by Cheryl Dyson
******
Brydon followed Jace’s confident steps and wondered what in Adona’s name they planned to do when they found Reed. They reached the third story and tromped down a corridor until they could see large, ornate double doors guarded by a single sentry.
"I thought we were going back to the Great Hall," Brydon whispered.
"We are." Jace smiled. "Can you think of any safe way to get past that guard?"
Brydon could not. They studied the problem for a moment and Brydon itched to have his bow. Just one arrow... But there was no help for it. He turned to Davin.
"I know what you can do, Davin," he said softly. "I’ve found you to be a valuable comrade in the past and that has not changed. If anything, you have become even more so. I will never treat you as anything other than my friend. Believe me when I say I do not think your powers are evil. I think they are a gift."
Davin’s strange grey-violet eyes searched Brydon’s intently and he looked at Jace, who seemed pleased at their conversation.
"You are Vai? You come from a noble people, Davin," Jace said. "I know nothing of your past, but if you fear your abilities, I beseech you to set your doubts aside and help us in any way you are able."
Davin sighed, but gave no other sign their words had reached him. Then he shimmered and disappeared, but where he had stood hovered a butterfly in marvelous hues of silver and violet. It flitted around the corner toward the guard, who continued to stare straight ahead, not noticing the butterfly when it landed on his shoulder. It paused, wings opening and closing slowly.
"How does he do that?" Brydon murmured. "Can he become anything he wants?" He felt fair to bursting with more questions he wanted to ask Jace, who seemed to know what Davin was, but now was not the time.
"I’ve never seen anything like that," Jace replied in an awed tone as the butterfly turned into a huge python whose coils wrapped around the guard’s neck.
The man dropped his spear and clutched at his throat, whirling about in panic. The tightening coils prevented him from crying out and Jace was there to catch the spear before it clattered to the ground. Brydon grabbed the guard and eased his limp form to the floor as the python released him and shimmered back into Davin.
"Marvelous!" Brydon exclaimed softly. He smiled and grasped Davin’s shoulder. Davin seemed a bit dazed and gave Brydon an uncertain look. Jace had already eased open the door and Brydon, after taking the guard’s sword, joined him. They entered a large sitting room, richly furnished and carpeted. Davin waited at the outer doors and Brydon followed Jace into a lavish bedchamber, tastefully furnished with dark wood and smoky grey and black highlights. A tapestry matching the one in the entry hung upon the wall. The room was obviously the king’s chamber.
Just as Brydon realized it, Reed entered the room from a different door. He froze upon spotting them and then dropped the coronet he held and reached for his sword.
Jace reacted first, moving across the room and diving into Reed. They both fell to the floor and rolled to their feet like cats, facing each other. Brydon watched as the two black-clad men circled each other. A delighted smile appeared on Jace’s face as Reed drew his weapon.
"How nice of the demon Vai to release you with the others," Reed snarled.
"Adona is on my side, Reed old fellow." Jace laughed. "What can you claim?"
Reed also laughed, harshly. "My lord and all his minions are at my right hand," he said.
"Your lord?"
"I am certain you know him."
"Indeed, I do," Jace goaded. "Are you afraid to say his name?"
Reed sneered in return and Jace stepped in with a blinding series of cuts that Reed countered, if not with ease, then with no difficulty. Brydon remembered how talented Reed was and stepped forward, raising his borrowed sword, but he changed his mind. He hefted the spear he still carried and walked calmly to one corner of the room. He watched the battle intently; amazed at the way Jace laughed and taunted Reed, all while parrying and twisting out of the way of Reed’s deadly blade. Brydon felt the smooth wood of the spear and waited. At the proper moment, he let fly and the missile sailed swift and true. It caught in the thick folds of Reed’s cloak where it gathered at the shoulder and dragged him backward to the floor.
Before he could disentangle himself from the spear and climb to his feet, Jace was on him, sword tip pressed against his throat.
"Greetings from my kingdom to yours." Jace grinned.
"Watch him, Jace," Brydon warned. "He likes to disappear."
Jace clucked his tongue. "I insist you stay," he said. "If I even think you are going to try and fade out, I will press this blade downward. Who knows? You might even make it before I cut through your throat."
Reed’s eyes spat flame, but he did not move.
"Where is the gauntlet?" Jace asked.
"Where you will never find it," Reed replied in a malicious tone.
"You might be surprised," Jace said and pressed the tip a bit deeper into Reed’s throat.
"I know you, weakling servant of Adona," Reed said, his voice rough through the pressure. "You will not torture me. It is against your precious laws."
Jace smiled coldly. "Perhaps it is. I suppose I can always take you to Shevyn and leave you to her tender mercies. I am sure she will be lenient with you." Reed paled, but the impasse did not last. Jace screamed and recoiled as if hit by a giant’s hand. His sword slipped away. Brydon stared in horror, realizing Reed had attacked Jace with a mental assault. Brydon had expected Jace to have some defense against Reed’s abilities. Reed knocked Jace’s sword aside and shot to his feet, slicing at the knight-priest with his own blade. The sword glanced off of Jace’s breastplate and Reed bolted for the door.
Brydon hurried to Jace, who had collapsed at the foot of the bed, clutching his head.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Jace stood up with Brydon’s assistance and leaned against him weakly. "That... hurt," Jace rasped. "I did not think he would use his confounded powers with a sword at his throat."
