Chapter Five

Gideon woke up early the next morning, before the sun was in the sky. For once, he did not have to do his usual chores so he sat down in bed watching through his windows as the rising sun painted the sky a warm orange. 

His father had been busy the night before. He'd gone to Anthony, Elias' master and somehow convinced him to let his apprentice come on the journey with Gideon. Afterwards, he had purchased a horse from one of the travelling merchants. It was a young chestnut brown gelding with thick black tail. Gideon loved the horse already and named it Chestnut. Once his father came back home, he announced that they would be leaving in the afternoon. He'd given the space of morning for him to say his goodbyes – not that there was anyone to say goodbye to.

After a few more moments of admiring the sky, he slipped out of his room and headed outside. But when he got there, lady Elsa was there already

She stood there watching the forest beyond the compound. The trees were just coming alive again recovering from the long winter. Their greens were shining through and flowers were popping once again stretching for the sun. She had not noticed him yet and Gideon wanted to keep it that way. So, he retraced his footsteps back to the house but his movement alerted her.

"Gideon" Her voice stopped him in his track. 

She hardly ever spoke to him directly and when she did, she always looked like she had swallowed something bitter. 

He turned to face her. "Yes, my lady"

Elsa was usually the very picture of poise and grace. Her dresses were usually without a wrinkle. Her hair, straw like Elizabeth's, was usually pulled into a tight bun. Her bright blue eyes were always piercing and always looked to Gideon like twin shards of ice on her face. 

However, it was all different today. The ice seemed to have melted. She had bags underneath her swollen eyes. Her hair fell down her back and several strands fell across her face. She did not look like Lady Elsa. 

Gideon took an involuntary step forward, "Lady Elsa? Are you alright?"

She turned back to face the slowly illuminating landscape in front of her. "Your father told me last night. You leave this morning?"

Gideon nodded before he realized she couldn't see him. "Yes, my lady. The saddle is packed. We leave once the sun rises." He swallowed "Myself and Elias"

"The blacksmith's boy?"

"Yes, my lady" 

She let out a hollow laugh. "He's sending a bastard and a blacksmith's boy to represent him at my son's marriage". Gideon shifted nervously in his place as she continued talking. "As if raising his bastard under my roof was not enough"

With nothing else to say, he replied "I'm sorry, my lady"

"I don't care for your apologies" The ice in her voice was back. "You've stolen everything that ever belonged to my true born children" He tried to interrupt but she was on a tirade. "You know I was the one who found you as a child. One winter's morning, I opened the door and there you were lying in your basket where your wretched mother left you. Exactly where you're standing now"

She turned to him again continuing her tirade. "A product of sin. You shouldn't exist. If I had known back then, I would have simply closed the door and let you freeze in your basket. Maybe then you wouldn't be here now and my dear son would be here instead."

She stalked her way towards him. "I prayed. I prayed that Yachwah would rid me of you. Then you had that... episode, your fever dream. I thought He was finally answering my prayers." She was closer to him now, a few steps away from him. Her eyes were ice again boring into his very soul. "But Yachwah works in mysterious ways. Afterall, He's sending you away from here. Maybe on your way, a wild boar will take you and gut you and then I'll finally be rid of you. Either way bastard, I will only give you one warning. Don't come back."

She swept past him and the door slammed close behind her. Gideon stood frozen on the spot. Her words replaying in his head. Don't come back. 

Gideon ran his hand through Chestnut's mane. The sun was up now, barely in the horizon but it was light enough. The horse was saddled with packs filled with food; dried apples, salted bacon, cheese, bread and spices. Just enough to get them to Rushford. He also has a canteen filled with water. These were important for the journey, at least to keep them from starving. He also carried his book, the Chronicles of the Bard King but by far the most important thing he was carrying was a letter from his father to Eliab.

"Your step mother looks like she swallowed a lemon" Elias whispered beside him where he was feeding his own horse an apple. It was a black stallion, bigger than Chestnut. "Did something happen to her?"

