Sistina smiled and nodded, and followed along after Phynis, the gentle smile still on her face.
Chapter 41
One of the scouts knocked at Evansly’s door, prompting him to look up from his letter, pausing as the man spoke. “Sir?”
“Yes? What can I help you with, Edward?” Evansly replied, bleeding off the extra ink from his inkpen as he looked at the man expectantly.
Evansly was happy with life. He’d finally received word that the town had officially been designated Granite Point, and that he was being installed as its mayor for the foreseeable future. That made him happy, especially since they were funding the construction of his manor, with the assumption it would have additional rooms for visiting authorities from Kelvanis’ core regions. And it would also allow his wife to move out here, which made him a much happier man.
“You asked us to keep an eye on the backside of the mountain after we found a couple of footprints earlier this week. We hadn’t seen much lately, but David and I ran into something this morning. We spotted a couple of caches of what look like the gear for people traveling through the mountains. And it looks like it was placed in the last week or two.” Edward explained quickly, a worried look on his face.
“What? How many people do you think that this gear was for? Did you see anyone?” Evansly asked, sitting bolt upright at the information.
“No, but there were a couple of footprints nearby, that looked like they would probably be fit for elves. The caches looked like they’d be enough for maybe twenty people.” Edward paused, then admitted. “I suppose they could be more, but it’d have to be a short trip, for like four or five days at most. Fewer people couldn’t carry that much stuff.”
“Hrrm. Good job, Edward. There’ll be a bonus for you and David. If you would, contact Lieutenant Tarys, if you would, and ask her to ready two platoons to keep an eye on these caches. I’ll be coming along myself.” Evansly ordered, smiling broadly. “Princess Phynis originally escaped through this area, so it’s possible that some of Sifaren’s army is coming back through and trying to scout our position. Let’s get the jump on them this time.”
“Yes, my lord!” Edward saluted him, smiling broadly as he bowed out of the room.
Evansly quickly stoppered the inkwell and cleaned his pen, then moved with a purpose. He wanted to be properly armored and ready before the soldiers were ready. Soldiers tended to move with alacrity when their superior was already prepared, he found.
* * *
“Your Highness?” Desa asked politely, causing Phynis to pause as she was about to walk past the captain.
“Yes, Desa?” Phynis asked, tilting her head curiously.
“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out and get some fresh air? We’ve been in the caverns for a few weeks, and unlike everyone else you haven’t gone outside at all. I’m starting to get concerned about your health.” Desa asked, hoping she’d hidden her ulterior motives well enough. “I think that it would do you good.”
“That...well, I was going to go to the pond with Sistina…” Phynis paused, hesitating for a moment. Fortunately her distrust had eased somewhat, Desa realized, which just made her feel even worse about why she was asking the princess to come outside with her. Would Phynis ever trust her again after this was done? Probably not.
“Yes, but you do that fairly often. We’ve been patrolling enough that it looks like it’s fairly safe to go out for now.” Desa offered, shrugging. “And we’ve no idea when they’re going to start patrolling in greater numbers, so it’s best to do it sooner than later.”
“True. I suppose I can do that. Let me go get changed into something more appropriate for outside. This clothing isn’t the best for hiking.” Phynis finally agreed, nodding and smiling gently. “Then we can tell Sistina and go outside. How far are we going to go?”
“We should be outside for a few hours.” Desa told her, gritting her teeth internally at lying this way. “We don’t dare go far without supplies, after all.”
“I’ll be right back.” Phynis smiled slightly. The princess headed back to her room, and the faint sound of her humming carried to Desa’s ears.
Desa let out a soft breath, closing her eyes for a moment as she felt the sense of disgust for her actions growing ever more potent. It was growing worse with every conversation, and even if Phynis understood why Desa had to do it, Desa had realized something else. She’d never forgive herself for deceiving her princess again, either.
