The Unwilling Apprentice (Book 2)

by Heidi Willard

  Pat frowned. "Are you suggesting we leave Galaron without the king knowing?" Ned nodded. A grin swept across Pat's face. "Good. The rot in this city is terrible."

  "Um, would somebody mind telling me what exactly happened at the valley so I know what's going on now?" Fred pleaded.

  Ned chuckled and wrapped an arm around Fred's shoulders. "You were spectacular, my lad! So noble and brave! You nearly sacrificed your life to save us all."

  "And I don't remember a thing after I landed on the crag," he added.

  Ned patted him on the back and Fred burped. "You will remember in good time, but for now you should celebrate and be merry."

  "Let's celebrate and be merry after you tell us how we're supposed to get out of the city without the king knowing," Pat spoke up.

  "That question has an easy answer, and Ruth can provide it for us," Ned replied.

  They all turned to Ruth, who cringed beneath the attention. "How can I help?"

  "Hawkins will leave soon for Tramadore. What I propose is we leave tonight under cover of darkness and over the castle walls. Your clan can fly us over those walls and to Tramadore," Ned explained to her.

  Ruth's mouthed dropped open, and she vehemently shook her head. "But my father would never agree to leave the cavern. He would say the risk was too great."

  "Unfortunately, your people staying here is far more dangerous," he countered.

  Ruth stiffened, and Pat put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "What do you mean? No one knows they are down there."

  "But they soon will," Ned replied. "Our companions from the valley are loyal to their city and their king, neither of which appreciate your people being here. By this time they would have told their superiors about your transformation and the king will-"

  Everyone jumped when there was a loud knock on the door. A gruff voice boomed from the other side. "Open this door by order of the king!"

  Ned frowned and strode over to the door. He opened the entrance and found a troop of the castle guards in the hall. "What can I do for you, gentlemen?" he asked them.

  The lead guard glanced past him and at Ruth. Pat scowled at the man and pulled Ruth behind her. "We've come for the girl. The king wishes to speak with her."

  "About what?" Ned returned.

  "That's none of your concern, now move." The guards pushed their way past Ned and went for Ruth. Pat pulled her sheath from her waist, held it in both hands and swung it at the front man. The side of the sheath struck his jaw and the crack of his bones cowed the others.

  "How dare you attack one of my guardians!" Pat yelled. They halted their assault and unsheathed their swords, ready for battle.

  Ned put himself between the groups and held up his hands. "A moment, good people!" he shouted.

  The lead guard glared at him, and pointed his sword at the old castor. "Step aside! We have orders from the king!"

  Ned clicked his tongue and shook his head. "The king should learn to treat his guests better."

  "The king does as he pleases and-" Ned whipped his head to the guard and narrowed his eyes.

  The man flinched and Ned nodded at Ruth. "Why do you wish to take this girl?"

  The guard, cowed by Ned's glare, sullenly replied. "She is suspected of being a creature in disguise, and the king wishes to interrogate her."

  Ned raised his eyebrows. "Does he? You men can stand down, we will take her ourselves."

  CHAPTER 20

  The guards glanced at one another, but Ned signaled to his companions to follow him. Before the men could argue he led the youngsters out the door and down the hall. They reached the throne room and found the king waiting not for them, but his guards. He jumped to his feet when they strode up to him, and Ned stood tall before the king with the three behind him. "We have come to your summons, Your Highness. Your guards informed us one of our number was wanted, so we decided to accompany her."

  "The guards would have been sufficient," King Stephen growled.

  "I'm sure you think so, Your Highness, but we wished to be with our companion. I believe the charges were that she was a monster." He glanced over his shoulder at Ruth, who was held by Pat. "I don't know what talk you have heard, but she appears to be a normal girl."

  "Appearances are deceiving, as you are well aware," the king countered. He climbed down from his high throne and glared at the girl. "On your advice I sent for the men who returned with you. They agreed with your account but for one very important omission." He nodded at Ruth. "They claim to have seen this girl transform into a gargoyle and fly this boy out of danger."

