“Right,” Broden agreed readily.
Ashlynn tapped her knuckles against the wooden bar. “Jeri, enough pleasantries. I’ve ridden hard for two weeks to know. Where are my sisters?”
“As to that,” Jeri rubbed at the back of his neck and looked more than a mite sheepish, “I’m not entirely sure where all three of them are.”
Chapter Nineteen
Ashlynn’s voice turned menacingly flat. “What do you mean, you’re not sure where all three of them are?”
Jeri shrugged, hands splayed in a helpless gesture. “That’s why my note said that all three of them are in Lorand. I can confirm that all three were brought in through the gates, and none of them left the city, but I don’t know where they were all put. I found Bria, at least. Two witnesses put her in the old abbey. But it’s nothing more than an assumption that they put the other two in there with her. I can’t prove it.”
Now that was a problem. Broden rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “If no’ there, where else would the girls be?”
“That’s the problem,” Jeri groused. “This city is riddled with places to stash hostages where no one would think it odd. The only reason the abbey stuck in anyone’s mind is because she was obviously not Terenian. Lugh isn’t exactly a popular god with Ishyians.”
“So if they took in the other two under cover of darkness…” Broden trailed off.
“Then no one would have noticed,” Jeri finished sourly. “Hence, no witnesses or trail for me to follow. I can tell you this—while waiting for you to arrive, I’ve searched every other likely place that I can think of, and I can’t find them elsewhere in the city. Now, that could be because they have some hidey hole that I don’t know about, which wouldn’t surprise me. But I still put the odds of all three of them being in the abbey.”
Broden could accept that it was likely; aye, he had no problem with that. But he did not believe in betting people’s lives with a likely. He eyed Ashlynn from the corner of his eye, and saw her jaw set in a grim line. Ah, the lass apparently shared his view on the matter. “Still and all, man, we need to be sure afore we move.”
“Oh, I agree,” Jeri responded, hands held up in a placating manner. “I did my best to figure it out before you got here, but I could only ask so many questions before people became suspicious of me. At a certain point, I had to stop. I can’t give you any idea what the abbey’s like inside, or what the guard schedules is like, unfortunately. I do know where they regularly have dinner when they get off shift, though. If you go there, you should be able to get a headcount of how many they are and when shifts change.”
Ashlynn looked frustrated to the point of murder. Broden put a hand on her shoulder in a steadying gesture before he encouraged Jeri with a wave of the head. “Give us the names of those places then, lad. But I think it best we all take a breather.”
Jerking in her seat, Ashlynn whipped around, mouth open to launch a protest.
He held up a hand, forestalling her. “Lass, our stomachs be growling, our clothes worn from travel, and we stink of horse. Now I ask ye, what sort of man would be willing to speak to a stranger that looks as we do? A clean, respectable man be the sort to confide in, not traveling vagabonds.”
From that mulish expression on her face, she really wanted to argue. But she must have seen the logic in it, and clamped her mouth shut instead. With a tight, mutinous nod she finally acquiesced. “Fine. One hour. I won’t wait longer than that, so people had best move quickly.”
“I’ll get you some rooms,” Jeri volunteered. “How many?”
“There be seven of us altogether, lad. Three women.”
“Right. We’ve got room enough to spare, then. I’ll fetch you some room keys. Bath’s down this hallway and to your left.” Jeri skedaddled before Ashlynn’s temper blew.
The rest of the group joined them at this point. Keeping a wary eye on his partner, Broden filled them in. None of them looked particularly overjoyed by this lack of news, but they weren’t particularly surprised either. They’d known from the beginning that if their spy had known more, surely he would have said more, no matter how expensive it was to send by magical post. Aye, the price of each word was dear, but it wasn’t that dear, that the man couldn’t spare another sentence or two.
The team took it better than Ashlynn, and made up plans on how they would try to find more information. Jeri came back with the keys; they divided up eight rooms amongst them, and then went about getting baths and meals. Broden had a private word with Jeri, asking for a bottle of ligament, which the lad silently supplied with a sympathetic smile. Bless him for his understanding.
