Kael smiled and slapped Eidyn on the back.
“I’ll do just that my friend. I’ll do just that!”
As Kael walked back to the castle with Eidyn, he wondered what he might say to Ader about the missing dagger. He grew accustomed to its weight. Its presence provided peace of mind. He wasn’t sure he would ever use it properly, but at least he might make an attacker think twice before advancing on him.
Eidyn walked along, lost in contemplation. Kael felt ashamed. He was so caught up in his own emotion, he didn’t take the time to think about Eidyn. The young prince obviously struggled with this information as well. Was Manfir aware of the boys? If so, why didn’t Ader share their presence with Eidyn? What about Teeg? Did the Master of Spies know, yet keep his own prince in the dark? Kael recognized the delicateness of the situation.
They fought their way through the teaming city. It was getting late, and the marketplaces and shops were closing. Workmen and servants headed home for the day. Each street held double the number of people as the street before it. Kael tried to squeeze past a slow moving ox cart. He jammed his hands into his vest pockets to make his frame smaller. In the right pocket, he felt a small scrap of parchment. He stepped past the ox cart and unrolled the tightly wound scrap. He read as Eidyn slipped past the cart and noticed the confused expression on Kael’s face.
“What is it?” asked Eidyn.
“I’ve found another teacher,” said Kael as he finished reading the paper and handed it to Eidyn.
Eidyn read the parchment aloud.
“A bit of advice. When you are trailing someone, be doubly aware of those who might be trailing you.”
Eidyn turned and gave a questioning look to Kael. The Southlander just shrugged his shoulders. Kael wondered whose hand placed the note in his pocket. However, he was sure of one thing, that very hand now held the Needle of Ader.
In the morning, the king and queen called the travelers before them. Kael entered the meeting chamber and sumptuous smells greeted him. A large circular table stood in the chamber filled with trays of succulent food from the area. Corad and Lucyn rose as the group entered.
“Our meeting yesterday was somewhat forced,” said Corad. “The situation required a ... harsh approach. Now that we come to terms, Lucyn and I desire to host you in a more suitable manner. Please, step forward and be seated.”
The group bowed and moved toward the table.
“Ader, please sit here by me,” said Corad as he pulled a chair out for the Guide. “I damaged our relationship these many years. I regret my actions and hope to make amends.”
Ader nodded in Corad’s direction and accepted the chair. Lucyn smiled at Manfir as he tried to take a place opposite her.
“For just a moment you may let your guard down, Manfir, son of Macin. You battle no Ulrog at this moment. Imagine that you are thirteen years old again and we are entertaining guests. You ate at this table so often it should be easy,” began the queen. “Come. Sit beside me and be a stranger no longer.”
Manfir hesitated for a moment. His stern expression finally relaxed and he smiled.
“I do not deserve such a place of honor. I’m not the best of nephews,” replied Manfir.
“I do not give it as a place of honor, but as a place of love. Love overlooks transgression and accepts unconditionally,” said Lucyn and she extended her arms.
Manfir stepped forward and embraced her. After a moment all stood at their places silently waiting for Lucyn to sit. Flair glanced nervously at Eidyn for clues on appropriate behavior. Lucyn looked across the table at the imposing figure of Granu. His granite jaw was set. His face was impassive.
“Before we sit,” began the queen lightheartedly. “I must say well met Granu, son of Grannak.”
Kael noticed surprise enter the giant’s eyes and he lightly bowed.
“Your story is one of personal hardship and sacrifice,” continued Lucyn. “Avra calls upon all of us to forgo the easy path and follow him up the steep road to the true riches of happiness. It is a challenging journey, and for some it is much more difficult than for others.”
The queen lifted a goblet and raised it on high.
“May your endeavors to change this world be blessed by the hand of Avra,” said the queen. “And may both enemy and friend alike learn from your example of sacrifice and personal fortitude. In my house you will be called friend.”
“Here! Here!” added Corad as he raised his glass.
The remainder of the group raised their goblets and drank. Manfir looked as if the motion was painful, but he followed suit. Granu bowed much more deeply to the lady across the table.
