Tagan's Child (35 page)

“How dare
you?!” I said through gritted teeth.

The weaselly
looking man laughed. “Aha she has spirit too!” He began to run his
hand up my thigh. “Oh, I dare my lovely, I dare very much,” he said
salaciously.

Ahran growled
even louder and thrashed violently in his chair.

“Maybe Ahran,
you would like to watch me and this mouth-watering little dish, put
on a little floor show for your entertainment.” He grabbed hold of
my ponytail and pulled me towards him, there was a sickening mix of
pleasure, anticipation and violence in his eyes.

I screamed as
he pulled me towards him, powerless to resist.

“That’s enough
Sila!” boomed a female voice from the doorway.

He let me go
reluctantly and I saw the disappointment flicker across his
face.

“I do apologise
for Sila’s behaviour, sometimes the power goes to his head.” I
turned to see a woman walking towards me. She was tall, with sharp
features that were accentuated by her jet black hair piled on top
of her head in an elaborate up-do. She wore wide-legged black
trousers and a black silk blouse with a string of beads around her
neck. She was roughly middle aged and had an hour-glass figure. Her
high-heels clicked across the floor as she approached me. She
looked glamorous, if a little overly made up.

“Let me
introduce myself. I am Bazeera of Morana,” she said.

Hearing her
name shot slithers of hatred through me. So this was the evil
bitch. I looked at her with contempt. She ignored my hostility. “I
am sorry for having to tie you both up, but I can’t afford to take
any chances. My men tell me you are not as harmless as you look,”
she said, eyeing me with a hint of admiration.

She turned her
attention to Ahran. “Ahran, it’s good to see you.” She greeted him
as if she was an old family friend. “I haven’t seen you since you
were a boy and now look at you. A fine young man you’ve turned
into.” She made no comment about the disfiguring injuries to his
beautiful face.

“Where is
Toby?” I demanded.

“Don’t worry,
he’s safe and will be returned unharmed as soon as Halsan gives in
to my demands.” She paused. “It’s strange, I would have expected
him to have done so by now but he seems to be taking his time.
Perhaps the boy isn’t as important to him as I first thought,” she
taunted. “Maybe it will hurry his decision knowing that I now have
you two. You made it so easy for me Ahran, arriving on my doorstep
like you did.” Her tone was honey sweet laced with poison. “I have
quite a cache here, the King’s direct heir and the second in line
to the throne, I am honoured to be in such distinguished company,”
she said, putting her hand to her chest melodramatically.

“The King won’t
let you get away with this,” I said venomously.

“Oh, but I have
got away with it and the King will have no choice but to give in to
my demands,” she said with a satisfied smile.

Her face could
have been beautiful if it hadn’t have been etched with lines of
bitterness that actually made me want to pity her. How sad that she
was so power hungry she had resorted to kidnapping an innocent boy
to wreak her revenge and to get what she was after.

“Take her back
to her room, whilst we await the King’s response,” Bazeera said to
my guard.

“What about
Ahran?” I asked in desperation.

“Such concern.
So sweet. I’m afraid I haven’t finished with him yet.”

I took one last
look at Ahran and he looked heartbreakingly apologetic as I was
frogmarched out of the room. The pain and exhaustion on his face
brought me to tears. What else did that witch have lined up for him
and how much more could he take? What had happened to Elaya and
Galius? A horrible image of their bodies floating in water flashed
in my mind and I closed my eyes tightly. All I could hope now was
that Halsan would give in to Bazeera’s demands soon and we would
get out of here alive.

I was locked up
in my room again, this time my wrists remained bound. I sat on the
bed in a fog of despair. This had not gone at all to plan. Toby was
still in Bazeera’s clutches and the only man I had ever loved was
tied up defencelessly and being used as a punch bag.

I began to
doubt Halsan for the first time. Would his own power mean more to
him than our lives? After all, what had he risked to save Toby? He
had lost a few special agents at best, at worst, he loses Ahran and
Toby but holds onto his empire. My mind went round in circles
worrying about whether Halsan valued his lands and power more than
his nephew and grandson. I tried to comfort myself with the thought
that Halsan had to give into Bazeera’s demands if he had any chance
of continuing his line of succession, even if it meant a vastly
reduced kingdom.

