by Sharon Green
Istlan nodded his agreement, so Elissia moved over to the small section of crate front that looked like a door had been cut in it. It had a strip of leather that looked like a latchstring, and that was usually a sign that visitors were welcome. With that in mind Elissia pulled on the string and then pushed the section of “door,” and –
“What do you want now?” the figure on the cot demanded in an irritable whisper without looking up.
“Can’t you people leave me alone even for a few minutes?”
“I’m Sentor, and I’d rather leave you alone some place other than here,” Elissia returned softly with the joy she felt. Gardal looked filthy and sported a scraggly beard, but he seemed to be perfectly all right! “Unless you’d prefer to be left here?”
“El – uh, Sentor!” Gardal exclaimed, having finally looked up to see her. “What are you doing here? If they find you they’ll have two prisoners instead of one!”
“I’m here to get you out, fool,” Elissia countered with sudden impatience. “Don’t just sit there asking silly questions, get up and come with us.”
“But I can’t,” Gardal protested, now looking horribly disturbed. “They have the members of my escort as prisoners somewhere else, and if I try to escape they’ll torture my people to death. I can’t be responsible for something like that, even to get out of here.”
“Gardal, the only members of your escort still left alive are at home,” Elissia told him gently, now understanding why he hadn’t tried to escape by himself. “The rest were killed when you were taken They knocked you out before they did the killing, just so they could use a lie to hold you.”
Her brother muttered something that must have been vile under his breath, and then he rose to his feet.
“I know you’d never lie to me, so what you just said has to be the truth,” he growled softly. “With that in mind, what are we waiting for?”
Elissia stepped back to let him out, and then she closed the door again behind him. The thieves obviously checked on him rather often, but the longer it took them to discover he was gone, the better off they would be.
This time it was Morgis who led the way, with Istlan bringing up the rear. Gardal walked ahead of Elissia just behind Morgis, and it was a good thing he did. Morgis had just gone past the gap leading to the twisting path to the rest of the warehouse, when someone stepped out of it right in front of Gardal. The two men who had guided Elissia were frozen in place as thoroughly as she was, but Gardal was a different story. As soon as he saw the man he threw a heavy, furious fist, and the intruder went down without a sound. But he did hit his head on a crate on the way down, and when Morgis straightened up from the unmoving form, he shook his head.
“He’s dead, then,” Gardal whispered in a voice that still showed his satisfaction. “I would have enjoyed seeing this man die more slowly, but at least he’ll never torment another helpless captive. Let’s get out of here.”
Rather than leaving the poorly dressed body where it lay, Morgis picked it up and carried it until they reached the small door they’d come in by. He then moved half a dozen steps past the door to deeper dimness, and that was where he put the body down. He’d returned to them in another moment, and then he opened the door and carefully looked out.
Morgis held up a hand to tell them to wait, but the wait wasn’t long. Someone must have been out there, but as soon as the someone disappeared they slipped out of the warehouse and across to the building they’d started from. Istlan went to tell the others that they were back and successful, and Elissia used the time to explain to Gardal that some of his rescuers wanted to move to Sollera as a reward for their help.
“They’ll be more than welcome,” Gardal assured Elissia and Morgis both, and then he drew Elissia a bit to the side. “But I still haven’t heard how you happen to be here. I can’t see Father giving you permission to do something this insane, not when Waysten probably wants you more than he did me. They tried to pretend that it was Derand who was responsible for capturing me, but I knew better. Waysten is the only one it can be, and I still don’t understand what he hoped to gain.”
“He wants to take your friend’s place as High King, but of everywhere rather than just of Arvin,” Elissia explained briefly. “Kidnapping you was supposed to look like the first step in taking over every kingdom that wasn’t already his. Waysten would have used the excuse to get the other kingdoms to give him armies to fight against Arvin, and once Arvin was no longer a threat he would have used those armies to take over everywhere else.”
“That makes an unfortunate amount of sense, but still doesn’t answer my first question,” Gardal pointed out. “What made it your job to come after me?”
“The fact that you’re my brother made it my job,” Elissia said, then gestured to Gardal for silence. “The others are coming back, so let’s save the rest of this for later.”
Gardal wasn’t pleased with that, but with the others coming in he forbore to say so. Torban and Wyole led the group, and both men were grinning.
“Excellently done, my friends, excellently done,” Torban said as he came toward them. “No one outside noticed a thing, so your mission has to be considered a success. Are you in need of anything, Your Highness? If so, you have only to ask.”
The offer was followed by a bow, which the other men copied as soon as they realized they were supposed to. The way Gardal looked had made them forget he was a prince.
“The only thing I need right now is a room larger than two feet by four feet, and a decent meal,” Gardal replied with something of a smile. “Those people fed me, but you could call what they gave me food only by the loosest of definitions. After that, of course, I’ll need a way out of this city and back to Sollera.”
“I can take care of the room and food,” Elissia said at once. “If our new friends will work on the rest, you’ll be ready to go when they find the way.”
