by James Wisher
“Of course. Good luck with your training.”
He walked away and Rain stared daggers at his back. She’d show him, arrogant prick. No matter what it took she’d make the connection with her family sword.
* * *
Rain’s lips twisted into a grimace as she tried to force the tingle in her head down through her body and into her hands. Even with her eyes closed she knew Michael was watching her with a concerned little frown. A knock sounded on the door an instant before she planned to scream.
She opened her eyes and popped to her feet. When Rain opened the door she found Col standing in the hall. He grinned. “I wasn’t sure I had the right room.”
“You do. It’s good to see you.”
“You too.” He glanced over her shoulder and waved. “Hi, Michael. Mind if I borrow your student for the afternoon?”
“Sure, we’re done for today anyway.”
Col held out his arm. “Looks like you’re free. Want to take a ride?”
Rain wanted to do anything that got her out of the castle for a few hours. She grasped Col’s arm like a lifeline and they walked together toward the stables.
“So how’s it going?” Col asked.
“Okay, I guess. Michael says I’m making progress, though it doesn’t feel like it.”
Col shook his head. “That’s why I don’t like this mystic stuff. When you’re training to use a sword or bow it’s obvious, sometimes painfully so, whether you’re improving or not. Want to talk about it?”
Rain knew he was trying to cheer her up, but she really didn’t want to talk about it. “Maybe later.”
They reached the stables and the stable boys had a matched pair of roan mares saddled. The blond boys stood a short ways away, heads bowed.
“They look perfect, fellas, thanks.”
The boys looked up, grinning. Rain wasn’t sure how he made people feel so at ease. It seemed whenever he was around people were smiling. Then she remembered Queen Tahlia’s expression the other day, Maybe he didn’t make everyone smile all the time.
Col boosted her up into her saddle then swung up into his. They rode out of the palace and headed toward the fields around the city at an easy walk. Smiling people walked along the streets, tending to their chores. Everyone left a path down the middle of the street for horses so they had no trouble reaching the western edge of the city.
The moment cobblestone gave way to grass Rain thumped her horse and urged it to gallop. Her mare seemed well rested and eager to run. The wind streamed through Rain’s hair and blew all her worries away, for a moment anyway. After a couple of minutes she reined the mare in before she got too winded.
Col trotted up alongside her. “Better?”
She sighed. “Much. I needed that. Thank you.”
He smiled. “I suspected you might. As I recall you were quite the horsewoman back home. I didn’t figure you’d get much time to ride with your training.”
“I overheard Michael and the king talking today. The king doesn’t think I’ve got what it takes to connect with my sword. He said if anything more important comes up he will reassign Michael.”
“How did you overhear this?” Col swung northwest. Where was he taking her anyway?
“I was on my way to my lesson and when I arrived they were talking. I snuck up to the door and listened.”
Col chuckled and nodded. “Does the king strike you as a stupid man?”
Rain’s eyes widened. How could he laugh at her? “Not at all, why do you ask?”
“Think about it. They’re talking about you in the one place at the one time you’re almost certain to overhear. Since we’ve established that neither of them are idiots, why do you suppose they did that?”
She sucked in a breath. “They wanted me to hear them.”
Col nodded. “They’re trying to make you angry. I’ve seen some of the knights play similar tricks with their squires. They make you so mad you want to succeed out of spite. It never seemed very effective.”
She was so stupid. Of course they knew she was listening. How arrogant of her to imagine she could sneak up on the most powerful lightcaster in the kingdom and one of the finest warriors. “I’m an idiot.”
“No, we believe what we want to believe.”
She groaned.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
They rode to the top of a ridge and below them, spread out along a grassy valley with a stream in the center were hundreds of tents and wagons. Everywhere Rain looked people worked at something, one group tended a fall garden, another scrubbed clothes in the stream.
“What is this?” Rain asked.
Col reined in beside her. “This is Celestia’s main refugee camp. Everyone down there is one of your people. Three hundred of them arrived two days ago by boat after I freed them from a beastman slave caravan. A fair bunch of them stayed behind to keep fighting. They’re setting up a smaller camp west of here to look after the people that came with me out of the mountains.”
“This is terrible.” She put a hand over her mouth. So many people were suffering because of the invasion.
“Actually, it’s not. These people have food, shelter and no fear of an attack. It’s much worse back home. Whenever you think you can’t do whatever they need you to do, remember these people. Want to go down and say hello?”
“I don’t know. Do you think I should?”
Col smiled. “It would mean a lot to them to see their princess. You don’t have to do much, just listen and be encouraging.”
Rain sat up straight in her saddle. She owed her people this at the least. She’d be a ruler they could be proud of. “I’m ready.”
They rode down into the valley. Col waved at a pair of soldiers standing on the outskirts and they waved them through. The two men didn’t appear overly concerned or alert. “They look bored.”
“I imagine they are. The Corinthians pretty much take care of themselves. The odds of an attack are so small they’re hardly worth mentioning. Those two stand around twelve hours a day in case someone needs something. I haven’t decided if the posting is a reward or punishment.”