Gideon glanced back to where she was standing with Elizabeth. Her hands were tight on her daughter's shoulders stopping the young girl from rushing towards her brother. 

"I don't know"

He looked at his friend. Like him, he was garbed in simple breeches, a tunic and a leather jerkin. Unlike his own black cloak, his friend had a brown one on. His saddle pack was filled with the same basic supplies as Gideon's with one major difference – he had a sword sheathed in the side of the horse. 

"Where did you get the sword from?"

Elias grinned and unsheathed the blade. It was a beautiful longsword. Its blade was wide and single-edged and the hilt was simple with a shiny pommel. 

"I forged it myself" Elias said, chest pumped out in pride.

"Really?" Gideon asked surprised. Forging a sword was different from making minor repairs on hoes and other farm equipment. His friend nodded clearly proud of himself and Gideon smiled. "Wow. That's impressive"

"Thank you." He replied. 

"But do you know the hilt from the blade?" He teased.

Elias twirled the sword in his hand showing off. "I've been practicing you know. Any bandits we meet on the road will kiss my steel"

"And hopefully by Yachwah's grace, you don't meet any bandits" Jesse said.

The two boys turned to face Jesse as he came out of the house. He was carrying a bundle wrapped in grey cloth which he held out to Gideon. 

"If you do meet any bandits, then you can use this to protect yourself as well" He smiled. "Two blades are better than one"

Gideon accepted the bundle with trembling hands and unwrapped it. It was a sheathed sword, slightly shorter than Elias' own but it was still a longsword. Its hilt was covered with black leather wrapping and the cross guard was a dull gold. It wasn't anything special.

"Pull it out and see it"

Its blade was thinner than Elias' and was made of a dark grey metal that made it look dull. All in all, it looked unimpressive.

"Don't let the look deceive you. It's the sharpest blade I've ever held." Jesse said. "It's a family heirloom. My father gave it to me. And his father gave to him and his father before him. I had hoped to give it to Eliab one day" He paused and stared at the blade for a moment but he shook his head "But he's not here, you are"

Gideon could see Elsa glaring at him just behind his father. Her words from earlier that morning came ringing in his mind. You've stolen everything that ever belonged to my true born children. 

"Father, I can't take this" He whispered looking down at the blade.

"Nonsense. You are my son. Bastard or not. You are still my son, blood of my blood. Blood of Judah. This blade now belongs to you. I never had much use for it anyways. Hopefully you don't but if you do, may it serve you as well as it did our ancestors"

"Yes father" He replied sheathing the blade slowly into its sheath. He had no plans to keep the sword. It belonged to his father's heir and that was Eliab. "Thank you, father"

"It has a name you know"

"What is it?"

"Singer" 

"Singer?"

"Yes. I was always found it peculiar as well" Jesse said rubbing the back of his head. "But that's the sword's name"

"Not a particularly fearsome name" Elias commented from behind him.

"I don't think it was meant to be ...oof" Gideon was silenced mid-sentence as a blonde missile slammed into his mid-section. Elizabeth's arms wrapped tightly around his waist and she buried her head in his chest. She was saying something but it was muffled by his jerkin.

"Elizabeth, I can't hear you" he said.

She pulled away just slightly and he saw tears on her face. "You can't leave. You promised to be my knight remember"

He knelt down to her height. "Little sister. I'm not going forever you know. I'll be back before you know it"

She shook her head, flinging fat teardrops every which way. "You're lying. Eliab never came back"

"I'm not Eliab. I promise, I'll come back" 

She did not look convinced but she sniffled and nodded. "I'll miss you, big brother" 

He nodded and wrapped her in a hug. "I'll be thinking of you. Every night, when you look in the sky and you see the stars. Know that I'm looking at the same stars also. And I'm thinking of you. I'll be back little sister."

She pulled back from him and squeezed something in his palm just out of sight of her mother. "Don't look at it until you're on your horse." He nodded and with that she ran back to her mother.