* * *
“That’s an odd group.” Daniel murmured, frowning as he looked between a couple of branches at the group of dusk elves that were standing near the cache the scouts had found.
“Yeah. Those are some well-armed women.” Fredrick agreed, shaking his head slowly. “I wonder what’s going on here? They look like they’re waiting for someone. And why are they all women, for that matter?”
Fredrick was right, Daniel reflected grimly. There were sixteen dusk elf women in the hollow down below, each of them in fairly high-quality, lightweight armor. They each also had bows and swords as well, and he couldn’t help but think that they would probably fare a bit too well against their forces.
“I’d guess that’s why Lord Evansly hasn’t signaled to attack. He’s probably is waiting for whoever they’re waiting for to show up.” Daniel muttered, glancing upward at the sun. It was midmorning, which made him guess softly. “I’ll bet that whoever it is shows up in the next half-hour.”
“What makes you say that?” Fredrick asked, glancing over at Daniel curiously.
“Just a hunch. If I wanted to get a reasonable distance during the day, I would’ve wanted to start earlier than this. Noon is just pushing it a bit too late, with the mountains blocking the light at the end of the day.” Daniel explained, shrugging. “But who knows? Elves have better vision at night, so they might be crazy enough to try going through the mountains at night.”
“Well, we’ll see.” Fred agreed. A moment later he asked. “How’s that training with the adventurers going?”
“Don’t ask.” Daniel replied, wincing at the memory.
* * *
Sistina paused, frowning as she noticed Desa, Phynis, and two of her guards heading toward the exit she’d made for the elves. There was something odd coming from her link to Desa, a sense of tension or worry. It slightly worried Sistina, but she couldn’t do much about it. Phynis had said that they were going outside for fresh air, after all. It was likely just Desa being concerned about the possibility of them being spotted by the scouts.
Mentally shrugging, she resolved to keep a close eye on that entrance, and then went back to her attempts to adjust the foundry a little more. She almost had the golems ready, which excited her. If this set didn’t blow up, at least.
* * *
“I’ll admit, being outside is nice in its own way.” Phynis admitted, taking a deep breath of the air, then wrinkled her nose. “But Sistina’s flowers are a lot prettier than these ones.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. She keeps the caverns surprisingly beautiful, but there’s nothing quite like the outdoors.” Desa agreed, keeping a watchful eye out for trouble.
The quartet were walking through a surprisingly beautiful copse of trees, and slowly rounded a large boulder that rested in the shadow of the two ridgelines that rose to the mountain’s crest. It wasn’t too far downhill from the shallow cavern that Sistina had used for her exit, either. But as they came around the boulder, Phynis stopped as of all of her other guards came into sight. They were all equipped for traveling a long distance, and the princess stiffened abruptly.
“True, but that’s...wait, what are the rest of the guards doing out here?” Phynis asked, her eyes widening in shock as she stiffened. “What’s going on, Desa?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.” Desa apologized, her face an impassive mask as she turned toward Phynis, the other two guards with them falling back to cut off any escape route toward the caves. “Her Majesty sent me a dispatch last week, as I’m
certain you know. She instructed me to return you to Vara’Sel at any cost.”
Fear, then outrage and anger flooded Phynis’ veins, and her voice rose as she demanded. “How could you, Desa! How could you just...follow her every whim like this? I don’t want to go back! There’s no place for me there, and you know it!”
“Perhaps, but I have my oaths, and I have family back in Sifaren.” Desa began, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke. Desa stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. “And so do most of us. If we break with Her Majesty’s orders, what will become of them, with the shame and reputation of our actions hanging over them? Are you asking us to abandon our responsibilities to them as well?”
* * *
“Beloved gods…” Evansly prayed, his eyes wide as he looked downhill at the wonderful gift he’d just been granted. “This is incredible.”
“Sir?” Lieutenant Tarys inquired, glancing at her superior. From their vantage point they could see all of the elves gathered in the clearing below without much chance of being spotted.
