by M. Gregg Roe
“Yes, Rosalind. Of course. People I trust approve of you. But our caravan might be delayed. Or we might even wait until the next one.”
“I understand. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Siljan smiled at her. “There isn’t much I can do at the moment. Why don’t you start exploring Rohoville?”
“Okay.” Rosalind hesitated. “I’ll head out after it stops raining.”
“Good.”
Siljan closed the door and sighed softly. Vydan was a lost cause, but at least she still had Rosalind.
♦ ♦ ♦
Branwyn woke to the sound of rain lashing against the small window of her room. Valwyn is washing away! She knew it was true. Any evidence remaining of the abduction would soon be lost, erased as if it had never been. As she sat up, a bright flash was followed moments later by a sharp concussion that she both felt and heard. It felt like her heart was breaking.
Knowing that neither her husband nor daughter would be returning home, she had elected to spend the night at the castle. Tilda was still frantic, and Branwyn had no choice but to deal with her because everyone else was busy. That went badly because she was feeling pretty frantic herself. Siljan, the lazy girl that Branwyn had been certain would never complete her clerical studies, had come to her rescue. A skillful combination of subtle magic and soothing words soon had Tilda looking almost calm. And Branwyn could sense the divine connection that marked Siljan as a true Priestess of Kyran. It was amazing.
Branwyn washed up quickly and donned her same clothes. She would need to head back to the house at some point to get more clothing should she continue to stay at the castle. She went down to the dining hall and was surprised to see that it was lunch, not breakfast, that was being served. After filling a plate with food and picking up a goblet of water, she looked for a place to sit and noticed Rosalind waving at her from a small table nearby.
“Hello, Branwyn,” said Rosalind as Branwyn seated herself opposite her. “I hope they find them soon.”
“So do I. Why are you here, Rosalind?”
Rosalind blinked in surprise. “I guess you wouldn’t know. I’m going to be studying at Siljan’s temple. To be a cleric.”
“Well, congratulations.” But it was certainly a surprise.
“Thank you. Did you just get up?”
“Yes,” admitted Branwyn, feeling embarrassed.
“Then you haven’t heard the latest. Go ahead and eat while I tell you about it.”
“All right.”
Branwyn began to eat even though she didn’t feel all that hungry. Rosalind told her that there had been reports of two men pulling what appeared to be an empty cart yesterday evening. A search in the morning found signs that a large boat had landed well to the east on the northern shore. It meant that the guard had been right about the kidnappers using a cart, and she had been right about them using invisibility magic. That actually made her feel better, and she began to eat more rapidly.
“Captain Milric sent men to search,” continued Rosalind. “They took boats both directions and searched the shore too. But then it got all stormy and they had to stop. I’m sure they’ll start again as soon as the rain stops.”
Branwyn nodded and finished her food as she thought about it. Downriver would have taken the kidnappers right by populated areas and the ferry landing, and she doubted that they would have risked that. They might have simply crossed the river and then gone overland, but she suspected that they had gone upriver at least some distance first.
“Has a ransom letter been received yet?” asked Branwyn.
Rosalind frowned. “No. Not that I’ve heard. Are you okay?”
Branwyn sighed. “No, I’m really not.”
“I want to help, but I don’t know how. I only know one spell.”
Branwyn knew dozens of spells, but none of them were capable of magically bringing her daughter back to her. “The rain has let up some and I have things I need to do outside. Would you like to come with me?”
“Okay. I was afraid to go out on my own. I don’t know anyone except you and Siljan. Can I see your temple?”
Branwyn’s face froze. She had forgotten her responsibilities. She needed to at least stop by and speak with her acolytes. Forgive me, Arwon. I’m falling apart.
She pushed back her chair and stood. “Yes. Let’s find some rain cloaks and go.” Rosalind was a distraction, but a welcome one.
