“If we don’t, things are only going to get worse. They were beating and torturing Alec in the dungeon cells,” Noranda jumped in. “See that scar? Mooreen did that herself!”
“I think most of the cousins are ready to fight. If you find Durer and he agrees to lead, it will work, except for a few idiots like Reuchlin,” Johanna replied. “Let’s get going!”
Alec and Brandeis stood on either side of Johanna and walked back with her towards the gate. “Brandeis, stay on the left side away from the gate guard,” Noranda suggested. “Will they let me in?”
“I’ll ask. These are regular guards here,” Johanna said, and she successfully sweet talked them into the compound.
“There are guards at the entrance to the residential quarters, and guards patrolling the halls,” she explained, as they ducked into an empty work shed.
“We’ll need to get weapons for folks, and we need to find Durer,” Alec said. He pulled off his jacket and started to pull his pants down. “Noranda, change clothes with me. You and Brandeis can put some swords inside your uniforms and smuggle them into the quarters.
“Well come on,” he grinned. “You didn’t mind undressing me yesterday morning!”
“Alec! There will be consequences for this,” Noranda said as she pulled his shirt over her head.
“What are you going to do while we go to the quarters?” Brandeis asked, trying to stare at the ceiling.
“I’m going to go back to the dungeon where we were, and see if Durer is down there,” Alec said simply as he pulled up his own pants and prepared to leave the group.
Chapter 15 – A Struggle Begins in Stronghold
Alec got directions from Brandeis, then parted from the other three and began skulking in the direction of the stables where the dungeon entry was located. He held his warrior powers at a low level of engagement, and listened closely for any sounds of trouble. Half an hour later he saw the stable entry, where he waited as he watched two men mount horses and leave.
When they were out of sight, Alec ran to the stable entry and unexpectedly came face to face with a worker pushing a wheelbarrow of manure. “I’m just passing through,” Alec assured him with a smile. “I wouldn’t want a lady to grow too lonely. You’ll keep quiet about this, won’t you?” he suggested as he held out a coin for the man to take.
The worker smiled, took the coin, and continued on his way. Relieved, Alec moved swiftly to the storerooms and paused. He’d just been here two days prior, and as he got his bearings, he knew where to go next. He entered a doorway, then opened a door in the back of the room and listened. There was no light visible in the stairwell leading down, and no noise either. If he was mistaken about this, he would have no idea of where to look next for Durer. And without Durer, an obvious leader among his family members, the chances of rousing the young Locksforts to rebel would decline precipitously.
Alec took a calming breath, and began to descend the stairs. When he got to the bottom he felt for the door handle and paused to listen. There were still no sounds in the darkness. He opened the door slowly and crept into the room, then inched to his right, towards the stairs that led further down to the prison cells beneath the compound.
His face bumped into a solid surface and Alec softly whispered a mild oath, a sign of how nervous he was. His hands extended forward and found a solid stone wall. He began to feel along the length of the wall, moving to his right, and within six steps felt his finger pricked by a splinter of wood. Reaching carefully, he located the handle of the door he was looking for, and began to pull it open.
A crack of light began to swell as the door opened, and Alec could see the steps leading down to his former place of confinement. He shuddered at the thought of how powerless he had felt down there during his days of captivity, and wondered whether he would find the same sadistic keepers guarding the cells.
He descended the steps until he knew that his feet were about to become visible to the people below, then he flew down the remaining stairs and jumped into the middle of the cellar hallway, whirling around to judge what opposition he faced.
The two same jailers who had tormented him were sitting upright and alert at his appearance. “Lord, not you again,” he heard one of them moan.
“Where is Durer? Which cell is he in?” Alec shouted. “Durer? Where are you? I’ve come to set you free!”
“Who is it? I’m here,” a voice answered on his right.
“Let him out,” Alec told the staffers, “or I’ll force you to.”
