Chapter 27

The Morning – Part 4

Olivia spoke of her fears over the men from the chief’s group, of how they may inform him should they see Lyrika or any sort of dissidence in the town, which Tarquin and Cecelia understood and agreed to inform the others about. She then spoke about going to visit the other villages the chief had passed through, to learn more about this man and what he had done.

Another way to learn more about him that cropped up, was to have someone infiltrate his ranks. He had soldiers, some of whom came from the previous towns as they wanted to help bring his vision to life. The trouble was getting in contact with them and finding ones that wouldn’t rat them out. There was the possibility that the group of people already helping would do the same, but there was no way this could happen without some risk being involved. This risk was higher when the people they asked to spy on were much closer to him than the average villager. Whether they would have to use this option in the future though was not known.

…

With the discussion between them all done and the plans finalized, it would soon be time to leave. But before they could say their goodbyes, Lyrika had to see her father. While she hadn’t been exiled for long, when you spent every day in a village living with your parent, even this short time apart, and under these awful circumstances, it was difficult.

The trouble with this was that if her father, being the head of the village, just up and left the village while those men were around, they were sure to report it as some suspicious behaviour, given he hadn’t done so since Lyirka was exiled. But it was also equally troublesome for Lyrika to enter the village to speak with him. The guards would deny her entry, and again the men may report this to the new horrible chief. They may just try to kidnap her if they saw an opportunity. Either way did not have a good outcome.

They racked their heads trying to figure out how to make this happen, scaling the wall, tunnelling, and dealing with the men. While many ideas were brought forward, some had more negatives than positives and others just took too long.

The idea of Lyrika just sending a letter was an option, but who knows home long it would take before Lyrika would return. There was also always the chance she wouldn’t. To say her goodbyes to her father through a letter would just not cut it

It took a good deal of time, and they even ended up discussing it over lunch, until they eventually landed on a compromise.

.....

…

Tarquin and Cecelia headed back to the village in order to put their plan into action. They also got the message around about avoiding the new chief’s men.

Thankfully these men were not omnipotent and there was only so much they could do. Several were on guard near some shops, and a few were eating and relaxing in the local inn. They were on a rotation, ensuring there was always someone from their group watching the town. This again meant there wasn’t a feasible way to either bring Lyrika in or her father out.

First Tarquin and Cecelia headed over to store their gear in the hunter’s barracks, before making their way over to the infirmary. There was thankfully nothing wrong with them, but they needed to make things look believable for the plan to come. They waited around for a while, making it seem like they were being looked at for injuries, before then heading out and over to, Lyrika’s house.

Having grown up with Lyrika, Tarquin did know her father. He had been in and out of their house for years, until that fateful incident, when the number of visits dropped. When they reconciled, he did show up a few more times before Lyrika was exiled. This meant that there wasn’t anything too strange with his visit.

As he entered the house, Cecelia headed off in another direction. They found themselves under the watchful eyes of the new chief’s men but pushed this to the back of their minds to not look suspicious. As he entered he found her father, spoke in hushed tones, telling him all that Lyrika had said. Her father’s voice ended up raised at one point when Tarquin mentioned she had befriended a part Orc part Goblin, but quickly quieted down as he said he would talk to her about it.

Now though was the tricky part. With no way for Lyrika to enter or her father to leave, they needed to find a place for them to talk. The only possible location. Through the wall surrounding the village.

The wall around the village was more a palisade made of wood rather than a thick stone wall like the town Olivia brought Ameril to, which meant, talking through it would be simple. The problem was getting her father into the spot without it seeming suspicious.

But this was something they had thought of, and so Tarquin discussed the plan with her father. Once done, they both left his house and Tarquin got the scene rolling.

“Look, I know you’re worried about Lyrika, but she has to do her time as an exile. There isn’t anything you can do. What will be horrible though, is when she returns, she finds you in a worse state than when she left. You need to take care of yourself.”

“I know Tarquin, it’s just hard. She’s all alone out there.”

“I know. But you also know how smart and resourceful she is. She will be fine. You on the other hand, you need to get some exercise. Come walk around the village with me for a while, you need to get those legs moving.”

*sigh* “I understand what your saying. It’s not as if the healer hasn’t told me the same thing. Ok, let’s take a walk.”

With that, Tarquin and Lyrika’s father headed off into the village. The men watching did eye them suspiciously, but while out of the norm, it wasn’t anything they thought to be concerned about, so they just let them go.

