As they drew almost level with the inn, Lute saw with horror that his uncle was emerging from one of its doors. He looked to be in a hurry and seemed to have lost his normally very controlled, always vaguely amused expression. This morning he looked angry and was speaking tersely to the man who walked alongside him.
Pilo had seen him too. ‘Steady, Lute. Just keep riding, smile if necessary but be shy, keep that bonnet low.’
Lute felt a burst of nervous laughter erupt in his chest. He’d only just noticed that Pilo had put on the long gloves that Calico Grace had suggested he wear to cover his hairy arms and hands. It took every ounce of willpower not to explode into giggles that would have attracted all the wrong attention.
Even so, the Duke noticed them. He had been reaching into his pocket for something when he had stopped himself. It looked furtive even though he tried to cover his actions by smiling at the passers-by. ‘Morning, ladies.’
Lute dipped his head and presumed Pilo must have done the same.
‘A lovely morning for a ride, isn’t it?’
The Duke clearly expected more than just a nod and it would be impolite, certainly noticeable, if they didn’t respond in the right manner. As Pilo couldn’t risk using his deep voice, Lute had to fill what felt like a horrible silence, although it was only a momentary pause.
‘It certainly is, sir,’ he said in his new higher voice.
He saw from the corner of his eye that Pilo had lifted a gloved hand and was waving politely.
‘Enjoy your day, ladies,’ they heard him say as they passed by fully before he added to his companion. ‘Here!’ They heard the unmistakable chink of gold. ‘Now where did you see the dwarf and my nephew?’
Lute glanced at Pilo and could see the cunning smile. ‘He’s taken the bait,’ Pilo said, finally out of earshot of the Duke.
‘I’m already worried for Griff and Bitter Olof,’ Lute said.
‘That’s why it’s time to ride, my boy. Let’s take these horses up to a trot and get across that river as soon as we can.’
It was all straightforward. They met no other soldiers and it was still early enough that they could keep themselves to themselves and not be noticed for the impostors that they were. The man in charge of the ferry was barely awake and was too busy scratching his huge belly and yawning to take much notice of the mother who paid from a daintily gloved hand, and was travelling with her daughter, who boarded his craft with their horses.
Lute was sure he held his breath for the entire crossing and felt a surge of relief as they finally led their mounts off on the other side.
‘Now we can gallop,’ Pilo whispered.
Lute chanced a look back. ‘Janko and his men are making the crossing too.’
Pilo nodded, looking at the Duke, who was impatiently waiting for the ferry to return to his side of the river. ‘Makes sense. I told Olof to be noticed on this side, getting a feed at the Old Wheatsheaf.’
‘It’s worked.’
‘Are you ready?’ Pilo asked as they both settled into their saddles.
‘As I’ll ever be.’
‘Ride hard, boy. We’ve got lives to save now.’
36
‘Hurry now. We’ve been seen. Now we must melt away into the woodland behind Tarrow’s Landing,’ Bitter Olof encouraged.
‘Where are we going?’ Tess asked.
‘Nowhere in particular. We have to hide. They’re going to pursue us. I won’t lie, Tess, it will get rather dangerous from here on.’
She glanced at Griff. ‘We’re going to stay well out of their sight—as best we can, Tess,’ he reassured. ‘Come on.’
Little Thom had already swung the dwarf into a sling. ‘Follow me,’ he said, his long legs making huge strides up the hillside. ‘Stay in line with the buildings. Use them as cover for as long as possible.’
‘How long have we got?’ Griff wondered aloud.
Bitter Olof replied from his position, watching Griff and Tess scramble along in Little Thom’s wake. ‘We were noticed when your porridge was served.’
‘That long ago?’ Griff said, clearly surprised.
‘We couldn’t let the man who was watching us know that we knew we’d been spotted. I had to wait until he’d left and he seemed determined to finish his own bowl of porridge.’
‘So how much of a lead do we have?’ Tess persisted, her breathing already erratic from her exertions.