"Can you walk?" Brydon asked and glanced at the door. Jace nodded. Brydon helped him to his feet and they entered the sitting room. The double-doors to the corridor stood wide open. They heard shouts and booted feet running their way. A quick glance down the corridor showed a large contingent of soldiers approaching.
"Where did Davin go?" Brydon asked, surprised that Reed had not encountered Davin on his way out. Jace grabbed him and pulled him back into the room. He slammed the door and shoved a chest of drawers in front of it.
"Pile more things up there," he ordered and ran back into the bedchamber. Brydon wondered why they were locking themselves in, but he dragged a large dressing table over and pushed it over to lean on the other, shattering a porcelain pitcher and bowl in the process. As he pushed a heavy trunk in front of that he noticed Jace in the bedchamber behind one of the huge wall tapestries; only his black-booted feet showed as he hurried along the wall.
"What are you doing?" he called, looking around the room as he strained to push the heavy trunk across the thick carpet toward the door. There were no windows or other exits from the room. Shouts sounded from the corridor and heavy thumping sounded on the door.
"I am looking for... ah!" Jace called. Brydon shoved the trunk into place and turned. "Come here! Hurry!" Jace cried. Brydon ran to the dark space between the tapestries and the stone wall. He fumbled along until he reached Jace’s side. It was pitch-dark beneath the thick coverings.
"What are you doing?" Brydon hissed again. The banging sounds on the door became louder. Jace grabbed his arm and pulled.
"This way." He tugged Brydon through the wall and into utter blackness. Brydon stumbled as the ground dropped away from him. Jace caught him and pressed him against the wall. "Stairs," Jace said unnecessarily. "It’s a secret passage. I knew there would be one in the royal bedchamber. The Kerricks were no fools."
"Where does it go?" Brydon whispered as Jace slid the stone door shut quietly and blocked out the soun
ds of the splintering door in the other room.
"That I don’t know, but we will soon find out," Jace replied merrily. The steps curved down and down and finally ended. "I had hoped this would branch off and give us a few more options."
Before Brydon could reply, Jace swung open the stone portal and stepped through. They found themselves behind another tapestry or curtain, which they followed nervously to the end.
They found themselves in the Great Hall behind the throne. Jace breathed a sigh of relief. The room was empty.
"Reed did us a favor when he called the guards away, but it will not be long before he figures out where we have gone and sends them back. Let us get out while we can."
Out in entry hall, guards ran hither and yon, so they ducked into a corridor beneath the stairs and hurried into a darker alcove. They slipped into the shadows when a group of soldiers rushed by, heading for the Great Hall. Brydon knew their situation would only grow more desperate as news of their escape became known. They left the safety of the alcove and passed another when a hand reached out and snagged Brydon inside. Jace hissed and his sword arced, but a blade parried it and a voice whispered, "Jace! It’s me, Kerryn!"
Jace lowered the sword and Brydon relaxed.
"Is Shevyn safe?" Kerryn asked.
"We don’t know," Brydon replied. "She is with Toryn."
"He will turn her over to Reed!" Kerryn snapped. "Is that why you brought her back here?"
"Kerryn," Jace snapped, "Brydon has nothing to gain by giving her up to Reed. In fact, you are the one who will benefit most should anything befall her."
Kerryn sucked in a breath. "How dare you? I was ever loyal to her father and now to her!"
"Then, calm yourself. We are concerned only with her safety."
"We are taking Shevyn out of here," Brydon added. "Do you want to come with us?"
Kerryn shook his head after a long pause. "I must trust Jace to protect her. I will be of more use here, watching to see what Reed will do next. Many of us are still loyal and pray for his downfall."
"Good. If you discover anything useful, send word to Baron Jilyan in Bodor. We will try to be in contact with him." Jace paused and then asked, "Where are the Knight-Priests of the Gauntlet?"
"Koryn sent them away—months ago—to join Queen Ierona in Bodor. There have been border skirmishes with Parmitta and she requested assistance."
Jace blanched. "He sent them all? Is the danger real, or was it part of Reed’s scheme?"
"He sent every man of them. Either the threat is real or they have met with a serious mishap. The Gauntlet Knights have been gone nearly four months and I have heard no word from them or the Queen."
"And what of the Gauntlet? Where is it?"
Kerryn raised his blade involuntarily.
Jace snarled. "We have no wish to steal it, fool! Reed told us himself that is it gone. Do you want his servants to put it to use?"
Kerryn lowered the blade. "No. It is a puzzle, why he sent away something so powerful. I had hoped he would try to wear the thing, but he obviously never touched it."
"What would have happened?" Brydon asked.
"He would have been killed instantly. No man can touch it, unless he is a direct descendent of Kerrick."
"The Gauntlet?" Jace prodded. "We must be gone from here, or Shevyn’s life will be forfeit."
"Of course. Take these—they will disguise you." Kerryn handed them two bundles of cloth—black uniforms and something else. "The smaller package is for Shevyn. From what I have overheard, the gauntlet has been sent to Silver."
"Silver?" Jace was surprised. "Why there?"
Kerryn shrugged. "I do not know. Reed does not confide in his underlings, especially those who hold loyalty to Ven-Kerrick. All I know is that it was sent by caravan to Silver."
"All right," Jace said. "Now, how do we get out of here?"
"I will help you," Kerryn said.