44
‡ Pain ‡
Valwyn struggled against waves of pain to remain conscious. There seemed to be no part of her that didn’t hurt. Her head throbbed. Her eyes burned and wouldn’t open. Her lips were dry, her throat parched, and her stomach a yawning abyss of hunger. Her left side felt bruised as she lay with her wrists tied behind her and her ankles lashed together. The fiery pain in both her shoulders indicated that whoever had tied her wrists hadn’t exactly been gentle.
I can’t feel my hands! Valwyn panicked and tried to work her wrists loose. After the pain nearly caused her to black out, she forced herself to calm down and think. She had clearly been kidnapped, but what about Hanna and Petra? The three of them had been in the sitting room talking when they heard a noise from the kitchen—a bad noise, like someone being hit and then a body hitting the floor. A man had suddenly appeared in front of them and …
It was magic. A Sleep spell. That wouldn’t have lasted long, so they must have drugged us too. That’s why my head hurts so bad.
Valwyn heard a groan from in front of her. Her eyes seemed to be crusted shut, so she squinted them hard and then opened them wide. All she could see was a dark brown blur, but at least she could see. It took several more blinks before her eyes began to focus, revealing the dark brown to be the back of Hanna’s shirt. Her friend’s wrists were also bound, and she was slowly moving them to try to loosen the rope. Valwyn moved her head slowly and looked around. The two of them were lying on dirt that had some scraggly vegetation growing out of it in places. She looked up and everything was an off-white color except for some wooden poles. They were obviously in a tent.
Valwyn tried to speak, but her throat was just too dry. She wouldn’t be casting a spell anytime soon, not that she knew any that would really help her situation. Or had enough energy to cast one. And then there was the issue that most spells required gestures of some kind.
Realizing that she needed to see what was behind her, Valwyn tensed her legs and then jerked her body sideways as she pushed against the ground. She was briefly lying on her hands, and she gasped from the excruciating pain that caused. But she was now on her right side and could see Petra lying on her back about a yard away. Petra’s arms were in front of her, but they were manacled and chained together rather than tied with rope. Her ankles were also manacled, separated by a few inches of heavy chain.
There was a noise, and Valwyn realized that someone was entering the tent. Petra’s eyes suddenly opened, but they looked glassy. Two human men walked up to where Petra was lying. They were both dressed in dark gray with black boots. One was blond-haired and one brown-haired, and they both had thick beards. Valwyn thought that they looked to be in their mid-twenties.
Valwyn watched as one man forced Petra’s mouth open and the other poured in several drops of clear liquid from a ceramic vial. Petra’s eyes went wild briefly and her body jerked. Then she calmed and her eyes closed. They drugged her, and I’m probably next. But the blond-haired man stoppered the vial and put it away. He squatted down and picked up Petra, cradling her small body in his arms. The other man held the tent flap open as Petra was carried out. Valwyn got a brief glimpse of some tall grass and an overcast sky. The man turned and walked directly toward her. The fear that she had been desperately trying to suppress suddenly sprang forward and she began to cry. I’m going to be raped! We’re all going to be raped!
The man pulled out a leather skin as he squatted next to her. She thought that he looked almost embarrassed. “This is water,” he said gently. “Do you want some?”
Valwy
n nodded and opened her mouth. He slowly fed her sips of water that she greedily swallowed. As he stood up, she managed to say, “Thank you,” in a hoarse whisper. He stepped over her, and she soon heard the sounds of Hanna drinking. After warning them both to keep quiet, he departed.
The water definitely made her feel better, but Valwyn was very worried. She painfully turned to face Hanna again, finding her friend once again trying to loosen her bonds. Both wrists had begun to bleed, but it looked like the rope was loosening. Hanna suddenly pulled her right wrist and hand through the ropes. She pulled off the rest of the rope and then used her left arm to lever herself up. She nodded at Valwyn and then started patting her clothing in several places. Valwyn wasn’t really surprised; she knew that Hanna had all kinds of things concealed in her clothing. Hanna frowned and then pulled off her left shoe. She felt around inside and her hand emerged holding a steel blade about two inches long and half an inch wide.