‘The mercenary had to cross the river, find his leader, who would then have had to advise the Duke, who would then furiously saddle up. He would have to make his way to the Landing itself and then await the ferry, cross to this bank. I should imagine he’d be waiting impatiently to get on board the ferry by now.’
‘You’ll probably be able to see them once we get to the top of this hill,’ Little Thom said, not even vaguely out of breath. He turned and hauled both Tess and Griff up a particularly hard part of the climb. ‘Come on, slowcoaches. If you value your lives, you’ll move faster.’
‘Tess, get a firm fix on where Davren is. We don’t want to be searching for him once we round the hill.’
She nodded, and despite her climbing he could see her concentrating as she sent a message.
They crested the hill.
‘Stay low now,’ Little Thom urged. ‘We can be seen, so we mustn’t attract too much attention.’ He put Bitter Olof down. ‘You two crowd Bitter Olof—his shape is too instantly recognisable, even from afar.
Bitter Olof grunted. ‘Just worry about your own strange shape, Little Thom.’
‘That’s why I plan to run in this rather strange, crouched position you see me in,’ Little Thom responded.
Tess came back with a message. ‘Davren says he can see us. We’re to head for that stand of hazel trees. And some bad news. Rix can see our pursuers from the treetops. The Duke is already halfway across the river.’
‘Alright, forget trying to mask who we are,’ Bitter Olof said. ‘Pick me up, Thom. We run for it. Our best chance is in the woodland.’
‘I agree,’ the big man said and scooped up the dwarf. ‘Let’s go,’ and the strange party of four began to run for the trees.
In the distance they heard a shout go up. They’d been spotted.
Lute had never ridden this hard or fast before. They said nothing to each other; couldn’t even if they’d wanted to, such was the speed they were pushing their horses at. He dearly wished he had his brave Tirell beneath him. She was the fastest filly in the realm. He imagined Pilo sorely wished he had Bruno galloping beneath him but their horses were doing their best and this was no time for wishing things could be different.
Pilo finally gave him the nod to slow the horses.
‘Their hearts will give out if we ride them any harder,’ he explained when he saw Lute frowning.
‘We’re not going to make it, are we?’ Lute asked airing his fears. He didn’t want to be so pessimistic but Pilo’s face told him he was right.
‘We’re doing the best we can.’
‘No, Pilo. We’re running away. You’ve got me to safety, so in your mind that’s alright. You’re thinking the others may have to be sacrificed so long as the precious King is alive and can claim the throne.’
‘Your majesty, I—’
‘I can’t do this.’ Lute dragged on the reins until his horse actually stopped.
‘Lute!’
‘No! You knew we wouldn’t make it.’
Pilo shook his head. ‘That’s not true. I promise you I did not lie. This plot was not even my idea.’
‘That may well be but I know how your mind works, Pilo. I know you love me and you admire my parents and above all you are loyal to the Crown. So the royals have to come first in your eyes. You couldn’t risk my life any further and Tess’s plan gave you that wonderful chance to keep me safe…and let Griff take all the risk.’
Pilo looked suddenly helpless. His mouth was open to say something but no words were coming out. He simply shook his head again.
‘I can’t let G
riff die.’
‘And I can’t let you die, your highness. I love you as my own. My child was lost to me. You can’t imagine how that broke me or how long it took for me to even be able to live with myself again without loathing. She died because I didn’t take care of her. And I’ll be damned if I let you die because I allowed the same fate. I hardly shared Ellin’s life but I have shared much of yours. I can’t risk losing you.’
‘But you’re risking Griff and Tess, Bitter Olof and Little Thom. They’re all being so brave and all for my sake.’
‘They are, but who’s to say they won’t survive?’