The jailer who had tormented him the most stood and shuffled over toward the cell, but stopped short and picked something up off the floor, then threw a jagged piece of metal at Alec’s head and started to charge him. Alec ducked the object and swung his sword carefully, cutting the front of the man’s stomach in a painful but non-lethal wound. “Step back or the next strike will kill,” Alec said. “Put the keys dn right there, then step back,” he ordered. Alec scooped up the collection of keys, then stepped in front of Durer’s cell holding the guards off with his sword. Looking at several keys, he tried three before he found one that unlocked the door, and he watched Durer step out into the hallway.
“Alec! Thank you,” Durer said with a smile as they shook hands. The smile was at odds with his appearance. He too had apparently been subjected to beating and brutality. Alec motioned him towards the stairs.
“Now, you two in the cell,” Alec ordered.
“Please don’t. If they find we’ve let another prisoner escape, they’ll kill us,” the milder of the two guards said.
Alec felt a sense of pity, but he looked at Durer’s face and arms, covered with bruises.
“In the cell,” he said sternly.
He slammed the door shut behind them, locked it, and grabbed the torch on the wall. “I’ll go first,” he told Durer as he led him silently up the stairs. Once they were back in the upper level room he had fought in before, Alec stopped to explain to Durer what was happening.
“Do you want to go back to the residential quarters and rally the cousins?” Alec asked after his explanation.
“We have to do it Alec,” Durer replied. “The things that are happening to you and me, they’ll happen to others as well if we don’t put a stop to it. Follow me and we’ll head straight over to meet the others.”
They climbed the stairs to the stables and began dashing from building to building as Durer led them back to where they hoped a rebellion would begin. Alec held a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other, ready for any hostility they might face. They arrived at one building, and Durer stopped. “The next building is residences. I presume it’s guarded?” he asked.
“Johanna said there were guards. Is there a back way or window you want to try, or should we just fight our way in?” Alec answered.
“I’ve lived here for over twenty years and have explored every passageway! Yes, there’s a back way in that won’t be guarded; all the boys know, and probably half the girls too! Follow me,” Durer said with a grin and led Alec down to the basement. “Right here,” he pushed a crate aside, “is an old shaft between the buildings.” He walked through, swiping cobwebs out of the way. “Let’s go upstairs to Johanna’s room and find the others,” he said as he led Alec up servants’ stairs, passing a girl with laundry along the way.
“Durer!” A boy shouted as they walked through a hallway. The happy cousin, unknown to Alec, slapped Durer on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you back. Are things okay now?” he asked, looking past Durer at Alec.
“Things are going to be okay soon,” Durer said, turning the boy around. “Go grab your sword and meet us at Johanna’s,” Durer told him, “I’ll explain when you get there.” Durer continued on. “We’ot some good swords in the family, you know?” he said over his shoulder to Alec. “Even though they’re mostly spoiled, many of the cousins do spend time on the practice mats fencing; the family tournament is a savage affair, I’ll tell you! They all take it seriously!” They went up more stairs and down more ha
lls, until Durer stopped at a door, knocked softly, and entered without waiting.
Alec followed him into the room, and saw Durer and Johanna embracing wordlessly, while several others in the room smiled and stood silently. For the first time in several days, Alec thought of Bethany as he watched the reunited pair silently enjoy each other. Would he ever have that same type of reunion with Bethany he wondered? She should have received his letter long ago, and know his feelings, finally out in the open. He still felt strongly in his heart that she was the right mate for him, even after the strange premonition he had felt that her heart had moved on to someone else.
“Durer, we’re ready to follow you,” Brandeis finally said.
“We have a dozen with arms, and Alec is worth another dozen. The true family guards are sure to support us against the Green Jackets,” he added optimistically.
“That sounds possible but not reliable. So what are we going to accomplish with a dozen blades plus Alec?” Durer asked rhetorically, before he gave them the answer. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to go after Aunt Mooreen, her spy from Goldenfields and my own father. When we catch them, we’ll put them in the dungeons beneath the stables, where they will be kept humanely,” he emphasized the last word, “and we will advise the family company that new directors are being selected.
