‘Anyway, His Highness asked me to tell you that he’s going with Captain Borgulnay and the Sergeant to track the fallen, to get the girls back. And he said Captain Cassic had already gone ahead with Mathis and Kyle. And the two guardians went with them, and two other soldiers, Alex and David.’
‘He sent you, even though you were wounded?’ Queen Aithne seemed surprised.
‘Sergeant said I was to rest in Three Ways for two days before returning.’ The Private blushed intensely.
‘But you didn’t do that, did you Private?’ King’s Marshall Danil sighed heavily.
‘I went to Three Ways as ordered, sir. If you’re wondering where Moran disappeared to, I found him on the edge of the town. Someone shoved a stake up his-’ Josif broke off and gritted his teeth angrily. ‘I don’t think they killed him first, there was too much blood, but they just left him hanging there outside Three Ways. I think the people were too scared to take him down, so I got him off the stake and once I’d done that a couple of farmers appeared and said they’d bury him for me. Anyway, I found an inn but there was no money in Murray’s pack. I think the innkeeper felt sorry for me so he let me rest in the stable. I did rest there for a night and a bit of the next day so it was sort of two days before I set out.’ Josif’s voice was getting fainter every second and he started to slump back in his chair.
The King sat with his head bowed forward, his forehead resting on his hand. He looked up at Josif. ‘And the remainder of your company?’ he asked, his eyes showing he didn’t want to hear the answer.
‘Apart from the Sergeant and Captain Cassic and Mathis and Kyle, I am the remainder of my company, Majesty,’ Josif’s voice was barely a whisper. ‘That’s why I was sent back.’ There was a sudden flash of movement and Callian caught him as he lost consciousness and fell sideways from his chair.
Everyone followed Callian as he lifted Josif and carried him to a long lounging chair. He carefully pulled Josif’s uniform over his head. There was a unified gasp as the soldier’s wound was revealed. Most of the stitches had been torn from the flesh and the wound was open and angry looking. The man’s torso was a patchwork of tears and scratches, obviously from his encounter with the ngurakin.
‘Nothing much… Looks worse than it is… You’ve got to be joking,’ the King muttered. ‘Squire, find the physician.’
Dale was back in minutes bringing the physician who, seeing the injured Private, pushed the Squire out of the way and ran to his patient.
‘Supreme Majesty! It’s a wonder this boy isn’t dead!’ He set about his work and Dannicus rose from where he knelt beside Josif.
‘Don’t let him die.’ This was a command.
The physician looked up at his King. ‘I can keep him alive, Majesty.’
‘Let’s continue.’ Dannicus sat himself back at the table and everyone followed.
‘So, as the Daoine Maithe suggested, it’s Louisa they were after. So why would they take Elena and Immosey,’ Elizabeth wondered out loud.
‘And I wonder if Louisa has discovered who she is yet.’ Callian was frowning.
‘They took Elena and Immosey to make sure Louisa behaves,’ Valeska said with certainty. ‘Can you imagine the difficulties they’re facing if she knows who she is?’ She couldn’t help but grin. ‘And if she finds out how strong she is?’ Her grin faded. ‘If Elena and Immosey were not there, they would have some difficulty controlling her, but I have no doubt they will use Elena’s and Immosey’s vulnerability to ensure Louisa doesn’t even consider escape.’
‘And if she knows who she is, she will probably also suspect that the fallen want her, not Elena and Immosey,’ added Baroness Kielie.
‘Not necessarily Kielie. Louisa may think they don’t know she’s a guardian,’ said Aithne.
‘That’s possible if she’s able to shield her thoughts.’ Callian paused. ‘No. I don’t really think that’s possible,’ he decided. ‘I can’t believe she would learn that sort of control so quickly. If she knows she’s a guardian the fallen will know almost immediately. It usually takes some practice to have control over emotions and thoughts and Louisa is so young.’
‘So if she does know she’s a guardian and if the fallen know that she knows…’ Kielie left the thought unfinished.
‘She will also know that if she goes anywhere, her sisters are dead,’ Dale finished the sentence for her, looking a little grim.
