The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3)

by Mackenzie Morgan

  “Sure.”

  “Can we use your key? I mean after you take me to the dungeon. I’ve got two I can use to open the energy field, but if I have a third, I can move people out faster. I’ll need to stay in the dungeon in case the guards decide to be heroes or someone comes down, but if I don’t have a key in my hand, there’s no way I’ll ever convince Chris or anyone else to leave long enough to bring people back here.”

  “Want me to help move them? I can, you know.”

  Kevin shook his head. “I don’t want anyone else to know you’re involved.”

  King Merdin nodded. “Probably wise. But back to your question, sure.”

  “Thank you. If you’ll get Chris out as soon as we get there, you can bring him back to my room and wait here for us to get finished.”

  “Do you want Dani with you while you’re in the dungeon?”

  Kevin shook his head. “I don’t want anyone else to know he exists.”

  “I know, but he can sense people. He’ll know if someone’s about to come through the door and he can warn you without anyone else knowing.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  King Merdin nodded. “Have you ever been to the cave Chris mentioned?”

  Kevin shook his head. “One of my sorcerers has, but I haven’t.”

  “So you don’t know what you’re walking into there.”

  “No idea.”

  “You don’t even know if the men are being kept there, do you?”

  Kevin shook his head.

  “Let your sorcerer take us there first. We’ll explore the caves and find out who’s where. Then, when you’re ready to go in for the rescue, you won’t have to waste a bunch of time trying to locate the captives.”

  “But I don’t want anyone else knowing you’re involved.”

  King Merdin shrugged. “He’s your man. Do you trust him?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s good enough for me. Tell him to meet me here, in your room, about five this afternoon. We’ll check out the cave tonight. Dani will be with me, but your sorcerer won’t know he’s here.”

  “But Dani’ll need to touch him, won’t he?”

  King Merdin grinned. “Your man will be wearing boots, won’t he?”

  Kevin nodded.

  “He’ll never feel Dani’s paw on his foot. As soon as we get there, your man can use your key to come back. Dani and I’ll look around, get the layout of the caves, find out where the men are being held, where the guards are, and see what’s what.”

  “I don’t know. It sounds risky to me.”

  “Not as risky as you going in to rescue a bunch of people without knowing where they are.” King Merdin gave Nikki a vigorous ear rub. “Anyway, I need to get some sleep. I’ll meet you here this afternoon, 5:00. And since we’re trying to keep Dani a secret, maybe Nikki should be somewhere else.”

  Chapter 77

  More Preparations

  As soon as King Merdin left, Kevin sat down to make a list of everything he needed to get done that day. But before he wrote the first word, he laid the pen down and shook his head. He needed to give his brain time to sort through everything he’d just found out. Then maybe he could come up with a coherent plan. He put on his boots and he and Nikki headed out.

  After dropping Nikki off with Marshall, Kevin went over to the little grove where he practiced. His first routine was ragged, but his second was better, and by the end of the third, his mind felt less jumbled.

  On his way back, he stopped by the kitchen. As he was heading out with a cup of coffee, Miranda handed him a small sack of brownies. “Chris used to get these for you when you had a rough day ahead of you. I have a feeling this might be one of them.”

  He carried the coffee and brownies up to his room and alternately ate and paced. An hour later, he’d figured out what he wanted to do.

  When he left his room, he went back to the kitchen. Miranda was fixing breakfast, but when she saw him standing in the doorway, she handed the preparations over to Carrie, wiped her hands, and joined him at the door. “You wanted to see me?”

  Kevin nodded. “Is there someplace we can talk? In private?”

  Miranda glanced around her busy kitchen. She tilted her head towards the door that led to the vegetable gardens. “Outside?”

  “Let’s go.” Kevin led the way to the door and opened it for her. After they’d walked down one of the garden paths far enough he knew they wouldn’t be overheard, he said, “I’m going to go get Chris and Elin Saturday morning, probably around nine.”

  “Good!” Miranda said with a big smile. “I’ll make something special for them, something loaded with sugar.”

