by Guy Antibes
The wizard sauntered in accompanied by more guards. His very walk displayed arrogance and conceit. Unca had never behaved in such a manner, but Sallia had seen it often enough in her father’s court. She never liked such poseurs then and didn’t think ending the wizard’s life would be a problem. “Now we will see if one of you is the Princess,” the wizard said as he sat down and removed his gloves.
“I don’t care if you are the Overking of Besseth,” a man said, rising from his seat. We don’t treat women this way in Gensler. More men rose and fought with the guards. Men were slashed and cut, although it didn’t look like any would die.
A tall man jumped up from a table and pulled out a sword. He looked at Sallia as if she would know him. Although the man looked familiar, she couldn’t recall his face. He pulled his glance away from her and joined the villagers. His skill didn’t match the guards, but, together with the villagers, they fought bravely on, but more soldiers entered the inn and the Genslerans were ultimately outmatched.
She thought her cause was lost when another young man entered the fray. A lighter blond than her first savior and more heavily built, he took a strange iron battle staff to Histron’s men. The wizard went down with a blow to the head and just when she thought the villagers would prevail. One of the soldiers, Sallia couldn’t tell whom, recovered enough to grab a sword and pierced the first blond man’s shoulder. The tide of battle began to turn a bit, and then turned into rout once the revived magician sneaked behind the man wielding the staff and bludgeoned him over the head.
The rest of the villagers ran out. The staff-wielding man seemed to have disappeared and the innkeeper took the wounded one up the stairs with the help of two of his serving maids.
The wizard sat down, touching his tender skull, and growled at the guards. “Can’t you men fight better than that? Common rabble aided by two men with weapons just about overpowered you. I need to rest, now. We will finish up here tomorrow morning, instead. I can only hope for your sake that one of these wretches is the princess.” He angrily glanced at the women and walked up the stairs, clutching his head and the railing as he went.
“You all get back into the wagon. There’ll be no dinner tonight.”
Sallia could see that some of the guards wouldn’t be making the journey back to the Red Kingdom. She could only hope that she wouldn’t either. One way or another.
~~~
CHAPTER NINE
~
AN EARLY THAW HAD COME TO SALLY’S CORNERS and the way down from Gensler gave Unca’s horse fits in the slippery mud of a forest road. He decided to let the mare rest for a day before heading to his holding, despite his anxiety about seeing Sallia safe and sound.
No one knew him by his young appearance, as he walked up to the bar for an ale.
“I’ll be staying the night if you have an open room. My horse is tied up outside. If you could see to her, I’d appreciate it. I’d also thank you if you presented me with an ale.”
“Plenty of rooms now that the Duke’s men have gone.”
“Another search?”
The innkeeper nodded his head as he poured an ale from a barrel behind the bar. “About a week or so ago they came through here heading to Gensler. He must be wanting the Princess something bad to violate the border.”
“Did they catch anyone?” Anchor felt a tightening in his throat.
“No, but the young lady that stayed with Willow up at Bodkin’s place took off before they arrived.”
Unca’s heart leaped. He’d be sitting down in his older body gasping for breath. “What about Willow?”
“She’s in town somewhere. I’d check with the healer. How do you know Willow?”
“I know her son Hal.”
“The men came from Chapel Vale. Willow’s afraid to go back and see what damage they did to Bodkin’s place. She thinks he’s dead.”
“I saw him a few weeks ago at Happly Keep. He seemed in good health to me. I’ll be heading back up to Gensler in the morning, if I can catch Willow tonight.” Unca took his ale and sat down to slake his thirst. He wouldn’t rest until he talked to his housekeeper. Would she even believe him in his new shape? It didn’t matter. Sallia was in trouble and he’d do what he could to rescue her.
He left the inn and trudged quickly over the slick cobbles to the healer.
“I’m looking for Willow of Chapel Vale. I heard you might know where she is. I hope she hasn’t left for Bodkin’s place.”
