Left alone on the bridge, Memory looked from the dark water to the approaching men, terrified of both.
“Capture the demon,” Perceval called out.
Memory took as deep a breath as her clothing allowed. She stepped over the wall and plunged into the water.
Chapter Fourteen
The ice of the water’s touch burned Memory’s skin. She could feel no bottom, no sides, just a rush of water pulling her down. The channel ran deep and fast. The fabric of her skirts tangled and lifted about, tying her limbs. She sank, breathless, reached the distant bottom then pushed up. Her cheek scraped against the rocky ceiling. She gasped air in the smallest pocket of space before being pulled under again. The channel narrowed around her, knocking her against rocks, finally expelling her into a great expanse of water.
Her chest ached and her mind lost focus. Ribbons of reeds twisted up from the ground, and she floated, still and suspended in the blue-green night. In the distance, Eloryn and Roen danced in the air. More figures joined them, lifting them into the sky; small, slender women with white skin and ridiculously long hair. Some flew around her, keeping their distance. She reached for them, wanting to touch these beautiful, flying angels. They scowled with large black eyes. The surreal moment ended and she realized they didn’t fly. She was still underwater. They swam, and she could not breathe. Her lungs exploded and the last of her air burst out in bubbles around her. Her vision darkened at the edges.
Large hands pulled at her. Reaching the surface she filled her cracking lungs. The savage broke through the water next to her, droplets forming in his dark tangle of hair. Supporting her fabric-weighted mass with one arm, he made a slow journey across to the edge of the lake, dragging her with him. They were alone on the bank where the savage crawled out of the water. She lay at its edge, unable to lift the waterlogged skirts any farther. He collapsed face down, gulping breaths.
Memory coughed out a stream of water, aching as though she’d been wrung out and wishing she was at least that dry. She wiped clinging hair from her eyes, trying to get a clear view of the strange man, wanting to be sure he was real. He still looked more like an animal than a man. He had a lean build with wide shoulders, every inch of bare skin muscled. She could just see the profile of his face, showing high cheekbones and long dark lashes that dripped water. He wasn’t familiar to her in the slightest.
“Who are you?” Memory said.
Lying on his stomach, he lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked at her as though she’d just slapped him. His pale eyes flashed like lightning under heavy black brows.
In the distance, Roen called Memory’s name.
“I’m here!” she yelled through a hurting throat.
The beast man’s body tensed, and he stared in the direction of Roen’s voice. When he turned back to her, his harsh expression caught her off guard. Anger, fear, accusation? She couldn’t quite tell. He shifted to his knees, pulling himself up with a harsh breath.
“Don’t go, they’re my friends, they won’t-” she begged, but he vanished in a rustle of leaves.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the empty space he left.
Dragging the heavy gown from the water, she just managed to stand when Roen and Eloryn found her. Wet and bedraggled, Roen had Eloryn under one arm, supporting her protectively.
There were grim expressions all around, not helped by the lingering scent of swamp.
Memory couldn’t meet their eyes. “I didn’t know Thayl was there, I didn’t know who he was until he spoke to me.” The lies caught in her throat but she couldn’t tell them the truth.
“He spoke to you? What did he say?” Eloryn asked.
“Nothing. Just an introduction.” Over Eloryn’s shoulder Memory saw the silhouette of the savage through the trees, watching her lie. The weight in her dress and her heart made her want to crumple to the ground. Thayl’s words still rang in her ears. Devil, how did you get here from that Hell? Eloryn was right. She was some kind of demon.
Eloryn shivered. She’d never been so cold. Her home with Alward had always been warm and comfortable. Her teeth chattered and she tried to still her shivering, which just made her rattle harder. Roen must have noticed because he pulled her closer to him. His body felt warm against hers. He’d lost his silver coat in the lake somewhere, and she tried not to look where the translucent silk of his shirt clung to his skin.
“They will come straight to the lake to find us,” Roen said. “The estate’s water channels all flow down to here. Princess, is there any way you can make a behest to cover our path, so they can’t track us? Let them believe we drowned.”