As Hanna started sawing through the rope securing her ankles, Valwyn whispered, “Once we’re both free, we need to go through the back of the tent. If we can’t go under the edge, then you need to cut it.”
Hanna nodded and whispered, “Okay.”
Valwyn heard voices outside as Hanna continued to work. She couldn’t make out what was being said until one of them shouted, “You were only supposed to take the red-haired girl! You fools! Don’t you know who those girl’s fathers are? They will hunt you down!”
A high-pitched, weaselly voice yelled back, “They won’t catch us! Those two are just a bonus!”
Hanna gave her a frightened look, and Valwyn tried to appear reassuring. But she was worried. That didn’t sound good at all. The voices were continuing, and she could now hear other ones, but they were too quiet for her to make out.
After finally freeing her ankles, Hanna scooted over to Valwyn and began to saw at the ropes securing her wrists. Hanna had looked very unsteady as she moved, and Valwyn wondered if she would even be able to walk when she was finally freed.
Valwyn nearly yelled as the rope fell from her wrists and blood began to return to her hands. Her shoulders were incredibly painful, emitting stabbing pains as she moved her arms. Hanna helped her to sit up and then started working on her ankles as Valwyn began to move her hands to try to restore feeling to them. They were tingling and painful, but they did seem to be improving. Hanna finished her task and then crawled to the back of the tent as Valwyn began to tentatively move her legs.
She suddenly heard understandable voices again. It was more arguing, but now they were arguing about what to do with her and Hanna! One man yelled that they should just take the two of them back to Rohoville, and Valwyn wondered if it was the one who had given them water. The weaselly-sounding man was adamant that there was no danger.
Valwyn crawled to the back of the tent, finding even that a challenge. Hanna was using the blade to cut a slit in the thick canvas fabric. It was going slowly—much too slowly in Valwyn’s opinion. But the bottom edge of the tent seemed to have been piled with rocks and dirt on the outside from what she could tell.
Valwyn suddenly felt a tremor from the ground below her. An earthquake? There was another a few seconds later and then what sounded like an explosion from the same direction that she had heard voices. Then she heard a man screaming in agony. Gods! I know what this is! Bulettes!
More screams sounded as Hanna took hold of the metal piece with both hands and ripped it roughly upward, cutting a huge slit in the tough fabric and leaving a bloody trail. She pushed her way through the slit and then turned and helped Valwyn to follow. Fear powered Valwyn forward as she struggled to make her legs obey her. Hanna stared off to the left with a look of horror and Valwyn had to look too. Huge, oval-shaped creatures with powerful limbs and enormous mouths had emerged from the ground. She winced as one’s mouth closed and ripped off a man’s arm and shoulder in a spray of blood and gore. Valwyn grabbed Hanna’s hand and dragged her directly away from the carnage.
Valwyn could see nothing in front of her except green and gold grass over a yard high. She stumbled, and Hanna caught her and then moved ahead, now pulling Valwyn along by her right arm. She could no longer hear men screaming, but the noises now were even more disturbing—horrific tearing sounds as the creatures ripped their prey to pieces and consumed them.
They had covered well over a hundred yards when Valwyn hissed, “Stop,” and tugged on her friend’s arm. Hanna stopped, looking confused. Valwyn moved her head close and whispered, “Those things can sense vibration. We need to stop and just stay still. Let’s just slowly lie down.”
Hanna looked frightened, but she slowly lowered herself and laid on her back. Valwyn laid down next to her, noticing that Hanna’s left hand was still bleeding badly. She took the blade from Hanna, cut a strip off of her own shirt, and then used it to wrap Hanna’s hand. That worked to stop the bleeding, and Hanna smiled her thanks.
Valwyn laid back and examined her wrists. They were abraded and there was some dried blood, but at least her hands were working properly. Her ankles hurt too, but that was minor compared to the pain in her shoulders every time she moved her arms. Her head didn’t hurt as bad, but she was still both hungry and thirsty. There might still be food and water at the men’s camp, but they couldn’t risk going back there.
