“We’re brother and sister; I’m older than her,” the boy responded importantly. “We can make it; we’re tougher than people think. Can you make it?” he asked in return, pointedly. “You don’t look like you can walk.”
There was suddenly another set of boots walking on the wooden floor overhead. Theus raised his finger to his lips to indicate the need for silence.
All three looked upward at the ceiling of the cellar, watching the progress of the unseen walker. After two minutes, the visitor exited the shop.
“I can make it, don’t worry,” Theus answered.
“Let’s go take a look to see what’s happening upstairs. We ought to get going while there’s sunlight,” Theus said. He limped back to the ladder, juggled his sword to stick it in his belt, then climbed up and cautiously pressed upward against the hatch, raising it two inches, then several inches more, so that he could peer across a narrow swath of floor. He saw no signs of people in the room, so he raised the hatch fully, and cautiously climbed out onto the floor, then peered around the corner of the neighboring bureau.
When he saw no signs of other people anywhere in the room, he waved his hand behind him to motion the two youngsters to follow him upward. Once they were all on the ground floor, they approached the door of the building and looked outside. The street scape was empty.
“Which direction do we need to go?” Theus whispered to Amory.
“Out the back door,” the boy answered.
Theus shot him a sidelong glance, then led the group back through the building, down a hall, and into a room with a wide, double door. They peered outside, found no one in sight, and stepped out into an alley.
“Which way?” Theus asked again.
“Down there, then turn right,” Amory answered, and they slinked down the alley to the intersection with another road.
“There! Those three!” a voice shouted.
Theus turned, and saw a head sticking out of a second-floor window next door, and a moment later a squad of Southsand soldiers came boiling out of the ground level door, a dozen men who surrounded the young trio and left the escapees trapped with their backs against a building wall.
“You tricked us!” Amelia wailed.
“We’ll take them from here,” one of the soldiers said. His uniform was marked differently from the others, an apparent officer. “And the reward as well.”
“Stay back,” Theus raised his sword, spurred by Amelia’s accusation of treachery, as well as a fear that he would be taken captive as well, and returned to Donal.
“Seargent,” one of the men in the squad spoke up, “look at his neck marker. I recognize those colors.”
“Oh mercy,” the officer said, his face growing pale. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your work. Are you on a mission for your master?”
Theus blinked his eyes, until he remembered the leather strap that Orcaze, Donal’s assistant, had snapped around his neck to identify him as property of the magician.
“Bluster them,” the invisible voice counseled.
“If the magician Donal finds out that you’ve interfered with the mission he’s assigned to me, you’ll be dead, and it will be painful,” he emphasized the last words.
“We meant no trouble,” the officer said immediately. He motioned to his men to fall back. “Can we assist you or escort you?” he asked obsequiously.
“No, we are traveling the path he directed. Let us go our way,” Theus answered. He jerked his head to the side to indicate his desire to see the men move along.
The officer and his men moved down the road, and out of sight around a nearby corner.
“That was close,” Theus said in relief.
“What are you going to do to us? Who is this magician you work for?” Amory asked belligerently. He looked at the sword Theus held, as if he might try to wrestle it away from the injured runaway slave.
“I’m not going to do anything with you,” Theus snapped. “I’m trying to help you escape the city, and you’re supposed to be helping me escape from my master, the magician. We just tricked those men, but it may not work again. I suggest we get moving.”
Amory and Amelia looked at one another doubtfully.
“Truly, I didn’t lead you here; I didn’t know they were here,” Theus pointed out.
“And who are you, that they were so eager to capture you?” he asked in addition, as the odd confrontation played in his mind once again, while they started to move along the street. “What reason is there for you to be worth a reward?”
“Duck!” the voice called loudly. Theus dove to the ground, shouting at the two refugees to do the same as he went down. He heard and saw an arrow strike the wall he had been walking beside, then deflect down to the pavement, and bounce wildly away.
“Stay right there!” a voice shouted. “Don’t get up!”
Had the soldiers doubled back and decided to take the children as their own captives, he wondered.
“Redford?” Amory called a questioning word in a pleased voice.
“Is it Redford? We’re saved!” Amelia chimed.
Theus saw his two companions scramble up and go running, as he rolled over to observe their path. They were running towards a man with a beard – a big bushy beard. That was what Theus saw first and foremost.
“Be careful! Stop!” he tried to shout advise to the children, but they ran heedlessly to the man who was holding a bow, Theus noted, and when they reached him, they wrapped their arms partway around his stout frame.
“Redford!” Amelia shouted joyfully, her voice muffled in the coat the man wore.
Theus stood up and turned as he did, so that he faced the apparent reunion. His eyes warily locked with those of the man who had received his charges. The eyes were studying him, just as warily.
“Who are you?” Theus asked. He broke his eye contact to look up and down the street, looking to see if anyone else was visible, or any other dangers approaching. His simple plan to escape through the confusion of the invasion of Steep Rise had turned out to prove mostly confusing for him.
“Voice, is this good or bad?” he asked softly.
