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i_read_whatSo last time, our characters reunited, while some poor rich lady scapegoat got run out of town.
Can they help her?
We rejoin our heroes as they're trying to leave the city. It's more difficult than it sounds. The square is filling up with people, and they're all heading toward the Cathedral. Robin thinks that they're probably all coming because of the demon, and are streaming in to show their piety. She notes that the Councilors have probably gotten the message - get in Padrik's way and meet poor Orlina Woolwright's fate.
Robin recognizes that Padrik's set a precedent here: there's no court of law or due process for the accused, just Padrik and the mob as judge and jury. It's pretty scary.
So the wagon is stuck until after dark. On the plus side, they do have the chance to reclaim their belongings. She doesn't get a chance to speak to the innkeeper, but the inn's pretty busy at the moment, and they'd paid in advance anyway. Robin does feel guilty for leaving Ardana in the lurch, but figures that if Ardana hears what happened, she'd probably understand.
Both Robin and I think it's very likely that Ardana may be contemplating a swift relocation herself.
It's a good thing they did get their belongings though, because if Padrik does have a genuine magic worker in his retinue (and we know there are a few in the church), then they could theoretically track Robin and Kestrel through their shit, if they ever put two and two together.
Unfortunately, they don't have much by way of provisions. They do make it out of the gate though (even though the guards are a bit quizzical - people don't generally try to get OUT of a protected city when it gets dark), but who cares, they're leaving!
They do have to make camp soon enough. There's grain for the horses, but not much by way of food for humans or lamp oil. Only a bit of charcoal for the stove. They manage a meal of griddle-cakes and honey and have a hungry, cold, night. On the plus side, make up sex is still pretty nice.
They resume in the morning. Interestingly, they haven't come across Orlina Woolwright. She's on foot, probably not used to walking, but there's still no sign of her. Robin is the one driving, and she's bewildered.
For his part, Jonny's still asleep. And Robin's feeling some guilt over how they fought:
But Jonny didn't answer her; he was still asleep. She swallowed, and glanced back at the closed door behind her, feeling rather guilty. His red-rimmed eyes had told her more than he himself had about how he had spent the previous night. Well, she hadn't exactly enjoyed herself, but she had known where he was, and that he was safe enough in their room in the inn. He'd had no idea where she was, or what had happened to her—and likely, if they both hadn't been mistrustful of anything that passed for an authority in Gradford, he'd have had her name and description up with the Constables before sunrise.
That bewildered her a little, and touched her a great deal—and made her feel horribly guilty for making him so miserable. She wasn't used to having someone worry over where she was and where she had gone. Or at least, not since she was old enough to leave the family wagon and go out on her own. And to have someone worry himself sleepless over her . . .
She acknowledges that she'd be frantic if their roles were reversed and reminds herself that she promised she won't be so stupid again, and this is a good sign:
She shook her head and gave up on it. She had promised she would never be that stupid again, and she meant to keep that promise. Too much going on, and not enough time to think about it all, that was the problem. Too many things happening too fast, and they had completely-neglected to make plans together. Next time they'd do better. Weren't they partners? That was one meaning of vanderei: "partners on the road." Partners didn't leave one another in the dark. He never forgot that; it was time she started remembering.
COMMUNICATION! Yay!
I mean, to be fair, I think both of the characters were dealing with warring coping mechanisms. But it sounds good that they're going to work on that.
Robin realizes that it's possible that Orlina isn't walking of her own free will. She remembers Jonny mentioning the change in attitude after Padrik had put the token on her neck. If she's bespelled, she might have been forced to walk all night.
Robin worries that they might have condemned an old woman to death by exhaustion by not trying to disrupt the token with Bardic Magic. She does note that Weaving is a physically intensive job - lots of hauling, walking and lifting. The woman MIGHT be more fit than she expects.
Which means that she could have managed to walk a day and night without collapsing. She might be a full day ahead of them. Eek. There goes their hopeful plan of catching Orlina and then having a comfortable inn stay. It'll be a quick re-provisioning and go. (Robin winces at the idea of inn pricing.)
