Chapter 136: Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: Back to Town

When I joined Serin and Altria, they had both already dismounted and tied their horses against a nearby tree. One of the soldiers under Ontari had arrived to feed them, so we left to help set the camp.

It was just as Rosa had said, this place was a regularly used campsite at the side of the road. There was a fire pit surrounded by several large logs in the centre of the area. The three of us sat there while we decided what to do next.

Altria let out a sigh as she stretched out her arms. “Ah, am I glad to be out of the saddle.”

Serin shuffled trying to get comfortable on the floor. “Me too! It’s been a while since I’ve ridden that far without a break.”

I was nodding in agreement, even if I’d had a seat on the driver’s bench. “I’m glad I was on the carriage. I’m not sure I would have coped on a horse for that long.”

Serin looked at me and gave an encouraging smile. “I’m sure you would have managed.”

“Maybe… Shouldn’t we set up the tents?”

“Not tonight. We’ll sleep in the open. The weather looks as if it will stay fine and that way, we’ll be able to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“We’ll be more aware of our surroundings too.” Added Altria.

“Sounds good to me. I like sleeping under the stars. I suppose we’ll have extra watchers tonight?” I asked.

“Yes, we’ll probably leave three people a time on watch. Let’s see how Ontari wants to organise it though.” Answered Altria.

“In the meantime, let’s build up a fire and make some food.” Serin said whilst reaching for the cooking gear in her bag.

“Sounds good to me, I’m starving!”

I went to gather some wood at the edge of the field with Altria, when we returned half of the soldiers were sat around the fire pit, the rest were tending to the horses and setting watch around the campsite.

The mood was still awful. This was nothing like any of the previous nights I had spent camping with the girls. The soldiers barely spoke, and we felt out of place trying to pass the time enjoyably.

Once we had eaten, we soon went to bed. It wasn’t late, but none of us had any problem falling asleep. We had only gotten a few hours in the previous day.

Apart from taking our turns on watch, I think we all slept through the night. It was an uneventful night, and nothing approached our camp, we made it through to the morning without a single incident.

Most of the camp was awake shortly after dawn and despite the quiet night, everyone was in a hurry to set off again. We all wanted to reach Dunshelm as quickly as possible. Within an hour of waking, we were back on the road.

The mood on the road was slightly better. Serin and Altria rode alongside the carriage, while the solders rode some way up ahead or behind us. We were able to talk normally once again and the next couple of hours passed quickly.

As the time passed, I started to think that things were unusually busy on the road. Admittedly I didn’t have much experience on this road, but we had seen several carriages pass hurriedly, what looked to be messengers on horseback passed us in either direction and a troop of solders had all passed. I started to think something was up.

I turned to Rosa. “Is this route normally this busy?”

She shook her head. “No, it isn’t… Actually, I’ve never seen it like this before.”

“I wonder why it’s so busy then?”

“I have no idea.”

Serin drew closer to the side of the carriage. “Something is definitely up.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, but the soldiers look unsettled by the movements. Let’s just hope it isn’t anything too serious. We won’t find out until we reach the city.”

The traffic didn’t decrease as we travelled through the morning. We were passed in either direction several times, and our disquiet only increased as we drew closer to the city. The soldiers up ahead of us had been discussing their concern as we rolled up the city gates.

We had been travelling all morning and it was a little after twelve when we arrived. There was clearly an increased guard at the gates, what was less obvious was that their number was comprised entirely of catkin, humans and wolfkin.

We briefly stopped at the gate as the guard checked us, but we were swiftly allowed inside once they realised who we were.

Once inside, it was clear that things weren’t running like normal. The streets were strangely quiet for here, even after coming from the capital. There were still people going about their business, but they hurried as they did so. There was no one just out for a stroll around the city.

We hadn’t travelled far inside when Ontari fell back to speak with us. “Where will you head to first?”

“Hmm…” Altria mused while looking at us. “I’m sure we all want to make a few stops, but I think we should call into the guild first and see what thew situation is. What do you think?”

Serin was nodding in agreement. “I think that’s a good idea.”

