CHAPTER 15

I was woken in the morning by a knock at the door. With the war so close, various people had been constantly flowing through the doors of the boy’s quarters and assumed this would be just one more of them.

The boy was already awake and went to get the door himself. When he came back, he was with Nalin, who automatically smiled when he saw me.

Although Nalin was still on crutches, he looked almost well. His bruises had disappeared and his cuts were now all scabs and scars. It seemed like ages ago he was hurt.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time,” he said to me in an ordinary speaking voice. When the boy and I instinctively hushed him, he loudly whispered, “What?”

I crept to the door leading to the bedroom and opened it just wide enough to peer into the room. “She’s still asleep,” I whispered to the boy.

“Who’s still asleep?” Nalin asked in a whisper.

“A girl we’re looking after,” the boy said simply. I liked that definition. “Anyway, what are you here for?”

“I’ve brought the maps you ordered.”

“Oh, good. You can lay them out here,” the boy stated, pointing to the nearby table.

Nalin hobbled over and unstrapped his satchel bag from one of his crutches.

“Here, sit down,” I offered, dragging over a chair next to the table.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said, as he opened his bag and dumped out its contents.

There were papers of all sorts and sizes. Whether it was a map or a drawing of a military tactic, each one had a picture of some sort on it.

“These are brilliant,” the boy said breathlessly while going through the pile.

Nalin looked a bit embarrassed; nevertheless, he was proud of his work.

“Really, Nalin, these are amazing,” the boy gushed.

I smiled at Nalin, picking up one of the maps. “I don’t know a thing about maps, nor do I claim to, but these have an astonishing amount of detail in them.”

“Oh, you don’t have to gush,” Nalin muttered. “As long as you approve of them.”

“I more than approve of them,” the boy said. “You should be proud of these.”

“I am,” Nalin admitted. “There’s one thing left I need to add to them though.” He shuffled through his papers, until he found the map he wanted. He handed it to the boy, pointing to one spot on it. “I don’t know what goes here.”

“Did you look through the records of our past navigators and huntsmen?” the boy asked.

“Yes, I did. There was no mention of this area. I don’t think anyone has been there.”

“That’s a critical area to the war effort,” the boy mused to himself. He looked at me.

“We’ll have to send people there to scout it out,” I told Nalin. “I’ll work on that right away.”

The boy gathered all the papers together and put them back into Nalin’s satchel. He handed it to him and helped him strap it back onto one of his crutches.

“Thank you for showing us the documents,” I said. “I’ll talk to the generals about who to send to explore the area.” We said our goodbyes and parted ways.

After Nalin left, the boy walked right past me and began tidying up the room. He moved the chair back to where it was and picked up some stray things, putting everything back in its designated spot. He looked up at me suddenly, as if just remembering that I was there.

“I’m going,” he said.

At first, I didn’t know what he was talking about, but when I realized he meant he wanted to go explore Nalin’s mystery area, I balked. “What do you mean you’re going? You can’t leave, not now at least.”

The boy went back to tidying things around the room. “I’ve already made up my mind,” he insisted and I knew he had. It always seemed to be like this with him.

“You’re needed here,” I reminded him, trying one final time to sway his opinion. “You’re the people’s commander, you can’t just leave.”

“I’m not the real commander, you know that. Besides, I need some time to myself to think. This is the perfect opportunity to get away, while still doing something beneficial for the cause.”

It was then that I knew this was really about what had occurred last night.

“Anyways, someone has to go,” he continued.

“Then I’m going, too.”

The boy looked up at me for the first time since he blurted out that he was going and I thought he was going to object.

“So be it,” he replied, as he opened the door. “Are you coming?”

I had no idea where the boy was going, but I knew that wherever he went, I would go, too. We rounded multiple corners and walked on many paths, ultimately ending up in front of Gerrard’s door. The boy didn’t even bother to knock; he just walked right in.

Gerrard and Devonport immediately stood up upon seeing us.

“Good, you’re both here,” the boy said. “I wanted to talk to you two. Please sit down.”

