Confessions of Rank

- Dalen Woodland, Night of 1 DSTR

The slightest hint of red went to his cheeks. “Miss, I have not been exactly forthright with you.” He said slowly and ran a hand through his long hair. “I am Kline Lowson, the Queen made me a baron after the wars, sort of a reward for the service I was doing.” He told her slowly. “I was not born to it, and really, have no head for it, but, a soldier is given a task, he adapts and overcomes, or he dies trying, right?”

“I did not say anything because I really did not want you to…that is to say, I did not want it coloring what you did. People change, well, except for my men, they all knew me before, but others, it can make them a little odd.” He told her. “Honestly, I cannot stand it.” He stopped in his pacing now, standing and looking at her from the back of the tent. He took a deep breath a look of hope on his face, an awkward smile on his face like some boy who had been caught in a lie.

Outside, the forest seemed to be doing all it could to hide the sky from those on the ground. It was as if the forest wished to be a place cut off from that world outside. An old place, a place that was what made Dalan what it was, magical and wild, a place that remembered the old ways and the old days. It was not a place where human laws and human ideas were welcome, let alone the sight of those gods the humans now worshiped. The forest remembered when human walked in awe of it, when they saw divinity in under it, and now, it had two trapped, at least until morning, so it kept them shielded from that world they knew.

“You are right.” Kline said, looking at the tent, as if to see through it to where the horses were outside. “We would not make it through the forest with those horses, and they would prefer sleeping to being drug around in the dark I am sure.” He shrugged as he thought of it.

He might prefer sleeping as well.

“If you want, I can sleep outside, you can take the tent.” He held up a hand as if to forestall any protest she may make. “I have spent many nights sleeping in worse conditions, so do not say anything about me being a Baron and all. I will see if I can get the embers of the fire out there going and we can get a little light out there. You could also use the rest, you took a pretty hard hit, and to be honest, I think you have a better chance to getting out of here then me. I am no woodsmen, and if you can muster the skills to get us out, then I would want you fully rested.”

He also would rest easier knowing she was in the tent. Out of sight, out of mind, and he could focus on working out this riddle. He would need to meet with this lord when they reach the city. “I should meet this Lord, and get some answers from him, does he reside in the city?”