Maslenitsa - Prologue
There were only three of us heading up to the capital that year – sometimes we travelled with other traders who were winding their way across the mountains to reach the Spring Market at Ostdell, but this year wasn’t one of those years. I didn’t mind. I had all the company – and all the protection – I could need.
Lilidd, who was currently holding the reins for the cart, was my negotiator. No one could drive a bargain quite like her, and I made no pretence of the fact that a good proportion of my profits every year were simply due to her skill. We were very old friends, and had travelled this route together for more years than I cared to remember.
Sitting next to her was Marcus, struggling to keep the heavy vellum map from blowing away in the wind. He had also accompanied me to the capital once every year for the past decade or so, and even the briefest look would tell a person he wasn’t here for his people skills. The large knife at his belt wasn’t intended to put anyone at their ease. Neither was the fact that he looked like he could punch through a brick wall. He was here to provide muscle, for whatever reason, but practically that meant helping to load and unload the cart. Right now, it looked like all his effort was going into keeping the map open.
I was shuffling around in the back of the cart, making sure the oiled sheets were tied down securely over cloth that represented most of my year’s work. The wind that was buffeting us was bringing with it a hint of rain, and the clouds building up over the plain to the south looked heavy and dark. It wouldn’t do to let the merchandise spoil in the wet before we even reached Ostdell.
Eventually the rain hit us. I joined my friends at the front of the cart, and we sat close for warmth as the rain slowly turned to sleet. Lunch was a cold meal of meat and bread left over from the previous night, and we all looked forward to the way house up ahead where we could stop for the night.
About mid afternoon, we passed a merchant group, and paused briefly to discuss the condition of the road up ahead.
“Had to turn back.” One of the men called over the wind after I had stomped through the mud to reach them. “An hour after the Crown and Castle inn, the roads turned to rivers. Looks like ice coming down in the water as well. Might be Rakic Pass is still frozen up, but you can’t get to it anyway.”
“Thanks.” I replied, cursing silently. “How’s the path up to the inn?”
“Wet. It was still passable when we came down, though.”
“Right.” I waved as they persuaded their horse to start moving again, and stomped back to our cart.
“Can’t get to Rakic this way.” I told my friends, climbing back up next to them. “The road’s impassable after the inn. But I think we ought to carry on anyway, try to reach the inn for tonight, and find a way around tomorrow. At least we’ll be dry, and I can check the cloth for damp.”
Marcus nodded.
“Sounds sensible. Lilidd?”
“She had me at ‘dry’.” Lilidd replied emphatically, shaking the reins. We huddled back together on the cart and moved slowly onwards.
“Look ahead.” Lilidd called over the wind, rousing myself and Marcus from our thoughts as she brought the cart of a halt. Looking up, I saw what was left of the road as it disappeared underneath a tumble of mud and rocks.
“Damn.” Marcus swore loudly. “I thought this stretch of road was safe from landslides.”
“So much for dry.” I muttered.
“What now?” Lilidd asked, as Marcus wrestled the map from its pouch. “Bearing in mind that we have to back the cart up before we do anything – I’m not risking turning around in this sort of space.”
“Marcus, figure a way around this.” I decided, standing up. “Lilidd and I will get the cart back to where the road’s wider, then you can help turn us around.”
Thankfully, the road was straight, and slightly downhill, which made backing the cart up easier. Still, it wasn’t a pleasant job in the rain, and it was a relief when Marcus jumped down from the cart with a new route.
“It’s not a big road,” He explained, getting Lilidd and I to hold the map up to the side of the cart while he pointed the route out. “But it sticks to the tops of these hills, so there’s less chance of landslides blocking the road. It’s not brilliant, but we shouldn’t be off the main road for long. Maybe a day, maybe a bit longer.”
“We don’t have much choice. There’s no shelter around here, so we can’t even wait the storm out.”
“I remember passing the turning.” Lilidd added. “It was only half an hour or so back down the road.”
“Let’s get moving, then.” I called. With Marcus’ help, we unhitched the horse, turned the cart around, and started moving again.
