Anilyia

by Carroll, John H.

  “Not at all, my good man, you didn’t know,” the knight reassured him.

  “I have to warn you that they may not fall for the ruse and I don’t have a contingency plan,” Elian said in worried tones.

  “I have my own contingency plans,” Sir Danth said. “We’ll start with your plan though.” The audience looked at him with worry, many glancing at the massive sword on his back. He chuckled. “Do not fear. My plan does not involve slaughter, although that sort of thing can be enjoyable when done correctly.”

  Elian gulped and looked at Tathan with wide eyes. Tathan reassured him with a smile. “Don’t worry, he won’t kill anyone going in . . . probably . . . Just have your people run away if he does.”

  One of the people standing around the table tore off the apron he was wearing and ran for the door, taking Tathan’s advice early. Elian gulped more loudly. “It would be bad for humans here if someone went around killing Rojuun. Many would be punished.”

  “Well then, things will just have to go well,” Tathan said with a nod.

  Elian didn’t look convinced. He stared at each of the party members. They stared back at him. Elian buried his head in his hands for a moment before taking a deep breath. He stood up and pointed to some aprons on the table. “Put those on. I’ll take you up into the warehouse where the cart is.

  A moment later, they were standing next to a low cart with big wheels. “If you would lie down on the cart, Sir Knight, we’ll cover you up until we reach the gate. Once there, my people will try to get you through without removing the cloth.” He gestured to a heavy white blanket held by one of his men. “Martin will lead the group and talk to the guards.” There were six people with aprons. There would have been seven if the one hadn’t run away. “If they have to uncover you, remain completely still. My people will try to talk them into letting you in. If that fails . . .” he trailed off with a shrug.

  “If that fails, I will implement the contingency plan,” Sir Danth said with a nod. “What of my sword? Do I hold it in my hands or keep it sheathed across my back?”

  “Place it here on the handle,” Elian said, moving to the front of the cart. There was a long handle with a crossbar for two people to pull it. Sir Danth drew his sword, causing another person to run away. She didn’t even take the time to rip the apron off. Elian stared after her with arms spread in disbelief. The knight placed his greatsword on top of the handle. There were brackets on the cross bar and post that were just big enough, but the hilt was so long that it stuck forward another foot over the front end. How it would fool anyone was a mystery to Liselle. They all looked at it dubiously for a moment before Elian shrugged and said, “It’ll have to do, I guess. This is all a bit of a long shot anyway.”

  Liselle finally spoke up. “I don’t like this at all, Tathan. It seems like there are too many things that can go wrong.”

  He turned and grinned at her. “That’s exactly why I do like it. Things usually go bad when the plan is perfect and things seem to be going well,” Tathan explained. “If things are dicey, then everyone is sharp and ready to handle problems. I like this plan.”

  Liselle sighed, causing them both to chuckle. The members of the Thieves’ Guild exchanged concerned looks. These adventurers were not at all what they expected. Sir Danth sat on the cart then lay down with his head toward the back of the cart and his feet toward the handle. Martin spread the blanket out over the knight with the help of another man. Once everything was set, Elian led them to the big doors at the end of the warehouse and let them out. Liselle didn’t like wearing the apron over her clothes, but didn’t look as awkward as Tathan with his jacket or Vevin, who was wearing the purple vest he preferred when traveling and fighting. Vevin had their packs and belongings in his secret place so they would be able to move unhindered while trying to fight and escape. He told them the equipment could only stay there a little while for reasons he wouldn’t explain. The magical connection Sir Danth had with his sword prevented it from going to the same place.

  Two men pulled the cart. They seemed surprised by how light it was, believing that a tall man in full plate armor should weigh at least three hundred pounds or so. The group walked toward the fortress along a road bordering the wall park. The view of the city was amazing from this section of the wall. All four massive central spires of Alluu could be seen as well as the towers of the fortress.

