“This is as good a place as any,” he heard Tor call out and started silently swearing once more when he realised they intended to sleep there. He looked up at the sky and calculated that if the group slept for any length of time, the family would arrive at their destination before Tor got close enough to even see them, let alone talk to them.
Still, there was nothing he could do about it, so he made sure he was well concealed and tried to get some more rest. He was not tired, having slept for a large portion of the night, but he knew that if his plan did, by some miracle, actually work, as soon as he knew Tor’s intended destination he would have to make his way there with all haste so he should sleep while he still had time to do so.
Ellen and Patrick took first watch and were relieved by Sam and Brin, then Nosmas and Quartilla. They each kept guard for only two hours, but Tor decided that they could not rest for longer when he was awoken, so they opted to postpone eating until Hawk was out of his coffin once more and continued on their journey.
Their movements woke Nizari and he watched them depart, pleased that they had not stayed longer. They travelled as fast as the wagon would allow and he was hopeful that they would, after all, encounter the family he had bribed.
As he had predicted, Tor’s group came upon the family before they left the main road to head to the wife’s parents’ village. They had stopped for a last meal before the final leg of their journey and, having spotted the coffin in the back of the wagon, informed Tor that the group were more than welcome to join them. Not wishing to appear rude, Tor accepted their invitation. The sun was due to set at any moment so they would be stopping soon for a meal break anyway.
Tor warned the family that a vampire was travelling with them, assuring them that he was perfectly civilised and would not harm them. They appeared nervous, but took him at his word. While Tor spoke with the travellers, Seth and Dal went in search of water, Patrick and Nosmas scouted around to make sure there was no sign of the assassin nearby and the ladies unpacked some of their provisions.
Seth and Dal soon returned, removed all burdens from the horses and told them where they could find water. The moment the sun was no longer visible, the coffin lid began to move and the children clung to their mother in fright. Hawk, seeing the frightened family, approached slowly, stopping when he was close enough to speak to them, but not so close that he appeared threatening. Tor introduced him, and was impressed when the father stood up and shook his hand.
Hawk looked at the meal the family were consuming. “You look like you need some meat to go with that,” he told them. “I will be back soon.”
“I had better get a fire going,” Seth said, smiling as the children watched in fascination as Hawk took to the air.
True to his word, the vampire returned just as the fire was blazing hotly, dumping the bodies of three rabbits on the ground. Seth and Dal had already created a couple of small wooden spits, so they skinned and cleaned the bloodless corpses and soon had them roasting over the fire.
“He has his uses, I see,” the woman commented.
“A number of them,” Tor confirmed.
Mother and Prince watched as the children slowly moved closer to where Hawk had seated himself. They could overhear what was being said and could not help grinning.
“I dare you to get closer.”
“I dare you to sit next to him.”
“I dare you to touch him.”
Hawk, too, heard the children talking and remained still, allowing them to get within arms’ reach. He was tempted to turn and smile at them to see how they reacted, but was afraid it would scare them too much. He felt something prod his arm then heard the culprit scurry backwards out of reach.
He slowly moved his head towards the sound. “There is no need to be afraid,” he told the children. “I will not harm you.”
He found he was looking at two young boys and their older sister. “Are you really a vampire?” she asked bravely. Hawk nodded his head. “Then where are your fangs?” He opened his mouth to reveal them, causing the boys to scream and run back to their mother’s side, but the girl stared at them in fascination. Tentatively she reached out, touching them with her hand. “They are real,” she said in amazement.
While the mother was watching her children play with the vampire, her husband was making small talk with the others. He told them about himself and why he and his family were on the road. He did not ask any prying questions and everyone was relaxed enough to discuss how they had all met up. Not once did they mention where they were going or why; though they had no suspicions that the family were in any way connected with the assassin, they had learned the hard way the need to be discreet.
River remained in the wagon, refusing to leave Grimmel’s side. His condition had not changed since Nosmas had put the spell on him; he did not even appear to be breathing, but the wizard assured her, every time she asked, that he was still alive. Now she slept beside him during the day and spent the nights holding his hand and staring at him. She would not even leave his side to eat. A melancholy had taken hold of her and she could not seem to shake it.
When the man enquired after her, Tor told him the truth, little realising how important the information would prove to be to the assassin. “One of our party has been taken ill so we need to find a healer,” he explained. “River is devoted to him and will not be parted from his side until he is cured, or he dies, whichever comes first.”
“The village we are going to has a healer,” the man told him. “I am sure she will be more than willing to take a look at your friend.”
Tor smiled. “While I appreciate the offer, we need someone more specialised, I am afraid.”
Small talk continued while they ate and when the meal was finished everyone prepared to leave. “Is it far to your destination?” Ellen enquired.