"Well, it seems like you're both ready" Jesse said.

The boys nodded and got on their horses. 

"May Yachwah be with you both as you go" Jesse said. "And may He watch over you as you come back"

Lady Elsa's words rang in his head again. Don't come back. 

He looked in his hands, Elizabeth's gift was a necklace. It was a simple rope with pale stone attached to it. He recognized it, his father had gotten it for her sixth birthday and she treasured it so much it that she never took it off. He fixed the necklace around his neck and hid the stone on his chest.

"Goodbye, Father"

With that said, the two friends took off. 

They made camp in the Mettlewood later that night after a full day of riding with only a few breaks in between for the horses to rest. The moon was full in the sky hidden by the dense canopy of trees of the Mettlewood. The camp was a small clearing that Elias and his master would often use during their travels. It was bordered by thick trees on almost all sides so it served as a natural barrier against the elements.

They gathered dry sticks and leaves and made a fire in the middle of their site. Elias proceeded to use it to cook a delicious meat stew which they ate along with their bread. Within minutes of eating and packing up, the duo were lying on their backs with bellied filled. 

"You know, there are wolves in these woods" Elias said.

Gideon scoffed. "There are no wolves in the Mettlewood. If there were, don't you think someone would have said something about it?"

"Maybe they don't say anything about it because they are already dead." 

"Then their families would have said something about it"

"Maybe they don't have families..." He paused "Or their families didn't want them alive in the first place"

Lady Elsa's words again echoed through his mind. Don't come back. Realistically, there was nothing she could do if he did come back. He was a fully grown man now, no longer the child who would cower in her presence. His place was in Mettledown. Suddenly a different voice echoed. Now Go! Gideon, My Great General. With the shock of the trip, he had almost forgotten about the bizarre dream he had had. 

His silence worried Elias, "You're awfully quiet" 

"Did I ever tell you about my dream?"

"To be the greatest shepherd boy Mettledown has ever seen?" Elias asked "Yeah you've mentioned it once or twice"

Gideon chuckled, "Hilarious. No, I mean with my nightmare"

"No, you never told me about it" Elias turned on his side to face his friend. "I thought you didn't remember it"

He remembered it, clear as day. He just chose to shove it in the deepest part of his subconscious. Once in a while, when he thought of it, he could still see the strange man's golden eyes and he could hear the thundering of hooves.

"I do. I remember it" He swallowed. "In my dream. I was told to go to Kanaan"

He expected Elias to laugh but his friend was gazing at him with a strange intensity. "Who told you to go to Kanaan?"

"There was a man in white. He had these glowing eyes" 

"Did he say his name?"

"No, he just said..." He could almost hear the hooves again. "He said that his people were asleep. He said he needed witnesses. That if not, someone would come and destroy them all" He turned to look at Elias. His friend looked the most serious he had ever seen him in his life. "You don't think this is serious, do you?"

"Well," Elias said, managing to shrug with one hand trapped under his body, "he did say you would go to Kanaan. And we're on our way there" 

"Could be a coincidence" He replied him.

"You said he used the word, witness?" Elias asked and Gideon nodded. "The church of Yachwah in Rushford use it a lot in their sermons"

"It's a pretty common word" Gideon pointed out. "And they are a bunch of fanatics"

"Yet they preach that damnation is coming to Aldar"

"Anybody can preach about damnation coming to Aldar. I remember when we all thought Valar was invading and we were all too scared to come out of their houses" Gideon said. 

"That's a whole bunch of convenient coincidences" Elias said quietly. 

Gideon quieted at that. His father always said 'Once is chance. Twice is Coincidence. Thrice is a Pattern"

"Goodnight, Gideon" Elias whispered leaving Gideon alone to his thoughts and the sounds of the flames and the forest. That night he dreamt of golden eyed men and red eyed horsemen and birds cawing, taking flight and screaming Witness.