Broden was not a man to dawdle when it came to washing up. This was one of the few times in his life, however, when he had a proper tub and steaming hot water to wash in, instead of a chilly stream. He might have sat there a minute or five and enjoyed the heat on his sore muscles. When he finally did drag himself free, he applied the ligament liberally before pulling on a clean set of clothes. He pulled his hair back in a low ponytail, then trimmed his beard to where it outlined his face. The mirror showed a respectable looking man, and he gave the reflection a wink before exiting the steamy room.
Everyone seemed to be more or less on the same schedule, as he saw others coming out of the bathing chambers and heading for the main room. They chose a table by default, as it was the only empty one large enough to hold them all, and sank into the chairs. Broden called out, “A pretty lass with hot food be a welcome sight!”
One of the serving girls waved a hand in acknowledgement and called back, “A pleasure it be to serve a fine, handsome man like yerself. A moment, I’ll be.”
Tant leaned in closer and said, “That has to be the strangest way to request food I’ve ever heard.”
Oh? Had he forgotten to explain this earlier in his quick cultural lessons? Belike he had, as Ashlynn had barely given him ten minutes to teach them. “Aye, lad, Estolians do no’ do this. But lend me yer ear. When ye request things, even a simple thing such as the time of day, ye pay a compliment. It no’ be a question at all, y’see, but a statement of yer own preference, and a compliment to the person ye be speaking to.”
Amber leaned across the table to hear him better. “So, give us an example of how you’d ask for information.”
Broden pondered for a moment before offering, “It be a pleasure to meet a fine, observant woman such as yerself. I’ve come in search of me sisters, rumored to be in this city, but I’ve no notion if what I heard be truth or not.”
She nodded, obviously making a mental note on that. “So, compliment first, then the request.”
“Eh, more or less. As long as the compliment be wedged in there somewhere, ye will be fine.” Broden considered the matter, trying to think if he’d forgotten anything else important, before adding, “One more thing. If ye see a way to help them, no matter how small, do it without asking. Just pitch in, as if ye be in yer own home. Trenenians do no’ think highly of people that ask something for nothing. Ye be more likely to gain their trust if ye exchange favor for favor.”
“Ask the storekeepers first,” Konrath added quietly. “They hear more gossip than anyone else, and are more likely to know something.”
Broden nodded in support of this. “Aye, that be fine advice.”
Platters of steaming food, most of it varieties of meats and breads, arrived and were set on the table. Broden’s mouth started watering. Having a hot meal was a luxury none of them had enjoyed for near two weeks now. “Ah, lass, ye bring joy to a man’s heart, ye do.”
The serving girl, a young woman with reddish hair and freckles, gave him a wink. “If ye run short, ye call me and I’ll bring ye more. If ye do no’ mind me saying so, ye have seen quite a bit of road the past few days.”
“Aye,” he acknowledged with a grim smile. He might as well start gathering information now. “Lass, it be a kindness if ye be bringing us more of that chilled cider.”
The girl blinked, not expecting to hear something like this from a
foreigner, then gave her a bright smile. “Not kindness at all. I’ll bring it straight out.”
“A fine lass ye be, and thankful we be,” Broden praised her.
Blushing, she waved this away before bouncing off, going to the next table and topping off their pints.
In the time that Ashlynn had taken to clean up and change clothes, she must have cooled down enough to realize that searching on an empty stomach was not the best of plans. She came and sat down in the chair next to Broden without a word, filling up her plate with a heaping spoonful from each platter.
With some food in her stomach, he dared to ask the obvious question. “Now, lass, how should we split up so as to start the search?”
Some of Ashlynn’s usual good humor flashed across her face. “You know, Broden, I can find them without asking the whole city first.”
He blinked at her. “Ye can?”
“Aye.” She smirked, enjoying mimicking his speech. “It no’ be a difficult matter for a wizard such as meself.”
