The Light of the White Gem

Dim light skirted around the shadows cast by ancient trees. It peeked between knotted trunks and twisted branches as if afraid to venture farther into the forest. The sound of crunching weeds under the horse’s hooves was the only noise to disturb a heavy silence.
Inesca felt her posture sink under the weight of an uneasy stillness. The familiar song of a bird or the chittering of a squirrel would have helped to settle her nerves. She glanced at Poleg, the gelding she borrowed from the merchant’s stables, but the sweet, trusting animal offered her no warnings about her surroundings. I’m sorry, Kestorn. She offered another apology to her brother in her thoughts. I’ll return Gorben’s horse as soon as I can.
Inesca let out a quiet sigh. Kestorn must have been so angry with her. Not only had she taken a horse from the family of the girl he loved, but she left after he told her to stay with him. She could still hear his insistent tone after she explained her wish to find Sir Coltar. “Let Derreth chase after the answers to our questions. My sister belongs here with me.”
“I can’t ignore this chance. Not while Derreth is still trapped under Lord Edgerr’s authority as his rider,” she said softly, hoping the sound of her voice would comfort her in this silent forest. But the sound of her thoughts spoken aloud had the opposite effect. Now it felt like the trees listened to everything she said.
Inesca drew in a deep breath and steadied herself. This fear was childish. She had traveled through forests before on her own. But that was with Nycor. Uncertainty and loneliness shook her again. Since the Calavi had taken him, what had they done to him? No horse could replace her gray stallion. Each day they were apart, she felt the separation more and more. I’ll find Sir Coltar, and then I’ll look for Nycor, Inesca decided as she straightened her posture again.
Glancing back at the forest, Inesca thought she must be drawing near to the town of Pilun. According to a captain in the knight’s service, Sir Coltar’s duties had taken him here, in the far north of the realm of Trineth.
On the maps she had studied in the merchant’s home, Inesca knew Pilun was the one lonely town that rested in the midst of a mysterious part of the realm, near the vast, untamed Naldorr Forest. The merchant had never been there and assured Inesca that he would not change his route to seek out such an isolated town. “A man must have a solid promise of business to journey north, but even then, there are outlaws to consider. So what assurance does he have of his return?”
Fearing that she might meet trouble on the road, Inesca led Poleg through the forests near Pilun. She knew well enough how to find her direction even when trees blocked the horizon and most of the sky. But still, Inesca found the trees in the north to be strange.
They leaned toward trespassers with grasping branches and warped trunks. These gnarled giants felt older and less welcoming than the trees Inesca had known in the East Province or the southern regions of Rynar. As they approached the edge of the wood, Inesca dismounted from Poleg and carefully led him toward the quiet outline of Pilun.
It was just after dawn, and a mist covered the ground. The roofs of houses rose above the fog like boats moored in a harbor. Inesca kept Poleg close as she led him into the town, but when the gelding noticed a fresh bundle of hay, he nickered and quickly approached it. Inesca relented when she found a nearby post and secured his reins.
Once he was settled, she approached the nearest house and knocked on the door. She hoped someone here knew how to find Sir Coltar. But no one came to the door, so Inesca pounded harder against the wood. The door swung open, and Inesca retreated half a step, but the room within was empty and dark.
“Is anyone here?” she called, slowly moving to the doorway.
When all remained quiet, she closed the door again and moved to the next house and the one beside it. Some doors opened when she knocked upon them, and others remained closed, but no matter where she went, she found no one.
Returning to Poleg, Inesca ran her hand through his mane and over his neck as she surveyed the eerie stillness. The gelding suddenly lifted his head and turned it to the left. His ears pricked up and focused in the same direction. Inesca untied him and let him lead her through the mist. She heard restless movement ahead, but Inesca had to halt as they came to a stone wall a little shorter than the height of a man.
As she clambered up and over the wall, the mist cleared a bit, and Inesca saw dozens of horses standing over the green grass and flicking their tails. But these were not pack horses. They were all impressive animals, the sort one saw with knights or in the races, but what were they doing here?