I shrugged, not too worried where we went first. “Sure, the guild first.”

I did want to speak to Liz, and tell her everything that had happened as soon as possible, but I couldn’t argue with going to the guild first. We needed to find out exactly what was going on here.

Altria turned back to Ontari. “The guild it is.”

“We’ll escort you there. Then we’ll have to take our leave.”

“Of course.”

While Ontari rode along next to the carriage, I decided to ask about their next steps. “Where will you go to after this Ontari?”

“To the city barracks. We’ll need to report in. I expect our orders will be waiting for us and we need to deal with them.” Answered Ontari motioning to the carriage. “Will you be able to lend us the transport there Rosa?”

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“Of course, I can.” She smiled. “Once we’ve left the others at the guild, I’ll follow you there.”

“Thank you.”

Ontari rode back to the front of our group and told the soldiers where we were heading. Within a few minutes we found ourselves in the large square in front of the guild building. Serin and Altria dismounted from their steeds and handed the reins back to one of Ontari’s soldiers.

Ontari stopped and climbed down from her horse. “Well, we’ll leave you here. Despite what happened, it was good to see you again Altria.”

“You too Ontari.”

Ontari looked to the rest of us. “I was glad to have met you all too, and I’m glad we were able to deliver you all here safely.”

“Thank you Ontari, we are in your debt.” Replied Serin.

“Think nothing of it. It was an honour to be of help… Forgive me, we have to visit the barracks and report what happened out on the road. I hope we meet again.”

“If you have time, call in and see me before you leave.” Replied Altria.

Ontari nodded with a smile. “I will.”

As the soldiers prepared to leave, I climbed off Rosa’s carriage.

Rosa took up her reins, ready to leave. “Well, I should follow them now.”

I looked up to the carriage. “Thanks for everything Rosa.”

“Please, I was just glad I was able to do something to help.”

“You saved our lives, I’m sure!”

She blushed a little. “I don’t know about that…”

“It’s true, we would have been in a tight spot without you.” Added Altria.

“If you can, come to the guild once you’ve finished. We’ll treat you to dinner. It’s the least we can do.”

“Thanks Altria. I’ll try to drop in once I’ve finished. It might be some time. I’m going to have to drop by the company and explain what happened…”

She looked worried.

“If you have any trouble, come straight to me. I’ll make sure to set them straight.” Altria said instantly recognising the source of her concern. “We’ll wait for you in the guild.”

“Thank you… Well, I should go.”

We waved goodbye as pulled away and followed the soldiers in the direction of the city’s barracks. Once they were out of sight, we climbed the steps to the guild and headed inside.

It was strangely quiet inside the hall, it wasn’t empty, but there were far less adventurers eating, drinking, and making merry compared to usual.

There were two girls manning the desk, I recognised one of them. It was Jules and as soon as she realised who it was that had walked in, she lifted the desk hatch and ran out to meet us.

She flung her arms around me. “Theo you’re alive!”

I was slightly taken aback by her reaction. “Yeah, I am… Why wouldn’t I be?”

She eased up her hug. “Well, there’s already been news from the capital. There were rumours that you were involved…” She stepped back and glanced at the rest of the group. “Lillia isn’t with you. Does that mean that it’s true?”

I looked at the others, then tuned back to Jules. “I don’t know what it is you’ve heard, so I don’t know how to answer that.”

She looked worried, pausing for a moment before she answered. “There’s two versions circulating. One is that you stole something from the guild and when the princess tried to stop you… Well, I don’t want to believe you caused all of that.”

“I didn’t!”

She was shaking her head. “No, I didn’t believe it.”

“Thank you.”

“The other version was that Lillia attacked you and Altria. That she went wild and caused that disaster. Is that what happened?”

“Neither of those rumours are true… Lillia was involved, but she wasn’t herself.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what happened, not yet…”

Serin stepped in. “I’m sorry Jules, Theo can’t explain any more. None of us can, we don’t know what’s really going on yet.”

“I see. Then it is that bad…” She half turned to the reception. “You should all come to the desk. I expect the master will want to speak with you.”

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