Chapter 20 - I Could Do That

If I ever found out who was responsible for this, I’d probably kill them.
And no, I wasn’t talking about the villagers. They didn’t know the nightmare they were bringing my way. This was just some sort of sick, twisted joke from whatever or whoever controlled the system and it ground my nerves raw.
I mean, how? Dusk take me, how did Gwendoline end up on my wagon?
She’d gotten into the back with the villagers before I started storing the goods, which really presented an immediate problem in itself. With everyone seated under the canopy, just as I’d predicted, there was no room for any of the goods or handcarts that the villagers had brought with them. I’d been working under the assumption that the others knew about my bag because their husbands did, but using it with Gwendoline nearby was another step onto a precarious ledge.
Unless I wanted to look like a jerk by denying the villagers the ride I’d already promised, all because of some lie about why I suddenly couldn’t use my bag, I didn’t have an option. Which meant that I’d just have to control the narrative. I could do that…
To that end, I made no secret about using my bag. I announced to the group that I was placing the goods into it as if it was the most regular thing in the world, receiving thanks from the villagers. Gwendoline certainly did look interested, but she didn’t say anything about my possession, instead only commenting about what a “nice gesture” it was for me to use the bag to transport common goods for people.
That irked me. I didn’t need her praise but I smiled and did my best to pretend it was no big deal. Either way, we got past the first potential hiccup with relatively little fuss and onto the road.
Quiet pulled against the reins, the sun still setting in the distance as we broke through the last of the thicker trees that surrounded Gold’s Lodge. Thomas’s crew gave us only the briefest of nods, refusing to let themselves get distracted by my not-so-shiny, new-ish wagon when they were so close to finishing. They’d probably spend the night in town, celebrating at the tavern over a job well, well done. Or I hoped they would at least.
I could hear the light chatter coming from the back. Children asking to see tricks… the women asking about other towns… and Gwendoline happily answering. She was a people person… she always was. Even worse, she was never subtle about who she worked for.
“He must be a wonder to behold… I mean, he’s a prince.”
“What, you don’t think Willem is a wonder anymore, Mary? I guess that many years of marriage will do that,” another woman teased, eliciting laughs from the group.
“Wulfric’s no prize either, Jules,” Mary snapped back, earning another round of laughs. I could only wish the trip would be filled with jokes and complaints about their husbands. That would have at least only driven me mildly insane. Unfortunately, Lana steered the topic right back toward the edge of the abyss.
“Have you been traveling with the prince for long, Sister? They say he’s actually the Hero of Legend from the Tale of Dusk and Dawn… is it true?”
Here came the incessant ass-kissing for someone who couldn’t even hear her. I had to stop myself from gagging, and my hands gripped onto the reins just a little bit tighter. Quiet snorted and pulled at the reins again, causing Willow to slightly snap out of the fugue-state she was in. I’d hoped the project at hand would continue to interest her more than Gwendoline. I’d done so well up until now not reacting, or I’d thought I had at least.
With how Willow had been so far, if I’d made it obvious that Gwendoline was the one that she’d already seen me worried about, there was no project in the world that would keep her from paying attention. I tried to command my hands to stop gripping the reins as hard as they were and only one of them listened. It was probably better that it stayed tense… I tended to cast with my left.
“The prince is… driven,” Gwendoline said, almost tentatively.
“Driven, Sister?”
“Please, I insist you call me by my name… I already get enough people trying to call me Royal Dawnmother now and I’ve never been fond of titles,” Gwendoline corrected with a soft sigh, as if she knew no one was going to listen to her. It was just too ingrained into people to call them Sister. “But yes… driven is the best way I’d describe him based on the little time I’ve gotten to spend with him.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the Mountains of Mist… Mist.. uh… Misttree?” one of the children asked and another laugh filled the wagon.
“Mystery, Helga,” Mary corrected with a patient tone. “The hero’s party journeys to the Mountains of Mystery to claim the First Jewel of Dusk before the Lord can rise and claim it, then the Stranger lights the path to the rest.”
