Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
“We should have it all together by then.”
“If not, I’m not going to worry about it. Nothing on that list is urgent. They’ve all got a place to stay, beds, clothes, and food. I’ll take what we have and they’ll get the rest of it when we have it.”
“Did you talk to Theresa?”
“Not tonight. I didn’t see her, but I didn’t go looking for her either. I did see Darwyn though.” Kevin laughed. “He’s one happy man. He’s walking around without a cloak or gloves and he’s warm. All’s right in his world.”
Chris laughed as he got up to go. “Rhianna and Nikki went out back earlier. She said they’d be waiting for you somewhere around the pasture.”
Kevin nodded. “Anything else I need to take care of tonight?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Good. I’m going for a walk. See you later.”
Chapter 48
The Assassins Prepare
Early Thursday morning, shortly after daybreak, Bruno walked back into the assassins’ cave holding a small bowl of sap from the opium pod.
“Any problems?” Fasil asked.
Bruno shook his head. A movement from the back of the room caught his eye. Sunder had his bed rolled up and was packing the last of his clothes in a small carry bag. “So you really are leaving?”
Sunder nodded. “And if you were smart, you would, too. If you do manage to capture the elf, the warrior elves will be coming after you. If you don’t, Rolan will. There’s no way this can end well.”
“You may be right,” Fasil said, “but we agreed to do the job when it was offered.”
“We agreed to hunt down his sister,” Sunder growled. “I never agreed to go up against warrior elves. Can’t you see this is not what we signed on for?” He slung his bedroll over his shoulder and grabbed his carry bag. “You’ll end up dead if you stay.” Then he walked out of the cave.
“He’s probably right, you know,” Correll said quietly.
“If you feel that way, maybe you should join him,” Fasil said. “As for me, I plan to get the job done and survive it.” He turned to Bruno. “Do you have enough sap?”
“I think so.”
“We need to split up today,” Fasil said. “Correll, if you’re staying, you’re with me. We’ll watch Rhianna and make sure her routine’s the same as it has been for the past few weeks. Amos, I want you to help Bruno get that stuff ready and test it.”
Amos raised his eyebrows. “Just to be clear, you want us to shoot someone and see how he reacts.”
Fasil nodded. “Without getting caught.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Amos and Bruno were fixing dinner when Fasil and Correll got back to the cave. Amos glanced up. “Same routine?”
Fasil nodded as he sat down. “She went to the castle this morning, stayed through lunch, worked in her garden until the others got in, and then went inside for dinner. I think our best bet will be mid-afternoon. Less people around at that time, and she should be outside, provided it’s not raining.”
“Rain could be a real problem,” Amos said thoughtfully.
“Let’s not worry about that until we see what the weather’s like tomorrow,” Correll said.
“How did the test go?” Fasil asked Bruno. “Did the stuff work?”
Bruno nodded as he stirred something in a pot. “At least for a solid hit.” He sat back and said, “We shot the first man in the arm. At first his reaction was normal. He jerked around looking for where the arrow came from, but before he went more than a dozen steps, he fell on his face. He was out.”
“Are you sure? Or was he hitting the ground to keep from getting shot again?” Correll asked.
“He was out. We waited to see. His wife must have seen him fall because she came out of the house calling him. By the time she reached him, he was good and out.”
Fasil frowned. “Are you sure he wasn’t dead? I’m not sure how Rolan will react if we end up killing the elf.”
Amos shook his head. “We kept watching. It was a good half hour, maybe more, before she could get him sitting up, and he was still too groggy to stand. She went back to the house, got some bandages and water, and cleaned him up out there. When we left he was still sitting where he fell.”
“We’ll need some way of transporting her,” Correll said. “Can we throw her across a horse? Or do we need to get a wagon?”
“A wagon would work better,” Fasil said. “If she’s thrown across a saddle, someone will notice. We don’t want Myron showing up here.” He looked at Bruno. “You said you shot the first man in the arm. Did you shoot someone else?”
Bruno nodded. “The plan is to hit her in the arm, but our best archer packed up and left this morning. Any of the rest of us might be off a bit and her arms are smaller than the farmer’s. I don’t think any of us would completely miss, not unless she moves at the last second, but we could end up grazing her, so we wanted to see what would happen if we grazed someone with that stuff.”
