Danica took the tool and examined it. The thin curved blade was sharp. She was touched by Lucas’s concern for her and she put the tool in the waistband of her skirt. “Thank you, Lucas. Are you safe?”
“He is protected here. No one will find him, rest assured, Danica,” Semiel said.
“Tell the stone mason that his daughter is safe. Tell him that she will stand trial and despite appearances, she will survive.”
Semiel bowed and took her hand. “I will tell him, Danica. I will tell him that you are finally here, and the prophecy is fulfilled. The mother will be restored to us.” He kissed her forehead.
Danica gave the two men a brief smile and disappeared behind the tapestry. She used the talisman to light her way through the passageway back to the dungeon.
Thirty-four
The Red Fox Inn was crowded and noisy with merchants and vendors in the evening. Jimmu and Emma sat at a table at the back and enjoyed thick crusty bread spread with butter and washed down with strong ale. They watched everyone leaving and entering the inn.
“He might not show up,” Jimmu said.
“He’ll be here. He knows we want to help him,” Emma said.
“Tomorrow morning you’re going to have to help me dress Danica for our castle visit. It’s going to take a little while to get her into the kimono.”
“What time do we need to be there?”
“Early enough. It seems the Countess likes to get her day started at dawn. After Prime in the chapel, she’ll break her fast, and after that she has receptions. What was your impression of her?”
“She’s eager, confident, and self-centered. When she sees Danica dressed in the traditional attire, she’ll want to buy more silk. Especially if she thinks she’s getting a bargain. Danica should be able to read her easily, and her ladies, too. Maybe a few of the guards will have revealing thoughts.”
Jimmu looked uneasy. “I would have thought she’d be back by now.”
“It’s not that late. I don’t think we need to be alarmed.” Her eyes shifted to the doorway where Finian had just walked through. Jimmu looked in that direction and signaled to him. Finian saw them and sauntered over to their table. He pulled up a chair and sat down, nodding at them.
“Finian, I’m glad you’re here,” Emma said.
“I nearly didn’t come. It’s hard to trust anyone these days.” His eyes shifted to the people in the pub. Everyone was preoccupied with their friends and no one was paying any attention to them.
Emma leaned in and spoke quietly. “We know what your plans are. We want the same thing. You need to work with us, Finian, and you must be patient. Can you do that?”
He looked at them and then nodded. He was young, Emma noted. Maybe sixteen at the most. She wanted to impress upon him that he needed restraint, or their mission would be compromised.
“Tell us what you know and how you came to be privy to the information.”
“I’ve been watching Rone. I know he comes here to the Red Fox most days around noon. Early mornings he goes to see a certain lass lives down on Mill Road. Her name is Jayne, and she used to work here at the Red Fox before Rone moved her there. Now she just waits for him to show up.”
“So, she doesn’t work anywhere?” Emma asked.
“No. Rone wants her available to him anytime he fancies her, so she’s always there except when she knows he’s on patrol. Then she’ll go to the shops, or sometimes she visits Ansa.”
“She and Ansa are friends?”
“They’re cousins. They see each other often.”
“Does he go to see Jayne alone?”
“Yes. I figured that’d be the best time to stick a knife in him. When he leaves this girl, he’s distracted. I think it could be done quietly in a couple different places along his route.”
“Is he on a horse or on foot?”
“He takes his horse.”
“That’s good information, Finian. Tomorrow morning you’ll show us this lass’s house. Now, what do you know about the Count?”
“He’s harder to pin down, and more cautious than Rone. The only times I’ve seen him, he always has guards with him. Even when he rides out from the castle.”
“When does he do that?”
“Most mornings. The Countess goes to the chapel for prayers in the morning, and he goes riding. He’s not a religious man, the Count. And he has no conscience. He’s found hundreds of decent folk guilty of treason. My father included.” He swallowed and looked down at the tabletop.
