An Affordance

When Rokas awoke the next morning most of what he could feel was his own sore muscles. The other thing he could feel was the soft and warm presence behind him. He had needed no blanket the night before. Oona's arm was still draped around his shoulder and she occupied most of the bed that they had shared. Now he was faced with a slight problem. She had him entirely boxed in against the wall of the cabin.

"Oona." He tried, at a low volume at first. There was no response.

"Oona, it is getting late in the morning." He said, very near a normal volume.

Her response was to grab him and hug him with a level of pressure which caused one of his shoulder joints to pop audibly. She muttered something that he could not quite understand, but now his challenge of escape had become several degrees more difficult.

Eventually he was able to extract himself from her resting clutches, crawl down the length of the bed, and over the adjacent table. As he rolled from the table one of his heels caught the nearby chair, both knocking the chair over and eliciting a loud curse from the smith. He clutched his injured foot as he rolled silently in place on the floor of the cabin. Oona took no notice of this in her slumber.

When the pain of the moment had subsided he knew what he would do first this morning. He needed a bath.

The nearby stream was no less cool than it had been the times he had bathed in it before. Bathing was always a good time for thinking and he had much to consider. His memory of the previous days of his life had an unreal quality to them. First, he had made what he considered to be a very impressive sword. The entire time he was in a bit of a trance, but that part didn't really bother him. This sort of behavior was pretty usual for the smith and part of him was happy to have been able to return to a routine that he found fulfilling.

What troubled him was that he had done everything short of fucking his assistant.

According to many systems of law or martial practices what they had undertaken the previous night would be sufficient for the definition of sex. He knew this, he also knew that had she not been sick and he exhausted there would have been no stopping where they had. There was a part of his mind that was still searching for a loop-hole which would undo the damage which he feared he might have just done to his new life.

It wasn't regret, as such, but it was more a type of concern. He was concerned that he had taken advantage of someone with whom he was supposed to work. He was concerned that he was no better than any of the Guild Masters in the city whom he had always considered himself the moral superior of. Most of all, he was concerned that his feelings would not be reciprocated.

Then there was the fact that someone might be trying to kill him.

It was a lot for someone like Rokas, who prior to this had no concerns greater than the mundane. It was not better to both have to consider where his next meal would come and if it would be poisoned or not. He wasn't sure how spies or conspirators could deal with all the stress. Maybe it was more entertaining when you were the one doing the poisoning.

Why had the blacksmith, Tadas, been killed? Rokas felt that he was no closer to knowing the answer now than he was the night which Oona had been poisoned. In the months since his death so much potential evidence must have washed away. Oona and Rokas having dismantled his shop may have destroyed even more clues of what had happened.

His next steps were limited. He would need to continue to try and find out more information while fending off any additional attempts on his life. Being on the defensive was not to their benefit. His enemies only had to succeed once and could potentially make attempts in secret. He could ask more people in town about the dead blacksmith, but there was always the potential he might question the wrong person.

Dalma, the priestess, had cautioned him to be careful who he sought information from and the questions that he asked. He could hold her advice suspect, but eventually that leads to paranoia. He had to choose to trust someone.

Whatever evidence that the old workshop might have held was lost, but could the same be said of the cabin or the grounds around it? He recalled Edgaras, the bureaucrat at the party who had offered to survey the claim for him.

"Dang, the cold stream really does you no favors, does it?" Oona said.

He splashed about in surprise, looking for the source of the voice. She was standing at the riverbank watching him.

"How long have you been there?" Rokas asked as he waded through the water and moved toward the bank.

"Long enough to wonder how long you were going to stand motionless, staring into the water."

"I can stare as long as I please." He was using a nearby stone to stabilize himself as he tread upon slippery rocks on the creek bed.

"Usually people focus on washing when bathing in a stream."

"I do some of my best thinking in the bath." Rokas said.

"Must be the redirected blood flow."

She knelt and set down a towel near the edge of the stream.

"Anyway, I brought you a towel. I guess you were going to air dry."

"I have a lot on my mind, okay." Rokas said, clambering out of the stream and taking the towel. "Thank you. How are you feeling?" He said as he began drying himself off.

"I am doing a lot better." She said. "Still not quite myself, but I am up for most things."

"How would you feel about a hike?" Rokas asked.

For a government office, the Office of the Surveyor of Hearth was punctual. Edgaras had promised that in the next week someone from his office would be out to put up fresh stakes marking the extent of the land the smith would oversee and eventually own. It was not a long walk upstream from where Rokas had bathed to find a stake which marked one of the corners of the property.

"What are you hoping to find out here?" Oona asked him as they reached the stake.

He was not entirely certain. The entire effort could be a waste, but he had little else to go on.

"Just how good is your sense of smell?" He asked her.

"The snout isn't just for show." Oona said as she pointed at her nose.

"Do you think you could find some trace of who burnt the workshop down if it is out there to be found."

"Unlikely, months have passed. If I'd gone out a week after the event I could tell you most of who was present if anyone had been. This far after the fact I am unlikely to smell anything of use to us."

"The fresh air might be good for both of us, at least."

