"Garth has a lot of experience handling men and their egos," interjected Kalina. "His years with the Red Swords and Rangers were not wasted."
"They were only doing what they had been ordered to do," Garth shrugged. "I blame Edmond. While I understand what he was trying to do, he should have chosen men who control their anger better. Anyway, it is over. What has everyone learned today?"
"Sidney is quite a curious man," offered Kalina. "Particularly where you are concerned. He wants me to spend each day inside his rolling palace with him."
"Oh?" Garth asked with suspicion.
"I don't think romance is on his mind," chuckled Kalina, "but I am not sure. I think it is more serious than that, but he is a wealth of information. He has a map of Zara in his wagon, and I managed to get him to explain many things to me today. I think by the time we get to Waxhaw, we will be much wiser than if we had found horses in Calusa. This caravan was a wise idea."
"It was a lucky opportunity," shrugged Garth, "but I am glad we accepted it."
"I wasn't quite so successful today," offered Natia. "I did find out that there used to be gypsies in the land, but the driver said that he didn't think they existed anymore. I will try a different driver tomorrow."
"Let's get something to eat and then we can spend the evening sharing what we learned," suggested Tedi.
Meanwhile in Sidney's wagon, others were also sharing what they had learned.
"He nearly killed three of my men," scowled Edmond. "In fact, he said the only reason that he didn't kill them was because he knew it was a test. I just can't believe that."
"Believe it," Sidney said. "Garth is no ordinary Aertan. In fact, I am wonder if he is from Giza at all."
"Why do you say that?" asked Edmond.
"Something just doesn't ring true," answered Sidney. "His wife claims not to know anything about him other than he killed three or four bandits to save her life."
"From what I saw today," replied Edmond, "that story is quite believable."
"Perhaps," shrugged Sidney, "but I don't believe her. She claims that her uncle raised her in a remote cabin in the forest, yet it just doesn't fit. Her hands are perfect and lovely. I doubt that she has worked a day in her life. Her manners are graceful when she eats and drinks. She strikes me more as a Lady than a poor orphaned girl. Yet she seems genuinely ignorant of many things. Something is amiss, and I intend to find out what it is."
"Garth also noticed a rider spying on us today," reported Edmond.
"Was he correct?" asked Sidney.
"He was," nodded Edmond. "I sent a man out and he found fresh tracks in several places, but he lost them in a stream. I checked with each squad of outriders and none of them had a lone man out today. That's another thing. He knew that we had outriders. He counted our riders before and after leaving Calusa. What kind of man does that other than a spy?"
"A soldier," answered Sidney. "More specifically, an officer. The question that is burning my head is, what army?"
"I have no answer for you," shrugged Edmond, "but I do not think Tedi is a soldier. Harker had to give the man a sword as Tedi only carries a staff. And when I saw him, the sheath was hung over his shoulder carelessly. Any army would have taught him better than that."
"So we have a bunch of riddles to solve," mused Sidney as he leaned back in his chair and sipped his wine. "I am having Kalina ride with me each day. I feel confident that I will break through her façade. You keep working on the others, particularly Garth. He is the key to this whole mystery."
"I don't think we can afford to wait much longer to learn his secrets," warned Edmond. "If the bandits are already scouting our progress, the attack will come within a day or two. Perhaps we are better off getting rid of him just to be safe."
"No," Sidney shook his head. "In fact, move him and Tedi back to escort my wagon."
"That is not safe, Father," objected Edmond.
"I think it is very safe," smiled Sidney. "His wife will be inside the wagon. He will protect it with his life. Trust me."
* * *
Tedi left his position at the rear of the merchant's wagon and rode forward until he was abreast of Garth near the front of the wagon. The gypsy's eyes wandered along the high ridge to the right of the road and then he stared towards the front of the caravan.
"Trouble?" Garth asked softly.
"Not sure," Tedi replied tersely. A moment later he added, "I thought I heard a man's cry a few minutes ago, but I have heard nothing since. Can you see the outriders on our right?"
