Chronicles of Den'dra: A Land Torn: Ancient Powers Awaken (36 page)

“
Elmet? Reigns would skin me alive if I touched his horse.” Aleest scratched the back of his head as he blinked at the candle.

“
Do as she commands boy!” Balinor had entered the room now also. Aleest’s eyes widened when he saw the knight. Hurrying to obey he slipped out a door into the stables.

“
There are carefully laid plans at work here. You must be careful or all will be in vain. How do you know that you can trust this... groom?” Balinor had hoped to slip out of the keep unnoticed and be long gone before the alarm was raised and now at least one other person knew of their presence.

“
I know I can trust him the same way that I know that I can trust you. Besides, he is coming with us.” Em'risi disappeared behind a partition and left Balinor to fume and worry alone. When she reemerged he hardly recognized the queen in the guise of a stable servant. Her auburn hair was entirely hidden beneath a hat with a wide brim. Her dress had been replaced with riding leathers. If one didn’t look closely it was difficult to recognize the feminine curves. On top of the riding leather was a cloak with a hood.

“
Please explain what you meant.” Balinor asked as Em'risi tucked an errant curl up into the hat. She paused and looked at him as if she was looking through him for a moment before responding.

“
We are both Gifted. He differently than I. We have known about each other for years. Since I was a child actually.”

“
Gifted?” Balinor was nearly struck speechless by the revelation.

“
Yes. I can see and sometimes feel other people’s emotions. Sense their intentions. Aleest can communicate with animals. There isn’t anything he can’t tame.” Just then Aleest appeared at the door again.

“
Princess, they are saddled.”

“
Can you handle Elmet?” Em'risi approached with the candle. Aleest must have realized then that he was only half clad as he hastily pulled a shirt over his head from a nearby pile of laundry.

“
Of course princess but won’t Reign’s be angry?”

“
He most certainly will be but neither of us are going to be anywhere near enough for it to matter. Muffle their hooves and meet me at the gate. Grab what you need to come with us but be quick about it. We must hurry before we are discovered.”

“
Be quick about it.” Balinor added the encouragement of a glare as Aleest hurried to obey. Em'risi inspected her disguise in the reflection off a small piece of metal before blowing out the candle. Dumping off the melted wax she tucked it in a small satchel at her side.

“
Come now Sir Balinor.” With that the two of them returned to the courtyard and melted into the deep shadows. A couple minutes later the two horses were led up.

“
How are we supposed to get past the guards?” Aleest whispered the question when he had drawn close enough.

“
Leave that to me.” Balinor moved to the gatehouse door and rapped lightly. The door opened a crack and a brief whispered exchange passed before Balinor returned to the shadows and the waiting watchers. A moment later a couple guards left the guardhouse and marched through the gates. Shortly afterwards two different guards returned to the guardhouse.

“
Now.” Balinor led the way out past the two guards that had just taken their posts. They saluted quietly then ignored the party. Outside the gates they led the horses to an alley where another guard was waiting with couple horses. Balinor thanked the guard who disappeared. Aleest proceeded to secure a bundle to the one horse as Balinor watched. When they had finished their preparations they all mounted and filed out of the alley. Balinor’s horses’ hooves had also been muffled so the procession was nearly silent. They didn’t remove the rags until they had reached the outside of the city. Balinor again had words with the guardhouse and a new set of guards took the posts and turned a blind eye to the party.

“
How did you get us past the guards Sir Balinor?” Em'risi queried as they rode in the moonlight.

“
They were loyal to you not Reigns.” Balinor explained with the simple sentence.

“
What is going on? Why would they be loyal to Em'risi?” Aleest was still confused as to the sudden events and secretive actions.

“
Mind your tongue lad.” The silvery blue again pulsed through the morose knight.

“
Em'risi?”

“
It is difficult to explain and to tell the truth I know not all of it.” Em'risi could feel some of the sorrow that Balinor was feeling and was having difficulty preventing her own sorrow from overwhelming her.

“
But why would the guards be loyal to you instead of the King?” Aleest had moved his horse to the other side of Em'risi from the knight who simply glared at his impertinence.

“
My father died today so I suppose I'm the Queen now.” Em'risi bit her lip as her vision blurred momentarily.

“
Oh... I'm sorry.” Aleest rode silently as Em'risi battled with her emotions. When she had control again she turned to Balinor.

“
Where are we going Sir Balinor?” Em'risi had notice that they had left the city from the north gate and were still headed towards the Silent Sea.

“
To the outlands your majesty.” Balinor responded vaguely.

“
Could you stop referring to me as your queen or as majesty? My name is sufficient Sir Balinor.”

“
It wouldn’t be right for me to use your name.” A glare was directed towards the groom on Em'risi’s right hand. “You on the other hand are not required to use my title every time you speak to me.”

“
Balinor then, I will not call you a knight if you don’t call me a queen. Can we compromise on formality for the sake of convenience?”

“
As you wish... Em'risi.” Balinor was clearly uncomfortable so Em'risi fell silent listening to the rhythmic sounds of the four horses.

*****

“Crein, where are you!” Reigns stormed into the chamber that the leader of the shadow order resided in when he was at the castle.

“
Here my Lord. How may I serve you?” Crein emerged from the shadows in the back of the room.

“
Are you aware of the princess?” Reigns demanded as he paced back and forth.

“
Of course my lord.”

“
Are you aware that she and my top general have fled the castle? She seems to have taken after her father in more ways than I had thought.”