“We’ll have to cut her off from the money, and we’ll have to evict her Green Jackets, and we’ll have to keep her under control long enough to make real changes in the family structure,” he continued.
“Are all of you committed to making that type of effort?” he asked as he looked them all in the eyes. “There’s going to be no more time for carousing all night and sleeping all day.
“If you can’t give that up, then say so now,” he finished.
No one moved. “Alright then, we’re going to have to find Mooreen. Chances are she’s in the southern apartments. That’s where she usually is this time of day. Does anyone know where her guards are likely to be?”
“She’ll have some here around our apartments,” a feminine voice called.
“Can we capture those quietly and lock them in the dungeon?” Alec asked, speaking up for the first time. He had listened to Durer so far, and thought his comments showed how quickly he had grasped the long term challenge these young people faced. Alec hadn’t looked so far into the future himself, but had thought about their immediate tactical options.
Durer looked at him momentarily, then sketched out a plan for capturing those guards, and what to do next. Minutes later, Circh stood inside a ground floor doorway and called to the guards, “There’s a big mouse in the baths, and all my clothes are in there,” she told them, gesturing to the towel she had wrapped around herself. “Can you catch it for me?”
The guards looked at one another and one gave a slight grin. They walked into the hall and entered the bath, where Delle and two others quickly disarmed them. At two other guarded entries similar ploys lead to the capture of further guards, and soon there were six of the cousins wearing new sets of green uniforms, as was Alec. Those erstwhile guards escorted their small group of surprised prisoners across the family compound toward the prison below the stables, capturing three other Green Jackets on the way. Alec led the group down the stairs to the dungeon where the captives were divided among the empty cells and locked in with the jailers already held captive.
“Now, we need to take control of the entrances to the south apartments to seal them off,” Durer said establishing the group’s next goal. “Alec, your group will go to the servants’ entrance. Brandeis, your group will go to the business entrance. Delle, you and I will take our group to the courtyard entry. When everyone has their location secure, tie and gag the guards, then send one person to the central staircase.
Alec and Circh started going around the outside of the stables, then Circh led Alec down a set of stairs. “This is part of a set of tunnels and halls the servants use to move around behind the scenes,” the girl explained. “It’s dark down here, but we can go all the way to the south apartments from here.” She led on through a long tunnel, then up a level, around a corner, back down more stairs, and so on for several minutes.
“We’re here,” she said as she stopped by a narrow doorway. “I think I’ve done my part, so now you can finish up from here!” She giggled nervously, then quickly covered her mouth. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” she blurted out.
“You seem to know the secret ways around the compound pretty well,” Alec commented, trying to be encouraging.
“Oh, I’ve found them all and used them, but it was always for late night parties or to visit secret boyfriends,” she admitted with a crooked smile. “Never for anything like this!”
“Stay here,” Alec said as he laid a hand on the latch, looked at the girl one last time, then opened the door and slipped out into a hallway. To his right he saw shadows from around a corner. He realized they must be from the guards he needed to overpower. He crouched to launch himself in attack, when he heard a scream come from some distant part of the building behind him.
The guards came running around the corner full bore right into Alec, who quickly engaged in battle against three opponents surprised to find him in their path. Alec disarmed one with a flip of his sword, wounded another with a thrown dagger to the thigh, and pressed his sword point against the neck of the third a moment later. “Tie something tight around his leg,” Alec commanded the disarmed one to treat the wounded one. “Now, all three of you go down those stairs,” he ordered.
