"Kidnapped? I don't know-ah!" The grip on his throat tightened. Ransan squirmed and his feet flailed. "I was only told to set the bee boxes. There was never anything about a kidnapping," he choked out.
"Ned, stop!" Pat protested. She left Ruth by the unconscious men and hurried over to Ned's side. Pat grasped his raised arm and looked into his stony face. "Don't you see what you're doing? You're killing him!"
"What is the meaning of this?" a voice called from the tunnel entrance. All but Ned turned to see Telana, Canto, Tolen, and a small group of the city guards stride down the road to them. She looked at the scattered guards, and then to Ned and her cousin. "Explain yourselves!"
Ned dropped Ransan and turned to Telana with the top of his staff glowing brightly. "Ransan has betrayed the city, as has Captain Lee," he informed her.
"That's a-cough-that's a lie!" Ransan protested. He rubbed his sore neck and struggled to his feet. With his free hand he pointed an accusing finger at Ned, Ruth and Pat. "These outsiders tried to steal a boat to escape their guilt at setting the boxes!"
Telana glared at her cousin. "I was told differently by a more reliable source." She stepped aside and revealed Ransan's assistant. "This man was caught near a box and with his hands covered in honey. He informed us that at Captain Lee's request you gave the order to set the boxes and free the bees. Do you deny this?" Ransan snarled and turned away. "As I thought. Guards, remove him to the prisons in the castle," she ordered her men. The guards took hold of Ransan's arms and dragged him back through the cove entrance.
Canto strode up to his companions and looked each of them in the face. "What brought ya here?" he asked them.
"Fred has been kidnapped by Captain Lee. Ransan followed and confronted us with his lies," Pat explained.
Ned ignored their conversation and instead turned his attention to Telana. "We humbly request the gates to be opened and a ship from your fleet to allow us to give chase," he told her.
"I will grant you what you desire, and go with you myself in the fastest ship," Telana promised him.
"And I will offer what services I can render," Tolen spoke up.
"Then let us be off," Ned insisted. Telana led the way down the peer, but Ruth at the rear of the group hesitated. She glanced around the area and the group. Canto and Pat noticed her hesitation.
"What is it?" Pat asked her.
"Has Percy still not been found?" Ruth asked her companions.
Canto pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, and the assassin's still missing," he added.
"Perhaps they are in the city, but we had best hurry aboard," Pat advised them.
The companions rushed after Telana and Ned toward the largest of the schooners at the far end of the docks. They climbed aboard and at Telana's bidding they sounded a horn that was aboard the ship. The gates of the port creaked open and the sails of the ship were given full breadth.
Pat looked up at the limp canvas and frowned. "How are we to leave without wind?" she asked Telana.
"The castors are not the only ones capable of magic," Telana replied. She turned to Tolen who had followed them onto the ship. "We need your wind," she told him.
Tolen bowed his head and from his robes he pulled out a pouch. He moved to stand beneath the sail posts and once in position he opened the pouch. A great gust of wind swept from the pouch and upward into the sails. It caught the canvas and billowed them forward. The ship leapt from its pier and cut threw the water toward the opening gates. The tips of the sails swept an inch past both the gates and they glided into the open sea.
Their ship swept past the large, anchored boats and the companions with Telana moved to the railing. They looked ahead of themselves and in the far distance was a speck on the horizon. Telana frowned. "Their ship must be enchanted. No natural wind can carry any ship that far so quickly," she commented.
"Can we catch them?" Pat asked her.
"Yes, but we do not know what other enchantments their ship might have," she pointed out.
"I will take care of those if it must be done," Ned grimly promised.
CHAPTER 24
While the companions boarded the schooner and gave chase, Fred sat in the hold of Captain Lee's ship. He had recognized the sound of the dragon's roar and heard the noises of weapons being fired. The thud of the dragon's body hitting the deck shook the small room in which he was trapped, and he sat still for a long moment straining his ears. Footsteps clamored down the steps outside the door, and in a few moments the entrance flew open. Two sailors stepped inside with a prisoner between them. Fred was surprised to see it was Martley.
