Beneath the White City
Chapter Two
Lyse and Hille
The Wild Hunt came to Quedlin for the first time in ten years. The sleepy town awoke in welcome. Its merchants rubbed their hands together, its craftsmen worked late in their shops, and everyone practiced their smiles. For nine days, the warriors of the Empire and Eight Kingdoms would ride the steep mountains and deep vales, rooting goblins from their holes, greatwolves from their dens, ogres from their rocky forts. For the Wild Hunt, nobles came from across Germania, from the Kingdom of the Franks, even from Italia and Hispania. They came with their retinues and their servants. They came also with deep pockets and big appetites, and so the people of Quedlin stockpiled and marked up and stayed open, keen to make a ten-year profit.
Hille sat on the dock, watching the crowds flow along the river’s banks. The human river surged and eddied, but the River Gose glided smoothly from the mountains to the lake, indifferent to the bustle. She smiled, happy, for the crowds meant barges full of goods, and that meant steady work for her uncle, who owned his own barge. This would be a fat winter.
“Daydreaming, Hille? Didn’t you get enough dreams last night?” said a familiar voice.
Hille turned and looked up, squinting into the morning sun.
“Hullo, Lyse. I got plenty,” she said, kicking her feet above the smooth, dark water. “I dreamed we captured five prizes and sold them to the King of the Danish March. Then we bought a second ship and sailed the Skagerakk.”
“That’s a fine dream, Hille” Lyse said, sitting down beside her friend.
“We fought a dragon.”
“Ooh, did it breathe fire?”
Hille frowned, which always made her freckles scrunch together. “No, it just flew around and roared and ate people,” she said, “do you think it shoulda breathed fire?”
“Not necessarily. Legends tell of many kinds of dragons, even of ones that cannot fly.”
“That’s dumb,” Hille said. “What’s the good of a dragon that can’t fly?”
“I don’t know,” Lyse said, “I’m only saying what the legends tell.”
Hille got to her feet. “Well,” she said, “we fought the kind that flies.”
“Come on,” Lyse said, getting up as well, “let’s get going. I don’t want to hang around here, and anyway we’re going to meet with Nik.”
“Really? What for?”
“Come on. I’ll tell you when we’re out of the crowds.”
“Will Reich be there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Nik just said to bring you.”
Hille fell in alongside Lyse, adjusting the white scarf she always wore, in an attempt to tame her unruly red hair. She glanced at Lyse, whose lustrous black hair always seemed to fall like water into perfect waves.
The older girl was dark in just about every respect where Hille was light. Lyse’s hair was black and her eyes were deep brown in contrast with Hille’s brilliant blue. Where Hille’s face was open and always on the verge of grinning, Lyse’s eyes were deep-set and her lips set in a carefully neutral position. She was a big girl, with arms as strong as a boy’s and legs that could outrace anyone her age, while Hille was as skinny and bony as a wharf cat. Hille fussed at her dress, which was already unkempt and dirty. Lyse was wearing leggings and a smock, which meant she’d got out of the castle by posing as a serving boy.
“You had to sneak out again, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Which means you’ll get in trouble again.”
“Hille, I’m always in trouble. I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t.”
This made Hille giggle, a sound that invariably made Lyse smile, but the younger girl also noticed the tiny frown that followed the smile. Lately, Hille worried about her friend. Mostly she worried that one day Lyse would get into so much trouble, they would no longer be able to be friends. Hille, after all, was just the daughter of a bargeman, while Lyse was nobly-born, even though she was an orphan. Lyse’s guardians had warned her many times not to be seen with ‘the lower sort’ when she went into town.
The two girls set off along the riverfront. They didn’t talk much because the streets were so crowded, and Lyse was hurrying. Hille understood. Lady Kunegunde might have sent someone to spy, to make sure Lyse was not embarrasing her guardian family. Again.
The streets of Quedlin thronged with servants and hirelings and day laborers. Noble women glided along in white litters with blue or green curtains, protected by servants, calling craftsmen out to them to demand the repair of a shoe or the purchase of a cloak. Noble men swaggered by, cloaked in lions or bears, unicorns or dragons. This year, for the first time in many Hunts, there appeared also the black, double-headed eagle, symbol of the Emperor. The city had blossomed with color, as if Spring had arrived in October, adorned in cloth rather than in flower, and the town of brown wood and grey slate was bedecked with scarlet and saffron, azure and argent.
