Wonderful 15.

Belinswae. Near The Nomads Plains...

Tamric Drubine stops and looks down at the road, he can definitely see the tracks of horses that have gone off the road recently. The nobleborn youngster from the kingdom of Sarcrin in the Southlands who spoke to a goat herder earlier this morning, who told him about what he's been looking for, heads off the road and makes his way along a dusty trail.
Tam who has ridden the three horses he took from the bandits yesterday, so hard that they've blown out, so that he has had let each one go after riding them. Only has his own horse left, so he's moving at a more steady pace and not riding as fast, as to not ruin another mount.
The adolescent from south of the equator heads up a rise, once he's upon it, he sees out to the east what he's been approaching all morning, the plains of the nomads, which are only about five miles away. Tam looks down the trail, and he spots a village a few miles away, even from here, he can tell that it's an inbetween village, only one of them would be so close to the nomads plains.
The former heir to castle Drubine in the kingdom of Sarcrin heads down the trail, making his way towards the village, the nobleborn youngster still not thirteen years old watches the surrounding countryside carefully. Keeping an eye out for bandits, though he knows being this close to the nomads plains, you'll more likely to see nomads than bandits of townsmen origin.
The surrounding countryside is pretty much the same as all of the landscape east and south of the city of Falnic, dry and arid. While here close to the plains of the nomads there's less trees, and those that are on the hills and rises like the one Tam is riding down, are short and windswept looking specimens.
The former heir to the knight of castle Drubine, who was informed last year while in the lands Farque, that his father and those of castle Drubine who were killed when he was younger, had been avenged by those who continued to fight their enemies in the north of the kingdom of Sarcrin.
Spots an oasis next to the small village he's riding towards, and as he approaches the village, he sees the person he's been looking for, the nobleborn youngster dismounts and walks the last thirty yards to the oasis surrounded by date palms, the first trees he's seen in a while that aren't short and scrubby.
Tam glances out of the corner of his left eye as he leads his horse, and he sees a handful of the local villagers nearby staring at him. He's used to the stares now, as it's quite a rare sight to see someone here in Belinswae with blond hair and blue eyes like he has.
The former heir to castle Drubine finds Lisell Maera sitting on the ground with her back against a date palm, the long legged teen from the city-state of Brattonbury in the Southlands has her eyes closed, and Tam winces as he sees that her face is puffy and bruised.
Letting go of the reins of his horse, Tamric Drubine quietly says "Lis" she opens her eyes and looks up at him, he faintly smiles then kneels down beside her, he puts a hand on her shoulder, and notices how she slightly flinches, the nobleborn youngster asks her "Are you alright?".
"I will be" replies Lisell Maera, who is then hugged by the son of the former knight of castle Drubine in the kingdom of Sarcrin, the orphan teenager from the city-state of Brattonbury hugs him back, shutting her eyes tightly as she does so.
After Tam lets her go, and sits back on his heels, and he looks around, he quietly says in the elven language "Sorry it took so long to find you" Lisell Maera faintly smiles through her cracked lips then she says in the same language "I knew you would eventually" Tamric Drubine nods, then looks back at the village, and asks her as they continue converse in the elven language "Those bandits who took you?". "Dead" replies Lis who points away to their right.
The nobleborn youngster stands up and looks that way out to the nomads plains and far in the distance he spots a donkey drawn cart, the teenager from the coastal city of Brattonbury in the Southlands tells him "The villagers are dumping their bodies out on the plains".
Tam sits back down after nodding, then he asks his traveling companion "I take it you took care of them?" Lisell Maera replies with "I did" followed by "Had to wait for the opportune time to do so" the nobleborn adolescent nods then murmurs "Good".
Lis is glad Tam doesn't ask her any more about the trio of bandits and what they did to her, for she doesn't know if she could lie to him so easily. For though the two of them are friendly, they'll never be the best of friends. But with them living and traveling together for the past four years, they're extremely close and they know each other inside and out.
Lisell Maera looks at him and asks "Run into trouble finding me?" the nobleborn youngster who like her is from south of the equator, shrugs his shoulders and says "A little".
The orphan teenager from the city-state of Brattonbury wryly smiles, as she knows Tam tends not to tell all of what has happened. It comes from him being closest to two members of the group they travel with. Dorc da Orc and Mira Reinholt the mage, both of whom tend not say what has actually happened. Though in the case of the ork warleader, he just straight out lies, or says something so unbelievable that you don't know if he's been telling the truth or not.
