“All strapped in?” Faerlah called back.
“Ready when you are,” Shannen answered.
A few moments later, Shannen’s stomach twisted funnily as the craft rose into the air. The crew of maidens and Maarlai let out a cheer, and then they were moving. Shannen got one last glimpse of Ashwall out her window before they zipped away, moving east, toward the Waste, toward the forests beyond.
Toward Darathar.
The group in the ship chatted and laughed as FAerlah flew. It was an odd kind of excitement. Everyone, including Shannen, was well aware that they would not live through this. But there was beauty and joy in action, in not sitting back and merely hoping for the best. If this was going to be Shannen’s end, at least she knew she was dying for a worthy cause, unlike the many men and women who had died under Edwell’s rule, simply because of his incompetence and greed. No death is welcome, of course, but if she was going to die, this was not the worst way to go. She had the feeling that her shipmates felt the same. It was a kind of camaraderie she had never experienced before, and she thought she understood, at least a bit, those who lived for the fight the way her husband did.
Still, if she got out of this alive, she only wanted three things: her husband, a library, and a soft bed. She would do what she needed to for her people, o course, but if she never had to march, or hide, or kill once this would over, she would be happy with that.
Of course, they needed to make it through this first.
“Hold on, Daarik,” she whispered, “I’m coming.”
Chapter Fifteen
The flight to Darathar was almost impossibly fast. As they neared it, Faerlah brought the ship to a stop several miles away, hovering in the air over the forest.
“There are torches and fires lit,” Janara said. “They’re there.”
Shannen nodded.
“What should we do, Shannen?” Camille asked.
“If we storm the place, they could just decide to kill Daarik out of spite,” Shannen said, looking at the city.
“That would be very like Jarvik,” Faerhah agreed.
“So… what do we do?” Janara asked.
“Stealth and surprise,” Camille said. “It’ll be just like Tanris all over again.”
“Let’s hope not,” Faerlah said.
“Well, the Tanris operation went beautifully right up until the Sarlene decided to show up and blow everything to hell,” Reena said, and Sula and Gildis murmured their agreement.
“You know Jarvik better than I do. Where would he most likely be holding Daarik?” Shannen asked Faerlah and Janara.
“The throne room,” they both said.
“He has craved that throne most of his long, miserable life, I think,” Faerlah said. “He won’t resist the temptation to sit on Elrek's throne while he has Daarik captive. Probably making Daarik watch him sit there, just to be an utter bastard.”
Shannen continued to look at the city. “Our best bet is the tunnel that leads from the forest into the stables. We’ll have some cover, and even if they are guarding that area, it’s not likely to be more than one or two of them. They're much more likely to be covering the main gates, and there aren’t enough of them to watch everything,” she said.
“How did you know about the tunnel?” Faerlah asked in surprise.
“It was how Daarik snuck me out of Darathar when I left,” Shannen said, remembering their fear, their sadness at parting, their stress that, if any of those allied with Jarvik were still in the city, they would kill Shannen on sight. She remembered that last heartbreaking kiss in the forest, so afraid that she would not see her husband again. And now here she was again, afraid she would not see him alive and whole. Shannen forced her thoughts away from that route.
“How many do we figure there are?” Reena asked.
“Jarvik had a few dozen of them, though we killed many of them when we were hunting him,” Janara said. “Maybe thirty fighters, I figure? Assuming he managed to keep them all. Some may have deserted already,” she finished.
Shannen nodded. It sounded right, between what Daarik had said and what she’d learned from the Maarlai who had joined them at Ashwall.
“All right. So we land under cover of the forest, and hike through the woods to get to the tunnel. Getting into the city quietly will be our first major challenge. If there are any guards at the stables when we exit the tunnel, we cannot let them have the chance to alert anyone else that we are there. If they do, our job will be much harder.” She paused. “Do not use the Sarlene weapons unless they are absolutely needed. Blades, bows, and clubs should do the job.”
