The Maiden of Moonfane Forge

Above Moonfane Forge’s South Gate, Vetch leaned out over the timber parapet and watched a lone figure making his way up the dirt road toward the town. Vetch yawned. He had drawn the early gate duty the previous night and been up since well before dawn. Now it was hardly an hour past noon and he was already thinking of his bunk back in the barracks. As undesirable as an early gate watch assignment typically was, Vetch had been anticipating that this day’s shift might at least prove a little more interesting than the usual boredom. A new recruit from the King’s Capital City was expected to arrive any day now, the first new blood from outside town to be assigned to their garrison in years, and Vetch figured he had a passable chance at being the first one to spot him or her if they arrived that morning. Outside travelers to Moonfane Forge were typically advised to arrive early in the day, due the unique properties of the magical Barrier, cast by their resident mage Marigold, that surrounded the entire town proper. But no new recruit had shown up on the road that morning, and even the dwindling chance that they could still arrive on this day—and Vetch be the first one to alert his captain of their arrival—was proving less and less interesting by the hour to him than dinner and his soft bed were.

He kept his eyes on the lone man nearing hailing distance out on the road. Behind Vetch, the ladder up to the little perch above the gate creaked and another one of Moonfane Forge’s soldiers, Neschi, joined him. She leaned her elbows on the parapet next to Vetch in that same ‘bored soldier’ way Vetch was doing.

“That the new recruit?” she asked.

“Can’t be,” said Vetch. “Doesn’t even have a horse.”

“Too bad. Cap’n Tarese is about as excited as she gets at the prospect of someone from the capital arriving. Might bring news from her family back there. At the least, whatever scuttlebutt is happening these days in the King’s City.”

Vetch lost the battle against another yawn, nodded his head once. “It’s a long journey from there. By the time this recruit gets here, it’ll all be old news.”

“New to us.”

“I’ll give you that.”

Below them, another one of their rank stepped out from the shade of the gate’s open arch and onto the road. The older soldier rested a hand on the pommel of his sword, hawked a few times, then spat into the dirt.

“What do we ‘ave here?” said Ennric. The question was pitched for Vetch to hear.

“Looks like some ragged traveler or passerby,” Vetch answered. Old Enrric was blind in one eye and even the good one was going cloudy on the man, Vetch knew. “No hawker’s cart or nothin’. Beggar maybe.”

Ennric made a scoffing sound and walked farther out into the sun, hand still resting on his sword. With his other hand, the veteran soldier waved at the approaching man. The man lifted his hand in reply and came on until he stood a couple paces away. Up on the perch, the two younger soldiers watched with indifference. The man on the road was a grubby looking youth—scrawny, unkempt short black hair, and the kind of sharp, lanky features Vetch associated with the people who came from the other side of the mountains that loomed close over town. The man’s clothes were more akin to those favored in the lowlands to the southeast, however. Hardly the kinds of garments that would keep a man warm this high up near the mountains.

“Business in Moonfane Forge?” gruffed Ennric.

“Yessir,” the man said and bobbed a nod. “Er, not here. Passing through, sir, on my way home over the mountains. Plan to rest here a few days first.”

Ennric turned his good eye up to Vetch. Vetch still didn’t quite understand why many of the other soldiers, even the older and more experienced ones, frequently looked to him when their captain was otherwise unavailable to consult. Vetch was twenty-one and only a few years in the garrison, not even of a rank above most of the other soldiers, yet they did it all the same. He didn’t understand it, but he’d become accustomed to the responsibility of command, albeit unofficially. He raised his brows at Ennric, then nodded wordlessly at the stranger’s belt. Ennric took his meaning. Both of them.

“The knife I’ll take,” Ennric informed the man. “When you’re prepared to move on, you can collect it at our barracks.” The man bobbed another nod and handed the knife over. It didn’t look to Vetch like it was capable of cutting anything anyway. As this was happening, he turned and climbed down the ladder to join Ennric on the road to stand between the man and the entrance to town. Ennric wasn’t yet done with the man. “You got coin?” he asked and indicated the pouch on the man’s belt.

The stranger made a dissatisfied face and looked from Ennric to Vetch and back. “This isn’t one of those towns that shakes a man down before letting him come in for an ale and a bed, is it?”

“No. It’s not,” Vetch answered for Ennric. He met the man’s eyes and crossed his arms. “Just making sure that that ale and bed will be paid for. This is a small town, but as you see, a well-guarded one.”

“Yeah. I got coin,” said the man, and tapped the pouch to make it jingle. “Can I enter the town now? Had my fill of nights sleeping beside the road.”

Ennric looked at Vetch. Vetch made a head motion that gave the call back to the old veteran. Ennric cleared his throat and launched into his usual spiel.

“You might have heard Moonfane Forge is a town with a magical Barrier. If you don’t live here, you won’t be able to pass through it unless it’s daytime. When you leave, make your plans accordingly. The taverns and inns are straight up this road. You’ll see ‘em. Don’t make trouble here, stay out of the Silversmith’s District, and for spirits’ sake, man, get yourself some warmer clothes if you’re crossing the mountains. You’ll find a lot of good yak’s hair clothing here for less coin than anywhere else in the kingdom.”

“Yessir. I’ve heard that, sir. My-my thanks.”

The old swordsman nodded his head and stepped aside, and the man passed under the gate arch with only a slight hesitation at this supposed magical Barrier.

Ennric thrust the traveler’s knife into his own belt for safekeeping. “I suspect that’ll be the extent of our excitement for the day. Shift’s about over. Looks like no new recruit on our watch.”

“Hey,” their companion said from the perch above them and pointed. “Is that him?”

The two soldiers on the ground gazed out to where she was looking down the road. Vetch shaded his eyes.

“On horseback, sword on his back ... and those are the royal garrison’s colors, aren’t they? That’s gotta be our man!”

“Ha!” laughed Ennric. “Boy, more like. But not for long, eh?”

“Neschi,” Vetch called up to the perch. “Wanna go inform the captain?”

“Letting me take the credit, Vetch? Really?” she taunted, but was already halfway down the ladder. Her boots hit the ground running. “Don’t pull the horse trick before I’m back!” she called.

Ennric chuckled. “Hurry up, then!”

Vetch grinned and gave his companion a couple shoulder taps with the back of his hand. “Well, then, let’s go greet our new recruit.”