Hedren Junipersson's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Morning light woke Hedren in the upstairs room. Celina lay beside him, awake, smiling like she held a secret. He asked her again where the helmet fell. She traced a finger down his arm and said he should stay another day. Each time he pressed, she turned the question into a joke or a kiss. By noon he knew the truth. She would not tell him. She wanted him close more than she wanted him armed. Hedren went downstairs with a knot in his chest. He could not read her. The warmth felt real. So did the wall. He sat at the bar and dropped his head into his hands. Gunter, the bartender, set a cup in front of him without asking. Hedren had met him the first night, a broad man with silver-streaked hair and arms like crossed beams. Gunter talked little and watched much. He had taught Hedren which roads left town and which men to avoid. Now he leaned close. "The witch won't tell you," he said. It was not a question. "No," Hedren said. "I can't tell if she means well or means to trap me." Gunter was quiet a moment. Then he wiped his hands and walked out the back. Hedren followed. Across the lane, a broad hunter in rough fur stood waiting. This was Bachi, who tracked beasts alone and had crossed Hedren once at the tavern over a spilled drink. They did not like each other. Bachi had little patience for soldiers. But he had ears in every corner of the woods, and he had listened. Beside Bachi stood a grey-haired priest in a white sacred robe. Father Aldric led the knights and guards of Ridgefield. He had bled beside his men and he hunted a traitor he believed walked the walls. He studied Hedren with tired, hard eyes. "Gunter brought this to me," Aldric said. He drew a pendant from his robe. A green stone caught the light, cut clean and bright. "A truthstone. It burns cold in the hand of a liar." He pressed it into Hedren's palm. "Your witch may be playing a trick on you. Bring this to her. Ask your question. Watch the stone." Bachi crossed his arms. "She lies, you'll feel it," he said. "Then you stop wasting her time and mine." Hedren closed his fist around the pendant. For the first time since the retreat, he had a way to cut through Celina's smile and find the truth beneath it. He climbed the stairs. Celina lay just as he left her. He sat on the bed, the stone warm in his hand, and asked once more where the helmet fell. He watched her face. He watched the stone. And he waited to learn whether her affection had ever been real.