James sat on his mount trying to pick out where the man had gone. The undergrowth was littered with the dead, and small fires—the remains of the fire storm the White Druids had unleashed—burned in the shattered trees and amid the under growth, providing an eerie light against the thinning fog, but there was no movement out there.
Faith rode up. “Where is she?”
“The bastard is hiding, I suspect.”
“You ride straight. I’ll cover your flank. And watch your back.”
They set off at a fast trot, eyes scanning the surrounding woods. Dawn was approaching and the first hint of bird song filtered down to them from the treetops making a strange counterpoint to the diminishing sounds of the battle behind them.
A short way ahead, a large shadow flittered between the trees. James caught sight of it from the corner of his eye and immediately quickened his horse’s pace. A dozen yards on he heard Danielle call to him. Then she cursed and her voice was muffled and silenced. James caught a glimpse of the man’s back as he broke from the cover of a tree trunk and made for a stand of crumbling moss-covered rock. He was half dragging half carrying Danielle, who was thrashing and kicking and trying to get free.
“Danielle! We’re coming!”
“James. No. Go back. Please, Go Back!” her voice was suddenly muffled again.
A flash of blinding white light lit up the forest. James’ horse reared, throwing him from the saddle and onto the forest floor of pine needles. Not sure what had happened, except that it was most certainly magic, he rubbed the stars from his eyes, drew his sword and ran forward to where he’d last seen Danielle and her captor. He jumped over a fallen tree trunk and broke into a small clearing to find Danielle and her captor waiting for him, the latter was holding Dee in front of him and had his dagger at her throat.
“James, go! You cannot help me,” Danielle said. “You’re in danger. You have to go.”
He saw the shaft of a crossbow bolt in her right leg. Her side and shoulder were bloodied too. Her pain was obvious as was the fear in her eyes, both of which made him more resolute than ever to stay exactly where he was. That and the fact Faith had crept out from behind the trunk of a towering redwood tree and was creeping up behind Dee’s captor.
James pointed his sword at the Druid warrior. “You let her go. And you can go free.”
The man laughed at the idea. “On the contrary lad, you best be on your way. Your lady speaks the truth, there’s nothing you can do here, except die.”
“The only dying going on here are your men up the hill.” Even now, the sound of battle had died out completely. “Now let her go.”
The man laughed.
“James, please. They’re going to kill you.”
James settled his gaze on Danielle again. “No they’re not.”
Faith took three long strides and got the point of her sword pressed between the shoulder blades of Dee’s captor. “If I were you, I’d lower that blade and let her go.”
There was genuine surprise on the warrior’s face, but his grin quickly returned and he made no move to comply.
“I’ll have her throat slit before you can drive that blade home, Milady, so why don’t you talk some sense into this boy and be on your way before he gets himself killed. Did you see that white flash? Some of my friends are on their way. I’m sure you remember them from the South Gate?”
James looked uneasily at the woods around them. He could hear horses approaching.
The warrior began to chuckle ominously, seeing James’ unease.
The bastard knew who was coming that was clear. James quickly sheathed his sword and swung the crossbow off his back and levelled the weapon on the man’s face.
“Let her go!”
“To late for that, boy. You had your chance.”
“James, Faith, run! Damn you, run!” Danielle yelled at them
“Shut up, Danielle,” Faith said. She grabbed a handful of the Druid’s long hair and put the edge of her blade against his throat.
The approaching riders had slowed and were slowly circling the clearing. They were little more than shadows out in the woods but James had felt the air chill as he had in the square in front of the South Gate when he’d first encountered these ghouls. He tossed his weapon away, for it could not serve him against monsters such as these, and watched Danielle choke back a sob, the grief in her eyes only confirmed what he knew was coming next.
“You having a little trouble there, Milord?” a man called out from the woods.
The Druid elder holding Danielle laughed and answered back saying, “You lot took your time.”
The muffled thump of men dismounting onto the mat of pine needles came to them from the surrounding woods and then ten of the Twenty Three entered the clearing, their gait causal and unaffected. Their weapons were scabbard but their armour glistened with blood splatter and soot. One of them drew his sword and rested the blade on James’ shoulder. “On your knees, boy.”
“You touch him, and I’ll kill your master,” Faith said. She jerked the Druid’s head back, making him wince.
“We have no quarrel with you, Lady Galloway,” the horseman with the sword at James’ throat said.
“Well I have a quarrel with you. Now let them go. Both of them.” Her blade shifted, just an inch, opening a small cut on Allius’ neck, and making the Druid stiffen.
“You can have Mr Sydney there, but the princess stays with us,” Allius said. “My apologies, it’s the famed Lady Galloway is it? I wasn’t aware it was our future queen who was holding that sword at my back.”
“Future Queen?” Danielle said.
James was equally surprised. Faith looked like she was going to be sick but it was obvious she knew about this. “It’s lies, Danielle. They say it’s fated. And you know what I think of fate.” The Druid grimaced as she moved the blade again. Blood trickled down Allius’ neck and began to soak the collar of his robe. “And you should not provoke me,” she hissed beside his ear. “Now let them go.”