  “I’m sure they’d appreciate it, but that’s not what I needed to tell you. Chris has managed to get word to me that he’s locked up with about fifty women and children, and from what he said, I don’t think they’re feeding them very often. Some of them have only been there for a couple of weeks, but some have been there for months.”

  “Oh, poor babies!” Miranda said. “You’re bringing them back here, aren’t you?”

  Kevin nodded. “It’ll play havoc with your schedule since we’ll be bringing them in while you’re preparing for lunch, but I was wondering if you could set out a little food for them.”

  “Soup, that’s what they’ll need. Light soup to start. Something easy on the stomach. And tea. I’ll check with the sisters to find one that’ll soothe the stomach.” Miranda was talking more to herself than to Kevin, her voice getting softer and softer as she spoke.

  “Uh, there’s one more thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “We’re going to try to rescue their husbands and some of the other men who’ve been captured. I have no idea how many that might be. Could be as few as a dozen, or as many as a hundred. I hope to have a better idea by tomorrow morning, but could you fix up something for them, too?”

  Miranda nodded. “Have they been starved, too?”

  “I doubt it as they’re working in iron mines.”

  “Sandwiches and a hearty soup for them. Maybe a barrel of scog. I’ll see if Fenway has one he can spare.”

  “And just so you’ll know, these people haven’t had any means of washing, either their clothes or themselves. They’ll probably stink. Sorry about that, but I thought you needed to know.”

  “Candles. We’ve got some that will wipe all kinds of odors out of the air. And hot water, lots of it. Are they staying here? I mean sleeping here?”

  Kevin shook his head. “We don’t have the room. I’m hoping Joan can help out with that one.”

  Miranda nodded. “Anything else?

  “Not at the moment.”

  “I need to get to work. You’ll let me know how many men to expect? And when they’ll be getting here?”

  Kevin nodded as he walked her back towards the kitchen. “And Miranda?” When she looked up at him, he said, “Keep this to yourself, all right?”

  After Kevin left the kitchen, he headed towards the governor’s office to talk to Joan and Karl, but before he went inside, he stopped at his office door. Brandon was the guard on duty. “Good morning, Brandon.”

  “Good morning, sir.”

  “I need you to take care of a couple of things for me if you would. Sorry to have to ask, but I don’t have any pages right now.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m going to talk to Karl for a minute, but when I get back, I need to meet with Darrell, Alek, Rigel, Gen. Crandal, Cpt. Lawrence, and Wythe if he’s there. We’ll need coffee, lots of coffee, and maybe some pastries if Miranda has any set out for breakfast. But don’t ask for any if they aren’t already out. She’s busy doing something for me, and I don’t want her disturbed. Got all that?”

  Brandon nodded.

  “Thank you.” Kevin stepped across the hall and opened the door to Joan’s office.

  Joan was busy answering mail, but as soon as the door opened, she looked up. “Hi. Need something?”

  “Some help. Let’s go
in Karl’s office and I’ll tell you both.”

  “He’s not here right now. I’ll have to do.”

  Kevin nodded, sat down, and told her about the women and children who would be arriving Saturday morning. “Think you can come up with places for them to sleep? And they’ll need to be out of the castle before noon. You will too, for that matter.”

  Joan frowned. “It would be easier if I knew how many family units. I’ll do the best I can, but I can’t do it from here.” She started putting the stuff she was working on away. “I’ll have to run into Milhaven and talk to some people.”

  “Since you’re going into town, can I get you to run an errand for me?”

  Joan frowned. “If it’s a quick one. This is going to take a while to organize.”

  “I know, but I want Theresa to be here when the children get here in case some of them are sick. No food, not much water, held in a cold, damp dungeon …”

  Joan nodded. “I was going by the chapel to give them a heads-up anyway.”

  “Thanks.” Kevin got up to leave. “Don’t tell anyone where they’re coming from, okay? I don’t want word to get out to the wrong people.”

  Joan nodded. “Oh, and Kevin?”

