Magician In Captivity: Power of Poses - Book Three

by Guy Antibes

  "You are the fortunate one," Tembul said. "My partner barely has any talent, and I only give the work small amounts of mine, or he’d have me doing everything.”

  Trak grinned. "Perhaps it won't make any difference after tomorrow night."

  ~

  Trak lay back on his bunk, thinking about the possibility of leaving the camp that evening. He had taken an afternoon nap, so he could be alert during their escape. He woke before the sun set and began to think about Tembul's orange. What he needed to do was to put a shield on whatever he teleported. The shield would protect the inside; at least, that was his theory.

  For using teleportation, Jojo and he had talked about it a number of times and couldn't come up with a solution, but the vision of the orange peel seemed like it might work if the transporting object heated up due to unseen friction or entering some kind of very hot dimension. He had a difficult time thinking where the object could go, but he thought that something or some place had to heat the objects.

  He couldn't wait to experiment once they were free. Perhaps Jojo could help him puzzle out the details, and maybe Tembul could, too.

  The last rays of the sun shot through the tiny windows in the dormitory, so Trak walked out into the common area. He figured he could sort of wander to the back of the building. The grounds were littered with individuals or small groups of inmates with jugs beside them. Some of the men were already unconscious from the alcohol.

  Trak kicked at a few of the sleeping men and had to wave his hand in front of his face to ward off the alcoholic odors that wafted across the grounds. He decided that he had done enough sauntering and walked as casually as he could to the end of the building.

  Five figures sat on the ground in the dark shadow of the building. "Trak?" Sirul said. "Is that you?"

  "I suppose so," Trak said, smiling, but he didn't know if anyone could see his smile in the deepening darkness. "Who is yet to come?"

  "Jojo," a stranger said. "He said he had one more thing to do."

  Trak didn't want to speculate on what that thing was. Jojo obviously played his own game, but the man didn't have to include Trak and his two Toryan friends. He sat down to wait with the others, all of them still had their harnesses restricting their movement, but he knew that Sirul and Tembul could remove theirs. He wouldn't take his off until Jojo arrived.

  A figure turned the corner of the building and stood above them. "Ready?" Jojo said.

  "This is Tembul and Sirul," Trak said.

  "Good. It's time to leave." Jojo said, shrugging off his harness.

  Trak did the same and helped Tembul and Sirul take theirs off while Jojo helped his own associates.

  All of them stood in the darkness waiting on Jojo's words. Trak felt his palms getting moist and his heart beating a bit harder in anticipation of their running out of the camp. He yearned for a flyer where he could tuck Tembul and Sirul inside and scoot away from camp quickly, but that wouldn't happen with all six of them.

  "Let's go," Jojo said as he walked directly to a spot in the forest and turned to his left and lost them all to view.

  The other men hurried to follow their leader, and soon they walked quickly out of the camp and out of their captivity. Trak followed behind, making sure that his Toryan friends kept up.

  They hadn't walked very far when Jojo stopped them. Voices were heard up ahead. Trak could hear Mother and Naroki talking with other guards.

  "Back!" Jojo whispered. "Our escape route is blocked. He turned and walked quickly along the path that Trak couldn't make out very well.

  Trak tripped on a root or something and sprawled out on the forest floor. He couldn't help but cry out as his ankle twisted as he fell.

  "We must leave him," Jojo said. "Get your harnesses on as quickly as you can and sprawl out in the yard like the rest of the inmates." Trak heard Jojo’s voice dwindle in the inky darkness.

  His ankle began to throb with pain as he tried to stay silent. He could hear guards rustle the plants as they searched for whoever made the sound. At that point, Trak didn't care. Light flickered behind him.

  "Here is the escapee," one of them cried out.

  Soon five men stood above Trak. He had no defense. He couldn't stand to pose, and the pain kept him from doing anything poseless. He looked up in silent agony, clutching his ankle, while the men roughly lifted Trak to his feet and carried him along the same path that Jojo had used. He could barely think, as they paid no heed to his injury while they made their way back to camp.

