Unwanted Adventure

Author's Note: Kevin Smith makes the best movies EVAR. Except for Jersy Girl. But at least J-Lo died in it. Anyway. Forgive the summary of the Illiad in the beginning of this chapter, but rather than say "HC told Sasha the story of the Trojan Horse" it felt and looked better to me to write it all out. That's all. You can read the story now. Go on. Go. Shoo.

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January 12th?

Our stowaway, Sasha, has given us quite an introspective look into the world we’re in. We are currently in the southern principalities of a nation called Tarania. Tarania is bordered to the north and east by the kingdoms of Justof and Naom, respectively. To the west is a mostly unexplored stretch of wilderness before one reaches an imposing mountain range, and to the south is an impassable ocean. Supposedly there is a country of great wealth and riches to the west, beyond the wilderness and mountains; Sasha claims little is known about this western kingdom, only that few merchants will brave the trip because of the clans of barbarians that make the wilderness their home.

Of course, the most interesting fact is that Tarania is in the middle of a civil war. Tarania’s king is unpopular with the public, and his policies are opposed by his son. Rather than try to mediate with his son, the king exiled the Crown Prince . Now those loyal to the Crown Prince are fighting against those who are in the king’s pocket. And apparently this is where Sasha’s father got his idea for taking control. The Crown Prince is the king’s only viable heir according to this world’s customs; thus once the king dies the Crown Prince is the only one with any concrete claim to the throne. Her father, General Kraiv, has been playing both sides; publicly he is the commander of all the king’s armies, but secretly he has been making deals with the Crown Prince. He seeks to use Sasha to get a member of his bloodline in the chain of succession, and then he will use his contact with both sides to kill both the king and Crown Prince.

We were split on what to do after learning all this. Les and Aaron wanted to cut her loose and leave the matter behind us, while Jake, Larisse, and Nicole refused to let her be used this way. One look at Will and I knew he shared the same thoughts as me. She got us involved simply by stowing away with us. Kraiv will hunt us down regardless if we turn Sasha loose; he won’t take the chance that we found out Sasha’s arranged marriage to the Crown Prince and tell someone loyal to the king.

I find my thoughts returning to the question: What if this is all a dream? If I die here, will I wake up back home? I hope that’s the way of things. I’ve heard about people dying in their sleep because they died in a realistic dream and their heart stopped from psychosomatic stress. Or go into a state of catatonia that takes them months to come out of, if they come out at all.

Survival first.

“Who is Helen of Troy?”

HC looked up from his journal to see Sasha standing over him. He put the parchment away and motioned for her to sit down. It had been two days since Sasha had stowed away on their wagon, and ever since then they had been making a beeline west for the wild lands. HC personally thought it was trading one death for another, but according to Sasha the Crown Prince’s forces had arranged a truce with several barbarian clans and even had a permanent outpost there somewhere.

“Helen of Troy is a woman from a legend back where we’re from,” HC said. It had been a unanimous agreement not to tell Sasha the whole story; it was doubtful she’d believe them anyway. Instead, HC had told her they were from a land far beyond any of the nations she knew of, sent here by a magical accident. It was partly the truth, and enough for her to believe the story. “She was so beautiful that it came to be said in our world that her face launched a thousand ships.”

“Flattering,” Sasha said with a wry smile, “but I don’t see the connection.”

“To accurately tell the story of Helen, I must also tell you the story of Paris,” HC said. “Paris was renowned through the land as a perfect judge of beauty. He was so renowned, that three goddesses came down to have him judge among them who was the most beautiful. To Paris, each was equally beautiful as the others, but he was wise enough to know that he could not tell them so without seeking the wrath of all three. So he asked for time to decide, and during this time each goddess came to him alone and made promises to bribe him. Hera, Queen of the gods, promised Paris a kingdom greater than any known to history. Athena, goddess of Wisdom, promised him the knowledge of the Ages. But it was Aphrodite who won Paris’s vote, because she promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. That woman was Helen.”

