The Rogue Lady

Chapter Twenty Seven

     Just a bit of a filler chapter before the main event. Hope you enjoy it!! Point out any mistakes you might come across. And the map is in the external link.

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     Starryfield was actually quite a pretty place to look at. The city itself was hidden behind tall white walls but that didn’t matter. The contrast of the white walls against the green of the surrounding fields was stunning. The shape of the towers stood out against the gray mountains, which were still at least a hundred miles away. These mountains were smaller than those in the north and didn’t even have a name. Most people simply knew them for the caves; the Western Caves. Few knew the secret, the power, those mountains really hid. And that did not refer simply to the Brother and Sister of the Western Caves. The sky was clear with only a few clouds occasionally hiding the sun. It was most definitely almost summer here, the weather was a lot warmer than it had been further up north when I had first joined the rebels. But I didn’t mind the temperatures going up. Quite on the contrary, the cold was nothing for me; I had been used to the Silverleyan heat all my life.

     “What are you doing up there?”

     Startled out of my thoughts, I looked down from the top of the rock on which I had sat down maybe an hour or two ago. A few feet lower was Tom, gazing up at me with a hand above his eyes to block out the sun. It didn’t stop me noticing from the questioning yet amusing look on his face. Smiling down at him, I waved for him to come join me. A handful of minutes later he had managed to climb his way up and sat down next to me. Whereas I was sitting crossed-legged, he pulled up his knees a little, letting his forearms rest on them. His shoulder touched mine and I gave him a little playful shove before leaning a bit more against him.

     “So, are you going to tell me what you are doing up here?”

     I stared at the city a little longer before heaving a sigh. “I needed to get away from all of you. Understandably Eric is nervous about tonight, but honestly, I think I feel as nervous as he does.”

     “Really? How come?” he asked without looking at me. I was glad that he didn’t look at me; if we kept staring at Starryfield the way we were, I was a lot more comfortable talking about this.

     “Well…” I trailed off. Or maybe I wasn’t.

     “You can tell me. I already know your secret so there is no need to be cautious about your words if that is what you are worried about.”

     “I’m always worried about the words I say; you never know who might be listening.” He nodded thoughtfully before admitting that I had a point.

     “Why are you nervous about tonight? Have you not done this at least a hundred times already? I’m sure that, just because you won’t look like yourself, it can’t change that much.”

     “It doesn’t, and that isn’t why I am nervous. I am nervous because I have never done this on my own. You are right in saying that I have done this a hundred times, but I have always had that one person next to me that I knew I could trust. Not having them here puts me on edge.”

     “I thought you trusted Eric. Sure, not enough to spill all your secrets but I can understand that. He looks out for you and if he knew he would make sure you would be locked up in your tent whenever there was a fight. And somehow I can’t imagine you agreeing with him.”

     I let myself smile at that; finally someone who saw it from my perspective and agreed with me. And I agreed with him; Eric seemed like just the kind of person to use his magic to lock me up in my tent so that I wouldn’t get hurt, which made me glad I hadn’t told him anything yet. If he ever decided to lock me away in my tent for a fight, I would have to dig myself a tunnel out of there because his magic was too strong for me to break.