The Sartious Mage (The Rhythm of Rivalry) (6 page)

“Continue,” Goreng told me with a smile. His eyes seemed to be aimed at me but looking at something else besides my face, as if he could see through me.

“I don’t like that Lisanda was about to abandon her own wedding,” I said. “If she was having doubts, she should’ve said something.”

“Yes, yes—but there’s something you must know about Takary girls.” Goreng climbed on the table, crawling on his hands and knees to get closer to me.

He whispered, “Often, their weddings are not up to them.” He looked around nervously before crawling backward and finding his chair with his feet, sinking down onto it.

I realized how true Goreng’s statement was when I remembered the way King Danvell had offered his daughter Jessend to me. Even a pet wouldn’t have been given up so freely.

“That’s one question each.” Goreng twiddled his fingers on the table. “Your turn.”

The next question was just as easy to come up with as the first. It was something I’d been wondering the moment I’d started down the secret tunnel. “How long does dream dust last?” I let my eyes rest on Lisanda as I waited for an answer.

“A few hours. My turn!” Goreng swallowed the last gulp of his tea. He whipped his head around with closed eyes and clenched teeth. Again, he hollered and slapped his knee. “I must compliment myself. This is one of the better brews I’ve made. So my question is, why aren’t you drinking the tea?”

I felt a nervous dry gulp as I looked into my cup. I decided to check for the horse one more time. No, it wasn’t in sight. “I don’t want any.”

“Is that a lie?” Goreng tilted his head at me. “You’re holding back something. Tell me what it is or it’ll be four questions before you get to ride Bam.”

“Micah Vail told me not to drink the tea,” I decided to admit.

Goreng nodded his head sadly. “I had a feeling. That man’s sense of fun is truly underdeveloped. Here, take these.” Goreng threw a small pouch of crackers toward me. “Careful with those. Only eat them if you’re on the cliff of boredom and about to jump.”

Pocketing them, but having no idea what he meant, I asked, “What’ll they do?”

He climbed on the table once again, this time just to drag my cup of tea over to his side.

“The same thing as the tea,” he said, struggling back into his seat. “They’ll turn that cliff into a river, rushing you through rapids where you’ll find yourself in a land of monkeys and cactuses.” He looked past my shoulder, painting an image with his hands.

“Then the cactus will yell at you until you help the monkey with his quest. But don’t help the monkey!” He pointed at me with serious alarm. “Not unless he gives you the pass code.”

He put his hands over his face. “Yes, yes—I do believe I’ve had too much tea.”

Giant came galloping around the table, mimicking horse sounds as he circled us.

I’d had enough and decided to test my luck. “Goreng, I need that horse…Goreng? Goreng! Can you hear me?”

He took his palms off his eyes. “Look!” He pointed at Giant. “Giant has brought Bam out for you.” Giant was still riding around us on an invisible horse.

“There’s no horse there! Where’s your horse?”

“That’s not my horse?” He rubbed his eyes. “Bam is a good horse. He always comes back home when he’s no longer needed.”

I stood, desperate to get out of there. “And where exactly is his home?”

“Around the corner.” Goreng laughed. “Yes, yes—he’s just right around the corner. No one knows how close he is. But there is a code or he won’t let you on his back.”

He took a sip of my tea, letting out just a small howl this time.

I looked toward the palace wall. It became a corner about thirty yards down, turning out of sight. I figured the horse must be on the other side.

“What’s the code?”

“You must whisper this into his ear: Your eyes hold the beauty of the sun, and your legs match its power.”

That couldn’t be right. I knew horses. Some of them learned a few words, but a phrase that long? No way that would be necessary.

I thanked Goreng, then jogged over to hoist Lisanda over my shoulder, making my way around the corner.

Bam was a beautiful brown horse, strong and ageless. He was tied to a trough and seemed to regard me with nervous curiosity as I approached.

“Hello, Bam,” I said with a soft voice. “You’re lovely.”

He didn’t take to my compliment, sputtering and shimmying away from me when I tried to put Lisanda on the saddle on his back. I decided to try the ridiculous line Goreng had given me.

“Your eyes hold the beauty of the sun, and your legs match its power.” I stepped closer to try putting Lisanda on him once again, but he whinnied and moved away.

Then I remembered that Goreng had told me to whisper it. I shook my head in disbelief that I was even going to try it, but I decided it couldn’t hurt. I whispered the line.

Bam whinnied once again when I was done. With Lisanda still over my shoulder, I positioned myself near the saddle. Complete shock came over me when I balanced the Princess on Bam and he didn’t move.

I hurried to untie Bam’s rope, adjusted Lisanda upright, and climbed on the saddle behind her. I pulled the reins between her arms and let her rest against my chest so I could look over her.

When I realized how absurd it would be for others to see Lisanda Takary in her wedding dress asleep on a horse with a dirty farm boy, I hesitated. What was going to happen when people saw me? Could I even make it out of The Nest? Definitely not before she woke up. The Takary Palace was in the center of The Nest, and the city extended from it ten miles in each direction.

South was what I wanted, Goreng had explained that to me, and I believed him. But before I left, I took the time to bind Lisanda to me with Sartious Energy by creating a ring of it around our waists. At least then she wouldn’t fall off if I needed Bam to break into a gallop.

Now, I just needed a plan to make her less conspicuous. That wedding dress needed to come off, but I had nothing to replace it and no money, either.

I couldn’t stay here any longer. The farther I could get from the palace before she awoke, the better. I started south, figuring I would come up with a plan my usual way, in the moment.

Chapter 6: Awake

“Congratulations!” yelled a man, the first person to see us.

It startled me into giving Bam a kick to speed off.

