The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  Then she heard Karl yell, “Catch one of ‘em! We need to find out what’s going on!”

  Darrell dropped his sword and sprinted after the intruders, tackling the last straggler before he made it to the water. Darrell pinned him to the ground and waited for Karl and Chris to get there. Karl grabbed the man’s sword while Chris placed the point of his sword at the man’s throat. Darrell slowly got up off of the man and dragged him to his feet while Chris kept his sword ready at the man’s chest. As soon as Darrell took a couple of steps back from the man, Karl handed Darrell the man’s sword. They could hear the other invaders sloshing through the water as they made their way upstream towards the road.

  “Well, looks like they’ve gone and left you behind, doesn’t it?” Darrell said.

  “Turn around. Head over there. Towards the fire. Now!” Chris said as he poked the man with his sword. Then Chris took up a position behind him and held the point of his sword at the man’s back.

  Once they were all back around the fire, Joan whispered to Karl that she had seen the man before, in the dry goods store in Billows.

  Karl took a long look at him and asked, “Why did you attack us?”

  “For your money,” the man growled.

  “Money? What money?” Kevin asked

  “I saw the gold coins you gave the shopkeeper. We figured there had to be more where that came from,” the man said with a snarl. “Why should the likes of you gypsies have gold coins when us hard-working farmers never have any? It isn’t right! You probably stole it off somebody yourselves!”

  “I don’t believe this,” Theresa said in exasperation. “We had those coins because that’s what your town director gave us for holding the healing clinic, you idiot!”

  “What were you planning to do?” Steve asked. “Kill us and go through our pockets?”

  “Well, we hadn’t really talked about it, but yeah, I guess so,” the man said defiantly.

  “Just how did you plan to get past my pendant?” Theresa asked.

  “We figured those things aren’t half as dangerous as people say, especially once you’re dead,” the man said with a sneer. “I figured I’d give it to my wife.”

  “You’re crazy! Stark raving mad!” Joan said in disgust. “That thing would have killed you in a heartbeat. When you get back to your wife, tell her she has a fool for a husband.”

  “I hope you guys are better farmers than you are thieves,” Karl said with a laugh as he put his arm around Joan.

  “Who would have thought a band of singing gypsies could fight?” the man said in a loud voice, almost yelling. “You should have been easy to take!”

  “Go, get out of here, before we come to our senses and kill you,” Darrell said as he pointed towards the river with the man’s sword.

  The man looked at Darrell like he had just grown horns or something. He couldn’t figure out what Darrell was planning. He didn’t know whether to make a break for it, or just stand there and wait for them to kill him. Finally he took a few hesitant steps towards the stream. When no one came after him, he broke into a run and was going so fast by the time he reached the stream that he slipped and hit the water with a loud splash and a curse. He jumped up and half ran, half stumbled up the stream until finally the sounds of his footsteps splashing through the water faded away.

  Theresa suddenly noticed that Steve’s tunic sleeve was soaked in blood.

  “Steve, you’re hurt. Can you get your tunic off? Here, let me help you,” she said as she led him to the back of her wagon. As Steve sat on the tailgate, Theresa lifted his tunic over his head and eased it off the injured arm.

  “It looks a lot worse than it is,” Steve said as Theresa started to wash his arm. “I think most of the blood belongs to someone else. I did get cut, but only a scratch.”

  “You’re right. There’s no way all that blood came from this cut,” Theresa said as she turned to look closely at the others to see if any of them had been injured.

  “I think it’s from one of the bandits,” Steve said. “I got in a few solid hits before they started running. I might not have been so aggressive if I’d known they were just a bunch of petty thieves, but I thought we were up against bounty hunters or assassins.”

  “They may have been just a bunch of thieves, but they’d have killed us just the same if they’d had the chance,” Chris said. “Dead is dead, whether we’re killed by part-time bandits or full-time assassins.”

  “Oh, I’m not feeling guilty, Chris. They opened the door to violence when they attacked us. They can’t complain if more violence came back through that door than they were expecting,” Steve replied. He felt a warmth seeping into his arm, and after a moment he felt a tingling sensation. “What’s going on, Theresa?” Steve asked as he looked down at his arm. Theresa’s hand was about an inch from his arm, directly over the wound.

  “I’m closing the wound,” she answered. “I’ve finished cleaning it and I want it to close before I put the bandage on.”

  “I had no idea,” Steve said slowly. “Have you always been able to do that?”

  “No. My grandmother could put her hand over a cut and the bleeding would slow down, but I’d never see a wound close like this until we came to Terah,” Theresa explained. “Drusilla said that my healing powers became stronger when I passed through the Gate.”

  “Just like our athletic ability,” Darrell said with a nod.

  “I hate to change the subject here, but Taelor’s missing,” Theresa said as she finished bandaging Steve’s arm. “He left before the attack. The wagon was empty when I ran over here to get some woundwort and bandages.”

  “Think I’ll go check on the horses,” Karl said as he started off towards the grassy clearing on the other side of the stream.

