The Endless Solvent

Nilda had to suffer through several long minutes of murderous bear hugs from Taurin when they reunited. Although she had no intentions of running off again, Taurin kept a close eye on her and made several reckless promises she had no power in fulfilling.

“Did you want a house?” Taurin once asked suddenly as they made their final preparations to leave their camp. “I’ll get you a house!”

“My lady, you’re not yet the Brilliance,” Nilda rolled her eyes, using the term the Caelisians use for the wife of the Solaris. “You can’t just demand them to build a house.”

Taurin did not have the luxury of returning home to gather her belongings, due to how suddenly they had to leave. They had all agreed it would be dangerous to return to the Leton residence - even if the Unseeing had been cleared out, the fact remained that a Gate was purposely opened at her house. It was very possible that the Leton family was targeted, much like how assassins tried to kill Taurin just weeks ago.

The question as to why and how Vartu was involved remained unanswered. The Solaris seemed confident there were no further attempts on Taurin’s life because of the increased security he secretly placed on her.

Despite being the safer option, Nilda still wondered if leaving with the Solaris to a whole other kingdom was the correct thing to do - even with Taurin’s education and Nilda’s abilities, they would still essentially be at the mercy of strangers.

“I’m sorry I do not have a carriage for you two. We will need to do some hard riding for several days at least. I prefer to be behind some sturdy Caelisian city walls as soon as possible,” the Solaris said, opening a well-worn map to study it. Nilda eyed dark markings on the page and squiggles and symbols that led out east from the Heart of Gaia. Taurin caught her look and gently patted her hand.

Nilda thought leaving the city she grew up in would be a more significant event. Sure, she reminisced - of Lord Leton, Vartu, of her days stuck in the fighting rings with Midge breathing down her neck and Aldo who looked down at everyone from his spot. She even thought about the now featureless faces of urchin children she only faintly remembered. But the deaths of her lord and mentor killed something in her. She felt nothing as the city disappeared behind her. Perhaps she felt relief not having to return to the house where her lord was brutally murdered.

She awkwardly clung to Rask’s back as she rode with him. For hours she fought with the opposing needs to hold him tight to stay on the horse versus the need to maintain a modest space between them. Hours later, with her legs and bottom aching from riding, she stopped caring and concentrated on the former. Rask didn’t make a single comment to her on their first day of riding.

They made camp at various stops in the night. Both Nilda and Taurin had to accustom to the idea of relieving themselves in the wilderness - at least Nilda was able to create a kind of haphazard toilet for them by molding bedrock. It made her want to laugh hysterically that that was what her powers were reduced to at the moment, but Taurin was already mortified at the idea that her future husband knew she defecated like any other person, so Nilda restrained herself.

“Alright, how about a nice Midnight hound puppy?” Taurin asked once next to a campfire. She was still trying to gauge what Nilda wanted once they reached Caelis.

“A pet?” Nilda snorted. “I already have you.”

That earned her an elbow to the ribs and a fit of laughter from her mistress. The sound made Nilda glad she was with her. What was she thinking, trying to make Taurin travel alone with these men? When they curled up in blankets around the fire at night, Taurin held onto her hand as she slept.

On the fourth day, their riding had considerably slowed. It was foremost to spare the horses, but also the terrain had shifted slightly so that the path was at a slight incline.

“The Nossan mountains are just north of us,” Rask explained over his shoulder. “The path we’re taking just skirts the base. Soon we’ll reach Sansre.”

“What’s that?” Nilda tried to discreetly burrow her hands in his clothing - once they approached the mountain, the air grew colder and her fingers were stiff from the temperature.

“It’s a trading village at the edge of the Caelisian kingdom,” Rask replied.

“So we’re almost there.”

Rask simply grunted, then leaned back to rummage around the bags strapped on the back of his horse. He fished out a pair of gloves and thrust them into her cold hands. When Nilda put them on, they were too large. They were obviously Rask’s gloves.

“Don’t you need them?” Nilda craned her neck over his shoulder to glance at his hands on the horse’s reins. They looked entirely unaffected.

“I’m used to it.”

As Rask had predicted, they reached the trading village by evening. The village head himself hosted the Solaris, Taurin and Nilda while a few of the Solaris’ soldiers stayed at the inn. The inn was too small to fit all of them, so the younger soldiers made camp just outside the village. The Solaris made sure to stay very briefly, only taking up a small portion of the village’s hospitality before setting off again early in the morning. Nilda had trouble rousing Taurin up from the first bed she’s slept on for days.

On the fifth day, they returned to the brisk pace on horseback and the path plunged them into what Nilda knew were the Verdant Forests. She had seen hints of it as they approached around Sansre, but an hour riding east of the village was what took her breath away. The air filled with the scents of the pine forest, the canopy above them so intensely green it would make a Gaian noblewoman faint. Trees of all shapes and sizes crowded around the path, or suddenly thinned out into a clearing. The forest floor was so littered with leaves, pine needles and grass, Nilda could hardly feel any rocks underneath. It felt like the thick, rich soil went for miles underneath their feet.

Around midday, the path reached a clearing or gently rolling hills. The horses seemed to perk up at the familiar terrain and Nilda held firm to Rask as it felt like their horse picked up speed. At some point he pointed northwards where mountain ranges decorated the horizon. But closer to them at the side of the mountain, Nilda could see Caelis castle built on it.

They soon plunged back into the thick forest, hiding the castle from view. Night approached and they passed through several stone towers manned by soldiers dressed like Rask and his men. The Solaris was met with hoots and hollers of welcome and he waved amicably at them. Then the path was lit by stone braziers and in the dark, they approached the front gate of the castle.

Exhausted and sore, Nilda slid off the horse with Rask’s help and immediately went to Taurin’s side who was already being greeted by the Solaris’ staff. An older woman who dressed a lot like the house steward Lord Leton had bowed respectfully to Taurin. Unlike most women back at the Heart, her gray hair was left loose around her shoulders except for a modest pin above her left ear.

It was at that moment Nilda felt truly out of place. A thought drifted at the back of her head: were they ever going to fit in here?

“My lady, welcome to Caelis castle,” the gray haired woman said. As if reading Nilda’s mind, she added: “Welcome to your new home.”