“I entered your household under duress,” stated Granu raising his own goblet. “However, the eloquence of such a speech disarms me. I accept your friendship and pledge mine in return.”
The entire group drank once more. Lucyn sat and the men joined her. The meal carried on in idle chatter. Lucyn was anxious to know all of Manfir’s whereabouts over the years. Corad entered a hushed conversation with Ader over spiritual matters. Kael realized he was famished, and tried not to embarrass himself by overfilling his plate.
The food was delicious. Egg soufflé, smoked ham and poached river cat were laid out on trays before them. Kael tried a filet of poached fish from another tray. The flavor was rich and earthy. At first, he was unsure whether he liked it, but as it settled on his tongue he found it to be excellent. Manfir looked up from his conversation with the queen.
“And how is the Urgron, Lord Kael?” asked Manfir smiling.
Kael stuffed another large piece of the filet in his mouth. His eyes went wide as he struggled to chew the piece and answer. Lucyn laughed and held up a hand.
“No need to answer, Kael Brelgson,” laughed Lucyn. “The fact that half the filet is in your mouth speaks more resolutely than you are able at this moment.”
Kael turned a bright shade of red and slowed his chewing.
“And what of you, Master Flair,” asked Corad. “I see you are a man of expensive tastes.”
Flair smiled and raised another soft pastry to his lips.
“The jelly in this pastry is fantastic. It is like nothing I have ever eaten,” said Flair as he took a sizable bite out of the pastry.
The center was filled with a black, oily substance that dribbled down the youth’s chin. Slightly embarrassed, Flair grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin as he munched on the pastry.
“Expensive indeed,” exclaimed Teeg as the boy popped the last morsel in his mouth. “I have never seen a person eat eight Urgron roe cakes at one sitting.”
Flair’s chewing stopped abruptly.
“Eight cakes you say?” added Manfir. “And every last one of them filled with fish eggs. Extraordinary! Far too rich a meal for my constitution.”
Flair’s mouth was stretched wide in mid chew. His eyes widened and he quickly glanced around, lifting a napkin toward his face.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” said Teeg wagging a finger at the boy. “Decorum at all times, my good man. You are a guest in this house!”
Flair’s eyes bulged. Corad and Lucyn looked around the table puzzled, as the rest of the group snickered. Flair chewed slowly, then swallowed hard with a painful expression on his face. He slowly picked up his full goblet and raised it above the table.
“To our gracious hosts,” whispered the boy and his voice cracked.
“Here! Here!” shouted the rest of the men at the table and they broke into a roar of laughter.
Flair drained the entire goblet.
After the meal, the company retired to their rooms and made ready to depart. Ader, Manfir and Teeg held a private audience with Corad and Lucyn. Assurances were made as to the speed at which the Rindoran Spear could be formed and sent north, but many crucial roles in the city needed to be temporarily manned. People must be trained. Supplies were required. Horses commandeered.
Before long, Kael found himself leading his chestnut through the crowded city streets. The group arrived at a gate simila
r to the one on the south side of the river. A few soldiers stood near the gate, but in the daytime it stood wide open and people came and went freely. A long, timbered bridge identical to the bridge on the south side of the island stretched from the mouth of the gate. Kael followed Eidyn and led his horse out onto the bridge. As before, it neither swayed nor buckled.
“I don’t understand how the river affords Rindor such protection,” said Kael, “if any army could merely march across these bridges to their door.”
“Excellent observation, young man,” smiled Teeg. “Exactly the type of observation the Rindoran generals hope an opposing commander might make.“
“If it’s too good to be true, Kael,” said Manfir. “Quite often it’s not true.”
“What do you mean?” asked Flair. “I agree with Kael. You could roll several battering rams up to this tiny gate.”
Manfir halted and motioned the boys to the side of the bridge. He pointed to the giant sturdy pilings that supported the structure.
“They look as strong as the granite foundations of the castle,” stated Manfir.
Kael and Flair nodded in agreement.
“Now take a closer look. What do you see?” asked Manfir.