“The dart was poisoned somehow. It’s closed my connection to magic. I have nothing I can do. I’m sorry.” This is what they did to Alward, how they were able to catch him, she thought. He would have felt just as useless, and he was all alone. She took a deep breath to hold off tears.
Roen let her go. He turned, eyes seeking landmarks on the lake shore. His hair sprinkled droplets of water over his face. “You two, head along the lake’s edge this way. You’ll soon come to a small inlet stream. Follow it. Stay in the water, leave no footprints. First bridge you come to, take the low road. It will lead you to an inn, Elders Bridge. Don’t go in. Just wait and hide. Do you understand?”
“You’re not coming with us?” Eloryn tried not to sound hurt. She could still feel the warmth where he’d held her, but it faded.
Roen looked at her with hooded eyes. “I will head away from the lake here. There’s a main road not far through these woods. I will leave enough of a path for three people, then disappear when I reach the road. They may think we caught a passing wagon. I only hope it will be enough. I wish I could do this and also remain with you. But I will be at Elders Bridge, Princess, I promise you. Be safe.”
Roen bowed to her and smiled to Memory as he always did. His departure left Eloryn with an ache inside. She didn’t think he’d ever smiled at her.
“We should go quickly then, so his plan works,” Memory said. She wrung water from her skirts, hitched them up, and began wobbling along the lake shore in ankle deep water. Eloryn thought she seemed agitated.
When she and Roen had taken the chance to discuss Memory in private, the one thing they agreed was that her loss and confusion seemed nothing but honest. Even suffering that pain, she’s only tried to help me. No matter what she may be, or how frightening her magic, she’s been a friend. And I still haven’t been able to give any help in return.
Sometimes Memory looked so much like her it chilled her bones. More often, she was so different – from her angular build to her blunt words – it seemed ridiculous trying to make comparisons. Eloryn wondered what Alward would have said. Had she over-reacted? She missed his guidance dearly. Still, despite Memory’s sometimes ill temperament, Eloryn felt better having her nearby. A friend.
Travel was slow, and Memory wasn’t talking. The night became thick around them, only a clouded moon lighting their way. The slippery rocks around the lake and up the small stream slowed them even more as they picked between them. Both girls fell into the water more than a few times and had to drag out and wring the heavy dresses before walking again.
The fifth time Memory fell in she actually laughed out loud, surprising Eloryn.
“Are you all right?” she asked, helping Memory out of the black water.
“I’m fine. I just lost my other bloody shoe.” She sighed out the last of her laughter.
Eloryn didn’t understand why this improved Memory’s mood, but was glad for it. Memory continued to cling to Eloryn, and she clung back, unwilling to let go of the barest comforting warmth shared between them. By walking close together they also managed to avoid falling into the water again. Each time one slipped, the other held her up.
They were chilled through and aching by the time they reached a bridge. They hoped it was the right one, hoped they’d picked the right road, and hoped the inn wouldn’t be far. Before long they were rewarded with a sign posting “Eld
ers Bridge Inn” and a wide two storey building with a couple of smaller buildings close behind. The road continued along the front and thick forest surrounded every side. Golden light shone from the windows, radiating warmth. It looked so inviting it made Eloryn shiver harder.
“Sure we can’t go in?” Memory whispered between knocking teeth.
“We were told to wait.” Eloryn turned away from the light regretfully. They trudged a little farther behind some trees where undergrowth and darkness would hide them but they could still see the brightly lit inn.
The girls bundled up together in the embrace of a large buttressed tree root.
Memory glanced over her shoulder into the trees behind them, then whispered, “How’s your magic going? Any better yet?”
Eloryn shook her head, unsure if Memory saw in the darkness, but unable to answer aloud. She felt miserable. She could not dry them, could not warm them. They had no other clothes. Everything Eloryn still owned in the world, even her mother’s amulet, was left behind.
“I could maybe try something? Anything is better than freezing to death, right?” Memory said.
