Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web - Volume 1 (29 page)

Ivy saw a ruthless fire burning in Madeline’s eyes and knew that the woman would not hesitate for a second to harm her if she should interfere with her plans. She took a slow breath and muttered a single word. “Understood.”

“Good. We know each other’s mind, so let’s meet our hosts,” she said. “Don’t give me cause to bind your hands behind you.”

Madeline trudged toward a few small round tents in the distance. Unending waves of tall grass reaching shoulder high to most men bordered the area to their left. The glow of a large bonfire danced upon the grass stalks and the coarse tent material, both undulating in the breezes off the water. Mune and Ivy followed Madeline, observing several tall men wandering about, some engrossed in conversation while a few kept watch in the shadowy perimeter. A shower of sparks flew into the air as someone tossed a piece of wood upon the fire, causing Ivy to glance up at the mini burst of fireworks. That’s when she noticed a large ominous hulk floating upon the water in the deepening gloom. Anchored just offshore was the large wooden ship that had carried these men from the Northern Isles, its three tall masts standing bare against a charcoal sky like tall and lanky skeletal remains.

“So Caldurian sends his favorite underling to deal with me,” a gruff voice called out. “As if I don’t deserve the wizard’s full attention for my part in his grand schemes.”

Madeline sighed as she approached the man. “Caldurian has his hands full in Montavia, so don’t whine, Commander Uta. It doesn’t become you.”

“I suppose not,” he replied, removing the hood of his long brown coat. The tall man seemed to loom over Madeline and Mune, grinning through several days’ growth of beard as the wind tossed his thick tangles of unkempt hair. He smoked a pipe and a sword hung lifelessly at his side.

“This is Mune, by the way,” she added, pointing a thumb behind her shoulder. “My associate.”

“Thanks for that eloquent introduction,” he uttered, fingering his coat collar.

“Can we speak in private?” Madeline asked.

“Near the first fire,” Uta said, indicating an area beyond the tents. “Lok! Burlu!” he called out. “Join us.” The commander glanced at Madeline. “
My
associates.” He stared curiously at Ivy, noting her hands tied in front. “Who is this girl? A prisoner?”

“A possible bargaining tool,” Madeline said. “I’ll explain shortly.”

“Do so.”

Mune uncomfortably cleared his throat. “Yes, about her. Is there a place we can confine her for the moment? I don’t think she should be privy to our discussion.”

Commander Uta nodded. “There’s an empty tent that’ll do. Kalik!” he shouted.

A soldier ran up and nodded at Uta. “Sir?”

“Put this woman inside one of the tents,” he ordered, grabbing Ivy by the arm.

Ivy tried to yank herself away, glaring at the man. “Do you mind, sir? I’ll have you know–”

He leaned in, nose to nose with her, his tightening grip and bitter breath causing her to wince. “What I mind are unnecessary words uttered by annoying young women. I don’t know you. I don’t want to know you. But that one has brought you along for some reason,” he said, indicating Madeline. “So until I get all the facts, do as you’re told and keep your words to yourself. Do I make sense?”

Ivy nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes.”

“Good.” He handed her off to Kalik. “Stand guard outside the tent. No one approaches or talks to her. If anyone does, he’ll be hanging by his wrists over the side of the ship. Understood?”

“Completely, sir.” The man swiftly led Ivy away through a throng of soldiers loitering about the stony beach, all wondering who the young woman was and where she had come from.

“Follow me,” Uta said to Madeline and Mune, hiking swiftly to the first bonfire nearest to shore and away from the taller grass. Two other men, similarly dressed as Uta, hurriedly caught up and followed. As they gathered near the fire, Uta introduced the two men as Lok and Burlu, two captains under his command. Lok, nearly the same age as Uta, had a subdued eagerness in his dark eyes set within a wind-burned face underneath some straggly, thinning hair. A small scar ran across his left cheek just near the earlobe.

“Captain Burlu is heading farther west to Karg Island to oversee our activities on the Lorren River,” Uta said, introducing the younger of the two captains who merely nodded in reply. “He will replace the current administrator there.”

“Though he may already be dead from boredom,” Lok commented with a snicker.

Commander Uta sighed wearily. “Captain Lok will accompany me and the others on our primary mission.”

“Glad I have that to look forward to,” Lok replied, his words laced with sarcasm. He ground a small stone into the dirt with the toe of his boot. “I may have been cheated out of a command, but at least I won’t get stuck being a bureaucrat like you, eh, Burlu?”

“Be thankful it
isn’t
you,” Commander Uta said, throwing a sharp stare at his scowling captain.

