Kindred by John Anstett
Chapter 1
"You don't understand, I was there, from the beginning and they didn't even know it. I saw everything and I'm still not sure how it ended the way it did. At first there were just three, leaving Oberon like any other citizens, maybe going back to their farms, but something caught my eye. Maybe it we the pretty girl who wanted to hide her face, or the loud talker who seemed to want everyone to hear his boring story. I think they got my attention but the third one who kept it; gave me reason to follow and see more. He was not a big man, nor very old, but he had a presence around him, and he was well aware of his surrounding. I thought for a moment he looked right at me and that was when I saw the focus that all the greats have. He was on a mission to do something important, and I had to know what." The bard took a sip to let the hook sink in. "How could he not see you?" "Isn't Oberon on the other side of the great ocean?" "Was he an elf?" Questions started to come from the crowd and murmurs started to grow till put down his cup and stood up. "All in good time, you have to understand, like all adventures, even the grandest have times of absolute boredom, at least in the telling. When you are out there, you never know when danger will appear. The first day, I myself was concerned about being caught. It took time to see how close I could get without drawing attention. Once they were outside the outskirts of the city, they picked up their pace and lowered their voices. I thought I had spooked them, but I soon found out how important it was that they were not followed..." The crowd looks at him in some what confused and disbelief as if they all want to ask the same question. " by someone intent on stopping them. Yes, I was following, I had no nefarious intent, at least nothing detrimental planed. Quite the contrary, I consider myself instrumental in ... " he paused for a moment to gather himself. "Ah but that would but jumping ahead of the story. So the first day they travel long after supper, they have no issue eating from their supplies as they clearly intend to travel though a great forest with lot of game as well as plenty of predators. They set up camp just out of range of the King's patrols but not deep enough into the woods where they have to look for a clearing. I was able to get quite close, enough to hear the whole conversation in the still of the night. The one I came to know as Brad was clearly the leader and was getting to know his cohorts better. "I hope you understand how much I appreciate your help on this mission. Getting this far without attracting attention is important but because of that, the next few days may be more difficult. How well do you really know these woods Kesindera?" "I have traveled this path at least a hundred times, but never in a group this small. My time alone in the forests to the north may be more valuable experience but fear not, we will not get lost." she spoke with a quiet confidence. "Sir, you know...." the loud one started in a more intense but less carrying voice only to be cut off by the sharper voice of Brad. "No, do not call me that now, not here and not until I tell you it is ok. I will require your loyalty, but not like that. Do not let anyone know our true relationship."
"Absolutely" he said as if at attention. clearly a soldier uncomfortable with the challenge of being undercover but intent of pulling it off. It took him a crooked look and an extra second to realize he was still doing it. His second response was more forced but much more accepted as he mellowed his voice with a simple"Sure, no problem" Brad returned to a more subdued tone, but continued with the questions. "Darren, I have seen your fighting skills, so I don't see that being an issue, but I understand you have lived in the city your whole life. What is the longest youhave been outside the patrol area? After a moment to let down his guard, Darren looked happy to share a story. "When I was young, my baby sister, Alicia ran away from our clearing while we were camping. My best friend Mike and I were the ones supposed to watch her while our parents were out gathering food, so we had to go fetch her by ourselves. We spent hours looking, at times we thought we were following tracks, tried to go back to camp for help and could not find the camp. As night fell, we did what we could to find a place to sleep, scared but too tired to go on, we rested. It was quiet dark, we were almost asleep when the sound of something startled us, we huddled together just in time to see our parents come running through the brush. We were less than 100 feet from camp where my sister had been all day. She had found her way back but we had been going round in circles. It took a long time to live that down, so do not ask me to go off the path alone, unless you want to come looking for me." Kesindera had tried to keep her emotions in, but when Darren had finished and Brad looked at him, then at her, she could not help but smile. "Good to know now, would have been better knowing it yesterday" Brad said with sarcastic but friendly tone. Kesindera lost it and let go a chortle. Darren gave her a look and quickly chuckled himself. "I will make sure to tie a rope to myself when I go to relieve myself." he said as he stood up to do just that. Brad smiled for a while as they readied for bed, he let the other choose their watched and accepted the middle watch without comment. He was pleased they had started to bond.
