Keyth saw which direction Hoyle was looking and came over to stand beside him, hands behind his back, posture erect. “Those lights are from Karvesh, the capital of Goralon. We are thirty leagues away and several hundred spans higher here, but on a clear night such as this, we can see its lights.” He stood quietly while Hoyle took it all in as the dusk light faded to darkness.
“As per the instructions supplied to me by the First Chancellor, you are to be flown to the northern edge of Goralon, from there to make your way to Karvesh. This will happen the day after tomorrow. Beyond that, I know nothing of your mission – excursion, whatever it is to be called.” Keyth added to the entire room.
Celia turned from the window, “Flown?” she asked with a curious expression. “On what?”
Everyone in the room, except Thandria, turned to face captain Keyth with curious expressions.
“Well, as it happens, we have a small magestone powered sky skiff docked on the west side of the citadel. However, that would be obviously seen by Goralonian spies and reported to the king. So you will be taking a different method.” He smiled.
---o---
They were standing in the dimly-lit courtyard, flickering light from a widely spaced circle of torches the only illumination. They were all against one wall near the entrance to the keep. Once pressed, the captain had bid them to follow, and he led them back down from the tower and out into the courtyard. He was obviously prepared for the question, as was apparent from the way soldiers scurried around the courtyard completing various tasks. Tasks for what, Hoyle could not guess.
Finally, all the activity petered out, and the soldiers all took positions around the ring of torches, standing just inside the light. He noticed several with ropes attached to belts of some kind, two with small step ladders, and several with buckets of something that smelled of freshly slaughtered meat. He could smell it from here.
One soldier with a different insignia on his shoulder stepped slightly forward and raised something to his lips. Hoyle heard a piercing whistle, high enough to be just on the edge of hearing. All the soldiers looked up, watching the sky. He did too, not knowing what to look for. Finally he saw a dark shape blot out the appearing stars, moving quickly across the night. He thought he heard the sound of sails flapping in the wind.
Suddenly, a large winged creature dropped out of the night towards the ring of torches startling Hoyle. He sensed the others start as well. A large serpentine head rested on a long snake-like neck. Powerful wings with claws came to rest on the ground, wingtips up in the air. The body was the size of a large horse, and had a long tapering tail that must have been five spans long behind it. As the soldier began to move toward the creature, Hoyle noticed the rider on its back.
“You have a dragon?!” Hoyle asked disbelievingly. “I thought they were only a myth?”
“It’s a drake,” captain Keyth and Celia responded simultaneously. They looked at each other briefly as the captain continued, “And we have more than one.” He gestured to the sky, where several more dark shapes were circling.
Celia had stepped into the circle of torches, careful to stay out of the soldiers’ way as one looped the belt with rope over the drake’s snout, back far enough that the second soldier could toss chunks of raw meat into its maw. The third soldier brought over the step ladder and helped the rider down. Celia stepped closer as the soldier by the beast’s snout tightened the belt, and began to lead the creature away by its tether. Hoyle now noted a large building, with large doors at the other end of the courtyard. It looked to be newer construction than the original citadel. The stone was cleaner, and the cuts looked fresher.
Hoyle watched the first rider leave the circle while removing their gloves, and then their hood. Long hair flowed as the hood came off to reveal a woman. He watched as she walked up to Keyth, saluted, and then proceeded across the courtyard to another gate leading to a different section of the citadel. “I thought the Emperor frowned on female soldiers?” he asked the captain as another beast landed at the signal of another whistle.
“They’re lighter, and the drakes take to them better than us males,” Keyth offered. “That way, they can take on a passenger, when needed,” he added looking pointedly at Hoyle.
Hoyle gulped slightly. They were going to ride on those?! He paled slightly, eliciting a small grin from the captain.
Celia had returned to the group and approached Captain Keyth. “Do you mind if I study them?” she asked, nodding her head in the direction the third drake was being led. “I have never had a chance to see one up close.”
