by Guy Antibes
“You didn’t need my tinderbox?” Trevor asked as he put the sword belt back on.
“No, but you need your belt. It appears I came a little more prepared than you,” Boxster lit the last one on the rack and handed the torch to Trevor. “Go ahead, leader.”
“Not far, now,” Trevor said as they continued their twisting route. Trevor stopped at the door.
“This is it?” Boxster asked in a hushed voice. “How do you know this is the right door?”
“Look,” Trevor said. He passed the torch in front of the door, showing the sign of Dryden.
He gave the torch to Boxster again and looked through the peephole at the side of the door. He couldn’t see a thing, but Trevor could hear faint voices through whatever covered the shuttered hole that looked upon Brother Yvan’s chambers.
“The hole has been covered up,” Trevor said. “I don’t know if that is good or bad. We can’t go back.”
“Not the way we came,” Boxster said. “We will have to move forward.”
Trevor nodded. “I know.” He slipped the wooden latch up and was ready to open the door as Boxster extinguished the torch.
“Wait. Draw your sword,” Boxster said. He drew his weapon and stepped to the side of the door.
Trevor opened the door slowly. The hinges were silent, and for that, Trevor was very thankful. A rug of some kind covered the opening, and then Trevor remembered the tapestry that Brother Yvan had put against the wall after Trevor had tired of the secret passage. He stopped to listen. The voices were Win and Brother Yvan having a calm conversation. Trevor took the chance and swept aside the tapestry.
He pointed his sword at the pair of them as Boxster rushed into the room, doing the same thing.
“You can put those away for now,” Brother Yvan said calmly.
Win jumped up wide-eyed with surprise. “You came through the wall? And you said you weren’t a magician.”
Trevor held the tapestry aside. “Some kind of magic, eh?”
“A secret passage? I didn’t think one existed in Tarviston castle!”
“It is a modest installation as things go, I understand,” Brother Yvan said. “You have come to save us, I presume?”
“You aren’t under arrest?” Boxster asked.
“I am, and Win has joined me just now. We can’t leave here, you know,” Brother Yvan said. “The pipe, or whatever it is, slants in the wrong direction.”
Trevor nodded.
“I’ll think about a solution while we talk,” Boxster said.
Trevor frowned. Why should Boxster be the one always to prevail? He put his mind to the problem for a moment and figured out what to do.
“The rod is big enough to crawl up. It won’t be so dangerous if whoever does it is wearing a rope. If that person slips off the rod, he can be pulled back. The rope can be used to pull others up the rod. Then we can leave the way Boxster and I came,” Trevor said.
“But you told me years ago no one could return,” Brother Yvan said.
“No boy of twelve could do so,” Trevor said. “We are grown men.”
“I’m afraid I have grown too much,” Brother Yvan said.
After giving everyone a laugh, the cleric turned serious. “If we escape, we can expect no quarter from the king.”
“And what kind of treatment can we expect from Bering if we don’t?” Trevor asked.
“A quick death,” Win said.
“No.” Boxster held up his finger. “A slow, painful death if you remain here.”
Brother Yvan put his hands to his face. “You two should have never returned. I didn’t expect you to return to Tarviston.”
“Come with us and be our healer,” Trevor said. “We are going to be a band of soldiers of fortune, not mercenaries. We will seek out ways that will be to our advantage. Problems to solve, wrongs to right, that sort of thing.”
“No thuggery?” Brother Yvan asked.
“No, but there will be danger,” Boxster said. “Bering will still send out his hounds, so we will need to flee Presidon.”
“If only Princess Lilith were successful in taking the throne. She would take care of Prince Bering,” Win said.
“And there would be a civil war in the kingdom,” Brother Yvan said. “I’m not sure Trevor would be any safer.”
“Then we had best be off,” Win said.
“Not until your mother has arrived with our midday meal,” Brother Yvan said. “You can say goodbye to her, and we can be off after we’ve stuffed ourselves.”
“There is a problem,” Trevor said. “We need a very long rope.”
The cleric laughed. “Not to worry, my closet has everything we are going to need. I will deeply regret having to leave it.”
Brother Yvan and Boxster worked to put Brother Yvan’s things together while Win cooked up food that they could take with them. The cleric pulled out a variety of bags for them to carry on their way out.
A knock on the chapel door brought Brother Yvan and Win out from Yvan’s living quarters. They decided that it was better not to have her see Trevor or Boxster.
“How is my son doing?” Trevor heard Win’s mother say. The conversation went on for a while until she finally left. Win had done an admirable job not being too overt about his leaving.
The pair brought their midday meal into Brother Yvan’s kitchen. Marin Denton cooked a feast for much more than two, but rather than looking like they anticipated a feast, both of them looked alarmed.
“Lilith and your mother have taken a carriage and left the castle, heading toward Dorwick,” Win said. “Mother doesn’t know what is going to happen. There is talk of civil war and talk of you joining your sister.”
Trevor barked out a laugh. “I don’t believe that at all.”
“Maybe it’s true,” Boxster said.
“That means Bering has consolidated the power that he needs. He might be willing to take on your father now that Lilith isn’t there to counter Prince Bering’s ambition,” Brother Yvan said.
