Hope (31 page)

"Okay, we’ll have to carry him then, unless he can walk," Drewton said with a tired sigh. It had been a long day and he was a big knight. He hoped the knight would be able to at least partially walk to the castle. "Knight, can you make it back to the castle if we help to support your weight?" The knight just looked past him, constantly blinking as he tried to focus through the blood slowly running from his forehead. "Knight, you don’t need to be able to see, just walk. Can you walk?"

"I think so. Help me up and I’ll try."

Drewton and Mikael pulled him to his feet and steadied him as he swayed where he stood. "What’s your name, knight? We’d like to know who we’re rescuing," Drewton said as he looked around at his gathering men.

"Hal. My name is Hal."

The knight named Hal only made it halfway to the castle. He had collapsed and refused to rise. He left Drewton and Mikael no choice but to carry him the rest of the way. With Drewton’s squad around them, the knights at the castle gate were wary until Drewton moved toward the front and announced himself and whom he carried. The gate opened and the guard sent one of the other knights to fetch a healer.

The Master Healer, Vetera, appeared a few minutes later and directed them and their charge into the nearest infirmary. Drewton’s men remained outside with their weapons in the hands of the knights to avoid any type of misunderstanding. Drewton and Mikael remained standing for over an hour in Hal’s room, then were rewarded for their vigilance when the master healer rose and left the room with a tired sigh.

"Thank you. I don’t know how you knew I was there, but I can’t say how relieved I was to hear that bastard stop talking and start gurgling." Hal's eyes looked haunted. "If there’s anything I can do to repay you—"

"Killing that vermin is all the reward we need. Perhaps a mug of ale will ease our thoughts sometime," Drewton said with a grin. Word of the friendship between a knight, a Guardsman and a mercenary would start a few songs. Not bad for business.

"I remember you," Hal said to Drewton. "You were in the market that day—the day the old woman sold that poisonous figurine to Kate."

Drewton nodded. "Yes, I remember you as well although we haven’t formally met. My name is Drewton, a mercenary. This is Royal Guardsman Mikael. Now that you’re recovered, we must speak with Sir Lanclor about this incident. With your leave?"

Hal nodded with exhaustion. "Be safe, Drewton. Mikael."

"Be safe, Knight Hal," Drewton and Mikael said in unison.

"Sir Lanclor, I’m worried. He’s been gone for some time." Lady Kathryn said in a concerned voice.

Lanclor had to agree with her. "I’ll alert the guards at the gates to keep an eye out for him. He’ll probably show up eventually having eaten in town or maybe—," A knock sounded upon the open door and he saw Drewton and Mikael standing in the doorway with Mikael’s dog close behind.

"Sir Lanclor? Lady Kathryn? I think you may want to hear about our interesting night," the mercenary said in a steady voice.

"Drewton, Mikael, welcome. Please, come in. Close the door and share your news with us." He rose from his chair and motioned for them to enter.

"Thank you, Sir Lanclor. We received a tip a short while ago about some odd activities going on in the Eastern district. It appears another mercenary’s old squad had taken it upon themselves to kidnap a knight."

"Hal! Is he okay?" Lady Kathryn burst out, unable to contain herself after hours of worrying.

"They tortured him, but we were able to reach him in time. We killed the squad and brought Hal to the castle. Master Vetera finished healing him a little while ago. He’s going to be fine, except for mental scarring for quite a while. Torture has a way of changing a man." Drewton spoke as if from experience.

"Do you have any idea why they kidnapped him?" Lanclor asked, trying to figure out a motive, but without success.

"No, sir, we have no idea. We know they’re desperate to fulfill their contracts. Maybe they were using him to get to you. There was one thing. They mentioned an orb, as if they believed Hal might know where it was, whatever it is."

"An orb? That doesn’t make any sense." Why would they think Hal had the Orb?

"I don’t know, Sir Lanclor. We couldn’t make much sense of it either." Drewton shook his head.

"Did the men use magic at all?" Lady Kathryn asked in a calm voice.

"No, but I believe a Death spell was used on their leader this morning. His men mentioned something about someone warning them not to talk." Mikael responded.

"Where was Hal being held? Mikael, you should alert the Royal Guard about the incident," Sir Lanclor explained. "We’ll send them over to clean the place up and search for any clues about their employer. You should mention you both were responsible for the deaths of the mercenaries during a successful attempt to rescue a knight. Your squad won’t receive a bad reputation from this incident, Drewton."

"Thank you, sir. I will not forget your assistance. The Royal Guard doesn’t always look upon us mercenaries with understanding." Drewton eyed Mikael with a smile.

The dog inched forward between Mikael and Lady Kathryn.

"I have a feeling that will change in the near future," Lanclor responded.

"Oh my God." Kathryn's hand went to her chest.

Lanclor rose with his hand upon the pommel of his sword. He saw her looking at the dog and was about to comfort her fears when the dog suddenly bounded toward her, knocking her off her feet. He rushed forward to wrestle the dog off her, but stopped when he heard her giggling.

Kathryn wrapped her arms around the dog’s neck. He licked her neck and face with an excited whine while his tail wagged in circles. His rear legs teetered with the momentum of his tail.