“That’s Princess Phynis Constella, Lieutenant.” Evansly told him, a smile slowly widening on his face.
“Princess...I thought she got away, sir! She escaped through these very mountains!” Tarys barely managed to reduce the volume of her exclamation, glancing downhill reflexively as she grappled with her surprise. “Are you certain?”
“I saw her once. I’m very certain. Let the men know that she has to be taken alive. I’ll try to disable her.” Evansly told him, grinning as the officer nodded and whispered to two runners. “If she’s got a brand, I can keep her from running.
* * *
Evrial frowned as the princess and Captain Desa argued, now located in the middle of the guards. They were being much louder than they should be and it was making her nervous. She had hoped that Phynis would be understanding, but that seemed to be a lost cause. Evrial felt her anxiety growing as the others pulled out packs of supplies from the cache, gently stroking the grip of her bow.
Her senses kept telling her she was being watched. Maybe it was just paranoia, since Evrial wasn’t sure what was causing her anxiety. She certainly hadn’t seen anything, but Evrial had learned to trust her instincts before. So she opened her mouth to say something, when all of a sudden a voice boomed from above them.
* * *
“Halt where you are and surrender! You are within the borders of Kelvanis without permission, surrender or be fired upon without mercy!” Lord Evansly’s voice was magically augmented and thundered so loudly that the ground vibrated, and for a moment Daniel was afraid the demand might cause a rockslide.
At the signal, Daniel stepped out from behind the tree he’d been using for concealment and took aim at one of the elven soldiers, even as Lord Evansly’s booming voice echoed. All of the soldiers stepped into the open as well, presenting a full sixty men and women to face the elven force.
The elves had reacted almost instantly to the ambush, falling into a defensive formation with one woman at its center. In fact, their speed startled Daniel because he’d rarely seen any elves that were quite that fast. For a moment there was silence, and he personally prayed that the elves were going to surrender. Sina had made him softer toward elves than he had been, but he’d do his job if he had to. It wouldn’t mean that he’d enjoy doing his job, though. But that momentary standoff ended as two of the elves began rapidly chanting and gesturing, and Daniel instinctively pulled the trigger on his crossbow.
A hail of crossbow bolts rained down on the elves, but the two elven magi were just a hair faster in casting their spells and a pair of broad, semi-transparent white domes deflected the bolts lancing out toward them. Other elves returned fire with their powerful longbows, and the entire elven force began to retreat uphill. At the blast of a horn from Lieutenant Tarys, Fredrick and two-thirds of their company began to charge downhill to intercept the elves before they could escape. Lowering his crossbow, Daniel began to winch back the string, feeling sick to his stomach.
* * *
“Retreat back to the caves! Evrial, Alissa, cover the princess!” Desa shouted at them, falling back and rapidly chanting to create a series of ice walls to break up and slow the clusters of charging soldiers. Her own guards were among the best in Sifaren, second only to the Queen’s, but they would be at a disadvantage in melee against the stronger and more heavily armored humans.
“Yes, sir!” Evrial chorused with Alissa, rushing to guard the princess as they began their retreat.
The magi were defending the group well enough, but Desa was grimly certain that while they could retreat back to cavern entrance without trouble, they wouldn’t be able to do so easily. She hoped they wouldn’t lose anyone along the way, and she began weaving another spell, this time to create a cone of shielding ice so the magi could focus on the attack instead.
* * *
Daniel swore as he saw several soldiers taken down by fire from the elves. Their platoon’s mage had been taken down by a freakishly accurate shot and the other platoon’s mage was occupied trying to compete with one of the elven spellcasters, but the man was steadily losing the confrontation as he struggled to block a series of brilliant green bolts.
The group of elves was quickly falling back up the ravine, with the noblewoman being escorted by a pair of soldiers in the rear, retreating uphill as fast as they could run. Daniel shook his head in pity, but took aim at a woman who seemed to be creating the walls of ice that were shattering the advance of his companions. Taking a deep breath, he took careful aim and then fired with his exhale, almost caressing the trigger. The crossbow recoiled against his shoulder with a solid thump, the bolt hissing with deadly accuracy through the air toward his target.