Kael looked hard at the crisscrossing maze of timber supports and pilings. It confused him, but he confidently believed he could glean the meaning of the design. Support after support buttressed one another to add to the strength of the bridge.
“What are those gears and cables for?” asked Flair.
Of course it was Flair who figured it out, thought Kael. The lad possessed such a logical mind.
“If that gear turns, the timber it supports will ...” he paused as he pondered it, “... slide out and each timber above will lose its support. This whole section of the bridge will collapse!”
Flair quickly grabbed the railing of the bridge and looked back toward the safety of the island.
“Easy lad,” laughed Ader. “This bridge has stood as it is for decades. The discovery of its secret by Master Flair of Kelky will not send it crashing to the river’s bottom.”
The group moved across the bridge once more. Ader slid in next to Kael and put a hand inside his cloak.
“Speaking of discoveries,” said the Seraph. “Please try harder to keep this safe. I’m quite fond of this bit of handiwork, and it just might save your life one day.”
Ader slid Kael’s dagger from beneath his cloak and handed it over to the boy. Before Kael could comment, the Guide prodded Tarader to the front of the procession. Kael clenched his teeth and glanced at Eidyn. The exchange was not lost on the Elven prince. Eidyn frowned and shrugged his shoulders.
As they stepped from the bridge onto solid ground, Kael noticed a smile play across Manfir’s face. Manfir caught the boy looking.
“It’s nice to be home, Kael. I never consider myself in Zodra until I cross north over the Ituan River,” said Manfir.
The group mounted and began a light trot along the Northern Trade Route. The landscape contained marked differences between the South and the North. The South was dry sparsely vegetated grassland of gullies and washes. The North was a land of sharp plateaus overlooking leagues of gorse bushes and tree groves. In the South the road followed some of the flatter wash runs. Travelers circumvented the small hills by traveling around them. There was no such opportunity in the North. Sometimes the group traveled along a relatively flat stretch. Other times, the road halted at a tall ridgeline that ran for several leagues in either direction. Usually, a path wide enough for one rider was cut into the side of the plateau. The group traveled up these paths in a single file line.
The frequent elevation changes along the road made for a slow tedious journey. Kael broke up the monotony by taking in the scenery around him. However, the scenery failed to relieve the boredom. The narrow footing on the ridgeline paths made those stretches the most tedious. Kael was sure of his chestnut’s agility, but the path never appeared substantial enough.
Periodically, Ader called for a halt. The air was dry and water for the horses was scarce. Tarader never seemed to need any type of sustenance, and Ader frequently wandered ahead of the group searching the horizon while the others watered their mounts.
“He has much to think about,” commented Manfir to Kael.
During one of these stops, Kael was the first to water his mount at a small brook that ran near the road. Ader once again moved ahead. This time however, Tarader munched on the soft, new growth of blackberry bush. The horse lightly whinnied and swished flies with its tail. Kael moved away from the brook to let the others refresh their horses. The Guide sat with his back to Kael and the group. Ader looked unusually worn and tired. He was hunched forward on the stallion’s back, barely moving.
Kael left his chestnut tethered to a nearby bush and quietly approached the Seraph. As he closed within a couple of yards, Kael realized Ader was not still at all. In fact, his hands were drawn in tightly to his chest and worked feverishly. Understanding came to Kael. He mistook similar movements by the Guide in the past. Ader did not fidget in the saddle in Quay or Rindor. Ader communicated. He used his hands to convey a bounty of information, just as the Guide communicated with Teeg at the court in Luxlor. Kael looked in the direction Ader’s directed his hands. A thick grove of gorse bush grew at Tarader’s feet and spread out into the surrounding country. The movement of Kael’s head alerted the Guide. The hand motions stopped. Ader cleared his throat and glanced at the boy.
“Are you finished watering your mare, Kael?” asked Ader.
“Yes, I tethered her. Are you feeling all right?” replied Kael.
“Just fine. A bit tired. Happens to even me now and again,” smiled Ader. “This terrain is rough on horse and rider alike. It is in our best interests to halt early this evening. I should consult Manfir and determine if there is a suitable place within striking distance.”
