Iyra led Bowe out of the small cave and through the tunnel. Bowe felt a tightness in his chest as he walked away from the cave, thinking of Urdo, but the man was no longer in charge now. Bowe just had to persuade this bandit queen to let him go, and the red-haired giant would fall in line. As the passage opened out into the main chamber of the cave, several wild-eyed children scrambled out of their way.
The main chamber had several torches attached to the wall, and several hearth fires, so Iyra’s torch became unnecessary and she threw the brand into the flames of a large fire. Bowe glanced at the entrance to the main chamber; it was small enough considering the size of this cave system, high enough for Urdo to pass without ducking, and wide enough for three people abreast. It was night outside. The entrance wasn’t guarded and Bowe wondered at his chances of making a dash for it if things went badly. There were too many people who could stop him, though. And even if he made it, what then? He was no woodsman—undoubtedly Urdo would hunt him down and catch him.
There were several hundred people in the cave. Large groups gathered around the fires, cooking meat and talking in loud voices. Everyone wore sewn-together scraps of clothes, most of them were dirty and smelled bad. Many were thin, but there was a cheer in their talk and laughter. Children hung around the outside of the groups, some playing games, others hungrily watching the food cook.
Bowe followed Iyra to the largest group in the center of the chamber. There, Urdo’s laughter rang out above the din of everyone else. He was leaning over the fire, holding a full haunch of a pig on a stick and roasting it. Standing beside him was a woman who could only be the bandit queen. She gave off an aura of command that Bowe recognized instantly. She only came up to Urdo’s elbow, but she was solid and stocky. Her clothes were also sewn together, but in better shape than those of most of the others. She didn’t watch Bowe and Iyra’s approach, but Bowe could sense that she was aware of it.
Iyra and Bowe stopped and waited just in front of the large group. When everyone else stopped laughing along with him, Urdo looked up and noticed them. His smile widened, but not in a good way. “Ah, the little man. Has he been seasoned?” He lifted the haunch of pig higher. “I’ll be finished with this in a moment, and we can see how you fit on my spit.” Grease slid off the meat and sizzled in the fire.
“Let’s not be too hasty. This is a big day for our community,” the bandit queen said. By now everyone had quieted and turned to watch the central hearth. “We’ve taken one of the Guardians of Arcandis prisoner. We just have to decide what to do with him.”
There was a moment of stunned silence then a cheer broke out. Several voices could be heard above the general noise.
“Him, Urdo’s little man?”
“What should we do with him?”
“Urdo’s spit looks big enough to me.”
“Burning’s too quick. I always wanted to see a Guardian beg.”
The bandit queen waved down the noise. “Finish your dinners. As I said, no reason to do anything hasty.” She nodded to Bowe and Iyra. “Follow me.”
Bowe looked at the faces of those who watched him walk away from the fire and a shiver of dread ran down his spine. They looked hungry, and not just for food. They wanted something more than just a place to sleep and food in their belly—perhaps the victory of watching one of the hated Guardians die at their hands. The way that the bandit queen had announced Bowe’s presence had seemed like she was offering him up for that. But there was hope in that she wanted to talk to him first; perhaps he could change her mind.
There were a number of cave and tunnel offshoots from the main chamber, and the bandit queen led them to one of them. The cave entrance was small and both the bandit queen and Iyra had to duck to get inside; Bowe had to bend over almost double. The cave inside wasn’t much bigger than the entrance. The bandit queen and Iyra sat down facing each other with their backs to the walls and their legs bent so that their knees were as high as their chest. Even then there was barely any other space in the cave. Bowe hesitated, wondering where he was supposed to go and received a shove from behind that sent him tumbling against the back wall. He managed to use his hands to stop his fall before his head banged against anything, though it meant he ended up lying across the knees of the two women.
He looked over at the bandit queen and she nodded at a small gap between Iyra and the back wall. There didn’t seem enough space but Bowe maneuvered himself so he could edge into the gap, and Iyra shifted enough for him to squeeze in and sit down. He pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. The bones of his backside pressed uncomfortably against the cold, hard floor.
