Caitlen snorted her disgust, but picked the dress up and lifted it above her head. With Alec’s help she settled it back over her frame, and then they left their room and went downstairs, where they found Nichols and Esmere waiting for them at the kitchen table, talking to the morning cook as they ate a late breakfast.
Nichols studied each of their faces as they sat down, but said nothing, while Esmere tried to hide a shy grin.
Within seconds though, Esmere’s face lost its smile. “Caitlen? You weren’t limping when you came in here.”
“No,” Alec’s companion said. “Softly now,” she urged. “Alec has healed my injury. That’s what he was doing this morning, just like he healed Nichols yesterday,” she explained in a low voice. “He’s different from us, isn’t he Nichols?”
“He is indeed, my lady,” Nichols agreed enthusiastically. “You should have seen him fighting yesterday. No man has ever fought as well as he did,” his voice rose with enthusiasm.
“Softly now,” the girl repeated. “So, what do we plan to do now?” she looked at Alec.
“We leave,” Alec said simply. “We go to Black Crag. We find Bethany and the others there, and we plan to return. Now let me go try to get some money for us.”
Travel restrictions had been lifted, allowing Alec to first go to his bank where he withdrew a modest amount of funds and then returned to the others, who had waited for him in the kitchen. They quietly left their refuge at the tavern and traveled through the city to the western gate. The four blended in with the crowds on the streets, and easily passed out of the city under the careless eyes of the guards at the city gate on a snowy midafternoon, walking through the slushy highway outside the city, hugging the southern bank of the river, keeping their heads low and their eyes often closed against the cold wind that blew into their faces as they trudged away from Vincennes.
After just a few short miles Alec began to look for an inn where they could spend the night. His small troop was dispirited and cold, and he worried about the ability of Caitlen and Esmere to withstand the rigors of the long journey ahead.
There was little talk among them as they journeyed towards the setting sun, and an hour past sunset Alec directed them into a small village’s only inn. “There’s only one room left, I’m afraid,” the innkeeper’s wife told them as them gathered around the front desk. “”It’s got two beds though,” she added as a positive afterthought.
“We’ll take it, and we’d like some dinner too,” Alec told her as he pressed small coins into her hands. He led the others upstairs to the room they had just rented. As he opened the door and looked inside, his heart dropped. The room was little larger than a closet; it made the tight rooms of the night before look spacious. Two narrow cots, each just barely large enough for a single person, were pressed against dingy walls, with a narrow aisle between them.
Alec stepped out of the doorway, and the others shuffled and craned forward to see. “This will be cozy,” Esmere said.
“You ladies can have the beds. Nichols, you take the floor between them. I’ll go stay in the stable,” Alec announced as he looked at the situation.
They all went down to dinner at the tavern room of the inn, sitting quietly at a small table far from the fire, and ate greasy mutton stew with beer for Nichols, wine for the women, and berry juice for Alec. “You can’t sleep in the stable,” Caitlen said vigorously. “You’ll freeze out there.”
Alec had never lived in such a wintery climate before, and he had experimented during their walk to the inn, learning how to moderate his body temperature be elevating his metabolism and blood circulation. The effort had been successful, and he had managed to moderate his healing energy use so that he didn’t feel drained. He assured his companions that he would be able to sleep comfortably in the hayloft, and after a long debate, they conceded the point and went up the stairs to their own room, leaving Alec alone at his table, where he lingered in the warmth and watched the people around him.
The crowd at the tavern dwindled to only a few guests and locals, when the door opened to admit more than a dozen soldiers, who took the tables closest to the fire. Alec feared any possible contact with the men in uniform would lead to trouble, so he left money on his table and left the tavern, talked to the stable keeper, received a blanket after giving the old man a small coin, and he climbed the sturdy wooden ladder that led up to the bales of hay that were piled up to the rafters in the loft.