The multitude of strangers paid no attention to the two girls threading through their midst. Some of the locals did notice, though, and discreetly shook their heads. It was a common scandal that the Count’s ward should run about town with a bargegirl. The two had made a reputation for themselves ever since they first became friends last spring. All through the summer they had got up to minor mischief and into a couple of unseemly scrapes. The younger of the two, Hille, was famously ill-tempered. Locals clucked and observed that she was both low-born and red-headed, so what could one expect. They did, however, expect better of Elysabetta, who at fourteen should be at the side of her governess learning to weave, or even better at the side of her husband in some respectable castle in Thuringia or Saxony.
So it was that looks and whispers swirled in the wake of the two girls as they wove through the crowds and carts. The girls had got quite good at ignoring looks and whispers, and did not mind them because they had each other. Lyse was Hille’s best friend.
She was also her only friend.
They emerged onto the Lake Road, little used these days for bogs had swallowed it whole down by the lake. Besides, an imperial road ran to the south, so the Lake Road was used only for local traffic. It went past Gnome Town, into a deep and narrow valley, ending at the enormous tumble of rocks known as the Ruins.
“So, why did Nik want to see me?”
“Yesterday, Tobe came to Greencastle asking to see Count Mathys.”
“Tobe?” Hille shrugged. The gnome was forever pressing the Count with some grievance or other, or else turning up to proclaim some sort of doom that would end the world. Most people laughed at Tobe and some reviled him, but Hille felt sorry for him.
“He wanted to tell the Count about some terrible plot being hatched. You know how Tobe is, he’s all the time complaining. But Nik says this was different.
“Tobe claimed there are duergar bandits on Rammel Mountain. He says they are after something, that they’re digging, and that there’s some kind of creature down there they might let out.”
“A monster?” Hille’s blue eyes sparkled at the prospect. She wondered if her dream about dragons would happen and then thought maybe she could see the future in her dreams. Lyse interrupted the thought.
“That’s what he said.”
“That’d be great,” Hille said, clapping her hands.
“Why’s that?”
“With the Wild Hunt, I mean. I bet the Emperor himself could go after it.”
“Easy, Red. This is Crazy Tobe, after all. This might all be just bad dreams and shadows.”
“But Nik thinks it’s real?”
“He thinks it might be,” Lyse said, “But there’s one thing more and that’s really why we’re going to meet. Tobe says there’s someone in league with the bandits.” She paused for effect until Hille glanced over. “Master Auberlin.”
“Reich’s tutor? I knew it! I knew he was an evil wizard!
“Hille, you never even met the man.”
“It don’t matter. He’s mean to Reich and that’s enough for me, hey? Ooh, now I really want to see Nik. Are we going to the gnome’s house, then?”
“Uh-huh. That’s why Nik asked for you. Tobe likes you.”
“He likes you, too.”
“Um. But Nik didn’t ask for me, did he? He only asked me to bring you.”
“Are you two still fighting?”
“Aren’t we always fighting?”
Hille nodded but said nothing. Ever since she first met Lyse last spring, all she heard about was how Nik was arrogant and conceited and rude. For herself, Hille thought Niklot was awfully handsome, but she knew enough not to say that to Lyse.
They walked along the Lake Road as the sun warmed the earth, a last echo of summer. The wooden palisades of Quedlin stood on their right, worn down by age and neglect. On the other were the houses of Gnome Town, whose fields ran nearly to the road. Quite a few gnome families were still at harvest, working in family groups with their sickles and flails, dog carts standing here and there, painted in bright colors.
They left the town behind. The road entered forest again, and still Lyse was silent.
“Are you thinking about the Hunt again?” Hille asked.
Lyse nodded.
“Is it tomorrow for true,” Hille said. “I hardly believe it.”
“For really and true,” Lyse said. “Tomorrow is Procession Day, and Lord Miramontes will be there; is already here, I’m told, camped in one of those tents behind the castle. He’ll be in the Hunters Parade and he’ll see me and I’ll see him and everyone will look to see what I do.”
“What will you do?”
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to wave my scarf a certain way, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. They’ll all go off and hunt for a week, then the Triumph. After that comes a private meeting and I’ll be betrothed, and that will be the end … of everything.”
“It sounds awful,” Hille said.
“It is awful, the most awful thing that can ever happen. I’ll have to go to Galicia and I’ll never ever have a chance to recover the home of my fathers in Carnium.”
