Sapphire of the Fairies soh-1
Page 9
Garth reached the last bush before thenorthern path where his rope had helped even the odds. The twowounded men lay curled in fetal positions holding their faces andhowling in pain. Garth knew he had to find the last healthy manbefore risking exposure of himself in the open to finish these twowounded men. Laying a Lanoirian Star in the dirt before him, Garthstole a glance behind him to see if the point man had decided tocome back this way. Satisfied that he had a few moments to completehis task, Garth reached into a long narrow pouch and extracted along tube and two slender myric quills. The myric quills werepoisonous and taken from an animal that inhabited marshlands. Theiruse as a weapon was pioneered by the Targan Rangers, a group ofelite soldiers in Targa before the Collapse, but most bandits andmercenaries shunned their use because obtaining the quills oftenled to the death of the gatherer. The poison in the quills was sostrong that it produced instant death and many a gatherer failed ontheir first attempt.
Garth fed a quill into the long blowtube and raised it to his lips. Steadily, he sighted on thefarthest man and blew. He reloaded the tube as quickly as he couldbecause he knew that the cut off of the man’s screams would bringhis enemy running towards him. Garth sent the second dart into theclosest man and shoved the tube into its pouch as he lifted theLanoirian Star he had placed in the dirt with his other hand. Thetwo remaining Dark Riders were charging his position, one from thepoint behind him and the other from across the clearing by thesouth path. Had Garth been visible, arrows would be coming his wayinstead of charging men. Garth leaped to his feet and hurled theLanoirian Star at the man coming from the point. Even as he watchedthe man clutching his bleeding throat as he tumbled off the cliff,Garth pulled his large sinuous sword from the scabbard on his back.Holding his great sword with both hands, Garth twirled just in timeto slice through the last Dark Rider’s midsection.
Garth ran to the four dead men by therope and cut off two of their scabbards before wiping his bladeclean on one of the dead men and sheathing it. He grabbed the twoDark Rider swords and ran down the path to the North.
Arik and Tedi heard the shouts andscreams from above and hurried on. Tedi continuously turned hishead to look behind himself for any signs that the men were gettingcloser. He never caught sight of the men, but he gasped when he sawthe Dark Rider and horse plummet over the cliff to the rocks below.The boys had just made it to shore when another Dark Rider bouncedoff the side of the cliff and landed on his back in front of them,a Lanoirian Star buried in his throat. The boys leaped over thebody and continued running though their legs felt like they wereabout to give up.
Trying to run through the undergrowthwas almost as difficult as running through the water and both boyswere getting very tired. As they broke through the bushes to thepath that paralleled the seacoast, they both came to an abrupthalt. The bandit from Lorgo stood directly in front of them holdingthe reins to three horses in one hand and two sheathed swords inthe other. “Why am I not surprised that it is you two who arecausing so much fuss?” chuckled Garth.
The two boys looked at each other andstarted slowly backing up. “Let me guess,” Tedi spat, “you expectus to believe that you aren’t one of the Dark Riders who arechasing us. We give you our weapons and you escort us back to theircamp so they can torture us before killing us.”
Garth just smiled and tossed the twosheathed swords at their feet. “I would hardly welcome yourcompany, fisherboy, but Kalina thinks you are worthy of rescuingfrom the Dark Riders. You can have the swords and two of theirhorses to do with what you want. If you come with me, I can offeryou safety. If not, then take the horses and get going where youwill, but make your mind up now because I am not waiting. I’vekilled ten of them up on the plateau, but there are ten more comingas we speak, as well as a witch, and I am getting tired of killingmen for the sake of boys.” Garth stepped forward and shoved thereins of two of the horses towards the boys. Arik stepped forwardand grabbed the reins. Garth twirled and mounted his horse as soonas Arik had taken the reins.
The sounds of men shouting behind themindicated that the Dark Riders pursuing them had found the bodythat had fallen from above. “Time’s up, fisherboy,” Garthwhispered. “Follow or flee, I head west.” Garth took off headingfor the coastal highway.