  Kevin paused at the door and looked back at Joan.

  “Come home safe.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin left Joan’s office, everyone he’d asked Brandon to find was waiting outside his door, and a large tray with cups, a carafe of coffee, and two plates of fruit and pastries was sitting on the floor.

  As Kevin opened the door, Brandon brought the tray in, set it on Ariel’s desk, and left, pulling the door to behind him. Within minutes everyone had coffee and was seated around the conference table.

  Kevin sat down at the end of the table and said, “I’ve asked you here because I’ve decided what I’m going to do about Chris and Elin.” He glanced around and settled his gaze on Wythe. “A friend of mine used your map to check out the dungeon last night.”

  Eyebrows shot up and mouths dropped open. Kevin nearly grinned. If nothing else, he had their attention. “And he said to tell you thanks. Your maps were perfect. Everything was right where you said it would be and he made it in and out without anyone noticing.” Kevin glanced around the group. “He found Chris and about fifty women and children in that dungeon. And we’re going to go get them Saturday morning.” Then he told them what he planned to do. When he was done, he asked if anyone had any questions.

  “I do,” Darrell said. “What are you going to do about the guards?”

  Kevin frowned.

  “Do you plan to leave them there to sound the alarm? Put them in the cells? Kill them?”

  “I haven’t thought about that,” Kevin said. “I don’t want them sounding the alarm, but I don’t want to kill them unless I have to.”

  “You might as well,” Wythe spoke up. “She will for sure once she finds out those slaves are gone.”

  “Even if she knows Myron took them?” Cpt. Lawrence asked. “It’s not like they could stop him.”

  Wythe shook his head. “Won’t make any difference to her. They let her slaves escape. They’ll pay with their lives.”

  “Maybe I should offer them the option of getting out of there, too,” Kevin said.

  Gen. Crandal, Darrell, Alek, and Rigel all shook their heads.

  “You can’t bring them here,” Darrell said.

  “Too risky,” Gen. Crandal agreed.

  Kevin held his hands up. “I got it. Not here. But if they don’t give us any trouble, I can’t leave them there for her to kill.”

  “Fine. Take them to another province, anywhere, but not here,” Darrell said.

  “All right,” Kevin said, “but I need to offer them a way out. Anyone have any suggestions?”

  They all looked at each other, but no one offered any solutions.

  “Okay, we’ll figure that one out later. Now, there’s another phase of this rescue operation.” Kevin told them about the cave where Marcus had ended up and the possibility that the men and older boys were being held there to work the mines.

  “I’ve talked to Joan about finding temporary housing for the women and children, but that’s stretching our resources as it is. Does anyone have any ideas where we can put these men? And keep in mind, there may be only a few but there could be a hundred or more, provided we can find them.”

  Wythe cleared his throat and said, “We can take them.”

  Kevin looked at him and frowned.

  “We can, honest,” Wythe insisted. “We’ve always got room for more. And it’ll be good for them to be around others who’ve been slaves. We know what they’ve gone through better than any of you ever could. We sleep in tents, out in the open, where we can get up and walk around any time we want to. You may not realize how important that is to an ex-slave, but there’s a reason we’ve never built barracks up there. And we understand the need to hit, and we’re prepared for it. These men will be angry, deep down angry. We have straw men they can slug it out with whenever the mood strikes. Let them come up there for a while, at least until they settle down inside. And that’s going to take some time.”

  “He’s right,” Gen. Crandal said. “It would be best, but I’m not sure they’ve got enough supplies for that many more men.”

  Kevin looked at Cpt. Lawrence. “Can you take care of getting what they might need?”

  Cpt. Lawrence didn’t answer for a moment, then he slowly nodded. “I know I can get the supplies. I’ll get with Cryslyn on that, but …”

  “What’s the problem?” Kevin asked.

  “I don’t know how much of anything we’ll need.”

  Kevin nodded. “I can’t do anything about that until tomorrow, so for today, plan for around a hundred men. If there aren’t that many, we’ll keep the supplies and use them later. Better to have too much than not enough.”

