Page 174 of Keeper of the Word
Sixty-Three
ELANNA
They’d already waited at the next rendezvous point for two days. ’Twas a strange place. Not a village, exactly. More like a new settlement next to a small lake. The three dozen settlers had been kind. Gawked, of course. But there had been an air of wanting to be helpful. These people evidently did not know what transpired outside their borders. Elanna wondered how Tolvar knew this place was even here.
Tolvar.
They must hurry!
The Lucien Law also weighed on her mind. A Lucien Guardian had to swear the Lucien Oath, the unbreakable vow that was twofold: it bound the life of the person to the life of the StarSeer—the person would defend the StarSeer until death—and it gave the guardian the ultimate confidence of the StarSeer. Her secrets would be the guardian’s secrets. And secret they would need to remain.
Elanna and the others understood that scattering the earth meant not only parting from one another but also going into hiding.
Hiding.
StarSeers hiding.
It had been exceptional to consider that the heir to the throne of the House of Sidra would go into hiding, but ’twas extraordinary to consider that she, a StarSeer, would be forced to hide. She would become a nomad. Wandering the realm without any identity at all.
This made the decision of who would be her Lucien Guardian incredibly weighty. Not only did she not know if Hux wasallowedto take that role, but she also had no idea if he would be able to tolerate the life it would demand.
Of course, he has already lived as a nomad.
She had not yet broached the topic with him. And if he was not to be her Lucien Guardian, they could not continue as they were. Her guardian would be with heralways.
Casta and Kyrie were in clear turmoil about the matter, too.
For what felt like the tenth time that day, Elanna entered the small structure on the dirt path that could not be called a main road, which housed the general shoppe, the settlement’s meeting house, the tavern, and two message ravens.
The wooden sign upon the door read “shoppe.” This is where they were supposed to rendezvous with Ghlee and Alvie. But the only persons in the shoppe were the shoppe keep and Barrett, who rested on a chair, nursing a cup of ale.
“No one yet, m’lady,” he said.
She sat beside him. “Wewillrescue Sir Tolvar.”
He nodded. “I’m no knight without my earl to serve.”
“What if you served a different person?”
“Who do you mean? Is something going to happen to Lord Tolvar?”
Why had she said that? She explained about the Lucien Law.
“I suppose you will ask Hux?”
“I am not yet certain. What we ask of the guardian is unbreakable.”
“Hux wouldn’t break a vow to you.”
The table rattled. And the floor.
“Stars.” Barrett stood. “Horsemen approach. Hide!”
Elanna slipped behind the bar from where the shoppe keep withdrew an ax. He stood at the window with Barrett.
The sound of the horses halting made Elanna search for something she could use as a weapon. Men dismounted, and the door opened.
“Good afternoon,” a man’s voice said, before changing his tone. “You expecting trouble?”