Tedi's hearing ability had been altered magically in a near-tragic accident during the search for the Sapphire of the Fairies. Garth knew that if Tedi said that he had heard something, it was wise to believe that he had indeed heard something. Garth's eyes rose to the ridge as he searched for any sign of the outriders.
"I cannot see them," Garth replied. "Were I not forbidden to do so, I would ride up there and personally check the situation."
"Think we should alert Edmond?" asked Tedi. "It might be nothing, but I would want to know if I was in his position."
"I will tell him," Garth replied. "So far he has not had cause to wonder about you. Let's keep him concentrating on me."
Tedi nodded, and Garth moved toward the head of the caravan. He was a third of the way forward when Edmond saw him. The head warrior turned his horse and rode towards Garth like a man with a purpose.
"You are not to leave your post," scowled Edmond.
"I came looking for you," frowned Garth. "I think you should send a man to check up on your outriders."
"And I suppose you are the man I should send?" quipped Edmond.
Garth shook his head and sighed heavily. "Look, Edmond," Garth said seriously, "you may not like me, but do not be so foolish as to endanger your caravan because of it. I am not sure that there is a problem up on the ridge, but I have enough of a feeling about it that I would check it out if it were within my power. I came up here to inform you, and I have accomplished my goal. I will return to my designated position."
Garth turned his horse and rode back towards Tedi, leaving a flustered Edmond behind him. The head warrior turned and stared up at the ridge. While he could not see any of his outriders, that is how things were supposed to be. The outriders were meant to be kept out of sight. He moved slowly along with the caravan as he tried to put Garth out of his mind, but his father's words kept intruding. If Garth was indeed a military officer, his instincts might be worth listening to, depending on whose army he was enrolled in. Finally, Edmond decided to send a rider up on the ridge. He approached the nearest group of riders and singled one out.
Having dispatched the rider, Edmond rode to the head of the caravan. The men greeted him with silent nods, but Edmond ignored them. He peered ahead and saw the ridges pressing together to place the road at the bottom of a deep gorge. The hairs on the back of his head rose alarmingly as he gazed at the perfect place for an ambush. Again his eyes rose skyward, searching for his outriders. If bandits were truly preparing to strike, there were only two sane options if he expected an ambush. He could give the signal to race through the gorge before the bandits were prepared to strike, or he could halt the caravan immediately and not enter the gorge.
There were bad sides to each strategy, he realized. If he decided to race through the gorge and the bandits were already prepared, it would be a very costly battle for the caravan; his forces would be riddled. Alternatively, if he halted the caravan, he would allow the bandits time to secure the gorge. The caravan would be halted in terrain that was not well suited to defend for as long as the bandits wanted. They could hold the gorge indefinitely while other bandits were recruited to share in the spoils. Edmond suddenly realized that the end result of the second option would be a total loss of the caravan. He really had no choice.
"Sound the charge!" Edmond shouted. "We are going to race through the gorge."
The squad leader plucked a horn from his saddle and bleated out a horrid string of notes. The alarm was ec
hoed back along the line of wagons as other squad leaders repeated it. Almost immediately shouts drifted down from the ridge to his right. Edmond's eyes rose to the ridge again, and he saw flashes of light as the sun glinted off drawn swords and shields.
Edmund cursed under his breath, "Garth was right."
The head warrior moved his horse off the track as the speeding wagons started hurtling along the road. He waited anxiously for the first arrow to be shot at the caravan, but nothing happened. Unexpectedly, Garth and Tedi appeared before him. He was tempted to once again remind the stranger of his place, but his resistance to having Garth along suddenly evaporated.
"What now?" Edmond asked.
"How long is the gorge?" asked Garth.
"It is short," Edmond replied. "We will have the wagons through it quickly. The bandits haven't even fired an arrow yet."
"You won't be through it quickly if they block the exit," stated Tedi. "Why waste arrows on moving targets when you can strike a stalled caravan?"
Edmond's eyes widened in acknowledgement of the strategy.
"Ride with me," he commanded as he wheeled his horse and started racing towards the head of the caravan.