The healer shook his head. “She’s helping the dressmaker. You can find her there.”
Unca peeked in the dressmaker’s shop and saw Willow walking to the back with a dress on her arm. He walked in.
“Willow, can I have a word?” He smiled at the dressmaker. He never could remember the woman’s name.
He escorted Willow outside. “Willow, you might not believe this, but I’m—”
“Unca! What have you done to yourself? We both thought you were dead.”
“I seem to have charmed myself into a young body and now lack the power to turn myself back. I am bereft of magic.”
“You looked pretty darn good when you were younger. I had forgotten. I’ll bet you broke a lot of young women’s hearts.” Willow grinned.
“I was the studious sort and kept my youthful nose in books learning my craft.” He didn’t tell Willow that he did indeed have a few distractions, but his housekeeper didn’t need to know that. “I heard that Sallia fled.”
Willow’s grin disappeared. “She had to. Histron’s men turned the village upside down looking for her and I shudder to think what your holding looks like. Are you going after her?”
“I must. I just came from Happly, and my horse needs a night’s rest and I wouldn’t decline myself a bed at Traveler’s Rest after days and days on the road. Would you consider sharing an evening meal with a young vagabond?”
Willow smiled again. “Certainly. We can talk about Sally and what you’ve been doing for the last three months.”
“You two must have had a wonderful time. I’ve been gone for nearly four.”
Willow blinked her eyes. “We did.”
The dressmaker knocked her knuckle on the window.
“Time to get back. An hour after sundown?”
“Suits me. I’ll go back and take a nap. I don’t need them like I once did.”
~
“So she’s changed, has she?”
“Grown up, I’d say. She even helped me with my rabbit traps and skinned a few of them herself.”
Unca couldn’t help but laugh. “Who would have thought? She’s an impressive young woman.”
“Sally is, but I worry about her every night. She could be dead on the road or in the clutches of Duke Histron’s men.”
Unca pushed his empty plate away from him. His appetite had definitely picked up in his new form. “I’m eating too much,” he said.
“Not for a person your age. What do I call you?”
“Anchor. The name’s Anchor.”
“Not too much different and I think it suits you. You’re a much more steady person than you’d like to think.” Willow smiled at him.
“I’ve done some awful things and made mistakes that got the wrong people killed, Willow. I have more guilt than any man my new age should have to bear. I have to make it up by finding Sally and it bothers me that I might have passed her on the road to Sally’s Corners.”
“I think she headed straight north and you came in on the West Road?”
“I did. Oh. No possibility of her passing me.”
Willow shook her head and put her hand on his. “You’re ridden with guilt over her, aren’t you? If you are to do Sally any good, set that aside and go find the girl.”
He nodded and changed the subject to his holding. Seeing Willow had settled him down a bit. Now he’d have to figure out how to rescue Sally from Histron’s trained soldiers.
The mare seemed to have taken to the night’s rest and seemed ready to head north. Unca took a deep breath once they were
in the middle of forest land. He felt as if his life depended on saving the princess and wondered how he would be able to find her. She had nearly two weeks head start, but he would catch up. If the soldiers brought her back to the Red Kingdom, they’ would have to pass him on the road. Willow didn’t think she had much money—maybe not enough to take her all the way to Crackledown.
He rode through Five Mills, the first village of any size. She would have stopped here and that thought promoted him to check in at the village’s only inn.
“I’m looking for a golden-haired girl. Brownish eyes. About twenty years old. She’s on foot.”
He shook his head. Unca didn’t like his expression. “If she’s blonde, she’s gone. The Red Kingdom invaded us a few days ago and took all of the women of the description you gave us. They didn’t care what color her eyes, just her age and hair color. They paid a gold for each one. Three girls were plucked from our village. One was an outsider. She stayed at the boarding house on the south end of town.”
Unca plopped a silver coin on the counter and rode to the boarding house and asked who had stopped by.