The innkeeper, by the way, is pretty up for the provisioning. Jonny stays asleep during the stop. Poor guy. But Robin gets to have some fun, and their God-Star profits paid for everything. (And would have three times over.)
Sadly, the innkeeper and his staff haven't seen Orlina. Robin tries to rationalize that Orlina isn't a Roma or Bard, and they don't owe her anything. They're doing their best to find her, and if they can't, so be it.
But she doesn't really believe that. She and Jonny both know the demon's a fraud. They even, arguably, had proof at the time. (I don't necessarily agree with this. The crowd wasn't particularly inclined to listen to a woman or a disabled man, but I can appreciate that Robin still feels a sense of responsibility.)
And Robin's smart enough to realize that while she might have been in a position to sabotage things, she likely would have gotten caught. So that's probably character growth right there.
Jonny wakes up around this time and she fills him in, particularly the fact that no one at the inn saw Orlina. Jonny points out that, if bespelled, she might have just walked passed the inn at night. It's a full moon, so there would have been plenty of light by that time. So there's still some hope.
And more character growth! The two actually discuss how to approach the Abbey. They know they're not likely to be friendly. And they banter a bit here:
I've b-been th-thinking about th-that," Kestrel replied, around a mouthful of pie. "I have a p-p-plan. If y-you l-like it t-too, that is."
She grinned; they must have been thinking identical thoughts. "Just so it's better than one of my plans!" she teased. "Going in there in disguise as a Brother, for instance, is probably not a good idea. The last thing I need to do is have to rescue you from an Abbot who thinks you're one of his novices—or have him discover that I'm not a boy!"
"I'd th-thought of th-that," he admitted. "It w-would s-serve you r-right, after all, t-to b-be on the other s-side of th-the w-w-worry!"
The fact that they can joke about it is probably a good sign. We get a cutaway before we hear the actual plan though. It might still involve a disguise though.
And indeed, when they get to the Abbey, Robin's wearing her warmest and drabbest clothes. She's playing respectable, wealthy young Gradford woman. And when the hostile Brother Pierce answers the door, she takes charge immediately.
"I'm no vagabond, you insolent knave!" Robin said, with shrill indignation. "If this were Gradford, I'd have my servants horsewhip you to teach you manners!" She had heard enough of the wealthy women of Gradford and the way they spoke to underlings who offended them to enable her to produce a pretty fair imitation of their mannerisms. She drew herself up tall and proud, as he gaped at her, clearly taken aback by her rude response. "I am Rowen Woolwright, sister to Master Orlina Woolwright of Gradford, and I demand to know what you have done with my sister! That cur of a High Bishop sent her here on some fool's errand and—"
It's interesting that Kestrel's plan involves playing aristocrat. Anyway Brother Pierce is pretty smug about the whole thing.
"Shut your mouth, woman, before it condemns you to a fate like hers!" he snapped, interrupting her. Now it was her turn to stare at him in simulated surprise that he should even dare to interrupt her. "We'll have no truck with the agents of darkness here, nor heretics, either! She's not here, the sorcerous bawd! She conjured a demon and sent it to destroy the Holy High Bishop, but he was stronger than her dark magic, and the Hand of the Sacrificed God protected him. He defeated the demon, as a hundred witnesses can attest, and the demon itself betrayed its mistress."
Robin hoped that she looked appropriately stunned. Evidently she did, for Brother Pierce smiled nastily.
"High Bishop Padrik had every right to condemn her, but he forgave her and sent her on a pilgrimage of penance to this Abbey," he said, his voice full of glee. "She's been sent to a holy shrine in the hills by our Abbot, as is his right and duty. She was unrepentant when she came, and he has sent her on to be judged. The Sacrificed God himself will be her judge once she reaches the holy shrine of the hills; if she returns from the shrine, well and good, she will be restored to her former position by the High Bishop himself."
