The Awakened Book Two (34 page)

“And then what?” Kael replied. “Magnus is gifted with speech. He could convince them of anything. It wouldn’t work.”

“And what is your plan?”

Kael rose to his feet and looked down on his friends sitting in the porch. “They planned every last detail, but they didn’t account for me. As much as I hate to say it, I’m one of them. And I’m the only one that can stop them.”

* * * *

Saba’s boat cut silently through the water, pushed by a stiff breeze. Kael stood at the prow, staring into the distance. He was dressed in a style that Saba had never seen before. The pants were black, loose fitting above the knee for ease of movement, but snug around the calf so as not to get caught on anything. The tunic, if it could be called such, covered his entire upper body, as well as his arms. The same strategy had been applied to this piece of clothing as well, fitting loosely around the shoulders, but tight on the forearms. The back of Kael’s hands were also covered by a flap of material and held into place with a loop around the middle finger, such that when he made a fist, his light skin disappeared, leaving only a shadow of dark fabric in the shape of a man. Gone were the sandals of traditional Orud style. In their place, were dark boots of the same black fabric, covering all the skin of his feet. The soles were soft leather which produced hardly any sound when Kael moved across the deck of the ship.

The only thing that could be seen clearly, without straining the eyes, was Kael’s head. His hair was gathered at the back and fluttered in the breeze. Kael’s hands were free of weapons, holding only a small bundle of fabric that Saba assumed was intended to cover his head.

Ahead and to the port side, a small abandoned dock extended out into the bay. Saba guided the boat toward it. Six miles outside the city limits was a long way, but Kael didn’t seem to mind.

Saba concentrated on his approach to the dock while his peripheral vision noted Kael’s blonde head disappear into the darkness. A quick glance confirmed that he had pulled a black hood over his head. Saba turned the sails, and they went slack, the boat coasting toward the dock.

“Will you not be armed,” Saba spoke into the night air, mindful of the way sound carries over water.

“Men will fall. Weapons will abound,” came the reply from the shadow at the prow.

Saba turned his attention back to the approaching dock. He adjusted the position of the rudder, bringing them aside the tip of the dock. When he looked back, Kael was already on the dock, halfway to the shore. Saba hadn’t even seen him move.

Kael turned around, only his eyes showing through a horizontal slit in his hood. “Thank you for everything,” he said quietly, then disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter 26

The Palace guard had been doubled due to the strange events over the past few days. Spearmen circled the base of the wall surrounding the Palace, with a detachment moving one direction nearest the wall while a second detachment moved in the opposite direction farther away from the wall. Their pacing was timed such that there was always visual coverage of the entire guarded wall at all times. Archers followed a similar routine along the top of the wall. This was in addition to the guards stationed in hidden places throughout the surrounding fields and trees, keeping watch over the various approaches to the Palace.

Even with the increased security, they failed to notice the shadow that moved silently among them. The darkness of the night couldn’t be illuminated properly by the torches scattered throughout the Palace gardens. And through the darkness, Kael moved with stealth and speed.

One particular guard, on his route around the base of the wall, thought he heard something behind him. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed nothing. He looked back to the wall and stopped walking, letting his ears probe the night, but to no avail. After a few seconds, he resumed his march, walking past the base of the guard tower that jutted sharply inward to connect with the wall, resulting in a shadow cast by the torchlight only a few yards back. And only a few yards ahead, another guard approached, boredom showing on his face.

* * * *

Kael held himself close to the stone, fingers jammed into the crevices, holding his body in the shadow between the guard tower and the wall, ten feet off the ground. He counted to twenty in his head then began to scale the wall as the second guard passed beyond the tower underneath him.

He paused just before the top of the wall, waiting to hear the changing of the guard, which occurred every twenty minutes. His fingers began to shake, struggling to maintain their grip on the stone. After three minutes of holding still, footsteps sounded above, followed by muffled speech. Kael waited another minute, then cocked his head to the side and eased upward to peer over the edge. The new guard was facing his direction, but looking downward as he readjusted his scabbard on his belt.

Kael swung silently over the wall and landed in front of the man. By the time the guard looked up, his vision was already blurry, caused by the pressure against the side of his throat that restricted the blood flow to his brain. Kael held tight as the man lost consciousness.
That’ll buy me twenty minutes before they realize I’m here!

Kael eased the guard to the ground and propped him against the wall, arranging his cloak to appear as if the man had fallen asleep. If he was lucky, he might get another couple minutes out of the charade.

…
fifty one, fifty two, fifty three.

Kael eased open the door that separated the guard house from the walkway along the top of the wall. As expected, the archer had just passed. Kael slipped out of the door, across the walkway, and descended the stone staircase that led down to the Palace courtyard.

Once inside the Palace wall, Kael moved more quickly, but still conscious of the occasional archer passing overhead. He swung around the outside of the Palace itself, until he arrived underneath the windows of the guest quarters. Hiding in the shadows, he waited until the passing of another guard, then scaled a vine that ran up the left side of the window. At the third floor, Kael pulled himself over the balcony and dropped to the floor, just inside the room where he hoped Dacien was still staying.

Approaching quietly, he found Dacien asleep on his bed. Kael pulled off his hood and leaned close to hear his friend’s steady breathing. Putting his hand over Dacien’s mouth, he whispered into his ear.

“Dacien, it’s Kael.”

Dacien flinched and looked scared for a moment, then recognition came.

“Your life is in great danger and I need to get you out of here. Stay quiet.” Slowly, Kael released his hand and Dacien sat up. “I’ll explain everything later, but right now I need you to trust me. I only have about ten minutes before the guards discover that I’m here.”