  When they reached the exit from the forest to the side of Trak's dormitory building, only Trak's harness lay in the dirt.

  The guards dropped Trak and put him in the harness. They dragged Trak by his feet into the infirmary. He could barely handle the pain, and as soon as they put him on a bed, one of the guards hit Trak on the head, and his escape came to an inglorious conclusion.

  ~

  Trak woke in the darkness with a splitting headache complimenting his ankle that had, by now, calmed down a bit. Trak found that he couldn't remove this harness. He lamented his bad luck and went back to sleep.

  A flash of pain on his cheek woke him up. Naroki stood above him. Evidently the Chief Guard believed in waking Trak with a slap.

  "You are in trouble, inmate," Naroki said.

  Trak looked about the infirmary. The walls were painted white, but streaks of mildew or some other kind of dirt decorated the place. The rest of the place looked like a much smaller version of the dormitory building.

  "I suppose I am," Trak said.

  "Why did you try to escape?"

  Trak shrugged his shoulders as best as he could, being trussed up and said, "Why not? Who wants to spend the rest of their life digging holes deeper into the ground?"

  "Then why didn't you fight us with your magic?"

  Did the Chief Guard expect Trak to use magic against them?

  "Have you looked at my ankle?" Trak said, knowing that his ankle had to be swollen as much as it hurt. "I don't even know if I can stand right now, much less pose."

  The Chief Guard looked disappointed by Trak's statement, and that worried Trak. Why would Naroki be concerned about magic being used?"

  Naroki left the room along with the doctor, leaving Trak by himself. Night had just fallen, and a scratching at a window alerted Trak. He hobbled to the opening and looked into Jojo's eyes. "You didn't use any magic, did you?"

  How did he know? "I was in too much pain. I can't even walk now."

  "But you could have, you know. I’m glad you didn’t."

  Trak wondered what Jojo was getting at. Did he want Trak to be captured?

  "I couldn't concentrate very well when I was writhing on the ground in pain."

  Jojo was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry you were caught on your own."

  Trak would have none of that. "Right, then what’s done is done," Trak said. He didn't want to respond any more in case guards were listening in, since he figured that Jojo had said enough. "I'll see you when I get out of here. The doctor said another day before I could go to work."

  "We'll see," Jojo said and left.

  Jojo had disappointed him. If the escape was the best planning that Jojo could do, then his partner had let Trak down. They could have shed their harnesses and left at any time. It just didn't make sense.

  ~

  Trak woke to another slap in the face. Naroki just could have wiggled Trak’s injured foot to induce more pain, he thought.

  "Up. You've been in bed too long," Naroki said. Two guards stood at the two opposite corners of the room, aiming crossbows at him. They weren't taking any chances on him, but why? He hobbled slowly towards the door, and then Naroki pushed him down to the ground.

  "Tie him up."

  Guards dragged Trak between two trees, tied his hands, and then flung ropes over branches, hauling Trak to an upright position. He had to put his weight on one foot.

  Mother walked out of the Second Shift dormitory followed by the entire shift. Trak looked over at Jojo, who w
ore an emotionless expression. Trak couldn't help but glare at his partner. Mother pulled out a whip and walked behind Trak.

  "Watch the pain on his face. You'll join him if you ever try to escape," Naroki said. "Go ahead." The Chief Guard nodded to Mother.

  Trak quickly put up a modest shield. He would feel plenty of pain through it, but perhaps he could withstand the worst of the lashings.

  Mother began to whip him, counting as she went. Trak had never been so appreciative of poseless magic. The lashes hurt, but they didn't sting, nor did they seem to bite into his skin. After thirty, Trak's back went numb and his mind did as well as he felt his consciousness begin to slip.

  ~

  Trak woke up on his bed in the dormitory. At least he had avoided the slap, but his back ached. He gingerly rose to a sitting position, expecting to see blood, but none stained his blanket.

  Jojo walked up to him.

  "How is my back?" Trak said.

  "A mass of black and blue, but no blood. You used a spell?"

