Tree of Ages Box Set

by Sara C. Roethle

  “First,” Liaden said, “I apologize for the unceremonious kidnapping. We had hoped to do things a little differently. Unfortunately for you, opportunity knocked, and we took it.”

  Finn continued to glare in reply.

  “Second,” Liaden went on, “we have no intention of hurting you, and your kidnapping was not even our original intent. It was recently brought to our attention that you are the object of a rather immense bounty, so we took a chance. Third, your screaming will do no good. You were unconscious for a full day in which we walked non-stop. We also traveled several miles down a small stream, so there will be no tracking you in that manner either. Now, if you promise not to scream, we will remove the cloth from your mouth.”

  Finn nodded slowly. As soon as the cloth was loosened, she spit the wad out of her mouth and began screaming in earnest. She was rewarded with the replacement of the gag, which was now covered in dirt that had stuck to her saliva.

  She struggled as Kai lifted her to a standing position. When he held her too tightly for her to run, she let her legs go limp so that he had to hold her up, or put her back in the dirt. He did neither, and instead slung her across the horse's saddle on her belly while Liaden kept a short rein on the creature. Her hands and feet were tied in place, and they resumed their journey in silence.

  Finn seethed as they rode, still not understanding why she was taken. Even if Kai and Liaden had figured out who she was, no one else knew. The bounty they'd mentioned had to be for someone else. It was the only explanation.

  Finn was forced to remain uncomfortably tied to the saddle for several hours, until darkness fell and Kai and Liaden stopped to make camp. Finn's stomach felt bruised, and her legs were so stiff that Kai had to help her to stand as he finally freed her from the saddle. He removed the gag, and this time she did not scream. Kai smiled with relief and helped her wobble over to where Liaden was building a small fire.

  “Why are you doing this?” Finn asked weakly as she sat. “I thought you were my friends.”

  Liaden smirked as she stoked the fire. “Why does anyone do anything?” When Finn did not venture a guess, Liaden answered, “Coin.”

  Kai knelt in front of Finn and tied her feet together to slow any attempts she might make at running. Finn glared down at his apologetic expression, but made no move to fight him. Finished, he left her to take a seat next to Liaden.

  Finn hunched down, fully prepared to sulk. “So I am assuming neither of you are really who you claimed to be. Were even your names a lie?”

  “Only hers,” Kai answered, gesturing to Liaden. “Pretending to be a noble requires a noble's name.”

  Liaden smiled warmly. “My true name is Anna.”

  Finn wanted nothing more than to slap that smile off Anna's face. “My next question is, who on earth do you think I am? I assure you, I do not merit a kidnapping.”

  “You are a girl who was once a tree,” Kai answered matter-of-factly, shocking Finn, “and someone apparently has great interest in little girls with that interesting quirk. Like Anna said, kidnapping you was not our original intent. We had heard of the bounty previously, but would never have thought that it was for you, if not for the events in the forest.”

  Finn glared, ignoring her empty stomach as it attempted to make itself heard. “And of what events are you referring?”

  “Just a few instances that revealed your identity,” Kai explained. “When you were Faie-struck, you claimed to have once been a tree. I thought that perhaps you were just talking nonsense, until the Faie began referring to you as Dair Leanbh. Oak Child. ”

  “So really,” Anna went on. “You're just as much a liar as either of us, telling us of your small village life and your traveling father. Do you even have a father?”

  “I am sure that I do,” Finn snapped, “and who is to say that he is not well traveled?”

  “And who is to say that I am not a noble, at least in someone's eyes?” Anna countered.

  Finn had no good answer to Anna's question, and there was something plaguing her far greater than her alleged friends' betrayal. “What does this man or woman want so badly, that they would pay you scoundrels to apprehend me?”

  Kai shrugged, like it did not really matter. “That question is not relevant to the job, therefore it is not for us to know. If Óengus was hunting you, which we believe he was, then the bounty is legitimate, and that's all that matters.”