Dacien stared blankly, as Kael continued to whisper.

“Where is the Emperor’s mistress? Is she staying with Magnus?”

“Uh…I don’t think so. Though she’s in a room close to his. Why?”

“She’s my mother, and I’ve got to get her out of here as well.”

Dacien eyebrows raised. “Let me get dressed and I’ll take you to her.”

Kael searched the room for weapons while Dacien pulled a tunic over his neck.

“Kael, where have you been? And what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later, just hurry,” he replied, finding a short spear next to Dacien’s armor. Turning back to his friend, he handed him his sword and belt. “We might need this to get out.”

Dacien accepted it and quickly fastened the belt around his waist. Within seconds, they were walking briskly through the quiet halls of the Palace, Dacien leading and Kael following. Moving away from the guest quarters, Dacien led them closer to the heart of the Palace. Kael kept his eyes alert, looking for signs of trouble.

“This way,” Dacien whispered, ducking down a narrow, unlit hall.

“Isn’t the Emperor’s room this way?” Kael pointed.

“…only if you want a big reception.”

“Alright,” he whispered, waving his hands for Dacien to move quickly as he followed.

A few more twists and turns brought them to a thick wooden door, which Dacien hurriedly pulled open. “After you.”

Kael rushed inside and found a large room, brightly lit, with maps along the wall. In the center of the room was a raised pedestal with a map of the city upon it. It was the war room of
Orud
. And leaning over opposites sides of the map, were Arden and Horace.

Kael strafed to the right, covering Dacien with an extended spear. His body immediately tensed up as it had the other evening, upon seeing his old acquaintances. It was an unusual feeling for him.

Horace straightened up and looked over to Kael with a smile on his face.

A grinding clank sounded behind Kael as the door was bolted shut. Kael spun around to see Dacien standing in a defense posture and backing away to the left.

“I’m sorry Kael,” was all he said. The look on his face made it clear that he had mixed emotions about what he’d just done.

“Good work Dacien,” said Arden, as he moved away from the pedestal, circling to the right.

{…el…ael…K…Kael’s…he…her…here…}

The sound moved through Kael’s head with a reverberating echo; each syllable seemed out of sync, on a separate timing until the sounds collided into each other with vague meaning.

Kael could see the glazed look in Horace’s eyes and realized that he was calling out to the others, sending an inaudible message to his brothers. His ability to communicate mentally was not nearly as developed as Magnus’ had been during the banquet, but it was still effective.

* * * *

A hundred yards away lying on his bed, Magnus’ eyes popped open, his sleep disturbed by the sound in his head. He rose quickly and dressed, grabbing his cloak and slinging it over his shoulders.

A knock sounded at his door, which promptly opened. Soren stepped through.

“Did you hear that?” he asked his master.

“Yes, I’m going to take care of it.” Suddenly, Magnus could feel the frustration emanating from Soren. “You want to kill him,” he stated.

It wasn’t a question, but Soren replied anyway. “Yes.”

“I need you to go get Maeryn and take her away from here. I know your passion and what you shared with Kael as children, but our mission is too critical to take any chances. He’s already caused major setbacks.”

“Yes, my lord,” Soren replied obediently.

“He will try to get to her. Make sure she is safe.”

“Yes, my lord.”

* * * *

Kael held his spear in his right hand, the butt tucked underneath his arm.

Arden moved to the right, unsheathing a long sword as Horace moved left to take a spear off the wall.

Kael stood the same height as Horace, while Arden was only a hand shorter. They were both muscular and moved light on their feet. Ukiru had trained them well.

Kael ran for Horace.

Arden moved to close the gap.

Horace’s spear jutted out for Kael’s midsection.

Kael moved inside the range of the spear tip and deflected the shaft with his forearm. Advancing quickly, he slashed over Horace’s spear, using the bladed tip as a sword which cut through the meat of the man’s upper left arm. Continuing the motion, he brought the spear around to his back to catch Arden’s sword on its way to cleaving Kael in two.

The spear cracked in the collision and Kael dropped it as he moved past Horace and out from the conflict. Pulling two short swords from their crossed position on the wall, Kael spun around in time to meet Arden’ forceful attack.

Arden lashed out with a flurry of strikes, ending in loud clangs as Kael fended them off methodically.

Then Kael saw an opening in Arden’s attack. Deflecting a jab, Kael countered with a left-handed strike, catching Arden across the chest.

Arden’s eyes went wide as he realized the sharp pain in his chest. Kael followed quickly with an over handed cut to the neck, severing Arden’s collarbone and burying the blade in his chest.

Blood sprayed like a fountain from the fresh wound, covering Kael’s face. For a moment, his vision was impaired. Instinctively, Kael pulled the blade free of the corpse and dropped to the ground, rolling to the left of Arden’s body as a spear flew overhead and stuck into the wall.

Rolling to his feet, Kael ran to his left and kicked open the door opposite of where he entered the room. As he ducked through the doorway, he caught a glimpse of Horace pulling an axe and shield from the wall, as Dacien stared in horror at Arden’s body.

The exit led Kael into a large atrium with a fountain in the center; a statue of a partially-clothed woman pouring water from a vase into the shallow pool. The wall of the war room was the only solid structure as the ceiling and two other walls were latticed wood with vines filling in the spaces. Opposite the war room, the atrium opened into a courtyard with darkness beyond.

…
an escape!

The thought only crossed his mind briefly, but Kael turned to face the doorway he’d just come through, waiting for Horace. He didn’t come here to run. He came to face his past and he wasn’t about to leave until his own mission was accomplished.