The Forest

By John Preston Downing

Quinlin hadn't expected to go this deep into the king’s forest for the herb he was looking for.  His goal initially was to get in and get out as quickly as possible.  The king didn’t care for people being in his forest without permission and he sure didn’t want some druid poking around in there looking for herbs.  The king didn’t care for the druid population too much anyway.  Quinlin always felt that his kind were just tolerated and that being said he didn’t want to get caught trespassing by the king’s guard.  But, he just had to go in here because what he was looking for was there in the king’s forest.  Quinlin had been asked to heal an old lady of a nearby village.  The one ingredient he needed he couldn’t find anywhere else but on the king’s special reserve.  So, he pressed on quietly, examining this plant and that plant.  A bush here and a bush there.  Still not finding the herb he needs to make this lady’s medicine.  Almost four miles into the king’s forest, Quinlin begins to become frustrated to the point of wanting to turn back.   He suddenly spots a guard shack up ahead then quickly and quietly avoids it by passing on its left.  Druids were renowned for their stealth.   As he floated by all the guard heard was the wind.   He climbed a hill and another and still had no luck.  As he rounded a lonely small rock formation he heard the sound of some soldiers approaching from the west and he quickly took cover behind the rocks.  He could overhear their conversation.

“I don’t know how she would have gotten this far,” said one.

“Well, you know how they are?” said another soldier, “They’re fairly good at sneaking around.”

“That may be the case but to get past three guard shacks without being caught is almost unheard of,” said another, “but let’s keep moving, we may yet overtake her.”

Once they were out of earshot Quinlin kept moving south and came upon a small clearing with a small pond.  To his surprise the pond was encircled with the herb he’d been looking for.  Running towards the pond with his staff in hand he quickly made it to the pond’s edge and knelt down to collect what he needed as fast as possible. 

As he finished he felt the presence of something behind him.  He rolled left and in one motion stood with his staff at the ready.  Before him was the “she” the soldiers were looking for poised with her bow aimed at him.  She was one of the “horned ones” as the king called them.  No one knew what they really were except that there were a good number of them and the king had forbidden them in his kingdom.  If he knew one was in his forest he’d be furious.  

However, there she stood before Quinlin ready to strike.  She was tall and athletic with surprisingly no tail.   Most of the horned ones usually had some sort of tail but this one didn’t.  She had small golden horns on her forehead.  She had cinnamon colored skin with black fingernails and bright emerald cat eyes.  Her hair was braided and a very deep chocolate brown. Quinlin noticed through her slightly parted pink lips that her teeth were pointed.   

“I hope I didn’t startle you,” she whispered, “but I need your help.  The only reason why my bow is pointed at you is because I don’t know yet if I can trust you.”

“Well, for what it’s worth you can because neither one of us is supposed to be here, especially you,” he stated. 

The horned woman looked him up and down suddenly.  She noticed the black staff, forest green hooded robe, longsword and black boots.

“Druid?” she asked. 

“Yes, very much so,” he smiled. 

“Forgive me, sir,” she started, “I’ve never encountered one of you before.  I’ve only heard stories but I’ve heard that you are peaceful.”

She lowered her bow and sheathed the arrow in her quiver.  Quinlin lowered his staff and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. 

“Well, we try to be,” he smiled again, “sometimes situations cause us to have to defend ourselves or others who are in need.  But, for the most part we do try to keep to ourselves. We try our damnedest to stay neutral.  I see you are one of the horned ones.  You are a little far from home.  May I ask how did you end up here in the king’s forest?”

“I came here looking for the very herb you now have in your pouch,” she laid her hand on her respective pouch on her belt, “my sister is sick and the medicine she needs requires that herb.  My brother, who cannot travel, knew that the herb was here in the king’s forest but had no idea it was this far in.  The further in I went the more lost I became, which is why I am asking for help.  I can’t find my way out of this damn forest and I need to get home as quickly as possible.  Furthermore, what’s slowing me down are those infernal king’s guards.”