“Civil war,” Trevor said. “It is inevitable now. I wouldn’t be surprised if my mother and sister return with the Dorwickian army at their backs.”
“At their fronts,” Win said. “Your older sister can’t wield a sword. I’ve seen her try.”
“Were you spying on her?”
“I wasn’t the only one,” Win said. He looked at his mother’s food set out on the table. “Suddenly, I’m hungry. Let’s get some of this delicious food in our stomachs.”
Win successfully changed the direction of the conversation, something Trevor’s boyhood friend was excellent at.
In the end, they couldn’t eat all of Marin Denton’s offering, and a good portion of the food made it into their bags. Brother Yvan made them go into the chapel for a quick service and individual prayer time to Dryden before they attempted to slide up the rod to freedom.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
~
T he iron rod looked steep to Trevor, but he was to look on while Win went first, followed by Boxster. Trevor would come third so they could drag the heaviest of them, Brother Yvan, up the obstacle. There was enough rope to pull another line across the shaft so that they could tie bags to it.
Trevor’s palms were wet as he watched Boxster tie the rope into a harness around Win. He wore a boiled leather helmet that was too big, but if he fell, his head wouldn’t be smashed on the stone walls of the shaft.
Win began to inch his way up the rod. It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but there was enough friction on the surface of the rod to permit some purchase as Win worked his way to the other side.
Boxster took much less time, and half of their group could escape.
“Bags next,” Brother Yvan said.
Boxster wrapped a few lengths of the rope used for the bundle and nodded. Trevor pushed the bundle over the edge. It swung down and into the other side. Brother Yvan winced as he heard something break. There wasn’t anything to do about that now.
Win and Boxster were able to get t
he bags on the other side, but they needed some time to rest before Trevor’s turn came. He took a deep breath and stretched out across the rod. Since he was the tallest of all, Trevor was a little anxious that he wouldn’t be able to make it across without sliding back.
He turned his head back to see Brother Yvan and lost his balance. Everyone gasped as he left the top of the rod.
“Not to worry!” Trevor said, trying to sound calm. “I can slide my way across upside down.”
He wrapped his legs around the pipe and used his arms to pull him along. Trevor thought it was like climbing up a pole, something that he’d only seen others do. Boxster and Win helped him get upright and clamber the last few feet across.
That left Brother Yvan as the last one to cross. He, surprisingly, took the least amount of time as Brother Yvan crawled to join the others and sprang to his feet.
“That’s what exercise and Marin Denton’s cooking can do.”
Trevor knew the exercise part might be true, but if anything, Win’s mother would be putting more strain on the activity.
Armed with more torches shoved into Win’s backpack, they lit two. One for the front and one for the back as they started through the winding passageway out of the castle.
“How did you find out about this?” Boxster asked Yvan.
“When I first arrived in the castle, I poked around in the king’s library, ostensibly looking for suitable textbooks for Trevor. He was set apart from his siblings from the start, and I was assigned to be his tutor. I came across an old volume in a dusty corner of the library and read about the construction of the place. There was an entry about a bolt hole that ran through the walls, but no map. I found the spyhole in my kitchen which led to the discovery of the door. I was stopped by the rod, but I returned to the old portfolio and learned where the door was supposed to be. I found a perfectly square stone amidst the irregular ones and pushed.”
“You went up to your rooms?”
Brother Yvan laughed. “I admit I didn’t have the nerve to do more than step inside the door, look at that chasm and turn back, but Trevor was particularly obstreperous one day, and I told him about the passageway. I was more than surprised that he showed up at the wrong door one day a week later.” Yvan turned back to Trevor, who traveled in the rear. “Am I right?”
“You are right. I took the passageway a few more times, and that was that. The rod is very intimidating, but even that got boring,” Trevor said.
“It’s a good thing you remembered,” Boxster said.
“A very good thing,” Win said, “but I’m not very happy you kept this secret from me.”
“I saved the knowledge for when I needed it. I didn’t want to be responsible for your injury or death. Your mother would have never fed me again, and my father might have killed Brother Yvan and me for keeping it to ourselves.”
“Now, all we have to do is find a safe way to get out of Tarviston,” Brother Yvan said.
“If my mother, the queen, took a carriage, she won’t be traveling fast. She gets sick if she does. I suspect my father is just letting her go, and Bering is probably excited to see her escape to Dorwick,” Trevor said. “I want to talk to her before I leave Presidon for good.”
~
Win knew the orchard better than Trevor, and soon they were riding on a stolen wagon, heading to the inn where Trevor and Boxster stayed. Everyone huddled in cloaks that Brother Yvan had provided as makeshift disguises, and they trundled into the stable yard of the inn without drawing attention of any kind.
“I’m not happy that you had to procure a wagon and horse that aren’t yours,” Brother Yvan said. “Do you know whose it is?”
Win grinned. “Close enough. We can have someone deliver a note when we leave Tarviston.”
Boxster arranged for two more rooms, and they left the inn and found a pub. Trevor agreed to leave the inn. They would walk back separately rather than together in case people were looking for Win and Brother Yvan.