The Seraph turned his stallion back toward the group and trotted away. Kael was left staring at the grove of gorse bush in front of him. A cool breeze stirred the tops of the bushes like a wave upon the water.
“Thank you for returning my blade,” whispered Kael to the bushes, and he turned and walked away.
CHAPTER 29: THE FOX AND THE HAMMER
In the late afternoon, the troop made camp at the base of a large bluff just off the road. Once again Eidyn offered to stand guard for the group and once again Ader informed him that it was unnecessary. Kael recognized the tension in the Elven prince’s face as Eidyn pursed his lips and walked off to help Flair gather firewood. All save one in the group seemed exhausted. Granu was unusually pleasant. His stern demeanor was melting away and he hummed as he went about his business.
“I like this country,” Granu said offhandedly to Teeg.
The comment elicited a withering glare from Manfir, but no more was said. In the morning the group rose early and was quickly underway. Plateau to drop-off. Drop-off to plateau. The tedious journey dragged on. Finally, the group crested a large plateau and Kael felt a sense of relief. A rolling expanse stretched out before them. Grassland populated with small groves of trees pushed toward the horizon. Kael searched their path ahead and saw neither plateau nor drop-off. At last they could simply meander over rolling hills.
Manfir led them for over an hour. Suddenly, Eidyn pointed to the left of the road. Wisps of dust rose above the horizon.
“Manfir! Riders bear down on us from the West. They are still a few leagues off,” shouted Eidyn.
A small, shadowy figure dashed across the top of a hill several hundred yards away. It ran in a crouch, darting from grove to grove.
“Who is that?” exclaimed Kael.
“It seems the riders drive a fox before them,” said Eidyn.
Ader and Teeg edged closer to the side of the road. They remained motionless, following the progress of the diminutive figure. Eidyn and Kael rode toward the back of the procession. The Elven prince turned to Kael with a look of concern and confusion.
“Should we arm o
urselves, Lord Ader?” asked Eidyn.
The Seraph did not reply. Ader’s eyes followed the figure. Kael turned to Eidyn and shrugged his shoulders. Eidyn frowned and slipped his bow from his back. His hand slid down to the quiver slung on the side of his mount. Blindly he drew an arrow from the quiver and lifted it to the bow. The figure closed to within a hundred yards and the dust cloud billowed on the horizon.
Eidyn notched his arrow and his eyes bore down on the figure. Slowly he drew the bowstring backwards.
“It looks like a child, but it runs like the win ..... AYE!” shouted Eidyn.
Kael spun to look at his friend and was stunned. Another small figure sat on the stallion just behind the Elven prince. The figure was covered head to toe in a gossamer cloak. The cloak’s colors shimmered and changed with each movement. A delicate hand reached around the prince and locked on the drawn bowstring. The other hand pressed a short, curved dagger against Eidyn’s exposed throat. A small drop of blood slid down the edge of the blade. The runner closed to within fifty yards of the group.
“Eidyn!” boomed Teeg. “Stay your arrow! Tis an ally!”
The Elven prince was glaring over his shoulder at the figure holding him captive. Slowly he released the tension on the bow and let the point of the arrow dip toward the ground. The figure seated behind him removed its grip on the bowstring, grabbed the hood of its cloak and drew it down. Kael stared into the blue-green eyes of the beautiful young woman he met on the streets of Rindor. Eidyn’s eyes went wide. She smiled, rammed the blade into a small sheath at her side and jumped into a standing position on the stallion’s rump. In an instant the young woman laughed and did a flip off the horse’s back. She executed a perfect landing a foot from a grove of gorse bush, darted into cover and disappeared from sight.
In that same moment, the “fox” leapt onto the back of Tarader from a full sprint. This figure wore a similar cloak to the young woman. Even though it stood on the back of the stallion, its head barely cleared that of the Guide. The “fox” drew its hood back and leaned in close to the Ader’s ear. Kael was astonished to see the smaller of the two boys he tracked in Rindor. After a moment the Seraph nodded and the boy flipped from Tarader’s back in the same way as the young woman. He darted into the bushes and was gone.
The Merchant and the Menace Page 38