Book Two - Chapter Thirty-Two

“Thank you again,” the woman shaking Lusya’s hand like she was trying to tear it off said with a tearful smile. “We’ll never be able to say it enough. Thank you so much!”

“I do not require thanks,” Lusya said. “Release my hand.”

The woman obeyed and took a step back. She looked shocked for a moment, but quickly smiled again.

“Well then, I’ll be off,” she said.

She walked to the door of the building behind her, where a courier service was based. She paused at the entrance, turned, waved at Lusya, then at Ariya in waiting with the carriage, and finally went inside. Perhaps she intended to contact her home. Whatever she wanted to do, it was no longer Lusya’s concern. With that woman being the last prisoner to leave, none of them were. Most had given similar thanks and farewells. The remainder had been too despondent, and had left with a mumbled good-bye at most, which suited Lusya just as well. Those had had Lusya either drop them off at a random spot in the streets, or at an inn or tavern. She suspected they would squander any chance at recovery, but that was not her problem. She was done with them. She turned and headed back to the carriage. It’s supplies had been severely depleted, but they had held up during the almost week-long journey to Whitetree.

Whitetree was a large town that had seen growth in recent years due to the discovery of large deposits of iron nearby. Even during wartime—or maybe especially during wartime—that had allowed the town to flourish. Or so Lusya had read. She would not have called it a city, but it was large enough. She had always planned to stop here, and the base had put her in a convenient location to make it her next stop and return to her planned route. Here, the freed prisoners would be able to find lodging, work, and ways to contact their homes. Perhaps not all of those for all of them, but most would end up with at least one.

It was a lucky coincidence for them. Lusya’s judgment would not have changed regardless of what town was in easy reach. If it had been a village of ten people, they would have had to make do with that. She had ferried the prisoners to their chosen destinations—rather than dump them all at the town’s entrance—and given each a silver coin from Ander’s purse to keep Ariya happy, but she was not going to take charge of the few dozen of them. They had contributed nothing on the way to Whitetree other than draining resources at a rapid pace and slowing Lusya down. She had kept the carriage’s speed at its normal pace, similar to walking, but even then, some of the former prisoners had struggled to keep up. Even many of those fine with the speed had abysmal stamina, comparable to Ariya at the start of their journey. Lusya would have thought all their labor would have increased their endurance, and for some it had. Yet for the bulk, their vitality had only suffered.

Considering they had sometimes asked to stop despite showing no signs at all of physical exhaustion, perhaps it was some mental issue that was beyond her. All of them had been overflowing with Malice when she had found them and throughout much of the journey, after all. That had reflected in their mood as well. Whether they were keeping up or not, they had often seemed dejected after the initial cheer at salvation had passed. Their Malice levels had begun to go down and their moods to improve as they traveled, but, for most of them, it was only on reaching Whitetree that they had seemed happy. As for that Malice, as difficult to judge and volatile as it could be, she suspected it was still high by their standards. It would take some time for the massive amounts they had produced to vent.

Some of that might have improved with time, she was sure. Their stamina may have improved, as Ariya’s had. Their minds may have recovered. They may have revealed or developed useful skills. If nothing else, they could have served as pack mules. None of that was relevant. Regardless of their skills or value, Lusya had no intention of joining up with other travelers.

Why had her resolve become so firm on that matter? She still did not understand her thoughts and actions on that night. Or some of them since. After defeating Gisala, Lusya had felt distracted. Muddled. She had been underwater, struggling to surface and interact with the world above. Ariya had not seemed to have noticed. That feeling had abated since, but everything about that night still perplexed Lusya. When she thought about it, trying to unravel the mystery, she sometimes found her heart rate climbing, her chest tightening. Another mystery.

All that, in itself, was cause for concern. If she could not understand her own actions, sometimes even her own thoughts, who could say when she would do something to jeopardize her mission?

No, she already had. In her uncharacteristic quest for cruelty, she had wasted valuable time and given plenty of openings for something to go wrong. For Gisala to hurt Ariya or use her as a hostage again.

None of that had happened, but that was a mistake on the opponent’s part. That was not something Lusya could rely on going forward. If something like that night happened again, it might well mean Ariya’s end. Or Lusya’s, for that matter. But there was no way for her to take precautions against a situation so enigmatic.

There was something deeper. No, there were multiple somethings deeper that gnawed at her. Things she could not begin to grasp or express. It seemed every layer of this mystery added another two layers on discovery.

“Are we staying here for the night?” Ariya asked as Lusya neared the carriage.

Lusya nodded. “We are.”

There was plenty of light left in the day. They could have continued on. But giving Ariya a rest seemed prudent, after everything that had happened. Other than that, it did not seem anything in particular needed to be done with her. Her seed of Malice had grown again, but it was still smaller than most any other mortal’s reserves. Still the best candidate for Lusya’s task. It was remarkable how little her ordeal seemed to have affected her, in Malice or otherwise. Ariya’s explanation was that she had known Lusya was coming and everything was temporary, but it was still an impressive show of resilience.

“Are we keeping all this?” Ariya asked, waving behind her at what was left of the carriage’s contents. Aside from the spare swords, which the prisoners had had no use for, it was little more than scraps.

“Most likely not,” Lusya said. “I am imitating Ander’s actions, but the horses do not seem to obey me as they did him, and they somehow seem in poorer health. Selling them and what I cannot carry seems our best option.”

She would get quite a bit of coin out of it, and she still had the gold coin Ander had given her back in Larsev. She was still going to wait to exchange it, although Whitetree was large enough to have a coin exchange. One hundred silver coins would take up quite a bit of space, especially when she was about to get more. Between the sale and Ander’s supply of silver and copper, she could top off her funds and find some way to discard the excess. She cared little for what happened to it, so handing it to a random citizen or leaving it in the road seemed the best options. In the meantime, the gold would remain in reserve for emergencies.

Ariya frowned. “I’m gonna miss not walking. But okay, Lusya. If you say so.” She sighed. “I’m gonna miss Ander too.”

Lusya nodded, got on the seat, and urged the horses forward. She had little choice but to press on. Perhaps the answers to her questions would become clear with time and contemplation. If they did not, all she could do was try to be careful. There was no other choice. She could not abandon her task. She would revive Father.