Arik and Tedi exchanged glances andquickly picked up the swords and mounted their new horses. “I don’tsuppose being hung as horse thieves is any worse than being killedfor no reason at all,” Arik remarked as he turned his horsewestward.
“Surely you don’t believe hisstory,” Tedi quipped as he turned to follow. “You don’t reallythink one man could have killed ten Dark Riders by himself? And whois this Kalina?”
Arik sighed as he followed the paththat the bandit had made through the bushes. “I don’t know if hedid it by himself,” stated Arik, “but I have no doubt that the DarkRiders died up there on the plateau. These scabbards have been cutoff somebody’s body and there was blood on the blade that cut them.These horses didn’t just wander in from the road and the DarkRiders who were supposed to be coming over the top of the plateaunever made it. Think what you want, but I am inclined to followthis bandit, at least until I learn more of what is goingon.”
“I think he is one of them andthat this Kalina whom he is taking us to is the witch who held uson the docks in Lorgo,” Tedi declared.
“Well, my father said thatthis man was a killer,” argued Arik. “He certainly just had thechance to kill us without anyone finding out and he didn’t. Thatmeans, to me, that we can trust him to some degree. I don’t mean totrust him very far, but right now we need a safe place to hide andfigure out what is going on. I don’t know of any other solution,Tedi.”
The boys soon came to the coastalhighway and crossed over it. A short way into the woods they cameto a small clearing with the bandit and two horses standing in it.One horse was the one the bandit had left the battle on. The otherwas a large, beautiful black stallion. “I had to stop and get myown horse,” explained Garth. “If you boys have decided to acceptour safety, just continue heading west. I will follow and make surethat no Dark Riders are tracking us.”
Arik simply nodded and continued acrossthe clearing and westward.
* * * *
Klarg was studying the placement of thebodies and the method by which each was killed when Wolinda reachedthe plateau. “What happened here?” she demanded.
“It would appear that ourlittle boys had some help this evening,” Klarg explained. “Severalvery skilled assassins, if you ask me.”
“Why assassins and notmercenaries?” inquired Wolinda.
“The weapons and methods used,Mistress,” Klarg answered. “Perhaps several mercenaries and oneassassin. That is possible. Lanoirian Stars are used by some veryskilled mercenaries, but myric quills are used only by highlyskilled assassins. They are extremely dangerous to use. A singleprick while loading one will lead to instant death. No mercenarywould risk ending his career with such a dubiousweapon.”
“Are you sure that they werehere to help the boys?” Wolinda asked.
“No,” replied Klarg, “I amnot. The rope was meant to create a killing ground and allow for aslaughter during the confusion. Bandits have used such tricks inthe past to snare a quarry, but it normally requires horsementraveling at great speed to have any real effect. That is whatpuzzles me. Why put such a trap on this plateau? I would expectbandits to target the coastal highway, not some seldom usedpath.”
“Could it have been the boys,themselves?” Wolinda queried.
“Not a chance,” laughed Klarg.“This was professionally done. If it was done to aid the boys, itwas very lucky. I, myself, did not know that I would send ridersalong this path until I actually did so. No, Mistress, I think wemay have just stumbled into a bandits’ den by accident. The ropewas probably part of a standard campsite protection and they wereonly alerted by the noise from down below when we spotted the boys.That is the only scenario that makes any sense.”
“What does that mean for ourmission, Klarg,” Wolinda inquired.
Wolinda thought a moment beforeresponding. “Your plan is acceptable, Klarg,” she began, “but sendone of your men instead of going yourself. If this is a bandits’lair, your expertise in leading the men will be valuable shouldthey decide to return and attack during the night.” Wolinda wouldnever have stated her real reasons for keeping Klarg close. Once inToresh, Klarg could report on Wolinda’s lack of progress andwithout Klarg around to contain his men, Wolinda might not wake upfrom her night’s sleep.