Rokas was still tired from the work he had done the previous few days. Oona seemed to be in the best health that she had been in since the poisoning. The supply of medication they had been given was almost depleted. The way things had ended the previous night had left him with a lot of questions, but he was hesitant to bring up the subject with his assistant. They were equally enthusiastic the previous night, but Rokas did not know if that would remain the case for the next time or if there would be a next time.

"You've been quieter than usual, smith." Oona said as they doubled back up the side of the stream, now heading downstream to where the next marker would await them.

"I have?"

"I think so. Is there anything wrong?" She watched him as they walked along the stream.

It was easier to walk along the stream than to traverse the woods between the road and its flow. The weather was good this day and the rocks that lined the edges of the stream's bed made for quick passage except for when that border grew steep or muddy. Sometimes as they passed it became necessary to either climb over large boulders or to walk around them, but no obstacle proved to be very difficult for the pair. All the while the sound of the water's cascade accompanied them.

"Nothing is wrong, other than the obvious concerns."

"You smell anxious." Oona said.

She didn't often share the sorts of knowledge that her senses offered her which a normal human would not have been aware of. Rokas suspected she had found that in the past it had put off some people to be subject to that insight. It made hiding how one was feeling difficult and he supposed that she would be very difficult to lie to.

"I guess I am. I am worried." The smith said with some reluctance.

"You didn't seem very worried last night." She said.

"I just don't know what happens next."

"Does something have to happen next?"

"I suppose nothing has to." He said, but he could feel his heart sink at the thought.

"Do you want something to happen next?" Oona continued her questioning.

It took the smith a long time to answer, but she waited for him to come to his conclusion. It had taken so little time for things to progress from his sense of propriety demanding he avert his eyes to what had transpired the night before. He could not look at her without something stirring in him now, be it lust or some deeper fondness that he avoided putting a name to.

"Yes." Rokas said.

"Then something can happen next. Not so difficult is it?" She said as she placed an arm around him and pulled him into her side. They did not break stride, but Rokas stumbled a little.

"That's it?"

"What else needs to be said? You are punishing yourself for something you aren't doing and it is a little silly to watch. I suppose I must like silly, not sure what that says about me." Oona said.

"It just reminds me of something that happened in the past." Rokas said. "I don't want to repeat mistakes."

"Whatever happened, happened hundreds of miles away and didn't involve me. Don't treat me like I cannot choose for myself." She said. "I've done a lot of things I am not proud of, but I try to not pass up a good situation on that basis."

"I am trying. It is hard to go with the flow when you have a stick this large lodged up your ass. Even when it is something you want a great deal."

She laughed and slapped his back. He winced more at his sore muscles being struck than the strength of the impact. She let their strides part slightly, but they were walking more closely than before.

"Just follow my lead. I think from last night you can attest that you are in good hands." Oona made a rather uncouth gesture.

He immediately blushed at the thought which only caused her to laugh more. It was not a laugh of ridicule, exactly, but she seemed no less fond of teasing him now than she was before. He was a person who was very accustomed to going against the flow. He even spent a lot of time engineering his own flow against which he could struggle, it seemed. There was no need, right now, to put too fine a point on what was happening between them was what he decided. He just needed to do what felt right when the time came.

At once he felt a lot more at peace than he had before, right up until he remembered he was worried about being murdered. It was hard to not think about that for long, pleasant distractions aside.

Their search of the land on the stream side of the road revealed nothing of use to them. They managed to locate some bear tracks, and tracks of a rather large specimen at that, but nothing that helped the immediate concern. The land on the stream side of the road was, for the most part, easily traveled. The trees were thick there, but the mature woods held little that impeded a person on foot save for maybe some fallen trees.

Eventually they emerged from the woods and onto the road again. On the sides of the property that did not boarder the stream the markings the surveyor had left were more frequent, coming every fifty feet or so. They could see one such marking on the far side of the road.

"I had no idea there were bears so near the cabin." Rokas said.

"They are all over the place out here, smith. We aren't in the city. I have also seen wolves and a few exceptionally large boars, though the wolves usually stay a good ways from town."

"Your friends?"

"They avoid me for the most part, not certain we would have much to talk about." Oona said.

"Maybe I need to start carrying a spear around with me when I go out."

"You think a spear would make a difference if a brown bear wanted you for dinner?"

"Let me have my delusions." Rokas said. "Maybe you can just escort me to the stream."

"You don't pay me enough for that." She said, turning to go down the road.

"I haven't paid you anything yet, really."

Their exploration of the opposite side of the road was a bit more demanding. The hills on this side were steep and began only feet from the path. Oona had been doing well so far that day, but eventually she called for a short stop. She was not coughing, but he could tell she was more winded than she should have been on what was a fairly short walk. They had doubled back upon their path many times, almost combing the forest for something of interest, but even accounting for that Rokas had hardly begun to sweat.

They rested about halfway in. As was often the case in the woods, a fallen log was near enough to make an easy seat of it. Oona was sure to check under it before sitting, not wanting to disturb any snakes or other critters which might be dwelling there. It was clear of anything that would concern her.