“The songs never quite tell it in the same order… though yes, the Mountains of Mystery are the generally assumed first stop based on the Crown’s hunt for the first Jewel’s location,” Gwendoline explained. She sounded unexpectedly tired. “My Sisters in Shinecliff were incredibly fond of the tale due to our Sanctum’s history, so much so I could recite it from memory even now. It was told almost nightly when we completed evening chores and I never quite expected the journey to be… slowed by the lack of the third companion.”
“And that’s who you said you were looking for? Is it the Stranger?” Lana asked. How much had they already talked to her? It was a question I couldn’t ask for obvious reasons but I still wished that I could.
“Huh, I guess I missed that part. You all were already telling her about Darla when I found you, I guess I didn’t think about why the Sister had come out this way when the closest Sanctum is in Hedgely,” Willow said, turning on the bench so she could better face them. “So, you were coming all the way to Danwood before that just to see if this companion was there?”
Quiet yanked hard at the reins, her head bucking enough that caused Willow to look at her, then briefly at me, before she turned back to lean over the bench toward the rest of them.
“Not sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. It’s really just those of us who’ve lived there since we first founded it and then Corbin… Sure, he’s new, a bit strange, and Activated for that matter, but I’m rather positive none of the songs tell tale of an Alchemist assisting the Hero of Legend.”
Willow’s tone betrayed nothing and I resisted the urge to shoot her a look. The way she’d phrased it, it sounded like she could have been trying to divert Gwendoline… But the songs didn’t always tell the whole story. I knew that… and I knew that Gwendoline did as well. And whether Willow had already connected the dots or if it was happening in that very moment, I felt my stomach drop.
I mentally weighed how much fallout would happen if I fired Willow at that moment. I mean really, why had she called attention to me!?
“Mister Corbin isn’t a hero, he only cares about his farm!” Helga said, only for Mary to shush her.
“Helga no! That’s not what your father said at all! And not kind to say when he’s giving us a ride,” she said quickly, before adding. “I’m so sorry, Corbin.”
“Don’t worry about it…” I said, mostly because the young girl was sort of right. But also because I had much bigger concerns than what the locals really thought of me. “But yes… as Willow said, I’m just an Alchemist… Starting a farm.”
“And how long have you been Activated, Mister Corbin?” Gwendoline asked, clearly curious in the worst possible way. “And as an Alchemist of all things?”
“Just a few months,” I said, choosing to stick to the bits of story I’d let out so far. “I was training for a different role actually… but I guess the Fates had a different plan for me since I ended up as an Alchemist. Truthfully, it might suit me more. Life’s funny that way.”
“What sort of role, if you don’t mind me asking? I’ve only met a few others who were brought up in the church, were you meant to be a Priest?”
“Oh stars no,” I said, maybe a bit too quickly. “No offense meant.”
“None taken,” she replied, and actually sounded like she meant it.
“I trained in Manaway,” I said, repeating the lie I was sure she’d hear from someone if I tried to avoid it. “Ran away when I decided it wasn’t for me. Just took a few bad trips during my studies to figure out that I’m not the adventuring type.”
“I’ve heard there are many students who spend years on the path in Manaway. I can’t blame you for not wanting to do the same,” Gwendoline said and I felt my shoulders relax just a bit. “Though, I can’t say I’ve heard of many outright abandoning the path once they’d been accepted either.”
“Guess I’m an innovator,” I said, trying to shrug it away. I needed to get her to stop asking me questions, and there was one surefire way to sidetrack her, even if only temporarily. “I thought the Sisters of Shinecliff tended to stay at the Sanctum down there, how’d you end up out here… and wrapped up with Prince Frederick at that…”
I was forcing myself to sound as nonchalant as I could. Why would “the missing companion” be bringing the prince up? Gwendoline could investigate, decide there was nothing to see out here, and then be on her way. Why hadn’t I seen that before?
Maybe I was getting too comfortable that I’d let panic take over. I’d been so convinced that complete anonymity was the only way that I’d allowed myself to get tunnel vision… Thankfully, I could always count on Gwendoline to recount how she met “her Lord Prince.”