Alec wormed his way deep into the columns of hay, protected from any breezes, pulled some hay loose from the bales surrounding his selected spot, and covered his blanket with the insulation as he settled in for the night. He focused his attention and his energy on his own body, and began to increase his body’s warmth, then closed his eyes and began to doze.
He thought about Noranda and Brandeis, back in Stronghold, and he thought about the battles with the Conglomerate guards in Vincennes. As his mind wandered from one topic to another, there was a rising hub-bub of noise from below him, and then the sound of someone climbing up the ladder to the loft. He pulled his sword from its sheath and waited tensely.
More noise followed, and the planks of the loft gently vibrated as boots walked about on it. “Everyone spread your blankets where I can see you, and Marston, you start the watch rotation,” he heard a voice command the guards from the tavern, who had come to spend the night in the hay loft, just feet away from Alec.
“Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we search the village for the princess and the other three. Remember, one of them is a Jagine, so keep an eye open for blue skin. If we don’t find them, we move on west towards Black Crag. This group is smaller than the last lot of scoundrels we fought, so we won’t be taken by surprise. There’re only four of them, and I want them taken alive if possible, especially the princess and the foreigner,” the officer was instructing his men. “But don’t go easy on the foreigner – he fights like a mountain monster.”
Alec’s breath was coming in shallow gasps as he listened to the plans being laid to trap his companions. Their destination was known, and possibly Bethany’s group had already fought them, apparently with some success, based on the unspoken inference of the officer. He had to find a way to escape from the hayloft and awaken his friends so they could escape.
The trip to Black Crag had just grown even more daunting. In addition to little money, a treacherous route, and dangerous weather, there was added pursuit by enemies. Was there any alternative, Alec wondered. Not if he planned to meet Bethany at Black Crag, he reminded himself, and even without his commitment to Bethany, he had no knowledge of anywhere else in this world that was safe from the pursuit of the Conglomerate.
Slowly, and as quietly as possible, Alec began to work his way through the bales of hay, trying to worm his way to the back of the loft. The hay rustled continually whenever Alec moved, and he hoped it was assumed by the soldiers to be mice, or cats chasing mice. He shimmied for a minute or two, then remained still for several minutes, gradually making his way free of the bales, to where a narrow aisle ran along the side of the barn wall. He rapidly advanced along the wall to a corner, where he turned, and found a trapdoor that allowed the bales to be dropped below. Alec dropped down, then snuck out through the back of the stable, and circled around the block to the front of the inn.
“Nichols. Nichols! Caitlen, open the door. It’s me, Alec!” he pounded on the door, then waited several seconds until it opened.
“What’s the matter Alec? Is it too cold for you in the hayloft?” Caitlen gibed.
“No. It’s too hot!” Alec countered. He closed the door behind him, and crouched on the floor between the two beds, in which the sleepy women sat up.
“A troop of Conglomerate guards came to the hayloft to spend the night. They reviewed their orders; they’re here to recapture the princess,” he looked at Esmere. “And they know we’re heading to Black Crag.”
What should we do?” Nichols asked. “Is there someplace else we can go for safety?”
“What about
going to one of the seaside cities, Cearche, or Raysing? They are in the opposite direction from Black Crag,” Princess Esmere suggested.
“We could do that. We could go down river on a boat, quickly,” Nichols agreed.
“They know you’re a Jagine. They’ll be looking for someone with Blue skin,” Alec added.
“Let me go as a decoy. I could go on to Black Crag, and you could take the women to Raysing,” Nichols proposed.
Alec considered the idea; the guards would be looking for the blue skin, but they would be looking for a princess as well, and they would be watching the route to Black Crag. He suddenly had an inspiration, and stared at Nichols, letting his health vision engage and examine the pigmentation that differentiated the man from everyone else Alec had seen.
The room was dim, but Alec’s examination didn’t need light to evaluate what he was looking for. “Alec, what do you think? Should we split up?” Caitlen asked him as the silence stretched out..