Hille knew all this, of course, but Lyse seemed to need to say it, again and again, the more often the closer the day approached. Hille didn’t mind listening yet again.
“That’s why we need to make a break for it soon. Tonight, maybe,” Hille said. “I’m ready. My uncle won’t hardly even notice I’m gone.”
“It can’t be tonight, Red. I’ve got to attend the Hunters Procession, at least. After that, well, we’ll see.”
“Well, I’m ready and that’s certain.” Hille pursed her lips and rubbed one cheek. “I sure wish we had horses, though. We’d move pretty fast, if we had horses.”
“Sure we could,” Lyse said. “We’d go even faster if we had giant trained eagles.”
“We sure would! Wouldn’t that be grand!”
Lyse smiled but said nothing, and Hille fell quiet for a while as well. Lyse was trying for the hundredth time to figure a way to sneak out of Greencastle in the coming days. Hille was trying to figure out if there was such a thing as giant eagles, and if they could be trained.
They were nearing the path to Tobe’s house. Quedlin lay half a mile behind them. Greencastle sat on its promontory off to the right, guarding the town. The Hunters’ tents showed as bits of color among the deep green of the forest. There was no sign yet of Niklot.
“We were supposed to meet here,” Lyse said, “but I don’t seem him. Let’s go on up a bit.”
Hille thought waiting was one of the most boring things in the world, so she tried to talk about something more fun than marriage or Lyse’s not-brother.
“When we get a ship—well, the first ship goes to daddy, we’re still agreed on that, yah?”
“Of course, Red. A deal’s a deal.”
“Right. But when we get our own ship, you’ve gotta be the captain. I’ll be first mate and navigator. And bosun. Can I be bosun too?”
She wasn’t sure what a bosun did, but she liked the title.
“Sure. Bosun, too.”
They had discussed their ship a hundred times, but Hille loved talking about it and Lyse loved hearing her talk about it.
“Good,” Hille nodded then had to push a lock of red hair back out of her eyes and under the scarf. “So I was thinking about how big the ship should be. It should have a hundred men, I think. I’m going to allow girls, too, if they can fight as good as us. Two hundred, even.”
“How much do you think a ship costs?” asked Lyse. As the older of the two, she thought about practical matters such as this.
“It don’t matter,” Hille said. “However much it is, we’ll get it.” Being only twelve, Hille never let practical matters get in the way of her plans.
Lyse smiled. She pictured herself on the deck of a fine ship, sailing the Adriatic or Aegean, capturing rich merchant ships bound for Alexandria or Marseilles, never hurting anyone but besting them in fair combat. She would have a ship filled with brave knights, all pledged to aid her in recovering her homeland. It was a fool’s dream, perhaps, but a fine, warm one, good for dreaming on a fine, warm day. Then they walked under the shadow of a beech tree, the air suddenly cooled, and with it, so did her dream.
“Oh, Hille, it’s only days away now and all I have is a little pouch of silver pennies.”
Hille’s lips tightened.
“Then we’ll get the rest of the money after we leave,” she declared.
“Shall we work as servant girls, then?” Lyse said sourly.
“We’ll work as thieves,” Hille said, her voice lowering a tone. “We’ll be pirates on land, until we’ve enough money to become pirates at sea.”
“And how will we rob merchants when they’re guarded by armed men?”
“Like this,” Hille said, and she danced forward on the road and swept off her scarf, waving it as if to wave down riders. Her red hair caught the light and shone brilliantly against the blue autumn sky.
“Hold and disarm!” she cried, her voice piping in excitement. She held an imaginary sword in front of her. “Lay down your money or lay down your lives, for my friend has an arrow pointed at your heart!” She gestured toward the forest that was now on both sides.
Lyse laughed. As foolish as the dreams were, Hille had a knack for making them sound so much fun, they were irresistable.
“Listen!” Hille said, looking into the forest.
Lyse made her eyes go big, wondering what new game Hille was playing.
“No, listen,” Hille said, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Lyse listened. She heard nothing for a moment, then came a cry of pain, followed by angry voices.
“Sounds like a fight,” Lyse said, keeping her voice quiet.
“Let’s go see,” Hille said.
“Wait,…” Lyse said, but it was too late for waiting. Hille was already off, darting down a little-used path that led into big stands of fir beyond. Lyse followed after, hoping to keep Hille from doing anything rash.
“Not much chance of that,” she thought as she ran.