Lisell Maera whose body aches, says in a slightly dry tone of voice "How little?" Tamric Drubine shrugs his shoulders and says "A couple of groups of bandits on the road here" he pauses for a moment then adds "I dealt to them".
I bet, Lis dryly thinks to herself as she glances at the sword that hangs from the nobleborn youngsters belt. The teenager from Brattonbury knows that Tamric is an extremely skilled swordsman for someone who is not yet thirteen years old. Coupled with the sword he uses, which is magical, he can easily defeat older more experienced swordmen, multiple opponents too, with ease as well.
"How many?" asks Lisell Maera "A couple on the first day you were taken" replies Tamric Drubine, who isn't about to add anything else, but as Lis just stares at him, he clears his throat, and looks at the pool of water beside them, and he says "And eight of them yesterday" the orphan teenager from Brattonbury slightly winces, and the nobleborn adolescent quickly adds "I let a couple of them go".
The two of them are silent for a few moments, then Tam says "I probably did the local justifier a favour dealing to those bandits" Lisell Maera sourly says "That's if the local justifier isn't in cahoots with the bandits in these parts" the son of the former knight of castle Drubine nods his head agreement, as they've both learnt that corruption is rife here in the region of Belinswae, especially here close to the nomads plains.
After looking out across the oasis to the plains of the nomads, Tamric Drubine says "Sorry i couldn't catch up to you quicker" Lis who knows she has to nip this in the bud quickly, especially if the nobleborn youngster was to find out what actually happened to her, says "That's okay, you found me, that's all that matters" the young woman from south of the equator adds "Thanks Tam" the former heir to castle Drubine in the kingdom of Sarcrin nods, then says "Sure, no worries Lis".
The teenager from Brattonbury asks for and gets a healing potion from Tam, as she admits her captors did beat her, and that she hurts like hell. Lisell Maera breathes a sigh of relief after taking the potion, and though she feels the tiredness one associates with taking a healing potion, she feels a whole lot better than what she did previously.
With a helping hand from the nobleborn youngster, Lis stands up. And once again as she recently noticed, she can't believe how tall Tam has got. Lisell Maera who at five foot ten inches tall, is tall for a young woman just fifteen years old. But Tam who is two and half years younger than herself, is only a little bit shorter than her, in no time, probably within the next year, they'll be eye to eye to one another.
They turn, and after Tam regathers the reins of his horse who is cropping the grass on the edge of the oasis, they head to the village, as Lis tells the nobleborn youngster she has a few of the locals to thank before they gather her gear and leave.
Tamric Drubine stands back as Lisell Maera speaks to the villagers, after she does, the nobleborn youngster gets in the saddle of his horse, and the teenager from Brattonbury gets up behind him on the horse, and they ride out of the village.
As they head back to the road that goes north and west to the city of Falnic on the coast, Lisell Maera quietly says in the elven language "You might not of done the local justifier a favour getting rid of the bandits on the road, but you definitely did those villagers and the local herders a favour" she continues with "They've been pestered by the town born bandits for ages, with no one doing anything to help them".
"Townsmen" mutters Tamric Drubine who has definite opinions about the way society is shaped here in the north and central parts of Belinswae, Lisell Maera who shares those opinions, even more so after what's happened to her, nods her head in agreement with what the nobleborn youngster just muttered.
A little while later and they're on the road that heads back to Falnic, they ride not saying much, and by the time it's nearing midday in the heat of a hot day, Tam is thinking of stopping for a meal as the villagers gave Lis some food when they were leaving. When he realises the teenager from Brattonbury might be asleep, as she's leaning against his back, with her arms wrapped around him.
The former heir to the knight of castle Drubine is just about to ask Lis if she's awake, when he feels her slightly shaking, instead Tamric Drubine quietly asks "You alright Lis?" after a moment, Lisell Maera softly coughs, then quietly says "I'm fine Tam".
The nobleborn youngster might not know a lot when it comes to the opposite sex, but he knows an awful lot about the teenager from Brattonbury who he has traveled and lived with for nearly four years. And what he knows is that Lis just lied to him.
For all that, Tamric Drubine knows when to remain silent, as he figures if Lis wants to tell him what's wrong, then she will, if not she won't.
As for Lisell Maera, she's extremely grateful the nobleborn youngster doesn't say anything else and has fallen silent again, as lying to him there was bad enough.
So as she leans against his back, she continues to slightly shake as she continues to silently cry . . . . . .