She saw compassion in his eyes, and love. He cradled her head against his chest.
“Shhhh. You’ve done all you can do. We’ll make a new plan, Danica. Tomorrow Emma will be on the barge, and we’ll figure out how to save her. She’s strong. She’ll survive.”
Danica took comfort from Jimmu’s words.
Emma is strong. And smart. She’ll be on that barge tomorrow. She’ll survive. She has to!
Thirty-Nine
Emma came fully awake when the cold water hit her face. After the initial shock, she was grateful for the rude awakening. It brought her to her senses, and while she was in intense pain, she was more alert than she had been minutes before. She remembered where she was and, more importantly, who was with her. Dumone, The Magician! He had been pursuing a relentless line of questioning, punctuated with various forms of torture. He wanted to know who she was, where she was from, and who she was with.
She was certain he knew who she was with. Jimmu had been arrested with her, and it wouldn’t take long before they figured out Danica was with them. From Dumone’s questioning she had the sense that Danica had escaped.
Stay hidden Danica!
Emma could tell from the small window in the cell that it was dark outside. In the morning I’ll be on the barge with the other women prisoners. She faced her worst fear. If I’m still alive.
“I’m losing patience with you, my dear. Tell me who you are,” Dumone said.
“Water,” she said in a scratchy voice, barely above a whisper. She wanted to buy herself time to formulate the germ of a strategy. It took a while for her to clear her mind. Her lips were swollen and split. She could barely see out of her eyes. And she couldn’t hear out of her right ear. Her nose was probably broken also since she couldn’t breathe from it. She felt pain in her hands, and she knew all her fingers had been broken. But what hurt more than anything was her abdomen. Something inside was broken, and she couldn’t escape the stabbing pain.
Dumone stared at her, then said to someone behind her, “Get her some water.”
A burly man, naked to the waist, brought a cup and handed it to her. She tried to grasp it, but her broken fingers wouldn’t work. Finally, she used the heels of her hands to hold it clumsily and she drank it all. When she looked at the man who had given her the water, she noticed his vacant eyes.
Dumone saw her shiver and said, “Ivur likes his work. He’s actually enjoying himself, aren’t you Ivur?”
The man grunted and indeed did look stupidly happy.
“He has more in store for you, my dear.” Dumone paused to let that sink in. “I’m going to ask you again: who are you and why are you here?”
A plan was coming together in her mind. Slowly, pieces of it were emerging from the fog. Emma looked at Ivur and affected a look of panic. In truth, she was frightened, and she needed her reaction to work for her now, so she purposely showed her fear.
“Please, don’t hurt me again. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
She was clear enough to understand that if she confessed to being Danica, the pressure would be off the guards to find the real Danica. The Count would be informed that the one who had been prophesied was in custody and would stand trial tomorrow.
And so, she looked at Dumone beseechingly and said, “My name is Danica, the daughter of Astrid and Wylim. I was born seventeen years ago, and I was protected and sent to another world. I came here with two friends to save Lymonia from you and the Count.” She was breathing heavily, and she began to cry. “Please don’t hurt me!”
Dumone’s eyes sharpened. “I knew it!”
When the guards had arrested her and Jimmu, Dumone had searched the gazing globe for answers but it had remained frustratingly cloudy.
Now, he thought, she’s confessing!
He had never been able to get a good look at her face the few times the gazing globe had given him access. She had always had some sort of head gear on. But this young woman had her build.
“Who protected you?”
“Her name is Philomena, and she took me to another world until I turned seventeen and could fulfill the prophecy.”
Dumone’s eyes darkened. His enemy. The one who pursued him relentlessly. It would be sweet revenge when he killed this girl. He smiled, thinking of the pain it would cause Philomena. Even if the man had escaped and the other woman was at large, they would not be able to stop the trials in the morning.
“How did you get here?”
“We came through a portal a day’s travel away.”