‘Me! Because I’ve ridden this journey before at speed and it took me a lot longer than we have to spare before the Duke catches up with them. He’s ruthless, Pilo. He won’t care about the others. He might spare me for his own reasons and manipulations but he will happily kill our friends. I don’t know what I’ve been thinking allowing this to happen. I must have—’
‘We are not going back. There is no point. It’s already too late. By the time you catch up with them, it will—’
‘At least I’ll give my life for good cause. Do you honestly think I can happily sit on that throne knowing my friends spilled their blood for it and I did absolutely nothing except run away and let them spill it?’
‘You have no choice. If you don’t want Janko running this realm, you have to claim that throne…and quickly.’
‘I understand. But Pilo, you need to understand that I would rather stand alongside those brave people and face Janko than beat him with our clever trick but know in my heart that I lacked the courage.’
‘It’s not about courage, majesty. This is about—’
‘Ladies?’ enquired a voice, one that both Pilo and Lute recognised instantly.
They both turned in their saddles, stunned to see Queen Miralda on a horse, standing on top of the rise not far from where they had stopped to argue. Next to her was the Captain of the Drestonian Guard. They both looked stunned.
‘Are you both alright?’ she continued. ‘We could hear you arguing from—’
‘Mother?’ Lute said, pulling off his bonnet, and realising that the male voices Miralda had heard would have been at odds with their appearance.
‘Lute?’ She stared dumbly at her son, unable to continue for a few long moments, during which time Pilo sheepishly untied his bonnet.
If this was any other situation than the dire circumstances they faced, Lute would have exploded into uncontrollable laughter to see Pilo’s stubbly face emerge from beneath the frills and flounces that Calico Grace had insisted he wear to disguise the fact that he was clearly a man.
‘Pilo?’ she whispered, even more shocked, her hand moving to her throat.
‘Your highness,’ he answered, pulling angrily at his gloves and flinging them down to the ground.
‘Am I seeing things?’ she pleaded. ‘Tell me it truly is you two.’
Lute leaped down from his horse and pulled off a dress to reveal Griff’s old clothes beneath. ‘It’s me, Mother.’
Now her hand covered her mouth to prevent the cry of relief making her look too undignified.
Pilo was also off his horse in a flash and bowing. ‘What are you doing here, Queen Miralda?’
She pointed behind her, laughing amongst the tears that flowed down her cheeks. ‘I’m bringing the army to your aid.’
‘What?’ Lute said and ran up the rise to look down into the small valley. ‘Pilo, look! The Guard is here.’
Pilo strode up the rise to join him. ‘Lo, save us, it is. How did you know? How did you escape?’ he asked her, shaking his head in confusion. ‘The last I heard you were under mercenary guard.’
‘I was,’ she said, climbing down from her horse. ‘You’ll never believe it but Lambert the cook was the one who mustered all the right people!’
‘Lambert?’ Lute questioned, astonished.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He was the first to notice something was wrong, long before your father was told or was able to act. He managed to get out of the palace before the mercenaries took full control. He stole out via the herb garden and that creaky old side gate that no-one seems to pay much attention to. Can you imagine it?’ Lute shook his head. The Queen continued. ‘He took as many people with him as he could and got them all to find and brief the various army lieutenants on what they thought was happening. When Captain Drew was,’ she glanced at Pilo, ‘well, shall we say, detained by your traitorous uncle, it was Lambert who found the next-in-command and, in secret, explained what was really going on in the palace.’
‘And they got you out,’ Pilo finished.
‘It took a while. I was under very close guard. But as soon as the Duke was out of the palace, our own army struck and there were far too many of them so the mercenaries were overwhelmed. Janko has no idea yet, I suspect.’
‘That’s because he’s too busy stalking me over at Tarrow’s Landing.’
‘Yes,’ she said, hugging her son hard, stroking his hair. She looked at Pilo again. ‘You’d left the message with people you could trust that we should look there for you both.’
Lute nodded. ‘Except Uncle Janko thought he saw me, or at least his hired thugs thought they saw me headed north-west out of Tarrow’s Landing. He’s giving chase as we stand here and discuss it.’ His voice held an edge and Pilo gave him a warning glance.