“Not at all.” The captain called to one of the guards nearby, who approached quickly. “Please escort this lady to the drake pens, and make sure she doesn’t get hurt. Or lost.” The last was said while looking Celia directly in the eye. She nodded in understanding.
The pair of them disappeared in the direction of the drake stables, Celia moving quickly enough with her long legs that the guard had to trot to keep up. They disappeared through the gate and were gone.
After the fourth drake had landed from out of the night sky, the captain took his leave to address other business. He indicated that Thandria would escort them to their rooms for the night before he left. Shortly thereafter she made the motions, and the guards rounded up Hoyle, Salrissa, Robart and the healer and escorted them through a separate gate and across a small courtyard to a building that looked to be barracks, with its three storeys of evenly spaced small windows.
They were led to the second floor and given a room on either side of the hallway; one for the women, one for the men. Thandria gestured to each end of the hall, “There will be guards posted at each end of the hall. As you are on a mission for the Emperor, you will be given a small measure of privacy; however, our orders were very clear on access. You will be escorted everywhere, and there are chamber pots so you won't need the privy.” Her voice was like ice, cold and hard. She turned and left them standing in the hallway.
Robart looked at Hoyle and grunted, then turned and walked into the barracks room that Thandria had indicated. The healer looked at him and Salrissa then also turned and went into the room across the hall.
Salrissa stepped closer to him and looked down the hallway in each direction. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek and whispered, “Be careful, but I’m not sure how far you should trust this Robart character.” She paused to let the statement sink in, and then continued. “Thandria is a Sister. Just thought you should know. When Celia returns we will join you in your room for a strategy session and see what we can learn from the other two.”
Hoyle nodded in agreement, kissed Salrissa back, but on the lips gently, and went into his shared room with his former jailer.
Chapter 16
Celia followed her escort to her room on the second floor of a barracks building in a daze. She was still marvelling at the beauty and elegance of the drakes, at least in her eye. In the air she assumed they were graceful, gliding with wings outspread and banking and climbing on the currents. On the ground, their wing claws made them clumsy walkers, awkward and ungainly. But up close, they were magnificent. She was even allowed to touch one, though the soldier holding its lead was standing close by to make sure it didn’t try and nip at her. She had even managed to take out her notebook and scratch out a few basic sketches of the creature’s form, focusing on the skeletal frame; at least as much as she could see in the flickering torchlight.
Finally her escort grunted about the time, and she reluctantly packed up her charcoal and sketch pad and replaced them in her backpack. He led her to the barracks, her mind in a daze thinking about the drakes. Then her stomach dropped as she reached the hall her room was in, and she had to put a hand on the wall to steady herself. I am going to have to ride one of those tomorrow!
The soldier put a steadying hand on her elbow. “Are you okay miss?” his deep voice rumbled.
“I’m fine. Just a momentary dizzy spell, thank you.” She managed to make it to her room down the hall withou
t another incident. She was both excited and extremely nervous about the prospect of riding one of the creatures. She opened the door indicated before he returned to the guards at the end of the hall, to find Salrissa and the healer in quiet conversation. She realized at that point that she did not even know the healer’s name.
She looked around the room, which housed six bunk beds constructed of thick oak posts and boards holding straw mattresses. On the wall opposite the door, there were two small dark windows at either end of two beds lined end-to-end. A small desk and chair sat on the end wall to the left of the door. A chamber pot sat on the floor in the corner beside it.
Salrissa stood from the bottom bunk she was sitting on and approached Celia as she stepped into the room and closed the door. The air smelled of dry wood and musty straw, with a hint of oil or something metallic. Salrissa guided her to a corner, keeping the healer in sight. The healer seemed content to let them talk alone, though she did watch them with interest.
“She seems nice enough, but I’m not sure I can trust her yet,” Salrissa stated. “She has been very forthright, assuming she is telling the truth, but I don’t know why she would lie about what they did to Hoyle.”
