The Last Falcon: Book 1 of the Cael Stone

by Colleen Ruttan

CHAPTER 20

  Trapped under the heavy blankets in the heat, Erynn thought she might die. The tears flowed for a while, dampening the floorboards, but eventually they stopped. Then her nose grew stuffy and it became even more difficult to breathe. Several times she came close to pushing the blankets back so she could get some air, no longer caring if she was seen, but somehow she hung on and finally they left the main road and headed east on another riddled with rocks and small holes. They passed over a hill and along what sounded like fields of grazing sheep before the wagon slowed and Jaynus leapt down and ran ahead. The light under the wagon dimmed and then it stopped. Somewhere nearby a pig snorted.

  Cole climbed down and went around to Erynn's side of the wagon. He pulled back the blankets and in seconds had produced a dagger and cut the ropes from her hands.

  Erynn sat up slowly, rubbing her sore wrists and wincing at the light. She hadn't expected him to free her so soon, assuming he'd take her to wherever it was he planned to lock her up before removing the ropes. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the wagon was parked in the middle of a large barn, the sliding doors still open and the afternoon sun blazing bright outside. Four horses gazed at her from stalls on either side of the aisle, several pigs in a pen near the doors. Jaynus stood near the tailgate, watching her, as his father walked around the wagon.

  "Run up to the house and tell your mother to pack some food," Cole said, as he pulled back the blankets covering Adena. "Enough for a few days if she can. And keep an eye on the road. If you see anyone coming — anyone at all — I want you to come tell me right away."

  "Yes, father," Jaynus said, and he turned and jogged out of the barn.

  "Don't worry about trying to escape," Cole said when he was gone. "I'm letting you both go." He cut through Adena's ropes and the second she was free she grabbed her pack and hopped over the side of the wagon, backing away from him as if she feared this might be some kind of trick.

  Erynn just blinked. He was letting them go?

  "Why?" Adena asked. "I thought Quinn wanted us locked up until things cooled down?"

  Cole slid the dagger back in a sheath on his belt, not looking particularly pleased with his decision — or Adena's reminder. "Well, that was before I found out the king was dead and Holden's blaming you for it." He reached back into the wagon, under the seat, and pulled out a sack, handing it to Adena. "There's some apples in there. It's not much, but I'm sure you girls are starving. Jaynus will bring something more. Hopefully enough to last you a few days."

  Erynn grabbed her pack and climbed over the side of the wagon. Learning about the king hadn't left her with much of an appetite at all, but she had had a difficult time sleeping the night before and knew she needed to eat something.

  "We were lucky today," Cole said, as Adena handed her one of the apples. "I thought for sure those soldiers were going to search the wagon. Tomorrow we might not be so lucky. If Marik finds that clearing, which I'm sure he will, he'll know you left in a wagon. And if he spreads the word and those men remember my face ..." He paused and rubbed a hand over his bald head, looking quite pale. "When your father asked me to hold letters for Sheldon, and to meet with Quinn, I agreed because he was a friend and because I believed in Gareth. And because I didn't think there was much harm in it. But then Holden went and passed that stupid law, making falconry illegal, and Caelin and Kendra were killed. Now the king's dead and Galians are running around Alyria. It's getting out of hand."

  "I understand," Erynn said between bites of apple. "Believe me, the last thing I want is anyone else getting killed because of me." Just the thought of the king brought tears to her eyes again, but she forced them back down.

  "We don't know that's what happened," Adena said. She had wandered over to the open doors and was peering carefully outside as she munched on her apple. "The king was old. And you've said yourself he hasn't been well lately."

  "You didn't hear Holden, Adena. He killed him for interfering with his plans. For helping me escape. I'm sure of it. Quinn thought the king gave me the tunnel key. Holden must have thought that, too."

  "It's still not your fault. You didn't ask for this. To have Queen Naedra after you, or to be who you are."

  Erynn didn't agree, but she didn't want to argue, either. She wiped her eyes and sat down on a bench outside one of the stalls. It was like she was stuck in some kind of bad dream. Just a few hours ago she was running from the Galians and trying to get used to being a Daughter of Maegan. Now she really was a fugitive — wanted for the murder of the king. And soon Gareth would be dead and Holden would officially be the next King of Alyria — if he wasn't calling himself that already. And she had known it was going to happen. In a way, Gareth's death would be her fault, too.