  “Hold up a moment. Let me get my sword and I’ll go with you. We don’t know for sure that all the bandits are gone,” Darrell said. He still had the bandit’s sword in his hand. He tossed it down and grabbed his sword up off the ground where he had dropped it when he started running after the thieves. Then he ran towards the stream to catch up with Karl.

  “Why would Taelor leave?” Chris asked.

  “Maybe he heard us talking about waking up the others and figured that the bounty hunters had tracked him here,” Kevin said.

  “And if those guys had been bounty hunters, that would have been his best move, for us as well as for him” Steve said. “Of course, we won’t really know why he left until we talk to him.”

  A few minutes later, they heard Darrell and Karl come back across the stream.

  “One of the spare horses is gone,” Karl said. He turned to Chris and asked, “When was the last time you checked the horses?”

  “Actually, I was the last one to check on the horses,” Kevin said. “And I checked them about forty-five minutes before we woke you up. I counted just to be sure none of them had managed to get outside the ropes and wander off. They were all there. And I walked around the perimeter too, to make sure the ropes were okay.”

  Karl nodded, “He probably left as soon as you started waking us up. At least he was careful. He tied the rope back so none of the other horses could take off.” Then Karl thought about it for a moment. “If he had headed towards the road, someone would have heard him in the stream.”

  “Not if he waited until the fighting started,” Chris said. “An army could have ridden through the water then and none of us would have heard it.”

  “True, but if he thought they were bounty hunters, he wouldn’t have wanted to ride past them and take a chance that one of them had hung back, waiting for him to make a run for it,” Darrell said. “I bet he went away from the road, farther back into the woods.”

  “Tomorrow morning I’ll take a look around and see if I can find any horse tracks leading out,” Karl said with a sigh. He wasn’t at all sure that Taelor had left because of the bandits. Karl was wondering if he had taken off to try to find Landis. “It’s just a few minutes past 1:00. Why don’t we try to get a litt
le sleep? We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Steve, why don’t you lie down for a while? I’ll stand watch with Darrell.”

  “No, I’m fine, really. Anyway, it wasn’t my sword arm that got cut. You go ahead and get some sleep. We’ll wake you around 3:30. Joan, are you going to stand watch with Karl?” Steve asked.

  Joan nodded. “Well, if you’re sure you’re okay, we’re going to bed. Come on Karl.” She took Karl’s hand and led him off towards their tent.

  “Guess we’ll turn in, too, but wake us up if you feel like something’s going on. I’d rather lose sleep than wake up dead,” Chris said as he and Kevin headed off towards their tent

  “I’m going to stay up with you two for a while. I’ll put on a fresh pot of coffee,” Theresa said. Then she walked off towards the fire circle, mumbling, “The least he could have done was say good-bye.”

  Chapter 25

  Sunday, May 13

  As the door to Rolan’s office swung open, the messenger could see the sorcerer pacing furiously while two officers stood in the background. Rolan’s face was contorted with anger, and fury flashed in his cold, dark eyes.

  “Well? What is it?” Rolan roared. “What news do you bring me today?”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but Captain Garen has had no luck finding anyone who knows anything about where Myron was fostered, or who he’s apprenticed with,” the messenger said nervously. “The Captain’s sent his men out to eavesdrop in taverns and he’s offered coins for information, but no one seems to know anything.”

  “So he sent a messenger to tell me that he’s failed, huh?” Rolan began pacing again. Then he stopped, spun around towards the messenger, clasped his hands behind his back, and snarled. “Well, I have a message for you to take back to Captain Garen. Tell him that he is not to return until he brings me Myron, dead or alive. If Myron takes his chair next April, I will assume that Captain Garen and all of his men are dead, including you. That would be the one and only acceptable reason for failure,” Rolan paced a few more steps, then turned back to the messenger and sneered. “But tell Captain Garen that my guards will make sure his wife and children remain here, safely awaiting his return, as will the families of the rest of his squad. And tell him to rest assured that I’ll find someone to take in his wife and children in the event that he doesn’t return, and if that someone isn’t interested in bedding the wife, I’m sure that the daughter will be suitable. Do you understand?”

  The messenger had gone pale with the cold cruelty of Rolan’s words. “Yes, sir, and I will hasten to deliver your message to Captain Garen. If there is nothing else, I will be on my way now.”

  “Good, see that you leave for Captain Garen’s camp immediately. Captain Yardner will escort you out of town and see you on your way,” Rolan said.

  “Yes, sir,” Captain Yardner said as he ushered the young messenger out of the room.

  Rolan turned to Sergeant Jermain, who was charged with overseeing the castle slaves. “Sergeant, any word on the escaped slave yet?”

  “N … no … no, sir,” Sergeant Jermain stammered. Then he took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “The bounty hunters have reported that they’ve lost his trail. They followed him into the Badlands, and they’re sure that he was wounded by one of their arrows, but they haven’t found his body so they don’t know whether he’s dead or alive.”

  “So? What are they doing about it?” Rolan prompted.

  “There was a band of traveling minstrels in the area at the time, but the bounty hunters checked out both of their wagons and found no sign of Taelor. Now they think that he might have run into the minstrels later and persuaded the sister who was traveling with them to help him. They’re still looking, but so far, nothing.”