“You don’t mind shedding your robes?” Win asked as they sat down.
“A little less loud, if you don’t mind,” Yvan said. “No, I don’t mind. I have one robe in my bags should the occasion arise that I might need it.” He rubbed his hands together. “Now, let’s see how good the food is here.”
After a surprisingly tasty dinner, Brother Yvan and Boxster walked back to the pub while Trevor and Win took different routes and arrived at different times. They agreed to eat at the same place for breakfast and meet at the inn’s stable yard to talk about the next steps. The pub was too close for plotting, and none were in the right condition for serious planning after a long dinner.
“Where should we go?” Win asked.
“We can go to Ginster,” Brother Yvan said.
“You are willing to leave Presidon with us?” Trevor asked. “I thought you would go to the monastery.”
“You need someone to procure business. Boxster and I talked about it.”
“When I tried my hand to go out on my own, I tried to do everything by myself. It didn’t work out very well, and I ended up surviving by seeking positions in the military,” Boxster said.
“After your mistake?” Trevor asked.
Boxster nodded. “As a matter of fact, that was the point when I realized working for myself wasn’t a good idea. When I met you, and your future in Presidon looked a bit uncertain, I thought if I had a partner, we might have more luck, but as a tight little band with a few more brains in the mix,” Boxster looked at Yvan, “You are the few more brains, I think it might be the ingredient we need to succeed.”
“I think we need a magician,” Trevor said.
“Why?” Win asked.
“Yes, why? I’m interested in your thinking,” Boxster said.
“We have to think about offense and defense, not that we are going to be looking for fights, although that might happen. We will need special talents, and among ours, magic is not one of them, unless Boxster and Brother Yvan have been holding out on me.”
“A little,” Brother Yvan said, “but my skills are only a little better than what I’ve been able to force Win to show me.”
“I’m more magically dead than Trevor, although he did pick up that useful little trick on the Viksaran border,” Boxster said. “I vote to search for a magician in Viksar first and then go from there.”
“If we all agree, I propose we leave by way of the monastery in the hills. I can leave word for my order, whose headquarters are in Ginster, and it gives us an obscure entry point into Viksar,” Brother Yvan said.
“Then it is settled?” Boxster said, placing both of his hands palm down on the table.
“I’ll meet you at the monastery,” Trevor said. “I’m going to have to head toward Dorwick first.”
“But that is almost in the opposite direction,” Win said.
“I still want to find out what Lilith’s intentions are.”
“A last-minute reconciliation?” Brother Yvan asked.
“Not exactly, but I’d like to know what she intends to do.”
“You are turning your back on them, Trevor,” Win said. “You should just leave them to stir in their own juices.”
“It is something I have to do,” Trevor said.
“I think Dryden will approve,” Brother Yvan said. “You should leave now.”
“That was my thinking,” Trevor said. He rose from the table. Boxster stood as well.
“You didn’t think I was going to let you face those two on your own?”
“I will take Win with me,” Brother Yvan said.
“But the guards will be on the lookout for both of you,” Trevor said.
“Who said we would leave Tarviston together? Leave that all to me, and we will see you at the monastery.”
~
Trevor and Boxster left by two different gates. Trevor took the Northeast Gate that led to the farms that stretched for miles and miles in that direction, while Boxster exited through the East Gate, on the cobbled road that the queen
and the princess took.
Trevor reached their rendezvous, a traveler’s fountain two hours out of the city.
“Wouldn’t you like something stronger?” Trevor said, sneaking up on Boxster.
“I’m going to have to teach you more woodcraft. I could hear you coming from fifty paces away,” Boxster said. He tossed what remained of a ladle of water on the ground. “Should we be off?”
“If we want to catch them before they reach Dorwick,” Trevor said.
They spotted a carriage just before the sun set. It was parked in the lot of a small inn filled with travelers’ horses.
“Mother wouldn’t stay there, so they must be resting the horses,” Trevor said.
Boxster nodded as they tied their horses up, and after checking the carriage, they walked into the inn. There must have been fifteen officers wearing the uniform of Dorwick surrounding Lilith and the queen.
“We must be in the wrong place,” Boxster said.
“You certainly are, Desolation Boxster,” Lilith said. “And my prodigal brother has shown up like an objectionable weed that has been plucked before.”
Trevor didn’t think the example indicated a promising reunion.
“Why are you here?” Trevor’s mother said. Her tone of voice confirmed it.
“I came to dissuade you from rebelling against Father,” Trevor said. “I don’t care what you do about Bering.”
“I do,” Lilith said. “We had to flee for our lives, but the timing was perfect. As you can see, we are too far along to be persuaded to stop, not that we would.”
“Then you will destroy Presidon? Bering has even more power than Father.”
The queen lifted an eyebrow. “Henry will announce tomorrow that he and Bering have come to terms, and Bering will be promoted from crown prince to regent. The powers have been combined.”
“You found out about this yesterday?”
The queen nodded. “In the morning. I, for once, felt the need for a prayer session with Brother Yvan only to find him locked in his chapel. The guards told me to talk to Bering.”