Eloryn hesitated, needing a moment to compose herself. Memory started muttering random words and phrases to do with heat and warmth. Eloryn turned to give her warning, but a flame already sparked in front of them, lighting the dry leaves at their feet on fire. Memory swore and smothered it with the wet bulk of her dress.
“OK, burning to death? Not better. Point taken.”
Eloryn looked to the inn. There was no sign that they had been seen. People came and went, but not Roen. Before they were interrupted, Duke Lanval’s contact had given her information and a token with which to contact the Wizards’ Council. When she fumbled and dropped it in their flight from the castle, Roen took the token, keeping it safe, keeping her safe. He should have been here by now. He could be captured as well. Sudden tears filled her eyes and she winced to hold them in. Thayl had appeared at Duke Lanval’s estate in such a rush. There could only be one reason for it: Alward. Thayl had him now, and she knew what became of any wizard Thayl captured.
The thought made her ache. That these people would risk so much for her, suffer so much hardship, just for a title she owned only in name. No wonder Roen never smiles at me.
Memory looked over her shoulder again.
“What are you looking at?” Eloryn asked, following her gaze, hoping to see Roen arriving.
“Nothing. I mean I can’t see anything, but I was looking for something.” Memory paused, then turned seriously to Eloryn. “OK, I don’t want you to freak out, but there’s this guy. I think he’s following me, or us. I saw him in the forest when we ran into that troll cave. He helped me then. And again at the castle, well, he saved me in the lake I mean.”
Eloryn blinked. “You think he helps you? Could he know you?”
“Don’t know. It’s weird. He’s all Tarzan and stuff, like some sort of guardian-angel-cross-savage. I haven’t even heard him talk, if he can. I can’t think how I’d possibly know him.”
“He sounds like a foundling child. There are lots of stories about them, children who become lost in the woods at a young age and are raised by animals or the fae themselves.”
“He sure looks like an animal. You haven’t seen him? At all? Maybe I’ve just really lost it.”
“If you say he’s out there then I believe you. There must be a reason he’s following you. Alward says nothing is ever truly lost, everything goes somewhere…” Eloryn’s voice faded out.
“Alward, he’s like your family, isn’t he?” Memory said. “We’re going to meet a whole group of wizards, right? I’m sure they’ll be able to rescue him. Maybe he’s already free. Brannon said someone would try.”
Eloryn just nodded. Saving Alward is what she should be doing, if only she could, if she only knew what to do. Instead, it was left in the hands of more capable strangers, still more people put in danger on her behalf. “I hope they will be able to help you too, to find out who you are and where you’re from.”
Memory shifted, hiding her face in shadow. “Yeah. Me too.”
Eloryn turned back to the inn. The door opened, spilling warm light and a pair of bodies out into the night. “Is that Roen?”
Memory perked up.
Across at the inn, Roen stumbled down the steps, a pint glass in one hand and a red-headed barmaid tucked under his other arm. She stroked long fingers over his belt buckle, working it loose.
“If it is him, I may just need to kill him,” Memory muttered through blue lips.
Roen whispered in the busty barmaid’s ear, a huge grin on his face. He indicated with his hands. You, me, two more. The slap she gave him echoed out across the quiet night.
Roen laughed and rubbed his cheek. The red-head stormed back inside. As soon as the door closed, he sobered up, put the glass down on the stairs and pulled a key from his pocket. He scanned the area. Memory threw a rock at him, glancing off his shoulder. He winced and looked their way.
“Maybe not the best way to get his attention, but satisfying,” she told Eloryn before he reached them.
When he did, Memory’s voice became shrill. “Have you been in there the whole time? While we’ve been freezing our tits off?”
Eloryn stared between the two, confused and muted from overwhelming emotions- relief, shock at Memory’s behavior and a strange cold pain in her chest.
Roen spoke urgently with his jaw set. “Hush. I’ll explain it all. But let’s get you both warm first. I got us a private room at the back. There’s some food that will still be hot too, if we hurry to it.” He ushered them through shadows to a door in one of the back buildings, unlocking it for them. He let them in, waiting outside.