Sasha sat cross-legged in front of HC, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands as she listened, enraptured with the story. “Paris hailed from a city known as Troy, and he took her there,” HC continued. “However, Helen was already married at the time. Her husband was a mighty noble, and brother to Agamemnon, the most powerful king of a land called Greece. At Agamemnon’s command all the warriors of Greece went to war against Troy, sailing across the sea and laying siege to Troy for ten years.”

“But Greece was defeated and love conquered all, right?” Sasha asked, thinking she had guessed the ending.

“Wrong,” HC said somberly. “A hero of the war, a man named Odysseus, came up with a plan to invade. The Greek army built a huge wooden horse, the symbol of Troy, and left it outside the gates of the city at night. Then they boarded their ships and left for home; the Trojans woke and saw the horse, which obviously had been left as a tribute to the strength of Troy.”

“So either I was right all along or Paris turned out to be a horrible husband,” Sasha said, frustration creeping into her voice. She was beginning to think HC was lying to her, or that the story had some ridiculous storybook ending.

“The horse was taken into the city and placed in the town square,” HC continued, ignoring Sasha’s comment. “But unknown to the people of Troy, it was hollow, and filled with the mightiest warriors of Greece. Once night fell, the soldiers crept out of the horse and killed Troy’s guards before opening the city gates for the Greek armies, who had only sailed up the coast and out of sight. The city was sacked, and in the process both Helen and Paris were killed. You are Helen, My brother is Paris, and my friends and I are the city of Troy.”

Sasha’s eyes fell to the ground as the message of the story sank in. “So because I ran away and stowed away with you, I’ve doomed you all, and myself as well,” she said. Her eyes glistened with tears and she lowered her face to her knees. HC looked heavenwards for guidance, having no clue how to deal with the situation but feeling partly guilty. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, giving a gentle squeeze.

“My brother may have all the sense of Paris as far as choosing which goddess to side with,” HC said, “but my friends and I know the story of the Trojan Horse too well to fall for any tricks like that. Come on, it’s time we got going again anyway.”

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“Do you really trust her?” HC asked, shifting nervously in his saddle.

“None of the truth charms I’ve cast have caught her in a lie,” Nicole responded, “and she’s been nothing but emphatic about how much she hated being a pawn in her father’s plans and how much she wanted to get away. It just doesn’t add up that she would know the whole story like that.”

“I can see two explanations,” HC said. “Either she accidentally overheard Kraiv talking about it and decided she couldn’t go through with it, or she was in on it the whole time but was too afraid of her father to just tell the prince what was going on. If the look on her face when she talks about her father is genuine, I’d say it’s the second one.”

“She’s certainly taken a liking to Jake,” Nicole said with a smile on her face, as she looked over her shoulder to where she was riding behind Jake on his horse. The dusky mare didn’t seem to mind the extra weight, and Sasha’s arm were tight around Jake’s waist while her head rested on his shoulder. HC looked back at his brother and smiled; Jake caught his brother’s eyes and grinned widely, truly overjoyed at this turn of events.

“Yeah,” HC replied. “Why he has to pick the dangerous ones, though… I’ll never understand that one.”

“Are you calling me tame?” Nicole asked, cocking her head and raising one eyebrow.

“You don’t count,” HC answered with a grin. “You didn’t really indulge your wild side until we started dating, and I don’t recall your parents sending an army after you when we stayed out too late.”

“Hmph!” Nicole turned back in her saddle, staring forward and pretending to be insulted until HC leaned over and kissed her cheek. She turned and smiled, and HC darted in again to plant a kiss on her lips.

“You’re just as wild as I can handle,” he said. “And I couldn’t ask for more.”

“Good for you,” Nicole said mischievously. “Me, on the other hand…”

“Hey!”

Will and Aaron were flanking the wagon on their horses while Larisse drove. They’d passed a few small towns and unloaded what they could, but even so the weight was causing their workhorse to tire well before any of their mounts. Larisse was the smallest of them, so it made sense to let her drive the wagon while Will and her brother were close enough to jump on and take control if something spooked the horse. Will was focused on the land around them, on the lookout for anything that might spell trouble, but Aaron was looking back where Jake and Sasha were talking and laughing.