It was partly cloudy and cool, and Valwyn estimated it to be late afternoon. They were in a seemingly endless grassy plain, and there was a definite breeze. That meant that they were almost certainly somewhere in the Plain of Winds, which stretched both north and east of Rohoville. Getting home was as simple as heading south until they reached the river, and then going west.
Valwyn was worried about Petra. It had sounded to her like their abductors had handed her over to others. She prayed that was what had happened, because otherwise Petra was almost certainly dead.
Hanna sat up, pointed the way they had been going, and gave her a questioning look. Valwyn shook her head firmly and mouthed, “Too soon. Wait.” Hanna frowned and laid back down.
The sun was well down in the sky before Valwyn relented and began whispering to Hanna. “We ran east, but we need to go south. That should take us to the river. There may be a boat there.”
“Okay. We should look for the path they made bringing us here.”
Valwyn smiled and tousled Hanna’s hair. “Good thinking, but we need to stay clear of the camp. Let’s go south first and then head west and look for it.”
Hanna nodded. “Walk softly.”
The two of them did as Hanna suggested, with Valwyn trying to imitate Hanna’s stealthy movement. She was beginning to think that she had been wrong or that they had missed the path when Hanna motioned and said, “Here.” Valwyn looked down and was able to spot a boot print and bent grass nearby.
It was starting to get dark and cool off as they followed the tracks south. Valwyn was rapidly running out of energy and getting drowsy, but Hanna was still going strong.
“Let’s pick a spot and bed down for the night,” said Valwyn. “It’s going to be cold. I could start a fire with my magic, but that’s probably a bad idea.” Valwyn gestured at all of the dry grass surrounding them.
Hanna smiled and nodded. Valwyn followed her about twenty yards west of the path. After Hanna laid down in the grass, Valwyn followed suit and hugged Hanna to her. It was going to be a long and cold night, but at least she wasn’t alone.
♦ ♦ ♦
“We will leave at first light, heading upriver in a small boat. Others will be searching downriver and the shoreline directly to the north. Adrian and Asria will be leading the search of the unpopulated area to the east of the city, making use of their flying magic.”
Hagen was trying to pay attention to Milric, but it was a struggle. Between the travel and dealing with Tilda, he felt exhausted. It had still been drizzling when his ship arrived, and he could see just how much it had rained. Their trip upriver tomorrow was really just a shot in the dark. Even if the abductors had gone that way, they might ha
ve hidden their boat. Hagen was desperately worried about his daughter, and he could see how concerned Branwyn and Milric were. They were all in pain.
“We will proceed without wearing armor,” continued Milric. “That will make us faster and avoid issues should we be attacked while still in the boat. We will scan both shores as we go, and Priestess Branwyn will try to sense any remaining magic traces.”
The news that Hagen had brought about the manifesto had simply confused matters further. Branwyn was appalled that there was no mention of her daughter, and Hagen shared her feelings. Even should Petra be ransomed, the fate of Hanna and Valwyn was far from certain.
“A group of five identically-dressed men, described by some as suspicious-looking, arrived here three days ago, and they stayed at the Two Rivers Inn. The ship originated from Zardis and had already left before the abduction took place. We feel that these men were probably the ones responsible.”
That was really no surprise. Zardis was the most populous city in Andoran’s Realm by far. With its large and active thieves’ guild, it was the obvious place for someone to go if they wanted to hire people for criminal activity.
“If we don’t succeed in locating the girls tomorrow, then we will employ a ship the following day to go even farther upriver. This concludes my briefing. Everyone should try to get some sleep. We will depart from the ferry landing at dawn.”
Hagen admired Milric’s professionalism and calm. They had spoken extensively before the briefing and he had found no fault with the man’s handling of the search and investigation. Milric knew his business, and he was determined to find his daughter and the other two girls.
Danj walked over to where Hagen was still sitting. “Don’t worry Hagen,” he said earnestly. “We will find them and the not good men that took them.”