Sides of War

Chapter Sixteen: The Redhead

The next day, Jorlin woke up without Draven having to nudge her awake. Everything was set for departure, and he was sitting cross-legged about twenty feet away. She sat up, her joints achy from the bitter cold of the previous night, and even with the sun in the sky it wasn't much warmer.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, standing up and getting her pack ready.

"I was about to," he replied as he stood up, slinging his pack over his shoulder.

It didn't take long for her to be ready to leave, and after they mounted the horses and began riding they exited the forest. It began to snow by the late morning, and a thin sheet of snow covered the wide plains.

Mauntell Castle was in view when they stopped at noon. From far away it was hard to tell what it looked like other than the fact that it was built on a hill and had a high stone wall surrounding it. She could make out a serf village and large expanses of farmland in between.

They ate lunch without a fire for the sake of time and cleared away patches of snow to sit on. As soft flakes fell around them, Jorlin and Draven ate snow rather than drink what little water they had left in their canteens.

"Jorlin," he said reluctantly.

She looked up at him.

He crossed his arms and continued, "Before we get to the manor, I'm going to threaten you with your life."

Nearly choking on the snow she was eating, Jorlin felt an unfamiliar feeling radiate through her. She gripped her forearms, the knuckles on her hands turning white.

"You wouldn't kill me," she stated, although she sounded much more sure than she felt.

"I'm a soldier. It's my job to kill people. It wouldn't be hard."

A small pang of emotional pain surprised her. Even though she never liked Draven to begin with, she still felt betrayed. Trying to remain calm, she asked, "And why would you need to kill me?"
"If you try to escape," he answered.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, her voice steadily escalating. "Escape? Am I your prisoner now?"

"Think about it," he said. "Say you really do end up saving your friend. After that, what makes you think I would let you go back to Decaster Manor?"

Realization made her let out the breath she was holding in. "You think if I went back, I would tell the Decasters that you're a spy," she stated.

"I know you would."

"You don't know that," she argued.

"Either way, I can't risk letting you go back," he replied evenly. "If you go along with it, you'll probably get out alive in the end."

"Do you really expect me to stay with you as you go back and forth between the sides until the siege?" she asked.

"Yes."

"That's ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "How many times are we going to have to travel back and forth like this?"

Draven shrugged. "A few."

"After the siege, then will you let me go?"

He nodded. "I'm not expecting you to trust me. I'm certainly not expecting you to not hate me. It's a trade; if you stay with me until the siege, you can get your friend back, regardless of who comes out on top afterwards."

Jorlin merely stared at him. After a while, she muttered, "As long as Asher gets out alive, I'll go along with your low plan."

"I'm low?" he asked. "The Mauntells are the ones who need to win this war. Otherwise, Agradien is doomed under Clovis and Lord Blair's rule."