  There were a number of Rojuun painters in the park creating works of art in addition to a few musicians singing songs about it. It wasn’t busy, which was nice for artists who wished to work in peace.

  There was a bridge to the fortress crossing the smaller river that fed into the Llaav. A few other humans wearing aprons were already checking in. The Rojuun guards checked briefly for weapons or anything suspicious, but for the most part, they let everyone through without trouble.

  Their turn came up and the guards let two of their escorts and Tathan through. Liselle looked to see where he had put his sword and it was gone. She wondered how he had managed it.

  The guards stopped the cart. “What’s this?” A tall one with orange eyes asked in low, intimidating tones. Liselle never ceased to be amazed at the brilliant colors of their eyes or variety of their voices.

  Martin answered, “It’s a cart.” Liselle giggled involuntarily, surprised to hear someone else talk like Tathan. The speaker didn’t notice, though one of the other guards shot her a glance.

  “I can see that it is a cart. Why are you bringing it in?” The meju put his right hands on the hilts of knives, though he was relaxed about it.

  “It contains a work of art to put in one of the hallways,” the man explained vaguely. “I was just asked to deliver it. They don’t tell me much of anything.” Tathan was moving slowly through the large entry in the wall of the fortress, which had to be about thirty feet thick. His head was turned to hear what was happening.

  “What is the work of art? I would see it,” the guard said, indicating they should pull back the cover. The two men pulling the cart exchanged glances, shrugged and pulled the blanket back to expose Sir Danth, who was lying still. Tathan had stopped, appearing to fix a shoe, but really to keep an eye on the proceedings.

  “That looks like a human warrior, not a work of art, although the armor is beautiful.” One of his voices had risen while the other was still gruff. It was as though the lower voice was still being a guard while the other was appreciating art. “How do I know you are not smuggling an unauthorized person in?” The question seemed odd to Liselle. Tathan was an unauthorized person and they let him in.

  “It’s definitely not a person. The armor was made by an artist and it’s supposed to go in the hallway,” Martin explained. There was sweat beading on his forehead and he looked nervous.

  “Take off the helmet and let me see.”

  Martin’s eyes were wide with fear. “Uhh . . . I don’t know how.”

  Liselle intervened. “I’ll do it.” She took off Sir Danth’s helmet, being very careful with it. “There, see? It’s hollow.”

  The guard looked into the neck of the armor. Seeing nothing there, he nodded. “You are correct. It is empty. Very well, you may take it in,” the meju said with a gesture indicating they were free to go. Liselle put the helmet back on, feeling it slide into place on its own. Martin stared in shock.

  They walked in with the cart, turning right as soon as they cleared the wall. The entry led to an immense open yard where Rojuun warriors trained. A cordoned pathway directed the servants to the fortress. There was no actual building, only fifteen levels set into the vertically carved cavern wall. There were large double doors where Rojuun entered and exited. The path the servants were on led to a smaller door on the near side.

  Liselle watched the Rojuun drill as she walked. They were remarkable warriors, moving almost as fast as Tathan did. As with their art, they were graceful in their fighting. It seemed more like a dance than battle drills. The clash of knives and grunts of voices provided the music. She worried once again abo
ut having to fight them, only this time she was worried about her companions . . . and herself.

  She hadn’t thought much about her own mortality until the incident with Krraa. The nightmares had become rare by now. Talking to Vevin, Tathan and Sir Danth about the incident helped. Each had their own viewpoints as to the best way to come to terms with it. Liselle had listened to each and eventually come to terms in her own way. In spite of that, she now had a realization that she was mortal and that death could be very bloody and painful. It was a new and real feeling she didn’t like.

  Liselle had been practicing magic with Vevin’s help. In the past, most of her magic had been in the form of healing, or massive, ground-shaking spells. Vevin had been helping her to cast smaller, more refined spells. Her candle flames were now the correct size instead of being three times larger than they should be. If she needed to use magic to help the boys, she now had more localized spells and could create barriers or hold people long enough to get away. Vevin had shown her a sleep spell. She had become proficient with it by casting it upon people resting on benches along the Cavern Road. It was much better than gigantic fireballs that obliterated the masses. It also fit her desire not to kill.