"All right, Dargo, enough. Sit!" Lady Kathryn croaked in English, pulling her face away from the onslaught. The dog’s rump immediately sank to the floor.

Mikael looked shocked. "How did you get him to do that? I've been trying to get him to do that since I got him."

"His name's Dargo." Kathryn suddenly glared at Mikael. "He's my dog!"

Lanclor knew that look and interceded before Mikael got hurt.

"Relax you two. Lady Kathryn, I was there when Mikael found the dog in a cave over a cycle ago. Are you sure this is your 'Dargo?'"

"Well, he's definitely bigger and doesn't seem like a complete coward, but yes, this is my dog...he was a present for my mother. I'd know him anywhere." Lanclor saw the sad look upon her face before she looked away, frowning.

Mikael grimaced. "He has gained a lot of weight and very few people knew how much of a coward he was when I got him. I hate to say it, but given his response to Lady Kathryn I don't have a claim on him. Jenna will be devastated." Mikael ran his hands through his hair then rubbed the back of his neck.

Kathryn rubbed his ears while Dargo leaned his head against her. "Who's Jenna?"

"My daughter. She was actually the one who trained him and gave him the self-confidence to become a great guard dog. I've never seen anything like it. In less than a day, she had him sleeping next to her bed and growling at anyone who opened her door."

"Oh." Kathryn's hand just rested upon Dargo's head, no longer rubbing his ears.

"Well, Drewton and I will take our leave now. It was a pleasure to see you Lady Kathryn. Please take care of him." Mikael gestured to Dargo and started to leave the room.

"Wait." Kathryn rose to her feet. "Take him home so Jenna can say goodbye."

Mikael gave her a thankful smile and Kathryn nodded in understanding.

A knock sounded upon Borith’s door. "Enter."

"Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you, but we’ve had some unfortunate news about the mercenary company hired to take care of those knights."

"Proceed."

"It appears they took it upon themselves to kidnap another knight. The word is that they tortured him and were asking about an orb. They were discovered by another mercenary company loyal to the knights and have been eliminated."

He stood abruptly, his chair crashing backwards to the floor. "What? The fools! Why would they take the wrong knight and why would they be asking about an orb?" He never mentioned anything about the Orb to them. "Something doesn’t add up here."

"I agree, sir, so I took the liberty of finding out if they had another contract. I believe it was only a coincidence, sir. It appears someone on the Council hired the same mercenary company as you, but told them to find an orb no matter the cost. The fee was double the one you paid them to do the other contract, so that may be why they chose to fulfill the Councilor’s contract first.

"The mercenary company loyal to the knights is rumored to have warned the three knights in question about the contract on their heads. Since they’ve been warned it will be difficult, if not impossible, to take them out in the near future."

Could this day get any worse? "Good work on this. I don’t like what I’ve heard, but it’s something that I needed to know. Pull all of the contracts back. We’ll lay low for a few cycles, then try again. I’ve waited cycles for revenge; a few cycles longer is of no consequence."

Lady Kathryn, please wake up. It’s Master healer Vetera
. The words took some time to understand through the fog of her dream. Kathryn could feel the exhaustion in Master Vetera’s voice.

Lak’oth ar’vat. Yes, Master Vetera, I’m awake
. Her eyes felt gritty as she tried to rub the sleep from them.

Lady Kathryn, I need your assistance in the infirmary. Daemons attacked two villages and the wounded are flooding into the castle. I’m still exhausted from healing that other village yesterday. I don’t have the power to help these people, but if I can tap into yours, then they may have a chance.

She didn’t know he could tap into hers, but if she could help save lives, she was willing to let him try.
I’ll be there soon, Master Vetera
.

Moving her legs over the side of the bed, she slid to the floor, almost stepping on Dargo. His head popped up with his ears at attention.

"No, Dargo, go back to sleep. I'll be okay." He sighed and rested his head back upon the floor.

After dressing in her training outfit, she flung open her balcony door and leapt over the railing. She shivered in the chill air and glided to the opposite side of the courtyard landing before the entrance to the south wing.

Cries of the wounded filled the halls of the infirmary. She opened the door to chaos. Villagers were scattered around the large hall, overflowing the limited beds and lying upon the floor. To Kathryn’s left, three young children were screaming while their mother lay unmoving upon the floor, the front of her tunic black with blood. Kathryn stood in shock, not knowing what to do.

"Lady Kathryn, thank the Goddess!" Master Vetera hurried over to her while wiping the sweat from his brow. He followed her eyes and saw the woman and her children. "She’s a good place to start as any. Come over here with me." He dragged her to the woman, shooing the children to the side so he could assess the woman’s condition. "Mel'int ent'bel'ak. She’s bad, but not beyond help. Now, just relax and let me channel your power. I can only do this if you allow it. Lak'oth lenk'enterun lak'oth."

Kathryn felt a slight pressure in her head, but otherwise no different. Master Vetera laid his hands upon the woman and looked at Kathryn. "Now, imagine yourself opening a small channel of your power to me. We’ll try a little at a time. If at any point you find yourself worried about exhaustion, you simply have to close the channel. Understood?"

"Yes, Master Vetera." Kathryn sighed, trying to imagine a small stream of her power going into Master Vetera. She quickened the flow and saw Master Vetera’s eyes widen in surprise.