Chapter 8
Young Lord
Niki yawned and stretched in her fine,white silk robe while standing on the balcony overlooking the sea.At first Niki had been put out that the servants had assigned herto guest quarters instead of the Master’s Suite, but that wasbefore she discovered the rich wardrobe of clothes in various sizesand styles. Fredrik also pointed out that they were supposed to bebrother and sister and putting one of them in the Master's Suitewould naturally insult the other. The servants had, after all, madethe correct decision. Surely, the old sea captain’s mansion was nota Royal Palace, but Niki had never seen a palace and this was morethan she expected. She had a bedroom that was larger than any houseshe had ever been in and it was only one of several rooms that werehers alone. Even the balcony she stood on, overlooking the peasantsrunning around below, was larger than the house she grew up in. Shestood there for a long while soaking up the sea air and listeningto the bustle of the townspeople running about below.
A knock at the door disturbed her and,reluctantly, she turned and made her way through the suite of roomsto the entry. Opening the door, she saw a man standing there in arich, red velvet suit with vest and coat and a white, frilled shirtwith fluffy sleeves protruding from the cuffs of the coat. It tookher a moment to recognize the man as Fredrik. Laughing, she threwopen the door to admit her partner. Fredrik sauntered in like hewas the Lord of the manor, a stride that Fredrik had perfected longbefore Niki had met him.
“What brings the Lord to hisLady’s Suite?” chuckled Niki.
Fredrik hurriedly closed the door andtook up position in one of the large cushioned chairs. “I justwanted see how my Lady was accepting her transition,” he smiledsmugly. “This place is huge. I’ve been wandering around for an hourand I doubt that I’ve seen all of it. This old sea captain musthave been a smuggler to afford something this grand.”
“Well,” she chided, “I think Idid rather well getting us in here, but don’t you think for amoment that I have let you go of your pledge to make me a queen.Perhaps you can organize the rabble down below into some kind ofkingdom for me to rule. Those mercenaries will do for a PalaceGuard while we look for someone more suitable and then we can havethem organize an army to take over any neighboringcountries.”
Fredrik looked at her with disbelief.Could she really think getting in here was her idea? Get themercenaries to bow to her? Maybe she really was crazy. Grandfantasies were one thing, but what she was proposing was suicide.“I never promised to make you a queen,” he stated. “I said that Iwould like to see you in a palace. Now that I have, I do think itbecomes you.”
“You will serve in my court,also,” she continued as if not hearing a word he said. “Perhaps Iwill have you as my Royal Consort.”
“We are best to avoid themercenaries,” Fredrik reminded her. “They have let us in herebecause it costs them nothing and avoids embarrassment of theirfailure to do anything with the Black Devils. If we do anythingthat might upset them, you will be surprised how quickly theyacknowledge their mistake. Where are your old clothes?”
Niki snapped out of her fantasy. “Inthe closet in the bedroom,” she answered. “Why do you want my oldclothes?”
“I asked Miranda to have ourold clothes washed today,” Fredrik said. “I do not know how long wewill be here, but I want our clothes to be clean and packed in casewe have to leave quickly.”
“Leave?” she askedincredulously. “Why would we ever want to leave here? We just gothere and you’re talking about moving on already.”
“I am not planning on leavingjust yet, Niki,” he declared emphatically. “I just believe in beingprepared. One can never know what tomorrow will bring.”
As if on cue, there was a knock on thedoor followed by Miranda poking her head in. “Does My Lady havewash today?” she inquired. “Perhaps your traveling clothes coulduse a refreshing?”
“They're in the closet in thebedroom, Miranda,” Fredrik directed. “And thank you for your promptservice.”
Miranda went and retrieved Niki’sclothes and returned to leave. She bowed to Fredrik and said, “Yourthanks are most welcome Lord Wason. Certainly not necessary, butgraciously welcome.”
“Take extra care of my cloak,”demanded Niki. “I intend on wearing it on my Coronation Day and Idon’t want you mucking it up.”