“I just don’t trust her,” he confided to his sister, turning his attentions back to the road. “I don’t know why. I mean, I trust Nicole’s magic as much as I trust your or Jake’s but something just doesn’t seem right about Sasha.”

“I know what you mean,” Larisse replied. “I think it’s just paranoia though. We’ve got no reason not to trust her, really, so I’ve just been ignoring it.”

“Sniper!” Will called out calmly, readying his bow and releasing an arrow before any of them could even turn to look. Several hundred yards out there was a scream and a man tumbled out from behind some rocks. Another two arrows thudded into the side of the wagon from the other direction, whistling just an inch from Aaron’s back as it passed. Bolts of magic launched from Larisse and Jake’s hands and a small copse of trees and bushes exploded in flame. Another man leapt from the blaze, his clothes catching, and another arrow from Will took him down. Everyone had their weapons at the ready, expecting an attack at any moment, but none came.

“The hell?” Will asked.

“Ambush up ahead?” Jake asked.

“Probably,” HC replied. “Maybe those archers were set up to spook us and set us running.”

They stopped the horses and Will rode out to check the body of the first archer. He returned with a grim look on his face and a scrap of cloth in his hands. “They found us,” he said, showing them all the insignia on the cloth; it was the same mark worn by the men who had been escorting Sasha at the tavern, what she had explained was the crest worn by her father’s personal regiments. “If they were trying to herd us into an ambush, I’d think they were just planning on killing us and making it look like a bandit attack.”

“Check her for magic,” HC said immediately, pointing his staff at Sasha.

“Hey, wait a second,” Jake protested. Aaron ignored him, plucking Sasha off his horse with one hand and slinging her across his mount’s back. She yelled and fought but she was no match against Aaron’s strength. Carrying her over to the wagon, he unceremoniously tossed her onto the back where Larisse cast a spell over her. A bright blue glow appeared, shining through the heavy fabric of her dress at her hip.

“What is that?” HC demanded.

“A tattoo,” Sasha replied furiously. “My mother was from Naom; it is a custom there for all men and women to have a tattoo done when they come of age, a personal and unique design.”

“A tattoo, huh?” Will asked, drawing a knife and making a cutting motion at her dress. “Let’s see if you’re telling the truth.”

Sasha’s skin flushed from her hair down to her neckline, and both Nicole and Larisse protested Will’s suggestion. “We’ll let her keep her dignity for now,” HC said. “There’s an ambush ahead that’s going to get suspicious if we don’t come around soon.”

“I’ve got an idea for that,” Larisse chimed in. “But I’ll need Jake’s help.”

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Harmon Drysh was a soldier of the finest caliber, having joined the Taranian army as soon as he was old enough and serving faithfully for more than twenty years. He had become bitter and disenchanted with Tarania’s king when it was decreed that only pure-born Taranians could serve as officers, and Harmon’s pending commission was canceled because his grandfather had immigrated from Justof. Then he was approached by Kraiv, then just a field commander. Harmon was recruited into a group of elite soldiers under Kraiv’s command, and though he could not officially hold an officer’s rank Harmon received the same power and prestige. Loyalties shifted, and now Harmon was one of Kraiv’s most trusted operatives.

A powerfully built man, Harmon was head and shoulders above the tallest of the men under him and outweighed the heaviest by close to eighty pounds. If his size weren’t enough of a distinguishing feature, he had shaved his head and tattooed a mark in his scalp for every mission he had completed for Kraiv. His eyes were as gray as steel, an appropriate color for the cold gaze that focused on the group that approached Harmon’s ambush. Drawing a sword with a blackened blade, he waited for his targets to get into position and gave the signal to attack. His men burst from their hiding places and rushed what they thought was HC and his friends. As soon as the first soldier thrust with his sword into Aaron’s side, however, the entire group flickered and as one exploded into fire. Harmon threw himself to the ground as flame, blood, and gore washed over him in an instant of sheer death. When the heat had passed, Harmon stood and spat out a curse, picking pieces of charred flesh from between the spikes on his armor.