  "What about Quinn?" Adena asked. "He wasn't exactly keen on us running around on our own."

  "He won't be pleased," Cole said. "But he'll know Wryden's death and the warrant for you changes things. And that I can't risk Marik finding you here. Of course, you two need to be careful. Get out of Alyria as soon as you can and don't get caught. The longer you're here, the greater the risk Marik will catch up to you. He's smart, that man. More so than he's given credit for. And if you do get caught, you better tell him that story you told Quinn. And make him believe it. If you don't we could all end up dead."

  "We will," Adena said.

  Erynn wished she had her friend's confidence, but just the thought of facing Marik made her feel sick — and terrified to head back out on their own. Part of her wanted to crawl up in one of Cole's empty stalls, right there in the barn, and hide. To wait until things had cooled down. What if they did get caught? She could still see Marik's face as he stood next to her at the wash basin, studying hers for some sign the king had warned her. Looking for the truth. Would he believe her?

  Cole lowered the tailgate and began folding the blankets he had used to cover them, but he seemed bothered. "I wish there was more I could do to help. Even take you to Brye myself. For your father at least, Erynn. He was a good friend. A good man. He didn't deserve what happened to him and I know Lord Caden will get what's coming to him one day."

  Erynn finished the last of her apple and fed the core to the horse in the stall behind her, realizing Quinn must have filled Cole in about her father and Lord Caden before they left the clearing. Then she leaned back against the wall and sighed. "I still can't believe my father was spying on Holden. And that I had no idea."

  "Not Holden so much," Cole replied. "More the king. Your father had access to him that Quinn didn't have. Had his trust. He tried to keep Gareth informed on what his father was up to. What he was thinking on certain things. Stuff like that."

  Erynn knew her father went up to the castle every day, but didn't realize he had spent so much time with the king. "Did he and Quinn bring you the information? And you gave it to Sheldon? Is that how it worked?"

  "Davy would come here if he had something important he thought Gareth should know, or else he'd give it to Sheldon when he saw him in town. Sheldon would stop by on his way to and from Caraden, to drop letters off or pick any up, and then he'd take them down to Caelin to send. But he didn't know about Quinn. And neither did Caelin. Only that Gareth had someone else in Caraden, besides your father, feeding him information. Your father and I were the only ones that knew. I'd meet up with Quinn in that old wood every few weeks to exchange information. Occasionally your father would meet us there, too."

  "What is Quinn doing for Holden, exactly?" Adena asked. "I've never really understood why he even has him around."

  "Helping him build an army. Among the other odd jobs Marik likes to throw his way."

  Adena frowned. "I thought he already had an army."

  "Yes, but Holden knows a lot of those men are still loyal to Gareth. Especially if he comes home. Marik's trying to weed them out, but they know they'll never get rid of everyone. What they need are more men. Men who will fight for money, not loyalty. Quinn knows people like that."

  Erynn still found it all so co
nfusing. "The king didn't trust Quinn at all. And until today, I didn't think Gareth — or my father — did, either."

  "Well, Quinn will be the one to tell you about that. Although I must admit it came as a surprise to me, too. I thought he'd picked his road. I don't know what Gareth said to him." He paused, scratching at his chin. "I don't suppose he asked about your trip to Galia?"

  "No," Erynn said, surprised. "Why would he ask about that?"

  Cole hesitated, as if he wasn't quite sure he should have brought it up. "He never did figure out who your father went there to meet. I thought he might have asked you."

  "You mean who my father bought the horses from?"

  "Buying horses was the excuse that got the three of you across the bridge without drawing attention."

  "I don't understand."

  Cole took a deep breath. "Your father went to Galia to buy horses a few months before Gareth left. He told us when he got back that he'd met someone while he was there. Someone who had access to Naedra and who he thought might be able to help with some information, but at the time wasn't willing to talk. Something changed before your father made that last trip, but he wouldn't say what. Only that he wanted to go talk to this person again. So he persuaded the king he needed some fresh breeding stock and off the three of you went."