“Fortunately, you are in luck,” said Quinlin, “you have happened upon a druid who actually knows his geography.  Most of us are so nomadic that we really don’t bother to chronicle where we’ve been, however, I know that in order for you to go home you must travel west in the same direction that those soldiers I saw are headed.  But, if I can, I'll take you southwest out of their way and home just the same.”

“If you could, I would greatly appreciate it,” she said, digging in another pouch and producing 10 gold coins, “Here’s ten now and I can give you another 10 when we get there for the inconvenience.”  

“If you didn’t think you could trust me before,” he said, accepting the coins, “oh, you can now.”

Quinlin pocketed the coins and tied his long black hair in a ponytail.  He surveyed the area for a moment and spun around until his body faced southwest. 

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“How do you know that is the right direction?” she asked.

“Druids instinctively know where they are going.  We have an internal compass, therefore we are never lost. We can feign being lost though,” he smiled.  

“How do you know you can trust me?” she asked. 

“If you were caught by the king’s men and brought to the king, what he would do to you would be unthinkable.  That’s how I know I can trust you because you’d rather deal with me than with him.”

“Fair enough,” she sighed, “lead the way, um?”

“Oh my God, my manners,” he said, “my name is Quinlin, and you are?”

“I am Lynesa,” she grinned broadly with pointed teeth, “shall we?”

Quinlin started for a part in the trees and Lynesa followed after him.  They moved at a steady efficient pace.   Quinlin’s idea was to move just fast enough to keep the soldiers out of earshot if they were following and to make as little disturbances within the brush so they could not track them. Quinlin instructed her along the way to make sure to step where he stepped, which he learned from watching her, came easy to her.  She explained how nimble and dexterous her people were.  She also explained how all of their senses were at a heightened level much higher than humans.  

“Can I ask you a question, Lynesa?” 

“Yes.”

“If it’s not too personal, how old are you?”

“Oh, I’m seventy two, and that’s not too personal.”

“From what I know of horned ones, you’ve only been an adult for two years. You’re a young one.”

“Yes, I am young but wise for my age so I’ve been told by my elders.”

“If your elders have said it, then it must be so,” said Quinlin as they reached the bottom of another hill. As they reached the top in the distance they could see the outline of a small town on the horizon as the sun began to set.

“If I can get to that town I’ll be almost home.  That town is in my territory but I live on the other side,” she said. 

“Good,” he responded as they started down the other side.

Once at the bottom the sky started to become darker as the sun sank further down.  

There were a few big bushes just up ahead to their right when suddenly two of the king’s guards popped up and began firing arrows at them.  Both dove to the ground for cover.  Lynesa popped up and fired off two arrows hitting one square in the chest.  Quinlin motioned to her that he was going around in the opposite direction.  He knelt and slithered over to the other side of the bush across from the soldier.  Lynesa popped up to distract the guard and as he drew his bow Quinlin whacked him in the back of the head with his staff.  

Two more arrows were shot at him which he deflected with his staff and he dove to the ground again. She dove next to him. 

“Did you see where they came from?” he asked.

The sky was now dark.  The forest black as pitch. 

“No, not yet but I can.  The other thing you don’t know about horned ones is that we can see in the dark, so wait here,” she smiled at him. 

She shimmied on the ground in the direction that the arrows were fired from.  She saw two pairs of boots from where she was and she crept closer to them.  One stepped out to the left and advanced towards Quinlin.  She grabbed the boots of the other, dragged him down and stabbed him with one of her daggers.  The other ran towards Quinlin’s direction.  She stood with her bow drawn and shot him in the neck.  She went back to where Quinlin was sitting. 

“All clear,” she whispered with another broad grin. 

“Good,” he said, “we need to find a place to make camp.”

They walked a good way until finding a little grove of pine trees nestled up against a grassy knoll and inside the groove they broke camp for the night.  However, they were unable to make a fire so as to not alert the king’s guards to their presence. Quinlin regaled her with tales of the knights of the past before this new king came into power.  He also shared some stories of some of his fellow druids he’d lost in past wars.  Quinlin seemed very well versed in the history of his country and she wondered why some of the people of his country didn’t like her kind.

“Quinlin, why doesn’t the king like us? Why has he forbidden my kind to be here?”

