Overwardens
an excerpt

Chapter Six

The gates of Castle Iceward were barred, and a large number of soldiers stood on the walls. The sun had not set yet, but there were torches place at intervals of ten feet. I looked at Phalen and Seath curiously, and they shook their heads. They knew no more than did I. Once we were close enough for a voice to carry, one of the soldiers called down, “Lord SEath? Lady Phalen? Is that you?”
“It’s us!” Seath replied at the top of his lungs. “What’s happened?”
“It’s a long story! We’ll get you inside first—you don’t want to be outside after sundown!” This statement was worrisome. At the worst of the last incursion, no one in Iceward had gone outside after dark either.
Phalen’s lips tightened, as the soldiers lowered a ladder for us to climb up. “I think we have to assume that more than a few people have disappeared.”
I nodded.
“How are we going to get the horses inside?” Ian asked.
Seath repeated the question in a louder voice for the man on the wall to hear.
The response was concerning. “We’ll lower hay down for them tonight. We’ll bring them in tomorrow when there’s more daylight.” If they were that afraid to open the gates this close to nightfall, things were very bad. The lack of concern for the horses was also telling. Nightmares had never shown any interest in animals.
We tethered them safely and made them as comfortable as we could, while Seath went up. Any of our things we needed that night were tied to a rope and raised to the top. Seath was followed more slowly by Phalen. By the time she had reached the top, we were finished with the horses. Ian insisted that I go up next, as he did not want me to wait below on my own. Instead of arguing with him, as the sun was low on the horizon now, I climbed up as quickly as I could, so that he could go up behind me.
Once we reached the top of the walls, the solider who had called down to us ordered a younger solider to pull up the ladder. Closer up, I could see that he looked familiar. He had been here before, though I could not remember his name. “Lord Seath, I regret to inform you that we can confirm that the creature terrorizing the western villages is a Nightmare.”
“We know,” Seath said quickly. “What has happened, Alfred?”
Alfred began to lead us toward the stairs that led down into the courtyard. “Falconroost was attacked in broad daylight six days ago. The survivors have sought refuge here.”
Phalen’s eyes widened. “Have we heard anything from Arden’s Peak or Garlton?”
“No, my lady,” Alfred replied. “And we haven’t sent anyone. I didn’t feel like I could ask someone to-“
She nodded. “You were quite right. Has the Nightmare attacked here?”
“No,” he said hurriedly. “But when they fled, it attacked them every night, including the last night before they arrived.”
“So it is coming close.” I glanced over the walls. “No wonder you were in a hurry to bring us up.”
Phalen looked around the courtyard. It was filled with tents. “There wasn’t enough room for everyone inside?”
“Oh, no, lady,” Alfred assured her. “Everyone’s sleeping inside where it’s warm. That’s where they’re keeping what livestock they were able to save. There wasn’t enough room for them in the stables, but it’s too cold for them not to have some sort of shelter at night.”
“Oh.” Phalen looked relieved. She takes hospitality very seriously, and to have guests sleeping outside in tents would likely have been more than she could bear. That hospitality came to the fore, for she said, “Well, we’ll need to take care of a few things I expect, but there’s no reason the two of you shouldn’t eat and have some rest. Before we left, we made arrangements for your usual room to be kept ready. You know the way to the baths. And as soon as I get the chance, I’ll have someone bring dinner up to you.”
Ian offered, “We wouldn’t mind helping out with things tonight-“
Phalen, now back at her home and in her element, replied confidently. “I would.”
Personally, I saw no reason not to acquiesce. They could handle the situation at Castle Iceward, it was their responsibility, and I had no objection to getting a little rest before we started tracking down the Nightmare. I took Ian by the arm and began leading him towards our usual room. “Thank you, Phalen. Good night.”
As I led him down the hall, Ian chuckled. “Is there something you want, Gwen?”
“Yes,” I replied firmly. “A bath. A hot bath. Desperately.”