Fasil nodded. “Good idea. So what did happen?”
“At first, nothing, and he stayed on his feet for a good twenty feet, but then he started swaying, like he was dizzy. Before he went much farther, he sat down. He didn’t fall, but he was too woozy to stay on his feet. He didn’t lose consciousness like the first guy did, but he was definitely weak. I’d say if we graze her we can get her.”
“Would she be able to throw a knife?”
Bruno looked at Amos for a moment. “I’d say yes. What do you think?”
Amos nodded. “Her aim might not be as good as normal, but she could throw it.”
Fasil frowned. “Then we need a direct hit. I’m not sure which one of us should take the shot. I’ll have to think about it.”
After a moment, Bruno said, “I’ve been thinking about something else, too.”
“What?” Fasil asked.
“She’ll come out of it whether we score a direct hit or graze her, and she’s a warrior elf. They’re strong, and most of them can translocate at will. We need some way to keep her under control until we hand her over to Rolan, and I don’t think tying her up will do it.”
“He has a point,” Correll said.
Fasil nodded. “What do you have in mind?”
“Maybe we should pour a little of the sap in her wound whenever she starts coming around.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Fasil said. “Do we have enough?”
“Not unless I make some more, which I could do if I head back to the garden and slice a couple more pods. There are at least two more ready for harvesting, provided the sisters haven’t already done it. If we don’t attack until mid-afternoon, I’ll have time to cook up some more tomorrow.”
“Did Rolan say when he was coming to pick her up?” Amos asked.
Fasil shook his head. “At least if he did, it didn’t register with me. Did anyone hear him say?” They all shook their heads.
“So we don’t know how long we might need to keep her under,” Amos said. “How much more of that stuff can you make?”
Bruno shrugged. “Depends on how much sap I can get out of the pods.”
Fasil nodded. “And the sooner you cut them, the more sap you get, right?”
Bruno stood up. “Guess I should get going. It’ll be dark enough for me to slip into the garden by the time I get there.” He looked at Correll. “Can you finish the stew?” When Correll nodded, Bruno looked at Fasil. “Make sure you save me some dinner. Be back as soon as I can.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Shana gave up on sleep around daybreak Friday morning. She couldn’t decide what to do. If she told Myron what Rolan was planning, he could make sure both Rhianna and Landis were safe. But if she did that, not only would she die, so would her parents. She figured her death was inevitable at this point, but she was still hoping she could find some way to save her parents.
She was supposed to have a session with Rhianna that morning. She’d skipped it Thursday because she couldn’t face Rhianna knowing what Rolan had planned, and she didn’t think today would be any better. As she dressed, she once again considered going to Myron with everything she knew, everything that had happened since the night Rolan had burst into their home and shattered their lives. But would Myron be able to see past the spying part? Would he understand she didn’t have any choice?
Shana delayed leaving for Laryn’s house as long as she could, but eventually the time came when she really had to go. She didn’t know what to do, not about training with Rhianna, not about talking to Myron, not about anything. All she knew was she wanted this to end.
~ ~ ~ ~
Shana wasn’t the only one who had trouble sleeping Thursday night. Fasil had been awake most of the night playing out different scenarios in his head. Every plan he came up with had about the same chance of success. Unfortunately, in every case, he could see it going wrong easier than he could see it going right.
While they ate breakfast, he said, “Correll is the best shot of the four of us, so he’ll take the lead. I’ll back him up. Amos, I want you and Bruno in the wagon, ready to get out of there the second we get her knocked out and loaded up.”
“What wagon?” Amos asked.
“The one you need to get today,” Fasil said, “and be sure you find something to use to cover her up, something other than a blanket. We don’t want it to look suspicious.”
Amos thought for a moment. “Will you be in the wagon with us?”
Fasil shook his head. “We’ll come along behind you and make sure no one follows you back here.”
Amos nodded. “Then why don’t we use a buggy? It’s a lot easier to hide someone in the back of a buggy than in a wagon.”
“Fine with me, if you can come up with a buggy,” Fasil agreed.
“We don’t need it until this afternoon,” Amos said. “That’s plenty of time.”
Fasil turned to Bruno. “How much of that stuff will you have by this afternoon?”