  Cpt. Lawrence nodded.

  “Well, I guess that’s it,” Kevin said and started to stand.

  Darrell shook his head and motioned for Kevin to sit back down. “About the second phase. Who’s helping with that one? When are you doing it? You haven’t said.”

  Kevin sighed. “Because I don’t know yet. It depends on what my friend finds out. Let’s meet again tomorrow morning to finalize everything. I should have more information then."

  Chapter 78

  King Merdin at the Cave

  After the meeting in his office broke up, Kevin made a quick trip to Shadron’s to ask Kayla to tell Marcus he’d be there to pick him up at 4:30 that afternoon. Then he went back to the castle, but after he got there, he couldn’t settle down. He wanted to go to Landoryn. He wanted to do something, but there was nothing he could do. He felt like a caged animal.

  Finally it was time to pick Marcus up. When they got back to his room, Kevin explained he’d gotten a message from Chris concerning the caves and told Marcus what he wanted him to do.

  “Is King Merdin the gnome Theresa and Hayley met?” Marcus asked.

  “Well, they met more than one, but they know King Merdin. Prince Jardin, the one they took care of, is King Merdin’s son.”

  Marcus nodded. “And all you want me to do is take him to that cave and leave him?”

  Kevin nodded.

  “Are you sure?”

  Again Kevin nodded. “He has a key. If anything happens, he can get out.”

  Marcus didn’t look convinced. “When we get there, what do you want me to do if someone’s in the cave?”

  “Get out as fast as you can, preferably before they see you.”

  Before Marcus could argue, King Merdin arrived. He looked Marcus over head to toe and nodded. “You’re the fellow who was with Theresa in Farowood, aren’t you?”

  Marcus’s nod turned into a frown. “How did you know? We didn’t meet. Theresa met you farther down the stream.”

  “I checked out the campsite,” King Merdin said. “I always know who’s in my backyard.” He looked at Kevin. “I’ll be back when I know somet
hing, but it may take a while. Depends on how big this cave system is and what I find.”

  Kevin nodded. “I’ll be here.”

  “Let’s go.” King Merdin put his hand on Marcus’s leg.

  “Don’t worry,” Dani said to Kevin. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

  Marcus turned the key and they were gone.

  Kevin paced to his door and back, but before he could turn around and start again, Marcus was back.

  “That was quick,” Kevin said, a little surprised.

  “Well, you told me not to wait around, to deliver him and come right back.”

  “Was anyone in the cave when you got there?”

  Marcus shook his head. “No one, and I didn’t hear anyone either, although I wasn’t there long enough to listen.”

  “As long as no one was in the room when you got there, he’ll be fine. Now, let’s get you back to Shadron’s. Oh, and Marcus, don’t mention anything about King Merdin to anyone, ever.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin ate a quick dinner at the castle and then he and Nikki went up to his room. While he was waiting for King Merdin and Dani, Kevin brushed Nikki, answered some of the messages that had come in over the past couple of days, paced, ran through his plans for the rescue and tried to think of everything that could possibly go wrong, paced some more, and finally went out on the balcony and stared out at the night.

  Around 10:00 Nikki growled. Kevin reached for her collar and, once they were back in his bedroom, asked, “King Merdin?”

  A moment later, King Merdin appeared next to the chair Kevin had set out for him, but Nikki was still growling and looking at Kevin’s dresser. A few seconds later, Kevin saw Dani sitting up there, grooming himself.

  “King Merdin mentioned you had a puppy. I wasn’t expecting one quite so large,” Dani said. “Think I’ll stay up here until she gets used to me.”

  Kevin nodded as he held Nikki’s collar and stroked her head. He turned to King Merdin. “Well?”

  “That cave system is huge. We’d still be wandering around in there if Dani hadn’t peeked into a few minds to get the layout. Good thing we went. You’d never have found the men in time. The room they’re in is half a mile from the room your sorcerer took us to. As it is, I can take you straight to them tomorrow night.”