“Thank you, thank you,” she told him, as she looked over his shoulder at the strange scene beyond – the dusty air, the dim light, the others who stood outside the cell.
“What’s happening Kestrel?” she asked quietly.
“We came to the prison to rescue you and the others who are held here. We’re here from Firheng,” he told her.
“But you’re from Oaktown,” she protested.
“I and some of my people went up to Firheng to help the post there when the princess attacked. We won, and now we’ve come to Center Trunk to put an end to this tyranny. But first, I wanted to set you free,” he explained.
“We need to go. I’ve got to see Silvic,” she said suddenly. “I haven’t seen him in a month, since they put me in here. I left him with a friend when I realized they were going to take me.”
“We need to get out of here, but the princess’s forces blew up the building above. The staircase is blocked,” Kestrel revealed. “Is there another way out?”
“Yes, but I don’t know where,” Alicia answered immediately.
Putienne sputtered in disappointment.
“I couldn’t see the far end of the tunnel from my cell door, and I was never allowed to leave the cell,” Alicia said, looking at the lovely girl.
“Lim, send some men down to look around the prison tunnel for signs of other ways to leave,” Kestrel called over his shoulder.
“We’ll reunite you with Silvic soon, don’t worry,” Kestrel comforted Alicia.
“I never do have to worry when you’re around, unless it’s to worry about all the excitement you add to life,” she gently laughed.
“Let’s go restore Elder Miskel,” Kestrel said to the others. He turned away from Alicia, and Putienne quickly grabbed his arm to stead him.
“Who is your friend?” Alicia asked.
“This is Putienne. She’s my ward,” Kestrel replied, as they started to leave the cell.
“What about him?” Putienne asked as they left the still-stone guard in place over the spot where Alicia had cowered. She placed her hand in Kestrel’s.
“We don’t have time to set the murderers free,” Kestrel answered. “Or the energy,” he added.
“Here is the lovely one!” Killcen shouted as Alicia emerged.
“Welcome doctor friend!” Odare spoke, as she swooped over to hug Alicia tightly.
“The beautiful doctor lady has often been an intimate friend of Kestrel dear,” the imp told Medeina.
“Not intimate!” Alicia quickly corrected.
“Haven’t we often brought Kestrel prowler to your bedroom?” Mulberry asked.
“And haven’t we often carried you to the healing spring, where you and Kestrel have shed your clothes to swim together?” Killcen immediately followed.
“Plus, don’t you often give Kestrel friend copious amounts of ale or wine to dull his judgment and senses?” Acanthus added.
“Now hold on!” Alicia said sharply. “You are making this all sound much worse than it is. We are simply a surgeon and a patient.”
“Really?” Odare asked, as she came and sat on Alicia’s shoulder, while the elves of Lim’s squad watch the drama unfold.
“Is that why Kestrel insisted he restore you to flesh first, before the others?” Medeina asked.
“This is silly,” Kestrel spoke up. “Of course I love Alicia deeply,” he spoke up. He felt Putty’s hand tighten its grip on his. “She has saved my life time after time after time! I have been cut and stabbed and beaten and tortured, and she has saved me and put me back together. I’ve got more scars that I can count in places where Alicia has stitched me together.
“Now, let me go revive the Elder, so that we can get out of here,” he squeezed Putty’s hand in response, and led her with him into Miskel’s cell. Using the method that Medeina had implanted in his consciousness, he watched as the officer’s flesh transformed from stone to warm softness.
“This is a passing strange dream,” Miskel said, after his eyes wandered around the inside of the cell, looking at the frozen guard, Kestrel and Putienne.
“This is no dream, my lord,” Kestrel replied. “We’ve come to rescue you, and to ask you to help us get out of here.”
Miskel left the cell, as Lim’s men returned from the dark end of the prison tunnel.
“There is a door down there, but it’s sealed shut – wouldn’t budge an inch,” they reported as they looked nervously at the red Medeina.