The Baroness bit her lip nervously. That had been her thought. ‘And when they arrive wherever they’re being taken?’
‘The girls are probably safe until there’s no longer any need to control Louisa,’ said Governor Marnol. ‘Even if the bastard, pardon me, even after Nandul takes her he still has to keep her alive until the child is born.’
‘Nandul will be surrounded by his most powerful warriors. There is little possibility of Louisa escaping if she doesn’t do so before reaching Nandul. The sisters become worthless to the fallen the minute Louisa gets within Nandul’s sight,’ said Callian. ‘So they die. It’s no wonder Tiernan wants him brought back to the Dwellings for…I guess you would call it judgment.’
Lady Sophia leaned forward. ‘I suppose there’s no hope of catching them, even were troops to leave now. Which way do you think they will return to Nyinaku?’ she asked curiously. ‘Do you think they will take the Ice Coast or go through the Wasteland?’
‘It’s impossible to know,’ Danil replied. ‘I’d go through Skeleton’s Rest but with the fallen, who knows?’
‘And if they were to pass through the Wasteland by the Quest,’ Lady Sophie continued, ‘they would need to pass south of Warbilla. Is that not correct?’
Danil’s forehead furrowed. ‘But right now no-one on the other side of the wasteland has any idea of what’s happening.’
‘They would know if we were to tell them,’ said Lady Sophie, a smile growing on her pale face.
‘There’s no way. They could already have entered the Wasteland. Our soldiers just cannot move that fast, and we have no trained birds here right now who can fly so far,’ said Danil, looking a little frustrated.
‘Our ships can move quite fast, King’s Marshall,’ the Lady observed.
Dannicus stared at Lady Sophie. He rose to his feet and everyone else immediately stood.
‘Where is the Admiral?’ Governor Marnol said quickly.
‘Tarlique,’ answered Dale.
‘The Prince?’ asked the Governor.
‘Captain Galbraith is here. The Kings Ship ‘Swift’ has recently returned from Storm Haven,’ answered Danil.
‘Find him!’ Dannicus ordered. Dale ran from the room. ‘I want you to take Dale with you, Danil,’ Dannicus continued.
‘Yes sir. May I ask why sir?’
In reply Dannicus handed Danil several sheets of parchment. Danil ran his eyes down each page and handed them back to Dannicus with a low whistle.
‘These are Dale’s results?’ Danil verified. ‘That’s an amazing test score!’
‘Yes. Surprising isn’t it? He’s not the hebetudinous lad he sometimes appears to be.’
‘Incredible. How much training has he had? How much preparation time did you give him?’
‘None. We gave him none.’ Dannicus smiled at the look on Danil’s face. ‘Larrence tested him within days of his arrival here in Castle. Whatever strategic training he’s been given was as a child in East Inlet, or under Duke Li, which Li assures me was not a lot. I think he’s just a very intelligent young man.’
‘I’ve never seen someone do so well on one of Trainer Larrence’s tests, and particularly in military strategy!’
‘I have known only three others who scored as highly in the tests. I know you did extremely well and so did Borgulnay.’
‘We had a lot of training before we were tested,’ Danil commented. ‘So you want me to take him with me and give him a bit of practical experience. It’s going to be dangerous.’
‘I know. But I think he needs to go.’
‘So who was the third person who
scored so highly in Larrence’s testing?’
‘Are you ready for a second shock?’ Without waiting for an answer, Dannicus handed over another bunch of parchment.
Danil perused it carefully and laughed aloud. ‘Perhaps we need to make the testing a little more difficult,’ he said with wry disbelief in his voice. ‘How old is Enrique?’
‘About fourteen, I believe.’
‘Fourteen.’ Danil shook his head. ‘How is this possible?’
‘I know Enrique has already been given years of training in Western Downs under his father Duke Percy. But to achieve these results at fourteen is unbelievable. There was something else Trainer Larrence was eager to point out. Both Enrique and Dale have little or no practical military experience. Yet they both came up with excellent solutions to each problem, and he found their solutions both inventive and clever. Far more cunning than most work he receives from trained soldiers. He commented that they came up with strategies even he hadn’t thought of, and in many cases their suggestions were better than what he would have deemed the ‘correct’ answer. Their answers show both boys as being perspicacious beyond anything I imagined. And to top that, they both finished the testing in less than half of the allotted time.’