  Anna handed Finn two slices of bread sandwiched around a piece of cured meat. She considered shunning the food out of spite, but she really was far too hungry to do so.

  “How did you make the Faie attack us?” Finn asked as she gnawed on the hard bread. She did her best to keep her calm outwardly, though inside, her mind was racing with possible ways to escape.

  “You sure are full of questions,” Anna observed.

  Finn glared at her. “And answering them is the least you can do for me.”

  Anna sighed. “Very well. We had nothing to do with the Faie attack. Kai followed after Iseult had left the inn, and witnessed the whole thing. It was a great opportunity, and the old man was sleeping like a stump, so we acted while we could.”

  “Then what about the twins?” Finn asked. “Had Anders not offered us a place in your company, we surely would not be where we are now. If I was not your original quarry, what was?”

  Kai rolled his eyes as if it was quite obvious. “The maps, and maybe a few of their books, which are now all lost, unfortunately. The twins needed to add validity to their project. The noble lady Anna agreed to accompany them on their mission, as long as it was on the twins' funding. The twins, knowing that they had much to gain in the completion of verified maps, namely renown and a great deal of coin, agreed to her terms. Of course, their great error was in not confirming Anna's identity, so anxious were they to find accompaniment.”

  “That doesn't explain what you wanted with maps and some old books,” Finn pressed.

  Anna sighed and continued Kai's explanation. “We would have sold the maps and the books. Even unverified maps of such extent are worth a decent amount of coin, and many of the books they carried were one-of-a-kind, and far more valuable than any map could ever be. They were fools to remove the tomes from their Archives to begin with.”

  “You're nothing but petty, terrible thieves,” Finn grumbled, feeling thoroughly disgusted and wondering how she had ever believed that such people were her friends.

  Anna shrugged. “The world is a petty, terrible place. Given the lives we have led, no one can blame us for being opportunistic. The weak do not survive in this world.”

  Finn laughed bitterly. “You would have been left with the Travelers if not for those of us you call weak.”

  Anna's face shut down at the mention of the Travelers.

  “And now you would sentence me to imprisonment, after I helped save you from being nothing more than a plaything,” Finn continued as indignant rage boiled up inside of her.

  Anna unsheathed her dagger and lunged, lightning quick, at Finn, pressing the blade to her throat as their bodies made contact. “I am no one's plaything,” she growled, “and you will not mention the Travelers in my presence again.”

  “And to think,” Finn whispered, “just a few days ago you were thanking me for going back for you. I find your sense of gratitude-” Finn's words were cut off as Anna drew a thin line with the blade across Finn's neck. Finn held perfectly still as a rivulet of blood leaked down to her chest.

  “Anna,” Kai said sharply, “we need her in one piece.”

  Anna was up before Finn knew it, stalking off into the dark forest.

  “Time for rest,” Kai announced softly as he approached her.

  Finn sat rigidly as a fine trembling took control of her limbs. Her tear ducts betrayed her as she reached a shaking hand up to dab at the blood on her throat.

  With a look of sympathy, Kai crouched and lifted Finn gently into his arms. Shocked as she was from the encounter, Finn felt like she was floating as Kai carried her
to a bedroll. He set her down, then to Finn's surprise he reached for the rope he had secured at his belt.

  “How am I supposed to rest while tied up?” Finn asked, though it came out more like a sob.

  “And how are we supposed to rest while worrying about you scurrying off all night?” he asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

  Finn inched backwards toward the fire, prepared to fight despite the fact that she could not run, and felt shaky enough that standing was risky all on its own. She swiped at the tears on her face, frustrated that she could not make them stop flowing.

  “Now, now,” Kai soothed. “You're going to be tied up either way. You could cooperate, and end up in a fairly comfortable position, or you can fight and I'll tie your hands behind your back, and I'll pull back your feet and tie them to your long, long hair.”

  Finn only had to consider a moment before holding out her hands. Kai ended up tying her arms crisscrossed across her chest. She glared at him, wondering if he was being extra cruel.

