Hunted

by Paul Eslinger

  “Yes,” she replied, not appearing to be surprised at my outburst.

  Even though her single word was not a rebuke, her mannerism made me realize I had spoken out of turn. I sat again and put my hands on my knees, but kept on talking, “Thank you for the warning. I’m not sure who you were referring to, although the Hunter came only a few days later.”

  Trey shuffled his feet and I let him continue without interrupting again. He tapped his hand on his chest. “The Hunter was a good shot. I was dying, but Reuben healed me.”

  Bilqis looked startled and she clutched her hands together, pressing them against her chest. “We heard there might be difficulties and there wasn’t time to send a messenger. I tried to warn Tamaya, but she… she didn’t hear me.”

  The old woman took several deep breaths and a tear ran down each cheek. Her voice cracked as she continued, “Thank you, Reuben. I… I didn’t know you could heal people.”

  Moments later, she took a couple of steps to one side and sat heavily on a padded chair. Only then did I realize she had been leaning against a padded post while standing.

  I had been listening closely since we arrived, so I remembered the words Raoul had used when he announced us, “Khanum Bilqis, Trey is my friend and I had to try to help him. I am sorry I didn’t arrive in time to help his parents.”

  She gave a slight sniff and spread out her hands. “Thank you. Tamaya and Govad only planned to stay one more year before they returned here.”

  Trey slid forward so far that I was surprised he didn’t fall on the floor. “They didn’t tell me that.”

  “They were sworn to silence,” Bilqis murmured. “They must have kept their word.” She pointed one finger at me and then stabbed it in Trey’s direction. Her voice grew stronger, “You are more than friends. You are distant cousins, through your common great-grandmother.”

  I scooted forward so far that I started to slide off the bench. I rose slightly and slid back on the bench. “Father never said anything about this side of the family until the day before he died less than three weeks ago.”

  “Romulus was a protective man,” Bilqis said with a bite to her tone. “He—” she quit speaking when the door opened.

  I had seen small carts and wagons, and also chairs, but I had never seen anything like the chair with wheels that rolled into the room. An old man, looking as bad as Father had looked just before he died, sat in the chair and Raoul strode behind him, pushing on two handles. I heard Ara and Ramona mutter to each other but I ignored that while studying the new arrival.

  The room fell silent while Raoul positioned the chair close to the end of the bench where Bilqis sat. Raoul stepped out from behind the chair and motioned in our direction as he announced our names. “Khan Demarcus, these are Reuben, Trey, Ara and Ramona.”

  “Thank you, Raoul,” Demarcus said in a thin, reedy voice and waved one thin hand vaguely in the direction of the door.

  I took advantage of the short break in the conversation and tried to magically sense Demarcus’ emotions. I didn’t feel anything, although Bilqis radiated sadness, determination, uncertainty and even fear. My failure with Demarcus was enough to tell me I needed to walk lightly here.

  He waited until Raoul left before nodding in the direction of Ara and Ramona. “I am pleased to meet you, ladies. There are many things happening today, and your arrival was quite a surprise.”

  He lifted his other hand and pointed at the door. “We only have two open rooms at the moment. I ask that you ladies share one room and you two b—young men share the other. Go to the end of the hall and up three flights of stairs. There are only two rooms on that level. You should take your meals in the common dining room. The bell rings when the meal is ready.”

  “You’re my grandfather?” I asked gruffly when he paused. His physical condition was so poor he couldn’t have made the trip to Glendale to visit, but I was starting to think that wasn’t the only reason.

  Demarcus looked at Bilqis before answering and I wondered if they were holding a magical conversation. If so, I didn’t hear anything, although I listened intently. Finally, Demarcus gave a low sigh. “Romulus grew up in the closest village upriver and he visited here many times before… Before your mother was murdered while traveling to visit his family. I can see that he didn’t explain much family history.”

  I decided to break the ensuing long pause. “He told me your name and where you lived the day before he died.”

  “That is unfortunate—” Demarcus cut off his response when someone pounded on the door and then opened it.

  A young woman stood in the doorway. She was wearing worn leather clothing and scuffed boots and her long black hair was pulled back in a thick braid. The few wisps that had escaped the braid formed small curls. She gave a slight bow and spoke so quickly the words spilled from her lips, “Khan Demarcus, the team has returned from Falkirk. They say—”

  Demarcus raised both hands and interrupted, “Wait!”

  The woman stopped talking and stood there, looking shocked. Moments later, I could tell from her darting eyes and expression that the shock seemed to come from our presence rather than the actions of Demarcus.

  He raised one hand and beckoned towards the woman. “Please help me with the chair. I will go meet with them.”

  “Of course,” the woman said. She was already trotting across the room in his direction.

  Demarcus shot a look at Bilqis. “You should come as well.”

  Moments later, Demarcus and the young woman vanished through the door, moving much more quickly than when Raoul had pushed the chair.

  Bilqis slowly got to her feet and looked in our direction. “We must talk more but I need to attend this new discussion. There will be a meeting in three days that…” Her explanation trailed off as she neared the door, walking somewhat unsteadily, and then she disappeared.

