by John Evans
"Was that the Queen?" she gasped as they ran back towards the brownstone.
"Yes," replied Per. "And now I have to find her."
"What? Why?" asked Dareen, confused. "We can raise the alarm."
"No, because she's the one I'm hiding from. Nobody would believe that I had nothing to do with her disappearance. I'm going to have to save her to save myself. I need to get my horse and supplies."
They had just about reached the brownstone when Dareen grabbed Per's hand and stopped him. She then tugged him in a different direction. "This way then," she said. "We need to go to Melinar's house. She told me all your equipment was there."
"But I have to tell Melinar and Nyrandurril!" argued Per.
"They're out cold and you won't be able to rouse them. From what you said, we can't wait."
Per jerked her up short. "What do you mean 'we'?"
"I'm coming with you."
"Why? Why do I keep going through this?" Per asked of the sky. He looked down at Dareen. "No, you're not. What if Lord Letlow gets free? Melinar and Nyrandurril are laid up. Who will run the business? I'm sorry, but you're not going. I need you here too much."
Dareen's bright blue eyes looked up into Per's violet ones. A smile slowly formed on her face. "Alright, Per, I'll stay. Come on. They're probably outside the city walls by now," she said gently.
"But the gates are locked," said Per. "I was going to go to the gates to see which one they go out of in the morning."
"You've spent too much time in the wilds," admonished Dareen as they started towards Melinar's house again. "There are numerous ways in and out of the city for those who know them. You're going through one of those ways tonight."
"Why don't we wait until morning when the gates will be open? I can't track them until then anyway."
"Because when the Overlord finds Queen Shara missing, he'll seal the city and conduct a house by house search," explained Dareen. "You'll be found if you inside the walls and will have a lot of questions to answer. As you said, they would never believe you"
They reached Melinar's house and Per quickly packed his equipment. Dareen led him to the livery stable where he retrieved his horse and mule. He followed her through town to an area where the wealth of the owners was displayed in the large villas and townhouses there. Dareen stopped in front of one impressive mansion. She motioned him to be silent and went into the back yard.
Per was amazed to see that the villa's back yard ended at the city's wall. Dareen led him over to the coach house and went inside. He followed her into the darkened building. Pulling a rope out of a bin, Darren motioned Per to run it through a pulley that was attached to a beam. She then tied one end to a steel ring in the floor. Per pulled on the rope and large section of the floor swung upward noiselessly. He tied off the rope and looked down into the opening. It slanted downward sharply and led off into a dark corridor. A musty, dank smell emanated up from the opening.
"This will lead you under the wall and the moat," whispered Dareen. "I forgot to bring a torch, so you'll have to feel your way along the wall."
"I can see almost as well in the dark as in the daylight," said Per. "Unfortunately, not well enough to track the captors. How did you know of this place?"
"We learn lots of interesting things in our business. The owner of the villa had trouble with his son, which we managed to take care of. He gave us leave to use his tunnel."
"Take care of yourself," said Per as he gathered up the reins to his animals. "Watch over Melinar and Nyrandurril. I'll send word when I can."
As he turned to look at her, Dareen wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips. "You take care of yourself," she said, breaking the kiss. "I feel different. I think all those conflicting emotions have broken through the hard shell I had surrounded myself with. I'll watch over Melinar and Nyrandurril, but you already know those two can take care of themselves. Now, go."
Per led his animals down the ramp to the corridor, then went up to brace the floor section so Dareen could untie the rope. The two of them slowly lowered the section with him underneath it. Just before it closed, Per heard Dareen say, "You have to return, you promised to take me to Sari's grave."
* * * * *
Per rested in a small wooded area while waiting for the sun to rise. He had braved the dangers of coming to the city because he was certain that the friends he had made during his travels had been lured here. Melinar had started a search for them, but there had not been time to get any results. He hoped that she would find them and that they would be safe.
The sky was beginning to lighten so he set aside his worries and concentrated on the task at hand. He started searching for fresh tracks, heading off to his left around the city. Time ticked by quickly as he painstakingly went over the ground.
Per had gone about a quarter of the way around the city when he found horse tracks on the ground. Looking at them closely, he saw that they were the tracks of several horses. He followed the trail into the woods and determined that there were six horses in the group. He mounted up and started after them. He had gone no more than a mile before he heard bugles blowing from behind him. The sound resonated with a particular urgency. He had no intention of waiting around to find out what they meant, although he guessed they heralded the discovery of Queen Shara's disappearance.
Per knew that the kidnappers had gotten several hours of a head start on him. The trail led due south towards no major town that he knew of. A smart move since imperial messengers would be en route to those towns to inform the garrisons. Unfortunately, this did not help Per figure out where the kidnappers were heading. The only thing he could do was to follow after them.
It was late in the afternoon before he rode into the yard of a small farm. The farmhouse was ramshackle and the barn had seen better days. As Per approached, two men carrying spears came out of the barn and another, who was holding a sword, came out of the house. He glanced around as he rode up. His body was tense and his senses screamed danger. His eye caught the slight movement of an upstairs barn shutter.