“You kill me, and these men will butcher Mr Sydney and then take both you and this lady to our master. You know you can’t win this. So see reason. Let me go, and you and he can walk away.”
“Faith, do it, please,” Danielle said, her gaze on James. Her eyes willed him to comply. He realised his fiancée was up to something, so he nodded at Faith.
Faith frowned at him.
“Please, Faith, just do as Dee says,” James insisted.
Faith grudgingly lowered her sword and stepped back.
Allius breathed a little easier. “Thank you, Milady. I’m sure your passion and fire will be quite a bonus in the royal bed chamber.”
A dangerous anger flooded Faith’s face and she would have taken Allius’ head off with her sword if two horsemen hadn’t grabbed her. She spat at him, and struggled against her captors as she was disarmed, and thrown to the ground. She got right back up and came at Allius a second time, only to be stopped when the same two horsemen restrained her, and held onto her this time
“Faith, stop it,” Danielle said.
Her friend shrugged off the two men holding her and glared daggers at the Druid lord. “You had better hope we never cross paths again.”
“Faith, go!” Danielle said.
Faith approached, took Danielle’s hands in her own and kissed her friend’s cheek. “We’re not going to abandon you.”
“I know.”
Faith flashed her a brave smile and stepped back to where James was being pulled to his feet.
“Can I say goodbye to my fiancé?” Danielle asked.
Allius removed the dagger from her throat. “Make it quick.”
Despite the arrow still lodged in her leg she hobbled over into James’ arms and held him tightly.
To James’ mind, his fiancée felt so small and fragile. He didn’t want to let her go.
“You have to trust me,” she whispered into his ear.
“I know. I love you. Just know that I’ll find you, no matter what,�
� he whispered.
“You will.” She turned her face up to his, kissed him slowly, deeply. A searing pain exploded in James’ head, and he saw something in his mind’s eye. Symbols? Eight of them. Danielle broke off. Her eyes told him to remember them as if his life depended on it. My life depends on it.
He nodded.
Make them save my father, Danielle mouthed the words as a horseman gently pulled her away, before taking a firm hold of her hips and lifting her onto a mount.
The Druid lord was mounting Faith’s horse. “Best you tell your friends that the Twenty Three are here and pursuit would be pointless.” He respectfully dipped his chin in Faith’s direction. “Take care, my liege. I’m sure you will be sent for when the time is right.”
Faith spat at him, and then the horsemen galloped off into the woods.
James had never felt so powerless in his life as he watched Danielle disappear into the grey light of dawn.
“What do we do? She is hurt. You saw her wounds. They’re going to kill her.”
James had sat down on a mossy rock and cupped his aching head. He was trying to make sense of the symbols Danielle had put in his head.
“Are you alright?” Faith crouched and touched his head.
“Yeah. Dee burned something into my mind. It doesn’t make sense.”
“What is it?”
“Eight symbols.” James got up, grabbed a stick that was lying on the ground and knelt down. Tell me if any of these symbols looks familiar to you. He knew Faith and Dee had a fascination for languages. He cleared away the mat of dead pine needles and began to etch the odd symbols Danielle had burned in his head into the dark earth beneath. When he was done he sat back on his haunches and looked at Faith who was studying the etchings closely.
“It’s Mayic, the language of the primitive tribes who live on the Dira’ plains in Vafusolum. Out of curiosity, Dee and I studied it for a year or two when we were younger. Not that this makes much sense to me. This one is a boat on a lake and stands alone. These others represent a witch doctor, this one bones, and these suggest that the bones are stolen or captured and now lay hidden? Then these two represent a sovereign or king, and these last two suggest poison and death.”
“She said to make them save her father.”
“Them? The druids?”
“Who else.”
“What about her? The boat could be how they intend to escape. They did head off in the direction of Wildling cove, and where else can they go from here?” Faith said.
James agreed, at least in part. “True, but there’s not much we can do about that while they have the Twenty Three as protection. And this fog is thickening with dawn coming on, it will be impossible to see anything out on the lake.”
Faith didn’t argue.
Thinking, James glanced out at the woods. Most of the fires the Druid lightening had started had burned themselves out and he could feel dawn descending on them and a growing sense of hopelessness with it.
That’s when it hit him; a possible interpretation of the second set of symbols. If he was right the Twenty Three could be removed from the equation. He glanced back at Faith. “What if she’s trying to tell us she stole the priestess’ Seer’s bones and hid them?”
“On a witch doctor?” Faith said. Her brown eyes grew wide as the implications of what he was suggesting became clear. “A Druid.”
James nodded, daring to hope. “She was with Lady Vanessa during the failed rescue attempt. She could have transferred the bones then.”
Faith smiled, hoping too, and without another word they bolted back up the wooded rise toward their lines.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
There were horsemen somewhere in the woods ahead; James could hear the rattle of trace and stirrup, and the soft thump of hooves.
Faith grabbed James’ arm and made him stop. They were both puffing hard. “Ours or theirs?” she said, drawing her sword.