“While I know there are many chapters in the kingdom that believe this to be about themselves… Our Sanctum has always known it would be one of our Sisters that would accompany the Hero of Legend. It’s been in our ancient texts since the first Royal Dawnmother, founder of our Sanctum, accompanied Graham Dawnmere, the first Dawn’s Chosen and founder of the kingdom we live in. Several months ago, the Dawnmother Superior for my Sanctum asked me to visit North’s Edge to provide services and meet with the local Sisters there. I thought it strange since I wasn’t one of the Activated Sisters that could truly assist the needy, but I was also excited to see more of the world,” she explained, readily launching into a story I’d heard countless times. “After just over a month there… the prince arrived and I Activated. And that meant that I didn’t just become another one of the Activated Sisters… I became the Activated Sister… the new Royal Dawnmother…”
“Oh? That must be why you seemed so familiar when you approached with the others,” I said, latching onto her explanation and brushing past the way she seemed to trail off at the end.
I had no idea how much longer it was until Darla gave birth, so I had to account for the possibility that she’d be here when Dartigan came back around. With how much he talked, the moment she mentioned North’s Edge, he’d no doubt mention that he’d met me only a few hours outside of it. I just had to make sure that there was nothing about me that stood out as suspicious. There were some things I couldn’t control, but when the lies I’d spread reached her was one of them.
“I left North’s Edge, stars, a few months back now. Perhaps I saw you while there,” I explained, easing my grip on the reins. I could feel Willow’s attention on me, which oddly made me feel like I needed to try harder to keep my composure.
“It’s certainly a possibility,” Gwendoline agreed, humming to herself. “I believe you must be right, perhaps our paths did cross paths while we were both in the town. There really is something about you that seems familiar…”
Quiet bucked her head, once again protesting my grip.
“Sheesh you’re going to strangle her,” Willow said, reaching over and taking the reins away. “She needs to get used to me handling her too if you’re going to be sending me for supplies.”
Much to my chagrin, Quiet calmed, shaking her mane briefly before continuing a peaceful trot forward. Willow smirked at me, settling her hands onto her lap.
“I’d be neglecting my duties if I didn’t ask, Corbin. Did you happen to see a man, roughly your age leaving town? If you happened to be there that is… I only recall seeing him from behind, but he was wearing rather strange garb,” Gwendoline asked. Now that my hands were off the reins, passed to Willow sitting on the front bench next to me, I didn’t have an excuse to stay so rigid. I looked back at her and shook my head.
“Can’t say that I did. I might have left before all of that happened. But what do you mean by strange?”
“Perhaps strange was the wrong word… it seemed of a make and style that I can’t say I’m familiar with and the fabric looked like nothing I’d seen,” she explained, looking up at the canopy. “Prince Frederick insists the man is the last of our companions, but…”
I perked up slightly. Was that doubt? I held my tongue, letting her take a sip of water from her skin before she continued.
“Sorry, the air is dry out here,” she said, wiping her mouth. “Anyway… the Tale says the Stranger should have Activated at the same time as the rest of us. Prince Frederick is convinced the man he was chasing was that companion, but I distinctly remember not seeing any information for him. I don’t mean to doubt him, all I have seen suggests he is the Hero of Legend… the one we now call Dawn’s Chosen but… err… I’m sorry, you all were kind enough to give me this ride. My task or concerns aren’t your burden to carry.”
I tried not to let surprise show. Was… was she doubting the prophecy? No… she was sure Frederick was the Hero. I wasn’t foolish enough to think a moment of doubt was enough of an opening to make her abandon the mission entirely, Gwendoline was as devout as they came. But…
But I’d never thought to see if she could be swayed. What if… what if I could somehow convince her that the prophecy was wrong? Was there a way to remove the biggest point of protection that he had? I could… I could…
I could what…
Talk more to Gwendoline just to suggest she didn’t need to follow the man for… what reason? If I didn’t actually convince her, then I’d have only revealed I had a reason I wanted to stop the prophecy… and if I put myself in that position, wasn’t the only possible outcome the same thing as every other life?
No… no I had to leave it alone. She wasn’t pressing me… that was a good sign. I just had to convince her I was a regular, oddly rich, former magical student that decided to start a farm… and an inn… and that I killed a Stoneboar because she’d no doubt hear about that knowing my luck.
I just had to stick to the plan… stick to the goal. I was going to make ale. I was going to have quiet life. I just needed to maintain my cover until Darla gave birth… I could do that.
Couldn’t I?