“Of course,” Ian said. “And I expect you want me to take on too.”
“If you’re planning on sleeping in the same bed as me,” I said teasingly. “If you’ve a fancy for sleeping on the rug by the bed, then there’s no reason for you to take a bath.”
Ian scratched at his cheek, which was decidedly furry. Ian wears a beard, but he keeps it short trimmed and low on his jaw-line. Now, much of his face was somewhat hairy. “I can think of a reason. It has to do with removing the layer of dirt that’s incrusted my flesh.”
“That’s also a reason,” I agreed.
We dropped our things in our room, and I raided the room’s chest for two simple white robes. I handed one of the to Ian. Then we went down into the depths of the castle. In stories, the lowest level of a castle is usually a dungeon, fell of dank cells and torture equipment. This is often not the case. There is a small dungeon in the castle in Cardinium, though it is far smaller than the various cellars for food storage. Castle Iceward does not have a dungeon at all. The lower levels include the usual cellars and a large bathing room, where the hot springs come up and fill a series of pools. It is probably the greatest advantage of being an Icewarden. Also, one of the greatest ironies.
The room is divided by a series of screens, creating two large rooms for communal bathing and a number of smaller rooms for individuals who prefer more privacy. It was mostly empty, this close to supper, but a couple of people were splashing around in the communal areas and I thought I heard hushed voices in on of the smaller areas. I raised an eyebrow at Ian.
He shrugged. “I’m not particularly in the mood for peace and quiet.”
I considered it. “If we bathe together, we have to agree not to discuss the Nightmares. I’m resolved not to think about them until tomorrow.”
“I think I can manage not talking about them, if not not thinking about them,” he agreed.
This decided we headed for one of the smaller enclosed areas. It was about as long and wide as Ian was tall, and the water was deep enough that it came to my waist standing. We draped the robes over the tops of the screens, and I hurried into one of the communal baths to find some soap. I returned with two lumps of it, as well as two cloths for drying off with. The soap I set in two small shelves clearly intended for holding soap, and the towels I draped over the screen in the same way as the robes. Ian had already lowered himself into the water. His eyes were closed in relaxation.
I hurriedly removed my own dirty clothes from the past several days and joined him in the steaming water. The water in the Castle Iceward baths is hotter than most heated baths, and it does not cool, like water in a normal tub does. It is as hot when you step into it as when you finish your bath and dry off.
The hot water felt so good. I had not even noticed that my muscles were tense from the past nights sleeping on rough ground, worrying, and riding most of the day, but now as that tension released, the difference was amazing. I must have moaned with relief, because Ian snickered and said, “You realize what anyone in the nearby baths is going to think we’re doing.”
I ducked my head under the water then informed him, “I don’t care. We are married. And it’s not like we’d be the only people using the baths that way.” I reached past him for the soap. “It’s so nice to have a little time alone. I do like Phalen and Seath, but-“
“But what?” Ian asked.
I paused and tried to clarify. It was more difficult than I thought. “I’m not really sure. It just- They’re also so- I guess I’m most comfortable when it’s just us.” It was a greatly simplified explanation, but it was the truth.
Ian looked at me thoughtfully as he worked soap into his hair. “I think I feel most comfortable with you too, Gwen.”
I went on, “I mean, we’ve had six years to get used to each other.”
“We have,” he agreed. “I’m not sure that’s all there is to it.”
“Oh?”
Ian mused to himself. “Well, even without that, we’ve been through a lot, together and separately. There’s no one else I can talk to about Dierdre the way I can with you. I think that’s an important part of the connection.”
It was, of course. It had been part of the reason for the marriage, though the greater part had been the need for Wardens. I still remembered sitting next to him in a near empty council room as we discussed who could fill the many empty holes in the Wardens. I had sat there, sad and lonely, missing Horace, missing my life, terrified that the Nightmares or something worse would come back. I didn’t want to be there to stop them, but I needed to. So I had written on the marriage contract, as the others talked. I had signed my name to it and passed it to Ian. He had stared at it grim faced for a long time, as if at first he didn’t really see it. His eyes did not even seem to move, until at last he took the pen and signed his own name at the bottom beneath mine.