“So, by telling me this much, it implies that you trust me,” Celia stated with an arched eyebrow at the other woman.
Salrissa paused for a long breath. “Yes, I guess I do, though I’m not sure why," she admitted. "And stop it with the eyebrow thing; you’re getting way too good at it.” She smiled slightly to take any sting from her words.
Celia felt a lot better. This whole “mission for the Emperor” to prove their innocence seemed to Celia to be suicidal, and an easy way for the Emperor or the First Chancellor to make the problem go away. If they succeeded in their task, they would prove their innocence and solve a problem for the Emperor. If they failed, it meant they were dead and it would not matter. It felt good to know Salrissa trusted her, if even only a little. It meant that Celia could trust her too.
“So what did they do to Hoyle?” Celia inquired, “Or do I really want to know?” She was watching the small woman watch them. The Daughter of Saveesha smiled at her, then turned away and began to rummage through her small pack.
“You probably don’t want the specifics, but let’s just say that she was there to make sure he didn’t die from his injuries. She watched him try and break Hoyle down for six days, and healed him when he passed out from his injuries. She also did the same for the other man – the Goralonian brute I fought in the hallway.” Salrissa shuddered at the first part, which turned to a scowl at the mention of the large soldier from the tower.
“You said him. Who is him?” Celia asked, turning and looking at her reflection on the inside of the dark window. She could see Salrissa’s expression in the reflection as well. She looked over at the healer, her thoughts far away.
“Huh?” Salrissa grunted.
Celia turned back to face her companion. “You said ‘She watched him try and break Hoyle down for six days.’ Who is him?” Celia again arched her eyebrow, which Salrissa mimicked.
“Robart.” She said it simply, and with surprisingly little emotion.
Celia would have thought that Salrissa would have stormed across the hallway and gutted Robart as soon as she learned that little bit of information. Maybe she was waiting until he was asleep so it would be easier.
“And he is still alive?” It didn’t appear like Salrissa had fought anyone in the bell or so that she had been off examining the drakes. “Why aren’t you bouncing off the wall with anger?”
“Because Valena explained some events to me, and her theory behind this ‘mission’. Besides, that’s not my only emotion.” Salrissa tried to look indignant.
“Only one I’ve seen.” She sent another arched eyebrow in the other woman’s direction. I am getting good at it.
“Regardless,” Salrissa continued, ignoring the eyebrow “I will let Valena fill you in while I go talk to the guards about some food.” She turned and left the room, leaving the door open a handspan behind her.
Celia approached the healer, a Daughter of Saveesha, and sat on the bunk across from her, careful not to lean back too far and bang her head on the upper bed frame. The other woman noticed Celia, and put her pack beside herself on the straw mattress.
“So you’re Valena? I’m Celia.” She stuck out her hand in greeting.
The other woman took it carefully and shook it firmly. “Yes, I am.”
“Salrissa told me that you wanted to share some details and theories of yours.”
“More opinions than theories, but yes I can do so.” Valena gave a brief, very sketchy description of Hoyle’s time in the dungeon, or more accurately, his time with Robart in the torture room. She told her what Salrissa already had, that she healed him so he wouldn’t die, so they could continue the torture. She then went on to explain how the veklian had found her the day the Goralonian prisoner escaped and led her back to a gravely wounded Robart. She had barely managed to save his life, and had his wounds not been bound by Hoyle, he would have been dead by the time that Valena had arrived.
“So you’re saying that Hoyle saved Robart’s life, even though he had spent six days torturing him?” Celia was beyond belief.
“Yes. And I think Robart hates that fact, the fact that he owes someone else his life, and wants to even the score, so he can go back to his world of inflicting pain without regret. Your friend has confused the Emperor’s torturer, has confused him by being kind. That is my opinion as to why he volunteered for this task.” Valena stared into Celia’s eyes as understanding dawned.
