Anilyia (26 page)

“That sounds like a good plan. How do we get
the knight in? Do they allow armed humans?” Tathan asked.

“Well, no. He would have to take his armor
off. We can hide it in some linen we clean for them.”

“Hmm . . . He doesn’t take his armor off . .
. ever,” Tathan said thoughtfully. He didn’t mention the part about
Sir Danth not having a body. It complicated things. Another thought
occurred to him. “So once we get in, how do we get out?”

Everyone exchanged quiet glances while Elian
played with the food on his plate. Tathan waited for an answer.
“You do have a plan to get out, don’t you?

“There is no way to get the princess out,”
Miesha finally answered. Her voice was reserved as though she
didn’t speak often. “It’s been tried before. Alarms go off if she
leaves her chambers. There are no secret doors into those chambers
and anyone who tries to help her escape, dies.”

“That doesn’t sound like a complete plan.
Getting into the fortress is good. Getting to the princess is
better. Setting off alarms and dying is a minor flaw in the
design,” Tathan pointed out logically.

“Yes. That’s the part we’ve been having a
problem with,” Elian admitted sadly. “I don’t know how to get her
out. We can get you to the princess, but I’m hoping your group can
get her out . . . somehow.” They all looked at him hopefully.

Tathan pursed his lips and considered. “How
do people die? Is there some sort of trap with the alarm? How is
the alarm triggered?”

Elian ticked off the answers on his fingers.
“The Rojuun kill them. There is no trap, just the alarm, triggered
by some sort of magical weave in the floor. It’s far beyond
anything our wizards have seen.” He took a deep breath and
continued. “There are other tunnels extending deep into the rock
behind the fortress. Rumor is that they’re extensive and some lead
to the surface. However, we don’t know for sure, because the Rojuun
don’t allow anyone past certain points. Your other option is to
fight your way out and try to escape via the Cavern Road, but
that’s not a great solution.”

“So . . . Getting to the princess is easy.
After that, it’s a matter of running away while thousands of Rojuun
chase us until we’re dead. Do I have the plan correct?” Tathan
asked.

“Yeah. That’s the plan. We’re hoping you
avoid the ‘until we’re dead’ part,” Elian said dejectedly.

“Well . . . at least we have a plan this
time,” Tathan said with a grin. Everyone looked at him in surprise.
He stood up to go. “Let me talk to my companions and we’ll let you
know tomorrow night.”

Elian stood to shake Tathan’s hand. “I hope
your friends agree. I don’t know what we’re going to do if you
don’t.”

“I’ll let you know either way,” he
responded. Tathan saw Miesha smile. There was more to her smile
than he was interested in. He turned to go.

As he walked back, Tathan tried figuring out
how to get the princess out of the fortress, but just couldn’t come
up with anything. He had been on missions with less hope, but it
wasn’t a good habit to get into.

Sir Danth was sitting in front of the inn
with elbows over the back of a bench and his legs crossed in front
of him. He was the most casual knight Tathan had ever seen. More
and more, Sir Danth was coming out of the dark silence. He had an
odd sense of humor dryer than the deserts of Iynath. Tathan had to
admit he liked having the knight around. He didn’t know how he was
going to pass him off as a servant though.

“Hello, Master Tathan. It is good to see you
alive and well. How was your conversation?”

“It went fairly well. I learned some new
things and we now have half a plan,” Tathan replied, standing next
to the bench and looking back the way he had come. Miesha was down
the street a way, peering at him from behind a building. She turned
back when Tathan caught sight of her.

“Half a plan?” Sir Danth questioned.

“Yeah. Half a plan. I haven’t figured out
how to escape without dying yet,” Tathan admitted.

“That seems an important thing to work out,”
Sir Danth said. “It’s more than our last plan though.”

“I know, right?” Tathan replied with a grin.
“Did we get a good room?”

“Yes, and only ninety gold uun instead of a
hundred,” The knight answered with a grin of his own.

Tathan wasn’t amused. He knew the Knight was
joking, but there was a fear in his heart that it might be true.
“Seriously, how much did she pay?”