Obviously if the woman dies reaching the shrine, it means she's clearly guilty. Otherwise God will have protected her. Her property will be confiscated and turned over to the Cathedral and the Abbey. Robin now understands Padrik's generosity. He's probably gotten a shit ton of money this way.
She asks after the shrine. It's on the road toward a village called Westhaven. Robin puts it together immediately: Orlina is being sent to Skull Hill.
So now, what the Ghost said, made sense. It's a long-running enterprise: they put a pendant on a victim, send them up the Hill, and the Ghost murders them. He doesn't have a choice.
But now they know exactly where they're going. They've even spotted her tracks. I'm still not sure it's really believable that they could make up her day's head start, but I'll go with it. Eventually, they see her.
A fast-moving shadow ahead of them, a shadow that fluttered near the ground, with a flurry of skirts. It was Orlina, indeed, and she paid no attention whatsoever to the horses bearing down on her. Kestrel cracked the whip, startling the horses into a dangerous gallop; the wagon lurched as the horses bolted
A few yards more, and it would be too late!
So Robin basically just tackles her and yanks the pendant off. Fortunately, Orlina doesn't run for it. Instead, she sits up, blinking. Asking what she's doing here. And this time, Kestrel gets to show off a little:
"What am I doing here?" she demanded, in a strong, deep voice. "What has been happening?"
Jonny came around the front of the wagon, first pausing long enough to soothe the bewildered mares. He reached down his hand, with a courteous grace Robin had seldom seen in him—except when he had been in his uncle's Palace. In one heartbeat, he had gone from the vagabond, to the Prince in disguise.
A useful ability. Orlina Woolwright recognized that grace for what it was, and took his hand. He helped her to rise; she accepted that aid, and when she next spoke, her voice was softer, less demanding.
Etiquette is not a dump skill after all.
Jonny helps Robin up and leads Orlina to the wagon. They offer to explain everything if she's got time. She's definitely got that now, and the chapter ends with Orlina waiting for the explanation.
Can they help her?
We rejoin our heroes as they're trying to leave the city. It's more difficult than it sounds. The square is filling up with people, and they're all heading toward the Cathedral. Robin thinks that they're probably all coming because of the demon, and are streaming in to show their piety. She notes that the Councilors have probably gotten the message - get in Padrik's way and meet poor Orlina Woolwright's fate.
Robin recognizes that Padrik's set a precedent here: there's no court of law or due process for the accused, just Padrik and the mob as judge and jury. It's pretty scary.
So the wagon is stuck until after dark. On the plus side, they do have the chance to reclaim their belongings. She doesn't get a chance to speak to the innkeeper, but the inn's pretty busy at the moment, and they'd paid in advance anyway. Robin does feel guilty for leaving Ardana in the lurch, but figures that if Ardana hears what happened, she'd probably understand.
Both Robin and I think it's very likely that Ardana may be contemplating a swift relocation herself.
It's a good thing they did get their belongings though, because if Padrik does have a genuine magic worker in his retinue (and we know there are a few in the church), then they could theoretically track Robin and Kestrel through their shit, if they ever put two and two together.
Unfortunately, they don't have much by way of provisions. They do make it out of the gate though (even though the guards are a bit quizzical - people don't generally try to get OUT of a protected city when it gets dark), but who cares, they're leaving!
They do have to make camp soon enough. There's grain for the horses, but not much by way of food for humans or lamp oil. Only a bit of charcoal for the stove. They manage a meal of griddle-cakes and honey and have a hungry, cold, night. On the plus side, make up sex is still pretty nice.
They resume in the morning. Interestingly, they haven't come across Orlina Woolwright. She's on foot, probably not used to walking, but there's still no sign of her. Robin is the one driving, and she's bewildered.