“There are unofficial ways out of the city, but we’ll have to locate the people who know about them,” Torban said with another bow. “As soon as we have the information, I’ll send someone to the inn where Sentor is staying. I assume that is where you’ll be taking the prince, Sentor. Am I correct?”
“Yes, that’s where we’ll be,” Elissia agreed, then she looked at Torban with curiosity. “If there are secret ways out of the city, why haven’t your unhappiest people already used them?”
“To go where?” Torban asked reasonably. “Other cities always register new residents according to where they came from, and we couldn’t very well admit that we were escaped ‘criminals’ from
Ramsond. No matter what was said, the people looking for sanctuary would have been arrested and sent back, so what was the sense in even trying?“
Elissia nodded her understanding, while at the same time deciding that something needed to be done to change the current system. Right now it caught actual criminals if they tried to register for work, but not many criminals wanted to work. It was only those unfortunates like Torban’s people who were caught, and that simply wasn’t fair
“If I’m taking you back to the inn, we’d better get going,” Wyole put in, drawing Elissia’s attention away from her thoughts. “A number of strangers are wandering around the area here, but we can get past them if we leave right now. Their numbers are slowly growing, but they haven’t reached the point where the entire neighborhood is cut off.”
“Do you have any idea who they are?” Gardal asked at once, looking seriously concerned. “Can they be Prince Waysten’s men?”
“They look like fighters, so it’s possible they are the prince’s men,” Wyole agreed, upsetting Elissia without knowing it. “He may have decided that it’s time he found the kidnap victim.”
“More likely the kidnap victim’s body,” Gardal corrected angrily. “If he found me alive and well, I’d be able to tell people that it couldn’t possibly have been the High King’s men who took me in the first place. But finding my dead body would have given him an excellent excuse to sta
rt his war.”
“So let’s not waste any more time in getting you to someplace safe,” Torban put in briskly. “Wyole, we won’t be here long after you leave, so meet us in our usual location once you see Sentor and the prince to where they’re going. We’ll be in touch soon, Your Highness, so please be patient.”
“I’m always patient with people I owe my life to,” Gardal said with a much better smile. “Which way do we go?”
Wyole showed him, and Gardal insisted that Elissia precede him before he followed. Elissia made no effort to argue, most especially since she suspected she knew whose men were now in the midst of surrounding the warehouse area. But even if she’d been absolutely certain it was the savage’s men who were out there, she still would have kept silent. She never wanted to see that miserable man again, and if Gardal found out that his friend was in the city No, Elissia would keep silent as long as there was another way to get Gardal away and back to Sollera. If it became absolutely necessary she would tell her brother the truth, but until then
Derand was awake and ready to go early, but he couldn’t insist that everyone cater to his impatience. His men had to be given time to get into position without alerting either the thieves or the city guard, and there was no way to rush that. As he paced back and forth in Listan’s study he wished there were, but his wishing for things had stopped making them come true.
“Where can she be?” he muttered as he paced, his thoughts dragging him back to the question of the girl. His men had been able to find not a single trace of her, and there may have been only three of them searching but they were the ones who knew the city best. She’d disappeared completely, and Derand could only pray that she hadn’t been captured by Waysten. If she had been, he’d certainly have to go after her no matter what the political repercussions were
“Okay, we’re ready to move,” Listan announced as he entered the study. “The men should be completely in position by the time we get there.”
“Then let’s go,” Derand said, immediately striding toward the door. “Did you tell everyone to keep their eyes open for the girl? She’s dressed like a boy, but most of them should be able to tell the difference.”
“They’ll be watching for her,” Listan promised as he followed. “Although how she’s supposed to find that place I have no idea. It was hard enough for us to find.”
“If anyone can do it, she can,” Derand muttered, almost wishing that weren’t so. “She’s not your average, ordinary girl ”
No, not average or ordinary by any means, nor would her punishment be when he caught up to her, Derand told himself grimly as Listan took over the lead. He would take her trousers and drawers down and put her over his knee, and then he would spank that round and squirming bottom until it was bright red. At that point he would announce he was ready to stop, but she would be required to beg him to continue. She would have to ask very nicely indeed, and he would finally agree to her request and start to spank her again.
Derand could almost feel her nicely padded seat under his hand, could almost hear her well-earned wailing as that hand came down again and again, giving her a spanking the equivalent of the worry she now gave him. He’d teach her to run away, and by the time he was through she would never even think about doing the same again.
Assuming she was still alive and unhurt; assuming he was able to find her; assuming he didn’t discover that she really did hate him and wanted nothing of being married to him. That last part was the most painful to consider, so Derand put it aside for the moment. He would find her, and when he did they would have it out once and for all.
Listan led him by a roundabout way to another part of the city, and when they got there one of the men came over to say that everyone was in place and ready. With that in mind Derand gave the signal to begin, which meant that he and Listan and three others began to walk toward the man they’d decided was a guard for the thieves. The man was small, thin, and badly dressed, and had been standing around doing nothing. When he saw Derand and the others with him, he turned and ran into the warehouse.