The spell trap Larisse and Jake had crafted had turned half of his men into a red stain on the landscape, and those closest to the blast were nothing but smears of ash on the ground next to a still smoking crater.

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Having abandoned the wagon, they were riding hard cross-country, Aaron switching horses with his sister again and riding the great draft horse they had employed to pull the wagon. Once they were sufficient distance away for HC’s taste, they stopped and allowed the horses to rest. Dismounting, Aaron tended to the horses while the others turned on Sasha. The girl clung to Jake for help, and he glared defiantly at HC and the others.

“Nicole, Larisse, Take her someplace private and examine that ‘tattoo’ as thoroughly as possible. A coming of age ritual that involves a magical tattoo? Don’t see it happening,” The two women nodded and led Sasha off behind some thick brush. “Everybody else… smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.” Les let out a whoop and promptly started removing pieces of armor so he could properly stretch his back, while Will and Aaron pulled out a deck of cards and dealt them out. Jake studied the ground for a second, his arms crossed, then walked over and grabbed HC’s arm.

“Why are you so hard on her?” Jake demanded. “She’s a victim here, not one of the bad guys!”

“Stop thinking with your dick for a second and start using your brain,” HC snapped. “Did it never occur to you that she’s doing this deliberately so her father can test the loyalty of the prince’s men? Maybe that this story was concocted so her father could root out spies and she was meant to get kidnapped? Or that she has her own agenda?”

“You don’t really think that,” Jake said, almost hopefully.

“We promised that survival came before anything else save for each other,” HC reminded his brother. “That means that the only time we stick out our necks is if it’s to save each other. No one here is our friend, Jake. There’s no one we can trust except for each other. No matter how badly you want to fuck them.”

“Is that what you think? That I’m just letting hormones or whatever think for me?” Jake asked. He stared into HC’s eyes, the hurt evident in his gaze. “I honestly believe her, HC. You haven’t talked to her except to tell her the story of Troy. I’ve spent the past two days talking to her, seeing how she reacted when I casually mentioned things. She’s hiding something, that I’m sure of, but it has nothing to do with this plot of her father’s. Something bad happened to her in her past, something that even certain everyday things remind her of. She changed the subject whenever I mentioned those things.”

“Thing like what?” HC asked.

“I’m not telling you,” Jake responded, his eyes narrowing. “I know you too well. It’ll eat you up inside, but if you think it’ll save us all you’ll use every resource you have to break Sasha’s resolve and find out every secret she knows, and I’m not about to give you more ammunition. You might be willing to do anything to survive, but I’m still human and I won’t sacrifice my conscience because you think it might improve our chances of getting home again.”

“It’s some sort of spell beacon,” Larisse said, coming back with Nicole and Sasha close behind her. She raised an eyebrow, noting the body language between Jake and HC. “Sibling spat?”

“Jake won’t accept that Chasing Amy had the best plot out of all of Kevin Smith’s work,” HC lied.

“Bullshit!” Jake exclaimed. “Everyone knows that Clerks outshines everything else he’s done!”

“Boys,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes.

“I couldn’t remove the tracer,” Larisse continued, “but I could mask it. For now, at least. It seems tied into the tattoo, and it was put there when the tattoo was done.”

“Did you know about this?” HC asked Sasha.

“Nothing,” she replied, staring daggers at him.

“You’d better not,” HC said, “because if I come to find evidence that you’re keeping secrets, any secret at all, you’ll have something worse than your father to fear.”

Sasha’s skin paled at the comment, and it seemed she was on the verge of fainting from fear. HC supposed Jake was right; she was hiding something, and HC would guess that her father had something to do with her fears. Whether those secrets could harm them was yet to be determined; HC wasn’t going to let the subject go until he knew. Guilt was already gnawing away at his insides, but he had a job to do and he would make sure he and his friends found their way home.