  "Out of danger?" Ned repeated with a raised eyebrow. "I don't see how they can complain about that except that the girl didn't save them."

  King Stephen slammed his foot against the floor. "You know well that I tolerate no monsters in this city, as my father demanded before me! If she is indeed one of these creatures then there may be more and this infestation must be dealt with!"

  Ned leaned forward and looked the king straight in the eye. "If she is a monster, then how does she look like a girl? Surely your men explained that to you."

  The royal sullenly glared between the girl and the castor. "They were not specific on the change, only that it occurred."

  Ned pounded his staff against the floor, and his voice boomed around the room. "Then I say they are mistaken. The girl before you is as human as I am."

  King Stephen rocked to and fro musing over the arguments. After a moment's deliberation he growled and waved his hand toward the doors. "I will think the matter over and call you back to me when I have further questions."

  Ned smiled and bowed to the crowned man. "Your humble subjects await your command," he replied. Ned turned and herded the youngsters back to the room. They passed the guards outside the throne room, and Ned grinned at them. "I'm afraid His Royal Highness would like a word with you."

  "Guards! Come in here!" Stephen shouted. The men hurried in, their armor a clinking, and the doors shut behind them.

  When they returned to the boys room, Ned bolted the door and checked to see that there were no guards hidden about the area; the room was safe. He turned to Ruth with a severe expression on his face. "Now you see my concern, and why your clan must leave here at once. The king is not a quick thinker, but he may guess the truth and see that I have bewitched you," Ned told her.

  She nodded. "I'm afraid I do, but I still don't know if I can convince my father to leave."

  Ned grinned and patted her shoulder. "No need for you to do that alone. We will go with you tonight and see to it that your father sees the light." He glanced over to Fred. "Except Fred. He has unfinished business to attend to."

  Fred blinked in bewilderment. He wondered if he'd done something crazy during his lost five days. "I do?"

  Ned wagged his eyebrows. "Have you forgotten about our drooling companion, Fluffy?"

  The boy's eyes widened. "Oh! Canto said he would be ready a long time ago!" Fred was hit by a memory and cringed. "But Hawkins said he was under house arrest. What if he's still being guarded?"

  Ned sat down on the bed and chuckled. "If Canto and Fluffy wished to be free they would have escaped. Seeing as how Hawkins made no mention of the troublesome cantankus, we must assume no news is good news for us, and that they still behave themselves in Canto's shop."

  While they talked in the castle, Hawkins readied his men for the trip to Tramadore outside the city wall. His men would all be on horseback and would only stop for necessary rest and food. He stood outside the front city gate with his thousands of horsemen and watched the proceedings with apprehension. He would have liked to have had more men, but the king was impossible to convince otherwise. Hawkins was distracted from his brooding when he noticed Lady Martley approach. She was clothed in a heavy cloak, and he bowed to the lady, who smiled back.

  "A moment of your time, sir knight," Martley pleaded

  Hawkins frowned. "I haven't much time, my lady," he countered.

  "I know you have distrusted me from the first,
but I plead with you to show me favor by accepting this gift." She reached behind her head, pulled out a long, golden hairpin from her hair, and held it out for him to take. "I promise that in your darkest hour when your weapons have failed you this will point you in the right direction."

  "A hairpin?" Hawkins wondered.

  Martley smiled. "A very special hairpin, and a gift you won't regret receiving."

  Hawkins grudgingly took the pin and stuck it in the breast of his uniform. "I thank you, my lady."

  She surprised him when she stepped forward and put her hand on his breast where lay the pin. Her voice was soft and sad. "Phaeton give you speed, good knight, and remember me with fonder words."

  Martley pulled the hood of the cloak over her head and departed, but not back into the city. She set her feet on the road that led around the city and to the north. Hawkins watched her leave with a sense that a wind of change had blown past him, and he shuddered. "Sir, the men are ready," one of his lieutenants called to him.

  Hawkins shook himself and hoisted himself atop his horse. He glanced back at the retreating woman one last time before he turned his steed to the southwest and to war.