Dumone got excited and grabbed her arm. “Tell me exactly where this portal is.” His eyes looked feverish. Finally, he would find the portal and he would find Philomena!
“It’s gone. It moves constantly. I don’t know where it is now.”
Dumone’s eyes narrowed.
“Please believe me. It disappeared the moment we stepped through it.” She began to cry piteously. “I’m telling you the truth. Please don’t hurt me again.”
“If you don’t know where it is, how will you get back?”
“The High Priestess will help us.”
Dumone’s fingers tightened on her arm. “Aren’t you the High Priestess?”
“No. Part of my mission is to find her. I don’t know who she is. I haven’t found her yet.”
His face came closer. She could see the pupils of his eyes, like tunnels, leading into an abyss. “How will you know when you’ve found her?”
“I’ll know. I’m meant to know.”
Dumone’s face became cunning.
He smiled at Emma. “You’re going to tell me all about your plans to save Lymonia and fulfill this so-called prophecy. Let’s start at the beginning.”
Emma took a ragged breath. Her terrified eyes begged Dumone to have mercy. “I’ll tell you everything. Just please, don’t let that brute Ivur hurt me again!”
Despite her pain and because of it, Emma was able to sound convincing and she told Dumone everything he wanted to hear. It wasn’t all the truth, but she knew it was what he had suspected. She was sharp enough to know that if he believed she was Danica, he would put all his attention on her. And she knew she would live at least until tomorrow. He and the Count would want to execute her in front of the people. They would make sure that all hope of the one prophesied would die with her. Maybe her friends would have time to put a plan in place and save her. She was hoping that there would be no more torture once she told Dumone everything he wanted to hear. She wanted to be as alert as possible in the morning so that she could help herself if she needed to.
Forty
It was nearly ten o’clock. Danica and Jimmu were hidden behind tall shrubs near the kitchen door at the back of the castle. Heavy fog had settled into Crown City, and it was hard to see beyond six feet.
“Are you sure she’ll show up?” Jimmu asked quietly.
“I don’t know. There’s been so much confusion since the prisoners were discovered missing and the guards killed. She may have been frightened off.”
Soon they heard someone coming down the path towards them. Ansa materialized out of the mist. She gasped when Danica and Jimmu stepped out from the bushes.
“You gave me an awful fright!” she whispered hoarsely, clutching her wrap tightly.
Danica grabbed her arm and drew her close. “We need your help, Ansa.”
Ansa looked wary. “That’s why I’m here, ain’t it? I’ve heard what’s happened. All the guards are on high alert, trying to find you two.”
“Yes, and I imagine there’s a big reward to anyone who knows where we are.” She looked closely at Ansa. “You’re too young to know what it was like here in Lymonia before the Count took control. You probably can’t imagine any other life than the one you’ve been living. But there is a better life for everyone, and we’re here to make sure it happens.”
Ansa looked skeptical. These two think they’ll be able to overpower the Count and all his guards!
“Yes, we do!” Danica said. “And we have
help.”
Ansa’s eyes widened. It’s like she can read my mind!
“yes, I can read your mind, Ansa.”
Now Ansa was frightened. Who is this person? Is she an evil spirit?
“I’m not evil. I’m the answer to the prophecy. I’ve come through time to save Lymonia, and you’re going to help me.”
“You! You’re the one!”
Danica nodded her head.
“But what can I do? How can I help?”
“You know the guards. You’re friendly with them. Try to find out where Dumone has taken Emma. We can’t find her.”
“The evil Magician!” Ansa shuddered. Fear shadowed her eyes.
“Don’t worry about him. Try to use whatever influence you can to see if any of the guards know where Emma is. Can you do that?”
Ansa swallowed. She looked at Danica, and even in the misty fog the young foreigner had a glow about her. She seemed to emanate trust and confidence.
“I saw her—Emma. I saw her fighting the guards with him.” She nodded toward Jimmu. “She was fighting like a man. Like no woman can do. She knocked out two guards.”