The room darkened as Urdo stuck his head in. Bowe feared they’d be all crushed to death, but the giant twisted his body so his back leaned against the side of the entrance with his upper legs lying across the threshold and his lower legs totally outside. He placed his axe across his lap and began to sharpen it while glaring at Bowe.
“Did we have to have this discussion here,” Bowe said. “My prison cave is bigger.” He felt uncomfortable to be pushed against Iyra, and he did his best to lean his weight away from her and toward the back wall.
“Prison cave?” Urdo smiled as his whetstone whisked back and forth against the blade of the axe. “There wasn’t any guards or locks. We sent you food every day because you didn’t seem inclined to come out. As good as any tavern room.”
“By the way, you weren’t properly introduced to my special lady?” Urdo held up his axe and twisted it around. “Meet Big Boona. She likes men with beards and short necks. Also men who are clean-shaven with long necks. In fact, anyone whom she’s allowed to behead.” He put the blade of the axe close to his ear. “She tells me she particularly likes you. You bumped heads not long ago—you’ll remember. She wants to get closer to you.”
“It was a prison cave. She said I was taken prisoner.” Bowe nodded his head toward the middle-aged woman, hoping she was more mentally balanced than Urdo. “The bandit queen herself.”
“That’s too noble and pretentious of a name for the leader of a ragtag bunch of thieves,” the bandit queen said. “But I can’t seem to shake it. Perhaps you should call me by my given name. Meelyn.”
Bowe was glad that she wasn’t as belligerent in here as she had been when addressing the crowd.
“What am I supposed to do with you?” Meelyn asked.
“Just let me go,” Bowe suggested. “Perhaps cut off Urdo’s head first for harming me and taking me prisoner.” After he’d said it, Bowe reminded himself that he’d regretted acting overconfident against Urdo and had decided to tone himself down. That resolution hadn’t lasted long.
Urdo laughed and punched Bowe in the shoulder, slamming Bowe’s shoulder blade against the wall behind him. “You’re amusing, little man. If you keep this up, you’re going to make me regret it when I have to kill you.”
“I think Bowe should live here,” Iyra said suddenly.
“What?” Bowe and Urdo were simultaneous in their outrage.
Urdo looked like he was going to say something more, glanced at Meelyn, and changed his mind. He reached into a pocket, took out a flask, and took a long swallow.
“Was this your plan for me in the first place?” Bowe asked Iyra. “To dump me off with this crowd of thieves?”
“No, I didn’t have a plan. I was to take you to Belldeem. But there isn’t anything for you there. The Grenier marshals control nearly all of Arcandis and they’re still actively searching for you,” Iyra said. “Here, people live outside the society of Arcandis.”
“Staying outside the system could only work for a while,” Bowe said. The specter of the Infernam was never too far away. “What would happen in three years’ time?”
“By that time, they’ll have forgotten about you. You’ll be able to bribe some marshal into letting you into the Refuge if you have money. The bandits do it every year.”
“We are unknown and can past for farmers.” Meelyn watched both Bowe and Iyra carefully.
“It wouldn’t be so easy for an ex-Guardian. But you’re getting ahead of yourself. When I decide what to do with him, the Guardian’s welfare won’t be top of my priorities.”
“What will be?” Bowe asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew. Meelyn cared about her community more than anything else. She would do what she felt best for it.
Meelyn didn’t answer. Instead she looked over at Urdo, who continued to alternate between polishing his axe and chugging from his flask. “You notice how those two are barely touching?” She nodded her head toward Bowe and Iyra.
“Even with the both of them squashed in such a small space,” Urdo said.
“There’s barely enough room for both of them, yet somehow they are compressing themselves to leave a small gap between them. It’s quite the trick.” Meelyn leaned forward, putting her hands on top of her knees. “Only one explanation.”
“What’s that?” Urdo took another chug of liquor and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
“Two virgins who haven’t bedded each other except in their dreams.”