“I guess because people are afraid of what they don’t understand.  They are also afraid of change.  And, some people only do what they see others do.  They follow the crowd or they are people pleasers.  I believe that ‘s what our king is.  He’d rather please a few than do what’s best for us all.”

“Change?”

“Yes, change,” answered Quinlin, “the change would be the kingdom would have to get used to understanding your customs and culture.  I believe the kingdom is too lazy and entitled to do so, so they won’t.  And, since the kingdom has their hands in his pockets he will do anything to satisfy a measly two percent of the kingdom than do what’s best for the whole kingdom.  I’m sure there is so much your people could offer us but we’ll never know it.”

“What do they have to be afraid of? We’re a peaceful people.”

“Fear of the unknown.  Fear of how you look, unfortunately.”

“Apparently, my parents didn’t have that problem,” she laughed. 

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, my mother was what you called a horned one, but my father was human.  I just happened to inherit more of my mother’s traits.  My brother and sister look more human but have other attibutes. And, our people actually have a name and it’s not horned ones,” she smiled. 

“Well, that’s interesting.  I had heard that there were some that were only half.  So, what are your people called?”

“We are called the Calisae.”

“The Calisae.”

“Yes, my people were here at least four hundred years before your kind showed up on these shores and we moved inland. We did at one time live together but that was forever ago. It seems your current king has kept the mindset of the previous ones before him unfortunately.  Only some of you have ventured out to understand us and our kind.  The funny thing is that the ones who do stay and live in our country.  But, I bet your kingdom has never taught it’s people this.”

“No, it hasn’t and I’ve only heard rumors.  I’ve always kept to myself as most druids do as to not get involved in matters of the kingdom unless we have to.  It sounds to me that we’ve kept a blind eye for too long, Lynesa.”

“I would agree with you, Quinlin.”

Quinlin lay on his back suddenly in deep thought with his arms folded. He sighed and looked in her direction. 

“What?” 

“I don’t know, Lynesa? I have learned a massive amount of aspects about your people in this short period of time.  The first thing I learned upon our initial meeting is that you use herbal medicine but you are also fierce warriors as I’ve learned tonight.  You don’t trust easily but you know my culture trusts money, which shows wisdom on your part, so your elders are right when they tell you that you are wise for your age.”

“What are you saying, Quinlin?”

“What I’m saying is that maybe, just maybe, if I can get a group of druids together to call a “gathering” we may be able to swing the court in the direction of getting the king to eradicate his law.”

“And why would you do that, Quinlin?  We’re fine as we are and have been for centuries.  We gain nothing by reintegrating into your society.  If you did decide to do this, and I mean if, what’s in it for you?”

“First of all, nothing is in it for me.  It’s just the right thing to do.  Second, I would think you might consider the protection of our country from other invaders and our country is rich.  You would be able to lean on us financially if needed.”

“Did you hear what you just said?  Protection? You do realize we could easily attack you at night and take your country in a matter of days.  We fear no one,” she laughed, “it is us who allow you to stay where you are because we have no problems sharing the land and we have for many years.  We have no ‘need’ of money.  Money to us is just a tool like any other tool we use.  It has no real value to us, Quinlin.  See, you just learned something else about us and the only good your “gathering” would do would be to make it convenient for us to at least cross through your kingdom so we could trade with your neighbors like you do.  The only reason why we can’t is because we will be arrested for being in your country.  It is because of that that we are barred from being able to trade with the countries of the east.”

“Okay, all points made are valid,” he conceded, “then if that is the only thing our gathering would be good for then I will at least attempt it for that.” 

“Hmmm. I guess we’ll see if you hold to your word after you get me to the border,” she stated turning on her side and preparing to fall asleep. 

“I will,” he said, closing his eyes for sleep as well. 

The next morning the smell of something really good woke Quinlin out of a deep sleep.  He immediately sat up and turned his head.  Lynesa sat on a stump in front of a small fire, with a crudely made rotisserie with some type of skinned animal being cooked on it.  She grinned a pointed teeth smile again at him and threw him an apple she found out in the forest.  He quickly caught it and brought it to his mouth.  Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he finally saw she had killed a rabbit this morning and it was that killed rabbit giving off that wonderful smell.  Then he smiled at her and continued to eat his apple.  