-end of chapter-
Chapter Two
Lyse and Hille
The Wild Hunt came to Quedlin for the first time in ten years. The sleepy town awoke in welcome. Its merchants rubbed their hands together, its craftsmen worked late in their shops, and everyone practiced their smiles. For nine days, the warriors of the Empire and Eight Kingdoms would ride the steep mountains and deep vales, rooting goblins from their holes, greatwolves from their dens, ogres from their rocky forts. For the Wild Hunt, nobles came from across Germania, from the Kingdom of the Franks, even from Italia and Hispania. They came with their retinues and their servants. They came also with deep pockets and big appetites, and so the people of Quedlin stockpiled and marked up and stayed open, keen to make a ten-year profit.
Hille sat on the dock, watching the crowds flow along the river’s banks. The human river surged and eddied, but the River Gose glided smoothly from the mountains to the lake, indifferent to the bustle. She smiled, happy, for the crowds meant barges full of goods, and that meant steady work for her uncle, who owned his own barge. This would be a fat winter.
“Daydreaming, Hille? Didn’t you get enough dreams last night?” said a familiar voice.
Hille turned and looked up, squinting into the morning sun.
“Hullo, Lyse. I got plenty,” she said, kicking her feet above the smooth, dark water. “I dreamed we captured five prizes and sold them to the King of the Danish March. Then we bought a second ship and sailed the Skagerakk.”
“That’s a fine dream, Hille” Lyse said, sitting down beside her friend.
“We fought a dragon.”
“Ooh, did it breathe fire?”
Hille frowned, which always made her freckles scrunch together. “No, it just flew around and roared and ate people,” she said, “do you think it shoulda breathed fire?”
“Not necessarily. Legends tell of many kinds of dragons, even of ones that cannot fly.”
“That’s dumb,” Hille said. “What’s the good of a dragon that can’t fly?”
“I don’t know,” Lyse said, “I’m only saying what the legends tell.”
Hille got to her feet. “Well,” she said, “we fought the kind that flies.”
“Come on,” Lyse said, getting up as well, “let’s get going. I don’t want to hang around here, and anyway we’re going to meet with Nik.”
“Really? What for?”
“Come on. I’ll tell you when we’re out of the crowds.”
“Will Reich be there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Nik just said to bring you.”
Hille fell in alongside Lyse, adjusting the white scarf she always wore, in an attempt to tame her unruly red hair. She glanced at Lyse, whose lustrous black hair always seemed to fall like water into perfect waves.
The older girl was dark in just about every respect where Hille was light. Lyse’s hair was black and her eyes were deep brown in contrast with Hille’s brilliant blue. Where Hille’s face was open and always on the verge of grinning, Lyse’s eyes were deep-set and her lips set in a carefully neutral position. She was a big girl, with arms as strong as a boy’s and legs that could outrace anyone her age, while Hille was as skinny and bony as a wharf cat. Hille fussed at her dress, which was already unkempt and dirty. Lyse was wearing leggings and a smock, which meant she’d got out of the castle by posing as a serving boy.
“You had to sneak out again, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Which means you’ll get in trouble again.”
“Hille, I’m always in trouble. I wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t.”
This made Hille giggle, a sound that invariably made Lyse smile, but the younger girl also noticed the tiny frown that followed the smile. Lately, Hille worried about her friend. Mostly she worried that one day Lyse would get into so much trouble, they would no longer be able to be friends. Hille, after all, was just the daughter of a bargeman, while Lyse was nobly-born, even though she was an orphan. Lyse’s guardians had warned her many times not to be seen with ‘the lower sort’ when she went into town.
The two girls set off along the riverfront. They didn’t talk much because the streets were so crowded, and Lyse was hurrying. Hille understood. Lady Kunegunde might have sent someone to spy, to make sure Lyse was not embarrasing her guardian family. Again.
The streets of Quedlin thronged with servants and hirelings and day laborers. Noble women glided along in white litters with blue or green curtains, protected by servants, calling craftsmen out to them to demand the repair of a shoe or the purchase of a cloak. Noble men swaggered by, cloaked in lions or bears, unicorns or dragons. This year, for the first time in many Hunts, there appeared also the black, double-headed eagle, symbol of the Emperor. The city had blossomed with color, as if Spring had arrived in October, adorned in cloth rather than in flower, and the town of brown wood and grey slate was bedecked with scarlet and saffron, azure and argent.