“Be that right,” he deadpanned. “So how does a woman of such talent as yerself go about such a thing?”
“I have a locator spell that I use in situations like this.”
Marissa, clearly familiar with this, asked uncertainly, “I thought you had to have something that belonged to that person, or an object of affinity, like their blood or hair. You have something like that for all three of them?”
Ashlynn’s mouth was full so she simply nodded confirmation.
“Really? What?”
Swallowing, the wizard replied simply, “A vial of Edvard’s blood.”
“Ohhh,” the whole table chorused in understanding. Broden would have joined them, if he’d known that Ashlynn could do such a thing.
“Lass, if you can search them out like this, then why no’ do it afore?”
“I can’t search a large distance,” she explained succinctly, still eating as quickly as she could manage. “About fifty miles is my limit.”
So finding them in a foreign country would have been impossible for her. He nodded understanding. She must have foreseen, though, that once she was here she might need to pinpoint their exact location since she took the trouble to draw some of Edvard’s blood and bring it with her.
“I’ll focus on confirming where my sisters are,” she informed the table. “What I need you to do is get the rest of the information that we need.”
“How many guards are on schedule, when they change shifts, the layout of the abbey, and the quickest escape route from the city once we have them,” Konrath half-guessed, half-stated.
“Exactly.” Ashlynn frowned. “I don’t know that we can get the layout of the abbey from just speaking to people, though. We might need to send someone in and have them take a look.”
Tant, finished with his food, sat back with a squeak of wood. “Which god or goddess is that abbey for?”
“Lugh,” Broden supplied.
“Huh. They normally take anyone willing to serve, I understand. Lugh is not really that popular a god. If we say that one of us is interested, and wants to take a tour to see what being a servant of Lugh is like, wouldn’t they at least let us in through the main door?”
“I’d think so.” Konrath frowned thoughtfully, brows drawing together in concentration. “If nothing else, it’ll give us a clear picture of the main part of the abbey.”
Broden rubbed at his jaw. “Better than walking in blind, I grant ye that.”
Ashlynn scraped up the last bit of her food as she ordered, “Go talk to Jeri. He knows the guards’ favorite haunts. Start there, get whatever information you can, then report back by dinner. I’ll have a firm location on my sisters by then. Broden, I need you to stay with me.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her, somewhat surprised by this. Ashlynn was fiercely independent by nature, so unless it was dangerous, she normally didn’t keep him so close to her. “Aye, that I will.”
Scrapping back her chair, she stood and made shooing motions to everyone still seated. They obediently scattered at her direction. Broden got up as well and followed her down the hallway to her room.
Ashlynn had been the odd one out, the only one to not share a room. With her foul mood, no one had really wanted to share an enclosed space with her. She had not argued the point with them either, simply taken the key before separating. This room was not anything more than the others. It had a four poster bed, thick rug on the floor, a narrow window, and a chest at the baseboard.
She went directly to the saddlebags draped over the bed and dug out a small glass vial that easily fit inside her hand. When she turned, she motioned with a wave of her hand that he close and lock the door, which he did without question.
“You’re wondering why I insisted you stay with me during this, aren’t you?”
“Aye, lass,” he admitted.
“This goes no further,” she warned him somberly. “Promise me that.”
He raised a hand. “If I speak a word, may the gods strike me where I stand.”
“Thank you.” Ashlynn looked uneasy still as she started to explain. “Scrying for a wizard is…dangerous. Not in the way you probably think, though. The spell is harmless in and of itself. In fact, it’s one of the first we use because it’s so simple. But when we do it, we are completely blind to our surroundings. We can hear, of course, and feel what we touch, but anyone can sneak up on us easily.”
A chill ran up his spine. Even a poor assassin could kill her while she did this? No wonder she insisted he stay with her. “I’ll keep a sharp lookout.”