Alec reached out and placed a hand on Nichols, and focused his attention on his skin, shifting the epidermis to produce the typical pale skin color of everyone else in the wintery climate, then he removed his hand, and focused his attention on his own skin, making blue pigment burst forth across his body.
“How did you do that?” the Princess asked.
“It is a part of my ability to heal,” he replied.
“If they think a blue man is accompanying the princess to Black Crag, then that’s what we’ll give them,” Alec said. “I’ll escort this new princess,” he placed his hand on top of Caitlen’s shoulder, “while you escort the real princess to Raysing. You’re a good swordsman; you’ll be able to protect her from most threats. Meanwhile, Caitlen and I will lead them on a merry wild goose chase towards Black Crag.
“Here,” his hand dove into his pocket to pull out a collection of coins. He thrust most of them into Nichols hands. “You’ll need this to try to treat the princess to something like the best style you can arrange for travels. We’ll be able to get by on less,” he smiled at Caitlen, who smiled weakly back.
Alec had faith in the girl who was to be his companion. There was more to her than he had expected from a typical lady of the court, and he believed she had the character to rise to the difficult circumstances he had just thrown her into. Her spirits had been up and down several times already in their journey, and she always seemed able to pull herself together quickly. He’d had glimpses of the insecurity behind her façade a time or two, but that only made her seem more genuine to him. She was not like the Princess who expressed so little.
“But Alec,” Nichols began to object, looking to both girls as if seeking support to oppose the plan. The two girls looked at one another, and then Caitlen spoke.
“Will you and I truly be able to make it to Black Crag?” she asked, looking directly at Alec.
“I think we will,” he replied. “We have to let the soldiers stay on our trail for a few days so we give the princess time to get away, but after that we can become anonymous, and they’ll never find us.”
“You’ve changed your color; have you changed anything else about yourself? Can you still fight and heal as you did before?” Caitlen followed.
“Only our colors are different. Everything else about each of us is exactly the same,” Alec assured her.
“I hope so,” the Princess murmured, with a shy look at Nichols.
“You can undo this?” the formerly blue man asked. Alec nodded.
“It is as important for us to get to Black Crag as it is for Princess Esmere to get to Raysing,” Caitlen insisted. She looked at Alec with a directness that made him focus on her to the detriment of everything else around them in the small room. “If you believe you can safely deliver me to Black Crag, then I will travel with you.”
“I pledge to you, as an ingenaire of the Healer House, that I will do everything in my power to bring you safely to Black Crag,” Alec said. From his position on the floor he looked up at the girl as he spoke, and it felt as though he was making a pledge of fealty.
She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I accept your pledge,” she intoned.
“Very well then, we will go our separate ways,” Esmere said. “Shall we leave at once?”
They gathered themselves together downstairs in the empty hallway. Not even the morning kitchen chores had begun yet, leaving the building unusually silent, except for the groans and snaps of the building itself reacting to the frigid temperature. The two girls hugged tightly for a long period, whispering back and forth, as Alec and Nichols waited.
“Take care of her Alec. Guard her with your life,” Nichols told Alec. “Thank you for saving me from the prison, and from death. I look forward to seeing you again when we return to Vincennes to put the princess back on the throne.” They parted; Nichols gently took Esmere by the arm, and the two of them went out into the cold darkness to begin the trip back to Vincennes.
“Are you ready to be the mouse that leads the hawk away from the nest?” Alec asked Caitlen.
“As long as I know you can make sure we’re the mouse that gets away from the hawk,” she answered with a cheerful smile that raised Alec’s spirits as it added a radiance to her plain features.