The generals sat at the table, while the boy paced around them, obviously making them feel uncomfortable.

“Nalin just showed me the maps and charts he made,” the boy started. “They’re all nearly done and he needs only a bit more information to complete them.”

“Good, I was wondering when he’d be done,” Gerrard said. “We can send someone to collect the remaining information.” The boy ignored him and continued. “Instead of sending someone else like last time, I’m going myself.”

Devonport and Gerrard looked aghast.

“Not alone though,” I added. “I’m also going.”

“B ... but,” Devonport stuttered. “What about your duties here? You’re the face of the cause and you’re the leader. You can’t just go.”

“What about our duties?” he asked. “I need a break from them before the war actually starts.”

“And I similarly.” I was quick to chime in.

“The cause doesn’t need us right now. You can function perfectly without us.” Seeing the boy and I were adamant, Devonport went mute.

“Then you two won’t travel alone,” Gerrard chimed in. “We’ll have three guards accompany you.”

“Three?” the boy said. “How will we avoid being conspicuous with three guards trailing alongside us?”

“It’s for your safety,” Devonport argued, a rare agreement with Gerrard.

“It’ll get us killed!” the boy exclaimed. “One guard,” he bargained.

“Two, then,” Gerrard compromised.

“Deal.”

“When do you plan to start the journey?” he asked.

“Tonight.”

The boy’s answer surprised the generals as well as me. I hadn’t expected to leave so soon.

“Can’t you leave tomorrow?” Devonport reasoned.

“We’re leaving tonight.”

The generals looked to me for support.

“Well, you heard him. We’re leaving tonight.”

“Kasia,” Gerrard called out. A girl emerged from the other room.

“Yes, sir,” she replied.

“How are you with combat skills?” he asked. “Particularly one-on-one.”

“Well, I’ve finished my training, sir.”

“Perfect.” Turning to us he said, “Kasia will accompany you on your journey.”

The boy nodded. “Prepare to leave tonight,” he told her.

“We still need one more,” General Devonport mused.

“Elspheth, my assistant, can be the other guard,” I said.

“That will do quite well,” the boy said. “She too has finished her combat training. Why don’t you go tell her to get ready while we find Nalin?”

I nodded.

Upon returning to my room, I found Elspheth sitting in her usual spot by the door.

“Elspheth, we’re going on a trip.”

That erased the scowl on her face, which I had begun to think it permanent. She actually looked pretty without it and I wondered if it would be considered rude if I told her so.

“Where to?” she asked.

“To a place where none of us has gone before,” I said and oddly, she didn’t ask anything more. She simply excused herself to start packing.

Elspheth came back some minutes later. She brought a few belongings tied up in a small piece of Red cloth.

“Is that all you’re going to bring?” I asked.

“It’s all I own,” she said in a matter of fact way and it was all I could do to nod.

Together we went back to Gerrard’s rooms.

Upon entering, the scene before us looked as though no one had moved, but Nalin was there.

“So, these are my explorers,” he said with his usual grin.

“What are you smiling at?” Elspheth growled.

“Good choice in guard,” Gerrard said under his breath. He winked at me and I remembered the first time we met at the former commander’s table.

I wished time could roll back to those days when we weren’t burdened with all the responsibility on our backs. There were people to take care of it for us then, but now we were those people and we had to take care of the others.

“Well then, we should get going,” the boy announced.

I looked out the window and saw that the Red sun was already starting to set.

We grabbed what little we could bring and packed it all in much the same way as Elspheth had packed her belongings. Our main concern and most of what we actually packed, was food for our journey. Everyone carried his or her share by somehow attaching it to him or herself. I attached mine to my dagger’s sheath and buckled that around my waist. In a short time, we were all ready to go.

Since we did not intend to be out exploring for long, our goodbyes were quick. I gave the two generals my blessing to act in my stead, as long as they both agreed on the course of action. Of course, the people would think that they were acting in the boy’s name. With that, we started our descent down into the real world away from the Trigons and the humans and away from the Red cause.