“Circh, get some cords and help me tie their hands and feet and gag them. We need to go see what’s happening,” he urged his companion. In just minutes the guards were trussed and sht="0">
The sounds of a sword fight were echoing through the halls as they approached. “You stay back now,” Alec said as he released the blond girl and ran to join the action. Around a corner he saw more shadows moving rapidly, and he burst in upon a tableau of heavy fighting. In the main entry hall from the courtyard, Durer was lying on the floor, Delle and two others were backed into a corner, and a half dozen were fighting them, while Elcome was standing on a second floor landing shouting at the scene.
Alec yelled to attract attention away from the trapped young Locksfort cousins, and ran towards the action, as two more green jacketed guards entered from another hallway. Alec ran towards Delle’s group, flinging daggers at the fighters in the room as he went, so that three were down before he even arrived.
“Get him! Kill him! Ignore the others,” Alec heard Elcome shout. Alec cursed his failure to throw a dagger at the portly former quartermaster as he engaged his sword against the swordsmen attacking Delle’s group. “Alec, welcome!” Delle shouted as he stabbed one of the distracted swordsmen.
Only a minute passed and all the Green Jackets were injured, dead, or had fled. Alec looked up at the balcony and saw Elcome flee through a doorway. “Alec, Durer was attacked as soon as we got inside,” Delle told him anxiously as he knelt over his cousin. Alec wanted to chase after Elcome while his warrior powers were still intact, but he looked at Durer’s injuries, and instantly knew that his healing powers would be needed. Reluctantly, Alec released his warrior powers; that ended the second of the three opportunities he had to use his warrior powers. Now he had only one more exercise of those energies until the next full moon, which was a full month away. He bowed his head. “Lord, John Mark, I do not understand this rule and these restrictions. I know that it is your will, and I hope you will give me faith to accept your wisdom,” he prayed inwardly, feeling tested beyond his faith under the difficult circumstances.
“Circh, come in here,” he called as he opened his eyes after the prayer, released his powers and knelt next to Delle. He took a deep breath and tried to relax as he engaged his healing powers and looked at Durer. The young leader’s injuries were severe, but healable. There was no poison in the wounds, making the loss of blood the most serious aspect of Durer’s injuries. Alec conc
entrated on healing the stabs that had punctured his torso, removing the harm to the organs and closing the wounds on the surface, as the audience of cousins watching gasped in surprise. “Delle, send someone to get the third team and bring them here,” Alec suggested as he stood up, and Delle obediently left the hall.
Alec, Circh, and two cousins Alec did not know stood idly for several seconds waiting for Delle to return. Alec heard the approach of a group, but was relieved to see that it was Delle leading Brandeis and three others to join them. They now had eight healthy members and Durer. “Brandeis, we don’t have the advantage of surprise, and Durer is injured. He needs rest. What do you think we should do?”
“We need Durer, Alec. Without him the cousins won’t stick together,” Brandeis said, almost beseechingly.
“Do you think we should take him back to the cousins’ apartment area to rest and be protected?” Alec probed, trying to offer some potential action.
A sound outside the door drew the attention of all the young folks just then. “It’s a large group of Green Jackets,” said someone looking out a window.
“Circh, lead us back to that stairway you and I came through,” Alec ordered. “Brandeis, Delle, you,” he added to someone he didn’t know, “help me carry Durer,” he lifted a shoulder and waited. The others joined in, and the group began moving down a hall. They reached the stairs as they heard the front door broken down.
“Hurry! Everyone hurry,” Alec chided them. They started to descend the staircase behind Circh. As he reached the bottom step Alec heard a sound above and saw one of Mooreen’s henchmen appear. “Here, take Durer,” he told the closest member of his group, and pulled out a dagger that he hurled upstairs, sinking it in the stomach of the man above.
“All of you go. I’ll stay here to delay them so you have time to get back to the apartments,” he said in a low urgent voice to Brandeis. There was no dissension from the shaken crew, and they moved away into the dim tunnel, while Alec remained where he could watch the top of the stairs. He intended to remain there for only ten minutes to give the others time to flee, then he would follow after them.
The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold Page 16