“Even without that taken into account, we . . . fit. I’m not certain if that’s from having lived together for six years, but,” Ian hesitated, as if searching for the right words.
“It feels right?” I suggested.
Ian smiled. “Yes,” he agreed. “Maybe in a way, just as much so as if did with Dierdre, though in a different way.”
This was a turn in the conversation I was not comfortable with. Bringing up Dierdre meant bringing up Horace, if only in my own mind. Worse it was in a context that compared the relationship Ian and I had with our relationships to our previous spouses, which felt disrespectful and wrong. “It’s a very different kind of relationship,” I said at last, turning away from him.
“Well, obviously.” Apparently, he had taken the turn as a request to wash my back for me, because he began soaping it. “That goes without saying. You can’t really have the same relationship with any two people.”
“I don’t like comparing now to before,” I said quietly.
Ian stopped soaping. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I sighed. “I know you didn’t.”
“I didn’t mean any disrespect to them. I never would. I loved Dierdre more than my life, and Horace was a good friend to me, and I know how much he cared for you.” He resuming soaping my back. “Maybe that’s part of why I’m so protective. I know it sometimes annoys you, but I feel that Horace would want me to keep you as safe as I could.”
That statement was more than I could bear, and I began to cry. It had been so long.
Poor Ian. “What did I do wrong this time?”
“Nothing,” I choked out, turning to face him. “I just . . . I miss him.”
Ian wrapped his arms about me and I sobbed into his chest. I felt him shaking with tears too. Once one of us starts crying, the other usually does as well. Six years isn’t really that long when it comes to grief. Sometimes, it still hurts just as much as when it first happened.
When we had worn ourselves out with weeping, I said, “This wasn’t what I had in mind, when I said I didn’t want to talk about the Nightmares tonight.”
Ian stroked my hair. “I’d rather talk about people we loved than the things that killed them.”
I nodded and pulled back away from him. I tried to smile, and mostly managed it, I think. “I’m sorry for over-reacting. It’s been an emotional few days.”
“That’s an understatement,” he agreed. “I think your back’s ready to rinse.”
I ducked back under the water, and felt better when I came back out. “Thank you, Ian.”
“What for?”
“Being patient with my storm of tears,” I replied. “Would you like me to get your back, since you got mine?”
“That would be nice.” Ian turned and hunched down so I could reach his back.
After I’ve cried, I always feel tired, but relieved. My head hurts slightly, but it’s so nice for the cry to be over. It felt comfortable again. I could enjoy to the hot water, the feel of Ian’s back as I washed it, the quiet sound of the water sloshing back and forth in the small pool. “We should come to Castle Iceward more often.”
Ian chuckled. “You like the baths that much?”
I sighed and leaned back to float in the water. “Well, that’s certainly a good part of the reason.”
He pushed some of my floating hair away from him. “I think there’s a hot spring near the Wood. We might want to try to visit it next time we go to visit my parents.”
Perhaps the thing I most envy Ian for is how close he is to his family. Mine are dead, and I have been since I was a child, when my mother, father, and siblings died in a pestilence. It was because of this that I was chosen as a Gravewarden originally. Gravewardens are chosen from people who have been close to death. Horace had lost both his parents before he could even walk. The Wardens had always been our only family. That was why I could never imagine leaving them.
Ian had been a Woodwarden before he as an Overwarden. His family, including his four younger sisters, were still alive. We visited them at least once a year. They were always kind to me, though I expect that they did not like me as much as they had Dierdre. I always felt slightly uncomfortable, because I wasn’t used to having family, whether by marriage or otherwise.
“That sounds nice.” I closed my eyes. The water felt amazingly good, and it was wonderful to feel clean again.
Ian tapped the bottom of my foot. “Your feet are wrinkly.”