Some refugees noticed them and came over. Rain swung down off her horse and Col followed suit. She handed her reins to Col and stepped away to greet the refugees. One woman, perhaps in her forties, her brown hair going to gray, a much-patched apron tied around her ample hips, walked a little ahead of the rest. A little frown creased her lips.
Rain held out her hands. “Hello. How is everyone doing?”
The woman ignored her hands and Rain lowered them. “We’re fine. Are you down from the palace?”
“That’s right. I’m sorry I didn’t come down to check on you sooner.”
“Why would you? You’ve provided everything we need to survive and we’re grateful for it. If you see the king and queen please thank them for us.”
“I will.” Rain didn’t know what to say. These people clearly thought she was nothing more than a palace functionary come to check on them. Should she introduce herself?
Before she could decide Col said, “No greeting for me, Alisandra?”
The woman’s face lit up when she noticed Col. Ignoring Rain she wrapped her arms around his neck. Alisandra stepped back. “Col! This is a pleasant surprise. Have they got you doing escort duty now? I thought you were heading back home.”
“I did. I only got back a couple days ago. Didn’t the new arrivals mention I sent them here?”
“No. Those poor people. We only got bits and pieces of their story. Whatever the beastmen did really scarred them.”
“I’ll tell you the whole story later. Ali, this is Princess Rain. She insisted on coming down to see how everyone was doing so I offered to show her around.”
Alisandra’s eyes grew wide. “Highness, I didn’t recognize you. I’m so sorry.” She managed a passable curtsy.
Rain patted the air, somewhat out of sorts. “No, no, don’t give it another thought. I’m glad you’re settling in.”
“Oh yes, t
he people have been very welcoming.”
“I wanted to show her around the camp. We won’t be in your way?”
“Not at all. The kids will be glad to see you. Did you bring any treats?”
Col shook his head. “Not this time.”
Alisandra offered a dramatic sigh. “We’ll just have to tighten our belts another notch. Go on and have a look around. If I don’t see you when you leave, try not to be a stranger.”
They left their horses to graze at the edge of the camp and walked on. Col smiled and waved whenever he saw someone familiar. A little boy, maybe three years old, ran up to Col and he swung the little guy up on his shoulders. The boy squealed his delight and rode around on Col’s back until a pretty woman with red hair, a dusting of freckles across her cheeks, and bright green eyes, wearing a worn brown dress, his mother Rain assumed, came to fetch him. She kissed Col on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and patted her on the back.
Rain’s cheeks burned and she looked away. Did Col have a family of his own? When she turned back the mother was walking away with her little boy and Col was looking at her with a curious half smile. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Who was that?”
“Anne? She and her son came in with the first wave of refugees, about a week behind us. I visited the camp a few days after the business with Callion. I found him sitting and staring at nothing so I picked him up and ran him around on my shoulders until he laughed. Anne said he hadn’t made a sound for weeks before that. I guess the little guy took a shine to me.”
She shook her head at her foolishness. Of course they weren’t his family. “What about the other woman, Alisandra?”
“I’ve known Ali for years. She and Sir Geris were great friends. She ran a tavern in Finegold. When I moved to the capital he introduced us. Ali became a surrogate mother for me. I spent a lot of my meager free time hanging around her place. She’s become a surrogate mother for a lot more people since our country went to hell.”
Rain sighed. “I didn’t even know this place existed until today. What sort of ruler am I?”
“A busy one. You’re doing the best you can to help these people, same as me.”
A little girl with blond pigtails ran up to them. Instead of going to Col she ran up to Rain. “You’re pretty.” From behind her back she produced a bunch of flowers, weeds with blossoms if you wanted to be honest, and offered them to Rain.
Fighting not to cry, Rain accepted the bouquet with a smile. “Thank you, sweetheart. What’s your name?”
“Tina.”
“I’m Rain, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Tina!” a woman called.
The little girl smiled. “That’s my mommy. I got to go.”
Tine spun around in a swirl of blond hair and skipped toward her mother’s voice. Rain watched her until she was out of sight. “What a sweet girl.”
“The little ones are great,” Col said. “They imagine this is all a game. The older ones aren’t adapting so well.”
They spent a several more hours wandering around. Col introduced her to some of the new arrivals that he’d rescued from the beastmen. They made a sad sight. Gaunt with haunted eyes, they looked like they’d seen things they wanted to forget but couldn’t.
Evening was fast approaching when they returned to their horses and started back toward the city. They rode in silence for a while. Rain tried to get her jumbled thoughts together. The sight of those people affected her more than she’d expected. When she felt confident she could speak without bursting into tears she said, “How did you find out about the refugee camp?”
“When I was recovering from the fight with Callion I asked Tahlia if any more people had made it across the border. She told me about the camp they’d set up and the next day I rode down to check it out. I found Ali running the soldiers ragged getting set up. Since I lost Sir Geris it was wonderful to find Ali made it out safe.”
Rain had lost her focus when Col called the queen by her first name. He was usually so formal. Thinking back to the queen’s voice whenever she mentioned Col and now with him calling her by her first name she knew something had happened between them, not that it was any of her business.