“Oh, yes. Nice girl. Sally was her name. They just grabbed her off the street and away they went.”
“Which way did they go? I didn’t pass anyone on my way here from Sally’s Corners.”
“She your girlfriend? Wife?” She looked up at Unca, battered her eyelashes and smiled. “You can call me Bertel.”
Unca shuddered at the introduction. “Neither, but she was under my protection. I left for a few months and she fled to the north.”
“She told me she ran away from her master. Were you the master who went hunting? Is she really the princess?”
Unca snorted. He hoped he didn’t blush. “Did she act like a princess?”
Bertel shook her head. “No princess would ever volunteer to help the likes of me.”
“What happened to her things?”
She shrugged. “She might have had them with her. I don’t know.”
“I asked if you knew where they went.”
“North. They’d be getting close to Everwet.”
Unca returned to the inn for a quick meal and took off to the north. A wagon filled with girls wouldn’t be traveling very fast. Along the way, he passed a group of men wearing the Red Kingdom colors. He recognized the wizard who accompanied them—one of the Duke Histron’s men. The man had more power at his disposal than Unca, but lacked training and sophistication in the use of magic. It didn’t matter now, since Unca had lost all of his wizardly abilities.
He rode up. The men were cooking an evening meal. They all looked like scoundrels. None were King Billeas’s men.
“Hello,” Unca said as he dismounted.
“You can be on your way,” the wizard said.
Unca had figured that they wouldn’t act with the slightest grace. “I will then. Fare well.” He got back up on his horse and headed north. No wagon. No girls. They were only cooking enough for themselves. Perhaps he could reach Sallia before these men joined the others who must be searching for the princess.
He rode through the night and finally arrived at Everwet as the dawn broke. He walked into the larger of the two inns in town and asked them to take care of his horse. The mare would need a few days to recover from the night’s ride. He regretted pushing his mount so hard, but he had gotten ahead of the wizard.
“Has there been a wagon of women through here?” he asked the serving maid.
“Yesterday. They went past, but they ended up staying on the green, near a half-mile north. The men said they’d be back in the morning.” The maid yawned. “I don’t suppose they’ll be as early as you.” She squinted and smiled at Unca. “You be staying long?” Her eyebrows went up. He would have to put up with such women as long as he wore Anchor’s body. That’s how he had begun to think of himself—Anchor.
Sallia would be here, perhaps within the hour.
He expected them to come at breakfast, but they were late. Perhaps they let the girls sleep in. His anxiety grew as time went on. The hour approached noon as a man in Histron’s colors entered the common room.
“You in that corner, find other tables.” He drew his sword. “We’ll need that place to work.”
Anchor loosened the sword in its scabbard and waited a bit longer. The wagon drove up and his heart raced when he noticed Sallia. She looked around the inn and didn’t recognize him at all. He had the Bloodstone and that would verify his identity.
His heart sank as the wizard and only some of his men sauntered into the inn. There would have been at least ten of them. His anxiety grew as the women sat down to eat. Sallia ate more than the rest. Good girl. She’d keep her strength up and fight to the very end.
The wizard walked up to the girls. “Now, we will see if one of you is the Princess Sallia.”
Unca nearly stood, but a villager beat him to his feet and yelled at the wizard with a cudgel in his hand. The guards began pushing him. This would be his last chance before they discovered Sallia. He jumped up and joined the fight. He tried to make the sword work, but his youthful strength didn’t improve his less-than-mediocre sword skills.
More villagers joined in. Unca didn’t know if they would prevail until another young man barged through the inn door carrying an ironshod battle staff. Unca hadn’t seen one in action before and the guards began to fall in his wake.
Sallia would be saved! But then a searing pain erupted in his shoulder causing him to go down to his knees. Someone must have stabbed him from behind. He tried to stand, but the pain overcame his mind and all he could do was see the fight’s progress in a haze, until someone lifted him and carried him away.