As the head warrior raced forward, he gathered warriors to his side. By the time he reached the forward riders, Edmond had over twenty warriors riding with him. They raced around a bend at the end of the gorge and saw the road blocked with two old decrepit wagons. Beyond the wagons was a score of bandits poised to attack. Edmond faltered as he caught sight of the ambush, but Garth and Tedi raced past him.
The bandits were surprised at the speed of the merchant warriors. While they had expected some riders to precede the wagons, they had not expected a score of riders at full gallop. Arrows flew through the air with less accuracy than the bandits had desired, but still the screams of dying rippled through Edmond's men. Garth drew his long, two-handed sword and shouted a nondescript war cry as he charged into the enemy. Tedi rode alongside him. The gypsy pulled on his sheath, breaking the strap, and discarded it along with the sword. Tedi gripped his staff and shouted death to the bandits.
Even as the bandits drew back to fire a second round of arrows, Garth and Tedi rode their horses over the yokes of the two wagons and into the ranks of the enemy. Edmond and the others followed close behind. Garth and Tedi circled tightly, their weapons extended out delivering death to those bandits around them. Garth's sword sliced through flesh and muscle while Tedi's staff broke bones and smashed skulls. Within seconds there were two circles clear of bandits surrounding the two Knights of Alcea. What was left of Edmond's men quickly dispatched the other bandits.
"Move those wagons!" Edmond shouted with urgency.
The caravan warriors sheathed their swords and grunted with exertion as they pushed the two wagons apart. The first wagon of the caravan appeared around the bend before the decrepit wagons were completely off the road. Edmond exaggeratedly waved the caravan onward, and the first wagon barely made it through the opening. Within a minute the old wagons were shoved aside, and the caravan raced through the ambush site.
Edmond shouted order to his warriors. They gathered their dead and the horses belonging to the caravan and departed. Garth and Tedi helped Edmond drag the bodies of the slain bandits off the road, but no one mentioned a burial for them. Edmond set out to search the bodies as the wagons of the caravan continued by. Garth stood and watched with curiosity.
"What do you hope to find?" Garth eventually asked.
Edmond rose to his feet and stared at Garth. "I believe that the bandits are employed by a foreign army," Edmond stated. "I am hoping to find proof of that."
"Oh?" Garth asked with true surprise.
"And while we are on the subject," Edmond said as he crossed the road after the last wagon had gone by, "whose army do you serve?"
"I do not understand the question," Garth replied evenly.
"I have known from the start that you are a military man," Edmond declared, "but I had thought that Tedi was not. I am now forced to reevaluate that. Both of you attacked with the same maneuver, as if you had performed it a hundred times before. While I am extremely grateful for your efforts today, I demand to know who you really are, and why you are in my service."
Garth looked at the head warrior for a moment, as if deciding what to say. Finally, he smiled thinly and nodded towards the disappearing caravan.
"We are in your service because Sidney asked us to be," Garth declared, "and because it gets us closer to Giza. We are no threat to this caravan, Edmond. In fact, we will do whatever we can to ensure that it arrives in Waxhaw safely, but to do that, we have to be with it. If we stay here much longer talking, we will surely find ourselves dealing with more bandits. I think we should get going."
Edmond turned and saw the last wagon disappear around the bend. With a defeated nod of his head, he mounted his horse and waited for Garth and Tedi.
Chapter 18
Change of Plans
When the caravan camped that night the talk of the warriors was naturally about the ambush, but the stories of Garth and Tedi were passed around with embellishments that grew with each telling. By the time Harker and Gerry approached the Knights of Alcea, the story had grown far beyond the truth.
"I hear you two wiped out the whole bandit army," grinned Harker.
"Don't believe all that you hear," sighed Garth. "We had the opportunity to ride with Edmond's men and engage the bandits, nothing more."
"You are far too modest," chuckled Harker before making eye contact with Tedi. "One of the men found your sword at the ambush site with a torn strap. I don't suppose you want it back?"
"I am not very good with a sword," Tedi shrugged. "It just gets in the way."
