Anilyia (28 page)

“Not at all, my good man, you didn’t know,”
the knight reassured him.

“I have to warn you that they may not fall
for the ruse and I don’t have a contingency plan,” Elian said in
worried tones.

“I have my own contingency plans,” Sir Danth
said. “We’ll start with your plan though.” The audience looked at
him with worry, many glancing at the massive sword on his back. He
chuckled. “Do not fear. My plan does not involve slaughter,
although that sort of thing can be enjoyable when done
correctly.”

Elian gulped and looked at Tathan with wide
eyes. Tathan reassured him with a smile. “Don’t worry, he won’t
kill anyone going in . . . probably . . . Just have your people run
away if he does.”

One of the people standing around the table
tore off the apron he was wearing and ran for the door, taking
Tathan’s advice early. Elian gulped more loudly. “It would be bad
for humans here if someone went around killing Rojuun. Many would
be punished.”

“Well then, things will just have to go
well,” Tathan said with a nod.

Elian didn’t look convinced. He stared at
each of the party members. They stared back at him. Elian buried
his head in his hands for a moment before taking a deep breath. He
stood up and pointed to some aprons on the table. “Put those on.
I’ll take you up into the warehouse where the cart is.

A moment later, they were standing next to a
low cart with big wheels. “If you would lie down on the cart, Sir
Knight, we’ll cover you up until we reach the gate. Once there, my
people will try to get you through without removing the cloth.” He
gestured to a heavy white blanket held by one of his men. “Martin
will lead the group and talk to the guards.” There were six people
with aprons. There would have been seven if the one hadn’t run
away. “If they have to uncover you, remain completely still. My
people will try to talk them into letting you in. If that fails . .
.” he trailed off with a shrug.

“If that fails, I will implement the
contingency plan,” Sir Danth said with a nod. “What of my sword? Do
I hold it in my hands or keep it sheathed across my back?”

“Place it here on the handle,” Elian said,
moving to the front of the cart. There was a long handle with a
crossbar for two people to pull it. Sir Danth drew his sword,
causing another person to run away. She didn’t even take the time
to rip the apron off. Elian stared after her with arms spread in
disbelief. The knight placed his greatsword on top of the handle.
There were brackets on the cross bar and post that were just big
enough, but the hilt was so long that it stuck forward another foot
over the front end. How it would fool anyone was a mystery to
Liselle. They all looked at it dubiously for a moment before Elian
shrugged and said, “It’ll have to do, I guess. This is all a bit of
a long shot anyway.”

Liselle finally spoke up. “I don’t like this
at all, Tathan. It seems like there are too many things that can go
wrong.”

He turned and grinned at her. “That’s
exactly why I
do
like it. Things usually go bad when the
plan is perfect and things
seem
to be going well,” Tathan
explained. “If things are dicey, then everyone is sharp and ready
to handle problems. I like this plan.”

Liselle sighed, causing them both to
chuckle. The members of the Thieves’ Guild exchanged concerned
looks. These adventurers were not at all what they expected. Sir
Danth sat on the cart then lay down with his head toward the back
of the cart and his feet toward the handle. Martin spread the
blanket out over the knight with the help of another man. Once
everything was set, Elian led them to the big doors at the end of
the warehouse and let them out. Liselle didn’t like wearing the
apron over her clothes, but didn’t look as awkward as Tathan with
his jacket or Vevin, who was wearing the purple vest he preferred
when traveling and fighting. Vevin had their packs and belongings
in his secret place so they would be able to move unhindered while
trying to fight and escape. He told them the equipment could only
stay there a little while for reasons he wouldn’t explain. The
magical connection Sir Danth had with his sword prevented it from
going to the same place.

Two men pulled the cart. They seemed
surprised by how light it was, believing that a tall man in full
plate armor should weigh at least three hundred pounds or so. The
group walked toward the fortress along a road bordering the wall
park. The view of the city was amazing from this section of the
wall. All four massive central spires of Alluu could be seen as
well as the towers of the fortress.