“He volunteered?” Celia asked more to herself than the other woman. Valena seemed to understand the rhetorical nature of the question and so did not respond. Celia ran the thoughts through her head for a minute or two, and then asked, “So, why did you volunteer?”
“Yes, that is the question, isn’t it?” Valena answered cryptically. Just at that moment Salrissa re-entered the room.
“The guards are having food sent up from the kitchen. I told the men earlier that we would join them to discuss our strategy once you returned. We should probably go over.” She left the room, and Celia heard her knock on the door across the hall, and then open it.
“I guess we should go then,” Celia said to Valena. She gestured for her to go first, and followed immediately behind. They crossed the hallway and entered the men’s barracks room. You could cut the tension with a knife. To that fact, Salrissa had a knife in hand and was twirling it through her fingers about three paces into the room. She was looking at each of the men in turn and shaking her head.
The room was laid out as a mirror image to theirs, with the same six bunk beds, desk, chair and chamber pot. Robart was down at the other end of the room, greatsword in his lap, running his stone along the blade edge with a long grating sound. Hoyle was lying on the top bunk near the door, tossing his stiletto end-over-end and catching it by the handle over and over. He was looking at Robart, not at his blade.
Salrissa looked back at the two women and shook her head. “Men!” she exclaimed loudly. All that did was have both men turn their heads slowly in her direction while continuing to do what they were doing.
“Salrissa had the guards call for food, so we can eat while we plan.” the small healer ventured into the awkward silence. She moved into the room and sat on a lower bunk between the two men. Celia sat across from her, ignoring the two men. Salrissa waited by the door, still twirling her knife.
Finally, after several more minutes of silence, Hoyle caught his stiletto, sheathed it deftly, and sat up, legs dangling from the upper bunk. “So what is the plan? Or do we even have one?” he asked, pointedly looking at Robart.
“There’s a plan” the large man offered after a few more slow swipes of the stone along his sword.
“Well?” Hoyle demanded, “What is it?”
Robart stopped sharpening his sword and tested the blade with his thumb. He then put the oil and sharpening stone back in
to their small pouch methodically, which he then tucked into a small pocket on the side of his backpack. Finally he sheathed his greatsword and leaned it against the bedpost.
“As Captain Keyth indicated, the plan was to fly us briefly west, then north through the mountains, then finally east to the untamed lands north and east of Goralon. They would try and get us as close to the border along the River Tordell, so that it would be a matter of a few bells to walk into Goralon, and only a few days walking, faster if we can gain a ride, to reach the capital.” Robart faced the other four, waiting for questions he knew must be coming.
The healer sat quietly, hands folded in her lap and Hoyle jumped off the upper bunk and went to one of the dark windows. Celia was about to speak up when there was a knock on the door. Salrissa, who had not moved, answered it, and allowed two guards in with wooden trays of food. They set these on the small desk and left the room, closing the door behind them.
“So our plan requires us to fly drakes through mountains known to have tribes of craglings and worse stalking the passes, not to mention the deadly varghul, the natural enemy of drakes, but then land in a region of barbarian tribes that have always been at war with Goralon?” Celia looked at the large man incredulously. “Should we try and find a dragon in its lair and poke it with a stick on the way?!”
“Dragons are mythical, besides he did say ‘was’,” Salrissa observed dryly.
“You caught that too?” Hoyle added.
“Pardon me?” Celia asked, not understanding immediately.
“He said the plan ‘was to fly west’...” Hoyle provided in explanation.
“That means he has thought of a different plan,” Salrissa offered. “I’m assuming a more direct approach. Robart doesn’t seem like the subtle type.” She looked at Hoyle out of the corner of her eye.
Celia noted a small smile on Robart’s face, along with a gleam in his eye. “That is true, isn’t it thief?” he asked looking at Hoyle.
Stones Unbound (The Magestone Chronicles Book 1) Page 16