“Figured I’d let the smell wake you,” she said, “and it worked.”

“Yes it did.  I’m assuming you found the spices out here in the forest?”

“Yes, I did.  This forest is plentiful.  There are so many items that we’ve passed along the way that would make survival here extremely easy and the king hoards this from his people.  Your people.  We have no king and I’m thankful we don’t.”

“You don’t? Then how do you make decisions for your people?”

“We have the Calisae Council.”

“How many are on that council?”

“There are seven and they are voted in by our people.  One from each province in our country.  To be voted in as a councilman is a high honor in our country.  Some serve a lifetime and some only a short time.”

“I find that interesting.  If it were only that easy in our kingdom.  We have a court of lords, ladies, counts, dukes and duchesses.  Sometimes they are useful and sometimes they are not.  It’s all a matter of persuasion.  If they can get the ear of the king, usually he will vote in favor of whatever they’re proposing and if not, then he will do whatever he wants.  Thus the reason if I can muster up a gathering of druids we may be able to sway some people in the court, who then could get the king’s ear and possibly get things changed in the direction of your country trading with the east.”

“I’m curious,” she said, “how did we get from, ‘help me get home’ to ‘trading with the east’?”

“I just so happen to have a bleeding heart and don’t think that it’s fair that the Calisae aren’t allowed in our kingdom just because you’re different from us.  You’ve always been different from us and that’s never going to change.  Why should our kingdom even care?”

“Good question.  Why does your kingdom care?”

“I shall ask that question when we’re at the king’s court.”

“Are you hungry yet or are you going to keep talking?” she beamed, “Because this rabbit is ready.  Let’s eat.”

They took turns slicing off pieces of meat with their respective daggers until all of the rabbit was gone.  Lynesa and Quinlin both lay in the grass opposite each other full and happy for the moment knowing that they will have to get up soon to continue towards that town on the horizon. An hour passed.  Lynesa jumped up and cleaned the site.  Once she was done Quinlin began to lead the way again avoiding outposts, shacks and patrols.  

They were beginning to get into denser forest and an area Quinlin hadn’t been through before so he had to slow down.  He knew the direction in which he had to travel, he just hadn’t been in this part of the forest before and wasn’t versed in where the patrols normally moved in this area.  

“This is not an area I’ve been in before,” he whispered, “but we are moving in the right direction.” 

As he said that he stopped suddenly and bent down.  He put his hand out to motion to come forward slowly next to him.  He pointed to his eyes and then outward into the forest.  She looked and saw about four soldiers just in the distance.  They seemed to be waiting for something or someone.  One stood with a telescope and was looking in all directions.  The other three knelt down with their bows at the ready in attack formation.  

“They may have been sent here to wait for us,” she whispered quietly in Quinlin’s ear. 

“True.  It’s still morning.  They must have moved past us without knowing it and posted up here,” he whispered back in hers.

Again, he pointed to his eyes and then in the direction of a huge tree a few yards from them.  He tapped the ground afterwards.  She knew he meant they were crawling on the ground to that tree.  She nodded and they moved for the tree. Once there they had their backs against the tree. 

“I can take two of them out from here with my bow,” she said quietly, “double arrowed shot.”

He looked at her wide eyed.  She nodded yes.  He gave her a thumbs up.  She strung two arrows on her bow, slightly stepped out at an angle, fired, hit two in the head.  Startled, the other two dropped to the ground immediately.  Quinlin and Lynesa advanced quickly away from that area towards the direction of the town.  As they made their way down another hill two arrows whizzed past their heads and they dropped to the ground in the direction from which they came.  

“I don’t see anything,” he said. 

“There's a slight movement to the right, Quinlin.  Someone may have a bow ready but I can’t be sure,” she responded. 

Quinlin sighed in frustration.  He looked at her quickly and motioned for them to roll left together.  They rolled left and two more arrows flew over their bodies. So, they could only see movement as well. 

