The flaming wreckage of her childhood abode was two days behind her now, Walstow a further day before. She wasn't certain if that little town still boasted a tavern, but she dearly hoped that it did. She was in dire need of good rest and a drink, even if it was that awful honey liqueur that these people adored so much. But before she could enjoy a little respite, she had another stop to make. Randir's home lay just a little further ahead, if the information she had received was correct.
She crested the rise, horses trailing behind her, and came to a stop. There it lay; the little farmhouse she had been told of, but something was amiss. Why was no one in the field tending to the crops? Where were the children she had heard so much about? The teenaged boy and the young girl? Had they gone into Walstow perhaps?
Wary, she left the horses where they were and made her slow way down to see. She pushed her way through the tall wheat stalks, straining her ears for sound. So rapt was she listening for something out of place that she almost tripped over the first of the corpses. A woman, red of hair and pale of skin, freckled and fine featured. Her white linen dress stained red from the blood that still seeped from her many wounds. Silver covered her mouth with one hand, biting back a squeak of shock. She was most certainly not used to seeing corpses this fresh! The second lay only a few yards away, a young man, probably a farmhand. Gritting her teeth, Silver moved forward.
Parting the wheat, she peered out across the small yard. Seeing nothing of note, she crept out into the open, swiftly making her way to the side of the house. Laughter and crashes sounded from within. Bandits? There was only one way to find out. Crouching low, her back to the wall, she snuck around to the front.
Well shit, she thought as she found what remained of her brother in the open doorway, his head lying a few feet along the path.
She thought to turn away then. All that she had come here for was gone. Another missed opportunity for personal redemption. But before she could, she heard a small cry from within. Without thought, she pulled her kukris free of their sheathes and rushed inside, almost falling headlong over the remains of the nephew she had never met. Were his eyes wide from surprise at being murdered, a hysterical voice in her mind asked, or was it because she had inadvertently trod on him?
The cry came again from a room to her left. Pained and scared. A young voice. A girl.
She didn't think. She didn't pause. She acted.
Bursting in through the door, one look was all it took for her to see the placement of the men there. Three. One by the table, one just inside the door, one in the corner where the terrified child cowered. They turned as one, surprised that they had been interrupted. Their momentary hesitation was all that she needed. Barreling forward, she swept one blade up, slitting the throat of the nearest and carried on without slowing. A sprightly jump saw her slide across the table, two booted feet connecting with the chest of the one who stood there. He crashed back into the wall, eyes rolling back in his head as his skull bounced off the stonework. The third, seeing what had happened to his friends, turned tail and fled.
Silver paid no mind to him. He wasn't her concern for the moment. The girl was. She slipped one of the kukris away, not wishing to harm the girl by accident.
"Hush now, darling, hush," she spoke softly, sweeping the crying child up into her arms. "We have to go. You're safe now, sweetheart. You're safe."
Pausing only to grab a straw doll she saw laying on the floor, Silver held the child tight to her side with one arm, gritting her teeth against the discomfort of having those little arms wrapped so tightly around her neck, and sprinted back outside into the sun.
It was a matter of moments to cross the yard and into the wheat field once more, a matter of minutes before she made it to Steel and the packhorse. She was tired and shaky, but she did not stop. Walstow was no longer an option. If these men had friends, they would lie between her and the town. If it were her alone she might have chanced it, but with a child in tow...
No. Silver set the girl upon Steel, gently cautioning her to hold on tight, and then set her course toward the north.