  Trak nodded. "A light shield. Not enough to keep all of the pain away. I did faint, you know."

  "I do," Jojo said as he leaned over and touched Trak's foot. "See if I’ve done any good."

  Under Jojo's ministrations, Trak's sprained ankle evidently retreated from screaming pain to a dull ache. "Am I healed?"

  "Enough," Jojo said, looking at guards walking into the building. “The worst of your ankle pain should be gone, but the rest will have to heal on its own. Time to leave."

  “Where are we going?”

  “We won’t be returning,” Jojo said, "but I will take care of you.”

  Jojo helped Trak to his feet, but Trak threw him off. "How can I trust what you say?"

  The two men faced each other. "You can't," Jojo said. "But I am going to Beniko, and you will be coming with me."

  Trak's hands curled into fists. "I won't leave without Tembul and Sirul." He looked at the guards, who seemed not to care about his conversation with Jojo.

  "Come."

  Trak had to follow Jojo out of the dormitory. He still favored his ankle, but caught up to his partner. "Where are we headed?”

  "To another prison close to Beniko. Not a work camp, a real prison."

  "Why?" Trak said.

  "I'll tell you on the way."

  The guards pushed and prodded them towards the front grounds that Trak hadn't been to since he had first arrived. A closed box on wheels stood with the back door open.

  "Our chariot," Jojo said. "Go on in."

  Trak didn't know what a chariot was, but entered the wagon. Tembul, Sirul and the three others who had tried to escape two nights previous sat in the wagon, wearing metal chain harnesses. Trak sat down as his rope and leather harness was swapped out for one like his friends. Another guard did the same to Jojo.

  Naroki peered inside. "Enjoy your stay in Beniko's finest prison. You will wish you were back here many times before you die."

  Trak didn't like the sneer on the Chief Guard's face when he closed the door to the box. A lattice of holes circled the box at the very top, but Trak felt closed in when the prison wagon began to jerk and shake along the dirt road leading out of Camp Three.

  "So from the kettle to the fire," Tembul said.

  Trak nodded. "I don't know how many times I'll have the opportunity to say I am sorry."

  "It's not you," Tembul said in Toryan. "Jojo and his three companions confessed to our escape.” He switched to Beninese. “Evidently, Naroki didn't want to whip all of us. The other prisoners might revolt, so you were enough to merit us a trip to wherever the prison is."

  Jojo laughed, as did the other three men. "It is a hellish place, but we won't be there long enough to get comfortable. This is merely the most efficient and safest way of getting to Beniko. Did you think I wanted to walk the entire distance?"

  "You planned this all along?"

  "I'm sorry you had to take the brunt of the pain. I hadn't expected you to break your ankle."

  "I didn't break my ankle, it's sprained."

  "Was sprained, now it is just bruised. I had intended all of us to get caught, but through the incompetence of the guards, this was even better. I am very glad you didn't use magic against the guards," Jojo said.

  "The penalty is hanging," one of Jojo's friends said. "No transfer, no hope, ever."

  "So you restrained yourself. The guards would never believe you would be able to generate a shield tied up like you were," Jojo said.

  “I understood that enough to make the shield weak," Trak said.

  “Thanks to you, we are out of the camp and heading to Beniko. We will get there faster, and we will even be given a few meals along the way for our trouble," Jojo said.

  Trak nodded. "I suppose we are indebted." He didn’t really mean what he said.

  Jojo looked at Tembul and Sirul. "They are indebted, but you, my friend have done more than your share to earn your way to freedom."

  After an hour in the wagon, Trak's bruised and tender back began to ache and get very uncomfortable under the chain harness. Tembul took off his shirt and tucked it underneath Trak’s chains.

  "That should help," Tembul said. He waved his hand in front of his face. Who needs any clothes inside this thing?

  The rise in temperature hadn't even registered on Trak's mind, since he was so caught up in pain. "How long will it take to get to Beniko?"

  "If the roads hold up until we get to a paved thoroughfare, less than two weeks," Jojo said.