I was helpless.
Mine, Toby’s and Ahran’s lives were now in the hands of a King who
I hoped more than anything in the world had a stronger sense of
lineage than his own power.

I laid on the
bed replaying the events of the last few hours. Salara may very
well be lying dead on her kitchen floor. I had been captured and
met my nemesis in the form of Bazeera. I had no idea where Galius
and Elaya were, there was no sign of Toby and Ahran had been beaten
to within an inch of his life. It was becoming increasingly
difficult to breathe. I closed my eyes tightly and concentrated on
steadying each breath, passing out wasn’t going to help anyone. I
tried to think reassuring, comforting thoughts, like home and my
safe and comfortable life there instead of the hell I found myself
in here. The events of the night continued to whirl restlessly
around in my head until I eventually dozed off.

I awoke to a
soft tap on the shutters. Jumping up and forgetting that my wrists
were still bound I stumbled towards the window. The tap came again.
I cautiously leant towards them. “Is there someone there?”

“Sophie, it’s
me, Elaya,” came a whisper from the other side.

“Oh my God,
Elaya!” The relief at hearing her voice washed over me even though
somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered how I could be having
this conversation with her two stories up. “I can’t open the
shutters, they’re locked and my hands are taped together.”

“Stand back, I
am going to shoot the lock,” she said.

I took a few
steps backwards and the sound of the wood splintering, echoed
around the room. I glanced at the door, fearful that someone might
have heard it.

A few seconds
went by but no one came to investigate.

Elaya pushed
the shutter open and in one deft movement she was standing in the
room with me. She hugged me and tears sprang to my eyes. “I thought
you were dead!” I said, still not quite able to believe that she
was here with me.

“Are you okay?”
she asked.

I nodded, a
little overwhelmed.

“Here let me
get that off you.” She took a knife out of a sheath strapped to her
thigh and sliced through the tape.

“How did you
know I was here?” I asked as I rubbed the spot where the tape had
been and circled my shoulders a couple of times.

“I watched them
carry you onto the island,” she explained. “Where’s Salara?”

“She’s back at
the ranch. They hurt her pretty badly Elaya. I’m not even sure if
she’s alive.” The bile rose in my throat as I pictured Salara lying
on the kitchen floor.

Elaya closed
her eyes momentarily. “And Raffy?”

I shrugged and
shook my head, “I don’t know.” Tears spilt onto my cheeks and I
took a shuddery breath. “How did you know which room I was in?” I
asked, changing the subject. There was little we could have done
for either of them at that moment.

“I didn’t. It
was a lucky guess,” she admitted. “Bazeera’s quarters are on the
other side of the fortress so I knew it wasn’t one of her rooms and
this was the only room with a light on and the shutters
closed.”

“They’ve
captured Ahran,” I reported.

“Yes, I know.
Galius has gone to find him and Toby.”

“Thank God for
that! When I saw Ahran, I thought you and Galius had been
killed.”

She shook her
head and gave me a look as if to say ‘don’t be ridiculous’.

“Is he
alright?” Elaya asked, the concern evident on her face.

I shook my
head, my chest tightened at the memory of Ahran bound to a chair,
bruised and battered. “They’ve beaten him pretty badly.” I choked
back more tears.

“He’s tough,
he’ll mend,” she said reassuringly.

“That’s funny,
he said the same about you once,” I said with a weak smile.

Elaya smiled
back. “Don’t worry Sophie. Galius will rescue him.” She said this
without a shadow of a doubt.

“How come you
weren’t captured?” I asked.

“We split up, I
guess Ahran was unlucky.” She shrugged. “Come on, we should get
going. It will be light soon and it will be easier to get off the
island under the cover of darkness.”

“Aren’t we
going to wait for the others?” I asked. As much as I wanted to get
out of here, I didn’t want to leave without them.