There were a number of Rojuun painters in
the park creating works of art in addition to a few musicians
singing songs about it. It wasn’t busy, which was nice for artists
who wished to work in peace.

There was a bridge to the fortress crossing
the smaller river that fed into the Llaav. A few other humans
wearing aprons were already checking in. The Rojuun guards checked
briefly for weapons or anything suspicious, but for the most part,
they let everyone through without trouble.

Their turn came up and the guards let two of
their escorts and Tathan through. Liselle looked to see where he
had put his sword and it was gone. She wondered how he had managed
it.

The guards stopped the cart. “What’s this?”
A tall one with orange eyes asked in low, intimidating tones.
Liselle never ceased to be amazed at the brilliant colors of their
eyes or variety of their voices.

Martin answered, “It’s a cart.” Liselle
giggled involuntarily, surprised to hear someone else talk like
Tathan. The speaker didn’t notice, though one of the other guards
shot her a glance.

“I can see that it is a cart. Why are you
bringing it in?” The meju put his right hands on the hilts of
knives, though he was relaxed about it.

“It contains a work of art to put in one of
the hallways,” the man explained vaguely. “I was just asked to
deliver it. They don’t tell me much of anything.” Tathan was moving
slowly through the large entry in the wall of the fortress, which
had to be about thirty feet thick. His head was turned to hear what
was happening.

“What is the work of art? I would see it,”
the guard said, indicating they should pull back the cover. The two
men pulling the cart exchanged glances, shrugged and pulled the
blanket back to expose Sir Danth, who was lying still. Tathan had
stopped, appearing to fix a shoe, but really to keep an eye on the
proceedings.

“That looks like a human warrior, not a work
of art, although the armor is beautiful.” One of his voices had
risen while the other was still gruff. It was as though the lower
voice was still being a guard while the other was appreciating art.
“How do I know you are not smuggling an unauthorized person in?”
The question seemed odd to Liselle. Tathan was an unauthorized
person and they let him in.

“It’s definitely not a person. The armor was
made by an artist and it’s supposed to go in the hallway,” Martin
explained. There was sweat beading on his forehead and he looked
nervous.

“Take off the helmet and let me see.”

Martin’s eyes were wide with fear. “Uhh . .
. I don’t know how.”

Liselle intervened. “I’ll do it.” She took
off Sir Danth’s helmet, being very careful with it. “There, see?
It’s hollow.”

The guard looked into the neck of the armor.
Seeing nothing there, he nodded. “You are correct. It is empty.
Very well, you may take it in,” the meju said with a gesture
indicating they were free to go. Liselle put the helmet back on,
feeling it slide into place on its own. Martin stared in shock.

They walked in with the cart, turning right
as soon as they cleared the wall. The entry led to an immense open
yard where Rojuun warriors trained. A cordoned pathway directed the
servants to the fortress. There was no actual building, only
fifteen levels set into the vertically carved cavern wall. There
were large double doors where Rojuun entered and exited. The path
the servants were on led to a smaller door on the near side.

Liselle watched the Rojuun drill as she
walked. They were remarkable warriors, moving almost as fast as
Tathan did. As with their art, they were graceful in their
fighting. It seemed more like a dance than battle drills. The clash
of knives and grunts of voices provided the music. She worried once
again about having to fight them, only this time she was worried
about her companions . . . and herself.

She hadn’t thought much about her own
mortality until the incident with Krraa. The nightmares had become
rare by now. Talking to Vevin, Tathan and Sir Danth about the
incident helped. Each had their own viewpoints as to the best way
to come to terms with it. Liselle had listened to each and
eventually come to terms in her own way. In spite of that, she now
had a realization that she was mortal and that death could be very
bloody and painful. It was a new and real feeling she didn’t
like.