The two men leaned the new prisoner against the wall beside Fred and tied her to another pair of chains. Fred noticed her hands were behind her back and her wrists were trapped in manacles. Martley's eyes were closed and her face was deathly pale. The men were unconcerned with her unhealthy state, and after propping her against the wall they left the pair alone. They slammed the door behind themselves and Fred waited for their footsteps to recede before he turned his attention to Martley.
Fred's blood boiled at the frightful sight of her strained form. Her beautiful hair lay matted against her face and stuck there with sweat. Her breathing was fast and shallow, and her breasts heaved with each gasp for air. The dress she wore clung to her form and showed how rigid was her body. Fred scooted close to her so only a foot separated them.
"Can you hear me?" he whispered. Fred started back when Martley's eyes snapped open.
The facade of exhaustion fell from her form and she straightened with the energy of a young woman. Her eyes darted around the room. "Is there but one entrance?" she questioned him.
"Only that door, but how did you come aboard the ship? And what happened to the dragon?" he asked her.
Her words were quick and slightly annoying. "I was the dragon, and that is how I came to be aboard the ship," she replied. She shifted her arms and grimaced. "By Phaeton, is there no way to loosen these bonds?" she murmured.
Fred shook his head. "Captain Lee told me only a castor could break the spell on them," he told her. He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her face. "Why did you come after the ship?" he wondered.
Martley turned to Fred and smiled. "Is the answer so difficult to see?" she returned.
"Because you think I'm your son?" Fred guessed.
"Because I know you are my son," she rephrased.
Fred sighed and shook his head. "I'm not your son."
"You are my son. Only my son would have risked his master's wrath by grabbing Ned's staff as you did. You saved me," she insisted.
Fred snorted. "I wish I could save us now," he quipped.
There was a shout above them, and through the boards they could hear a mad pounding of feet toward the starboard railing. The pair looked upward and quieted as voices spoke. "A ship!" one of the sailors cried out.
"And it's gaining!" another yelled. The proclamation was met with more frightened voices as the men aboard panicked.
A door slammed and a pair of heavy boots calmly walked across the desk. "What if it is?" Captain Lee's voice shouted above the panicked cries of his men. "This ship might be caught, but none can board while she sails except by my command and nothing can harm us," he told them.
"But it's one of the elvish ships! They're full of magic!" one of his men argued.
The boots stomped heavily across the boards and there was a garbled sound as a man's windpipe was cut off. "Don't doubt the skill of our Master, or I'll throw you over myself. Anything can fall off this ship," Lee warned the man.
"But captain-!" There was a strangled cry and something heavy fell onto the boards.
"Does anyone else care to argue their point?" Captain Lee called to the seamen. None answered. "Good, now stop your useless jabbering and back to your posts!"
Martley turned her attention away from the conversation above them and to Fred. "Have you your staff?" she asked him.
"No, Lee took it, but what would that matter?" he replied.
She cursed benea
th her breath. "If we could free ourselves and reach the deck we could grab one of the extra boats and set ourselves in the water," she told him.
As though beckoned the door to the hold creaked open and a shadow flitted into the room. The figure flitted across the floor as silent as the grave, and it pulled forth a large dagger from the depth of itself.
"Sins!" Fred cried out. Sins slapped his hand over the young man's mouth and glanced up. The sailors moved uneasily around the deck and drowned out any noise they could make. Sins removed his hand and hurried behind Fred. Fred glanced over his shoulder as Sins set to work trying to cut through the metal bars and chains with his dagger. He succeeded in cutting the chains, but the manacles were proving a problem. "How did you get aboard? The captain said no one could come aboard," he wondered.
"I climbed aboard before the ship sailed," he replied. He leaned back and frowned at the manacles. "I cannot free you from these manacles," he informed them.
"No matter. We need only escape long enough for the elf ship to find us," Martley told him.
"I won't leave without my staff, and I may be able to free us with it," Fred pointed out.
"It's too dangerous to retrieve it. Captain Lee may still have it on his person," Martley argued.