“We should be there in a little under an hour,” came the reply. Ellen threw a questioning glance at Tor, who, reading her mind, nodded. “How would you feel,” she continued, “if some of us were to escort you there? It is dark and you never know what misfortunes may befall you if you have no protection.”
The offer took them by surprise and both husband and wife willing accepted the suggestion. They had hoped to arrive before nightfall, but had purposefully decreased their pace in order to make it more likely they would meet with Tor. When darkness began to descend they had regretted doing so as it was not safe to travel these roads alone at night.
Brin, Sam, Patrick and Ellen agreed to escort the family to the village then meet up with the others further along the road. They would shortly reach a crossroads, with the road to the village heading west while Tor needed to go east. If they doubled up on the horses, and used their spare, the family could ride the rest of the way. As those who would remain with Tor could not travel faster than the wagon would allow, it would only take a short while for Brin and the others to catch them up.
Sam rode Thresnine, with Brin sitting behind her. It was nice being in his arms while riding and she was glad he had made the suggestion. Ellen and Patrick took a boy each, the mother and daughter shared Brin’s horse and the father rode the spare. Despite their heavy burdens, the horses set a good pace and it took less time than expected to reach the village. Once the family were safely in their relatives’ home, Brin, Sam, Ellen and Patrick bid them farewell and galloped back out of the village.
A few hours later, as the four were meeting up with the wagon, Nizari rode into the village and headed for the inn. The man was there waiting for him, as they had arranged.
“What have you to tell me?” Nizari asked, forgoing all pleasantries.
The man indicated that he should take a seat beside him. “Where is the rest of my money?” he asked. He had liked Tor and the others, especially after they had acted as protectors for his family, and felt like he was betraying them.
“You will get your money if you have anything of interest to say,” Nizari said coldly.
“They never said where they were heading
,” the man replied. “They turned east at the crossroads, that is all I know.” The assassin stared at him and an awkward silence developed. Eventually the man felt so uncomfortable he spoke just to make some noise. “One of their party is ill and they are seeking a healer. The one here is not good enough apparently.”
Nizari smiled. He would prefer to have been told a destination, but he was sure this information would be of some use. He put his hand into his pocket and placed some coins on the table. Without saying a word, he stood up and started to move away.
The man swept the coins into his hand then placed them inside his tunic. “You could have told me they had a vampire with them,” he said accusingly.
“You could have asked what was in the coffin,” Nizari replied, then walked out of the inn and into the night. He retrieved his horse and left the village. For now he would have to play chase, at least until he could work out where would be the best place to go to find a healer. He knew they had both a witch and a wizard in the group, so they obviously needed someone far more skilled. He whistled as he rode. He always liked a good puzzle to ponder while travelling.
A few hours later he had worked it out, or at least he thought he had. There could only be one possible destination. If one wizard could not help, then maybe a whole country of them could. Tor had to be heading to Thauma. This posed another problem, however, as there were a number of roads they could take. Nizari closed his eyes, trusting his horse to not stray from the road, and pictured in his mind the terrain ahead of him.
Unless they changed course, and he was fairly certain that they wouldn’t for a while, in a few days’ time the road would lead them between two small woods. The trees were close together so it would be impossible for the wagon to leave the road, making it the perfect place to set an ambush. All he would need to do now was get ahead of them once more. If he rode hard and took a few short cuts, he was confident he would make it to the woods a few hours before Tor, giving him plenty of time to set up what he needed to.
The sun was bright overhead when the assassin reached the edge of the first of the woods. He only just made it, his horse having collapsed a short distance down the road. It would mean a long walk to the next village to buy another one, but it had been worth it. He knew he was ahead of his enemies by at least half a day, so when his horse’s legs gave way, instead of becoming angry, he just shrugged his shoulders, took out his knife, slit its throat, then dragged the carcass behind some bushes so it could not be seen from the road. Never before had he failed to kill a target. This was becoming personal and he no longer cared how much hardship he suffered or how many dumb beasts had to die in order for him to achieve his goal. As long as Tor and all those who travelled with him died, nothing else mattered.
He shouldered his bag and blankets and walked along the road until he reached the trees. A short while later he reached the start of the second wood, on the opposite side of the road, and dropped his burdens on the ground. Rummaging in his bag, he found what he was looking for and extracted a reel of thin wire.
He inspected a number of trees closely before selecting one he deemed suitable. He climbed up a short way then wrapped the wire around the trunk, secured it tightly and let the rest of the reel drop to the ground. He jumped back down and picked up the reel, unwinding it as he walked across the road to the other wood. He selected another tree, almost directly opposite the first, and tied the wire at exactly the same height. If he still had his horse, he would have been able to measure it, but he had always been good at estimation and was certain that he had tied it at neck height for a tall man riding a large stallion.
