Inktober Day 15: Dagger

 Chapter 13

As they moved through the land of Tìrmàgach, barely anyone spoke. There was nothing for Magda and Wendell to say to one another with the others so close by, and it seemed Kandra had lost her appetite for jeering. Magda noticed that she fiddled with something in her lap as they rode along. She did not want to draw attention to herself by looking, but she managed to catch a glimpse of an ornate dagger in an equally ornate sheath in Kandra’s lap. It had gems inlaid in the pommel and sheath, and there were markings all over it, but Magda could quite make them out.

Magda tried to get a look at Kandra’s face, but it was difficult with her hood obscuring it. She kept thinking back to when they had left the manor and how Kandra had given away how little she knew of her master’s plans. Was she nervous to meet her master again? What kind of master was he exactly and why did Kendra serve him?

When they took their rest at midday, Magda and Wendell were left alone as far away from their captors as they had been so far, and Magda decided to take advantage of this.

“Sir Wendell?” she said in a hushed tone. He looked around them to see if anyone had noticed her speak, but it seemed they were otherwise occupied. He looked back at her, and she continued.

“Where are they taking us?”

“This is not entirely clear to me,” he said. “But I have begun to wonder why we have not yet turned away from the castle.”

They both looked in the direction of the tower on the lake, which had been getting closer and closer as they traveled that day. This was the place they had originally set out for when she and her parents had left their home those weeks ago, the castle where the lord and lady of Tìrmàgach lived.

“Unless,” Wendell said, but he did not finish. He was looking troubled and deep in thought.

“Unless what?” Magda looked around to make sure Kandra and her men were busy, to see that they were already heading back their way. Not wanting to risk being overheard, Magda left Wendell alone, though she was burning to know what thought had come to him.

“We are to depart once again,” Kandra said as she neared them. Her face was haughty but serious, and she wasted no time in mounting the cart and ordering her men to ride on.

As they rode, Magda kept looking at the dagger which was strapped to Kandra’s waist. Kandra continued to hold onto it as they moved.

It became clear as they moved the rest of the day that they were headed for the castle on the lake, and finally it came time for them to cross the bridge to the island. They met more cloaked figures as they prepared to enter. Kandra informed them of why they were there, and they were allowed to pass. Once on the island, Kandra’s men were guided to where they could board their horses, and Kandra, Magda, and Wendell were taken inside the castle walls.

Some of the men here dressed like the men who had attacked her family in the woods that day - cloaks tattered and shabby, dark hoods obscuring their faces - but some of them wore the outfit of a man at arms, and they bore the colors of Tìrmàgach. Magda could not understand why the men of this land, which her family was to meet with in peace, could be working with these thugs. Was the invitation to her family ever genuine? Was it a trap this whole time? Or had the lord and lady of the land been overthrown while Magda’s family were en route?

Kandra led the way and was treated as a noble woman, the men deferring to her and even bowing their heads slightly as she walked by. On the other hand, Magda and Wendell were gripped firmly at the arms and shoved unceremoniously into the tower.

“What is this?” Magda burst out suddenly. It seemed silly to go on silently anymore. What difference would it make if she made Kandra angry at this point? “Are you not going to tell us why we’ve been brought here? What do you want with us?” 

Kandra turned to look at her and smiled. “I have already told you, little princess. You are here to meet with my master. He wishes to speak with you.”

“And where is this master? What does he want?”

“Children always are so impatient, are they not? Just another moment, and you will have all your answers.”

With that, she pushed open a set of double doors and at the far end was what Magda presumed to be Kandra’s master.