Free FORBIDDEN TALENTS by Frankie Robertson Page B

journey .
    They’d walked out the main gates of Quartzholm along with the day merchants and villagers, seemingly without a second look from anyone. All the way through the village that sat on the skirts of the castle, Saeun had fought the urge to turn and see if anyone watched or followed. She and Gert had left the main road as soon as they were out of sight. When pursuit did come, they’d have a better chance of evading it in the mountainous forests.
    The tall fir trees on either side of their path whispered in the wind. Saeun almost felt that if she stopped and listened just a little harder she’d be able to make out the words. It wasn’t the first time she’d imagined such a thing. When she’d been young she’d spent many a happy day in the forest surrounding her father’s, holding imagining conversations with the trees. Saeun shook her head. She didn’t have time for now for childhood memories. She hitched her carry sack higher and trudged on as the last sliver of sunlight dropped below the ridge.
    How long would it take them to get to Forsvaremur, traveling this roundabout way? And would the Daughters of Freya even welcome them when they got there? Rumored to be witches and whores, the Daughters had to be circumspect in their actions to avoid turning mere censure into active oppression. It was one thing to take in a beaten, runaway wife, quite another to give succor to a practitioner of unsanctioned magic. Lady Solveig had given the Daughters land for their enclave in her Jarldom. They might not want to test their patron’s tolerance, even if the Daughters of Quartzholm had vouched for her.
    Gert paused at a flat space. She took a moment to catch her breath before speaking. “ We’d best stop here for the night, my dear. There’s a nice drift of needles to make our bed soft, and this rock will block the wind. ”
    Gert was right. As Saeun climbed to stand beside her maid, she stepped into a pocket of still air. She felt instantly warmer and she smiled at the small comfort. “ How do you know so much? I can’t imagine you learned to get along in the mountains while tending my mother all those years. ”
    A gleam sparkled in Gert’s eye. “ I haven’t always been an old woman, dear. I listened when my lovers bragged about their adventures. ”
    For a moment Saeun didn’t know what to say. Gert had lovers ? She’d always been there, dear old Gert, first serving her mother and then herself. She’d never given much thought to the woman’s life beyond that. Saeun had had the ordering of the house after her mother passed on, and had supervised the servants and thralls until her father died and her elder brother married. Gert had guided her until she knew what she was about. Gert had always just been there, dutiful and loving. Why had she never considered that her maid had a life beyond her service?
    “ Don’t look so shocked. ”
    “ I’m not. I’m … I just never … never thought about … ” Saeun glanced away, embarrassed. She looked up again when Gert spoke.
    “ Most never do, dear. And you’re young yet. But remember this: if you ever have a staff again and wish to have their loyalty as well as their obedience, it helps to see them, and to listen. ”
    Saeun nodded, tucking the older woman’s words away for further thought. She shivered as the wind whistled in the branches overhead. “ Let’s gather wood for a fire. ” The sharp resinous smell of the forest grew even stronger as she ventured a short way under the trees, stooping to retrieve fallen twigs and small branches. A fire would make little difference to their chances of being discovered. If those who’d found her tools of divining discovered their escape too soon and sent a Tracker after them, their flight would be useless. Someone with a Tracker Talent could find them, fire or no. She and Gert had known the truth of it from the first. Their only hope lay in the chance that no one would look for them for a day or, if their luck