For his part, Jonny's still asleep. And Robin's feeling some guilt over how they fought:
But Jonny didn't answer her; he was still asleep. She swallowed, and glanced back at the closed door behind her, feeling rather guilty. His red-rimmed eyes had told her more than he himself had about how he had spent the previous night. Well, she hadn't exactly enjoyed herself, but she had known where he was, and that he was safe enough in their room in the inn. He'd had no idea where she was, or what had happened to her—and likely, if they both hadn't been mistrustful of anything that passed for an authority in Gradford, he'd have had her name and description up with the Constables before sunrise.
That bewildered her a little, and touched her a great deal—and made her feel horribly guilty for making him so miserable. She wasn't used to having someone worry over where she was and where she had gone. Or at least, not since she was old enough to leave the family wagon and go out on her own. And to have someone worry himself sleepless over her . . .
She acknowledges that she'd be frantic if their roles were reversed and reminds herself that she promised she won't be so stupid again, and this is a good sign:
She shook her head and gave up on it. She had promised she would never be that stupid again, and she meant to keep that promise. Too much going on, and not enough time to think about it all, that was the problem. Too many things happening too fast, and they had completely-neglected to make plans together. Next time they'd do better. Weren't they partners? That was one meaning of vanderei: "partners on the road." Partners didn't leave one another in the dark. He never forgot that; it was time she started remembering.
COMMUNICATION! Yay!
I mean, to be fair, I think both of the characters were dealing with warring coping mechanisms. But it sounds good that they're going to work on that.
Robin realizes that it's possible that Orlina isn't walking of her own free will. She remembers Jonny mentioning the change in attitude after Padrik had put the token on her neck. If she's bespelled, she might have been forced to walk all night.
Robin worries that they might have condemned an old woman to death by exhaustion by not trying to disrupt the token with Bardic Magic. She does note that Weaving is a physically intensive job - lots of hauling, walking and lifting. The woman MIGHT be more fit than she expects.
Which means that she could have managed to walk a day and night without collapsing. She might be a full day ahead of them. Eek. There goes their hopeful plan of catching Orlina and then having a comfortable inn stay. It'll be a quick re-provisioning and go. (Robin winces at the idea of inn pricing.)
The innkeeper, by the way, is pretty up for the provisioning. Jonny stays asleep during the stop. Poor guy. But Robin gets to have some fun, and their God-Star profits paid for everything. (And would have three times over.)
Sadly, the innkeeper and his staff haven't seen Orlina. Robin tries to rationalize that Orlina isn't a Roma or Bard, and they don't owe her anything. They're doing their best to find her, and if they can't, so be it.
But she doesn't really believe that. She and Jonny both know the demon's a fraud. They even, arguably, had proof at the time. (I don't necessarily agree with this. The crowd wasn't particularly inclined to listen to a woman or a disabled man, but I can appreciate that Robin still feels a sense of responsibility.)
And Robin's smart enough to realize that while she might have been in a position to sabotage things, she likely would have gotten caught. So that's probably character growth right there.
Jonny wakes up around this time and she fills him in, particularly the fact that no one at the inn saw Orlina. Jonny points out that, if bespelled, she might have just walked passed the inn at night. It's a full moon, so there would have been plenty of light by that time. So there's still some hope.
And more character growth! The two actually discuss how to approach the Abbey. They know they're not likely to be friendly. And they banter a bit here:
I've b-been th-thinking about th-that," Kestrel replied, around a mouthful of pie. "I have a p-p-plan. If y-you l-like it t-too, that is."
She grinned; they must have been thinking identical thoughts. "Just so it's better than one of my plans!" she teased. "Going in there in disguise as a Brother, for instance, is probably not a good idea. The last thing I need to do is have to rescue you from an Abbot who thinks you're one of his novices—or have him discover that I'm not a boy!"
"I'd th-thought of th-that," he admitted. "It w-would s-serve you r-right, after all, t-to b-be on the other s-side of th-the w-w-worry!"
The fact that they can joke about it is probably a good sign. We get a cutaway before we hear the actual plan though. It might still involve a disguise though.
