Re: Chapter #8: The Stronghold of Mine Enemies
Kerr donned his Shalelu-provided camouflage garments and looked at the horse he’d been brought with a somewhat-false bravado; he still remembered his embarrassing incident with Heily. Although he was pretty sure Heily had been embarrassing him on purpose. He shot Liseth’s horse a suspicious glance and received nothing but innocent nonchalance in return. His eyes narrowed. I’ll be ready next time, he mentally assured her.
Kerr’s own horse was a brown-and-ivory patterned Appalloosa. It looked at him interestedly, apparently taking the young paladin’s measure. Kerr patted the side of its neck, noting a peculiar star-shaped white mark in the center of its largely-brown forehead. “I think I’m going to name you Gilroch,” he said to his noble steed, glancing over at Shalelu in a subconscious request for approval, “that’s the elven word for ‘star-horse’.”
Gilroch seemed pleased with his new name. If Shalelu had heard Kerr’s statement, she gave no notice.
Equine introduction complete, the young acolyte rejoined the conversation. “Well, Lise, if anyone can convince Tsuto to join our side,” he said loyally but uncomfortably as she swept Pisca into a huge hug, not entirely sure he knew exactly what was going on, “it’s you! You’re very persuasive.” He grinned at his young girlfriend, then suddenly blushed for no reason anyone could really discern.
Kerr really didn’t know what he thought about Liseth’s crusade to redeem Tsuto. On the one hand, Kerr wasn’t one preoccupied with vengeance; he had no need to see Tsuto suffer for his crimes. And he’d always felt for the older boy, especially given his difficult family situation and famously-contentious relationship with his stern father.
That said, Tsuto had done a lot to hurt Sandpoint and his actions had resulted in the deaths of people Kerr knew and cared about. There had to be consequences for something like that, didn’t there?
Didn’t there?
Kerr shook his head free of these troubling thoughts as he cupped his hands together and boosted Liseth up into Heily’s saddle, trying not to notice the firm softness of her body as it rubbed against him. Stay focused, Kerr, he reminded himself, although it was all too easy for his mind to go back to the previous evening, thinking of her hands running over his back, massaging him . . .
Focused. Kerr shook his head. Right.
Shalelu Andosana chose that moment to augment Kerr’s internal monologue by berating the entire group for their lack of focus. While some, like Pisca, apparently felt unjustly challenged by the ranger’s rebuke, Kerr did not; it was of a piece with what he’d already been telling himself. He needed to concentrate on their mission. He wouldn’t be doing Liseth any favors if he let her get hurt because he was mooning over her.
And he would never forgive himself if that happened.
Kerr put a foot in Gilroch’s stirrups and hauled himself up onto the horse’s back without any of the shenanigans Heily had pulled back in the stable. He was so elated at his accomplishment that he merely shrugged when Liseth told him that he would have no access to Pisca’s Whisper Magic. Although he did secretly wonder if he had done something to offend the gnome. Why was he always the one left out?
He told himself that such uncharitable thoughts were unbecoming. Unfortunately, that didn’t make them go away.
Gilroch had apparently decided he liked Kerr because he gave the dark-haired acolyte no difficulty on the journey out of Sandpoint. He followed the famous ranger closely as she left the Lost Coast Road and headed out into the wild, never once hinting that she did not know exactly where she was going or what she was doing. Kerr found it a little difficult to credit that he was actually riding out on a critical quest to save Sandpoint with the elven forest-warrior he’d grown up thrilling to stories about. It was heady stuff.
Kerr kept his head down and concentrated on riding Gilroch as they traversed the hills and forests between Sandpoint and Thistletop. He was proud of himself for not constantly staring at Liseth; he compromised and settled for catching her eye and smiling at her every so often. The brisk cold air, the fresh smell of the trees, and the open land made it easy to forget the danger into which they were heading.
Heading into the Pauper’s Graves, however, brought all of it back. As a child of Sandpoint, Kerr had heard horror stories about the Graves, as all the kids had. Stories of dead workers walking abroad, filled with hatred for the town whose construction had killed them and anyone associated with it. No one ever went within leagues of the Graves.
And yet, here they were. Kerr nudged a recalcitrant Gilroch out onto the plain after Shalelu. Better to get this over with as soon as possible.