James muttered a quiet curse, his back pressed up against the bark of a giant redwood tree. They needed this delay like a crossbow without a bolt. With the way the Twenty Three could ride, he suspected Danielle was already half way to Wildling Cove by now—assuming they had interpreted her message correctly. He turned and cautiously peeped out at the woods ahead. Dawn was upon them. The first rays of the morning sun were shafting down through the fog, making it impossible to see more than a dozen yards with any certainty. He could hear the riders approaching slowly and in silence but be damned if he could see them.
“There, just beyond those three large redwoods at the top of the rise.”
James saw the hint of movement and the shape of horse and rider. Then several other figures appeared in the mist. They seemed to be looking for something.
“I think they’re ours.” James pulled back, swung the crossbow off his shoulder and leaned his back against the rough bark of the tree trunk. “Only one way to find out.” He lifted his voice and called out, “Whom do you seek?” His voice broke through the quiet morning air and echoed out through the woods, startling a bird from its roost somewhere above their heads.
“Is that you, Mr Sydney?” A man shouted back, relief in his voice.
“Aye. It is. Who’s asking?”
“A friend. Is the Madam General and the Lady de Brie with you?”
“I am,” Faith said. “But we weren’t able to secure the Lady de Brie’s release.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Your uncle is worried sick, Milady. We’ve been sent to find you and take you back.”
James frowned, “Take us back? The Lady de Brie is still out there.”
“Yes. They fear she is lost to us. The Twenty Three are hereabouts, and we have been told not to dally.”
“Who fears she is lost?” James demanded. He’d shouldered his crossbow and was striding quickly towards the knights as they approached at a faster trot than before. He had a fairly good idea who they were referring to.
“Lord Naratha.”
James cast Faith a worried look. The Seer’s bones had not yet been found, that was clear. The question was, were they there to be found in the first place? James was beginning to wonder.
“Are you alright, Milady?” one of the knights asked, dismounting.
Faith’s face was sickly pale. “Quite. We need your horses, and quickly. We have no time to dally.”
Within minutes James and Faith drew their borrowed mounts up at the top of the small bank Danielle had tumbled over before rolling down to the stony brook below. All around them soldiers were collecting the limp and bloodied bodies of the fallen. Nearby more men were digging a pit while the dead of the enemy were being piled up beside it under the watchful eye of three reformist priests who where uttering prayers. Their own dead were being loaded into the back of several carts while a short way up the rise palace surgeons were tending to the wounded. The mood was understandably heavy as men went about their work in general silence and in the knowledge that the rescue attempt had failed.
The spot where Lady Vanessa had been killed now lay bare with only blood and mud smeared on the stones to show that a battle had taken place here.
“Where is Sir Colita,” James demanded of two passing soldier, who were carrying a dead Druid warrior between them
“He’s gone up the hill to the clearing.”
“And Lord Naratha?” Faith asked.
“With him and Lord Leefton, Milady The Chancellor arrived a short while ago.”
“What have they done with their dead colleague?” Faith asked, short of breath.
“The woman was carried up there as well. She has to be cremated as soon as possible. They did not say why.”
Fearing they might be too late, James gee’d his horse forward, and galloped on, drawing curses and annoyed looks as men had to scamper to get out of his way. They passed the spot where the surgeons were tending the wounded and rode past a wagon making its way back up the wooded slope to the tunnel. Faith was right beside him on her mount. She looked sick with worry, and James guesse
d it wasn’t only Danielle she was concerned about. The Twenty Three had named her Kane’s Bride, and however absurd the notion, the fact was they wouldn’t have let them go unless there was some truth to it.
Faith caught him glancing at her as they slowed to guide their horses up a fern covered bank. She obviously knew what he was thinking for she said, “Do you think the White Ones know what I am?”
“Does it matter? You’d never bend your knee to Kane.”
“He’s always had a weird fascination for me and I don’t like the notion of fate.”
“We get Dee back, and it’s not going to matter.” He reached the top of the embankment and saw the clearing was just ahead through the trees. There was an argument going on between Leefton and Naratha it seemed. They could also smell smoke.
“Shit.” Fearing they might be too late, James quickly dismounted, for the undergrowth was thick here and broke into a full run, crashing through the vines, bracken and fern. Three knights of Lord Leefton’s personal guard heard his approach and drew him up at the edge of the clearing. Over one of the knight’s armoured shoulders James was relieved to see the smoke was not coming from a funeral pyre as he had feared, but a fire that had almost burnt out beside the slab of stone he’d seen Danielle lying on when they’d first arrived from the tunnel. The remaining members of the Kathiusian Druid Council were lifting Lady Vanessa’s corpse onto a funeral pyre that had been built nearby. Lord Naratha was standing beside the slab of granite arguing wearily with the commander of the palace guard and Lord Leefton about what must be done next.
“Milords,” James said, drawing their attention. Leefton looked up. Looking relieved to see them, he gave the signal to let James and his niece pass.
“We think we have the Seer’s bones,” James said as he ran over.
Much to his bewilderment Naratha cut him off, saying, “Yes, we know about the bones. They fell out of Lady Vanessa’s pocket as she was carried up here.”
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