And within moments Malek was by her side, knotting up the bottom of the rope with a stone for weight and gazing at Jess.
Closing her eyes, she grabbed the silken rope, pulling gently, feeling a sense of her request travel across distances strangely vast, for all that the balcony was but feet away. And without so much as a single crack, the silken rope tumbled down into her hands, Alex smiling in approval.
“Figured it will come in handy soon enough,” Jess allowed, gazing at the walls all about, happy the wooden balcony was willing to give up the rope with little more than a parting sigh, thick and sturdy as the teak wood was.
Malek nodded. “Not to mention it covers our route of escape a few moments longer.”
The dog, tail wagging furiously came up to Malek, gazed solemnly into his eyes and immediately rolled over and whined as a pup would before his alpha.
Malek's grim features cracked into a smile. “Go back to your kennel, pooch. I would rather not have to kill you or your brothers if I can possibly help it.”
Immediately the dog's ears perked. He rolled to his feet, whined once, and was off.
“Bloody hells, I hope he doesn't bark his head off,” Malek sighed. “What?” He asked a bemused looking Alex.
Alex smiled. “I think, perhaps, you have a way with animals, my friend.”
Malek sighed and shook his head. "I doubt it. My father can't stand pets. I tried to keep a stray puppy once, and several kittens," Malek said, scouting out their next move. "He killed the puppy, of course. The kittens were smart enough to listen to me and stay under the bed. One of the serving maids who took pity on me found them homes, and of course I gave her the little coin my father allowed me for her trouble. After that? Never bothered with pets again.”
“I'm sorry, Malek,” Jera began, gently touching his shoulder.
Malek flashed a grim smile. “No time for regrets, lest we'd have cause for new ones.” He turned to Jess. “The compound is quite secure, and the duke has allowed for no obvious back ways in.
Alex grimaced. “And how many guards will we have to take down to get out of here?”
Jess smiled. “Mayhap none.” She gestured to the rope and the piece of wood that had fallen beside it. “Please look away,” she asked, even as she gazed deeply into the dark grains of the hardwood, molding it with trembling hands and a clenching of her will, fierce as a winter gale, where normally her whispers were gentle as a summer shower.
“What an odd sight,” Malek grimaced, “that wood is bending in your hands like clay.”
“Well, it's done,” Jess took a trembling breath, stroking the hardwood grappling hook centered upon the stone Malek had found for weight.
“Impressive,” Alex allowed. “And there is no doubt as to what you are now, my dear Jess.”
Jera gave a solemn nod. “To shape wood with your will, to flow and mold it like clay. I've only read of such accounts in very old tomes, Jess, gifts long thought but fantasy, laying so far outside the arts of Erovering today.”
Twilight grinned. “Ah yes, proper wizard logic. Anything that falls outside your chosen paradigm? Ignore it and hope it goes away.”
Jess chuckled softly. “For gods' sake, don't tell my mother, or she'll have me relegated to the role of reshaping her furniture whenever the mood suits her.” She shuddered at the thought. “There are reasons why I keep such talents close to my vest, and that act, though not a crime against nature, leaves me feeling strange. Let me rest but a moment.”
Malek's gaze was grim. "I've seen you ward our band against a hail of lead-tipped arrows, careful and controlled as the exercise was, everyone with body shields to hide under, yet not once was there the ring of lead against shield, and it fatigued you not at all."
Jess shrugged. “That is like a branch giving way to the gentle touch of wind, wood that would cause me no harm in any case. Little effort was needed to extend the range of my gift, once I gained the knack of it. That being said, it is to my shame that my range was insufficient to save you when you were lanced through, my brother. I am grateful beyond words that my folly, charging our foe in a mad wrath while you got lanced a score of yards behind me, didn't cost you your very life.”
Malek clapped her shoulder in deepest affection. “I live. You saved me. It is enough. Never trouble yourself over it again.” His gaze was heartfelt. Jess felt her cheeks flush.
She took a deep breath. “I feel restored now, and let us delay not a moment longer.”