“You say this is no dream?” Miskel asked, as he too looked at the unique horned figure.
“Medeina, would you go down and open the door?” Kestrel asked. “The rest of you go with her. Putienne, would you and my lord Miskel stay with me? We’ll find the prisoners we want to convert back to life to take with us,” he explained.
They revived Whyte, who was astonished by the appearance of his master from Oaktown in the dungeon of Center Trunk, and they revived two others who Miskel knew were political prisoners as well. Kestrel found Giardell, and restored him to flesh, allowing for a warm reunion of the two. Kestrel knew that Lucretia would be happy to have her companion return to Hydrotaz, safe and sound. There was an awkward reunion between Giardell and Alicia, one that Kestrel had not anticipated until it happened, and he belatedly remembered the former relationship, a disastrous one, that the two had shared.
Kestrel was so overdrawn, his energy levels so weakened, that he leaned on Putienne’s shoulder as they walked to meet the others, who stood waiting by an open door, from which a long, dark tunnel extended to an unknown end.
“I need to rest,” Kestrel told Medeina, and then he passed out.
“Let me check on him,” Alicia said, kneeling next to where Putty gently laid him on the ground.
“There’s nothing for you to check on,” Medeina said. “It’s not a physical problem. He’s just overused his powers. He needs to sleep and recharge.
“Putienne, you should assume your other form and carry him,” she said, “and we will move forward so that we can get out of this tunnel and return to the fresh air above ground once again. After he awakens he can tell us what to do next.”
They walked along the tunnel, lit by the strange green glow in the air that Medeina maintained. The air was fresher, without the dust and smoke of the explosion that had trapped them. Their journey was only ten minutes long before they came to a set of stairs that rose up to a trap door in a storeroom in the palace.
“Go find out where we are, and report back,” Lim told a pair of his guards, and sent them out of the room while the others remained nervously watching Putty’s hairy form as she cradled the unconscious Kestrel in her arms.
Ten minutes passed before the patrol returned.
“We’re near a large ballroom,” the leader of the patrol told Lim, as Miskel listened.
“What color was the ballroom?” the Elder asked.
“It’s purple. It’s hard to tell a lot because it’s night outside and there aren’t many lanterns or candles lit around this part of the palace,” the guard answered.
“We’re in the administrative wing of the palace,” Miskel told the others.
“Is there a kitchen near the ballroom?” Remy asked.
“There is. Every ballroom has a kitchen,” the high-ranking officer replied.
“Can we go get some food? I’m hungry,” the youth asked Lim.
“That’s a good idea,” the youthful officer replied. “Let’s send scouts out to make sure the path is clear.”
“We are the obvious choice to be scouts,” Odare spoke up. “Follow us,” she said as the imps all congregated at the doorway, then exited from the storeroom.
The band of invaders obediently followed the imps, who flew through the dark hallways looking for signs of danger, and led them to the empty kitchen in a matter of minutes.
Putienne set Kestrel down to rest on a pile of pillows taken from the ballroom, then transformed back into her elven self, and smiled at Remy. “What can you find to eat?” she asked.
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The group spent the night in the kitchen, gorging on the food they found, then resting quietly until just after dawn.
A tremendous explosion shocked them awake just as the sun started to rise in the east. The walls trembled, and dust dropped from the mortar joints. Kestrel woke with a start, and found the red Medeina stooping over him.
“They’re doing it again!” she hissed. “You have to stop this. It hurts to feel the elements of the earth tortured into such actions.”
He sat up and looked around, as Miskel cautiously approached.
“Where are we?” Kestrel asked.
“We’re in the palace, in a ballroom in the administrative wing,” Miskel answered.
Kestrel stood up, as Medeina placed her hand on his arm.
“How quickly can we get to the princess’s quarters?” he asked.
“Ten minutes if the way is clear,” the Elder answered.
“Odare, Acanthus, Killcen,” Kestrel called.