Fred turned to her with a firm expression on his face. "A castor doesn't leave his staff, and I'm useless without it," he insisted.
"Your life is more important than the staff," she countered.
"But I can't save anyone's life without it," he persisted.
"I will attempt to find it," Sins spoke up. He stood, stepped softly over to the door, and slid out like a shadow.
"Pray to Phaeton that he is not found. Captain Lee is not merciful," she whispered to Fred.
He grinned. "I don't need to pray for Sins. He knows what he's doing," he countered.
Martley raised an eyebrow. "You would have the faith to put your life in the hands of your friends? I warned you-"
Fred snapped his head to her and frowned. "My friends were the ones to save me from Canavar, and my friends are the ones who will save us now. I won't lose faith in them," he told her.
Martley turned away and closed her eyes. There was a small, soft smile on her lips. "You speak as Ned does," she commented.
"I speak how my heart tells me," he replied.
She opened her eyes and gave a nod. "If that is true then I will put my faith in your friends because I have faith in your heart," she told him.
Sins moved along the lower passage to the stairs. The hatch lay open and the shadows of the sailors flickered past. Their voices were quieted, but not their anxiety. They often strode to the railing to peer back at the ship catching them. Sins climbed the ladder and peeked his head over the deck. To the starboard side of th ship lay the setting sun. There was only a half hour left of light before they were engulfed in darkness and all hope of rescue was extinguished with the sun.
Captain Lee stood on the deck with a smile on his face and a dangerous look in his eyes. At his feet lay one of his sailors. The man's face was turned to Sins and his eyes stared without blinking. His head lay at an odd angle and his throat was covered in a half-formed bruise. His blood stopped flowing before the body could finish the job.
Sins glanced at Captain Lee's waist where he'd last seen the staff at Lee's passing his hiding spot in the center part of the hold. There wasn't a sign of it, so Sins glanced behind him. The door to the captain's cabin lay a few yards off, and the distance was filled with a miscellaneous assortment of barrels and a few crates. Sins slid out of the hatch and covered the distance to the door in a few quick strides. He slipped into the cabin and closed the door behind himself.
Sins turned and his eyes fell on the figure seated in the chair. Percy smirked. "Good evening, Sins. I expected you a few minutes earlier," he greeted his guest. Sins' eyes narrowed and his hand slipped to his waist where his dagger lay. Percy chuckled. "Do you truly mean to be rid of me in such a brutal fashion?" he wondered.
"A traitor deserves a bad end," Sins told him.
One of Percy's hands brushed against his vest. "Traitor? That title is in the eye of the beholder, my dear assassin. I hired you to protect me and here I find you wanting to kill me," he countered.
"You collude with our enemies for your own selfish desires. There can be no worse deed," Sins argued.
Percy shrugged. "I can live with that dishonor, but you won't."
Percy jumped to his feet and pulled a small knife from his vest. The blade flew across the room at Sins' chest. The assassin snatched the handle, ducked down and tossed the knife back at Percy. The blade plunged into his chest just below the heart. Percy's eyes widened and he grasped the hilt. He coughed and blood sprinkled the ground beneath him. Percy took a step forward, but stumbled and fell to his knees. A sick laugh choked from his throat.
"Pity you had morals. You were a very good assassin," he complimented him.
Sins strode up and grabbed the staff on the desk. "I am not so foolish to be consumed by greed and ambition," Sins returned.
Percy smirked. "No, I suppose not." He sank to his side and his eyes closed.
Sins turned away from the pitiful sight and strode from the room to leave the dying man to his fate.
CHAPTER 25
Sins stepped out onto the deck and saw the atmosphere was even more tense. The pursuers were closing in on them. Sins slipped into the open hatch and back into the hold. Fred was relieved to see his friend return, and with his staff.
"How did you get it?" Fred wondered.
"We don't have time for questions. Can you use your staff to free yourself?" Sins asked him.
Fred turned so his hands were held out toward Sins. "There's only one way to answer that question," he pointed out. Sins dropped the sticks into Fred's hands. Everyone waited for them to transform into the staff, but the sticks sat lifeless in his fingers. Fred frowned. "Why won't it work?" he asked them.