Jess turned to her familiar then, appearing before them as if stepping out of the shadows. “Not that much has changed over the years since I was last here, Jess. I believe I know the location they were speaking of, and for the moment, the area around the back of the compound is clear of men.”
Jess nodded, turning to her friends. "The back wall. We use our grappling hook, climb over the wall, and follow my lead. I will go first, you all keep an eye out. Should any of these two-faced sellouts dare to use arrows or polearms against us, we will be ready." Her gaze held a certain cold satisfaction, though she knew not why Jera suddenly paled and shivered, refusing even to meet her gaze. "Once we are up and over the wall, I will follow Twilight, and he will lead us to where we need to be."
Without further delay, they made their way to the back wall, all but invisible in the near perfect darkness, proceeding without incident, for all that the voices back at the manor grew to a furor of angry shouts and commands.
“I don't think we are leaving a moment too soon,” Malek said as they all gazed at Jess, flinging the grappling hook with practiced ease over the wall guarding the compound.
Jess flashed Alex and Jera a grim smile. “Eloquin trained us well, in all sorts of useful skills.”
Alex grinned back. “Equally capable as knights or assassins. Yes, Jess, most of us at Highrock are well aware of what really goes on in Eloquin's circle, and the envy of many you all were, those who didn't fear you and count their blessings that their souls wouldn't be burdened with the weight yours would one day bear.”
Jera smacked her beau's head. “Alex!” she whispered harshly.
Jess could sense her friend's blush. “You're right. I'm an idiot. Forgive me, Jess, my mouth gets carried away sometimes. You know I have nothing but the utmost admiration for you.”
Jess forbore to answer, already scaling the wall with practiced ease, gazing carefully in all directions before whispering down. “You next, Alex, good. You're steady, relax. No, don't grip me so tight, you're perfectly safe.”
Alex's grimace did not reassure, Jera with some assistance from Malek soon helping to steady a tightly gripping Alex, even as Malek cleared the wall as effortlessly as his shieldsister.
“All is well, thank the gods we have no trouble. It would be tough to maneuver with Alex clutching me so tightly,” Jess whispered, Malek cracking a grin even as he readjusted the grappling hook and rope.
"All right, Jess, you go down first, and I'll pass you Alex."
"Really, guys, it was just one mislaced shoe. I'm not a lump of wheat to manhandle," Alex grumbled, for all that he acquiesced to the procedure readily enough, the four down once more without incident, grappling hook and rope safely stored in the pack that Alex alone had the presence of mind to bring.
Twilight gazed at them for some moments before giving a slow nod. “Our dear Alex can keep his head when the arrows are flying as we saw at the chateau, but is not so good with heights, I see. Very well. Follow my lead, Jess.”
Jess nodded, turning to her companions, Alex smiling grimly as he passed Malek and Jera cloaks, Malek's much like his own, slightly short on Malek's large frame but workable, all of fine weave, and so long as helmets were not worn they looked like a group of well-to-do youths about town, as much as fully armed and armored warriors.
“I may not be much of one for climbing, but I have no problems with strategy. Give me your helmets, Jess, Malek, and we can pass for a group of lords and lady.” He passed Malek and Jess toques much like the ones they had worn the other
day, Jess smiling as she stuffed her hair in hers, its padded brim allowing it to act as a sort of poor man's helmet, especially as the top was reinforced with her braid, good for warding a light cut, if nothing else.
Alex slipped the helmets in his sack with surprising adroitness, seeming not at all encumbered, and more importantly, not at all looking like he was carrying such upon his person.
Malek smiled. "You wouldn't make a bad agent of sorts yourself, dear Alex. Very good at thinking on your feet."
Alex chuckled softly. "I'm a wizard, Malek. Storing cumbersome artifacts without letting it be an encumbrance and planning on my feet are strengths, just as much as tactical thinking is yours, and I know you were thinking escape and blades, not disguises, for all that Eloquin trained you in both. Now, let us make our way at a sedate pace as young aristocrats enjoying the capital. Our blades are hardly out of place, and Jess's surcoat, though provincial, is certainly a lord's right to wear."