Only after we were out of sight did I realize he thought we’d been married. It was something I’d never even considered. How could he think that? He must not have recognized the Princess or seen my clothes very well. He probably only saw Lisanda’s shimmering dress—the stupid thing stood out like a white chicken in a muddy pigsty. I had to find something else for her to wear.

Heading south, the roads were dusty with dry dirt, the houses were sparse, and there were no solicitors of any kind.

But that didn’t last long enough. Soon, I was headed into crowds every direction I went.

“Look, Mother! It’s Lisanda Takary,” a little girl shouted.

Again, I gave Bam a kick to rush by them. I found my eyes meeting the mother’s in a silent stare. She took her daughter’s shoulders and pointed her the other way, saying something I couldn’t understand and giving me one last cautious look. I figured if the daughter knew Lisanda, the mother probably must as well.

I knew that whatever that look was, it couldn’t have been good. It served to remind me that word of my kidnapping couldn’t have reached too far from the palace yet, but it surely would soon. News like that spread quicker than the most contagious illness, for no one is immune to the curiosity of a juicy rumor.

I came into a cluster of houses all touching sides with each other. The road twisted through them.

I had the next part of my plan figured out by then: avoid people, get as far south as I could, find something else for Lisanda to wear, and make sure her hands were bound before she woke up. I didn’t want to deal with the strength I’d seen when she’d moved that massive wardrobe.

The hardest part was getting different clothes for Lisanda. I still had no idea what I was looking for. Even if I had money, it wasn’t as if I simply could ride up to a tailor’s shop with an unconscious princess on my horse and ask for something that might fit her.

“The Sartious mage is stealing the Princess, for they’re in love!” It was a man with a lute. He’d stopped his playing to bellow the sight he saw.

This was the first person to recognize me. It wasn’t so easy to escape this time. The roads were narrowing and more crowded with people on foot. When the lute player shouted, a few others turned and gasped.

A man with a round stomach tried to stop me by standing in front of Bam. “Is the Princess sleeping?” He peered closely at her. “What’s that around her waist?”

I slipped my arm around her stomach to hide the Sartious ring. Meanwhile, I tried to force Bam around the heavy man, but the horse reared up instead. It startled the man so that he stumbled back and fell. I gave Bam a kick to speed off.

There were even more people around the next turn. I navigated through them as best I could, but some had to jump out of the way to avoid being trampled.

I came to an alleyway between houses and eagerly turned Bam down its path. It twisted left and right. The sounds of shocked people quieted behind me the farther I went. It was only then that I realized how lucky I was that no guard had found me yet.

Soon, every guard in The Nest would be searching for me. I needed to be less conspicuous. The horse was no longer the best method of transportation, I sadly knew.

I looked around as I went for something—anything—I could use to cover Lisanda, knowing I would be on foot very shortly.

The winding alleyway forked a few times. One way led me to a small nook that people obviously had used as a place to dispose of unwanted possessions. There were rotted planks of wood, cracked barrels, and some sort of bunched up sheet in the corner—that should work.

With the help of my wand and some minor concentration, I turned the Sartious ring that was holding Lisanda to me into dust. I swung my leg to climb off Bam, sliding Lisanda off next. I sat her against a wall and glanced around to tie Bam to the nearest thing I could find. There was a boarded cellar door attached to the side of a building.

I took a quick look inside the one window nearest to me to find that the building obviously was abandoned. Many empty bottles and even more broken ones were scattered along tables.

I wrapped Bam’s rope around the handle to the cellar door, gave the Princess one more glimpse—she hadn’t moved—and then eagerly investigated the bunched up sheet I’d seen earlier.

It was an ugly blue-gray color, dirty and soaked from rain. The material was very rough, so much so that it must’ve been used as a tarp, not a bed sheet. Careful not to touch my clothes with its dripping mud, I straightened it to get a better look. It was a riddled with tears and small holes, but I didn’t care. It was just what I needed.

The sheet was far too wide and tall, so I ripped off a few ends where there already were long tears. I tried to shake it to remove at least some of its grime, but it didn’t do much good.

Just from handling it the little I did, my hands were covered in filth. I brought it over to Lisanda and stood her up, holding her against me to keep her on her feet.

It wasn’t an easy process, wrapping the tarp around her. I eventually found it easier to lay her down on the tarp and roll her body instead. I covered her shoulders to her knees, wrapping the tarp around her three times in total. Her arms were stuck inside of it.

The last step was to keep it from unwrapping. I used leftover strips from the original to tie around her, making her look like a packaged gift of some kind—a filthy, clumsily packaged gift made by a child who’d fallen in a mud puddle while trying to deliver it.

With her lying on the ground, I tested the knots a few more times. She started moving her mouth. She let out a soft moan before her eyes opened.

I frantically untied the bandana around my neck, shoved it into her mouth, and tied the other end around the back of her head.

The sun was low but still managed to find our nook. It gave a glisten to the light brown color of Lisanda’s eyes as they peeled open. It was the first time I’d really noticed her face. Her nose was perky but soft on the edges. Her cheeks and chin were the same way, subtly pronounced.

“Lisanda, my name is Jek Trayden. You’re in The Nest and safe. You’ll remain safe and unharmed as long as you cooperate. Right now, I have a gag in your mouth—”

“Ith fwety!” Lisanda interrupted, making a sour face. She was still on the ground with me kneeling over her, unsuccessfully trying to sit up.

“What?”

“Ith fwety!” she repeated.

“Oh, yes, it’s very sweaty. Six days without a wash, it’s probably some other things as well.”

She groaned and muttered something unintelligible.

“What?”

She thrashed in a moment of annoyance, blatantly looked down at herself, then back at me.

“The tarp?”

She nodded, giving it another look with anger burning in her eyes.