Chapter 38 - Moonlit Patrol

“We’re a good team, I don’t see why the Captain is changing things up,” Mareth muttered around a mouthful of eggs.

“He wants me to begin Patrols, now that I’m recovered,” Cadryn replied, though that had been news to him as well at last night’s debrief.

Besides the two of them, the dining table in the Toll House was empty of either Day or Night shift Keepers. The sun was already below the cliffs to the east, throwing up pink and orange light against the rough-hewn rafters above their heads. The winds through the open windows were cold and dry, a welcome change for the storms of the previous week. Pleasant as the breeze was, it did nothing to dispel Mareth’s foul mood about the change in assignments.

“I could go on patrols too,” Mareth said, pointing out the window with a fork. “It’s really nothing compared to magecraft.”

“Well, that’s probably one of the reasons the Captain doesn’t want you out there, you’re more valuable here protecting the gates. I mean, with Darcy on the loose.”

“Yeah, whose fault is that, Golden Eyes,” she replied, only half-joking.

“Mine,” Cadryn said, feeling a bit hurt that she had decided to join in the ribbing. It was already bad enough having to admit his mistake to Vaast and Bahsa. Sefton, mercifully, saw fit only to leave him a reprimanding note instead of dressing him down in person. There’d been a few jokes from the others too, but not, so far, from Mareth.

“Well, shouldn’t you be heading out with that woman by now, she gets testy if you keep her waiting,” Mareth said.

“Yes, Second,” Cadryn answered, using her official command title. He rose, stuffed the rest of the roll of bread he’d been ignoring into his tunic pocket and made for the door. Stopping only to shrug on his fur-lined stalk cloak.

“Hey,” Mareth called out, “be careful, alright? That’s an order.”

Cadryn gave her a sharp salute, and a wink to let her know he wasn’t mad, before ducking out the door into the evening light. Waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the courtyard, he looked for Felina. A whistle from the far end caught his ear and he spotted her at the northern end of the enclosed area by the stables. She looked mostly the same as earlier in the season, hair a bit longer with the coming of winter. In place of the short sleeve blouse she wore a long sleeve woolen sweater with a high neck. The eyes held the same disinterested cast she favored and were a murky green in the shadows of the wall. Seeing her lounging atop the gate to the stables, back against the frame, one leg kicking the air idly Cadryn was convinced: she was part cat. Hopping down silently as he approached, she dusted herself off before retrieving a heavyweight cloak from a nearby hook.

“Did ya get a kiss goodbye from ye sweetie,” she said, practically gagging out the words. Cadryn punched her arm, earning an exaggerated yelp of pain.

“It’s not like that and you know it,” he said, thumbing at the horses. “We riding tonight?”

“In the dark, are you daft? No, we walk,” she said, and set off for the door beside the main gate. “Hope you’re not afraid of the woods at nightttt,” she said, her eyes suddenly alight with energy.

It was Cadryn’s turn to groan.

*****

Upon experiencing them, the wood at night were not something Cadryn enjoyed. Not one bit. For starters, he couldn’t see a damn thing. Even when the moon did deign to grace their path with its light, the long shadows of the old growth pines ate it up like starving dogs. Even that paltry amount of light was a rare thing; the majority of the game trail they stalked along moved below the vast swaying canopy, throwing them into true darkness.

Cadryn did have a lantern, but kept it on a bullet setting to prevent the light from completely ruining his night vision. Felina, calling him a coward, insisted on walking a score of paces behind him, well within the shadows. Deprived of most of his sight thanks to the undergrowth, it was the second thing he disliked about the nighttime woods that crept to the forefront: sounds.

Animal calls came constantly, it was akin to a bunch of functionaries holding court, only in the dark of nature instead of some smoky bar’s backroom. If they weren’t yelling out to lovers and enemies, the beasts moved through the undergrowth to find them. Filling the night with the cracking of twigs, the crunch of leaves, and the crash of retreat as the pair of Keepers got too close to a bedded down deer. All of it, normally no cause for concern, took on a sinister overtone of malice in the depth of night. Even the damn wind sounded like a voice, whispering doom in his ear.

“I hate this,” he whispered, but his voice sounded like a shout in the stillness.

“I love it,” Felina said, from somewhere to his left, “You look like a damn kid expecting to get ett’ any second now. Hilarious.”

It occurred then to Cadryn that no small number of the noises he’d heard thus far were likely his companion’s doing.

“You bitch . . . you’re the worst,” he said, stopping to stretch out the tension that had settled into his spine.

“Do you hate me, Cady?” she said, now from the right side of the trail.

“I’ll stab you if you call me that again.”

“You’d have to find me, first.”