  Erynn stared at him, stunned. The trip to Galia wasn't about horses? She closed her eyes, thinking back on everything that had happened up until the time they left Cold Lake. Everything her father had said or done. Everyone he might have spoken to. Searching for some sort of proof that Cole was right. Something she hadn't noticed at the time. But she couldn't remember anything. Could it be true?

  "Erynn?" Cole asked.

  She opened her eyes.

  "Do you remember your father meeting with anyone?" he asked. "Other than the man he bought the horses from? Or even mentioning names? It could be important."

  Erynn shook her head, feeling almost numb now. Not a single person or name stood out. She couldn't even remember the name or face of the man they'd bought the horses from. "I don't remember."

  "Maybe Jared would know," Adena said. "If we could find him."

  "My father wouldn't tell Jared something like that and not tell me, too," Erynn said, a little angrier than she had intended.

  Cole sighed. "Well, there's not much we can do about that now anyway, even if we did know. We have no way to tell Gareth, or even arrange for him to get the information." He reached for the last two blankets and quickly folded them. Then he set the blankets on another bench and started to unhitch the horses.

  "Did Gareth know?" Erynn asked.

  Cole paused. "Gareth?"

  "Did he know my father went to Galia again? The real reason?"

  Cole was quiet. Then he nodded. "Quinn did mention it in one of his letters."

  Erynn rested her head against the wall. Now she knew why Gareth had sent her that letter. The one telling her how sorry he was to hear the news. Perhaps he felt responsible for what happened.

  Jaynus returned a short time later, carrying two small bundles of food. The girls took them and slipped them in their packs while Jaynus took over tending to the horses and Cole walked them to the back door. Outside was an open pasture scattered with more sheep and some trees on the far side.

  "You'll need to watch out for Thornhill," Cole said. "It's about twenty-files miles south of here and you'll want to avoid the towns as much as you can. The news about the king will spread quickly and people will be watching for you."

  Erynn simply nodded, feeling somewhat awkward standing there at the door with Cole. She supposed she should thank him for letting them go, but had to admit she was almost reluctant to leave. She was still worried about Marik, and what else they might face on the road now that there was a warrant out for their arrest. And she also wanted to know what else Cole knew about her father. What else he might have been up to in those years before he died and had never told her. And that brought her back to Gareth. "Do you think Quinn will change his mind about looking for Sheldon?"

  Cole shook his head. "Like he said, it's dangerous now. Marik's looking for Sheldon himself, and if he hears Quinn is, too, he might just figure out what's going on."

  Erynn glanced out the door at the trees on the far side of the pasture. "I just hate to think we might go right by him and not even know it."

  "Well, I doubt he's up here anywhere. Not this far north. Sheldon has more friends in the south now. More people he trusts. And he knows the terrain better. My guess is he hasn't gone all that far from Blackwood. He also has his granddaughter to take care of now. If he needs help, he'll have it down there."

  "Then surely one of those friends must know where he is?"

  "Wade Parsons is the only person I can think of who might. He runs the Blackwood Inn, where Sheldon's been living ever since his wife died, and is probably his closest friend down there — or at least that's what I've gathered from talking to Sheldon. Wade even let Caelin move that falconry of his to the inn after Holden passed that stupid law."

  "They had their falconry at the inn?" Adena asked. "Wasn't that dangerous?"

  "Yes, which is why they eventually ended up moving it. Only a few weeks before Caelin was killed actually. Truth be told, I think they underestimated how serious Holden was about that law, and figured Gareth would be back soon enough and eliminate it. But it worked well for a while, hidden as it was up in the attic. The place is surrounded by trees. Enough to help hide the birds."

  "Maybe that's how Marik found out what they were doing," Adena said. "Someone did see the falcons."

  "We wondered about that, but if it was, Wade would probably have been killed, too. Or at least questioned. And he wasn't. Quinn's tried to find out, but Marik's never said much. Still, he doesn't get the sense Marik knows about that falconry." He paused, now looking a little uncomfortable. "Of course, you mustn't tell anyone I told you about that. Wade still could be killed if Marik found out. Whether he has falcons hidden up in that attic or not."

  Adena hitched her pack up on her shoulder. "Well, I think his secret's safe. Not much chance of us going to Blackwood. We're going to have enough trouble just getting out of Alyria."