That was exactly what they wanted the man to do, and Derand could see a faint smile curve Listan’s lips. The men he’d hidden inside the warehouse would be alert for just that kind of panicked move, and would follow the thief wherever he went. He would lead them to Gardal, and the ones who followed close behind him would make sure that nothing happened to the helpless prisoner. Gardal would be free in a matter of minutes, and then Derand would be free to look for Gardal’s sister.
When Derand and the others reached the inside of the warehouse, the small thief was nowhere in sight. It was a big place and the man could be hiding anywhere, but it turned out that he wasn’t hiding at all. One of Derand’s men stepped out to gesture to the newcomers, and when they reached him they found that their plans were working perfectly.
“There’s a narrow path between these bales and crates, Your Majesty,” the man said with a bow. “We don’t know where it leads, but the others are following right behind the quarry. He won’t have a chance to do anything but lead us right to the prisoner.”
Derand nodded and gestured the man into leading off, and he and the others followed. Once into the narrow opening they found that the path between stacked items twisted and turned a bit before leading to a narrow aisle between the stacked items and the warehouse wall. A second man was there to direct them to the right, and they all hurried along in the dim dustiness until they heard something of a scuffle. That made them pick up their pace a bit, and a moment later they came on the thief being held by three of Derand’s men. The thief looked frantic and terrified, but Derand’s men didn’t appear much happier.
“What’s wrong, Histal?” Listan asked one of the three, his frown deep enough for Derand to hear.
“Where’s Prince Gardal?”
“He doesn’t seem to be here, my lord,” the man Histal replied hesitantly. “We were right behind this thief here when he opened that big crate by a door in its side, but there’s no one inside.”
“All right, speak up, you,” Listan said to the quivering thief, a definite growl in his voice. “You can tell us now where Prince Gardal is, or you can tell us later after you’ve been taught what real pain is. The choice is yours.”
“No, don‘ hurt me!” the small man begged as he twisted in the hands of those holding him. “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout where th’ fool’s got t‘. He wus here jest a bit ago, an’ now he’s gone! When th‘ others find out they’ll skin me sure!”
Derand let Listan browbeat the thief a bit more, but he had the feeling they would get no other answer from the frightened man. If he hadn’t expected to find the prisoner in that crate, there would have been no reason for him to have made straight for it. Gardal had been there, but now he was gone.
“So now what do we do?” Listan asked in a very soft voice once he’d drawn Derand aside. The thief stood crying in true terror, a reaction it was clear even Listan found hard to doubt.
“I wish I knew,” Derand muttered back, fingering the false beard he wore again. “If the thieves moved him elsewhere, they would hardly have left one of their own in the dark about it. Waysten isn’t likely to have taken him, not when he still seems to want to keep his hands clean of accusation. So who does that leave?”
Only seconds could have passed before Derand looked at Listan, to find his friend looking at him in the same way. They’d apparently had the same thought, but then Listan shook his head dismissively.
“No, that can’t possibly be the answer,” Listan said, sounding as though he were trying to convince himself. “It isn’t possible for the girl to have gotten here ahead of us, so there has to be another answer. Doesn’t there?”
“If you can think of one, be sure to let me know,” Derand told him, almost as disbelieving as his friend. It didn’t seem likely that Seea had managed to find that place and get there ahead of him and his men, but what other possibility was there? Her plans must have been more involved than she’d told
him about, and the fact that they’d succeeded proved they were good plans. As he should have known they would be. Hadn’t he realized immediately that she would make a topnotch advisor?
“All right, let’s get out of here,” Derand finally said with a sigh. “If the prize was plucked out of our hands, it still has to be out there somewhere. Or he has to be, along with his sister. I doubt if they’ve been able to leave the city, so they’re still going to need protection. But we have to find them if we’re going to provide that protection, so let’s get to it.”
Listan nodded then began to gather the men, but he also took the precaution of arranging to keep the thief with them. The man knew a little too much for all their sakes, so they had to decide what to do with him. If he made himself useful in some way – like helping them to find Seea and her brother – Listan would let him live. If not, the small man would disappear without anyone knowing what had become of him.
And Derand would make no effort to keep that from happening. Seea and Gardal’s safety was the most important thing in that whole mess, and Derand meant to let nothing get in the way of it
“This is where we’ll be staying until we can find a way out of the city,” Elissia told Gardal in a soft voice when they reached the back of the inn. “Wait here with Wyole for a minute while I make sure it’s all right to go in.”
“Just be careful,” Gardal said equally as softly after his nod of agreement. “I couldn’t stand it if I were retaken because we were careless.”
Elissia gave him her own nod of agreement, then made a cautious way into the kitchen. Everything seemed to be normal, and Renni came over to her at once.
“How did it go?” Renni asked anxiously in a low voice. “Why have you come back alone?”
“But I’m not alone,” Elissia answered with a grin of enjoyment. “I have a friend with me who’s a bit worse for wear, and he could really use some of your wonderful cooking. After that he’ll probably want to use the bed in my room. If you have to use a name for him, call him Demmin.”