He opened the door in response, and held it for her, then followed her out. He imagined that he saw the moving shadows of Nichols and Esmere on the road that gently sloped away from them, but he resolutely followed Caitlen as she turned the other direction and began to walk on the rough, frozen surface of the muddy path that led to the river road. There were clouds overhead that let no trace of moonlight or starlight seep through to guide the way. Alec and Caitlen walked slowly as they tried to stay on the lonely road, walking one behind the other into the breeze. Alec took the lead to try to shelter Caitlen from the briskly blowing air they fought against, and after an hour he felt his face start to freeze from the unpleasant wind. How do people manage to live in places with weather like this, he wondered, thinking with longing about the mild weather he had found in all parts of the Dominion.
He focused his healer power on raising his body temperature, then stopped and turned to Caitlen. As she arrived, Alec placed his hand on her cheek, feeling the painful chill in her flesh, and poured a trickle of his healing energy into her, raising her body temperature.
“Thank you,” she said in grateful astonishment. “You are an absolute treasure to have around!”
Without another word, Alec removed his hand and turned to resume the trip. They walked on for two more hours, until they reached another small village. Alec took Caitlen by the arm and led her into a small stable, where they gratefully sat down on a bench. Alec reached over to hold Caitlen’s hand, and he let his energy work again to raise her body temperature.
“I’d usually object to letting a strange man hold my hand when we’ve hardly been introduced, but under the circumstances I suspect it’s the best thing that will happen today,” she told him.
Alec couldn’t see her face in the dark, but heard the humor in her voice. “And the fact that I can warm you up too makes it even better,” he teased.
There was a moment of silence, and then a guffaw. “Touche!” she replied. “I’d thought I was running away from the hawk, but perhaps I’m merely traveling with a different one.”
Again he imagined he heard a confident sense of humor in her voice. “We’ll stop to rest for just a few minutes, little mouse, and then we need to get going again.
“Do you know the geography of this route well? Are we likely to reach a sizable town in the next couple of days?” he asked her.
“We should get to Valeriane tomorrow night or the next morning if we don’t hit any delays, Master Hawk,” she told him.
Alec sat in silence, contemplating their journey. They could find a place tonight to sleep, and reach a city the following night. Once in the city they could stop trying to lead the chase astray, and focus solely on their own trip to Black Crag, he concluded. For the trip today and tomorrow though, they would
have to make sure they were seen repeatedly, to leave the necessary false trail the Conglomerate guards needed to follow.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“I’d like to relieve myself. Is there a place to do that here?” Caitlen asked with embarrassment.
Alec sniffed the air. “I know it’s not the usual place for a lady of the court, but I’d suggest you squat in the corner of one of the stalls.”
“You can’t be serious!” Caitlen replied, almost wailing.
“I don’t have any better suggestion,” Alec said apologetically. “We probably shouldn’t try to go into the house.”
“Oh, bosh,” she said. There was a rustling sound, and a muffled grunt, then a pile of cloth thrust against Alec.
“Here, hold this. I don’t want to drag my dress through the muck in the stall,” Caitlen explained.
Alec listened to her tentative steps across the stable, then the sound of a gate opening, and a cow that lowed gently at the disruption by its unexpected visitor.
“Alec?” Caitlen softly called.
“I’m right here,” Alec answered.
“Keep talking. I can’t see what direction to walk in,” she responded.
“What can I tell you?” Alec asked. “I’m trying to save a princess I don’t know from an enemy I don’t know in a land I don’t know, while the girl I love is a million miles away with her new boyfriend, an enemy army is invading my country, and my friends are trapped in a dungeon. I can tell you that.”
“That’s good,” Caitlen said, bumping into him. “It’s not good what you said, but I’m back. Do you have my dress? It’s cold in here!”
Alec handed over the bulky cloth, and waited for his companion to re-arrange her dress.
Minutes later, they were on the road again and had left the small village behind. After another hour, Alec gave Caitlen a warming touch, and they walked again until dawn broke finally, letting them catch sight of the next village on their journey. By the time the sun was fully above the horizon, they had stepped into an inn and ordered breakfast from the lonely cook.
Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series Page 12