  “Trust me,” he said. “You'll sleep more comfortably this way than if your hands were tied behind your back.”

  “You speak as if you know from experience,” Finn replied, barely above a whisper.

  Kai laughed. “I'll be willing to tell you about my past as soon as you tell me the truth about yours.” He helped her lower herself back down to the bedroll.

  She held Kai's gaze as he pulled the bedding up to her neck. “You'll both pay for this,” she threatened.

  Still crouched beside her, Kai wiped the last tears from her face. “I don't doubt that at all,” he whispered.

  With that confusing sentiment, he stood and walked out of sight. Finn shivered in her bedding and resigned herself to the fact that she would not be escaping that night. Her thoughts turned to Iseult, hoping he would find her soon since she thought escaping on her own unlikely. It was strange to think that she could entrust her rescue to a man she'd only recently met, but she knew with a surety that he would come for her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Icy water woke Iseult as it splashed across his face, drenching his shirt and hair. His blurry vision focused on Àed, holding an empty bucket and looking like he wished the bucket had been filled with acid.

  “It's about time ye bladdered fool!” Àed screeched. “The town wakes up to six of their own lyin dead in the square, and you and one other fool sleepin so heavy that we thought you were dead as well! And me girl is gone!”

  Iseult sat up and tried to clear the fog from his mind. He was in the inn's stockroom with Àed and a dreary looking Óengus. As recollection hit him, he stumbled to his feet and lurched across the room at Óengus' hunched form. He grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and jerked him to his feet roughly, all the while resisting the urge to simply stab him.

  “Where is she?” Iseult snapped, inches from Óengus' unimpressed pale eyes.

  Óengus eyed him coolly, making no attempt to pull away. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Iseult pushed away from Óengus and turned back to Àed. “Where are the others? We must leave at once.”

  Àed snorted. “Gone, and this one won't tell me a word of what happened.” He gestured at Óengus.

  Óengus just stared back in reply. Iseult's hands shook as he approached the man once more. “Why are you still here? Who are you hunting?”

  Óengus let a small, wicked smile creep across his face. “Oddly enough, the target we both now seek is the same. I am after the girl who calls herself Finn.”

  Faster than any eyes could follow, Iseult had a knife at Óengus' throat. “What do you want with her?” he asked, his voice even and calm.

  “I want the bounty on her head,” Óengus replied just as calmly. “Though since that is likely lost to me in this late hour of the race, I imagine you would pay just as much for her return.”

  Iseult removed the knife and began to pace, knowing that scare tactics would not work on a man like Óengus. “And how would you return her?”

  Óengus smiled even wider. “I know the ones who have her. In fact, you know them as well. They were your traveling companions for quite some time.”

  Iseult's jaw tightened. He knew to whom Óengus referred. He ran his fingers along the edge of his knife in contemplation. He was not a killer unless it was in defense of his life, but part of him longed to put an end to the man in front of him. “Where are they taking her?”

  Óengus cast a worried eye on Iseult's knife, making Iseult realize that he had inadvertently stepped toward the man once again.

  “I believe as long as that dagger is in your hand, I will not be answering your question. In fact,” Óengus continued. “I will not answer you at all except to warn you that you will want to find the girl before she gets to where she's going, and you’ll not likely find her without my help.”

  With a growl Iseult slipped the blade into his belt, though that was not where it had come from. He would not give Óengus the advantage of knowing where he kept each of his blades. “We leave now,” Iseult ordered. He eyed Óengus steadily. “You will help us to track her. If we do not find her, or if she dies, you die. If she is returned to me alive, you will have your bounty and more.”

  Óengus held out his hand. “Agreed.”

  Iseult ignored the offered hand and stormed out of the room to find horses and supplies, with Àed following closely behind him. He would find Finn, and he would kill those who had taken her. He did not delight in taking life, but for the two traitors, he would make an exception. He knew that Óengus meant Liaden and Kai when he spoke of previous companions. The twins did not possess the skill for such a scheme. Plus, they would have been dismissive of Liaden's capture by the Travelers if Finn had been their target all along.