Miranda looked confused but merelynodded and withdrew from the suite. Quickly, she hurried downstairsto have Alicia do the wash. When she reached the servants’quarters, Alicia was talking with Orthan, the Lord’s butler.“Humph,” Miranda began, “that Fredrik is all right, a pleasant boyat least, but that Niki, I’ll strangle her with my own hands beforetoo long.”
“Now, now,” admonished Orthan,“we went through all of this last night. We all know they are notwho they claim to be. For goodness sake, Lord Alrecht did not evenhave any brothers or sisters so he certainly couldn’t have nephewsand nieces, but without a Lord or Lady in the manor, we will all beout in the streets. I, for one, am willing to put up with thischarade for as long as we can make it last.”
“He’s right, Miranda,” agreedAlicia. “We can’t afford to be out on the street. It would kill usfor sure. There is no other Lord or Lady in Cidal who will employus and there are more than enough beggars already so that none ofthem can get enough to eat. You’ll just have to grin and bearit.”
“Not quite,” snapped Miranda,“I am the head maid here and I have decided that you will be theone to deal with our Lady Niki from now on. We shall see just howwell you grin and bear it.”
Alicia went storming off with the wash.“Was that really necessary?” asked Orthan. “We are all in the sameboat, so to speak.”
“And how safe is our boat,Orthan?” Miranda inquired. “Does the young Lord have access tofunds to pay us? Or even funds to pay for food? And what if ourLady decides to fire us? Do you have a plan for everything,Orthan?”
“We will take one step at atime, Miranda,” Orthan said fatherly. “I will work with LordFredrik Wason to solve all of our problems. The young man is athief if ever I laid eyes on one. I will arrange for him to allowme to manage the finances of the estate. Once that is accomplished,I will sell off enough out-holdings to sustain all of us incomfort. The hard part will be in getting him the legal authorityto then turn it over to me.”
“Well, you had better startyour bargaining then, Orthan,” quipped Miranda, “before I strangleour Lady and they haul me away for murder.”
Orthan patted Miranda’s armcomfortingly and headed upstairs. He caught Fredrik just coming outof Niki’s suite. “Will My Lord spare me a few moments of his time?”Orthan asked Fredrik.
“Certainly, Orthan,” repliedthe young Lord. “Let us go into the study and we’ll see about whattroubles you.”
The young Lord and his butler enteredthe study and Fredrik took the Lord’s chair without hesitation.“What seems to be the matter, Orthan?” Fredrik asked.
“The problem, my young Lord,”Orthan smiled, “is that Lord Alrecht had no brothers orsisters.”
Fredrik listened lazily and suddenlystiffened as the butler’s me
aning sunk in. He reached for hisdagger that he was not wearing in his new outfit. Orthan indicatedthat he should relax and sit back down. “I say that so we both knowwhere we each stand,” Orthan said calmly. “I think with yourcooperation, my Lord, we shall all get what we want out of thischarade.”
Fredrik smiled cautiously as herealized all was not lost already. “And what is it that my butlerwants out of this?” he asked.
Orthan pulled up a chair and sat down.“Our Lord, that is to say, Lord Alrecht, had no living kin. I canprove that and you two would be hung for the impersonation.Unfortunately, that would gain me nothing and I rather likeyou.”
Fredrik snorted at the last statement,but still managed to sound sincere when he asked, “And you have aplan, no doubt. What is your plan, Orthan?”
“The maids and myself have nodesire to find permanence on the streets as beggars,” Orthanstated. “What I propose is a partnership. I will help you establishyour right to remain as our Lord. You will execute documents givingme complete authority in financial matters. I know enough aboutLord Alrecht’s holdings that I will make us all wealthy. We willcontinue to serve you as servants and you will promise that we willnot be mistreated. We will wish for you to remain here as our Lordand protector and you will wish for us to remain safe as yourhumble servants. Everybody wins.”