

Her lips twisted into a small smirk in amusement, a quiet laugh tumbling from her lips as she nodded.. "Yeah..Right." she chuckled. Hopefully, they'd just been stories..

She quieted for a while as she let the warmth seep into her skin and try to thaw her bones, her eyes glassy as she stared at the flames, lost in silent thought. She glanced up at him eventually, clearing her throat over the sound of her stomach rumbling.

"Did.. you leave anyone else behind? Do you have a wife, children?.." she asked cautiously, realising that she didn't know very much about him at all. "Where are your parents now?"

 

[Cal]

When he heard her stomach rumble Cal pulled himself up from the ground and wandered over towards the Mantic. From the pack he pulled out a few small rations, taking them back over towards Orlaith before sitting down.

"No." He said with a shake of his head. "No wife, no child."

He took a breath as he offered her one of the rations. "Got close once, but it wasn't really my choice."

Another of his fathers plots to get back the families prestige. The girl had been nice, but there had been no love between them.

"My Father is dead...my mother...disowned me." She would not even speak his name now.

 

[Órlaith]

Órlaith smiled sheepishly in thanks as he handed her the food, and she quickly chewed on some dried meat, savouring the salt. She nodded slowly, listening to him as she ate and her brow furrowed..

"I see. I'm sorry.." she told him softly with a sigh and tore another shred of meat. "My mother is dead.. And well, you know about my father." she huffed a laugh void of amusement.

"Perhaps you'll find someone kind and settle somewhere.." she smiled at him and dropped her gaze back to her food.. "You should. You have a good heart, would be a shame to waste it."

 

[Cal]

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm not so sure."

Marriage did not suit him, at least that was what he thought. Most of his life had been so rigid, controlled, there was a part of him that just wanted to...flow for a little while. He was still young, relatively speaking anyway.

Plus, they were both in a different kind of cage now.

Not that he was going to tell her that.

"Perhaps in a few years. When I'm far away from Rhagos." Though he supposed that went without saying. "You could do the same you know."

Cal offered. "Not everywhere is like Rhagos."

 

[Órlaith]

"Oh.." she laughed, soft and noiseless. "No. I.. We don't, couple." her head shook. Perhaps not everywhere was like Rhagos, but their rules and beliefs had been ground deeply into her mind and the thought was almost laughable.

"Besides, any child I brought into this world would only be hunted along with me. It's no life." she shrugged. "It would only be a history repeating itself that I'd much rather avoid." she told him with another bite of meat.

 

[Cal]

He frowned for a moment, biting the piece of of the dried meat and chewing it over in consideration of what she was saying.

Cal knew those facts of course, he was no stranger to how the Inquisition treated mages. His fingers tightened for a few seconds, once again quiet anger about their city trickling through him. The woman he would have been with had died before he could free her.

She had said the same things.

"There's a city of mages, you know." Cal said quietly, changing the topic. "In the west."

"They tell us about it, mostly because they think we'll have to..." Hunt mages there one day, the ones that escaped and got far enough.

 

[Órlaith]

Her gaze rose from her hands to stare at him, her brows lifting in surprise, and for only a brief moment she thought of how wondrous that sounded, of how safe she'd be, of how she'd belong and live freely. But the moment was fleeting and her brow furrowed once more..

"Hunt them?.." she frowned gently. Of course with a city like Rhagos, a city of mages would never be safe. "You know, you still use words like 'us' and 'we' quite a lot.." she chewed and tilted her head. "Are you sure you've renounced their ways?.." she smiled, but it was a ghost of a gesture. She owed him a lot already, she knew he wasn't like the rest of them..

"You're not like them."

 

[Cal]

Cal frowned for a moment, his lips thinning as he thought about her words. In truth he thought she really might be safe in Elbion. The Inquisition hunted people there sometimes, but...as far as he knew they had not been successful many times.

Stories were mostly used to make the new recruits wide eyed and hopeful that they could do some great deed. "I don't know."

He said quietly.

"It's hard to drag yourself away from it." Something she knew all too well it seemed. "I was a soldier before I joined the Inquisition. Fought in the War with Bethrin."

Calling it a war was a bit much, it had been more of a slaughter. Bethrin was a rich trade city which had always defied Rhagos' control. The war had been instigated by Rhagos, mostly to force Bethrin into becoming a vassal. It had worked of course, but only after a brutal campaign.

He frowned, his stare becoming distant. "My father had a certain path for me, and I walked that path for a long time."

 

[Órlaith]

A soft frown creased on her brow as she listened to him. "I respect your honesty, and I understand but.. You made your own choice to take a different path, regardless of everything it cost you. You wouldn't be here helping me if you were anything like them at all.." her head tilted.

"It was hard for both of us to drag ourselves out of it, but here we are." she commented with a small smirk.

 

[Cal]

He nodded his head slowly in agreement, though there was more hesitation than he would have liked to admit to.

A part of him wanted to object again, say something about how he had fought for the crimes of others and never objected...but the words died on his tongue. He knew that Orlaith would likely not hear it, and any argument would be pointless.

At least right now. "Maybe."

He took a breath as he slid closer to the fire, gathering some of the warmth there.

"Maybe we try to forget the past." He said softly. "Just for a little while at least."