  “That was quite interesting,” Ara commented as she rose to her feet and looked at the open door.

  “Not what I expected,” I muttered as I stooped and picked up my pack from the floor by my feet.

  “What do we do now?” Ramona asked.

  “Go check on the rooms Demarcus described,” Trey said as if that were the only logical action.

  “Okay,” I said with a frown and led the way toward the door. How could he sound so positive when I didn’t have a clue what to do next? “Why do that now?” I asked.

  Trey didn’t respond and I almost snapped at him after we stepped out in the hall. Then, I realized he was tapping a finger on his right ear. I’m not always quick on understanding gestures without words, but I had seen this gesture from Trey when we were hunting together. He wanted to find a quiet place to listen to what was happening around us.

  We soon found the stairs at the end of the hall and started climbing the circular stone steps. Forty-two steps later, we emerged into another hall. The only difference from the lower hall was slightly less carving on the polished wood walls.

  “Over there,” Ara indicated with an outstretched hand as we all looked for the next flight of stairs.

  This winding staircase had sixty steps and emptied into a shorter hall. To my surprise, there were three doors instead of two. I led the way to the closest one and opened it to reveal a room the size of the front room in our old log house. Two sleeping pads lay on raised platforms and two chairs sat next to a small table.

  “This must be one of the rooms,” Ara said as she pushed between me and Trey far enough to see into the room. She turned shook her head quickly and motioned for Ramona to follow her along the hall.

  They were already inside the second room before I reached the door. This room was about two paces longer than the other one, and there were two upright clothing cabinets in addition to sleeping mats and other furniture. “We’ll take this one,” Ara said with a smile.

  There wasn’t any reason to argue, so I turned to
ward the third door, which was twice the size of the other two. I opened the door and whistled in surprise. The room was much larger than the others, although it was more a balcony than a room. I had never been on a real balcony, but one of the books Mother used to teach Ara and me to read had drawings of a balcony.

  “Look at this,” Trey called excitedly as I headed toward the outside opening on the far side of the room.

  He pointed at a bunch of furs that lined what looked like a huge bird’s nest. His finger shook as he looked at me. “That must be a dragon bed!”

  I glanced back toward the outside, finally noticing that part of the balcony opened to the sky like the lip of a cliff. We were above the closest trees and far enough around the edge of the cliff that a dragon could take off or land out of sight of anyone over at the Pig’s Ear Tavern.

  “I think you’re right,” I said.

  Ara took another long look around and then motioned toward the interior hall. “Let’s leave the packs in the rooms and go explore.”

  Chapter 36 – Enforced Wait

  The glint of excitement in Trey’s eyes caught my attention when we dropped our packs on the sleeping mats in our room. “What are you thinking?” I asked.

  He sat on the edge of the mat and twiddled his thumbs. “Bilqis told us there will be a meeting in three days.”

  “Yes,” I said and nodded. “It’s going to be a long three days.”

  “No, no,” he protested, waving his hands. “Demarcus, that young woman, and Bilqis were all excited. In addition, the young woman said a team returned from Falkirk. People will be talking a lot and we may be able to figure out what is really going on.”

  “Part of what is going on is obvious,” Ara said from the doorway to the room. “The women with the sapphires had gotten their way for many centuries. The individuals on the wolf and dragon Council think they have been calling the shots. The people here, and especially Sorcha, respect the power of the sapphires but don’t think much of the wolves. Then there are Vassago and Effigia, which none of the others understand.”

  My frustration showed in my voice as I glared at Ara. “Do you really understand all that?”

  “It’s like a puzzle,” she said sweetly. “You have to understand the pieces before you can put it together.”

  I let out a big sigh. “Okay. We need to learn, and we only have three days.”

  “That’s right,” Ara agreed.

  “You have the sapphire under your blouse, don’t you?” I asked.

  She patted her chest. “Of course.”

  I turned and pointed at Trey. “You have the opal?”

  “Right here,” he said, patting his front pocket.

  The pouch hanging from my belt felt familiar when I tapped my fingers on it. “I think I finally understand something about what Zephyr said when she talked about magical glue. Maybe I can help protect the stones so no thief can steal them.”

  Ara looked pleased with my suggestion. “Go ahead,” she said.

  Trey merely nodded while Ramona looked on with interest. I know she was interested because I checked her emotions. After all, we hadn’t known each other very long.

  After closing my eyes, I reached for the external magic. To my surprise, the sapphire and the two opals were still storing energy like a river in full flood. There was far more magic stored in my opal than had been in the sapphire a day previously.

  Holding the magic in check, I opened my eyes and looked at Ara while trying to think. Could I make it easier for her to use magic in the same way I healed someone? I could picture the desire in my mind and the magic could do the work.

  I beckoned with one finger for Ara to step closer. “Maybe I can help you learn how to keep the sapphire safe. Is that okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Give me your hand,” I said, reaching out to her. The desired change was already clear in my mind and I felt a surge of magic flow from me to her when our hands touched.