"Afternoon," he said to the three of them. The barn window was to his back and Per felt an uncomfortable sensation beginning between his shoulder blades. "I was wondering if I could water my horse and mule. If you have it to spare, I would like to buy some feed."
"Where are you heading?" asked the man with the sword. He was six-feet tall with brown hair and a beard. He was the oldest of the three, about forty whereas the other two were in their twenties. All of them were trying to act casual, but Per could see the tenseness in each one.
"Any place, but the Capitol," answered Per. "I thought I'd go see Dosser."
"Why not the Capitol?" asked the man.
"I had a run-in with one of Queen Shara's relatives," said Per, feeling his way along the conversation. He had a strong hunch that these men were involved with her abduction. "She took exception to that and tried to get me killed. This is as close as I want to get to her."
Per saw the men visibly relax. "No lost love for her then?" said the man with a smile.
Per spat on the ground. "My only hope is that the Overlord comes to his senses and has her beheaded!"
"My name is Ferris," said the man. He nodded to the other two and they left. Per was sure that the man in the barn window had not moved, so he sat perfectly still. "Water trough is over there. We have room if you want to spend the night."
"No, I'll bring trouble to you if I'm caught here," said Per. "Besides, I've been too much on my own to rest easy with other people about."
"At least stay for dinner," countered Ferris. "It'll be ready in an hour."
Per silently cursed at the delay, but knew he could not get around it without making Ferris suspicious. "I'd be happy for the meal," he said with a smile he did not feel. "If you can spare the feed, I'd be grateful."
Per got down off his horse and led it over to the trough. There were numerous tracks around the trough, but he could not be certain if they belonged to the group he was following.
A woman about Ferris's age was standing outside the door to the farmhouse. Her hard, dark eyes betrayed a bitterness within her. She stared at Per suspiciously as he and Ferris walked towards her. Her face turned ugly when she caught sight of his violet eyes.
"So they're sending out non-humans now," she sneered maliciously.
"I beg your pardon?" asked Per, uncertain as to what to say.
"Oh, manners," she sniped. "Dinner's ready. You'll have to eat outside. We don't have chairs big enough for the likes of you." The woman turned around sharply and went inside.
"I'm sorry," apologized Ferris. "She's been this way ever since her brother died six months ago."
"Don't worry about it. It's happened before," said Per. "How did her brother die?"
"He was moving cattle from one pasture to another," said Ferris. "An uncle of the Queen was passing by with his retainers and thought it would be great fun to scatter the herd. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law's horse was spooked and threw him. He didn't get trampled, but a bull gored him. Queen Shara bribed the two hired hands to say that the stampede started before her uncle got there. The uncle told us he rode up to offer assistance after the accident. We found out later what the truth was."
"Someone should really kill that bitch," said Per. "I was going to be kept as a slave by one of her cousins. Luckily, I had a mentor who knew the Overlord. The cousin was sent to Grunstom Keep as punishment. Ever since then, I've been on the run. Assassins have made two attempts on my life and I don't want to give them a third opportunity."
"Let me go in and get you a plate," said Ferris. He soon returned with a heaping plate of food and jug of cold cider before he went back in again. Per could hear voices inside the house, but could not make out what they were saying. He moved around the house until he found a window he could look in. He saw Ferris, his wife, and the three other men inside at the dinning room table. The window was opened a couple of inches at the bottom, so Per sat down to listen.
"You should have killed him when he first arrived!" snarled Ferris's wife.
"And if he's not following them?" asked Ferris. "What if he's only here by accident? You'd still have me kill him?"
"To get my revenge? Yes!"
"What if his story is true?" asked Ferris. "He's one of us then."
"You know," said one of the men. "Baron Cedric of Dosser was stripped of his title and sent to Grunstom Keep about a year ago. I never got the entire story, though."
"Chas, backtrack him and see if he is following the others," the woman ordered. "Ferris, delay him until Chas gets back. Then we'll decide what to do with him."
Per got up silently and hurried around to the front of the house. He grabbed up the sack of feed and just had time to secure it to the mule when Ferris came out the door. He swung up into his saddle and tossed the plate to the farmer. Ferris barely managed to catch the plate and stared up at Per in astonishment.
"Thanks for the dinner, but I've got to be going," he said as he tossed some coins to Ferris. "As I said, I don't want my trouble to catch up with you."
Per quickly reined his horse around and rode off. He headed east until he found some rocky ground where he could hide his tracks. After laying down a couple of false trails, he went southwest to find the kidnappers' trail. The light was fading from the sky when he found it.
The next morning, he started after Queen Shara's captors again as soon as there was light enough to see. He found their camp about five miles from where he spent the night. Their trail was now heading south-east, paralleling a river.
Per followed after them for two days, at which point the kidnappers crossed the river and headed south again. Still pursuing them hard, Per did not seem to be gaining any ground and guessed he was still a day and a half behind them. A day after crossing the river, he spotted several horses ambling through a pasture and found a makeshift corral hidden in the woods. He concluded that the kidnappers had changed horses again.