Mune sensed a bit of tension between Uta and Lok and hoped to diffuse it with a question. “Commander, what is the nature of your operation on the Lorren River?” he asked, sitting down on a rock near the fire.

“The Northern Isles are providing soldiers and supplies up the Lorren on rafts into Kargoth. Our tribute to Vellan,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “We shall see what dividends it pays us in the future. We coordinate everything from Karg Island, a small desolate patch we’ve confiscated just off shore.”

“More like a prison,” Lok muttered. “See how wonderfully you’re rewarded, Burlu, for all of your years of service to the Isles. A job behind a desk!”

Uta grabbed Lok, clamping his fingers tightly about his shoulder. “Your unsubtle jokes are starting to annoy me,” he said. “It is not my fault that you were passed over to command this mission, Lok. Maybe it’s a result of the poor attitude you constantly carry around. Just be thankful you are still part of the mission.” The commander glared at his captain before releasing him. “Now on with business.”

“Yes, let’s,” Madeline said, a hint of boredom in her tone. “Save your petty squabbles for another time. We’re here to discuss the job Caldurian hired you for.”

“What are the particulars?” Uta asked.

“We need you to lead one hundred of your finest soldiers–in secret–down through the Trent Hills for an attack on King Justin’s residence in Morrenwood,” she said.

“The Blue Citadel?” Commander Uta burst out laughing. “As much as I take pride in the fighting ability of my men, one hundred soldiers will not take and hold the Citadel. That idea is sheer lunacy. Caldurian’s plan, no doubt. It’s no wonder he failed miserably in his attempt to take Arrondale twenty years ago. A clever wizard he may be, but a military tactician he is not.”

Madeline closed her eyes for a moment before stepping away and ripping out several pieces of grass nearby. She twirled them up into a compact ball as she returned, the moisture magically dissipating from the vegetation as she did so. “The aggressive nature of a soldier from the Northern Isles may be legend, Commander Uta, but as I stand here, I realize that you and your ilk lack one important quality–imagination.”

Suddenly the ball of grass was enveloped in a deep reddish-orange glow and then burst into a controlled flame. Madeline lifted her open palm and whispered a few words, sending the fiery mass sailing through the air with a shrieking whistle. The burning sphere landed near the water, rolling for several yards until it was finally extinguished by a gentle wave lapping upon the shore.

“Impressive…” Uta whispered.

“I would be more impressed if you had faith in our plan,” she replied. “We don’t need you to take the Blue Citadel for keeps. This will be a quick raid with a specific purpose, the full details to be provided when appropriate.”

Uta grimly smiled. “You have me intrigued, Madeline. What can you tell me now?”

“I can tell you that Caldurian will more than make up for his past errors in judgment. We will take the kingdom of Arrondale in the end,” she assured him.

“And how do my troops engineer the beginning of this strategy?” Uta questioned, still a bit of a skeptic.

“You must lead them through the Trent Hills, traveling only at night,” Mune said, leaning back to stretch his legs. “You must remain invisible. Let the wilderness conceal you until you are called upon. We’ll provide the details about where to take your men, and there you’ll remain holed up until called upon.”

Uta scowled as he rubbed his whiskers. “For how long?”

“Until we are ready for you,” Madeline said flatly.

“I need time to gather my men and prepare.”

“You shall be well compensated,” she said. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes, Uta, is there a problem?” Captain Lok asked pointedly. “Can you handle the situation?”

Uta snarled at Lok and raised a fist, but held his punch before turning to Madeline. “I must first sail to Karg Island to finish my business there and get men and supplies–”

“Yes, yes!” Mune said, standing up and warming his hands by the fire. “We didn’t expect you to leave this very minute. We just need you and your men in place before the end of autumn. That’ll give you several weeks to work out the details. Caldurian must finish his work in Montavia first.”

“Very good then,” he replied. “You’ll have what you wish.”

Captain Lok grunted. “So we needn’t worry about the success of our mission, Uta, now that you have time to get all those pesky details in order.” He casually picked the dirt out from under a fingernail. “Unless, of course, you would prefer to stay on Karg Island in Burlu’s place and let me lead this mission in your stead. I’ll be happy to command it while you attend to those less nerve-racking tasks on the Lorren River.”

Commander Uta smiled bitterly in the glow of the firelight, having had enough of Lok’s incessant whining. “Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to take my place on this mission, Lok, since there’s been a change in plans.”

“A change?” he asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Since you presume to know much about the administrative duties on Karg Island, I’m sending you there instead of Burlu,” he told him with calm satisfaction. “Burlu will instead accompany me through the Trent Hills.”

Lok started to laugh, believing that Uta was attempting a joke, though not entirely sure. “Your sense of humor is not as sharp as your sword, Uta.”