“What, and you don’t call me, your favorite, and the one who watches over you the most?” Mulberry asked shrilly, as she and the other three imps dropped down to answer Kestrel’s call.
“I still remember when we were in the cold weather atop the mountain, following the gnome to the cave at the top,” Kestrel replied to Mulberry. “You climbed inside my shirt to share my body warmth. It was very,” he paused dramatically, “intimate.”
“Kestrel schemer, you make it sound different from what it was!” Mulberry protested.
“Where did she ride on you? Where did she put her hands?” Acanthus asked.
“This is not the topic. Why did you call us over here?” Mulberry asked.
“The imps are still the same interesting allies I remember them being,” Giardell said wryly.
Another explosion on the palace grounds sounded.
“We need to get to the princess and her supporters, to stop all the violence,” Kestrel told the imps. “Elder Miskel will give you directions on where to go to lead us towards the princess’s quarters. Let him explain,” Kestrel turned the impromptu briefing over to the officer.
Miskel looked up at the imps as he explained the hallways and open gardens they would travel through on the way to the residential wing of the palace, then looked at Kestrel when his explanation was finished.
“Lim, are your people ready to go?” Kestrel asked.
“We will go as soon as you tell us to,” the officer replied.
Kestrel looked at Miskel. “Take the lead sir,” he motioned.
They left the kitchen and trotted down a hallway in the gray light of the early morning. As they turned a corner they saw red flames through a window, a fire burning somewhere on the grounds of the palace.
“Out this door,” Miskel called to the imps, as they left the hall and cut across a garden.
The garden was a symmetrically planted pattern of shrubs and flowers, with paths that meandered across in curving lanes.
“Kestrel! Look out!” Odare shouted as the group reached the middle of the garden. “There is an elf in the corner!” she pointed off to the side, where an elf sprang up and ran into the palace through an open window.
One of Lim’s men raised a bow and shot an arrow that glanced off the window frame as the stranger ducked inside.
“Let him go,” Miskel said. “We’ve been seen, and we’ll have to hurry more quickly now,” he told the others. He started to motion to keep advancing, when Medeina spoke up.
“This feels bad! There will be another explosion here!” she warned.
“Run for the building!” Kestrel shouted.
The whole squad broke into a full sprint across the garden – trampling bushes and flowers as they cut a straight line towards their intended door, but only half of them had entered the next wing of the palace when the explosion in the garden took place.
It was smaller than the explosions they had experienced at Firheng, but the thunderous bang was accompanied by flying debris and heat that struck the backs of the last elves through the door, and sprayed broken glass from the nearby windows onto several others.
“How is everyone?” Kestrel asked as the members of the group slowly picked themselves up and patted or held themselves according to their injuries.
“We have to keep going if we’re going to stop the princess before she finds out we’re coming,” Miskel told Kestrel.
Alicia, can you stay here and look after the injured?” Kestrel asked the doctor.
“Treat them with what? We don’t have any supplies,” she protested. “Go on,” she conceded a second later. “There don’t appear to be any serious threats, but Giardell can stay and guard us.”
“Lim, you and your men stay here to protect Alicia and the wounded, along with Giardell,” Kestrel told the officer. “The rest of us will keep going.” He wanted to provide as much society around the two estranged lovers, to prevent any awkward moments, and he wanted to reduce the number of bodies he might have to protect in the upcoming confrontation he expected.
Kestrel looked at Remy and Putienne. “Putty, maybe you should turn to your other form,” he suggested.
“If there’s to be a fight, it makes sense,” she agreed, and shimmered momentarily as her identity changed.
“Lead on,” Kestrel told Miskel and the imps.
The smaller group of Kestrel and Medeina, Remy and Putienne, and Hampus and Miskel followed the imps through the hallways.
“Kestrel, stop. There are guards posted around the next corner,” Odare warned them a minute later.
“We can go this way,” Miskel replied, motioning towards a servants’ hallway. He slowed down as he caught his breath. “I’m not as spry as I used to be,” he smiled at the others as he opened the door.