“Strip your wet dresses, before you are ill from it. The fire is lit so you’ll be warm inside. Knock for me when you’re decent, then I promise I will explain everything.”
Roen closed the door on them.
Chapter Fifteen
Inside the musty room at Elders Bridge Inn, Eloryn looked from the closed door to Memory, confused. Memory shrugged and skittered straight to the roaring fire.
“Oh. My. God. This is so good, you have to get over here.” Memory tore her wet dress off and stepped out of it so all she wore was a scant black shift and petticoat. She turned herself around in front of the flames.
Eloryn fumbled to undo the clasps of her dress with cold, numb fingers, and soon dropped it to the floor. She tried to not feel self conscious so undressed. Her attire matched Memory’s, only in ivory. She looked around the small room for a space to hang the dresses so the fire would dry them. A modest sized bed with age-faded blankets filled one end of the room. A covered bowl on a table let out a small, tantalizing waft of steam, fragrant with thyme and pepper. It was surrounded by a stack of smaller pottery bowls, cups and a large flagon. Nothing to wear anywhere.
Memory peeled the top blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. She tugged the next layer free and handed it to Eloryn when she joined her near the fire.
“Togas it is. Are we decent enough yet to let Roen in, or should we leave him waiting a bit longer?”
“I’m sure he had good reason to keep us waiting as he did.” Eloryn muttered, remembering the way he had grinned when he pulled the barmaid close to him, putting his face into her hair. “But maybe, maybe just a little longer.” She felt wicked, but Memory gave an encouraging grin. She smiled back, and they jiggled the cold out in front of the fire, a haze of steam lifting from them as their petticoats dried.
Eloryn felt well and truly thawed before they invited Roen back inside. He made no comment at the time it had taken them, just took a seat by the food and served some creamy broth into bowls. He took none for himself. Memory and Eloryn sat on the bed, soup bowls cradled in their laps, looking at Roen with wry expectation. As his eyes passed over her, Eloryn shifted and pulling her sheet tightly closed.
“Princess, I am sorry you suffered so much waiting for me.”
Memory cle
ared her throat.
“My apologies to you too, Memory. Once I’d entered the inn, there was reason I had to stay so long,” Roen said, his voice low. “It is not what you think. I went in to book lodgings, and overheard men at the bar bragging. They said they were Thayl’s men, hunters, who controlled a mighty dragon that does their bidding.”
Fear stabbed at Eloryn, a feeling she hadn’t grown used to no matter how often she’d felt it since leaving her safe home. “Could they have tracked us here already?”
“I worried the same thing. Having overheard them, I thought it wouldn’t be wise to leave again too quickly. I didn’t want to lead them to you, or appear more suspicious than I already did.” Roen indicated to his torn and muddied clothing. “There were but three I saw at the bar. I didn’t recognize them, nor they me. So I stayed, made pretence of being social and tried to find out what I could while I was there.”
“And what information did Miss Frisky Fingers have for you?” Memory pouted through a mouth full of soup.
“She was nothing but my excuse to leave.” A muscle jumped in Roen’s jaw and he looked at the floor. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I spent my time inside listening in on the hunters and drinking with an older man, a traveler from Farwall in the north, who knew some lore about dragons.”
“The dragon isn’t here, is it?” Memory paused from eating for just a moment.
“I don’t believe so, but the man from Farwall had opinion on how the hunters are able to give orders to the beast,” Roen told them. “He said they use a magic flute. With it, even if the beast is far away they can call it.”
Eloryn swallowed. The very men who knew her appearance and her connection to Alward, the men who were hunting for her, were right here, and could call the dragon to them at any moment. “Shouldn’t we leave, be away from here before they find us?”
Roen put a hand out in a calming gesture. He met her eyes until she stilled, then looked away. “I think it better we stay. To flee a paid room at this hour would only arouse suspicions. It could put you in more danger. They know what you both look like, so we will keep you hidden in here until they have moved on. No one at the inn has seen you. I will keep you safe and keep watch on them.”
Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series Page 12