She flashed him a quick, tight smile. “Good man. Usually Ash or Edvard looks out for me when I do this, but I’m just as relieved it’s you this time. Now, this won’t take me long, since it’s not that big of an area to search. Don’t touch me as I work, and don’t step inside the circle I draw, otherwise you become part of the spell.”
And become as blind to their surroundings as she was? Warning taken. He put his back against the door and planted himself there, not willing to risk moving at all.
Satisfied he was far enough away, Ashlynn drew a large circle on the rug with a glowing fingertip. Then she wrote in that fancy magical language of hers, which he couldn’t make heads or tails of. Finished, she opened the stopper on the vial and tipped it carefully, so that a drop of blood fell directly on the lines. They turned blood red in an instant. It seemed to him that she took a breath before stepping into the center and settling down on her knees.
Watching her turn her eyes to something he could not see was beyond strange. The way her head spun this way and that, gaze focusing on different points, body shifting, it was clear she was reacting to something. If he did not know what she was doing, he’d think her possessed.
Whatever she saw did not please her. A storm passed over her fair face, hands clenching until her knuckles turned white on her knees. Without warning, she slammed one fist into the floor, and he would swear the wooden floorboard cracked even with the rug softening the blow.
Finally she stood and walked out of the circle, where it unraveled itself and dissipated into the air.
“They alright?” he asked quietly.
“They’re alive,” she responded harshly. “That animal has them chained, as if they’re criminals. Bria’s legs are already bleeding from the metal cuffs. When I get my hands on him, he’ll lose his head for this!” she swore in a snarl.
Broden would have offered to help, but she likely didn’t need it. “All three be in the abbey, then?”
Ashlynn had to take a large, steadying breath before she could respond. “Not only that, but all are in the same room. Broden, how long will it take to rescue them from there?”
He splayed his hands in an open shrug. “Depends how fast we can gather the information we need. But lass, we can no’ stay more than two days or so. The longer we stay, the more chance someone catches wind of why we be here.”
“Yes, I agree. Two days, eh?” Her eyes hardened, lip curling into a feral smile. �
��Two days it shall be, then.”
Chapter Twenty
They gathered in Ashlynn’s bedroom before dinner to tell what they knew. There was not space for everyone to sit, of course, so the girls took the bed, and the men either sat on the floor or simply leaned against the wall.
“I’ll start,” Ashlynn volunteered. “I found them. All three are in the abbey. In fact, they’re all in the same room.”
Marissa was brave enough to ask, “How are they?”
“Not in any shape to run,” Ashlynn bit off. “That thrice-cursed dastard of an abbot has them chained, and their legs are in bad shape because of it. Whatever plan we come up with will have to give us a window of time for me to heal them, otherwise we might not make it.”
Konrath groaned. “Well, that makes things harder. We found out the guard’s rotation and such today, roughly at least. There’s twenty-four guards for the abbey, twelve for each shift. They close the main gates on the fourth bell precisely.”
“Right before dinner,” Ashlynn muttered to herself. “When do they open the gates again?”
“Sixth bell, right at sunrise.”
“Meaning we need to be in and out afore the fourth bell, or it be impossible to get back out again,” Broden translated unhappily. “That gives our pursuers a precious three hours of daylight to be chasing after us.”
“I don’t like the idea either.” Ashlynn stared sightlessly at the ceiling. “Unless I can make an opening for us in the walls somehow.”
Several people looked panicked at this suggestion.
“Wait, Ashlynn, let’s think about this,” Seth pleaded. “That’s a bit drastic, isn’t it?”
The wizard’s eyes came down to stare at him in puzzlement. “Eh?”
“Surely that should be a last resort,” Amber agreed faintly. “If we can’t think of anything else and have no other options.”
Broden watched this play out with a bemused quirk of the lips. They looked nigh on desperate to talk Ashlynn out of this idea—which he thought a sensible one—and that suggested to him that she had attempted such a thing before. And the results had not been good. Oh, did he ever want the story behind this!
Arrows Of Change (Book 1) Page 18