Miralda looked between them quizzically. ‘What is he talking about, Pilo? Is he not well?’
‘Talk to me, Mother. Talk to me quickly about how I came to be your son. Time is short. I have to ride back now to save my twin brother, who is masquerading as me, tempting my treacherous uncle to kill him instead of me!’
Lute watched his mother’s face turn pale and her mouth move with no words. She looked ready to faint.
‘That was harsh, majesty, and not very fair of you,’ Pilo cautioned.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said to both of them, and meant it, ‘but—’
Lute got no further. The link was slicing open in his mind.
37
Griff had forced Tess to climb a tree and with the help of Little Thom she was now hidden high amongst an oak’s branches with Rix delighted and nearby. Unless she made a noise, their pursuers wouldn’t think of looking for anyone up there. As far as Griff was concerned, she was safe and so were the creatures; he’d made Davren melt back even further into the woodland.
‘He doesn’t know you’re here, he won’t be looking for you, nor will he care. But I don’t want you attracting his attention. Don’t do anything heroic, Davren, alright?’
The centaur gave no indication that he was agreeing, other than to turn solemnly and head deeper into the trees. Griff sighed with relief.
‘It’s the right decision. We are the one he’s interested in and in fact he couldn’t give a damn about us,’ Bitter Olof said indicating himself and Thom.
‘We’re just a nuisance,’ Little Thom agreed.
‘So, we’re going to do our utmost to stay out of sight but we’re not going to split up.’
‘Surely that would give us a better chance?’ Griff reasoned.
‘Perhaps, but we gave our word we would stick by you, Griff,’ Bitter Olof said. ‘And I’m not going to let Pilo down again.’
‘Shall I try and talk with Lute?’ he asked. ‘Perhaps they’ll have some news for us.’
He saw the dwarf share a sad glance with his tall friend.
‘Er, Griff. There probably was never going to be a good time to tell you this but I suspect no-one is coming back for us—not in enough time anyway.’
‘What do you mean? Pilo has—’
‘Got Lute to safety, yes,’ Bitter Olof said gravely. ‘I’m sorry, Griff.’
He looked at Bitter Olof, then at Little Thom. He still said nothing as his gaze slid back again to the dwarf as understanding fell into place.
‘I’m bait, nothing more.’
Bitter Olof looked briefly at the ground, then faced Griff. ‘I wouldn’t put it qu
ite like that, but I’m sure that’s how it’s going to feel shortly.’
Griff looked incredulous. ‘But that makes you bait also. And Little Thom.’
The dwarf nodded.
‘Why?’ He shook his head. ‘I mean, whether or not I’ve been tricked, why would you do it?’
‘I can only answer for myself. I owe Pilo this much. And beyond that debt, this is the King we are talking about.’
‘And where Bitter Olof goes, I go,’ Little Thom explained.
Bitter Olof looked up and smiled at his friend. ‘You’re far too loyal.’
Griff pushed past his shock. ‘You’ve got Lute all wrong. Perhaps Pilo, in his fear for the King’s life, is prepared to let us sacrifice ourselves but I don’t believe Lute would knowingly agree to this.’
‘You don’t know him at all.’
‘He’s my twin, Bitter Olof. I know me. And I wouldn’t let him walk into such danger without knowing I was going to do everything I could to help.’
‘And I’m sure his majesty will try but you need to understand that the distance is too far.’
Griff began to pace, his shock crystallising into anger. ‘Tess is not to know anything about this. Agreed?’
‘Agreed,’ his two companions said solemnly.
‘And the other thing we need to agree on is that we are not going to die here. Little Thom has already given his life once for Lute and if not for magic, we would have been burying him at sea. Each of us has risked plenty. Lute knows that. He will not let us die here. We are going to stay alive until he can get us help. Agreed?’
‘Agreed,’ they said, more slowly this time and with a lot more doubt in their voices.
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