The good thing about the new route was that it was rocky – with only the thinnest layer of soil over the solid granite, landslides were much less of a fear. It was also the worst thing about the new route, however, as it slowed us down incredibly. By the time night had truly fallen, we were all so disheartened from having to help steer the cart around the rocky bumps and ruts that the sight of a large, thick-crowned tree a bit further down the slope was like a glimpse at heaven. There was a path leading to it, and as we plodded down to it, the soil under our feet began to get more substantial, with tufts of grass beginning to dot the ground.
The tree was everything we could have hoped for. The rain hadn’t made it through the crown of leaves yet, and there was enough space under the branches that, even when the wind blew, there was an area that stayed dry. We stopped the cart at that point, and set up our large tent over the rolls of cloth – there was no reason to sleep on the ground when we were dragging a ready-made bed across the country. Dinner was cold again, since there was no dry wood with which to start a fire, and precious little wet wood either. The three of us hurried through our evening chores almost in silence, before bundling ourselves into the tent to warm ourselves up and sleep. As tired as we were, we still found some time for talk that evening.
“You realise there’s a fair chance we’ll have to take Cerci Pass, if those traders were right about Rakic being snowed up still.” Marcus mentioned. I grimaced.
“I’ve been trying not to think about it.”
“It’s really not that bad.” Lilidd told me, amused. “I’m sure there’s lot’s of lovely people who use the Pass all the time.”
“Yes, I’m sure the bandits are all really nice men when they’re not out robbing people.” I muttered sarcastically. Lilidd laughed.
“Everywhere has bandits. Rakic has bandits. Just because we got robbed there once, doesn’t mean it’ll happen every time.”
“But why risk it?”
“Cerci does give them more of an advantage that Rakic.” Marcus pointed out, who hadn’t been with Lilidd and I that year. “There’s more places for them to hide.”
“Exactly.” I agreed.
“But you said they didn’t take the cloth, and they let you go once they’d got your purses. Serves you two right for travelling without any muscle, really.”
“Thanks, Marcus.” I told him sardonically. “That makes me feel a lot better about it.”
“On a positive note,” Lilidd interrupted, “If there was ice coming down with the flood water, it might mean Rakic is thawing, and it’ll be passable after all. It’s late in the year for it to be completely iced up anyway, and we’re making good enough time that a detour to find out wouldn’t set us back too much.”
“If I remember, there’s a way house just before the road splits and we have to decide.” Marcus said. “We can ask about Rakic there, and make up our minds.”
“Agreed.” I nodded. “And I’m too tired to think about it much more tonight anyway.”
“Definitely.” Lilidd said. “Sleep, then?”
“Sleep.” Marcus and I agreed in unison. I couldn’t speak for the others, but I barely remember my head touching my pillow.
I’ve often wondered if I have a real memory of waking that night, or if it was a dream. It might simply be I’ve thought of it so often that I’ve created a false memory out of something I wished to be true. Still, wherever the memory came from, I believe that I remember Lilidd getting up during the night and leaving the tent. It didn’t worry me at the time – calls of nature happen at all sorts of strange times – and I fell asleep again quickly. The next time I awoke, it was because Marcus suddenly sat up next to me.
“Marcus?” I muttered sleepily. “What’s wrong?”
“Lilidd’s not here.”
“What?” I blinked slowly and looked around – there was a gap where Lilidd should have been sleeping. “She must be outside. Give her a minute.”
“I’ve given her more than a minute. I’ve been awake at least half an hour.”
At that, I really did wake up. Throwing the blanket off me, I sat and looked around.
“Have you called her? She’s probably just outside.”
“I was just about to look.”
Together, we clambered out of the tent and looked around. The wind had dropped, but the rain was still beating gently on the ground around the tree. If Lilidd was around, she wouldn’t have wandered from under the shelter of the branches.
“Lilidd?” Marcus called. I copied him. There was no answer, and the immediate area was deserted save for our horse. I stood at the edge of the shelter and peered into the night, looking for movement in the inky dark.
“Tanya.” Marcus called out to me, and I turned to find him crouched on the other side of the shelter. I hurried over.
“Have you found her?” I asked.
“I’ve found footprints.” He pointed – the impressions in the wet earth were clearly Lilidd’s size, and were headed away from the tree.
“That’s heading down into the valley – where would she be going?”
“I don’t know. It’s too dark to see if she’s down there.”
“I’ll grab a couple of lamps. We’ll see how far we can follow her prints.”