“
Is my lord desirous of having the order apprehend and return them?”

“
No I am not desirous of getting them back. I need someone more malleable than that wench. If you can try to find out who they were working with before killing them. It should be easy enough for your people to do that considering their track record.” Crain stiffened at the jibe.

“
My lord, I have already said that he fell to his death. The order had nothing to do with the accident.”

“
Do this for me and I will forget the failing.”

“
Of course my lord. It shall be done immediately.” Reigns was already on his way out the door and barely heard Crein’s response.

*****

Urake and Emeck lay hidden in the woods near the road that led to the outlands. They had made it to Cercha before Ildroth had coughed up the information that the princess would be headed for the outlands soon. Brounn had relayed the information through Emeck and they had struck out for this choke point. The Silent Sea on the other side of the flat lands here and the heavily forested Garoche Mountains behind funneled all traffic through a single stretch of land only a couple rods in width.

They had been camped out in these woods while they waited for the last several days. There had only been the infrequent trade caravan or the small band of travelers but no princess had appeared. Emeck had been scanning the area since they arrived and could tell him accurately what type of people had been passing through. It was in the middle of the night that the lad had woken him with the news that a band of horsemen where headed west to meet another smaller band of horsemen. What really woke Urake was the news that the second band of horsemen had a noble woman in their number. When they reached the edge of the trees they could see the two bands approaching each other.

“I don’t like what I'm getting from the first horse men. I think that they mean to harm...” Emeck broke of his whispered news and doubled over as if in pain. Urake stooped to assist the lad when he saw a light spilling onto the ground. Lifting his cloak he was startled to see Ice Heart glowing. Lines of deep blue light were tracing each of the engravings. Turning his attention back to Emeck he saw that the lad was recovering.

“
What was it?” Urake waited for Emeck to regain speech as he watched the two groups of horsemen meet on the road.

“
It was Skeln. I’ve never sensed him so strongly before. He is somewhere south in the mountains.” Urake found himself torn between wanting to find his son and protecting the last of his blood. He glanced up at the heavy woods behind him then back at the horse men. After seeing a flash of fire he made up his mind and pulled his bow loose as he broke into a run.

*****

Em’risi had been deep in her thoughts when the band of horsemen appeared over the crest of a small hill directly in front of them. Balinor had given her a warning glance before moving to the side of the road. They hoped that the horsemen were simply travelers trying to make Shienhin before they rested but this hope turned false when the horse men stopped at them and drew weapons. Em’risi realized that it had been a futile hope that a band of men traveling in the dead of the night should have an innocent purpose.

“
Name yourselves!” The horsemen in the lead demanded of Balinor. The general had put a cloak over his armor but enough was visible to see that he was a knight even in the dim light.

“
This is the King’s highway. You have no right to accost travelers.” Balinor fingered his great sword and eyed the black robed horsemen.

“
We ride with orders to find some fugitives. Prove yourself and you can be on your way if you aren’t who we are looking for.” The rider edged sideways until he could look past Balinor at Em’risi who was hidden beneath her cloak’s hood.

“
I am a knight escorting my lord’s daughter to his friend’s home.” Balinor still fingered his sword menacingly.

“
He tells the truth but he is hiding something. I can’t tell what.” One of the other horsemen spoke up. Em’risi realized that in a way Balinor had been telling the truth. He just hadn’t told all of it. Right after the man spoke another one lifted his sword and it burst into flames. Em’risi was caught in surprise before she realized that her face was lit by the improvised lantern.

“
She is the one we want. Tell us who you are working with, Balinor and we will make sure she doesn’t suffer.” Em’risi heard the knight growl like a bear when she realized that she could see the man’s light feeding the flames. She realized that the rest of the men had Gifts as well.

“
She won’t be harmed unless it is over my dead body.” With a roar Balinor charged at the leader. He had almost reached the man when a flash of fire knocked him off his horse. Landing with a rattle or armor he rolled to his feet narrowly avoiding getting trampled by another horseman. Suddenly all the attacker’s horses started bucking becoming impossible to control. Em’risi glanced behind her and saw Aleest holding a hand toward the bolting rider less horses. She realized that Raos and Elmet were both still as could be during the chaos. She thought about fleeing but figured it wouldn't do any good in the face of these attackers.

Balinor was not harmed by the fall. His armor had been impervious to the fire bolt and his skill with his sword was more than enough to match the attackers that didn’t have the advantage of being mounted anymore. He traded blow for blow until they had managed to become organized. Now he was outnumbered and being attacked from all sides.

The area suddenly lit up as the pyromancer’s sword burst into flame again. Em’risi inhaled sharply as the man pointed his sword at her with a look of satisfaction. His look of satisfaction shifted to one of confusion as the flames subsided. In the last light shed by the pyromancer’s flames she saw him looking down at the arrow in his chest with an expression of pure bewilderment. Two of the other five men fell quickly after that with similar arrows.

With better odds Balinor felled one of his adversaries and began focusing on the remaining three. One more fell to the mysterious arrows just before Balinor smashed in the skull of another. The last remaining one dropped his weapon and placing his fingers on his temples focused on Balinor who inexplicable staggered back as if impacted by a blow. A dark figure flashed into the moonlight and in a whirl of motion slashed into the last attacker. The short blades were dripping with blood blackened to the same shade as the men’s cloaks in the poor light when the man fell to the ground.