  The day dragged itself into night, and the four companions in the castle room breathed a sigh of relief when they weren't called into the king's presence before everyone retired. Unfortunately, Ned stuck his head out into the hall and found their path was littered with guards. He pulled his head back and frowned. "King Stephen means to keep his word and keep you here, my dear Pat."

  "He won't be able to keep either if we can just figure out a way down to the kitchen," she replied. Pat paced the floor with her brow furrowed. Ned joined her and they walked in opposite directions. "If only we had an invisibility cloak," she mumbled

  "Yes, that would be useful, but we haven't," Ned told her.

  "What about a sleeping potion?" she wondered.

  "Nothing of the kind, I'm afraid."

  "Perhaps I can glide us all down to the courtyard," Ruth suggested.

  Ned and Pat paused and stared at her with long faces. They remembered her inelegant landing in the valley. The old castor coughed. "Well, yes, that is an idea, but you haven't had a chance to work on your landings." Ruth folded her arms across her chest and scowled, but didn't argue.

  Fred thought over Pat's suggestion of a sleeping potion, and he stared hard at Ned's wonder-cloak. His eyes widened when he was struck with an idea. "What about the Dirth bomb?" he asked Ned.

  The old man straightened, and a wicked grin jumped across his mouth. "I believe you have something there, my lad."

  "A Dirth bomb?" Pat repeated in bewilderment. Ned searched in his cloak and brought out the larger bomb he'd shown Fred. Pat and Ruth gasped and slapped their hands over their faces. "What horrible thing is that?" Pat exclaimed.

  "A very large Dirth bomb. I need only set the mechanism to release the bugs and send it on its way." Ned loosened a few of the nuts and bolts, and the visible stench floated out from between the panels. The old castor coughed and wrapped his cloak over his face, which muffled his voice. "When you hear the screams run for the kitchen."

  He opened the door and tossed the bomb out into the hall. They heard the metal ball clank along the stone flags followed by the shouts of the guards. The clanking stopped and the panels fell to the floor. It was at that point the screaming started. Ned rushed into the hall with the three on his heels. The guards had stopped the bomb at the intersection of the halls where it opened and released the angry bugs. The passages were filled with their wreaking stench of rotten eggs, bodies, and food bound together with lovely scents of cantankus farts and public urinals.

  The guards lay against the wall or stumbled down the hall in a daze, and the group passed by the defeated men. Fred paused at one who sat with his back against the wall with his eyes wide open. He pushed the guard and the man fell over onto his side, still breathing but frozen from the stench. Fred hurried to catch up to the others and they raced downstairs into the kitchen passage. Chaos erupted behind them and they were spotted by more guards.

  "You there, halt!" one yelled.

  Ned reached into his cloak and pulled out the smaller bomb. He tossed that into the hall behind them and left the guards screaming in their wake. The group slid into the kitchen and startled the spooked staff, who whipped their heads up from the whipping bowls and ovens. Ned smiled and the kitchen supplies came to life again, and included the pots and pans. The servants screamed and dashed out of the room with knives, pots and frying pans close behind.

  They hurried down into the tunnel and Ned lit the way with his staff. They met Sampson at the opening, and he blinked against the bright light. "Edwin?" he asked the old castor.

  "Ned, old friend, but yes," Ned replied. "And we bring some very poor tidings."

  Sampson glanced behind them, and he heard a faint echo of chaos. "I thought perhaps those screams sounded familiar," the gargoyle quipped.

  Ned frowned and lightly pounded his staff against the rubble floor. "We haven't time for jokes. King Stephen has learned your daughter's identity and will interrogate her tomorrow. He may even tear apart the city to find and destroy you. Your clan must leave tonight."

  Sampson furrowed his brow. "If the danger is so great then it is greater still to leave here. We have nowhere to go," he pointed out.

  Ned shook his head. "No, I can guarantee your safety in Tramadore, but we must first save it. It's been betrayed by one of its lords and Lord Tramadore is a prisoner in his own castle."

  "Tramadore? Ezekiel Tramadore?" Sampson asked him.