Martley shook her head. "The manacles must suppress your castor abilities. There is no way to free ourselves from these chains, but we may perhaps escape in one of the boats," she suggested.
"There are too many men on the deck. Your escape will be noticed," Sins replied.
"Do we have a choice?" Martley pointed out.
Sins paused and his eyes darted upward toward the ceiling. His eyes narrowed and his companions imagined a frown on his lips. Sins grabbed both their manacles and hauled them to their feet. The manacles at their ankles bound their feet close together, but they could still shuffle. "Follow me," he ordered them. Sins slipped out of the room.
Martley frowned and turned to Fred. "Surely he jests," she asked him.
Fred smiled and shook his head. "Sins never jests, but let's follow him as best we can," he encouraged her. The pair followed Sins to the stairs where the hatch shined light on their pale faces.
Martley looked up at the narrow, steep steps and pursed her lips. "We cannot climb those," she commented.
"That is not my plan," Sins told her. He grabbed one of each of their arms and hurried up the steps with the pair bouncing along on either side of him. Their legs flailed in the air and when Sins reached the hatch the pair were left suspended in midair. Fred gripped his sticks tightly in his hands and had to admire Sins' strength, but not his tact.
Martley admired neither. "What are you doing?" she hissed.
"Silence," Sins whispered.
The two captives quieted when they noticed the tenseness in his body. They strained their ears to hear what caused Sins such alarm, but nothing was heard. That caught their attention since it was at odds with the panic heard only a few minutes before. Sins stuck his head above the hatch and noticed that the few visible sailors stood at a great distance from the the stairs. His eyes flickered to their right where lay a group of barrels, and ten yards beyond that lay the railing and a lifeboat tied to the ship. They had a clear path to escape and that worried him, but they had no other choice.
Sins rushed out of the hatch and drag
ged the pair with him. They had only covered a yard when a sailor stepped out from behind a barrel and into their path. The man smiled at them with his mouth full of rotten teeth and in his hand was a long sword. Sins turned, but the missing sailors jumped from their hiding spots to trap them beside the hatch.
The door to the cabin's quarters opened and Captain Lee stepped out. He smiled at the three as he strode over to them. "Well, well, a stowaway, and a very messy one. If you don't want to be found then you should hide your victims," he scolded Sins.
"He was a victim of his greed," Sins countered.
Captain Lee shrugged. "I honestly do not care what argument you had with Percy, but I can't allow an assassin to kill every guest on board, or spirit them away." At the mention of Percy Fred's eyes widened and he looked to Sins for an explanation, but the assassin was focused on the sailors and Lee. The captain gestured to his men who took a few cautious steps toward the group. "Now will you give up or must we use force? You can't fight back when you have your hands full," Lee pointed out.
Sins lifted the pair off their feet and tossed them at the sailor who barred their way to the railing. Martley and Fred crashed into the hapless man and crushed him between their bodies and the deck, knocking him unconscious. The sailor's friends cried out in fury and jumped at Sins with the intention of cutting him to ribbons and using his guts to string their fishing poles. Sins drew his dagger and knocked many of their swords from their clumsy grips. He used his fist to strike them unconscious, but he didn't give mercy to all of them. His dagger hissed through the air and found its mark in arms, legs, and stomachs. Men dropped to the deck and blood flowed out from beneath them.
Captain Lee calmly stood by surveying the scene, but when a half dozen of his men had dropped and the others drew back in fear he drew a long sword from his waistband. "It seems my men aren't up to the challenge, assassin, but I will fight you," he suggested.
Sins didn't have a choice as the captain leapt forward and swung his sword down on Sins' face. The assassin blocked and parried Lee's blows. The captain was fast in his swings and agile in his dodges. Ransan was an amateur compared to him as Lee ducked high swings and jumped low ones. Sins was pressed back against the barrels with the sailors on the other side cheering on their captain.
The Unwilling Accomplice (Book 5) Page 14