“I’m sorry about your father, and I understand why you want revenge. But if you act hastily and get yourself arrested, then the Count wins, doesn’t he?”
Finian looked uncertainly at her.
“What was your father’s trade?”
“He was a baker. My mum and I are carrying on the business. There’s young ones at home.”
“It sounds like you are a big help to your mum. You’ve taken your father’s place, am I right?”
Finian nodded.
Emma spoke fervently. “Then you shouldn’t go getting yourself killed. We’ll maybe take a little longer than you had planned, but the job will be done right without any of us getting caught. Are you with us?”
Finian looked from Emma to Jimmu, but he didn’t take long to answer. “I’m with you.”
“Good! I want you back here before dawn. You’ll show us how Rone gets to this lass’s place, right?”
“All right. And then?”
“And then we’ll go from there.”
It was obvious that Finian didn’t like the short answer, but he nodded his head and stood up to leave.
“Until morning, then,” he said.
When Finian left, Emma and Jimmu took the narrow wooden stairs up to their room to sort out the silk for the next day’s visit to the castle.
“We’re going to have a busy morning tomorrow if we meet Finian before dawn and meet the Countess shortly after,” Jimmu said.
“Yes, but we have time. After the Countess goes to chapel and has her breakfast, we’ll be finished with Finian and ready to show her our silk.” Emma carefully folded a length of deep blue silk and put it in the pack. “Then we’ll be back here by noon so that we can see what Rone is up to.”
“That’s providing Danica returns,” Jimmu said, a worried frown creasing his face.
Just then the door opened, and Danica stepped into the room. Her clothing was smeared with mud and dirt.
“I found Lucas. He’s safely hidden in the abbey. And I found the girl from Master Stefan’s cards. Her name is Lucina and she’s in the dungeon, due to stand trial the day after tomorrow for witchcraft.”
Danica walked to the bed and sat down. She suddenly felt bone weary, and her head was throbbing.
“Tell us what happened,” Jimmu said.
Danica spent the next few minutes relating her foray into the castle with Nella, her tryst with Jenks the guard, her discovery of Lucina in the dungeon and then finding the passageway to the abbey and to Lucas.
Jimmu’s face darkened when Danica told them about Jenks’s advances. Emma chuckled when she told them how she planted the suggestion of satiation in his mind.
“He’ll wake up thinking he had the best time,” Emma said.
“How are we going to get Lucina out of the dungeon before the trial?” Jimmu asked.
“The prisoners are guarded. I was only able to escape by distracting the guards’ minds with gambling. I snuck out when they were busy trying to win a good-sized pot. I don’t think we’ll be able to break in and free her before the trial.”
“Where will the trial be held?”
“It’ll be on a barge in the lake. The women will be thrown in. If they float or swim, they’ll be fished out and declared guilty of witchcraft.”
“What’s your plan to save her?” Jimmu asked.
“The dungeon cell walls are crumbling and there’s rubble lying about everywhere. I’ve instructed Lucina to fill her pockets with stones before the trial. That way, whe
n she’s thrown into the lake, she’ll sink straight to the bottom. I’ve been told it’s a shallow lake, no more than fifteen feet deep.”
“What?” Emma exclaimed. “How will her drowning save her?”
“She won’t drown as long as she’s brave, and I’ve never met a young one as brave as she is.”
“But how…?”
Danica held up her bare wrists. The dainty bracelet, the gift from Jimmu, was gone. She watched Jimmu’s face. Confusion, then understanding crossed his features. Emma, who knew the power of the charm, laughed outright.
“That’s brilliant! As long as she doesn’t surface too soon.”
“We’ve worked it out so that she’ll walk out of the lake in a place well hidden from the barge and the spectators. No one will believe she’s survived. You will be waiting for her under water, Jimmu.”
He looked worried. “If she panics, the charm won’t save her.” He looked at Danica. “Do you remember your first time? Don’t you remember how you felt when you thought your air was gone?”