“At the end of the hall, check the door on the right,” he directed the imps, who went flying ahead as the elves crowded into the dim interior hall.
Seconds later the swiftly-moving invaders heard a scream and a squawk, then saw the imps approach them in a tight formation.
“Acanthus was grazed by an arrow!” Killcen said excitedly. “The guards saw us when we opened the door.”
“Are you badly hurt?” Kestrel asked Acanthus, who was supported by two imps flying on either side of him. “Where were you hurt?”
“It’s alright; I’ll be okay,” Acanthus answered, his complexion changing from a pale blue to a ruddy purple.
“They might as well know,” Mulberry said. “The arrow sliced right across his bum! His pants have a bloody red streak now.”
“What I wouldn’t give for a visit to the healing spring now,” Acanthus moaned.
There was another explosion, a small one at the beginning of the hallway they were in; the ceiling behind them collapsed, preventing any hope of returning the way they had come.
“They must have an unlimited supply of this deviltry!” Medeina cried.
“Which direction do we need to go?” she asked Miskel.
“Out ahead, to the right, and then left again,” he answered.
“That way?” she pointed at an angle.
“Approximately, yes,” the officer agreed.
“Kestrel, fight fire with fire,” Medeina ordered. “Knock down this wall so that we can go where we need to go.” She took his hand in hers, then placed it firmly on the wall of the hallway, transmitting her directions to him silently.
A moment later the wall crumbled away beneath their hand, leaving a gaping hole for the group to travel through. “That wasn’t as loud as their explosions,” Remy protested.
“We’ll leave the noises to them,” Kestrel laughed, as the group passed from the servants’ corridor into an adjoining room. They crossed the room and opened a door.
Outside in the hallway they came out directly behind a group of guards prepared to ambush them. Kestrel quietly raised a blue power shield across the width of the hallway, and his squad was twenty yards on its way towards its goal before the ambushers realized their quarry was eluding them. A volley of arrow
s struck Kestrel’s weak shield and penetrated it, but were so slowed by the force that they dropped to the polished floor of the palace hallway immediately.
“There’s a squad of soldiers in the lobby ahead,” Killcen reported as Kestrel’s group continued to move.
“We’re almost to the personal residence,” Miskel told Kestrel. “Can you cut holes through this wall and the next one?” he asked.
Kestrel placed his hand on the wall, as Medeina had shown him, and the marble cladding crumbled. “Killcen, call all your imps to follow us,” Kestrel told his friend.
The walked into the next room, an office that was empty of workers.
“Through that wall, and we’ll be in the small ballroom of the residential wing,” Miskel advised as he pointed across the room. The group moved around the furniture and reached the far side, where Kestrel placed his hand on the wall and caused it to dissolve.
An arrow struck the edge of the wall and caromed away as soon as Kestrel created their newest shortcut. He quickly created a blue energy shield on the outside of the hole, then stepped through to see what the situation was.
“Is there another way to go?” he heard Remy ask Miskel.
“No, this is where we have to pass through,” the officer answered.
Kestrel saw quartets of guards poised at each of three doorways that entered the room, and all had arrows notched on their bows. At some unheard command they released their shots in a volley that struck his shield simultaneously, making the blue glow weaken to yellow and green in spots.
The guardsmen fired another volley of arrows as the rest of Kestrel’s companions stepped through the opening, and he poured more of his energy into strengthening the shield.
One set of defenders slipped out of the room, while the others kept shooting.
“Kestrel, I feel it again,” Medeina warned him. “There’s about to be another explosion!”
The other two sets of attackers suddenly fled the room as well.
Kestrel reached within himself and drew upon extra reservoirs of energy, strengthening his protective shield, then reached out and grasped Medeina’s hand. Without asking, he plunged his hunger into her as well, and pulled upon her energy, adding it to the field he hoped would protect them all.
A Marriage of Friends (The Inner Seas Kingdoms Book 8) Page 15