Twilight gazed impatiently at Jess. “Very good. Disguises in place. Now let us risk no further delay, for I know how you are when your friends start expiring, so let us hurry!”
Jess shivered, glancing at her companions but once, before hurrying after her familiar, her friends quickly following suit. Not a word needed to be said, all of them instantly understanding how high the stakes had become as the nervous elation of their escape wore off.
"Jess, I know we are taking your lead in this," Alex grimaced, all matching her clipped pace away from the compromised chateau. "What can your familiar tell us about what has gone on so far?"
Jess gazed intently at a spot only she could see. “Twilight says that a late night invitation was sent to the compound when the rest of us had taken to our beds, our city lord friends used to later hours.”
Malek nodded. “I have noted that. On the other hand, waking with the crisp predawn makes intense sparring in full gear far more tolerable, free of the sun cooking us to a crisp on a hot day.”
Jess flashed a bleak smile. "True, and we train still, so such habits are well ingrained in us, which is why I will forgive myself not being there for Raphael, even so. In any event, it appears that a contact had born fruit and was, I suspect, a lord that our duke thought an ally or at least a trustworthy associate. In any event, assured he may bring what bodyguards he desired to protect him on his nighttime venture through the city, he went to converse with his associate in matters of trade and... other things, I suspect. Only it seems that, upon making contact, our duke found the rules of this game quite different from the one he thought was being played, master of trade and intrigue that he may otherwise be.” Jess frowned. “Apparently, those whom Twilight overheard were quite confident that our duke's retinue was no hindrance at all, though whether they were drugged, killed, or already compromised, I do not know.”
"By the gods, the duke is the kindest named lord I have ever known. An asset to this cesspit of a city! how bloody corrupt is Krona?" Jera spat out the words in an angry hiss, Jess nodding in sympathy.
“At ease, my friend. Believe me, I know how you feel,” Jess soothed. “Right now, let's just focus on finding our friends and doing whatever we can for them.”
Alex gently squeezed Jera's hand. “Sweetheart, you don't have to do this, you know. Your family's city apartments are but several blocks from here, and your family, frankly, would welcome your safe return to them, especially in light of this eve.”
Jess nodded in accord. "He's right, Jera. Things are going to get ugly very quickly, and there is no shame in avoiding this battle. Besides, we may well need reinforcements when the time comes."
“The hell I will abandon you guys as we save one of our own, brother and sister of the circle!” Jera's eyes flashed. “I'm not going to lie. This situation scares me. But no one is more ashamed than I of how I froze when you all needed me at the chateau." She gave an abrupt shake of her head as Jess sought to reassure her. "Don't make excuses for me, Jess. No one is more aware of the mind-numbing terror that had affected me, froze me in place, than myself. I pray that this time, I can at least be of some use. With blade, or dare I say it, lightning, far more friendly in a dense city than unleashing gale force winds, or explosions of flame."
Malek winked at Alex. “She does have a point there, my friend. Skilled as you are, your windwall would tear down whatever manor we entered, to say nothing of shooting balls of flame in a city with manors of wood, however elegantly made, adjoining all these ancient structures of stone.
Alex sighed and shook his head. “Very well. But let us act first to scout out this location, so as to alert the proper authorities, before we invade outright.”
“Assuming even the bloody authorities aren't outright corrupt,” Malek muttered.
"There is that, so thank the gods for Jess's gifts. And her knack with arrows." Jess flashed a wry smile, though his eyes were haunted. "Please say you'll ward us against arrow and spear, Jess. I'd hate for my beloved to become a pincushion on the very first trip Jera and I take to the capital."
Jess flashed a reassuring smile, for all that her gut roiled with sudden dread for the battle to come. So, this was to be her regiment then, and their lives her responsibility. Jess accepted the role, for all that her heart was burdened by the weight of it. She could feel something click inside her. All of Eloquin's lessons and, just as importantly, the mindset of a commander coming to the fore.