“I’m here to take care of the prince and princess,” the man replied as he scrutinized Theus. “The question is, who are you?” The titles made Theus’s eyes widen in surprise.
“He says he’s a runaway slave,” Amelia informed Redford.
“He found us hiding in a basement, after our escort was killed,” Amory added.
“Some of the invader soldiers were going to take us, but he stopped them,” Amelia said.
“They were scared of him; he works for a magician,” Amory took a turn at informing.
“Where’s he taking you now?” Redford asked.
“We were going to try to go to Mount Leaven,” Amory answered. “He said we could get away from the invaders.”
“But now we can go to the palace, can’t we?” Amelia pleaded.
Theus saw Redford’s eyes harden.
“The palace is captured. It’s too late. We need to get away. Come with me,” he spoke the sentences rapidly.
“Thank you for your help. You’re free to go now,” Redford spoke directly to Theus, as he put his large hands on the backs of the children with surprising gentleness.
“Where are you taking them?” Theus asked.
“None of your business. You just move along now,” the soldier answered.
“If you’re going someplace safe, I want to go too,” Theus told the man, making a decision. He’d heard nothing from the voice in response to his question, so he was making his own snap judgement. “I want to get away from Southsand; I don’t want to be a slave.”
“He’s been good Redford,” Amelia spoke up in Theus’s defense.
“I don’t trust him,” Amory said flatly.
“I didn’t even know they were a prince and princess,” Theus blurted out. “I just thought we could help each other.”
“We’re leaving Steep Rise, but it won’t be easy. We’re going to sail aw
ay. Are you sure you want to risk it?” Redford asked.
Theus heard the sounds of shouts from nearby.
“We need to get out of sight,” he counseled.
“You can come with us,” Redford seemed to make his won snap decision. “We’re going this way,” he stepped into the doorway he had appeared from.
The children automatically followed him into the dim interior of the building, and then Theus plunged in as well.
Redford led them through a maze of ways that he seemed to know very well, as they traveled in a wildly zigzagging pattern across the city, always edging downward, back towards the harbor, though Theus followed with quiet misgivings. He had no desire to move any closer to Donal’s location, but he had no further desire to try to find his way to safety on his own.
Theus limped behind the others, thankful that the journey contained so many pauses, fits, and starts, letting him catch up every time he fell behind, as he held onto his belief that he truly could escape from Donal and Southsand, and use the chaos of the invasion of Steep Rise to carry out that escape.
Night was falling by the time they reached the harbor front. People were beginning to cautiously re-enter the streets of the city, occupants who had survived the invasion, now fitfully venturing into the streets, searching for loved ones, food, safety, and information. Redford stopped the group at the mouth of an alley when they reached the water level at the bottom of the city.
“You three stay here a bit. Can you take care of them?” he asked Theus.
Theus nodded silently.
“I’m trusting you, stranger. Do this or you’ll pay,” the bodyguard warned, and then he stepped out into the street and left them.
“You’re really a prince and princess?” Theus asked.
“We are,” Amory affirmed.
“Huh,” Theus grunted. He was impressed by the titles. He’d grown up as a boy on a poor, rural, hard scrabble farm. Royal families were so distant from his life that he’d never even thought about dreaming about them.
But at the moment, he only felt sorry for the two children. At best, their parents were captive, their futures uncertain. At worst, the two were orphans. Theus had no idea what would become of them. Redford evidently had some plan to take them someplace safer than the occupied city.
“Where’s Redford going to take us?” Amelia asked at that moment, giving voice to Theus’s own internal question.
“I don’t know, but it’ll be someplace safe. Maybe he knows where we can meet mother and father,” the boy said hopefully. “I think the guards must have been able to get them to safety,” he added hopefully.
The trio lapsed into silence, and stood tensely for ten minutes, until Redford re-emerged from the sparse crowds, carrying an armful of material.
“Here, put these on,” he handed robed cloaks to the two youths. “Keep the hoods up; don’t let anyone see your faces.
“We’re going to the outer harbor. There’s a boat waiting there. “I’ve got some bread for us to eat while we sail.”
“Where are we going?” Amory asked.
“We’re going to Exlive,” Redford answered. “Now, let’s go,” he didn’t allow time for further questions.
“But Redford!” Amelia’s voice wailed as the bodyguard started out into the streets.
“You be quiet!” he turned and snarled. “Not another word.” He turned away again and began walking at a determined pace.
Amory followed behind, with Amelia in the third spot in line, while Theus brought up the end of the group. They walked quickly for minutes, then went inside a warehouse. Redford led them into a basement, then a damp sub-basement, which became a tunnel, lit only by the torch the bodyguard carried.
Theus held his sword ready, worried about the surroundings. If they were confronted or followed, there would be no escape route. But no danger erupted, and minutes later they climbed steps back up to the street level. Through a small window in a bare stone wall of a room they emerged in, Theus could see that it had grown dark outside.
“We’ll wait here until the moon rises,” Redford announced. “We’ll use the moonlight to see our way to the boat.”
“Why are we sailing to Exlive?” Amelia asked. “Will Mother be there?” her voice trembled.