  They reached the open door into the fortress. Martin warned, “We’ll be going through a lot of halls and tunnels to get to our destination, so just be patient. Try not to speak too much as Rojuun listen to our conversations sometimes.” The companions nodded and followed him inside.

  A large room held a number of humans all wearing aprons. It seemed silly for a plain white apron to be the only uniform and even sillier that the Rojuun didn’t have any way to tell if a person should be there other than that. There were people at desks giving directions to the workers, telling them what part of the fortress they would be performing their duties. The companion’s party didn’t stop at any of those desks. Their escorts took them into the main hall. A couple of tough looking men standing on either side of the hall nodded at Martin.

  Liselle got the feeling that the Servant’s Guild got away with a lot of things Rojuun didn’t know or even care about. As long as humans took care of the dirty work and didn’t commit crimes, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

  Paintings and statues placed with no regard to aesthetic organization lined the long hallway they walked. Liselle felt a headache coming on from seeing too many different colors and shapes. It made sense that they would be able to sneak Sir Danth in as another work of art. Rojuun didn’t seem to care about the pieces after they were done with them.

  After walking for quite a ways, they turned down another passage. This one wasn’t as wide as the main hall, but the cart still fit easily. They passed a lot of Rojuun, most of whom didn’t even seem to notice the humans. A few even stepped away so as not to touch them. It was a different side of the Rojuun that Liselle didn’t like at all. Back in Garrrn Cavern, Marrraa and all the others greeted them with enthusiasm and even friendship. Liselle wondered why it was different here.

  They walked for another thirty minutes before Martin stopped the group. The air was still warm and humid, though a mild breeze brought cooler air from the passage ahead. “The next corner we turn will lead to the princess’s chambers,” Martin told them. “They have her separated from the prison, which is in another section of the fortress. The guards here will most likely challenge us again. They don’t like the princess and they get cranky. They’ll probably try to make our lives difficult.” He took a deep breath. “If I can’t convince them to let the cart through, it may come to a fight. We can’t match up to them, so . . .” he trailed off, gesturing to the other servants.

  Suddenly, another one ran away. This time it was a man who had been walking behind the group, fidgeting the entire time. Next, the other man who had been pulling the cart started to move away. He looked at Martin. “I’m sorry, I’ve got kids . . .” Then he turned and ran off too.

  Martin looked at the other two. Both took deep breaths and stayed where they were. They were scared, but didn’t move. He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.” With that, they walked to the next corner and turned toward the princess’s chambers. Martin stopped after a few steps. “That’s odd.”

  “What’s odd?” Tathan asked, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Liselle did a double take. The sword was back at his side.

  “The guards aren’t there,” Martin informed them, pointing to ornate double doors that were standing open. There was no sign of Rojuun or humans anywhere. “This is the princess’s suite.”

  Tathan drew his sword and cautiously moved forward. Sir Danth pushed aside the cover and sat up, startling the three men who seemed content to let the companions take the lead. All of a sudden, a woman screamed. Everyone froze, except for Tathan who ran forward, and Sir Danth who suddenly disappeared and reappeared inside the room. Liselle and Vevin ran in behind them, not seeing the jaws of their escorts falling to the floor in shock at the knight’s shifting.

  Liselle noticed that Vevin was staying right next to her. He had nearly lost her when fighting the sstejj and still blamed himself. She knew he wouldn’t leave her side whenever danger was near. Beyond the doorway was a large, lavish chamber fit for a princess. There were two doorways on either side of the main chamber leading to other rooms, each covered by a silken cloth.