As they headed off into town, Tarquin spoke about his hunting exploits and things that had been happening around town. Lyrika’s father could hardly reciprocate though as he was just struggling to keep up and busy thinking of his daughter. He was never a very active man and since Lyrika had left that had gotten worse. This truly was the first time in a while since he had exercised.

They headed towards the edge of the village and moved to walk right by the wall.

While things had gone well so far, the only issue remaining was the guards to worry about. The wall being a palisade, it did not have an upper level, so to speak, in which guards could patrol. What it did have, was a few wooden platforms with steps leading up to them at regular intervals along it for guards to be posted at. All of whom were there at the moment doing their jobs.

So that’s where the next part of the plan comes into play. Dealing with them.

No one was going to die. It was just a case of getting them out of the way for a while so that they could talk. At the section of the wall they planned to use, there were two guards, one at either end of the section. Where they stood, the wall bent and continued on around the village, making it the best place they could go, as it was out of sight of guards further along.

In terms of the guards though, thankfully one of them was sympathetic to the cause. He had his doubts about the new chief and had already agreed to help Tarquin and Cecelia. So, when Cecelia asked him to look away when Lyrika turned up, he had no issue with this.

The other guard was trouble though. He cared very little about the politics in the village. It didn’t matter who held the reins of leadership as long as he had a good life. The way he saw it, the new chief would only improve things, and bringing the other tribes together just gave him more women he could chase.

Yeah, Cecelia did not want to deal with this guard.

But while these were his goals, in order to enjoy that life of his, he needed coin, which is what he requested from Cecelia. Well, that is after he was rejected when asking for Cecelia herself.

Joining up with Tarquin and Lyrika’s father on their walk, she told them the situation, and the chief very easily handed over enough to bribe the man. Bringing it to him, after checking the contents, he quickly accepted it and headed off to miss his shift.

With the coast now clear, Lyrika was able to get right up to the village wall and wait for her father. Olivia on the other hand had to stay back. Even with the lack of guards, the one who was sympathetic to the cause was not told anything about a half-Orc half-Goblin. So if he saw her, he probably wouldn’t hesitate to take her down or raise an alarm. He could have been told about her, but why take the risk for something she shouldn’t be a part of.

With Lyrika waiting by the wall, she finally heard the voice she had missed so much

“Lyrika, sweetie, are you there?”

“Papa, err I mean Father. Yes, yes I’m here.”

“You know I don’t mind you calling me papa. How are you doing? Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine papa. You know I can hunt. A little exile won’t kill me.”

Both tried to grin at that, taking it as a joke, but knowing the situation, neither could do it fully.

“That’s good. That’s good. Now, what’s this I hear about some Orc or Goblin travelling with you. Just what’s going on?!”

Lyrika had to practically pull her head away from the wall as he somehow managed to whisper and shout that at the same time.

“Papa, it’s fine. She’s a good person. While she looks the way she does, she is nothing like the Orcs and Goblins you hear about. She helped me survive in the forest, saved my life, helped me come up with this plan, she’s…she nice.” Lyrika said with a smile.

“…I see. Well, I imagine whatever I say you won’t do, so all I’ll just say…be careful.”

“I will, as long as you are too.”

“When am I not.”

And with that, they reached the corner of the wall. Had they continued the next guard would have spotted her, so they had to end it. They could have stopped midway and talked, but who knows if one of the men would have decided to see what was taking him. It was also possible the next guard was working for the new chief as well. Any number of things could have spelt disaster.

It was a short talk, and they hardly got to say anything, but it was more than enough to sate Lyrika’s need to talk to him. It was not a goodbye, as she would come back, and they could then talk to each other face to face.

Her father and Tarquin headed back to his house and said their own goodbyes, before heading out to join Cecelia and continue his job, leaving her father to sit and contemplate what to do.

…

“How was it?”, were the first words Olivia spoke as Lyrika joined her in a small portion of trees away from the village.

“It was good. It was…good.”

The tear rolling down her eye betrayed her though, and before either of them could think, Olivia wrapped her arms around Lyrika hugging her. Given their difference in stature Lyrika’s head ended up resting on Olivia’s breasts, but neither thought about that as she needed the ‘non-human’ contact, so to speak.

“You will see him again, and not through a wall next time. Remember that.”

“Y-yeah.” Lyrika managed to choke out as she started to cry.

Neither moved as they just held each other.