Almost everywhere one tread in the forest still had a layer of dead leaves in various states of decay upon the ground. Here and there shrub, fern, or sapling would try to take hold. For the most part the carpet was uniform but for where rocks occasionally were shown bare upon the hillside. Occasionally a rustle could be heard from the bedding, or something would fall from above, often a bird searching for insects or a squirrel foraging. Most of the trees here were immense in comparison to anything in the city which Rokas had grown up.

The tree they sat upon had not been one of the largest, but Rokas's feet did not touch the ground when he was on it. The tree had fallen on a flat shelf some fifty feet wide about half way up the hillside.

When Oona had recovered her breath enough to speak freely, she looked up the hillside frowning.

"I should not be this tired." She said.

"You almost died, I am happy that you are recovering. No hemorrhaging so far, correct?"

"I'll make certain you are the first to know if that happens."

When they went to move on Rokas almost twisted his ankle jumping down from the fallen tree. At first he thought it was just that he had landed wrong, but when he looked down he noticed a shape in the bed of dead leaves.

"Oona, I think I found something metal."

She hopped down with much more grace than he had managed and bent over to examine the object. It was covered in grime and rust, but the shape was unmistakable. It was a steel cap.

Heavy plate armor was uncommon in the East. Most frequently footmen and guards would wear mail coats over gambisons of linen. Caps like this were essentially standard issue for any sort of armed force. They required little skill to make and offered protection that was deemed good enough for unimportant troops.

She took the cap in both hands and sniffed at it intently.

"It smells of a fire, I think there is still some soot on the inside" Oona said as she rolled it over in her hands.

"And I recognize the craftsmanship. Look at how the line around the brim of it wavers. I don't think even the thickness is uniform. I would bet all my money that this was made by my predecessor."

Every time he had seen something the man had made it showed that the smith Rokas had replaced could not grind or hammer a straight line for the life of him. It was the case with the tools Rokas had taken from the general store and with the candle holders in the cabin as well. Some folk could not be trusted with good iron.

"Looks like a pretty usual cap to me, boss. How can you be sure?"

"I know what I am talking about here, Oona."

"Okay, fine. How did it get out here."

"I think this was taken from the old workshop after it was burnt. Whoever killed Tadas took it with him and fled into the woods rather than take the road. It is more than that though, remember the items that the Mayor asked me about in that meeting?"

"Yeah, but there were a lot of items on that list."

"Steel caps are not something a random citizen would have or want. Most people in a town like Hearth would settle for a side arm. Almost no normal citizen buys armor even among guild members or merchants. It stands out to me that we found a cap like this and that it was something the Mayor had asked after."

"Where do you think they were going?" Oona asked.

"I don't know, but I think whoever did this didn't want the town getting the items the Mayor had in that list." Rokas answered.

"Why though?"

"That," His mind had at last found a wall over which he was not yet able to make a leap over. "I have no idea."

Oona looked up the hillside with greater focus than she had demonstrated in their efforts so far that day.

"It is odd, that this would be here and that the mayor had asked us about it. Do you think he thought we might find those things somewhere hidden here on this claim?" She said.

"Or he wanted to gage our reaction to being asked about them." Rokas shrugged. "Perhaps he actually hoped we could replace them."

"He could not be the poisoner then."

"He could have had nothing to do with it, but we don't have anything like enough information to rule him out just yet. Maybe he wanted to make sure I couldn't replace them, that the job was done."

"Lets get going again, I want to see if we can find anything else." Oona said.

They left the fallen tree and continued up the hillside. The incline had only become more steep near the top, Rokas found that sometimes he had to grab hold of nearby trees to pull himself. He was breathing heavily before they reached the top and upon it was the stake which indicated the end of his claim.

Oona had recovered quickly and moved more easily than the smith in this terrain. Of the earlier weariness he could see no sign in her movements now. It was as though their positions had been switched. She walked beyond the marker and onto the ridge line beyond.

Having crested the hill they could now see they were upon a flat that was only roughly thirty feet wide. On both sides of this prominence the terrain dropped steeply again. The side which they had just climbed went down a greater distance than its opposite. The far side of the hill dropped for a time, but before it had fallen half the distance to the road's level it climbed again and higher than the hill they stood upon now. The terrain here undulated in this fashion often, it was often less taxing and faster to walk winding paths along the tops of hills and mountains than to pursue a direct course that fell as often as it climbed. They were a long way from the points at which the mountains around Hearth exceeded the height at which trees could no longer grow and the forest here was no less shaded than that which grew lower down.

Oona was walking ahead of Rokas following the ridge line when she held up one of her hands to him. She motioned for him to come where she was standing and pointed.

At first Rokas could make nothing out of what she was pointing at. It was not until he stepped nearer to her that what she was showing him became clear. From one vantage he saw only more forest, but the shift in perspective showed him the thin line of bare earth that had been trodden flat by the passage of many. A clear path through the forest seemed to him to emerge from where there had been none before.

"It's a game trail." She said.

The animals that made the forest their home liked climbing up and down hills or traipsing through the undergrowth no more than humans did. Through time and the desire to seek an easy path many different creatures had contributed to the formation of this trail. It was so narrow as to be difficult to discover unless you stood upon it or knew what you were looking for.