Bruno frowned. “I’m not sure how to answer that. We’ll have enough for the tip of the arrow for Rhianna and to keep her unconscious provided Rolan doesn’t wait too long to collect her.”
“Do we have enough to put some on the tip of eight arrows? I’d like for Correll and me both to have at least three arrows we can use to knock someone out, and I think you and Amos should have a couple with you.”
“I don’t know if we have that much,” Bruno said slowly. “We weren’t able to test it on an elf. She might come around quicker than a human. If she does, we’ll go through a bit of it keeping her down.”
Fasil frowned.
“Bruno and I can use regular arrows,” Amos said. “If anyone comes along and messes with us, we’ll kill ‘em. Safer than leaving them alive anyway.”
“I guess,” Fasil said slowly.
“I think we need to blindfold the elf,” Correll said. “Just because that stuff makes her sleep doesn’t mean she won’t be able to see when she starts waking up. If Myron gets her back, I don’t want her to be able to identify us.”
“She’ll know who shot her, Correll,” Bruno said. “Blindfolding her might protect me and Amos, maybe Fasil, but the opium’s not that fast. She’ll see you before it knocks her out.”
Correll glared at Bruno. “Maybe I’ll make sure she knows who’s responsible for the knockout stuff, too.”
“Enough!” Fasil snapped. “But blindfolding the elf’s a good idea. At least she won’t be able to see where she is and what’s around her. She might not be so quick to translocate if she can’t see anything.”
“When do you want to get in position?” Correll asked.
“By lunchtime. I want to be out there and ready when she heads out to the garden. The quicker we get this done, the better I’ll feel.”
Bruno frowned. “We only have so much of the knockout stuff. Once it’s gone, it’s gone, and we’ll have an angry warrior elf on our hands. You might want to wait as long as possible.”
“The four of us should be able to handle one woman, elf or not,” Amos said.
Bruno shook his head.
“Anything else?” Fasil asked. When no one said anything, he looked at Bruno. “Can you have that stuff ready by lunch?”
Bruno nodded and held up the little cup of sap he’d collected before daybreak.
“And you’ll have the buggy?” Fasil asked Amos.
“Heading out to get it now.” Amos stood up.
Fasil looked at Correll. “And you get some rest. I want you in top form when you aim that arrow this afternoon. Our lives are going to depend on you hitting your mark.”
Chapter 49
Trouble at Doreen's
Friday morning started out nice and calm at the castle. Kevin ran through his routine while Marshall took Watson and Nikki out for a quick run. Then, after breakfast, an excited Marshall knocked on Kevin’s door with his overnight bag in hand.
“Ready to go?” Kevin asked as he stood up.
Marshall grinned and nodded.
“Then let’s go,” Kevin said as he took out his key.
When he got back half an hour later, Marcus was in the office playing tug-of-war with Nikki. “Do you need me for anything today?” Marcus asked as he and Nikki kept playing.
“Not as far as I know, but if you keep that up, she won’t let you leave,” Kevin said, grinning.
Marcus gave the rope a few more tugs and then let Nikki have it. “Tolliver asked me to put a new roof on his house a couple of days ago. Thought I’d see if I can get it taken care of today.”
“Do you need any help?”
“A couple of the guards are going with me,” Marcus answered as Nikki nudged his hand with the rope still in her mouth. “We should be able to get it done by mid-afternoon. Thought I’d go see if Hayley wanted to go for a walk or something after we finish.”
“If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.”
Marcus nodded, petted Nikki, and said, “See you later.”
As soon as Marcus left, Rhianna walked in. “I’ve got a training session in a few minutes. Do you want me to take Nikki with me? Or do you want to keep her in here this morning?”
“Marshall took her out for a good run before breakfast. She’ll be fine in here until lunch.”
Rhianna grabbed Nikki’s rope and played with her for a few minutes. Then she ruffled Nikki’s fur and said, “Guess I’d better get going. See you after we’re done.”
~ ~ ~ ~
After she finished with her students, Rhianna joined Kevin and Nikki for lunch out on the patio. While they ate, they talked about everything in general and nothing in particular. At one point, Rhianna mentioned that everyone thought the bells were a good idea. “Doreen put ours beside the back door. She figures if we have an emergency, it’ll happen in the kitchen. She says it’s the most dangerous room in the house.”