“She’s from the Beyond, like me. So is he,” Danica indicated Jimmu. “We’ve been sent here to free your city and this whole island from the evil it’s been under for seventeen years. Are you with us?” Danica saw uncertainty in Ansa’s mind. She didn’t want to influence her to help them; she wanted Ansa to make up her own mind. Finally, she saw clarity and resolve break through the fear.
“I’ll do what I can,” Ansa said earnestly.
“Good! We’ll wait for you in the kitchen. There won’t be anyone there now, and no one will be searching for us inside the castle. We should be safe until you return. If any guard questions why you’re here, tell them you are meeting Gabriel. They all know Gabriel. They just don’t know he’s working with us.”
Jimmu opened the heavy door and they stepped inside. All was quiet.
“Do you know how to find the guards’ quarters?”
Ansa would have scoffed if the situation weren’t so heavy with menace.
“Don’t worry, I’ll find it.”
“Gabriel has unlocked the doors, so you’ll have no trouble getting there. Good luck.”
Ansa found the interior door unlocked and the corridor lighted by a few smoky sconces set high in the walls. She looked long at Danica and Jimmu, then she turned and disappeared behind the door.
Jimmu took Danica’s hand and led her deeper into the kitchen. He banked the fire in the hearth with a couple pieces of wood from a pile nearby. He found a cloak hanging on a hook and spread it over clean rushes that were piled behind a folding screen.
“You can rest here. I’m going to find some food and drink,” he whispered.
She nodded and sank onto the make-shift bed, drawing the cloak around her. As exhausted as she was, she knew she wouldn’t sleep. They were in danger, and she was worried about Emma. Visions of her young friend consumed her mind: Emma sparring with her during their training, Emma coaching her during the Lymonian language class, joking with her while cleaning her room, admiring her in the beautiful kimono. They had become close, and Danica couldn’t bear to think about what Dumone was doing to her. She held onto the hope that the Count needed her alive for the trial in the morning.
Soon Jimmu returned with a cup of ale and some bread and cheese. Danica didn’t think she could eat, but she knew she needed to keep her strength up to be as sharp as she could in the morning. She smiled her thanks and drank thirstily.
He knelt next to her. “I’m going back to the abbey to talk to Lucas and Semiel and make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. Will you be okay here for a couple of hours?”
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“How’s your head?” He looked worried.
“Better,” she said. She wasn’t lying. The sharp stabbing had been replaced with a dull throb.
“You’re out of sight behind this screen, so if someone does show up, you’ll have time to prepare yourself. I’ll be back.”
As he got up to leave, she grabbed his wrist. “Jimmu . . .please be careful.”
A sober look passed between them, and then he nodded briefly and left her.
She picked at the bread and cheese and finished the ale. The rushes beneath the cloak made a soft bed, and she lay back and closed her eyes. Images of the last hours flooded her mind, and she forced herself to let go of them. Soon she was floating in a numbing space and her headache slowly left, replaced by a calm peace.
She realized she must have slept when she awoke suddenly to the sound of someone in the kitchen. Hoping it was Jimmu, she peaked around the screen and saw Ansa looking around. The cavernous space was lit from the dying fire in the hearth. Danica stepped from behind the screen.
“Ansa.”
The girl jumped and clutched her wrap to her chest. She quickly walked over to where Danica stood.
“What time is it?” Danica asked her.
“It’s near midnight.”
“Were you able to talk to any of the guards?”
“Yes, but no one knows anything. The wizard has her well-hidden, and they’re pretty sure she’ll be on the barge in the morning. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find your friend,” she added, seeing Danica’s disappointment.
“You’ve been a great help, Ansa. I’m glad to hear she’ll most likely be on the barge. I’ll be able to save her.”
Ansa looked unconvinced. “There are many guards and soldiers. The Count has doubled the watches.”