“Relax. Your cousin did an excellent job.
She purchased a suite with two bedrooms for two nights at ten gold
uun a night, which includes meals, baths and a bottle of wine.” Sir
Danth saw the concern on Tathan’s face and reassured him, “It is on
the top floor and has an excellent view of the fortress. The rooms
facing the river cost as much as seventy gold uun per night. Your
cousin bargained down from fifteen per night for our suite and made
certain the innkeeper threw in the baths and bottle of wine. She
did well.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Tathan admitted with a
wave of his hand. “It’s just more than I’ve ever paid for a room
before. I’m not used to the amounts of gold thrown around here.” He
took a deep breath then exhaled. “Let’s go see the suite. I have to
discuss the plans with everyone anyway.”

“Of course.” Sir Danth stood and led Tathan
up to the suite. It was luxurious with carpets, cushioned chairs
and a table in the main room. It smelled of clean linen and scented
candles. Bedrooms were on the right and left and two windows looked
out toward the fortress. Vevin and Liselle were snuggling on a
small couch near one of the windows, their bare feet on a soft
knitted rug. They looked disappointed when Tathan and Sir Danth
came in. Tathan rolled his eyes and went to the other window.

“How’d your conversation with the girl go,
Tathan?” Vevin asked.

Tathan turned from the window to stare at
him. “What are you talking about?”

“You said you were going to go talk to
someone, and then you followed that girl who was following us,”
Vevin explained. “I think she’s too young for you though,” he
finished with a disapproving frown.

Tathan rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’m not
interested in her in that way. She led me to the local Thieves’
Guild. They gave me a plan to get into the fortress,” he said,
pointing at the citadel, which was in perfect sight from the
window.

“I don’t normally trust thieves,” Vevin
said. “I like
you
, but that’s different. Can we trust
them?”

Tathan sighed again. “Yes, we can trust
them.”

“Sir Danth is right. You
do
sigh a
lot,” Vevin declared.

Tathan began to sigh again, but caught
himself and glared at Vevin, who just grinned. “They’re not the
most capable thieves, but I believe they want to help and won’t
betray us.”

“How will they help us?” Liselle asked. She
was sitting on Vevin’s lap with her head on his shoulder.

“They’re going to sneak us in disguised as
servants the day after tomorrow. Once inside, they’ll take us to
the princess’s chambers.”

When he didn’t continue with details, Sir
Danth suggested, “Then we disguise the princess as a servant and
come back out?”

Tathan sighed again, eliciting chuckles.
“No. If the princess leaves the room, alarms triggered by magical
wards woven into the floor will be set off. Anyone trying to help
the princess escape will be hunted down and killed.”

“I don’t like that part of the plan,” Vevin
said, shaking his head.

“It isn’t as good as the first part,” Sir
Danth agreed. “Do you have any idea how to escape with the
princess?”

“Elian, the guild leader, mentioned that
there were tunnels deep into the rock behind the fortress that
might lead to the surface. I was thinking we’d kill everyone who
tried to stop us and maybe let Vevin eat some of them,
finally.”

“Oh yes!” Vevin exclaimed, jumping up.
Liselle yelped because she was still sitting on his lap. He had his
arms underneath her though, and held her easily while he began
doing a happy ‘I finally get to taste a Rojuun’ dance. She laughed
and held on for dear life.

Sir Danth pointed out a concern that Tathan
had been struggling with all the way back to the inn. “What if none
of the tunnels lead to the surface and there is no way out after
all?”

Vevin stopped dancing and sat back down.
Liselle got comfortable in his lap again. Tathan replied, “I don’t
know. That’s something I’m worried about too.” He turned back to
the window to look at the fortress. It was imposing. “I’m hoping
we’ll find a way out somehow, but that’s not a good plan and I
don’t feel comfortable with it.” He turned to them once more. “Any
ideas?”

“That’s too far for me to look,” Vevin said.
“I can only see a short distance through rock.”

“I don’t like the idea of killing everyone.
The Rojuun are beautiful and just slaughtering people, whether they
be human or Rojuun, bothers me,” Liselle told them with a gloomy
expression. “I want to save the princess, but not at the cost of
hundreds of lives.”