  Fred snorted at the name and Pat elbowed him in the side. Ned nodded. "The very same. He was once your friend, and I'm sure if we can rescue him he will be your friend once more."

  Sampson thought over the suggestion and shook his head. "I can't risk my entire clan on a city and lord who are already taken captive, not without immediate danger."

  The noises behind them changed. The screams turned to shouts, and far off down the tunnel light pierced the area. A helmeted head peeked out from the secret hatch and spotted them. "We found them!" the guard yelled back to his companions above him. The guards had tracked their whereabouts and ransacked the kitchen to find the hollow space beneath the stone.

  Ned whipped his head to Sampson. "Is this not urgent enough?"

  "Get into the cavern!" Sampson yelled at them. He pushed the group ahead of him, clasped his fists together and slammed them against the tunnel wall. The force shook the ceiling and walls, and debris rained down along the tunnel. Large boulders crashed into the narrow space, blocking the path for the guards who spilled down the hatch. Sampson hurried to the others and pushed past them to present himself to his people. They cowered in the upper tunnels. "Brothers and sisters, our secret is a secret no longer and we have a choice to make. We can remain here and fight them, or flee to Tramadore and rescue the Lord Tramadore from imprisonment in exchange for safety. What say you?"

  Ruth stepped forward and presented herself to her clan. "I say we fight a battle we can win. Galaron has sent men to help Tramadore, and they have their own men to fight for them. Here it's only us against a city who rejected us."

  There were murmurings of agreement and a heavy hand was laid on Ruth's shoulder. She looked up into her father's smiling face. "Well spoken, Daughter," Sampson praised her. Ruth blushed, and he turned back to their people. "Is it decided? Will we leave here?" A roar of approval erupted from the gargoyles, and Sampson looked to the companions. "We will need time to prepare, and the other end of the tunnel is still blocked with debris."

  "We'll manage the tunnel, you ready those who can't fly and your unhatched eggs," Ned promised.

  Sampson smiled and captured Ned's hand in a hearty shake that nearly left the old castor crippled. "Like old times, old friend."

  Ned winced and freed his crushed fingers. He shook the bones back to their straight order. "Yes, just like old times. That hurt then, too."

  "People, we may want to hurry,
" Pat reminded them. She nodded at the collapsed tunnel where they could hear the shouts of the guards on the other side of the boulders.

  Ned straightened and coughed. "Yes, well, come along, children."

  The friends parted and the four hurried on their way down the other end of the tunnel. The fire had burnt the wooden supports of the cistern which had caused the walls to collapse so that large stones blocked their path. Ned pushed the youngsters back and slunk forward. He stretched out his staff and tapped the end against one of the larger rocks. A fuse made of light popped up out of the rock, and burned down into the stone. "Duck!" he ordered the three.

  They leapt to the floor and the rock exploded. Fred raised his head and saw veins of light shoot out of the broken stone and run into all others that touched it. Ned grabbed Fred's head and shoved it back down. "Not done yet!" he told the boy. There were a succession of explosions that lasted for a minute, and Ned cautiously raised his head. He grinned and tapped the others on their heads. "Time to get up, sleepyheads."

  They looked up and saw the way was clear. There was only rubble where stones once lay. "Now what?" Pat asked him.

  Ned looked to Fred and smiled. "Now Fred fetches Fluffy alone. Do you remember the way?"

  Fred hesitantly nodded, but Pat clamped a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go with him."

  Ned shook his head. "One suspicious person is much harder to find than two," he scolded. "And if Fred wishes to make a quick escape from the city Fluffy will need as light a load as possible."

  "Let's let him decide that for himself," Pat snapped. She turned to Fred and her eyes pleaded for him to choose otherwise. "What did you want to do? Did you need help?"

  Fred cringed. "I hate to admit it, but I guess Ned's right. It'd be easier if I went alone," he replied.

  Pat's face fell, but she nodded. Fred pushed to the front and climbed over the debris outside the tunnel.

  "Fred!" The boy paused and turned back. Ned nodded at the broken stick at his waist. "If it comes down to using your wits or your magic, remember that magic can create as many problems as it solves, and sometimes more."