DREAMWIELDER Book 1 of The Dreamwielder Chronicles

Chapter 19: THE SHROUDED PATH

Caile had slept fitfully throughout what remained of the night and well into the morning hours as the steam-powered turnip cart carried him along the eastern road away from Col Sargoth. The mysterious sorceress driving the cart did not slow or stop until the sun had nearly reached its apex, at which point she steered the cart off the main road down a muddy tract leading to an abandoned farm. There she parked the cart in a dilapidated barn, roused Caile, and ushered him into a single-axle wagon. Caile rubbed the weariness from his eyes as she hitched a sway-backed plow horse to the cart, and then they were off onto the main road heading east again. Caile started to speak on several occasions, but the cart clacked loudly on the rutted road, and if the woman heard his half mumbled questions, she ignored them.

When the sun set over the horizon at their backs, the woman steered the cart from the road into a copse of trees and finally called a halt. After so many hours of not speaking, Caile found himself nearly mute, unsure where to start or what to ask the woman who had rescued him. The fact that he had abandoned his men in Lightbringer's Keep weighed heavily on his heart, and he realized with consternation that he had forgotten his mace back in the turnip cart earlier that afternoon. Again, he was armed only with his boot knife. He knew the sorceress had rescued him twice now and seemingly had good intentions, but that didn't mean Caile should trust her. Roanna and her men were pleasant enough, too, until they got the information they wanted from me.

Caile helped the woman unbridle the horse and make camp, and neither of them said a word. Not until after she had a fire going and they were both nibbling on crumbly flat bread beside it did he finally speak.

"Why did we abandon your steam cart?" he asked between bites. "It's faster than your crippled horse, I imagine."

The woman answered without looking up from the fire. "Because the Emperor's men will be looking for a steam cart full of turnips when the guards tell him they let it pass freely through the eastern gate. Besides we were nearly out of fuel. The steam cart is fast, but it has a limited range."

"How far are we from Col Sargoth?"

"Nearly a hundred and fifty miles since last night."

Caile raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Not even the Emperor's fastest horsemen could catch us at that pace."

"No," the woman agreed, "but Wulfram could."

Caile digested her words silently. "Who are you?" he asked finally.

"My name is Talitha. I am a sorceress."

"But you're not part of the guild?"

"No. I am in league only with myself and hopefully with you now."

"You know who I am then, I take it?"

She nodded at him and narrowed her eyes. "I'm quite aware of who you are and the foolishness you've been up to, Prince Caile Delios."

Caile felt his face heat with embarrassment, but he bit back the rash words on his tongue. "How is it that you know so much? How were you able to find me?"

"I'm merely observant, Prince. There is much to see when you know what to look for."

"Well, I appreciate what you've done for me," Caile said, annoyed by her cryptic words, "but I must leave you and head south."

"You can make that decision when we reach Arnsfeld, unless you mean to forge your way through the thick of Forrest Weorcan."

"We are on the eastern high road, then?" he asked.