Bowe started. “I’m not a virgin.” He glanced at Iyra who was reddening under Meelyn’s examination.
Meelyn raised her palms in front of Iyra and Bowe’s faces. “It’s worse than I thought. Can you feel the heat coming off of those two red faces? We won’t need to keep the hearth fires blazing tonight if we keep the two of them close together.”
“Should we leave these two alone for a while?” Urdo asked. He turned his axe upside down with the handle pointing upward. “Give him a chance to plow her furrow. Or does the little man have an even littler man?”
“They should bed each other as soon as possible, of course. But something tells me I could leave them alone together for months and they wouldn’t manage it. Between spiking emotions and fumbling fingers, young people often refuse to make it easy on themselves. I’ve a feeling these two are worse than most.”
Bowe didn’t know where to look. Urdo was watching him as if he was waiting for Bowe to bed Iyra right in front of him. Meelyn was doing her best to keep the amusement from her face, and Bowe didn’t dare look at Iyra in case he reddened further and gave them more fuel for their taunting. He didn’t know whether to push harder away from Iyra so he wasn’t touching her or release the tension in his body and let his side fall against hers. He knew what Meelyn was doing, of course—he’d seen the tactic used before by the ascor. Put your opponent off-guard, make him flustered, distract him. Knowing about the tactic was one thing, resisting the effect wasn’t so easy—not when Iyra was pressed so close to him.
“You are deciding whether to kill me or not, right?” Bowe said to Meelyn, hoping to change to topic to more comfortable subjects.
Iyra stiffened. Meelyn raised an eyebrow. “Now why would you say that?”
“I suppose Iyra told you what happened to me. You think that I have lost all my power. Well, that’s not totally true. My greatest remains locked in here.” Bowe tapped the side of his head. Urdo snorted but Bowe ignored him. “I turned the Green Path on its head and became the youngest Guardian Arcandis has ever had. Now you can have Urdo quench that power. He has the arm and the axe to make that an easy task. And he’s already had one attempt.”
“That wasn’t an attempt, little man, merely a playful pat on the head,” Urdo said. “If I wanted to see your brains, you wouldn’t be yapping right now. And I’ve a feeling they’d look gray and scrambled and lacking any special power.”
“We all think we are the center of the universe. We all feel a special power within ourselves,” Meelyn said. “You are no different.”
That was true. “You’re wrong there.” Iyra had said that the bandits wanted to remain unnoticed by the ascor. Killing a Guardian, even a powerless one didn’t seem to align with that. “I’m not some ordinary captive. I bet you wish that Urdo had never taken me.”
“Why would you say that?” the bandit queen asked. “I’m not squeamish about killing you, if that’s what you mean.”
“Nor am I.” Urdo still had some liquor in his mouth from a recent chug, and spluttered out the words. “I’ve realized I won’t regret killing you at all. I’ll manage to get my laughs elsewhere.”
“Iyra’s suggestion is not an option. You don’t want me to stay with you—I’d only be a distraction. You can’t keep me captive indefinitely. If the Grenier marshals found out I was with you and came looking for me, your whole community would be in danger. You don’t want to just release me; to just let a prize like me leave would make you seem weak, especially after what you said outside in the main chamber. There’s no one to ransom me to.” Bowe paused. “And you don’t particularly want to kill me.”
“I haven’t heard any good arguments against that last,” Meelyn said.
“That’s because there aren’t any.” Urdo poured a dash of liquor onto the blade of his Big Boona and polished it in. The sharp smell of the alcohol filled the small cave.
“The Guild doesn’t want him dead,” Iyra said. “
“The Guild, or just you?” the bandit queen asked.
“The Guild. I don’t care what happens to him. They just gave me a job to do.”
“Your words say one thing...” The bandit queen allowed the thought to drift off. “In any case, while the Guild has been a friend to us, we’re not bound to it. I doubt they care enough about him to make an issue over it if we acted.” The bandit queen tapped Bowe’s temple with her finger. “What does that power inside there say I should do?”
