Chapter 3 3, Little one

Irin had packed a light backpack with the most essential things and filled the horses' saddlebags with food and water. It should be enough to last them until they reached their destination. She still couldn’t believe Koth had volunteered to come with her. She was grateful for his expertise. Irin thought she might have been able to figure out if the talisman was real or not, but for Koth it should be a walk in the park.

“Good morning, little one,” she heard a greeting, and she gritted her teeth.

“Good morning, I thought I told you I didn’t like you calling me that,” she said as she turned around and saw her travelling companion. He was wearing a pair of dark leather trousers and a long amber robe with patterns sewn onto it. As usual, it was open and showed off his tattooed chest.

“Did you? I don’t remember that,” he told her.

“I did. But if you have memory issues, I will tell you again. Please don’t call me that,” she sighed.

“Fine, I won’t. Are you ready to go?”

“I am; I have made sure the food and water is packed as well,” she told him and showed the saddlebags. They set off along the country road. They rode in silence for a while.

“Is it your first time travelling, little princess?” Koth asked her. Irin gave him a hard look. “What? You don’t like that either?”

“No.”

“Well then I don’t know what to call you,” he said.

“How about my name; I do listen to it,” Irin told him.

“Okay, we can try that.”

“And no, it’s not my first time. I’m not from Gahndas,” she said.

“Yeah, I figured as much. Let me guess, you're from some small country town and wanted to make it big in the city?” he asked.

“No, not really,” she told him, and she remained silent for a long while.

“I have offended you; I’m sorry,” he finally said.

“You didn’t,” Irin said, not looking at him.

“Is that so? Then I’m glad.” Another hour passed in silence.

“Why did you offer to go with me?” Irin asked.

“I’m not sure I did,” he told her, and then he laughed. Irin looked at him. His laughter was like nothing she had ever heard, like waves breaking against the city wall during a storm.

“But the high priest said…”

“That old man more or less volunteered me. I just said I didn’t think it was a good idea for them to send you by yourself. Apparently, he took it as me saying I would keep you company,” Koth explained.

“You should have told him. I feel bad that you have to do this if you don’t want to. Do you have other things that need to be done?” she asked, feeling worried he had felt obligated to join her.

“Take it easy, little one. I meant what I said. It will be good for me to get on the road and see some new things. I tend to stay in my tower and work. There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes you need to stretch your legs.”

“Oh, okay. I won’t be cross with you if you decide you need to go home,” she told him.

“That is good to know, but I will go along with you. What do you know about our destination?” he asked. Irin thought about it; everyone knew about Behenoth. The city where crime was the main occupation and where you were more likely to be judged for being honest than for being crooked.

“It’s a city run by powerful crime syndicates. As it’s on the other side of the Raven Mountains, the rest of Eridaron turns a blind eye to it, and it’s descended into madness,” she told him.

“Do you think it’s madness?” Irin considered the question.

“Maybe not, I guess they are trying to live their lives just as we are. But the fact that there is no law makes me think the place is just chaos,” she said.

“There might be a different kind of law. You think too simplistically, little human. The law over there is the word of the leader of each house, or family. It’s not how things are usually done, but if it works for them, then who are we to judge them?”

“You are right, but does it really work for them? From what I have read, murder, theft and assault are commonplace on their streets,” she pointed out.

“It is.” He nodded. “But it is also common in Gahndas. The only thing that differentiates the two cities is that in Behenoth, things happen in the open, while in Gahndas, they happen in the shadows.” Irin considered this for a moment. It was true that during her time in the city, she had realised it had a darker side. She hadn’t really thought about it, as the other clerics had told her it was just a part of a larger city. But now, when she thought about it, it did mean the people living in the darker part of the city didn’t have the same security and protection as others.

“I guess if that part of the city is open for everyone to see, it would be harder to intimidate and take advantage of people,” she said.

“Maybe, maybe not. People are complex, and there is always a reason for them to keep secrets they don’t wish others to know. In the end, that can be used to hurt them. But yes, it makes it harder to hide what happens,” Koth told her.

“Have you been there before?” He didn’t answer right away, and Irin began to think she had asked something too personal.

“Yes, but it has been several years since I was last there,” he finally said.

“Good, then you will have a general idea where we need to go. If it was just me, I would have got lost so many times. I can’t even tell you how difficult it was for me when I first came to Gahndas. One time, priestess Helea sent me to deliver a letter to the court, and before I knew it, I was about to walk right off a dock. I still have no idea how I got that turned around,” Irin told him, and laughed at herself.

“And you would have still gone on this mission alone?” he asked her.

“Of course, if that is what is needed of me. I know my goddess will guide me to where I need to be.” Koth shook his head in disbelief.

“Where are you from, little one?” he then asked. Irin felt irritation bubble up as he called her little one again, but she decided to ignore it, for now.

“There is a small village between Horath and Panne. It’s called Hira. My family lives just outside it,” she told him.

“Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes. I miss the open fields of wheat and orchards with apples. And I miss my family, at least most of the time. But it’s nice not to have eight little ones to look after all the time,” she admitted.

“You have eight siblings?” Koth sounded shocked, and Irin laughed.

“Well, not exactly. I have five blood siblings: the eldest is my brother, then me, then two sets of twins within a year. Then there are my cousins; the eldest is the same age as the elder twins, followed by the twins, and lastly Ayyan, who's the baby of the family. I know they aren’t my siblings, but their parents passed away just after Ayyan was born, and they're as much a part of the family as any of us,” she told him.

“Ten children?” She laughed again at his expression.

“Yes, it is a lot,” she agreed. They continued along the road. The landscape began to shift; the open fields were starting to become dotted with trees.

“How did you come to the Gahndas?” Koth asked Irin.

“I travelled with a group of traders my father knows.”

“By land?”

“Yes, we don’t have any ports near my home,” she said.

“We’re coming up to a wooded part of the road,” Koth told her, sounding like he was expecting her to understand the hidden meaning behind the statement.

“Okay.”

“That means you should be on the lookout for ambushes,” he sighed when he realised she hadn’t understood what he was implying.

“Oh, this close to the city?”

“We’ve been travelling for over three hours, the city watch's protection doesn't extend this far out. We’re on our own.”

“Right, that’s okay. Neither of us is defenceless,” Irin said.

“Sure, little one. If we end up in trouble, just stay close and I’ll protect you.”

“Look here, wizard. You may keep calling me ‘little one’ and you may look down on me, but I know how to defend myself. I wasn’t sent on this mission just because of how I look. So just make sure you stick with me, and I’ll protect you, okay?” she told him. Koth looked at her and chuckled.

“You really need to tame that temper of yours.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my temper. Any sane person would be irritated when they’re being made fun of,” she huffed. He just shook his head and they continued on in silence. Irin wouldn’t admit it even under torture, but she was creeped out by the woods they entered. She was happy she didn’t need to travel the road alone. Just as the thought entered her mind, a rope flew up at chest height across the road. Irin managed to get her horse to stop before it rode into it; Koth had also stopped his horse and dismounted.