~~~
CHAPTER TEN
~
ALL OF THE GIRLS CRIED and Sallia couldn’t help but join in. These brave villagers risked their lives for them. The stabbed man was hopefully being treated in a room upstairs. The fighter with the staff had been dragged out of harm’s way by the stable boys. Villagers had cleared the inn of their injured as the fight proved to be over and Histron’s guards had won. The guards bundled them all in the wagon and were taken back to the camp of the night before. The wizard, at least, had been beaten senseless and had to rest. That gave her one more day.
She lay in the wagon, wrapped up in her blanket listening to more sobbing. She’d get her chance on the morrow. Perhaps this would be the last night of her life. It would be, if they discovered her secret, but at least Unca had the Bloodstone. Histron wouldn’t get that from her. She drifted off to sleep amid complaints of no evening meal. At least she had the foresight to fill her stomach when the others didn’t.
The morning dawned too early. Sallia had already been awake for some time. The guards took their time fixing themselves breakfast, bragging about their exploits in the village fight. The boasts didn’t reflect the true nature of the conflict. The villagers fought bravely, but cudgels and staffs were no match for soldiers with edged weapons. They were finally told to wake up and rub the sleep out of their eyes on their way back to the inn.
Sallia worried about the two young men who came to her aid. The one with the sword in the shoulder had fought valiantly, but he didn’t have the skill needed to press the soldiers. He had fought bravely against overwhelming odds and had fought hard enough to keep the guards at bay until one of them came up from behind. The man with the battle staff might have fought off all of the men if someone hadn’t have hit him in the head.
Neither would probably come to their rescue today, so Sallia would be ready. A fork, knife, perhaps she’d even use the poker hung by the fireplace. She’d fight and make them kill her.
The wizard had recovered only too well and looked them over as they filed into the inn. “Sit on the floor. I’ll be casting a spell to remove any glamour that has been placed on you.” The man wouldn’t even give them a shred of dignity. He would be her first target. They sat next to the fireplace and the sharp-ended poker was within reach.
She grabbed the poker
and sat on it, waiting for her turn. At least someone had sharpened the point. She noticed the man with the battle staff, stood in the shadows, now armed with a pitchfork. Perhaps she could at least distract attention from him.
“You!” the wizard said.
Sallia realized that her turn had come. She rose and hid the poker within the folds of her dress. He invoked the spell. His eyes grew when Unca’s magic had been released and her eyes must have changed color. She grabbed the poker as tightly as she could and jammed it into the magician’s stomach.
“That’s the princess!” one of the guards said. She backed up as the guards advanced on her. The man with the pitchfork began to fight the guards. Weapons began to clatter on the floor as villagers, looking from the door came to help. This time they had brought better weapons.
The magician rose and pulled the poker from his stomach. It hadn’t gone in as far as she had wanted. The fighting had moved from them and Sallia was exposed to his wrath. He growled and raised the bloody weapon, but closed his eyes and yelled. The poker had turned yellow hot and she could hear the sizzle of flesh. Sallia spied a sword on the floor, left by a disabled guard and ran the magician through.
“Traitor.” The words came unbidden to her lips. The wizard and these men were all traitors to the Red Kingdom. She wished she could have executed all of them, but her strength left her and she collapsed into a chair, the bloody sword still in her hand.
Where the previous day, the villagers had suffered a defeat, today, they were victorious. Sallia breathed easier. Today might not be her last after all. She couldn’t help but smile with relief amidst all of the carnage. She had made it through.
“Bind those that still live,” The man with the battle staff said. Somehow he had retrieved his weapon. He turned to her and said, “Princess Sallia?”
She couldn’t admit her identity amidst all of these people. “No. I’m an imposter, but you can call me Sally. Duke Histron’s magician,” she paused to look at the body, now covered with a sheet, “has been moving from place to place along the border villages of the Red Kingdom and Gensler examining young women. I was a decoy.” She lifted her chin in defiance.