Quinlin looked to the left again and saw a patch of shrubs that could possibly give them some cover.  He motioned and they began to roll simultaneously to the left as arrows began shooting over them.  Quinlin and Lynesa were grazed with a few but never pierced by one.  The shrubs provided just enough cover for them to bring their heads up to see where the arrows were coming from. 

“Now I can see them,” she said.

“Is it two or more?”

“It’s five.  Two archers and three swordsmen.”

“Good God.”

“Yeah, it looks like we may have our hands full.  Unfortunately, they have the high ground.”

“If you hit two like last time, they’ll disappear and scatter.  Then reform right on top of us.  We can take three if we see them coming.”

“Or if I draw their fire and you go around.  I’m just fast enough to be ahead of their shots.  If I go back the way we came, I should be able to give you time to get close enough to catch one when they scatter to even the odds.”

“Okay, Lynesa,” nodded Quinlin. 

She began rolling back the way they came and sure enough the motion caught their eye.  Arrows came raining over her body as she rolled faster. Quinlin immediately advanced towards the soldiers from what was now their blindside. When she thought he was close enough she jumped up with two arrows drawn, dove left, fired a volley in mid air before falling to the ground.  Both arrows killed their intended targets.  The other three advanced in different directions.  The leader passed by Quinlin who drew his sword and ran him through.  As he withdrew it from his body, he turned in the opposite direction to relieve another of his head and then sheathed his sword in one movement. The other came upon Lynesa who was still laying on the ground.  He drew his sword.  She threw a dagger. He fell dead. 

While pulling her weapon out of his dead body, Quinlin strolled up beside her. 

“Well, that was fun,” he declared sarcastically with a grin.

“If you say so,” she smiled with more sarcasm sheathing her dagger. 

“Shall we continue?”

Onward towards whatever town was on the horizon.  Lynesa felt at this rate they’d never make it with all the interruptions from the king’s guards.  These guys were relentless.  Her unlikely companion turned out to be alright so far but then again there was after all twenty gold total at the end of this adventure in store for him.  She hoped he really meant what he said and even if he didn’t she would still be alright as long as she was able to help her sister.  It was all that really mattered to her anyway. As she had said before, to her people money was just a tool for them to use just like any other tool they would use.  If Quinlin’s kingdom only had an inkling of the amount of riches her country, her people, have stored over the centuries, it would astound them.  

“So, do druids ever marry or are they so preoccupied with roaming, healing and diplomacy that they don’t have time for love?” she asked aloud. 

“Oh, um, I suppose we or some of us marry.  I mean if you could find someone who could deal with all of the nonsense of being a druid.  I’ve never known any druids who have married or been in love.  I’ve heard stories of it happening but that was in days past.  That’s not to say it couldn’t happen to me or some druid I know.  But, what do I need love for? I have everything that I need in the forest.  Furthermore, I have my staff and my longsword.”

“Is there a shortage of female druids?” laughed Lynesa.

“You joke but no, we just don’t have any need for all of the emotions that come with that.  All it is, is a distraction.”

“A pleasant distraction to me.  The Calisae highly value love and marriage.  We value relationships.  I will be happy when I can finally find a mate.”

“What do your women value in a mate?”

“We want, we expect, honor, courage, commitment and strength.  That is what we all value and look for in our mates.  It is both given and received.”

“I like that.  It sounds noble and good to me.  Maybe someday I’ll look for that in a mate, if I ever feel like I need one.”

“I think you do, Quinlin, but you just don’t realize it yet.”

“How so?”

“If you stop roaming once, you’ll feel it.”

“What do you mean by stop roaming?”

“Exactly as I said.  When you stop roaming.  When you stop being nomadic for just one second, I know that in that one moment you will feel it.  You will feel that you want to have someone by your side until the end of time.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Well, yes. But isn’t that what love is?  It’s forever, Quinlin.”

“If that’s what you believe, Lynesa.  I think that maybe that's why druids don’t fall in love.  It’s because they don’t believe love is forever.”

“I believe that’s a sad existence.  To think that love is not forever is a horrible thought to me.  The  Calisae believe love is forever.”

“Well, you’re allowed to believe that,” he stated, “and oh, what’s this?”