“Perhaps not, but I wasn’t trying to be humorous.” He rubbed his whiskers. “I’ve grown weary of your constant complaining and disrespect, Lok, and should have left you back on the Isles. Well, now you will have your own island to command.”

Lok sputtered. “You can’t do that to me! I’m a captain. I deserve this mission.”

“Burlu is a captain also, and has sense enough to keep his mouth shut and not embarrass me,” Uta said. “But more importantly, I am commander, and my authority outranks you both. So you’ll do as I say unless you’d rather spend the rest of your time here locked up in the cargo hold. Your choice!”

Lok silently fumed as the fire highlighted the tight furrows on his brow. He glared at Burlu who merely returned the slightest trace of a smile. “Why, I should–”

“–save your argument for another time!” Madeline said with an icy stare. “We have more issues to discuss.” Lok glared at her and went silent. “Good. Now before we hash out the details of the raid, Uta, we need to talk about the girl.”

“Who is she?” he asked, glancing at the tent near the grass where she was being held. “What’s she got to do with all this?”

Mune chuckled. “That girl, my dear commander, is King Justin’s granddaughter, Princess Megan.”

Uta shook his head doubtfully. “You speak nonsense.”

“He speaks the truth,” Madeline said. “She is the princess. How we obtained her is not important, but she may come in handy should our mission be compromised.”

“I will not fail in the mission!” he snapped, feeling insulted.

“Most likely not,” Madeline replied. “But we can use the girl as part of a backup plan just in case.”

“All we need is a place to keep her out of the way for a time,” Mune said. “And unharmed. Your ship perhaps?”

“Fine,” he agreed. “But I can go one better. I know the perfect place to hide the princess,” Commander Uta said, glancing at Lok with a snake-like grin. “Captain Lok, this is your lucky day.”

Lok looked up, still stinging from being booted off the mission. “
Oh
?”

“Not only are you gaining the exciting administrative duties on Karg Island,” he said with boundless glee, “but you are hereby promoted to a newly created position most suited for your talents.”

“And what position is that?” he hesitantly asked.

“Royal babysitter,” Uta replied. “And don’t foul it up!”

CHAPTER 19

Fifty Copper Pieces

Nicholas and Leo returned to Aunt Castella’s house later that evening. Both were dazed by the turn of events as if caught in a bad dream from which they could not wake, yet they vowed to continue searching for Ivy all night. Nicholas apologized profusely, blaming himself for the devastating turn of events.

“If only we had headed home sooner or had taken a different route,” he said, his face pale with worry. “But there were so many of them against us.”

Castella saw the fear and heartbreak in his eyes, assuring him that they would find her. “The fault is not yours, Nicholas. Ivy and I dreamed up this plan,” she said, touching her trembling fingers to her lips as she shook her head in dismay. She admitted they had made a terrible mistake. “We must get word to Ivy’s aunt and uncle. They should be at home with Megan by now. They live close to the candle shop. And Ivy’s parents need to know what happened, too. They’re in Laurel Corners.”

“We’ll take care of the particulars,” Leo promised, noting that Nicholas’ thoughts seemed miles away at the moment. “We’ll send word back as soon as we can.”

“All right,” she said with a quiver in her voice, offering to fix them a quick bite to eat. But as hungry as Nicholas and Leo were, they declined. Time was their enemy. Castella bid a teary-eyed farewell, hugging each of them as if they were her sons. She locked the door when they departed, wrapping her shawl about her shoulders as she wandered through the cold and empty rooms late into the night.

Nicholas explained to Aunt Nell and Uncle Aubrey what had happened a short time later. The color immediately drained from their faces as they sat around the table in the couple’s kitchen. Megan was just as horrified, angry that she had allowed herself to take part in such a dangerous escapade.

“That’s it!” she said. “I will no longer hide. It was selfish of me to agree to this ridiculous plan, and now Ivy is paying the price!”

“We’ll find her,” Leo said.

“You had better!” she angrily replied, instantly regretting her tone when she saw Leo recoil, appearing hurt. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to react like that. It wasn’t your fault. It’s just that…” Megan shook her head and sighed. “It’s just that so many lives have been turned upside down lately and it’s all because of others’ concern for my safety. Well, it ends now.”

Leo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s all right. We’ve all been through a rough patch lately, but we’ll find her. Still, I’d feel better if you stayed here for the night.”

“Whoever kidnapped Ivy already believes she is me,” Megan said. “I secretly gave her my royal medallion in the back room of the candle shop, so I don’t imagine I’m in any danger at the moment.” She noted the apprehension in Leo’s eyes. “But for your peace of mind, I’ll remain here until daylight.”