  Ara’s eyes widened in astonishment, but she didn’t pull away. “Oh…”

  After fifteen long slow breaths, the flow of magic slowed to a trickle and stopped. I pulled my hand back and looked at her flushed face. Thinking about what Trey had done to me, I slowly stretched my hand toward her chest while I talked. “I’m a thief trying to steal your necklace. Push me away.”

  She slapped my hand. “Quit it.”

  “Wrong approach,” I said as I started to reach for her again. “You have a huge amount of magic power in the sapphire. Use the magic to push me away.”

  On the third try, she stopped my hand using the magic before I touched her blouse. “That’s it,” I said encouragingly. “You can do it. Now you just need to practice.”

  Without waiting for a response, I turned to Trey with my hand outstretched. “I know we’ve tried this before, and it didn’t work, but there is far more power stored in your opal than before. Give me your hand.”

  He nodded and reached out. To my surprise, more magic flowed from me into him than had flowed into Ara. His wide eyes and panting breaths indicated he felt something happening. After I completed the transfer, Trey pushed my hand away using magic on the second attempt.

  The sense of disappointment from Ramona was too strong to ignore when I finished with Trey. I turned and faced her, and tried to speak kindly, “I’ll try the same thing with you, but not until we get you a magical stone.”

  Ramona’s lips puckered like she was going to cry, but she controlled the disappointment enough that she could speak, although shakily, “That’s impossible. There’s no way I can get one of them.”

  I held up my hand with two fingers extended. “I know where two of them are that no one is using. One we would have to buy, but we can freely dig up the other one.”

  “Really?”

  I could sense the doubt in her mind, but it was doubt rather than total rejection. “Yes. Now, let’s work on the puzzle pieces.”

  “The first piece we need to find is the outhouse,” Ara said with a chuckle.

  “Then the dining area,” Trey added with a smile. “People always talk while they eat.”

  We retraced our path down the stairs and soon emerged in the big front hall. Ara darted ahead when she saw another girl about her age enter the big outer door. Moments later, she came back. She pointed along one of the halls. “The necessary is out that direction on the other side of the dining area. But I learned something even more important.”

  “Nothing’s more important than that,” Trey cut in. He started moving along the hall. “We can walk and talk at the same time.”

  “What is it?” I asked Ara as the rest of us followed Trey, who was now moving quickly.

  “The girl, her name is Mehar, said she was late for her study group in the library.”

  I felt my eyebrows bunch together as I considered what Ara had just said. We had as many books as anyone in Glendale. A library was just a word, not a reality. “Are you sure?”

  Ara tapped my arm gently with her hand and she sounded amused. “I felt the same way. We’ll go check it out. Oh, yes, they only serve morning and evening meals in the dining area.”

  The news of our arrival spread quickly. By the time we made our way to the library, which was in an interior room on the second level, we had met at least thirty people. They all knew our names, and apparently, our family connections, and they were willing to chat. However, none of them said anything about the coming meeting, so we didn’t ask.

  The door to the library stood open when we arrived. I was watching two people walk along the hall away from us when Trey poked me with his elbow. “Look at the door,” he hissed.

  The door was solid metal, and ingenious hinges allowed four big metal spikes to fit into a thick metal frame that surrounded the opening. The metal was so smooth I wondered if the craftsman had used magic to make it.

  Ara
grabbed my arm and pulled me inside when I stopped to examine the door. “Forget the door,” she said. “Look at the books!”

  I looked around with a feeling of shock. I hadn’t known what to expect but had assumed there might be several books, maybe even a few dozen. Instead, hundreds of books lined wooden shelves and sat in piles on tables. There were thick books, thin books, and many different sizes. Most of the covers were leather and many of them looked mottled with age.

  “Can I help you?” asked a woman who appeared from behind some shelves.

  “We’re new here,” I said.

  “I know,” she said with a smile. “Welcome, Rueben, Trey, Ara and Ramona.”

  “We’re interested in history,” Ara said smoothly and shot me a quick glance. I correctly interpreted the glance to mean I should let her talk without interrupting. She swiveled back to face the woman and continued, “Even as far back as when the kingdom was founded.”

  “Sure,” the woman said and gestured to one set of shelves. “Our history books are over there. My name is Peninah. Do you read well?”

  “Quite well,” Ara said quickly.

  Peninah studied Ara with squinted eyes and then led the way to the shelves holding history books. She selected one large leather-covered book from the shelf and laid it on a nearby table. “Many of the books are old. We lay them on tables to read. Be very careful turning the pages.”

  She opened the book and gestured at it. The parchment was yellow with age and the ink had faded to a dark brown. “Would you like to read?”

  Two of the flameless candles hung on holders above the table and provided far more light than the flickering lamps we had used growing up. Ara’s shoulders squared as she stepped closer and stooped over the book with her hands resting on the table on each side of it. Her voice was smooth as she started reading. “King Tomas died in the winter of year four hundred forty-five at the age of one hundred thirty-seven and his son Nassim took the throne. Nassim was forty-five when he started ruling and his wife of ten years, Chamylla, became queen.”