The massive cone of ice appeared all at once, shrouding the defending elves from attacks. His bolt hit the ice at an oblique angle, and Daniel cursed as it bounced off. Then the bolt hit a rock on its new path, and his curse froze in his throat as the splintered bolt ricocheted directly toward the back of the retreating noblewoman.
* * *
Phynis was running up the hill, panting as she rushed toward the cave. The betrayal of Desa wasn’t forgotten, but a more potent terror had taken its place, as the army of Kelvanis came crashing down on them in another ambush.
She had to get to safety. Sistina would protect her from everyone. She knew she would, and then-
A sharp, sudden pain hit her in the back, just to the left of her spine and radiated outward as scattered secondary pains hit her. And it was suddenly hard to breathe as she stumbled, gasping, and fell to the ground, a splintered, shattered crossbow bolt embedded itself in her heart.
The world swam for a moment and began to go dark. Phynis heard the horrified voices of Alissa and Evrial, and saw only glimpses of their faces as even the clash of battle and explosions of magic began to fade. Then there was only darkness, and a faint light shining in the distance.
Chapter 42
“What in the hell happened?” Evansly raged, his eyes flashing with anger as he clenched his hands at his sides. “The princess was branded! I know she was branded! How could she run away in the face of a direct order?”
“I don’t know, My Lord.” Lieutenant Tarys replied, cringing slightly at the normally boisterous elf’s anger.
“Well, keep after them! Those damned women have to be part of Sifaren’s Royal Guard to be this much trouble.” Evansly ordered angrily, his eyes narrowing. “And I want to know who hit the princess, right away!”
Looking at the elves retreating up the ravine, Tarys could understand why Lord Evansly was so angry about their resistance. Several of the elves had been injured, but they were quickly retreating and hadn’t actually lost anyone despite being outnumbered more than two to one! Their lighter armor was allowing them to retreat just quickly enough that her soldiers couldn’t encircle and pin them down, either. But even so, they were faster and stronger than any other elven force she’d ever run into, and their own mages hadn’t stoo
d a chance against the elven casters.
“Yes, My Lord. We’ll harry them until we bring them down.” Tarys promised. Hesitating a moment, she added. “And the shot that hit her...I don’t think it was aimed at her, it came right after the big shield of ice appeared.”
“I don’t care, just look into it!” Evansly growled, and Tarys cringed slightly, saluting in response.
“As you wish.” Tarys felt sorry for whoever fired the bolt, if they could figure out who it was. It didn’t look like Evansly was going to be nearly as friendly as normal.
* * *
“Oh, goddess, there’s so much blood!” Alissa murmured in a panic beside Evrial, who resisted the urge to look back as she carried Phynis with the other woman. Evrial had one of Phynis’ arms over her shoulders, while Alissa had the other, and they bodily carried their charge into the tunnel that went back into Sistina’s cavern.
“Shush, Alissa! She can still be helped, if Farris gets to her fast enough.” Evrial almost snapped, stumbling a little as she rounded the corner and into the tunnel descending into the bowels of the mountain. “Our job is to get her there.”
“Yes.” Alissa’s voice went quiet. But after a half-dozen steps down the tunnel, Evrial heard the other woman begin murmuring a prayer, even as she heard drops of liquid hitting the stone floor behind them, and the sound of combat echoing down the tunnel. “Oh, Tianna, Hear My Prayer…”
* * *
Alissa hated herself. They’d almost gotten Phynis away safely, and then a damned stray shot had hit the princess! Certainly, if Kelvanis’ soldiers had managed to trap them she would have sunk her poisoned needle into the princess’s back, but that was only if there was no other choice!
Ancient Ruins (Ancient Dreams Book 1) Page 31