Danica blanched. “Yes. I thought I was drowning. But I’m telling you I believe she can do this. She is . . .unlike me. She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met.”
“You still don’t know her significance?” Jimmu asked. “Why she appeared on the cards?”
“No, but I know the cards don’t lie. There’s a reason she and I are connected, and in time I will find out what our alliance is.”
Jimmu nodded. “What about Lucas?”
“He’s shaved his head and beard and wears a hooded priest’s cassock. Some of the priests are allowed into the chapel for prayers during the day and when it’s time, he and three of his men will impersonate the priests and gain entry.”
Danica was absently massaging the back of her neck while she talked. Jimmu reached up and took her free hand and guided her to the floor in front of where he sat. She resisted momentarily and then gave in and sat with her back to him. He massaged her neck and shoulders while Emma told her about their meeting with Finian.
“Are you going to try to talk to this girl, Jayne, that Rone’s been meeting?”
“Maybe. She’s cousin to Ansa, and she may be useful. Tomorrow morning, I want to see the route Rone takes and if there are any places along it that would be good for an ambush. Finian thinks there are a couple of possibilities.”
“I’m going to arrange a bath for you, Danica. Then you need to get some sleep. You look like you’re about to pass out,” Emma said, and she left the room to pay Muryl, the alewife, for the bath.
The next morning Danica felt well-rested. Thanks to Jimmu’s massage and the hot bath, her headache was gone, and she had spent a dreamless night getting much needed rest. Jimmu and Emma left the room before dawn to meet Finian downstairs. Before they left, Jimmu instructed Danica to get as far as she could with dressing in the kimono and applying the make-up, and they would help her with the final steps when they returned. The lengths of silk fabric were packed and ready to take to the castle for the perusal of the Countess.
After Jimmu and Emma left, Danica dressed herself in the juban and donned the kimono, and that’s as much as she was able to do on her own. She sat at the table and used a mirror to tie up her hair and apply the traditional make-up. While she was in the middle of this, there was a light knock on the door, and when she opened it, Ansa was there with a tray. Danica stepped aside and let her in. On the tray was a breakfast of eggs, bread, and sausages Emma had ordered for her while she and Jimmu had waited for Finian.
Ansa looked at Danica in amazement as she placed the tray on the table.
“Ohhh, you look grand,” she said, admiring the flowing kimono.
Danica kept her features smooth.
Ansa smiled at Danica. “I know you don’t understand a word I’m saying.” She reached out and touched the sleeve of the kimono. Danica held out her arm so Ansa could examine the fabric close up. She ran her hand over the sleeve, the material as cool and light as water on her fingers. “This feels amazing! I wish I could wear something so fine.”
Danica turned so that Ansa could see the back of the kimono. A long snake-like emerald-green dragon flew over a fiery volcano that erupted with dark red and gold lava. The girl gasped audibly at the embroidered scene.
“Oh! This is so marvelous!”
Danica held her arms out to her sides and modeled the kimono, turning her body slowly in a circle.
“What I wouldn’t give to own something as splendid as this!” Ansa marveled.
Suddenly Danica grabbed Ansa’s wrist and pulled her close. She looked fiercely into her eyes, and to the girl’s alarm said in perfect Lymonian, “You will have this for your own, but I need your help.”
Ansa was speechless and wide-eyed. Danica shook her arm and said, “Do we have a deal?”
Thirty-Five
Emma and Jimmu accompanied Finian down the lane a mile until they came to a crossroads. It was the same way they had come to the Red Fox Inn two days ago, but now instead of turning left to the gate, they turned right onto a road called Weaver’s Way. The streets already bustled with people getting their day started. Many were leaving the castle after Bacchanal, returning home to their villages and hamlets. Shopkeepers swept thresholds and set up tables. Women emptied slop jars into the road. The trio meandered past shops and houses until the road narrowed and they took a right turn onto a rutted lane. The shops had given way to low stone walls bordering tree-lined lanes, and a sign read ‘Mill Road’. Finian pointed out a few places where a person could hide, concealed from the infrequent passer-by.