Next he repeated the process, selecting another pair of trees further down the road. This time he made it a little lower. He did not know who would be in the lead, a rider or the wagon, so he set the second one at the right height to decapitate the driver, who would go under the first one unharmed. He knew that killing Tor first would be to his advantage, as the group would be leaderless, but he could not help hoping that Patrick would be leading. Ever since Patrick had goaded him at the river, Nizari had been dreaming about killing him and watching his head fly off as he rode into the wire seemed a suitable revenge. He knew the party was travelling fast and began praying that their speed would be great enough to have the desired effect when they hit the wire.
The wires glinted in the sunlight, making them easy to spot from a distance, but the sun would have set by the time Tor and his companions came into view so the wire would be invisible. The only problem would be if anyone else came along the road before they did, but that was a chance Nizari was willing to take; not worrying about hurting innocent people was one of the reasons he had been expelled from the guild. Deciding that everything was in place, Nizari climbed a tree and waited.
“We are getting close to Hanlan’s Pass,” Patrick informed Tor. “Do we want to rest here for a while, or keep pushing ahead?”
“Keep going,” Tor replied. “But you may want to let Seth know.”
Patrick nodded his head and urged his horse forward at a faster pace in order to catch up with the wagon. “The road gets narrow as you pass between the woods on either side,” Patrick warned Seth. “There is only just enough room to drive a wagon through, so you should start praying that we do not meet anyone coming the other way.”
“What if we do?” Seth asked.
“Hope we can convince then to turn around,” Patrick told him. “Unless you can persuade a horse to walk backwards when it is pulling a wagon.” Seeing the look on Seth’s face, Patrick rode away.
“That is not very helpful,” Seth yelled after him.
Sam, who was riding close by, did not hear the exchange; she was concentrating on two birds who were flying overhead. “What is wrong?” Brin asked, seeing a frown on her face.
Ignoring him, she called to the birds, who stopped their conversation and stared at her in surprise. When she called to them again, one swooped down and landed on her shoulder. She held a brief discussion with the feathered creature, then it flew back to join its mate.
Everyone had stopped to watch what Sam was doing. “Well?” Brin asked.
“They sounded concerned about something and I got inquisitive,” she explained. “Is there another road we can take?”
“There is,” Patrick confirmed, “but it is a long detour. Why do you ask?”
“I think we may need to take it. The bird said there is a man hiding in the trees up ahead and I may have misunderstood, but I am sure it said he had put wire across the road.”
“If it is our assassin, why would he stretch wire between the trees? Does he hope to unhorse us?” Nosmas wondered out loud.
“From the way the bird described it,” Sam continued, “it sounds like it would roughly reach your neck if you remained on your horse.”
Patrick whistled. “That could do some serious damage if any of us rode into it at speed.”
“It could even take the head clean off,” Tor agreed.
“I do not know about you,” Seth said, “but I quite like my head where it is. Do we continue on slowly and remove the wire or do we have to take the detour?”
“I do not want to increase the length of this journey if I do not have to,” Tor told him. He looked up and noticed that the two birds were still flying overhead. An idea occurred to him. “Sam,” he said without lowering his gaze. “Do you think you could ask those birds to do us a favour?”
“Sure,” she replied. “What have you got in mind?”
Tor told her and she agreed it was a good idea. She called out to the birds once more and the same one descended. It was more than happy to help and collected its mate before flying ahead of the travellers.
Nizari heard them approaching before he saw them and his skin began to tingle in anticipation. When they eventually came into view, he was unhappy to see them moving slowly. There would be no beheadings today. He then stared in disbelief as two birds landed on the first of the two wires he had strung between the trees. Brin dismounted,
climbed one of the trees to which it was attached and carefully untied it.
As soon as it began to fall to the ground, the birds flew to the second wire and the procedure was repeated. Once the second wire had been removed, one of the birds landed on Sam’s shoulder and tweeted into her ear.
“All clear,” she called out and the group increased their pace.
Nizari stared after them, too angry to speak.
Chapter 14
Days passed by with nothing exciting happening. Nizari had managed to get ahead of the group once more when they stopped to sleep during the day. He changed his pattern to sleeping at night once more in order to hide from Hawk, who continued to look for him.
They were approaching the village where his sister lived and he decided to pay her a visit. He had no real hope that Tor would decide to stop there, as he had been avoiding most populated areas, but decided to set up a trap just in case.
His sister was a strikingly beautiful woman with an hourglass figure. When dressed in the right way, she could look more provocative than any whore while still remaining as elegant as an aristocratic Lady.
A few years his junior, she had inherited the same ruthless streak as her brother and would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. He knew she could be persuaded to help him, but there would be a price; there was always a price.
He knocked on her door and, knowing it would be unlocked, entered without waiting for a reply. Despite the early hour, he found her in the kitchen, baking.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when she caught sight of him. She had not heard him enter, but did not appear surprised to see him. She had grown used to him turning up out of the blue over the years.
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