They nodded. Faerlah steered the ship, keeping a good distance away from Darathar, and brought the craft down to a bumpy landing in a small clearing to the south of the city.
“We’ll have to do a bit of walking to reach the tunnel entrance, but I didn’t want to risk getting any closer,” Faerlah said as she stood up from the pilot’s seat.
Shannen nodded. “That was amazing. Thank you for getting us here so quickly.”
Faerlah gave Shannen a small bow.
“I want you to stay with the ship,” Shannen told her, and Faerlah opened her mouth to argue. “If things begin to go badly, or if they try to take this ship from us while we are trying to rescue Daarik, they need to be stopped. You are the only one who knows how to maneuver the ship well enough to get it airborn quickly if they try to attack it.”
Shannen could tell that Faerlah did not like it, but she nodded. “It makes sense,” she said.
“Thank you.” Shannen paused. “The rest of us will go on to the tunnel. Once we are inside the city, we need to take down as many guards and traitors as we can. Any that we leave alive will likely only show up later, once we are focused on trying to free Daarik. And I assume that Jarvik will not go down easily, when it comes to that.”
“Be careful of that one, Shannen,” Faerlah said. “He clearly has powers he had kept from us, until the moment he decided it was in his best interest to use them. He traveled quickly, the way we are trying to train Janara to, to get here before us. We know he can manipulate the mind, and he can create some fairly nasty concoctions with herbs and other items. I have no doubt there is more to it than that.”
Shannen nodded. “We will be careful. If you get a clear shot at Jarvik, take it immediately,” she instructed her Maidens. “Our mission is simple: get to Daarik and free him. Kill or capture Jarvik if you can, but that is a secondary goal. Our focus is the king.”
They all nodded, and Shannen took a deep breath. She slung her quiver over her shoulder, along with her bow, and pulled her dagger from its sheath. “Thank you all for being here with me. There are no beings I trust more to fight by my side.”
Camille gestured Shannen to her, and when Shannen stepped forward, Camille put an arm around her shoulders, and beckoned the rest of the Maidens and Faerlah forward. They put their arms around each other, all of them in a circle, heads bowed.
“May the gods grant us strength,” Camille murmured.
“May the forest shield and protect us,” Janara intoned.
“May our queen and king live long, healthy lives and bring our peoples to peace and prosperity,” Reena added.
“And may Jarvik fall in absolute agony, preferably after crying like a baby and begging to be spared,” Faerlah finished. The rest of the women in the circle opened their eyes and looked at her. “What? You have your prayers, I have mine.” She reached out and took Shannen’s hand. “Save my grandson, girl.”
“I will.”
Shannon stepped to the door and pressed the brightly-glowing square button beside it. The door slid open, and she and her Maidens stepped out into the edge of the forest.
It was a little after dawn, and it had stopped raining though it was still quite overcast. The moisture hung in the air like sodden laundry and clung to Shannen’s skin as she began the long trek through the forest. Everything around them was silent, and even their footsteps barely made a sound. Shannen nearl
y smiled. She had finally learned how to walk quietly. It had only taken leagues of hiking and sneaking around, helped along by constant reminders and teasing about her heavy footsteps from her Maidens.
They did not speak as they traveled, focusing on paying close attention to their surroundings and not alerting the enemy to their presence. Their biggest ally was surprise, and they were not willing to give that up. It was slow going, the ground slippery beneath their feet, and they stuck to the densest parts of the forest, using its cover for as long as they could. By the time the boulder that marked the entrance to the tunnel was in sight, the sun was directly overhead.
They had had her husband for almost an entire day. Shannen wrested her thoughts away from all of the horrible things they may have done to him in that time. She knew he was injured; Renn had said as much, that Daarik had been injured in the fight against the Sarlene, and had been injured so badly he’d been unable to leave the battlefield of his own power. Brave, selfless fool that her husband was, he had insisted on the other injured being carried to shelter first.