I jerked the foot away from him. “Stop that. You know it tickles.”
I did not open my eyes, but I could imagine the innocent look on his face. “I must have forgotten.”
“Don’t forget that I know where you’re ticklish too,” I warned him.
“That sounded like a threat. I may have to act first to defend myself.”
I stood up to protect me feet from the coming assault.
“There now that you’re upright, we should get out and go have something to eat.” Ian was already climbing out of the pool.
I glared at him, but followed his example. He held out one of the towels to me as I stood up. “Well, I suppose I can always take another bath tomorrow.”
“As many as you like,” he agreed. “Though I expect we’ll have a few other things to do, as well.”
“Very true.” I dried off and wrapped myself in the robe I had brought form our room. It was slightly too long, but I was confident enough in my ability not to trip over it.
Ian nearly laughed looking at me. “You look like the way my little sisters trying to wear our mother’s clothing.”
I poked him lightly in the stomach, the spot where he was ticklish. “there. Now we’re even.”
“We’ll never be even,” he said with a sigh. “But I don’t really mind.”
“You still need to shave,” I said, giving his beard a slight tug.
“Tomorrow,” he said tiredly. “I promise I will shave tomorrow.”
I combed my fingers through my long, reddish brown hair. “Alright. You’re past the stage where you’re scratchy.”
Ian’s robe fit him about as well as mine fit me, but in the opposite direction. While it reached around him and only gapped slightly at his chest, the hem only reached his knees.
I smothered a laugh and said, “Think twice the next time you tease me about clothes not fitting.”
He looked down at the ill-fitting robe and smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
We gathered our dirty clothes and climbed the many stairs back to our room. True to her word, Phalen had sent up dinner. It was on the table and still steaming. A little magic lingered around the meal, probably what had been keeping it warm. Apparently, she had even brought it up herself. I poured some of the wine into our glasses. It looked like some of the late sweet wine for which Iceward is famous. A sip proved me right.
Ian appeared to be exchanging his too-small robe for a pair of trousers and a clean shirt. My robe was too large, but it was more comfortable than putting on real clothes, so I sat right down at the table, but waited for him to join me before eating. I occupied this time, filling our plates with food.
At last, he joined me at the table, wet hair framing his face and leaving damp marks on his shirt. “Are we still not talking about the Nightmares?”
I thought about it while I ate my first bite of the fruit-stuff duck. It tasted divine. “No, I suppose we do need to talk about the most recent development. Decide what we’re going to do.”
Ian tore a piece of a loaf of bread. “Do we want to try and visit the other villages to see if anyone’s still there?”
It was a difficult question. On the one hand, those people might need immediate help. They might know something that might help us. On the other hand, helping them might mean it would be longer before we killed the thing, giving it longer to kill more people. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on how much we can figure out about where it is from talking to the people from Falconroost.”
“I assume we want to do that tomorrow morning?” Ian asked.
I nodded. “Unless you want to do the other thing in the morning and talk to the villagers in the afternoon.” We both knew what the other thing was. I didn’t have to say it aloud. It was somehow easier not to say it.
“That requires going outside the walls.” Ian stared into his wine for a few moments before drinking from it. “Given the circumstance, we don’t want to be caught out. It might be wiser to do that in the morning, as well.”
He had a valid point. “I think we should do that, then see what we can find out here.” The next thing I was going to say, he wasn’t going to like. I considered trying to find a way of wording it that would make him happier about it, but gave it up as impossible. He just wasn’t going to like it. “Tomorrow night, I want to scry for it again.”
Ian surprised me. “You’re right. It’s the best way to find out exactly where it is.”
“I expected you to argue with me more.”
“No, you’re right.” He set down his fork and looked at me seriously. “This time, I’m scrying. We’re close enough that your greater skill won’t make much a difference. This time, I’m taking the risk.”
I should have expected this response. Unfortunately, there was no reason to refuse. Ian could do the scrying, as well as I could. “How formal do you want this to be?” I asked. “I’d like to be sure it works this time.”