“Well, killing me is certainly a decent option. And if you do it in the right way, it could work out very well. Your people would love a demonstration of the power of their community. So you could have some kind of trial, list all the faults and crimes of the Guardians, followed by my execution.”
Bowe saw a flicker behind the bandit queen’s eyes and knew that was along the lines of what she was thinking.
“Execution first, trial after.” Urdo grinned.
“It’s unfair to blame Bowe for what other Guardians and other ascor have done,” Iyra said.
“That doesn’t matter.” Bowe said. “The trial would be about improving morale, not about fairness.”
Bowe felt a painful pinch in his side and managed to stop himself from reacting. He didn’t look across at Iyra. She thought he was arguing for his own death, but he wasn’t. He was simply seeing things from the bandit queen’s point of view. Understanding the game from an opponent’s point of view was a vital part of Harmony, and equally useful when playing without a board or pieces.
“Should I tell Urdo to get Big Boona ready for the execution or are you going to try to escape now that you’ve worked out my best course of action? Urdo is faster than he looks, I’ll have you know.”
“I don’t doubt it. I’ve no intention of running.” Bowe smiled at the disappointed look in Urdo’s face. “I didn’t say that a trial and execution was your best option. I said it was a good one. Better would be one with a more long-term advantage. The warm fuzzy feeling of seeing the death of an oppressor doesn’t last much longer than the satisfaction of a full belly. Having a Guardian in your power is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—it shouldn’t be used lightly.”
“You’ve a strange way of pleading for your life,” Meelyn said.
“Give him to me,” Urdo said. “I’ll have him squealing in a prettier tune.”
Meelyn ignored him. “I don’t see what you can offer me. You are on the run from the Grenier marshals. You have lost any power you did have. You’re a Guardian in name only. And for the Bellanger family to survive the next Infernam you have to fully restore the Bellanger fortune. Which isn’t possible.”
“You are only seeing the negatives. You would also have problems if you caught one of the other Guardians. You couldn’t ransom them without bringing the attention of the ascor down on you. Something which I’m sure you’re loath to do.”
“So what are the positives of having a Guardian without power?”
“
I’m a Guardian with a difference. For instance, I have made an alliance of sorts with the Guild, who are helping me. I’m sympathetic to the Guild and also to you and your plight.”
“Ha,” Urdo said. “You know nothing of us. It’s only fear of Big Boona that makes you pretend to care.”
“I’ve learned much in a few days. I know you have a hard life here.”
“Hard isn’t bad,” Urdo said. “At least we are free to enjoy ourselves. We don’t have to quake in fear of the marshals every day.”
“So what are you offering?” Meelyn asked. “How can I take better advantage of having caught a Guardian?”
“Form an alliance with me. You and the Guild do not agree on all things but you help each other. It could be the same between you and me. How much easier would it be to get all your people into the Refuge come the Infernam if you had a Guardian helping you? Especially one who is rebuilding and could have many spaces available in the Refuge in three years.”
Meelyn’s eyes narrowed. “Are you promising us entry in the Refuge in exchange for releasing you?”
Bowe smiled. For the first time he felt that he had the upper hand in the discussion. “Certainly not. I can’t promise that. But if I recovered some power, I’d be an ally and friend to you.” He cupped his chin on his thumb and forefinger and leaned his elbow against his knee. “I’m not saying that just to save my skin. To rise again from the ashes I’ll need allies. Coensaw recognized that.”
Bowe felt Iyra tense beside him.
“Coensaw. That’s a name not many people know. Even Urdo didn’t know of it until now. You’re loose with secrets.”
“No. I know few Guild secrets. Coensaw is coming out from the shadows. He doesn’t intend to try to get into the Refuge this time, and wants to give the Guild an open leader for the next three years.”
“And give the ascor an open enemy,” Meelyn said. “It’s a dangerous strategy. Coensaw knows too much. If he was to fall into the hands of the torturers in the Fortress...” Meelyn spread her hands wide. “Well, it wouldn’t be good.”
The Treacherous Path (The Narrowing Path Series Book 2) Page 7