All of the lectures she’d received about how she was a queen now and could not just throw herself into danger… Daarik actually needed to hear those speeches more than she did, she thought with a smile. She would be sure to tell him so.
They stopped under cover of the forest, in the last dense clump of trees remaining close to them. Shannen was relieved to see that there was no one stationed at the tunnel entrance. If she had any luck at all, they did not know about the door in the stable floor, a sloping decline that allowed one to take a horse from the city without being seen. The idea had been that if the city was being watched the by the enemy — the humans, at the time — a rider could still leave the city and mount an attack. Shannen had been grateful for the ingenious route out of the city the night she had left, and she was doubly grateful for it now.
“Are you ready?” Shannen asked her Maidens, and they nodded. Shannen looked at the doorway and took a deep breath. She nodded at Janara, who sped to one tree, hiding behind the trunk until she was sure she had not been seen, then moving to the next tree for cover. Shannen and the rest of the Maidens did the same, one tree at a time, one Maiden at at at time, until they all stood, flattened against the enormous boulder next to the tunnel’s entrance.
Janara reached out and pulled, and the door refused to move.
“Barred from the inside,” Janara said, glancing at Shannen.
“Feel along the sides of the door jamb. There was a small mechanism on the inside that opened it. I remember Daarik searching for it that night,” Shannen said. “There has to be a matching one out here, otherwise those who had been sent out on secret missions wouldn’t have ben able to get back in.”
Janara nodded and slid her fingers along the sides of the heavy wooden door. As she went around once with no luck, Shannen started to fear that she'd been wrong. If so, they would have to make their way to one of the gates.
Janara gave a small grunt and pulled her hand back from the door, bringing her finger to her mouth.
“Are you all right?” Shannen asked.
“Fine. There’s something sharp there,” she said, getting closer to the door for a better look. “It looks like there was something here, but it’s broken. Give me your dagger.”
Shannen put the dagger into Janara’s hand, and watched as Janara inserted the tip of it into the side of the door frame and started wiggling it around.
“There’s definitely something there. I just need to get it to catch,” Janara muttered.
“We’re going to be defeated by a gods-damned door,” Sula said as she kept an eye out for any Maarlai.
“Not even just a door. A door latch,” Reena clarified, and Shannen shook her head. A moment later, she heard a “click” and Janara handed the dagger back to her while pushing the door open.
“You were saying?” Janara asked Sula and Reena, and they both dropped into exaggerated curtsies. Janara snorted and rolled her eyes, and they filed into the tunnel, pulling the door closed behind them. Shannen pulled one of the small, glowing wands she’d noticed in the Sarlene plane out of her pocket and clicked the button to switch it on.
“Handy,” Camille said.
“As long as it doesn’t suddenly kill us,” Gildis responded, and they all laughed, albeit a bit nervously.
“I do not think Faerlah would have let me take it if she thought it would kill us,” Shannen said, sweeping the beam of light back and forth.
“I don’t know. She doesn't seem especially fond of you at the moment, Your Highness,” Camille said, and the others laughed.
“You are mistaken. Faerlah adores me. I am her favorite granddaughter-by-marriage.”
“You're her only granddaughter-by-marriage,” Janara clarified.
“That fact does not make it any less true. Still her favorite.”
By now, the large trap door that led into the stables was in sight at the end of the tunnel, and Shannen took a deep breath, hoping with all her might that it was not blocked somehow, or that the Maarlai weren’t lying in wait for them.
They climbed the ramp that led up to the trap door and Shannen took a deep breath.
“Let us go through first. Have your bow ready,” Janara said, and Shannen nodded, pulling an arrow from the quiver and nocking it, aiming upward at the door.
“Ready,” she said. Reena stood back with her, while Gildis and Sula joined Janara and Camille at the door.