The multitude of strangers paid no attention to the two girls threading through their midst. Some of the locals did notice, though, and discreetly shook their heads. It was a common scandal that the Count’s ward should run about town with a bargegirl. The two had made a reputation for themselves ever since they first became friends last spring. All through the summer they had got up to minor mischief and into a couple of unseemly scrapes. The younger of the two, Hille, was famously ill-tempered. Locals clucked and observed that she was both low-born and red-headed, so what could one expect. They did, however, expect better of Elysabetta, who at fourteen should be at the side of her governess learning to weave, or even better at the side of her husband in some respectable castle in Thuringia or Saxony.
So it was that looks and whispers swirled in the wake of the two girls as they wove through the crowds and carts. The girls had got quite good at ignoring looks and whispers, and did not mind them because they had each other. Lyse was Hille’s best friend.
She was also her only friend.
They emerged onto the Lake Road, little used these days for bogs had swallowed it whole down by the lake. Besides, an imperial road ran to the south, so the Lake Road was used only for local traffic. It went past Gnome Town, into a deep and narrow valley, ending at the enormous tumble of rocks known as the Ruins.
“So, why did Nik want to see me?”
“Yesterday, Tobe came to Greencastle asking to see Count Mathys.”
“Tobe?” Hille shrugged. The gnome was forever pressing the Count with some grievance or other, or else turning up to proclaim some sort of doom that would end the world. Most people laughed at Tobe and some reviled him, but Hille felt sorry for him.
“He wanted to tell the Count about some terrible plot being hatched. You know how Tobe is, he’s all the time complaining. But Nik says this was different.
“Tobe claimed there are duergar bandits on Rammel Mountain. He says they are after something, that they’re digging, and that there’s some kind of creature down there they might let out.”
“A monster?” Hille’s blue eyes sparkled at the prospect. She wondered if her dream about dragons would happen and then thought maybe she could see the future in her dreams. Lyse interrupted the thought.
“That’s what he said.”
“That’d be great,” Hille said, clapping her hands.
“Why’s that?”
“With the Wild Hunt, I mean. I bet the Emperor himself could go after it.”
“Easy, Red. This is Crazy Tobe, after all. This might all be just bad dreams and shadows.”
“But Nik thinks it’s real?”
“He thinks it might be,” Lyse said, “But there’s one thing more and that’s really why we’re going to meet. Tobe says there’s someone in league with the bandits.” She paused for effect until Hille glanced over. “Master Auberlin.”
“Reich’s tutor? I knew it! I knew he was an evil wizard!
“Hille, you never even met the man.”
“It don’t matter. He’s mean to Reich and that’s enough for me, hey? Ooh, now I really want to see Nik. Are we going to the gnome’s house, then?”
“Uh-huh. That’s why Nik asked for you. Tobe likes you.”
“He likes you, too.”
“Um. But Nik didn’t ask for me, did he? He only asked me to bring you.”
“Are you two still fighting?”
“Aren’t we always fighting?”
Hille nodded but said nothing. Ever since she first met Lyse last spring, all she heard about was how Nik was arrogant and conceited and rude. For herself, Hille thought Niklot was awfully handsome, but she knew enough not to say that to Lyse.
They walked along the Lake Road as the sun warmed the earth, a last echo of summer. The wooden palisades of Quedlin stood on their right, worn down by age and neglect. On the other were the houses of Gnome Town, whose fields ran nearly to the road. Quite a few gnome families were still at harvest, working in family groups with their sickles and flails, dog carts standing here and there, painted in bright colors.
They left the town behind. The road entered forest again, and still Lyse was silent.
“Are you thinking about the Hunt again?” Hille asked.
Lyse nodded.
“Is it tomorrow for true,” Hille said. “I hardly believe it.”
“For really and true,” Lyse said. “Tomorrow is Procession Day, and Lord Miramontes will be there; is already here, I’m told, camped in one of those tents behind the castle. He’ll be in the Hunters Parade and he’ll see me and I’ll see him and everyone will look to see what I do.”
“What will you do?”
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to wave my scarf a certain way, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. They’ll all go off and hunt for a week, then the Triumph. After that comes a private meeting and I’ll be betrothed, and that will be the end … of everything.”
“It sounds awful,” Hille said.
“It is awful, the most awful thing that can ever happen. I’ll have to go to Galicia and I’ll never ever have a chance to recover the home of my fathers in Carnium.”