  Trak wondered if his wounds would improve or get much worse while they traveled. He didn't expect them to get any better, so he settled in for an excruciating ride.

  ~~~

  Chapter Twelve

  ~

  NIGHT HAD FALLEN IN PESTLEDOWN on Valanna’s second day in her room, and Timor had not returned. Valanna wondered if she should struggle out of her bonds to find some water to drink. If nothing happened soon, she just might need the chamber pot again.

  She reflected on Snively’s revelation about her heritage and realized that her father knew Trak’s grandfather well and probably knew Galinda Youngblood, Trak’s mother. If the purge of the magicians hadn’t happened, she might well have known Trak under much better circumstances.

  Her fist curled as she thought of the damage that King Harl had inflicted on her family and Trak’s. Her mental image of Trak in her mind had shifted from the unlettered stableboy to a young man with heroic capabilities. A tear tracked down her face, which her bonds didn’t let her wipe away. What destruction! How she wished she could share this information with Trak. Would it ease the pain of their last meeting?

  The door slammed below, shaking Valanna from her thoughts as she heard arguing downstairs. Timor seemed to do most of the yelling. She nearly whimpered, as a shock of fear begin to overtake her. Something bad might be happening.

  Words turned into sounds of furniture breaking and grunting. Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and Coffun Cricket barged into the room.

  "You carriage awaits without, fair lady," he said, breathing heavily. Valanna had read similar words in romance novels, so she couldn't help but smile. Coffun’s sudden arrival had erased away most of her anxiety.

  "Can I get up?"

  Coffun helped her untie her bonds. She hurried to the water pitcher and poured herself a cup of water, downing the entire thing in one draught.

  "Let's go!" Valanna said, adjusting her dress a bit and running her hands through her disheveled hair.

  Coffun led the way, and indeed, a carriage stood outside the shop. Valanna had tiptoed around Timor Saddlebug, lying comatose in a pool of his own slobber. She stepped over him, even though she was tempted to step on him, and let Coffun open the door to the carriage.

  Three other men clambered up onto the carriage, and they drove off. Valanna rubbed her eyes. "This isn't a dream, is it?"

  Coffun shook his head. "The end of a nightmare for you, Miss Almond. We will take you back to Esmera's inn. I have taken the liberty of fortifyin
g your rooms with metal grates on the windows and a stout lock on a newer, thicker door."

  "Thank you, but I think I have done much of what I came to Pestledown to do." Valanna couldn’t wait to leave the city, despite having promised Snively to help him with the Vashtans.

  Coffun took Valanna's hand. "You need to stay a bit longer. King Harl already knows about you, and it will better for you not to go, just yet. He has soldiers and guards at all gate entrances and has blanketed the docks with his men."

  Valanna sat back in surprise. "So soon? But I just escaped!"

  "The increased security was put into effect hours after you arrived in Pestledown."

  "Won't Esmera's inn be searched?"

  Coffun laughed. "It already was, a few times. But Esmera has more influence than you might think, and the searches were at her request to protect certain members of the city guard. You'll be safer there than anywhere else."

  Could Valanna trust Coffun? Did she have a choice? She pressed her lips together tightly and shook her head. This time, she would accept Coffun's protection, gladly leaving Timor and Feely far behind. Valanna had little say in the matter. She folded her arms and silently waited until the carriage drove into The Looking Inn's stable yard.

  ~

  Valanna sat down in her room. Who would be the first to knock on her door, Snively or Coffun again? She rummaged around the room and found everything in its place after finally getting up enough courage to check to see if Trak's portfolio still remained intact. She hadn’t thought his portfolio meant that much to her, but Valanna felt thoroughly relieved after finding it, untouched, in its hiding place.

  She went into the bedroom and lay down on the bed until the inevitable knock came on the door. The sun had finally risen, and she found that Coffun had installed a little peephole, which she used to see Esmera standing outside, looking everywhere except at her.

  "Esmera," Valanna said as she opened the door, and then stepped back as the woman brought in a large tray covered with a white cloth and set it on the table.

  "I don't suppose you ate much during your visit with Timor Saddlebug?"