After a quarter mile, Finian stopped. “Here’s where the lass lives,” he said, indicating a small, thatched cottage on the right, partially hidden by a few large trees.
There was no sign of anyone about, and Jimmu and Emma studied the cottage and the lane quietly. Jimmu was about to say something when a shrill shriek from above pierced the quiet. Finian looked up, panicked, and said, “Over here. Quickly.” He led them to a large leafy tree opposite the small cottage and they stood close to the trunk. The shriek came again from the sky and they looked up through the branches. A large bird with bright red and orange feathers soared overhead. Its wings spread out as it rode the current of the wind. Yellow eyes pierced the blue day as its head turned from side to side. A menacing, hooked beak opened, voicing another shrill cry that penetrated the stillness.
“What is that?” Jimmu asked.
“It’s the firebird,” Finian said, staring at the receding creature. “The Magician.” Then he turned and looked at Jimmu in surprise. “You speak Lymonian.”
“Yes, but not to everyone. Only to those I trust.”
Finian looked momentarily flattered, but another shriek drew him back to the firebird. “Dumone can turn himself into that creature. He flies around spying on folks. I doubt that he saw us; we’re pretty well hidden under the branches of this tree.”
“How often does he become the firebird?” Emma asked.
“More often lately. The rumors of Astrid’s daughter returning have put everyone at court on edge.”
“Does he always fly the same pattern, or is it different every time?” Jimmu asked.
“It’s always different. He’s looking for something. Folks think he’s searching for the young woman, and when he finds her, he’ll scratch her eyes out and eat her entrails.”
Emma looked horrified. “Could he do that?”
“That and more. Some folks said they saw him flying after a man accused of treason who was running away, and when the wizard got close, he opened his beak and fire shot out, scorching the man from head to toe. All that was left were charred remains.”
A chill shivered through Emma.
The creature was receding into the horizon when they heard hoof beats on the lane.
“Here comes Rone. Let’s hide behind this tree,” Finian said.
The three of them crouched behind the huge trunk, and soon Rone came into view, sitting astride a large black stallion. When h
e reached the cottage, he dismounted and tied the horse to a hitching post nearby. Then he walked up to the door and let himself in.
“He doesn’t even knock,” Emma said dryly.
“Rone owns the cottage. He’s had other girls living there. Jayne is just his latest favorite,” Finian said.
“How long does he usually stay,” Jimmu asked.
“Not long.”
“Let’s wait then.”
Before half an hour had elapsed, the door opened, and Rone stepped out into the sunshine. A young woman followed him out, dressed loosely in a flowing shift, her long hair hanging down her back. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently before he removed her arms, bid her farewell, and walked to his mount. She called after him as he rode away, waving happily from the threshold of the cottage. He didn’t look back.
After she went inside closing the door behind her, the three stepped out from behind the tree.
“You think he’ll be here again tomorrow?” Jimmu asked Finian.
“Most likely. He doesn’t appear to be tired of her yet.”
“What about the trial? That’s tomorrow. Won’t he be attending it?”
“He’ll visit her early before the trial which won’t happen until mid-morning.”
They started walking back to the inn. Jimmu was quiet, thinking about how their plan could come together. Emma seemed to read his mind.
“The trial preparations would be a great distraction for implementing our plan. The royal family will all be together. Do we have enough time to put everything in place?”
Jimmu frowned. “Maybe. I think it might work.” The three mulled over Jimmu’s plan during the walk back to the inn.
When Jimmu and Emma returned, Danica was waiting for them. Jimmu helped her with the parts of the kimono she couldn’t do herself, and then he changed into his court clothes.
“I don’t even recognize you!” Emma exclaimed, looking at Danica. “You’re a perfect Eastern princess.” She handed Danica a fan.
The Acolyte: Magicians of the Beyond Page 23