Leo smiled. “It’d make me feel a whole lot better.”

“And I’ll feel better when we nab the scoundrels who did this,” Aubrey said, repeatedly pounding a fist into his other hand. He promised to help Nicholas and Leo after he contacted his two sons. One he would send to Laurel Corners to inform Ivy’s parents of the situation while the other would join him in the search. He promised to round up some of his other friends and the local authorities to help, too. If they had no success by midnight, they agreed to return here to figure out their next course of action.

“We’re operating on the assumption that Ivy is still in Boros,” Nicholas said, hoping with all his heart that it was true. “But what if they transported her out of the village? What do we do then? She could be anywhere.”

No one knew how to answer his concern, though everyone feared that that possibility might have to be faced. Leo tapped Nicholas on the shoulder, wanting to divert his thoughts to the immediate search. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, heading to the front door. “But we best get going now.”

“All right,” he replied as he stepped outside into the autumn darkness, putting on a brave face though his confidence steadily waned. He felt cold and helpless, wondering if they were just going through the motions for the sake of doing something. Where would they even begin to look?

The Fox Moon, just shy of full, had since risen in the east, combining its light with the nearly first quarter Bear Moon hanging in the western sky. The extra illumination along the streets and shore provided Nicholas and Leo with a burst of added hope, though it faded quickly as they checked inside a string of empty fishing huts along the beach and received a series of shrugs and blank stares from passersby whom they had questioned.

“This is getting us nowhere!” Nicholas sputtered. “She could be anywhere in Kent County by now.” They stood on a dirt road near the bay as a series of gentle waves lapped upon the shoreline. He glanced at Leo, feeling frightened and empty. “Tell me what we should do.”

Leo was at a loss for words. He, too, wondered if their efforts were in vain but didn’t reveal his thoughts to Nicholas. When he struggled to find some words of encouragement, an unexpected voice called to them in the darkness.

“Apparently your search isn’t going well,” a man said, walking toward them through the shadows along the dirt road. “I’ve been following you for some time.”

“Who are you?” Nicholas asked, staring suspiciously at the individual dressed in a dark coat with stringy hair down to his shoulders. When the stranger stepped into the full moonlight, revealing his thin eyebrows and sunken cheeks, Nicholas’ jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide with anger. He leaped at the man, grabbing the folds of his coat and shaking him. “Where is she!” he shouted as a stunned Leo looked on. “What’d you do to her?”

Leo pulled him away from the stranger as the man tried to break free. “What are you doing, Nicholas?”

“It’s
him
, Leo!”

“Who?” he asked, holding Nicholas back. “What are you talking about?”

“He’s one of the men who attacked us on the street earlier! I caught a glimpse of his face in the candlelight.” Nicholas broke free of Leo’s grip and lunged at the man once again, tackling him to the ground. “Where’d you take–Megan!” he shouted, his thoughts racing and his face as hot as fire. “Tell me now or I’ll beat it out of you!”

“Hold it!” Leo said, grabbing Nicholas’ clenched fist as he raised it in the air. “Let’s question him first.”

“Yes! Listen to your friend!” the man said, gasping for breath. “I have information about your friend. I can tell you where she is.”

Nicholas released the man and stood up, signaling to Leo that he was sufficiently calmed down. Leo nodded and stepped back.

“Tell us your name,” Leo said.

“You can call me Sims.”

“You know where Megan is?” Nicholas bluntly added.

“Yes,” he said, still catching his breath.

“And you’ll tell us?”

“Yes,” he repeated, standing up and brushing himself off. He stared at Nicholas and Leo as his eyes narrowed. “For a price.”

Nicholas’ face tightened. He clenched a fist at his side. “What’d you say?”

“Yeah, I don’t think we heard you correctly,” Leo added, his anger rising.

The stranger, brimming with smugness, smiled. “You both heard me. You’ll get the information for a price.” He raised a hand as Nicholas and Leo simultaneously stepped forward. “I know you could both attack me right now and beat me to near death–and I suppose I couldn’t blame you. And I don’t have my hired hands with me either. They’ve been paid off and dispersed.”

“So you’re at a disadvantage,” Nicholas said.

“Not entirely,” Sims replied. “I have the information you seek and time is fast running out.”

“What do you mean?” Leo asked, glancing at Nicholas whose eyes welled with concern.

The man tucked his hands into his coat pockets to keep warm. “Though your friend is safe for the moment, she’s not in the area. Your search of Boros is in vain.”

“Tell us where you took her,” Nicholas implored.