Jera gazed at Jess and shivered. “Jess, what's wrong?”
Jess came to an abrupt stop, locking eyes with all of them. “Very well, then. If I am to be responsible for your safety, your lives are under my care, and you, my command. If we go forward, you accept me as your commander and will follow my lead, no arguments. Do we have an understanding?”
Malek flashed a grim smile, fist to chest. “Second reporting, commander.”
Jess nodded. “Jera, Alex?”
Both her friends nodded solemnly. “Of course, Jess. We will follow your lead,” Jera assured.
"Excellent. First order of business, scouting out our enemy's position. We will only engage on my say, or if we are aggressed. Of course defend yourselves using whatever means you deem fit. If I judge it wisest to find reinforcements, then that is what we will do, no arguments. If I judge it wisest to attack, I will take ward and point, Malek covering for me. Alex, Jera, I will leave it for you to provide such magic assistance as you see fit, but let's try not to cause major devastation if we can possibly help it."
Her friends nodded in accord.
"If I give the word, though, hit them with everything you have, and to hell with consequences. Our lives come first."
"Sounds good, Jess. We follow your lead, you and Malek will cover us if we encounter hostilities, and we shall aid with what magics we can," Alex said.
“Perfect,” a somewhat relieved Jess said, feeling the weight of command flow over her, so much harder as the people whose lives were under her care were not just soldiers she respected, but friends she loved. “Now ward yourselves with what magics you have, as best as you know those arts. Once we go forward we act upon the instant, and may have no further time for preparation.”
Her friends nodded solemnly at her hard gaze, and at that moment she recalled with pristine clarity why Eloquin had often said that falling in love with one's brothers and sisters in arms was a double-edged sword that cut both ways. No one you would rather fight with, or better to have your back, but if they fell in battle, it would be a wound to one's own soul as well.
“Jess!” Twilight's gaze was impatient.
Jess gazed intently at her friends, all three of them with eyes closed in trance, muttering the words to what she sensed were protective wardings, Malek alone having cut himself on cheeks and thighs, though only skin deep. As one they opened their eyes with grim smiles of satisfaction, Malek's mail hauberk rolling back down to protect his thighs once more.
“How are you guys?” Jess asked.
Jera and Alex nodded. "Hopefully our casting will help protect us from at least
the first hostile spell flung our way, if we are not utterly outmatched," Alex said, before gazing curiously at Malek. "Your words did sound a bit... strange. Why the blood sigils, my friend?"
Malek's confident smile turned to one of confusion, gazing in surprise at the knife in his hand, lightly as it had cut, a drop of blood still shown on the tip. "I don't know. I just felt, well, that it was successful. That it added to the spellward, somehow." Malek scowled under Alex's considering gaze. "Bloody hells, Alex, three years busting my chops trying to learn the arcane arts at Highrock, and protective wards are the only magic I'm really good for anyways, let's be honest."
Jess chuckled softly. "You were Eloquin's student first and foremost, battlebrother, and in those arts, you and I both excelled."
Twilight gazed at Malek. “Bloodward. Whereas your friends will be lucky to counter a single elemental spell, Malek should be good for several, even if they are of infernal nature, assuming his blood is boiling with sufficient rage.” He turned to Jess. “Mistress, we really must be off.” Her cat darted through the shadows and Jess raced to follow, her friends just behind.
11
For what seemed an endless journey they raced along back alleys and major thoroughfares, passing the occasional pedestrian who spared them no more than a passing glance, their focused gazes and gentleman's attire deterring comment. Strangely they passed not even one watchman that evening, though Jess was certain that was as much due to Twilight's navigation as simple chance, uneventful as their journey was, save a growing churning in the pit of Jess's stomach, until at last Twilight slowed as they approached what was no doubt their destination.
Jess turned to her friends. "Twilight says it's the building just ahead. The large affair with several footmen rather casually guarding the front gate, and, Twilight assures, four more men in the guardhouse just inside."
Oblivion's Queen Page 15