Hille knew all this, of course, but Lyse seemed to need to say it, again and again, the more often the closer the day approached. Hille didn’t mind listening yet again.
“That’s why we need to make a break for it soon. Tonight, maybe,” Hille said. “I’m ready. My uncle won’t hardly even notice I’m gone.”
“It can’t be tonight, Red. I’ve got to attend the Hunters Procession, at least. After that, well, we’ll see.”
“Well, I’m ready and that’s certain.” Hille pursed her lips and rubbed one cheek. “I sure wish we had horses, though. We’d move pretty fast, if we had horses.”
“Sure we could,” Lyse said. “We’d go even faster if we had giant trained eagles.”
“We sure would! Wouldn’t that be grand!”
Lyse smiled but said nothing, and Hille fell quiet for a while as well. Lyse was trying for the hundredth time to figure a way to sneak out of Greencastle in the coming days. Hille was trying to figure out if there was such a thing as giant eagles, and if they could be trained.
They were nearing the path to Tobe’s house. Quedlin lay half a mile behind them. Greencastle sat on its promontory off to the right, guarding the town. The Hunters’ tents showed as bits of color among the deep green of the forest. There was no sign yet of Niklot.
“We were supposed to meet here,” Lyse said, “but I don’t seem him. Let’s go on up a bit.”
Hille thought waiting was one of the most boring things in the world, so she tried to talk about something more fun than marriage or Lyse’s not-brother.
“When we get a ship—well, the first ship goes to daddy, we’re still agreed on that, yah?”
“Of course, Red. A deal’s a deal.”
“Right. But when we get our own ship, you’ve gotta be the captain. I’ll be first mate and navigator. And bosun. Can I be bosun too?”
She wasn’t sure what a bosun did, but she liked the title.
“Sure. Bosun, too.”
They had discussed their ship a hundred times, but Hille loved talking about it and Lyse loved hearing her talk about it.
“Good,” Hille nodded then had to push a lock of red hair back out of her eyes and under the scarf. “So I was thinking about how big the ship should be. It should have a hundred men, I think. I’m going to allow girls, too, if they can fight as good as us. Two hundred, even.”
“How much do you think a ship costs?” asked Lyse. As the older of the two, she thought about practical matters such as this.
“It don’t matter,” Hille said. “However much it is, we’ll get it.” Being only twelve, Hille never let practical matters get in the way of her plans.
Lyse smiled. She pictured herself on the deck of a fine ship, sailing the Adriatic or Aegean, capturing rich merchant ships bound for Alexandria or Marseilles, never hurting anyone but besting them in fair combat. She would have a ship filled with brave knights, all pledged to aid her in recovering her homeland. It was a fool’s dream, perhaps, but a fine, warm one, good for dreaming on a fine, warm day. Then they walked under the shadow of a beech tree, the air suddenly cooled, and with it, so did her dream.
“Oh, Hille, it’s only days away now and all I have is a little pouch of silver pennies.”
Hille’s lips tightened.
“Then we’ll get the rest of the money after we leave,” she declared.
“Shall we work as servant girls, then?” Lyse said sourly.
“We’ll work as thieves,” Hille said, her voice lowering a tone. “We’ll be pirates on land, until we’ve enough money to become pirates at sea.”
“And how will we rob merchants when they’re guarded by armed men?”
“Like this,” Hille said, and she danced forward on the road and swept off her scarf, waving it as if to wave down riders. Her red hair caught the light and shone brilliantly against the blue autumn sky.
“Hold and disarm!” she cried, her voice piping in excitement. She held an imaginary sword in front of her. “Lay down your money or lay down your lives, for my friend has an arrow pointed at your heart!” She gestured toward the forest that was now on both sides.
Lyse laughed. As foolish as the dreams were, Hille had a knack for making them sound so much fun, they were irresistable.
“Listen!” Hille said, looking into the forest.
Lyse made her eyes go big, wondering what new game Hille was playing.
“No, listen,” Hille said, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Lyse listened. She heard nothing for a moment, then came a cry of pain, followed by angry voices.
“Sounds like a fight,” Lyse said, keeping her voice quiet.
“Let’s go see,” Hille said.
“Wait,…” Lyse said, but it was too late for waiting. Hille was already off, darting down a little-used path that led into big stands of fir beyond. Lyse followed after, hoping to keep Hille from doing anything rash.
“Not much chance of that,” she thought as she ran.
-end of chapter-