“Don’t worry.
Galius will get them away safely. It’s better that we go
separately, we will be less conspicuous that way.” I knew what she
said was right but it didn’t make me feel any more comfortable
about leaving not knowing whether they were safe or not.

Elaya moved
towards the window. “Have you got a head for heights?”

“Um, no, not
really,” I said as I peered out. The ground seemed a very long way
down.

“Don’t worry,
just hold on tight. I was my army corps champion climber for ten
years running.”

Elaya jumped
lithely up onto the wide window ledge and sat with her legs
dangling out into the darkness. She turned and held her hand out to
me. It wasn’t the first time she’d reminded me of Catwoman.

“Climb on my
back and close your eyes if you don’t like the view.” I stared at
her wide-eyed but Elaya seemed totally at ease with our exit
strategy.

I
hesitated.

“Come on, we
haven’t got much time,” she warned.

I wished I
weighed a few pounds lighter as I climbed onto her back. It didn’t
seem possible that she could scale down the wall with me clinging
to her. I closed my eyes and held my breath as she turned around
and began our descent. She made her way down as sure-footed as a
mountain goat, using the clips and studs she had embedded in the
mortar on her way up. We were on the ground in a matter of minutes.
I slid from her back.

“Are you
alright?” she whispered. There was barely a change in her
breathing.

“Yes, I’m fine.
You were amazing,” I whispered back in awe. I didn’t think I would
ever get used to the Elessar’s superior talents, they were
extraordinary.

“Thanks,” she
said and gave me a beaming smile. If I wasn’t mistaken she was
enjoying herself.

“There is a
small rowing boat hidden in the reeds. There are a couple of
cameras up ahead. If we stay close to the wall they won’t be able
to detect us.”

We began to
make our way alongside the castle, but there were spot lights on
the ground casting their light onto the walls and it made me feel
exposed and vulnerable.

The sound of
male voices echoed through the still night air and we froze against
the castle wall in a shadowy corner away from the lights. We stayed
there for several minutes hardly daring to breathe. After what
seemed like forever a boat’s engine started up and the voices
disappeared along with the boat. We breathed a sigh of relief and
Elaya indicated for us to continue. She took hold of my hand as we
neared a corner of the building and poked her head around the
corner cautiously. When she was satisfied that the coast was clear
she looked back at me and mouthed, “Ready?”

I nodded. We
sprinted towards some undergrowth by the edge of the water and
ducked behind the reeds. My chest felt like it was about to burst.
It must have been a good hundred metres and my heart had been in my
throat the whole time. I’d expected to hear gun shots at any
point.

“Well done!”
Elaya said.

“Won’t they
have seen us on the camera?” I asked, still waiting for men with
guns to come storming out of the fortress.

“No, I disabled
that one over there.” She pointed to a camera above the spot where
we had begun our sprint. “They won’t realise the picture on their
screen hasn’t changed until it gets light,” she said with a cheeky
grin. “The boat’s just over there.” She pointed to another patch of
reeds further along the shore.

“Are you ready
to make another dash for it?”

I nodded. “As
I’ll ever be.” I was still out of breath but running on
adrenaline.

We kept to the
shoreline this time, it was dark and out of the light. Sure enough,
there was a little wooden rowing boat, tucked in the reeds.

“Jump in,” she
directed. She stood in the water and held the boat steady.

Once I was in
she pushed us away from the water’s edge and the movement caused
something in the bushes to stir. It was highly likely that there
were crocodiles and all manner of flesh eating predators hiding in
the murky depths of the swamp. Crocs and piranhas versus Bazeera’s
thugs with machine guns? It was a tough call.

I climbed in
and settled on the bench seat. The boat hardly moved as she jumped
in and took up her position between the oars and opposite me. She
began to row and we glided smoothly across the water. It was still
dark although there was a hint of dawn fast approaching. We didn’t
speak and I sat listening to the rhythmic sweep of the oars.

With Elaya’s
powerful stroke we were across the water and bumping into the bank
on the other side in less than ten minutes. I hopped out this time
and pulled the boat as far as I could onto the shore. I may not
have been as strong as Elaya but I was keen to show willing.