“On three,” Camille said quietly. “One. Two. Three.” On the word, they shoved the door up, hard, and spilled into the stables. Shannen heard some shouts, the sounds of a scuffle, and she ran forward, bow ready. When her head cleared the top of the trap door, it was to see Janara pulling her knife from the throat of one of the Maarlai they’d run into in the stable, and Camille was pulling another Maarlai body away from the door that led out into Darathar.
“You are fast,” Shannen said appreciatively, and Janara and Camille grinned. They crept toward the doors and Janara opened one slightly so she could see outside. She slowly, gently closed it again and turned around.
“There are three standing outside the palace. I see two more walking near the walls, patrolling.”
“How near are the ones near the walls?” Shannen asked.
“”They’re likely behind the stables now.”
Shannen glanced up at the hayloft, and at the small door that opened off of it. The stableboys used a system of pulleys and ropes to haul hay up to the door and store it up high, where it would not get wet.
Camille followed her gaze.
“I ‘ve got it. Come on, Reena,” she said. Reena grinned and she and Camille quickly scrambled up the rickety ladder up to the loft. Shannen watched them for a moment, backlit by the open door of the loft, and in the next instant, they were gone and she knew they’d leapt at their targets. She heard a loud grunt, a dull thud, and then nothing for a few tense moments. There was a soft knock at the back wall of the stable and Shannen walked over there.
“We’re set here. We will meet you in front of the stables when you’re ready,” Camille said.
“Well done,” Shannen murmured.
“But of course,” Camille replied, and Shannen smiled. She went back to the rest of her Maidens.
“All right. Two down.” Shannen glanced out the crack in the stable door again. “If we can slip out quietly enough, we can duck behind the dais in the square until we are ready to strike. It will have to be fast. We cannot let them call for help.”
The Maidens nodded and, much as they had done in the forest, they slipped, one at a time, out the stable door when the palace guards’ attention was elsewhere, creeping to the side of the raised dais at the center of the village square. Shannen and Daarik had been married on that very dais. How she had hated it on that day. All of it. She had hated everything, and, even so, her husband-to-be’s warm hands in hers, the clear, calm focus in his eyes when he looked at her had soothed her in ways she did not understand back then.
As Gildis slipped out the door, it was down to Shannen and Sula.
“Go, Your Highness. I’ll watch your back,” Sula said quietly. Shannen nodded and watched for her chance. When she had it, she quickly slipped out the door, letting it close quietly behind her. She ran, keeping her body as low and compact as possible, and reached the dais just as the guards at the palace started their next check of the area. They were not exactly thorough, secure in the assumption that any pursuit was days behind them. Shannen was grateful yet again that Faerlah was with her, and that as one of the last remaining Maarlai who had lived on their old planet, she knew of things like air ships and how to control them. The rest of the Maarlai had either been children when their home planet had been destroyed, or they had been born on Earth.
Anther tense wait, and then Sula was with them and the next challenge was in front of them.
“We charge at them. Our goal is to not let them alert the other Maarlai,” Shannen said. “Keep the Sarlene weapons in reserve for later. They are too noisy. If we really need them, we can use them once we get into that throne room.”
Her Maidens nodded and Shannen held her hand up. She took a couple of deep breaths, and then pointed toward the palace. As one, they ran, charging the three hapless guards at the door, who stood in shock for a moment before scrambling for weapons. Janara leapt on the biggest one and stabbed him in the neck with her dagger. Sula and Reena attacked as one, swinging their spiked clubs at the second guard, and Shannen and Camille both plowed into the third guard at the same time, knocking him to the ground. He grabbed Shannen by the hair and started to call out, but Camille sliced her dagger across his throat at the same time Shannen plunged her own knife into his stomach. After a moment, he went limp and Shannen picked herself up.
“Over there,” she said, pointing at a parked wagon nearby. They dragged the Maarlai bodies behind it. There was no point in leaving signs of their presence if they could avoid it.
Riven (Exile Book 2) Page 16