*
“You there, where are you going?”
Aric stopped promptly and turned to face the gate sentry, who came at him in the rapidly approaching night with a heavy lantern in his hand. The guard was a portly man with soft, florid features, and had probably never done a day's hard labor in his life; nevertheless, he didn't seem to be a pompous-ringleader-type who kept his own hands clean while others did the dirty work, but rather simply a nervous but well-meaning citizen. He must have been drafted into service very recently, with all the regular soldiers and guards posted outside beyond the city's borders.
All of these details instantaneously sorted themselves in Aric's mind, and he immediately knew how to deal with this sentry.
“Why sir,” he began in a relaxed and friendly manner. He kept his shoulders straight and a look of confident innocence on his face. “I am on my way to see my brother. He lives just an hour's journey from here, and definitely not in the direction of the raided border towns. No, he has always wisely kept his nose out of anything that has to do with Toves. And besides, I can always defend myself if I need to.” He added this last comment because the man was eying the sword strapped to Aric's hip. Aric reassuringly patted the dark leather scabbard and smiled.
The sentry was obviously caught off balance. Aric's aloof behavior would have aroused the suspicions of any seasoned soldier, but this new recruit was inexperienced and obviously didn't know how to handle such situations. “Er, sir, I'm sorry, but you aren't allowed out of the city at night unless you have proper authentication from the Office of--”
“Oh, you know as well as I do that the Office of City Defense is nothing but stubborn clerks and piles of paperwork,” Aric waved off the guard's protest. “Nothing ever gets done there. I'm just going to visit my brother and tell him our father is still in good health, that he needn't worry, and I'll be back before lunchtime tomorrow. I'll even come through this same gate, just to prove it to you.”
The portly man was a bit keener than Aric thought, though. “No, sir, I'm afraid that isn't reason enough,” he insisted, holding up his lantern as if lifting the thing somehow gave him more authority. “I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to go back home. You can check with the Office tomorrow, they open at eight o'clock.”
Aric kept trying. He couldn't let this stop him; time was very short as it was. “Look, officer, you don't understand, my brother is sick as well – just like my father, I mean – and I've got to bring him his weekly regimen from the pharmacist. Doctor's orders.” He patted the pouch at his belt. “If I don't get it to him by tomorrow, he'll break out in this horrible rash--”
“Sir, if you can't show me a writ of authorization, I cannot let you through.” Boy, what this guard lacked in playful banter he made up with sheer loyalty.
“All right, all right,” Aric sighed, making a big show of fumbling through the inner pocket of his coat. He produced a small square of white paper and handed it to the sentry for inspection. The man took the document a little suspiciously, but looked it over and grunted with satisfaction.
“All right sir, you're good to go. Travel safely.”
“Thank you,” Aric nodded with a smile, and the two parted ways.
Aric was getting impatient, and he didn't like that feeling. He took a brief glance back at the gate, but the fat sentry was not to be seen. The towers and turrets of New Poliston loomed in the hapless sky behind him, black against the bleak grayness of the winter evening. His boots crunched on the frozen stubble – the remainders of the recent harvest, which hadn't been very good this year.
He wasn't particularly sad to say goodbye to the bustling city. Sure, it had been his home for the greater part of his life, but there was something more important to do at the time. The heavy sword rhythmically beat against Aric's hip as he walked across the open field, and he gripped the handle to still it. He hoped the golden hilt hadn't caught the guard's eye, but then again, who would recognize this sword among so many? Almost everyone had a sword in New Poliston, especially these days with all the Tove trouble.
Aric tried not to think about Toves at the moment. There were more important things to do. He had to get to the little town of Dunberg before it was too late.
Night engulfed the land just as he reached the farmer's house. Ten minutes later Aric was galloping southward on a new horse, and its previous owner – a surprised and grateful farmer – stood in the doorway and watched him go as he counted out the coins from the huge purse the stranger with the sword had given him.
*
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