Cal shot her smile. "Turn towards the future instead."

Of what may lay ahead, beyond the Spine.

 

[Órlaith]

Órlaith's brow quirked at the disarming smile, and she leaned into the softness of his words with an eventual nod.. "That sounds.. nice." she laughed under her breath, the thought like a warm blanket. How nice it would be to forget her past, to pretend it hadn't existed, that until now she hadn't existed either. That this may truly be the beginning of her life... how pleasant it was.

The muscles in her jaw ached quickly as her smile grew, obviously not used to the movement. Since meeting him, their time together had been chaotic and tense, filled with fear and anxiety, with pain.. Now though, since none of that had happened, she took a moment to appreciate his kindness, the warmth of his voice and the glow of firelight on his strikingly handsome face. She felt...calm, and she closed her eyes where she sat to soak in the heat of the fire and to listen to the crackling of kindling and firewood, and to breathe in the smell of pine and smoke and just be here, now, without a past.

"Perhaps.." she said after a while as she opened her eyes again. "There's a mage who could make us forget it all." her brow quirked. "Who could make them forget us.." she mused thoughtfully..

 

[Cal]

He smiled for a few seconds at the thought.

There was something...appealing about the idea, and yet at the same time terrifying. Despite his own words just a few seconds ago it was tough to forgot what he had learned growing up. The idea of a mage rooting around in his mind to take away his memories?

That sent goosebumps over his skin.

Not that he would tell Orlaith that. "Maybe beyond the Spine."

He mused.

"In some lost city far away, hidden by the mountains and tucked beneath the earth." Where no one could find them. Where no one would even know to look. That would be a dream wouldn't it? A home that they could be safe in.

Away from obligation, family, fear. Away from it all.

 

[Órlaith]

A sigh tumbled from her lips and she flopped onto her back to stare up into the clouds, a bright smile cast toward the heavens as she lost herself inside her imagination and she chuckled at it. "Yes.. I like this idea. What would we eat?.." she asked with a smirk and closed her eyes.. "There's.. so much food I haven't tried.."

She was quickly becoming obsessed with the idea of a peaceful life. Perhaps it was possible, perhaps there -was- someone who could make her forget. "How far have you travelled?.." she asked, her brows arching as she looked over at him.

 

[Cal]

Food.

God how he missed good food. He remembered how his father used to throw feasts, used to have cooks from all over come to the Estate. That was when he'd still tried to impress the other nobles, tried to buy his way back into prestige.

It had never worked. "Roasts. I want roasts."

Real roasted meat, not this shitty hard tack.

"A trip to Alliria." He said, scooting a bit closer to the fire and putting another log onto it. "Sometimes they would take us into the mountains, but never too far."

 

[Órlaith]

"Hmm.. I've never tried a roast." she sighed, hoping that she would get to. "Have you eaten sweet breads? There's this bread, but it's not stale and tasteless, it's soft and warm and soaked in honey. I've smelled them in the kitchens before." she bit down on her lower lip with a dreamy roll of her eyes.

She sat up a little as he mentioned Alliria. She'd studied maps and paintings enough to know of where he spoke, and her brows rose with interest.. "Thats..so far. So, you've seen the ocean too?"..

 

[Cal]

"I have." He said with a smile.

A benefit of those great feasts that his father had thrown, the food was from everywhere and nowhere. He supposed that was a perk of nobility, the fact that you got to eat whatever you wanted. As long as the coin lasted long enough anyway.

"We can find you some." He offered. "In a village somewhere."

There were bakers everywhere, and most of them made more than bread. Everyone needed a treat sometime, something to keep them going through the hard times.

As she sat up Cal shifted, looking over to her with a nod. "Aye."

"My fathers attempt to resuscitate our fortunes through outside influence." It had of course, only made things worse.

 

[Órlaith]

Her teeth latched onto her lower lip in effort to stop her grinning like a child at the thought of trying some sweet breads. There was so much she wanted to try and see and do, and she hoped to whatever Gods hadn't abandoned her, if there were any, that she would be left in peace to do so.

"Mh.. Being wealthy sounds far more complicated than having nothing." she commented dully and tilted her head at him with a sympathetic look.

"What was it like?.." she asked, settling back down to listen to more. She wanted to hear it all, where he'd travelled, what he'd seen, the good memories and stories he had. She wanted to know about all the good in the world, in effort to further drown out the bad, and perhaps if her head was full enough of those things, she might have peace to sleep restfully.

 

[Cal]

"Being rich?" He teased. "Or Alliria?"

Cal of course knew what she meant, though in truth he had no answer for the former. She would have seen him as wealthy of course, and from her perspective he might as well have been...but from his own? It was different.

Wealth was not necessarily how much coin you could spend or what you had in your pocket. It was the security you could buy, the idea of never having to worry. Cal had never had that. From the day he was born he'd needed to look over his shoulder.

He had been a noble, but he hadn't been wealthy. Not really.

"It was...busy." Cal recounted.

"Thousands...upon thousands of people. Commoners, merchants, nobles, all in the same streets." He explained. "No one gave you a second look, no one cared who you were."

Cal could remember how lost he'd felt. "It was so loud, and seemed to go on forever...and in every direction you could see the ocean. A vast expanse of blue that seemed to go on and on."