Liselle had been practicing magic with
Vevin’s help. In the past, most of her magic had been in the form
of healing, or massive, ground-shaking spells. Vevin had been
helping her to cast smaller, more refined spells. Her candle flames
were now the correct size instead of being three times larger than
they should be. If she needed to use magic to help the boys, she
now had more localized spells and could create barriers or hold
people long enough to get away. Vevin had shown her a sleep spell.
She had become proficient with it by casting it upon people resting
on benches along the Cavern Road. It was much better than gigantic
fireballs that obliterated the masses. It also fit her desire not
to kill.

They reached the open door into the
fortress. Martin warned, “We’ll be going through a lot of halls and
tunnels to get to our destination, so just be patient. Try not to
speak too much as Rojuun listen to our conversations sometimes.”
The companions nodded and followed him inside.

A large room held a number of humans all
wearing aprons. It seemed silly for a plain white apron to be the
only uniform and even sillier that the Rojuun didn’t have any way
to tell if a person should be there other than that. There were
people at desks giving directions to the workers, telling them what
part of the fortress they would be performing their duties. The
companion’s party didn’t stop at any of those desks. Their escorts
took them into the main hall. A couple of tough looking men
standing on either side of the hall nodded at Martin.

Liselle got the feeling that the Servant’s
Guild got away with a lot of things Rojuun didn’t know or even care
about. As long as humans took care of the dirty work and didn’t
commit crimes, they were free to do whatever they wanted.

Paintings and statues placed with no regard
to aesthetic organization lined the long hallway they walked.
Liselle felt a headache coming on from seeing too many different
colors and shapes. It made sense that they would be able to sneak
Sir Danth in as another work of art. Rojuun didn’t seem to care
about the pieces after they were done with them.

After walking for quite a ways, they turned
down another passage. This one wasn’t as wide as the main hall, but
the cart still fit easily. They passed a lot of Rojuun, most of
whom didn’t even seem to notice the humans. A few even stepped away
so as not to touch them. It was a different side of the Rojuun that
Liselle didn’t like at all. Back in Garrrn Cavern, Marrraa and all
the others greeted them with enthusiasm and even friendship.
Liselle wondered why it was different here.

They walked for another thirty minutes
before Martin stopped the group. The air was still warm and humid,
though a mild breeze brought cooler air from the passage ahead.
“The next corner we turn will lead to the princess’s chambers,”
Martin told them. “They have her separated from the prison, which
is in another section of the fortress. The guards here will most
likely challenge us again. They don’t like the princess and they
get cranky. They’ll probably try to make our lives difficult.” He
took a deep breath. “If I can’t convince them to let the cart
through, it may come to a fight. We can’t match up to them, so . .
.” he trailed off, gesturing to the other servants.

Suddenly, another one ran away. This time it
was a man who had been walking behind the group, fidgeting the
entire time. Next, the other man who had been pulling the cart
started to move away. He looked at Martin. “I’m sorry, I’ve got
kids . . .” Then he turned and ran off too.

Martin looked at the other two. Both took
deep breaths and stayed where they were. They were scared, but
didn’t move. He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.” With that, they walked
to the next corner and turned toward the princess’s chambers.
Martin stopped after a few steps. “That’s odd.”

“What’s odd?” Tathan asked, his hand on the
hilt of his sword. Liselle did a double take. The sword was back at
his side.

“The guards aren’t there,” Martin informed
them, pointing to ornate double doors that were standing open.
There was no sign of Rojuun or humans anywhere. “This is the
princess’s suite.”

Tathan drew his sword and cautiously moved
forward. Sir Danth pushed aside the cover and sat up, startling the
three men who seemed content to let the companions take the lead.
All of a sudden, a woman screamed. Everyone froze, except for
Tathan who ran forward, and Sir Danth who suddenly disappeared and
reappeared inside the room. Liselle and Vevin ran in behind them,
not seeing the jaws of their escorts falling to the floor in shock
at the knight’s shifting.

Liselle noticed that Vevin was staying right
next to her. He had nearly lost her when fighting the sstejj and
still blamed himself. She knew he wouldn’t leave her side whenever
danger was near. Beyond the doorway was a large, lavish chamber fit
for a princess. There were two doorways on either side of the main
chamber leading to other rooms, each covered by a silken cloth.