Danil ran his eyes over the parchment once again. ‘So, Enrique too?’
‘Yes. I think he should go with you too. Let’s say for practical training. We will never defeat the fallen with Military strength.’
‘We have to outwit them,’ said Danil. ‘They’ll be expecting us to follow standard military procedure. These two boys don’t have any idea of standard military procedure.’ He laughed. ‘This could be really good or really bad,’ he said honestly.
Danil put his hand on the big soldier’s shoulder. ‘I’ll leave it up to you how much you ask of them, but remember they’re both very young. Give them whatever training you can and if things get too dangerous you can send them home.’
Chapter 18
Escape
‘I think it’s just as well Telas didn’t particularly like his brother,’ said Louisa.
Immosey didn’t answer. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees, her head down. Elena sat beside her, her back bent over and her head also drooping forward. It was about midday and they had been riding all morning.
Louisa tried again. ‘Milgorry will bring us food soon. Perhaps he’ll have news.’
Elena looked up and tried to smile. She failed, and a couple of tears managed to escape before she dropped her head.
‘Elena, what do want me to do?’ Louisa asked gently, her heart going out to her exhausted sisters. Even eating all the food they were given, including most of Louisa’s share, they were getting thinner. They were always quite slender, but now they were beginning to look like little skeletons.
Elena raised her head a little and shook it. ‘You can’t do anything. We can’t do anything. We just ride and ride and ride and then they will kill us.’
‘Someone will be coming after us. You know Kelian will come after us,’ Louisa said positively, trying desperately to be encouraging.
‘He could never catch up.’ Elena’s voice was croaky from crying. ‘They will never find us, Louisa.’
‘They’ve threatened us but they’re still giving us food and water. We’re still in Alkira. There is still a chance,’ said Louisa.
‘A chance of what?’
‘I don’t think they know that I know I’m a guardian. That gives us one advantage. They have no reason to kill us yet.’
‘Amil would have killed Immosey the second Telas thought we were deceiving him.’ Elena wondered if Louisa was quite clear on exactly what was happening.
Louisa’s eyes narrowed. ‘Yes. You’re right. He would have killed her. And then I would have tried to return Telas and Amil and Garret and then dozens more fallen would have appeared and I would have fought them and not been able to protect you properly, and then they would overpower me and pour me full of that loathsome drink and drag my unconscious body to wherever we’re going so that Nandul can mate with me, so I bear his child, then he would kill my sisters and once the child was born, he would um...return me. Unless I can return him first, which isn’t particularly likely as he’s supposed to be very strong and he’ll be very well guarded. Unfortunately I’m very clear on what is happening, but I’m not willing to lose hope. If we lose hope, we’re already dead.’
Elena and Immosey both blushed, startled by Louisa’s speech. ‘Oh Louisa, I’m so sorry!’ Elena cried apologetically. ‘We’ve taken thought only for ourselves. I should have asked you. What you would like us to do, I mean.’
Immosey pushed her dirty hair away from her face. ‘I’m sorry too, for being selfish.’
‘Let’s first work out what advantages we have and how we can use them. For a start, we seem to have a routine. We are woken early by Garret and given a minute of two to relieve ourselves.’
‘Then he takes us to the horses,’ said Elena, ‘which are already saddled.’
‘We ride all morning,’ said Immosey, ‘then we rest the horses for a couple of hours and Milgorry brings us food. Then we ride again.’
‘Last night, the minute the sun was gone we stopped.’ Louisa felt encouraged that the girls were showing interest once again. ‘The fallen make camp and we are left with several guards.’ She lowered her voice. ‘The only time we’re not completely surrounded by guards is now. Just before they bring us food.’
‘Why is that?’ Immosey wondered.
‘I think there are guards,’ said Elena, ‘they’re just not in sight.’
‘Yes, I think so too,’ agreed Louisa. ‘That’s an advantage. For a start, it gives us time to talk.’