“Hello, Rain? Are you still with me?”
Rain blinked and realized Col had kept on talking to her. “Sorry, my mind wandered. What did you say?”
“I asked what sort of training they have you doing.”
“Oh, well it’s nothing physical.” She told him about the tingle in her head and what they wanted her to do. “Basically I sit there and try to push a tingle from my head to my hands.”
Col frowned. “Sounds like you’re trying to muscle it too much.”
“I told you, there’s no muscles involved.”
“It’s just an expression Sir Geris used when I tried to force something rather than use good technique. Here’s a suggestion, remember I know nothing about magic, but instead of trying to force it to move relax and just let it flow. Imagine it like water running down your neck, to your shoulders, down your arms, and into your hands.”
“I don’t know. That sounds nothing like what Michael says I should do.”
Col shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know anything about magic, it was just a thought.”
* * *
Col, nine members of Celestia’s elite ranger squad, and a female lightcaster set out for the cave where he’d found the soul box a day after he showed Rain the refugee camp. The rangers, lean, long-legged, and grizzled to a man, set a brisk pace; two of them ran ahead to scout which suited Col fine. He’d gotten tired of having to cover twice the distance he needed to travel. Col had shown them on the map about where the wolfman village lay and until they got closer the rangers picked their course. What took the ex-slaves ten days to travel they covered in three hard days.
They made camp in a little gully a day out from the village. A small fire crackled, shielded from detection by the lightcaster’s magic. One of the scouts had a bit of good luck and three rabbits roasted over the flames.
“Tell me again about the cave,” said the lightcaster, a short, mousy woman named Alana.
Col sighed. He’d told the woman everything he could remember half a dozen times already, but she seemed to want him to keep repeating it. “An illusion concealed the entrance. Inside I found the box and a fresh body.”
“And the runes?” She leaned closer. The runes fascinated her the most. “Crimson and black you said, correct?”
“Yeah. They almost seemed alive; they crawled and squirmed like insects. I didn’t need to see anything else to realize I shouldn’t touch them.”
“Very wise. What you described was a death ward. Anything living that touched it would be instantly slain.”
“A convenient trick for an undead darkcaster.” Col yawned, hoping the lightcaster would take the hint. “Of course if he wanted to move it he’d have to do it himself.”
“Yes, lucky for you I’m here. Once I disrupt the ward we’ll be able to take the box with no trouble.”
Col smiled and closed his eyes. He hoped she was right. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done something with no trouble.
The next morning they found themselves on the outskirts of the village a little after noon. No movement caught Col’s eye. The place looked as dead as when he left it. Lieutenant Manes, a gaunt, leathery man with dark deep-set eyes surrounded with wrinkles, and the commander of the rangers, motioned for him and the lightcaster to stay put. When they both nodded their understanding he led his men into the village.
An hour later Manes and his men returned to the edge of the village and he waved them forward. “We found nothing living. It was just as you described. Lead the way to the cave.”
Col took point and headed toward the hill behind the village. In the noon sun he had no trouble locating the narrow trail that led up to the cave. He knelt down when he arrived. There were what looked like fresh tracks in the dirt. “Lieutenant.”
; Manes knelt beside him and nodded. “Less than a day old. Wolfmen or saberfangs, I can’t tell for sure. Weapons ready, we might have company.”
Col drew his sword and led the way up the path. It was every bit as steep as he remembered, but the daylight made it much easier to climb. When they reached the end of the trail the cave stood exposed, the illusion gone. Col frowned, but before he could speak Alana brushed past him. She waved her hand and the edges of the cave glowed. She studied it for a moment then waved her hand again.
“Someone dispelled the illusion a short time ago. The soul box is also missing.”
“Damn it!” Manes rounded on him. “If you’d followed your orders they never would have known we were coming.”
“No lieutenant.” Alana corrected him with more force than he’d thought her capable of. “There was an alarm spell woven into the illusion. The moment Col stepped through the cave mouth Zarrin knew we’d located his hiding place. Obeying orders would have done nothing but consign those unfortunate people to death. He would have moved the box regardless.”
“Fine! What now?”
“Now I will attempt to track the box. As you so astutely pointed out, whatever minions Zarrin sent to fetch it haven’t got much of a lead on us.”
“How did the beastmen take it without getting killed?” Col said.
Alana ignored his question, levitated a foot off the ground, and spun in a slow circle. It looked like the same spell Tahlia had used to find Rain. She stopped, her eyes popped open, and she pointed due west, deeper into the mountains. “That way. Less than ten miles.”
“Let’s go!” Manes led the way back down the trail. The hunt was on.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The team raced through the dark forest. Midnight had come and gone hours ago. The only reason they could even see to keep running was Alana’s magic giving them the ability to see in the dark. Col’s breath came in ragged gasps. They’d been moving almost nonstop for eighteen hours. They’d need to stop and sleep soon or they’d be too tired to fight even if they caught up to the beastmen. Manes had to know that as well as Col, but if he did he gave no sign of it.