  Sir Danth disappeared again and Tathan dashed to the second doorway on the right. Another scream and a crash came from that direction. Liselle and Vevin rushed after Tathan through the silk shrouded entry. This time, the multi-voiced scream of a Rojuun mixed with the woman’s. There were three Rojuun guards with their long knives drawn. One had cuts on his face and there were shattered pieces of a vase lying around him. He was just getting up. The second was screaming at the third guard. The reason he was screaming was that Sir Danth had appeared behind the third guard and swung his sword at the meju’s head.

  In keeping with Liselle’s desire to kill as few people as possible, the dark knight had used the flat of the blade instead of the edge. However, Sir Danth’s magically enhanced strength was such that the blow had knocked the guard’s head off. It had splattered against the nearby wall with a gruesome sound and was rolling around on the floor. The body was in the process of falling, blood gushing from the open neck. Liselle gulped at the sight of it, though she was proud of herself for not screaming like the woman or Rojuun guard.

  Two other women were lying dead on the ground in front of the one who was screaming. Liselle imagined they must be ladies in waiting and that the screamer was the princess.

  The meju who had been hit in the face with a vase was beginning to move toward the princess. Liselle cast her spell at him quickly. There was no light, sound or any other obvious effect, but the guard was suddenly unable to move.

  The second guard had turned toward the new intruders and was now screaming at them. Liselle could tell he was in shock from everything that was happening. Tathan’s blade slid in and out of the meju’s chest, causing the screaming to stop abruptly. Oddly enough, the princess stopped screaming at the same time. Tathan took a step toward the guard Liselle had frozen and slid his sword in and out of that meju’s chest as well. As the guard began to fall, Tathan quickly cleaned each side of his blade on the meju.

  Liselle stared at him with wide eyes, wondering why he had killed them after agreeing to keep bloodshed to a minimum. He looked straight at her and answered the unspoken question. “I killed them because they saw us and what we’re capable of. They are also assassins, not very good ones, but assassins nonetheless. It’s not safe for us to leave them alive.” He stared at her as though hoping she would forgive him.

  She did, reluctantly. “Alright, Tathan. I’ll accept your judgment.”

  Martin peeked in the silk curtain. Seeing they were victorious, he stepped in. “You actually succeeded?” he asked in surprise. “Your Highness,” he said with a bow to the woman in the corner who was staring at her rescuers with wide eyes.

  The companions all turned to the princess. She was about
twenty years of age, old for an unmarried princess. She was five-foot-five with an olive complexion, her hair was platinum blond and her eyes were brilliant blue. Liselle was impressed by her beauty.

  Princess Anilyia’s jaw was open as she stared at the dead bodies on the floor. She stared at Martin and the newcomers in the room. Then the princess fainted.

  Tathan rushed forward to pick her up and sling her over his shoulder. “Okay, let’s get out of here before more Rojuun come. We’re going to set off alarms when we leave the suite, but with all the screams and other servants running off, the guards will be here soon anyway.

  “Master Tathan, that is not the proper way to carry a princess.” Sir Danth was clearly offended. “One should carry a princess in their arms and walk as softly as possible.”

  “Sir Danth, this is the easiest way to run while carrying a person. If you want to carry her properly, then you’re more than welcome to do so,” Tathan offered, pointing at the princess’s butt.

  The knight held up his hands. “No, that’s quite alright. It would not be the best use of my skills. Perhaps you are correct, speed is the most essential ingredient at the moment.”

  “Let’s go then,” Tathan replied, going back to the common room of the suite. Liselle followed with Vevin. She glanced back at the bodies and then turned her attention on Sir Danth.

  There was no expression on his helmet, which was unlike him. “I apologize for killing the first guard, Milady. I did try to subdue him without delivering a fatal blow.”

  “I know,” she responded with a weak smile before moving through the light cloth to the common room. Martin and the other servants had already run back with the others. They were going to try to get away without saying anything, but had pre-made explanations of how the companions had overcome them should the guards hold them.