Quinlin and Lynesa walked up to a small bubbling stream running across their path.  It was easy to step across and it was perfect timing because they were getting thirsty from all of the walking they had done since their last encounter with the king’s men.  So, they stopped to rest and have a drink.  Lynesa splashed water in her face and on the back of her neck.  Quinlin dunked his whole head in the water, came up for air and shook all the water off.  He sat and drank some more as he dried his hair.  

Lynesa splashed some on the parts of her legs that were exposed.  She had worn her dark brown leather shorts and soft high boots.  Everything else was dark brown leather except for her red tunic she wore underneath all her armor.  Her muscular legs glistened mixed with sweat and water.  Quinlin tried not to notice but failed miserably.  Lynesa smiled to herself. 

“Are you ready?” she asked, looking up at him with a tired grin. 

“Yes, let’s keep moving.  We’ve been moving for a while now and the sun is starting to go down.  We’ll have to find a place to make camp soon.”

They made their way in the direction of the border as the sun continued its descent. Lower and lower it slowly fell into its hidden abyss to sleep until it was time to wake everyone again the next morning. However, the moon took its place until then.  The moon was full this night and it shone brightly ahead of them as they traversed forward. After a few more moments, they came upon an extremely large red tree with four round bushes growing atop its roots.  It created a natural cover and shelter for them for the night. 

“Small fire?” she inquired.

“Only if you want to chance it, Lynesa.

“Are you good with it?”

“Yes, we can handle anything that comes this way.”

“Then I’ll make the fire.” 

Lynesa had a tiny fire going in minutes.  How she did it so fast and kept it so minimal was to Quinlin’s amazment.  They feasted on the edible plant life around them before turning in for the night.  Lynesa snuffed out the fire right before they went to sleep.  

“I never would have thought I’d end up on an adventure like this with someone like you,” said Quinlin. 

“I would have to agree because at the time I pointed my bow at you I had no idea if you would help me or not.  We could’ve ended up fighting with each other,” Lynesa said.

“True, I could have attacked you for sneaking up on me but I chose to see who my possible enemy may be before I swung my staff.  I like to look my opponent in the eye if I can.”

“So, do I,” she replied, “Oh, aren’t we an unlikely pair, Quinlin?”

“I never would have imagined us together until now,” he smiled in the darkness.  She smiled back. 

“This has been a learning experience for you has it not?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” 

“It could be,” she stated, “I thank you for leading me to the other side of this forest so I can go home.”

“Hopefully, the lady I was supposed to help will still be alright when I get back to her,” he announced. 

“Wait, you were needed somewhere and you chose to help me?”

“Yes, I didn’t tell you that because I didn’t want you to try to get out of here alone and I didn’t want you to feel bad in light of a choice that I made.”

“It seemed like an easy choice for you Quinlin.”

“Thus the reason we don’t necessarily align ourselves with anyone or anything, Lynesa.  It keeps us free to make decisions like the one I made to help you. Furthermore, one of my fellow brethren most likely stepped up to help her.  However, they won’t know how far into the forest they’ll have to travel to find the herb for her medicine.  But, once I’m back I’ll check in on her.”

“Whenever you get back, that is Quinlin.”

“So, besides going into an unknown forest to help your sister, what is it that you do?”

“That’s a good question, Quinlin.  I’m actually still trying to figure that out.  Most of my family train people to fight.  We’re a family of archers, who are also skilled in hand to hand combat.  It’s rare that one of us does something outside of that field and those of us that do usually own an inn or they’re blacksmiths.  We all study academics but none of us have ever taught academics.  I’ve considered doing it but I’m afraid of what my family will think.”

“Why are you worried about what your family will think, Lynesa?  Do what makes you happy.  Do what makes you feel alive.  If it’s something you’re passionate about then you should do it.”

“What my family thinks is important to me because we care for each other.  I care about what they think and their insight to me is valuable.”

“That may be the case but what if you end up doing something that you’ll hate the rest of your life.”

“I don’t think I’ll end up in that position.”

“Confident?”

“Very.”

“So confident but yet worried about their response?”