“May the gods rest her soul, your mother is dead, and your father too,” Redford answered. His voice sounded harsh to Theus, as though he were trying to hide his own emotions.
“I saw her; she told me to find the two of you and take you to your Uncle Baitmin in Exlive,” Redford answered. “I had a time getting out of the palace alive to come find you,” he lifted a sleeve to reveal a bloody, heavily-bandaged arm underneath.
“If Steep Rise is going to be free again someday, there has to be a royal family ready to lead the people. You’ll be safe in Exlive, while we figure out what the situation is,” he lectured. “We’ll start by figuring out why that fleet sailed right into our harbor without a ship being sunk.”
“Donal the magician did it,” Theus spoke up. “He had that magic powder that made the memory stones not work, so that your big rock throwers wouldn’t destroy the fleet,” he explained.
“It’s dark magic, very dark,” he added in a low voice.
“A magician,” Redford practically spat the word. “Our nation in tatters because of a magician.” He rose and looked out the window.
“Let’s get moving, so we can put to sea,” he opened the door and motioned for the others to begin the journey.
The air was cooler outside in the evening, Theus noticed, though not chilly in any way. Redford led them past buildings and along a road that became a path that went out of the city and along a short stretch of rugged coast.
“What’s your name, boy?” Redford asked Theus in the darkness.
“Theus,” he replied.
“Well Theus, let’s get behind these bushes and push our boat down to the water,” Redford directed.
Theus found a large wooden boat resting on the sandy dunes ide. Together, grunting and straining, the two warriors moved the boat down to where the waves lapped up on the short, pebbled beach.
“Come down here, you two,” Redford called in a loud whisper. He bent into the boat and pulled out the sections of the mast, which he erected with Theus’s help, then the pair of them hoisted the sail and adjusted the simple rigging.
“You two jump in,” Redford told the young royals an hour later. “Then we’ll push it out into the water and get underway.”
Theus and Redford stood on either side of the boat, then ran it out until the warm sea water was up to the middle of their thighs, and they flopped into the shell. Redford scrambled into place, adjusted the sail, and the ship began to lightly move across the water.
“There’s success for you,” Redford said in a confident voice. “I haven’t had to do this since I was a young boy in my uncle’s fishing boat, but it all works as right as rain.
“Now, we just keep the shore on our right side and we let the breeze take us north,” he added.
“How long will the trip take?” Theus asked.
“Eight days, maybe nine,” Redford answered. “It depends on the winds we catch.”
“Do we have anything to eat?” Amory asked.
“How can you think of eating?” Amelia rebuked him. “Don’t you know mother and father are dead?”
“My hunger won’t bring them back to life,” Amory answered matter-of-factly.
“There’s bread in the bag by, eh, Theus,” Redford fumbled to recollect the name momentarily. Theus opened the bag. His hands probed the contents to determine how much was available.
“I’ll give a quarter of a loaf to each of us for tonight,” he suggested. “That’ll make it last for a few days.” The loaves weren’t large, and broken into quarters would make each portion even smaller, but there were only a few loaves to share among the four of them.
“You can give more than that,” Redford said munificently.
“We don’t want to run out of
food too quickly,” Theus pointed out.
“Run out of food? We’re surrounded by more fish than all of Steep Rise could eat in a year!” Redford brushed the protest aside.
“There’s fishing tackle in the prow. In the morning we can cast a line and start catching out meals,” he advised.
Theus handed out larger portions to the children in the dark, as well as Redford and himself, then he settled down and listened to the silence. The sound of the hull cutting through the water, the occasional flap of the canvas sail, and the cries of sea birds were all that he heard.
He felt a deep sadness. Even though he had managed to find an unexpected opportunity to escape from Donal and Southsand, he felt the pain of all the destruction he had seen. The cries he had heard Amelia give still tore at his heart, as he imagined what he would feel if his own mother were to be killed. The girl was far younger than he was; she deserved to have a mother who would watch over her and advise her about the troubles involved in growing up.
He didn’t know how far Exlive was from Great Forks, but if it was a seven day sailing from Steep Rise, it had to be quite a bit further north, closer to Great Forks and Coriae.
“Theus, wake up,” Redford was next to him, and he realized that he had been sound asleep, sitting in the boat as it moved across the ocean’s surface.
“You take the ship,” Redford said. “The prince and princess are asleep, and I need some too.”
“I don’t know how to sail a ship,” Theus protested.
“See that red star?” Redford pointed high above the horizon. “Just keep the boat headed in that direction.”
Theus grunted and flopped over to take the helm, then stared at the front of the boat and its relationship to the red star, the Compass Star, as his father had named it to him countless times back home on the ranch.
The boat struck a wave that splashed a large wash of water up into the air, and directly into Theus’s face. He sputtered and wiped his face dry, as best he could, then corrected his course as best he could to return to the course he’d momentarily veered from.
Throughout the night he kept the boat’s course steady, even later in the night, when Redford was snoring and the wind picked up. The boat’s velocity increased, and the sound of the water rushing alongside the hull rose in pitch.
The Deadly Magician (The Memory Stones Series Book 2) Page 20