The chase was moving out of civilized lands and into rougher, hillier terrain. Unable to anticipate the kidnappers' final destination, Per dogged their trail at first light every day and stopped only when he could no longer follow it because of the darkness of night.
It was a little over two weeks since he started the chase when he was riding through a rocky gorge. He was picking up fresher signs which meant he was getting closer.
"Per, look out!"
He whipped his head around at the shout and something clanged against his helmet. The world tilted and blurred before it went dark.
Chapter 5: Another Reunion
Per opened his eyes to a pale green light. He tried focusing his eyes on the canopy above him and was promptly rewarded with a searing pain in his skull. He groaned loudly and closed his eyes. The pain did not recede. When he brought his hands up to cover his eyes, he felt a bandage wrapped around his head.
The swish of heavy canvas caused Per to open his eyes again. The fuzzy image of a woman seemed familiar to him, but he could not get her into focus. The pain increased as he tried and he finally had to close his eyes again.
"Per, can you hear me?"
"Gaaa," was the only sound he could make out of his dry throat.
"Here, drink."
Per felt the end of a waterskin touch his lips. He sucked down the cool water as if he had never had a drink before.
"Easy, easy," said the woman softly. "You've had a bad blow to the head."
"I know you, don't I?" croaked Per.
"Yes, I'm Iona. You saved my friends and me after we had been ambushed by hobgoblins."
"I remember. How...?"
"Shhh," hushed Iona. "No more questions. Get some rest."
Per gratefully fell back to sleep. When he awoke the next morning, the pain in his head had lessened, but he became disoriented when he tried to sit up and was forced to lie back down. He saw that he was lying in a bed made of grasses in a green tent. The waterskin was close by and he reached for it just as Iona pulled back the flap of the tent. She was wearing a green robe and moccasins. The scar on her cheek had healed, but she was hiding it with her blond hair. She looked down at Per and seemed taller then her five-foot, ten-inch height. "Let me get that," she said and picked up the skin to allow him to drink. "Feeling better?"
"Better than what?" joked Per. "I got dizzy when I tried to sit up. What happened to me?"
"Hold on. I'll tell you when I get back."
She left the tent and soon returned with a large bowl of soup. With her help, Per was able to sit up. She stacked two saddles behind him to support his back, then sat down as Per started into the soup.
"I was returning to Sisatt from Hillhold," said Iona. "Our encounter with the hobgoblins was too close a call for my friends and they all decided to settle down. I hired out as a cargo guard on a ship. I'm not really fond of sea travel, so when the assignment was completed, I decided to ride back to Sisatt. I made enough to last me awhile on the trip and I had nothing better to do. Six days ago, I saw a group of riders heading south. One of them broke off from the group and hid in the rocks. I was a ways off, so it took me the better part of a day to work around behind him. I was above his hiding place when I saw you approaching. He pointed a crossbow at you, so I yelled. The bolt penetrated your helmet, but his aim was off or you moved because it just creased the side of your head. You've been unconscious ever since."
"Six days ago!" groaned Per. "I've got to get after them."
"Whoa!" said Iona, stopping Per from trying to struggle to his feet. "You're still too weak. It'll be several days before you can get up. You had a very close call. Your helmet is ruine
d and for awhile there, I thought you were a goner, too."
He laid back, breathless from his attempt to get up. "You're right," he said. "I can hardly move without getting dizzy. Thanks for the warning and the care."
"I owe you," said Iona. "Though I'll have you know that you're devilishly heavy to move and wash. Who were the riders and why are you chasing them?"
"Queen Shara was kidnapped over two, no, three weeks ago. I believe that those riders are the kidnappers. They must have spotted me and left someone behind to deal with me. Where did he go?"
"Nowhere. I pushed a rock down on him after he shot at you. He died two days ago. He looks to be an ordinary mercenary."
"Did he say anything?" asked Per.
"Nothing at first," replied Iona. "Later he became delirious and kept saying 'Yayenski'. I don't know if it's a place or a name. Did they really capture Queen Shara?"
"Yes. Did he have anything on him or in his saddlebags?"
"Just the usual - bedroll, extra clothes, mess kit and the like. He did have twenty hauts and two good gemstones on him."
"What's a haut?"
"It's a Deltian coin. Currently, it's worth about five sauers. I'm no jeweler, but I'd guess the gemstones are worth about a thousand sauers."
"So about eleven hundred pieces of gold," mused Per. "That's quite a bit for a mercenary to have on him. Think he might have been paid off to remain behind?"
"Could be."
Per squirmed. "Iona, I'm sorry, but I have to go. Can you help me outside?"
"No, I can't," she replied, standing up. She went over to a corner of the tent and picked up one of Per's cooking pots. "You're way too heavy. I had to roll you onto a blanket and have your horse drag you to this site. Piss or shit?"
"Piss, but that's my best pot."
"You can scrub it out later," she told him. Iona knelt down beside Per and pulled off the blanket. He had not noticed before that he was naked, and quickly covered himself with both hands.
"What are you going to do, strain it through your fingers?" asked Iona sarcastically. "Per, I've been taking care of you for the past six days. I've wiped your ass and cleaned up from your accidents. I've seen every inch of you. Now, get over it."