The men exchanged glances. Not being able to
kill anyone complicated things, but they weren’t willing to go
against Liselle’s wishes. She was as gentle as the flowers she
called family. If they slaughtered a large number of Rojuun, it
could scar her emotionally and they cared too much about her to do
that.

“So ideally, we’ll rescue the princess and
the only loss of life will be the two Rojuun that Vevin will eat,
yes?” Sir Danth suggested.

“Can I have three if they taste very good?”
Vevin asked hopefully.

Liselle giggled and responded, “Yes, you can
have three if they taste good.”

“Yay! That’s wonderful. Thank you,” he
replied enthusiastically with a kiss for her.

“Liselle . . .” Tathan began, wondering how
to phrase his words. She turned, becoming serious at the look on
his face. “If things go badly, killing may be necessary.”

She nodded. “I know, but I . . . I don’t
want to kill people. I still remember killing that warrior back
home . . .” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ll do what I have to, but
I’m having a hard time deciding what has to be done and what can be
avoided. Is saving a princess really worth hundreds of lives if it
comes to that?”

“Ahh, that is a very good question,” Sir
Danth said. “Saving the life of one person is never worth
sacrificing hundreds. However,” he said, raising a finger, “when
the person is a princess, there are other ramifications.” They
listened to his words intently, interested by what he had to say.
“In this instance, the princess has been kidnapped in order to
create war between two kingdoms where thousands may die. I don’t
know how large the kingdoms are . . .” Sir Danth gestured toward
Tathan to see if he knew the answer.

Tathan answered, “Both are large, with
armies in the tens of thousands. Iynath has an army of over a
hundred thousand. If the two kingdoms fight each other, Iynath will
fall upon them while they’re weak and overcome both. It’ll be
bloody.”

Sir Danth nodded at this information. “So if
the princess is saved, it may prevent the deaths of thousands. In
war, soldiers are not the only ones to die. Most kingdoms fight
without honor; looting, pillaging, and burning towns and crops to
make life terrible for the citizens of a kingdom . . .” He stopped
upon seeing the tears streaming down Liselle’s cheeks. “Oh dear.
You truly are a gentle soul, Milady.”

“I don’t want people to die or suffer,” she
said helplessly. “Why do they have to fight and kill each other,
and why burn towns and crops? It just seems so stupid.”

“Aye, Milady. That it is. I do not know why,
other than it is a part of the big game of life we all play.”

“What if I don’t want to play the game,” she
asked quietly. None of them answered. It hadn’t occurred to Tathan
that there might be a choice.

“What game would we play then, Cousin?” he
asked.

She shrugged weakly. “I don’t know. I wish I
had that answer, but I don’t.” She chewed her lower lip in thought.
“So, if we rescue the princess, we may have to kill a lot of people
. . . Rojuun . . . I think of them as people, regardless of whether
or not they’re like us,” she declared. The men nodded in agreement.
“But we may be able to avert war and save thousands of lives . . .
human lives . . . if that matters.” Liselle looked at them and they
nodded. “So, kill hundreds to save thousands . . . or walk away and
hide in some other valley, pretending the problems of the world are
someone else’s to solve.”

Tathan was impressed by the amount of
maturity his cousin showed. It was probably more than he had, even
being twelve years older. Sir Danth and Vevin looked just as
impressed. Tathan never gave things like this much thought. There
were things he wouldn’t do, but for the most part he just went with
whatever seemed right at the time. The idea that he could be
responsible for hundreds and thousands of lives was overwhelming
and he felt that it was unfair, so he said as much. “Why should the
responsibility of those lives be on me . . . us, Cousin?”

“If you do not wish the responsibility, you
can go live on a farm and be responsible for pigs, Tathan,” Liselle
said. “I believe that if a person wishes to be extraordinary, they
must do extraordinary things, and you are very extraordinary,” she
finished with a gentle smile.

“Oh,” he responded lamely. Tathan had never
considered it that way. He felt a blush warm his cheeks at the
compliment. It was an unusual sensation.

“Well said, Milady,” Sir Danth told her with
admiration in his voice. “We are all extraordinary and the life of
a farmer is not for us, though farming is a noble activity in my
eyes. Providing food for citizens is a vital act.”

“Is it possible to overcome the Rojuun
during our escape without killing them?” she asked the group.