‘And plan,’ said Elena, hope now rekindling in her eyes.
‘Escape?’ Immosey’s face was now alight.
‘I think it’s almost time,’ said Louisa. ‘I’m getting stronger and I’m learning. I can mask my emotions and hide my thoughts, and – this is hard even for me to believe – but I can hide your thoughts from the fallen too.’
‘Are you doing this now?’ asked Immosey.
‘All the time,’ Louisa admitted, ‘but it’s become so easy that I can do it almost without thinking.’
‘What else can you do?’ asked Immosey. ‘I mean, what other things can any of us do that would be an advantage when we escape?’
Milgorry appeared so suddenly and silently, all three girls jumped in surprise. ‘I didn’t sense you coming,’ said Louisa anxiously.
‘No, you didn’t. But we’re also able to mask our emotions, guardian,’ said Milgorry with a half-smile. He handed a wooden bowl of food to Louisa who immediately passed it to Elena. ‘You should eat too,’ he said firmly.
‘Milgorry, are we being guarded right now?’ Louisa asked quickly.
‘Yes, you are always guarded.’ Milgorry watched her curiously.
‘How many?’
‘Right now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Me.’
‘No others?’ asked Louisa, noticing that Milgorry now wore a sword in addition to the two long knives and the dagger he always carried. He also had a bow slung over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows attached to a wide leather strap which he wore over his shoulder and across his body so the quiver hung behind his back.
‘Don’t believe for a second that you could abscond, little guardian. You’re still immature. You’re very strong but you have no training and no experience. You’re getting more dangerous every minute but you’re not yet ready to test yourself against one of us.’
‘Why are you helping us?’
Milgorry looked bemused for a second as he considered her question. ‘I don’t know,’ he said eventually. ‘Perhaps because you are innocent, and you should never be taken within a hundred miles of Nandul. Because there’s no way you can survive without me. I need you to survive.’
Elena smiled. ‘You remind me of my brother Gil. He would have said-’ She stopped
and dropped her head forward, tears in her eyes once again.
‘What would your brother have said?’ asked Milgorry.
‘On the day he left for the Castle garrison I asked him why he wanted to be a soldier, why he wanted to fight. He said, ‘I’ll fight to save the innocent. Someone will live because I became a soldier, maybe someone like you, little Queen. One day someone will thank me for saving their life.’ This is the first time I think I’ve really understood what he meant.’
‘He called you little Queen?’ asked Milgorry. ‘Was your betrothal to the Prince arranged so early?’
‘No,’ said Elena. ‘When I was a little girl I used to dress up in outrageous dresses and wear a crown around the mansion and Gil started calling me Queen Ellie and bowing to me every time I came past.’
‘Milgorry,’ Louisa said hesitantly.
‘What is it, Louisa?’
‘Why do you need us to survive?’
Milgorry turned away. He walked towards a cluster of thick bushes. Louisa waited for a moment then followed. He was standing amongst the prickly bushes looking at the surrounding bush land. After a moment he seemed satisfied. ‘You have one other advantage if you wish to add it to your list,’ Milgorry said very quietly without looking at Louisa. ‘Me.’
‘You shouldn’t have been able to sense that conversation!’ Louisa exclaimed under her breath.
‘I didn’t sense your thoughts. Not yours and not Elena’s or Immosey’s. I was very close and I could hear you,’ said Milgorry, turning to face her. ‘You may need to be a little more careful even when you think you’re alone.’
Louisa fought the desire to touch his face. ‘Why are you helping us? Why do you give us this advantage?’
‘Do you not know?’ he asked, looking at her sadly.
For a moment Louisa was unsure how to answer him. For the last few days she had wondered if how she felt towards him was just a result of his care. After all, he had been the one to get them blankets and it was Milgorry who brought them food. But her feelings ran deep. She longed for his thoughts to come to her. She waited impatiently each day for him to appear. It felt like each minute he wasn’t with her was an eternity. And when he was with her she just wanted to reach out and touch him. She looked up into his dark eyes and her heart beat wildly.
The Fallen (Book 1) Page 16