“Three of the men I hired transported her to an arranged location due west, though she will only remain there for a short while,” he said. “Sometime before dawn she’ll be picked up and taken away, though what her ultimate destination is, I cannot say.”

“I suppose you’re the one who planted the two spies on the bridge near Castella’s house?” Nicholas asked.

“Of course. I had to keep an eye on my quarry, after all.”

Leo fumed. “Why’d you kidnap Megan?”

“I was simply hired to do a job,” he explained, recalling how Dell Hawks had recruited him the previous night in a local seedy tavern, paying him an advance of five silver half-pieces. “My employer has since paid me the balance for a job well done before fleeing south for more lucrative opportunities where the war rages.”

“I hope a sword finds him swiftly,” Nicholas said, restraining himself from attacking the man again.

“I don’t understand,” Leo said. “If the man hired you to kidnap our friend, then why did he head south without her?”

Sims chuckled. “He didn’t have the girl kidnapped for himself, but for two other individuals. I don’t know all the particulars of why he did so–nor wanted to, frankly–but I do know where your friend is being taken. And since my employer is no longer in the vicinity, I find that I have another lucrative opportunity before me.”

Nicholas shook his head with disgust. “You think you’re going to make money at both ends of your sick deal?”

“Why not?” he asked. “Though I’m certain you two don’t have the financial means of that other gentleman, I’ll wager you should be able to scrape up, say–forty copper pieces in a hurry? Your dear friend is worth that at least, right?”

Before Nicholas could lunge at the man, Leo stepped in front of his friend to calm him down. “This is no time to lose your temper.”

“Wise policy,” Sims remarked.

Then Leo spun around and plunged a fist into the man’s gut, causing him to buckle to his knees. “Allow me
instead.”

“Leo!” Nicholas said in stunned amazement. He then addressed Sims who was bent over in agony. “You sure about those forty copper pieces?”

The man took several deep and difficult breaths while slowly getting to his feet, eyeing Leo and Nicholas with contempt. Then a snake-like smile spread across his face. “You got off a nice hit–and maybe I deserved it–but you won’t get a second chance. More importantly though, I’m not easily intimidated. I still have the information you need, but now it’ll cost you
fifty
copper pieces. And the miles between you and your friend are increasing. So care to make it sixty, or are you ready to deal?”

Nicholas and Leo both realized they had little bargaining power, and as precious time was running out, they agreed to Sims’ demand. And though Nicholas at first objected, Leo insisted that he would use some of the money from his apple sales to cover the fifty copper pieces.

“We’ll reimburse my parents the first chance we get,” he said.

“
Fine
…” Nicholas agreed, slowly steaming as he glared at the man who held Ivy’s fate in his hands. “Let’s get this over with.”

Leo explained to Sims that he first had to return to Castella’s house to retrieve the money and get his two horses for the journey. The man agreed.

“Hurry back. I’ll only wait here a short while,” he said. “And remember, if you bring the authorities with you, you’ll never see your friend again.”

“We won’t,” Leo promised before hurrying off into the darkness with Nicholas. “I have a
better
plan,” he whispered when they were out of the man’s earshot. As they stood underneath an oil lamp on a deserted street corner, Leo quickly told Nicholas what they each had to do, sending him off to find Aubrey and his two sons while he returned to Castella’s house. “Hurry back here as soon as possible so we can make the deal with Sims.”

“All right,” Nicholas said, sprinting down a cobblestone lane. “Hurry back yourself!”

“I plan to,” he replied, disappearing into the darkness in the opposite direction.

A cool breeze rolled off the bay a short time later, brushing through a patch of tall dry grass along the dirt road. Nicholas and Leo emerged from the nearby shadows atop the two horses that once pulled Leo’s apple cart. Stabs of moonlight revealed the subdued satisfaction upon Sims’ face when he greeted them. Leo clutched a tiny cloth pouch and tossed it to him. The man caught it, nodding when he heard the muffled jingle of coins inside. He untied the leather drawstrings, poured a few of the copper pieces into his palm and counted them before briefly peering inside the pouch.

“Seems to be fifty pieces here,” he said. “I’ll trust you and won’t count the rest.”

“Oh, so that makes you an honorable thief and kidnapper?” Leo muttered.

“Where’s Megan!” Nicholas demanded as he and Leo dismounted. “Tell us now.”

Sims looked around to make certain they were alone. “Your lady friend was taken to an abandoned farm just outside the village of Cavara Beach,” he said, giving them specific directions. “She’s inside an old root cellar on the property. But like I said, the two individuals who paid for her kidnapping are supposed to retrieve her sometime before dawn. They’re probably on their way there now. I was told they have a schedule to keep.”