And indeed, when they get to the Abbey, Robin's wearing her warmest and drabbest clothes. She's playing respectable, wealthy young Gradford woman. And when the hostile Brother Pierce answers the door, she takes charge immediately.
"I'm no vagabond, you insolent knave!" Robin said, with shrill indignation. "If this were Gradford, I'd have my servants horsewhip you to teach you manners!" She had heard enough of the wealthy women of Gradford and the way they spoke to underlings who offended them to enable her to produce a pretty fair imitation of their mannerisms. She drew herself up tall and proud, as he gaped at her, clearly taken aback by her rude response. "I am Rowen Woolwright, sister to Master Orlina Woolwright of Gradford, and I demand to know what you have done with my sister! That cur of a High Bishop sent her here on some fool's errand and—"
It's interesting that Kestrel's plan involves playing aristocrat. Anyway Brother Pierce is pretty smug about the whole thing.
"Shut your mouth, woman, before it condemns you to a fate like hers!" he snapped, interrupting her. Now it was her turn to stare at him in simulated surprise that he should even dare to interrupt her. "We'll have no truck with the agents of darkness here, nor heretics, either! She's not here, the sorcerous bawd! She conjured a demon and sent it to destroy the Holy High Bishop, but he was stronger than her dark magic, and the Hand of the Sacrificed God protected him. He defeated the demon, as a hundred witnesses can attest, and the demon itself betrayed its mistress."
Robin hoped that she looked appropriately stunned. Evidently she did, for Brother Pierce smiled nastily.
"High Bishop Padrik had every right to condemn her, but he forgave her and sent her on a pilgrimage of penance to this Abbey," he said, his voice full of glee. "She's been sent to a holy shrine in the hills by our Abbot, as is his right and duty. She was unrepentant when she came, and he has sent her on to be judged. The Sacrificed God himself will be her judge once she reaches the holy shrine of the hills; if she returns from the shrine, well and good, she will be restored to her former position by the High Bishop himself."
Obviously if the woman dies reaching the shrine, it means she's clearly guilty. Otherwise God will have protected her. Her property will be confiscated and turned over to the Cathedral and the Abbey. Robin now understands Padrik's generosity. He's probably gotten a shit ton of money this way.
She asks after the shrine. It's on the road toward a village called Westhaven. Robin puts it together immediately: Orlina is being sent to Skull Hill.
So now, what the Ghost said, made sense. It's a long-running enterprise: they put a pendant on a victim, send them up the Hill, and the Ghost murders them. He doesn't have a choice.
But now they know exactly where they're going. They've even spotted her tracks. I'm still not sure it's really believable that they could make up her day's head start, but I'll go with it. Eventually, they see her.
A fast-moving shadow ahead of them, a shadow that fluttered near the ground, with a flurry of skirts. It was Orlina, indeed, and she paid no attention whatsoever to the horses bearing down on her. Kestrel cracked the whip, startling the horses into a dangerous gallop; the wagon lurched as the horses bolted
A few yards more, and it would be too late!
So Robin basically just tackles her and yanks the pendant off. Fortunately, Orlina doesn't run for it. Instead, she sits up, blinking. Asking what she's doing here. And this time, Kestrel gets to show off a little:
"What am I doing here?" she demanded, in a strong, deep voice. "What has been happening?"
Jonny came around the front of the wagon, first pausing long enough to soothe the bewildered mares. He reached down his hand, with a courteous grace Robin had seldom seen in him—except when he had been in his uncle's Palace. In one heartbeat, he had gone from the vagabond, to the Prince in disguise.
A useful ability. Orlina Woolwright recognized that grace for what it was, and took his hand. He helped her to rise; she accepted that aid, and when she next spoke, her voice was softer, less demanding.
Etiquette is not a dump skill after all.
Jonny helps Robin up and leads Orlina to the wagon. They offer to explain everything if she's got time. She's definitely got that now, and the chapter ends with Orlina waiting for the explanation.