  “The townsfolk will not be letting ye go easily,” Àed said, interrupting Iseult's thoughts. “They have six dead, and no explanation. Those that survived the night remember little of it.”

  “That is not my concern,” Iseult replied coldly.

  Àed wrapped a hand around Iseult's wrist, halting Iseult's motion and surprising him with the strength of the grip. “They will make it yer concern, laddy. Yer lucky they didnae hang ye while ye were asleep. As it is, ye'll have to stand trial.”

  As Àed's hand dropped back to his side, Iseult slowly shifted his weight from foot to foot while he surveyed the empty common room. He could not spare the time to deal with the people of the burgh. Running would make him look guilty, but at that moment he couldn't have cared less. With Finn he had found purpose, and he would not let her go so easily.

  He moved to peer through one of the small windows at the front of the inn. Many of the townsfolk had gathered in the square to listen to a tiny man, draped in an ornately embroidered blue cloak, as he stood on a roughly erected wooden podium to speak to them. The townsfolk yelled and gestured angrily as the man spoke, wanting answers about their lost loved-ones. With that sort of energy, there would be no trial. Another group of townsfolk approached the podium, several with torches in hand. The Alderman turned green as he glanced in the direction of his inn.

  Iseult glanced back toward the room where they’d left Óengus, then looked down to regard Àed. “Instruct Óengus to gather his things and meet us on the road north of town. Find your way to the stables without being seen. I will meet you there shortly. Can you manage that?”

  Àed glanced out the window at the increased sounds of shouting, grunted and spat on the wooden floor, then turned back to Iseult. “I can manage a lot of things, lad,” he grumbled, then walked back into the stockroom to speak with Óengus.

  Àed gave their new companion his instructions, then made his way to the stables, muttering all the while. Could he go undetected? Of course he could. He was the Mountebank, after all. Escaping the inn had not been difficult. Though men had been placed at both the front and back entrance to make sure the “criminals” did not escape, the inn boasted plenty of windows. He was still as spry as a man of twenty, and didn't mind a test of
his long-unused skills.

  In his prime, he would have been out of the town with three fresh horses and a week's worth of supplies before the sun had moved a single inch across the horizon. Of course, in his prime he would have never been fooled into trusting the untrustworthy in the first place. As it was, climbing out of a second story window was the best he could do.

  Once outside, he waited in the shadows for a pair of townspeople to pass. He willed the shadows to surround him, and was pleased to find that he was at least still capable of that old trick. He was not sure how Óengus planned to escape the inn, nor did he care. He knew beyond a doubt that the man would try to take Finn as soon as they found her, and he would likely have to be killed. Àed preferred to leave the business of unnecessary deaths in his past.

  He approached the stables and the two men set to guard the horses. Rummaging through his satchel as he went, he crept up behind the unsuspecting men. Before the men could even turn around, they were enveloped in a cloud of dust that promptly put them to sleep.

  “Can I manage? Pfft,” Àed mumbled as he began to saddle his shaggy horse.

  Iseult approached the stable, surprised to find Àed already sitting on his shaggy horse, the old man's face scrunched in impatience. Iseult had almost considered leaving Àed behind, as he would need to move swiftly to find Finn, but perhaps the aged conjurer would be useful after all.

  Iseult left his spot in the shadows and approached with several sacks of supplies slung over his shoulder. The goods had not been hard to come by, luckily, though he had only taken the time to rob the inn's storeroom of the bare minimum needed for travel.

  Iseult raised an eyebrow at the fallen men. “I suppose that counts as undetected.”

  Àed snorted in reply, letting Iseult know that he had not been at all surprised by his sudden appearance from the shadows. It was not often that another man could detect him before he chose to show himself, and it further affirmed the choice to bring Àed along.