It took a few, torturous minutes to get the lamps lit, and to don our warmer, waterproof clothes, and then we were heading down the hill, bent almost double to follow Lilidd’s footprints. It was barely worth it. Only a short distance out, the prints stopped with no explanation – the soil around was soft enough to show prints if she had stepped there, and there was no sign of a change of direction or a struggle. Frustrated, we searched the area for other signs of her, but there was nothing. Eventually, we turned and trudged back to the tent, determined to have a better look once the sun was up.
We reached the cart, and Marcus froze suddenly. I stopped as well, looking around.
“What?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.” His hand drifted towards the knife at his hip as he stared around.
There. A movement in the shadow of the cart. We saw it at the same time – Marcus drew his knife, but I called out “Lilidd?”
It wasn’t Lilidd. Marcus darted forwards like lightning and, accompanied by a yell, dragged a boy out into the lamp light. He couldn’t have been more than twelve, and his clothes were mismatched and well-worn. But there were no villages near here – where had he come from?
“Who are you, and what are you doing snooping around?” Marcus asked, his grip tight around the boy’s arm. The boy glared and tied to pull away, with no success. “Answer me.”
“Marcus, easy.” I said, stepping forwards. I looked down at the boy. “Where have you come from?”
“Came from Maslenitsa.” The boy answered shortly, still half-heartedly trying to pull his arm free.
“That’s the name of this valley. What town are you from.”
“Called Maslenitsa too, isn’t it.” I was told, as though that should have been obvious. “It’s where your friend is.”
Marcus’ grip tightened, making the boy wince.
“You’ve seen Lilidd?” My relief was almost tangible. “Can you show us where she went?”
“Can’t.”
Marcus frowned. “Let me try and change your mind.” He growled.
“Marcus, let him go.” I told him sternly. He gave me a funny look, but reluctantly released the boy, who shook himself and straightened his tattered jacket.
“Now.” I crouched down to be on eye level. “Why can’t you take us?”
“‘Cos the town’s not there.”
“You said you came from there.”
“Yeah. But it’s not there now. It turns in the air, sometimes it’s there, sometimes it ain’t. You’ll have to wait for it to turn back.”
“How long?”
“You’re not seriously believing him, are you?” Marcus interrupted. I looked up, and shrugged.
“I’ll decide when I’ve heard it all.”
“Ain’t lyin’.” He boy protested.
“I’m not saying you are.” I replied placatingly, hiding my doubts. “But we need to find our friend. How do you get home if you can’t get in to the town?”
“Don’t have to wait.” He replied smugly. “You do.”
“So how long do we wait?”
“Depends. It ain’t regular.”
“So how do we know? There wasn’t a town here when we arrived.”
“You’ll hear it. There’s music – it’ll draw you in.”
“Here’s a thought,” Marcus interrupted again. “Since you can get there and we can’t, why don’t you go and bring Lilidd out again.”
“Can’t.”
“I’m getting tired of hearing that.” Marcus growled.
“Why can’t you?”
“She can’t leave yet. She ain’t allowed.”
The relief that had flooded through me at the news Lilidd was alright was suddenly gone, leaving a tight feeling in my gut.
“Allowed by whom?”
“It’s the rules. She’s in the Carnival, and she’s got to wait till it’s done.”
At my side, I heard Marcus exhale sharply, and knew he had lost his patience.
“I’ve had enough of this.” He said, reaching out to grab the boy again. The boy darted out of the way, much faster than Marcus, and stood just out of arm’s reach.
“Didn’t have to come up here.” He retorted angrily. “Could’ve stayed at home, where it’s dry. Thought you might want to know about your friend. Shouldn’t’ve bothered, though should I? You want to know where she is, you’ll have to look for her yourself.” And in a blink of an eye, he was gone. Marcus swore, and stamped about, convinced the boy had slipped through his grasp, but there was no sign of him. No footprints led to his hiding place by the cart – in fact, the only prints under the shelter of the tree were ours. I frowned, worry forming a tight knot in my stomach, but there was nothing we could do except wait for sunrise. Half-heartedly, Marcus suggested we get some sleep, and we climbed back into the tent. I know Marcus dosed, if only fitfully, because in his line of work the ability to sleep regardless of the situation was essential. I closed my eyes, listened to our breathing and the sounds from outside the tent, and waited for the sun to rise.
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