“Yes.”

“When people are that important to you I guess I can understand that type of feeling or inner conflict.”

“Do you not have family, Quilin?”

“Yes, I do. I have an older sister and a younger brother who live up north near the capital.”

“Oh, do you see them often?”

“I see them when I can or at least I try to see them as often as I can.”

“So, you have no use for love and you rarely see your family.  That sounds lonely to me, Quinlin.”

“Well, the Druid life is a solitary life, Lynesa.”

“And you choose this?”

“Yes, I did, at the young age of 15.  I asked my parents if I could take the test to enter the Druid Temple and they gave me permission.  I was fascinated by their lifestyle so much that I wanted to be one.  I guess it was my destiny because I’ve never had a problem with it.  I took to it like a fish to water and my parents were so pleased.”

Quinlin lay there with his arms behind his head smiling thinking about his parents. Lynesa’s eyes were heavy and she soon fell asleep. 

He awoke the next morning with some fruits and herbs next to his head.  He saw Lynesa sitting across from him cross legged eating some fruit out of her hands.  She looked up at him, smiled and continued to eat. They were quiet this morning.  Neither one spoke to the other except in non verbal cues.  As the sun rose they could see that they were closer to the town than they had originally thought.  Lynesa was quietly sad that she would soon have to leave her unexpected traveling companion for good.  She had learned quite a lot in a short period of time and she was sure Quinlin had too.  For too long had their two cultures been indifferent to the other.  They had never really entered into a full blown war.  It had always been a series of small battles here or there.  She felt the reason why her people hadn’t was because they knew due to the nature of their species they outmatched their opponent in light of their heightened attributes.  In essence Quinlin’s people were being shown mercy without even realizing it.  And, if they did, they were too prideful to be thankful for it.  The only time she knew of her people going to war was when they fought each other, which didn’t happen as much as it used to.  At one time there was much fighting between the provinces and thankfully that fighting has stopped.  There has been peace within the Seven Provinces the last ten years.  Thinking about it now, Quinlin’s people really had nothing to worry about as long as her people fought amongst themselves. 

Some of the town's buildings became clearer to see the closer they came to it.  Lynesa couldn’t wait to take a bath once home, see her family and eat some real food. Quinlin’s pace slowed down as he walked in front of her and he threw up his left hand motioning to stop.  He knelt down and she followed suit.  They could overhear a patrol of soldiers just a few paces ahead of them.  There may have been at least twenty of them.  Quinlin turned to look at Lynesa and shrugged his shoulders.  She pulled up close to him. 

“I’ve never seen this many soldiers this close to one of our towns,” she whispered, “I have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” he whispered back, “it would have to be something serious for the king to send that many this close to the border.”

“We can’t let her get across this border, men!” shouted one of the soldiers, “Let’s spread out and cover more land.  If you see her, call out and we will run to your side.  Our fellow comrades along the border are doing the same.  Hopefully, we can keep her from getting back home!”

Quinlin suddenly gave her a puzzled look. 

“Who are you?” he said in a hushed whisper. 

“I am Lynesa,” she whispered back. 

“No, who are you really? You are more than just some warrior trained Calisaen woman,” he whispered as his hand wanted to slide to its familiar grip upon the longsword.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” she slowly grinned as she caught his hand, “who I may be or may not be is of no importance.  What is of importance is you getting me to that town just for the simple fact you’ve done nothing but fight by my side to get me here.  Why would you turn on me?” 

“If I was going to turn on you I would have called out to those soldiers already.  My hand naturally goes to my sword when I feel someone hasn’t been truthful with me.”

“I’ve been truthful,” she said, “In order to get the answer to who they are searching for you’d have to ask the right questions.  You’ve never been in the position to ask those questions because you hadn’t been put in that position yet and I was hoping to get through this without you having to be.”

The soldiers began to move around them and spread out.  Some of them were coming close to their hiding spot, which wasn’t much of one, and  they would be discovered soon if they didn’t move soon enough. 

“Well, in a few moments it won’t matter, but I’m in a position now, Lynesa.  Spit it out.”