“I expect he has, but that won’t stop me.” She looked at Ansa. “Will you be okay leaving here and getting back to the inn?”
“Yes, I know a back way where I shouldn’t run into guards, and if I do, I know most of them and they’ll believe whatever I tell them.”
Danica didn’t doubt her. “Leave now, then. Stay away from the castle tomorrow. Don’t go to the lake.”
Apprehension traveled over Ansa’s face. “Be careful.” She squeezed Danica’s hand and left the kitchen.
Danica was wide awake now, and restless. She went over the strategies in her mind as she paced the length of the kitchen. If everything went as planned, Emma and Lucina would be saved, and hopefully the other women, too. But what if the plan fails? She spent the next hour imagining every breakdown she could think of and devising what to do in each instance. Dumone was the prime concern, the biggest question mark. He would be the greatest challenge.
I know you Dumone. You think you are invincible. You can turn yourself into a firebird and you believe you are peerless. Your cat makes you feel fearsome. You enjoy making people squirm. All your props don’t make you powerful. It’s smoke and mirrors. I know you and I see where you are weak. You won’t win. You will not!
She heard the outside door open quietly. Drawing the adze that Lucas had given her from her belt, she hid behind a wall and waited.
Jimmu stepped into the room, and Danica sighed in relief. He noticed her weapon.
“Not the same as a sword, but I imagine it could do some damage,” he whispered.
She slipped it back into her belt. “Is everyone ready?”
“Yes. Everything is in place. Right now, we need to remain hidden until the trial. We’ll wear these robes as a disguise.” He reached into a sack that he had brought into the kitchen with him and drew out two priest robes. “The guards are used to seeing the priests in and around the castle, so we shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves if we keep our hoods over our heads.”
They quickly donned the robes and inspected each other.
“We’ll wait here for another hour or so.”
They moved back behind the screen and sat on the cloak that covered the rushes. Danica told him what Ansa had found out. “Dumone is crafty. He’s making sure Emma can’t be found. He knows that if no one knows where she is, no one can leak information and so she won’t be discovered.”
“Tomorrow she’ll be on that barge. We’ll save her, Danica.”
>
Jimmu drew her to him, and she rested her head on his chest. The steady beat of his heart lulled her into sleep.
Forty-One
The day dawned dreary and cold. The Count’s soldiers had stormed through the city and the abbey hoping to find the fugitives, but they were unsuccessful. That was encouraging to Lucas, and he figured Danica and Jimmu were in a good hiding place until the trial. He had been hidden by Semiel in the tunnel underneath the rug where the steps led downward. When the soldiers departed, confident their search had been thorough, Semiel had brought him back up and he and his cohorts began implementing their plan. Four of them changed into the priest robes that would allow them entrance to the castle for Prime.
Danica and Jimmu had left the kitchen an hour before dawn, careful to put everything back in place. They were hiding in the dense garden in the back of the castle. They would resurface before the barge left the bank of the lake.
Cook and the scullery maids arrived shortly after and commenced preparing breakfast for the household and the guards. When Cook was sure she wasn’t being observed by the other kitchen staff, she slipped a vial from her pocket and emptied the contents into the cauldron of porridge that would go to the guards. She had never considered herself brave or foolhardy, but she was no friend to the Count or any of his family. In fact, Rone had imprisoned her nephew, the only family she had left. No one knew she and Efan were related. She had kept that secret. Now she had a chance to do something that might bring about a change and hopefully save Efan.
As she stirred the porridge, she thought of the rumors that were flying about the city. Some said the prophecy would be answered. Timmer in the stables said he heard the girl was here, in hiding. The daughter of Astrid. She remembered Astrid. Tears came to her eyes when she remembered how Astrid had died giving birth. She remembered Lymonia before the Count came. If only …
Someone came up behind her and told her all was ready. Cook stepped aside and relinquished the cauldron to the serving wenches who would deliver it to the guards.
The Acolyte: Magicians of the Beyond Page 26