  “Am I to be surrounded by incompetence forever?!” Rolan bellowed. “I want that slave found, and I want him found now! Do you understand?”

  “Y … y … yes, sir,” Sergeant Jermain said in a timid voice.

  “Then get out there and find him! If you had been doing your job, he never would have escaped in the first place!” Rolan walked over behind his desk and sat down. “And bring him to me alive. I want the pleasure of watching the insolent bastard die. Now go!” Rolan slammed his fist down on his desk. “And do not return until you have him in hand!”

  Sergeant Jermain bowed and backed out of the room. Once he shut the office door, he wiped the sweat off his face and set off to pack his belongings. He had no intention of ever returning to Trendon, with or without Taelor. He was going to set his path for the quickest route out of Brendolanth.

  Rolan drummed his fingers on his desk. He hated loose ends, and he saw both Myron and Taelor as loose ends, things that needed to be taken care of immediately, before his plans began to unravel. He had mapped out the path to his goal years ago, and now that he was nearing the end, nothing was going to get in his way. Myron had to die before he had a chance to take the Master’s Chair. That was all there was to it.

  As for Taelor, Rolan wasn’t positive just how much of a threat he really was. Rolan was certain that he’d never mentioned the Key to the Gate Between the Worlds around the slave, after all, he’d never even said the words out loud. And there was no way Taelor would be able to figure out that Rolan was behind Badec’s coma. He had never mentioned anything about that anywhere near the castle. But he wasn’t sure how much other stuff Taelor might have overheard, and Taelor definitely knew that Rolan was responsible for Tsareth’s death. The slave was there. He saw it happen.

  Rolan’s hold over Taelor had ended with the old slave woman’s death. Taelor might talk now, if he could find someone who would listen, someone who might believe him. That’s why Rolan wanted the slave brought back alive. He had to find out if Taelor had talked, and if so, to whom. But as soon as he had the answer to those questions, Taelor was a dead man.

  While Rolan was sitting there, thinking, another loose end came to mind: his half-sister, Landis. He was eighteen years old when she was born, and as far as he could remember, he’d never even seen her, but according to castle gossip, Tsareth had thought that her magic was strong enough that one day she’d be more powerful than Rolan. He had even heard that Tsareth had planned to hand over his seat to her. He wondered if his father had ever told her that. If so, that was just one more reason to find her now and destroy her while he still could, before she developed her powers. Landis would be almost twenty-four years old now. Time was running out.

  Rolan didn’t have any idea who the girl’s mother had been, or where she had been fostered. It was a shame that his father’s second had been killed along with his father. That had been an accident. He hadn’t meant to kill the old man until he’d had a chance to question him, but sometimes he didn’t know his own strength.

  Rolan got up and opened his office door. The young page who was standing beside it stepped forward. “Tell Captain Yardner I want to see him when he gets back.”

  The page bowed and set off for the stables. Another page stepped up beside the door to take care of the next errand.

  When Captain Yardner entered the office, Rolan said, “You were here as a castle guard when my father was alive. Who would my father have talked to other than his second? Was there anyone else around who might have known the family secrets?”

  Captain Yardner thought for a moment, and then said, “The old kitchen slave who died about six months ago was a frequent guest in your father’s quarters. He probably discussed a lot of things with her.”

  “My father and a slave? Are you sure?” Rolan found the idea repulsive. “I knew that he must have found companionship after my mother’s death, but a slave?”

  “She was a bit more than a slave, sir. She was the mother of his youngest daughter,” Captain Yardner said.

  Rolan laughed. “I figured the girl was a bastard, but the daughter of a slave? How delightful! She’s nothing then.”

  “She isn’t exactly a bastard, sir. While it’s true that Tsareth never married the child’s mother, the only reason w
as that they didn’t know for sure that her first husband was dead. Tsareth publicly recognized the child and proclaimed her as his own, and he treated her mother as his wife. That’s why Taelor was never treated as a slave. He only worked as a slave after Tsareth’s untimely death,” Captain Yardner said.

  Rolan glared at Captain Yardner for his last remark. “Is there anyone else who might know the identity of her foster parents? A nurse maybe? Or the sister of the chapel? What about the man who was governor?”

  “I really don’t think so. There was no nurse. Landis’s mother took care of her while she was an infant. As for Sister Candice, she’s too young. She came when Sister Yano passed on, maybe two years before you came. I can think of no reason why Tsareth would have told Sister Candice anything. And as for the governor, you arranged for the man to have a rather fatal accident a couple of months after your father’s death, remember? So if he knew anything, the knowledge died with him.”

  “Then there is no one left who knows the whereabouts of the child?”

  “As far as I know, no one. The only other possibility that I can think of is Taelor, but I doubt if either his mother or Tsareth entrusted the young man with that knowledge. I’m not sure he even knows that Landis is his half-sister. He was only about three years old when she was born.”

  “I want that slave found. I want to see him dead, but I want to question him first. And I want that girl found, and found within the year.” Rolan’s voice was quiet and chilling. After a minute, he looked at Captain Yardner and hissed, “Send word to the bounty hunters that I’m doubling the reward, but he must be delivered to me alive, and tell them that I expect news of their progress within a month.”