“I am Lynesa, daughter of Leia, Councilwoman of  the Seventh Province of Calisae, half sister of Princess Nina and second heir to the throne of Telmiria.”

“Holy shit, the king has another heir and she’s a Calisae!” Quinlin said in a shouted whisper.  

She put her finger to her lips, “Shhhh, they’re getting closer.  Let’s get to that tree over there and I'm half Calisae.”

They lay on the ground and army-crawled almost ten feet to a broad tall tree.  They sat next to each other with their backs against it.

“Yes, Quinlin, obviously, long ago, the king had an affair with a Calisaen, which has been kept hush.  Thus one of the many reasons why the soldiers are after me.  I was told never to come across the border for any reason, and he made a law to make sure, however, my sister and I recently found out about each other.  She wrote to me.  Don’t ask how I got the letter but she said she wanted to meet and we did two days ago.  We talked for an hour.  An hour turned into two and we lost track of time.  I was supposed to have been back home a long time ago but we enjoyed each other's company so much.  We have so much in common. But, she helped me to get to where you found me two days ago.  She couldn’t go any further for risk of being discovered and neither one of us wants that.  The only reason why she hasn’t is…”

“Is because you alerted the soldiers so they couldn’t tell your father, thus the reason they’re following you and not her,” finished Quinlin.

“That’s correct and now I know my mother is probably worried sick that I haven’t returned home.  She thinks I went on a normal hunt two days ago.  I should’ve been home in a day but these damn soldiers will slow you down having to avoid them every step of the way.  I needed some extra help to get through and that’s when I saw you in the clearing.”

“You’re right, if these soldiers hadn’t been here, I never would have been in a position to ask you that question.  I would have escorted you to the border, said goodbye and left you as quickly as we met.  However, you choose wisely, obviously, because as a Druid, I will stay neutral, and still escort you to the border, Lynesa.” 

“Thank you, Quinlin.” 

“You’re welcome, um.”

“You don’t have to call me anything but Lynesa,” she smiled, “let’s get out of here.”

They crawled to the other side of the tree.  Quinlin popped his head up really quick.

“They seem to be going in the opposite direction at the moment, so we’ll continue this way and come up on the other side of that town.”

“That town is called Aria by the way.” 

“Oh, okay, Aria.”

As they quietly and slowly moved away from the roaming soldiers, “So, everything else you said was true?” 

“Oh, yeah, everything about my family and what I want to do.  Our whole talk about your gathering was me actually fishing for information. However, the part about my sister being sick wasn’t,” she said, “And, the only thing that could change anything else would be if something were to happen to Nina and then all kinds of hell would break loose.  So, let’s hope when she becomes Queen it all goes well.”

“Um, you do realize that you being who you are technically unites both countries, right?” 

“Yes, Nina and I do, but do you really think both sides are ready for that Quinlin?” she asked as they were suddenly at the border and behind a wall to one of the shops in town. 

They stood there with their backs against the wall in silence for a moment and Quinlin slowly shook his head.

“No, I don’t, unfortunately, Lynesa.”

“Yes, it is unfortunate and scary.  We have peace, so you would think it would be the time but it’s not.  The peace we have right now is as cold as an early Calisaen winter morning.”

“I know.  It’s unsettling, which means there’s more to it.  Whatever it is, our two countries aren’t ready.  Sad really, how only a few of us can see this.”

“In time Quinlin, in time.  Nina and I shall be ready when it’s time.  But, I must be on my way, my new friend,” she said sadly.

“I will keep my word though.  I will still seek a gathering but for a different purpose now unbeknownst to them of course.”

“Good, we could still use your help.”

“How do I find you again?”

“Come to Aria.  Find the Vera Inn.  Find the owner and let them know you need to see ‘Nesa.  Then I’ll find you.  Goodbye, Quinlin, and thank you,” she smiled, clasping his hand as he held it out.  She turned and disappeared around the corner.  

Quinlin sat there against the wall for a moment recalling the events of the last two days. He realized he never did get the other ten gold coins.  He sighed to himself and looked out into the horizon.  He knew he had a long way back home.  He pushed himself off of the wall, made his way across the border and vanished into the forest.