"As I thought," grinned Harker. "I heard that your staff is deadlier than a sword. I threw the sword into one of the wagons."
"Harker," Garth said, "you really shouldn't believe the stories that are going around. All we did was fight like the rest. It serves no purpose to make it sound like something more."
"You mean it draws too much attention to you?" asked Harker. "I also heard that there is a fair amount of mystery about you and your friends. You wouldn't be running from the law now, would you?"
"We are just two couples trying to make our way to Giza," smiled Garth. "There is not much mystery in that."
"I've been to Giza," offered Gerry. "Spent some time there in the service of a merchant. Perhaps you have heard of him? I think his name was Master Anator."
Garth shook his head, but he noticed that Harker was staring oddly at his small friend. "I have not had much occasion to deal with merchants in Giza," Garth said.
"Isn't that the king's name, Garth?" asked Kalina. "I remember your mentioning him to me."
"That is what I thought," Harker added. "Does King Anator have a merchant brother?"
"Not that I know of," Garth tried to recover, "although I imagine it is possible, but as I said, I haven't had much call to associate with merchants in Giza."
"Perhaps I was mistaken," shrugged Gerry. "It was a few years ago, and I am not that good with names."
"Nor am I, Gary" chuckled Garth. "Must be all those hits we take to the head in battle."
"It's Gerry," the little man frowned.
Harker laughed loudly and slapped his little friend on the back. "Come on, Gary," he quipped, "we still have tall tales to spread through the camp tonight. Let's leave the two-man army to their meal."
Garth frowned heavily as the two warriors turned and left.
"It sounds like you two drew a little too much attention to yourselves today," commented Natia.
"It couldn't be helped," replied Tedi. "We either attacked or died, and I preferred to attack."
"How did you know the name of the king?" Garth asked Kalina.
"I learned it today from Sidney," she replied. "I told him that I was scared about going to a strange land as your new wife. I asked him to tell me about Aerta. He was very accommodating."
Garth nodde
d, deep in thought. "We should take a more passive role in the defense of the caravan," he eventually said, "but I do not think I am capable of that. It is hard to stand by and watch those you are traveling with being killed."
"But they are Zarans," Natia reminded him. "They are determined to destroy Alcea."
"Not all of them," Garth shook his head. "That is akin to holding all Lanoirians responsible for the Great War. The fact was, most Lanoirians had no desire to wage war. I have to believe that the same is true of the Zarans."
"I agree with Garth," stated Tedi. "Even if it draws attention to us, we were hired to see this caravan to Waxhaw, and that is what we should do. Once we get some horses, we can disappear and these warriors will never see us again."
The Knights of Alcea continued discussing the events of the day and what each of them had learned. After the evening meal, Tynker and his friends came over for practice, but Garth and Tedi claimed to be weary from the battles of the day. In fact, they went to sleep shortly after the three men left. Kalina and Natia sat around the fire for another hour before Kalina also went to sleep. Natia, in the tradition of gypsies, swept the camp area before retiring.
The sky was just beginning to lighten when Kalina arose. Just as she was getting up, Tharis approached the site with a smile on his lips.
"Good morning," he said cheerily. "I was hoping that Garth might have been up early this morning. I am anxious to learn some of his tactics."
"He will be up soon," smiled Kalina. "I will get a fire going and cook something to eat. You are welcome to join us if you like."
Tharis nodded eagerly as he reached down and grabbed the waterskin, taking a long drink and smiling again. "I would be happy to get the fire going for you," he offered.
Kalina smiled and nodded as she rummaged through her pack to find something for the morning meal. Tharis built a fire while Kalina woke the rest of the group. When Garth approached the fire ring, a nice blaze was already started. He looked at Tharis and smiled, but the caravan warrior did not respond. Garth looked again and saw that the man was sweating profusely. He hurried to the warrior's side and eased the man away from the fire. The visitor's body was shaking uncontrollably, and Garth called for Kalina. By the time Kalina took the few steps to the fire ring, Tharis was dead.
Final Voyage of the Remora Page 22