“So long as I’m doing the spell-work, I think that makes sense,” Ian agreed.
“Of course,” I replied.
High Ritual requires a clear differentiation between which partner is in charge of the spell and which is providing assistance. If something went wrong, Ian would be the one affected, but I could still provide assistance with power and focus. Additionally, the ritual would improve the clarity and strength of the scrying, so that we would be more likely to get the results we wanted.
Ian nodded. “Then, yes, that probably would be a good idea. Might be good for us as well.”
I blushed, remembering the evening at the inn north of Cardinium. “It has been a while.”
Ian tried to cover a smile. “I got that impression the other night.”
I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to my dinner. “So, unless both the method and asking the villagers fails, we won’t be visiting the other villages.”
“Yes.” He paused. “It’s likely it’s somewhere relatively unaccessible in the mountains. What do you want to do about the horses?”
Until today, we’d planned on leaving them at Falconroost and continuing from there either on foot or with borrowed mules, but that was no longer a practical plan. “Maybe we should put that question off until after we’ve scryed,” I suggested. “We won’t know how far off the beaten path we’ll have to go until then. And if the scrying doesn’t work, we’ll hav eto visit the other villages anyway.”
Ian refilled his glass with wine. “After the scrying, we won’t have much time before we leave, since I assume we were planning to leave the next morning.”
“That’s what I’d been assuming,” I agreed.
“Then that may be too later to make the decision.”
I sighed and ate a bite of liquor-soaked fig that had been stuffed in the duck. “I’d rather not go the entire way on foot.”
Ian rose and retrieved a map from one of our saddlebags. “It looks like Garlton is only half a day’s ride from Falconroost. It wouldn’t be too far out of our way. If people are still there we can leave the horses with them as we had planned to do at Falconroost. That way we can find out if they’re still there, and possibly gain more information.
“And if they aren’t there?”
He sighed. “Then we’ll need to bring that news back here anyway.”
I protested, “If it’s already destroyed two villages at that point, I don’t think we’ll be able to wait the time it takes to get back to Castle Iceward, deliver the news, and then set out again.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Well.” I pushed my empty plate towards the center of the table and rose, taking ym wine glas with me. I paced the room, occasionally sipping the sweet wine. “It’s unlikely that the creature has done much property damage. There’s probably a good-sized barns till standing. If we leave out enough food and water for them for a week or more, we could leave them inside somewhere warm and safe where they won’t starve. It’s not ideal, but-“
“That might work,” he agreed. “I’d prefer if we didn’t have to.”
“So would I.” I set down my glass on top of a chest. “Hopefully we won’t have to.”
Ian refilled his plate with more duck. “Then it sounds like we have a plan.”
I flopped down on the bed, enjoying the feeling of sinking deep into the feather mattress. “And I think we’ve talking about the Nightmares enough for tonight.”
“We hardly talked about them,” he pointed out. “Just about our plans for dealing with them.”
I shrugged, propping myself up with an elbow. “It’s close enough.”
He laughed. “I suppose it’s better than the other kind of conversation we have these days, that usually seems to involve me making you cry.”
“You’ve only done that the once,” I said. “And it was as much my fault as yours.”
“No, it isn’t. I made you cry.” It appeared that Ian still felt guilty for that. It was ridiculous for him to feel that way, but not really unexpected. He’s always inclined to blame himself more than he should.
“Well, I forgive you,” I said tiredly. “If you desperately want to make it up to me, you can finish eating and come to bed. I’m exhausted.”
He looked up from his food and smiled at me. “That sounds almost more like a favor to me. I’m just as tired as you are. It’s been a very long day.”
I yawned pointedly.
“Just a moment,” he said, as he hurriedly ate a few last bites and drained his wine. Then he blew out all but one of the candles in the room, before finally joining me in bed. He pulled the blankets over us and let me snuggle up close to him. We were asleep before we could even say goodnight.