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Authors: Sharon Shinn

Fortune and Fate (Twelve Houses) (71 page)

BOOK: Fortune and Fate (Twelve Houses)

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“I’m coming with you,” Ryne said.

“I don’t need to be responsible for the life of another serramar,” she said bluntly.

“You won’t be. I’ll take care of myself.”

“Don’t argue,” Jasper said. “Just go as quickly as you can. And come back as quickly as you can. And—and—bring Karryn with you.”

“If she is still alive when we find her, I will bring her back safely,” Wen promised. She came close enough to lay both her hands on his arms and stretch up to kiss him on the mouth. He responded with all the fervor of fear and uncertainty and hope. “I imagine we’ll be back around nightfall.”

“Guard yourself while you’re guarding everyone else,” Jasper said somberly, and slipped back into the parlor. Wen heard Demaray’s voice before he shut the door.

“Jasper! Has there been any more news?”

She looked at Ryne, who was smiling wickedly. “And who was just warning
me
against pursuing ill-advised romances?” he said.

“Shut up,” she replied in a pleasant voice and strode for the door. “Come with me if you must, but I warn you, this will be a nasty business and a pretty-boy serramar like yourself may be shocked at what you see.”

He laughed and followed her. “I can’t believe that you still cherish any illusions about me,” he said. “I think you’ll find me an asset in this little adventure.”

“I might,” she acknowledged, pushing open the heavy front door and starting down the steps. “I am desperately short of swords.”

A clamor at the front gate caught her attention—two horses galloping up at full speed—and she started in that direction at a run, in case someone was carrying news about Karryn.

No—but these new arrivals were almost as welcome. Justin and Senneth came pounding up the front walkway, pulling their snorting horses to a hard stop right in front of Wen.

“Cammon said you needed us,” Justin called, sliding from the saddle. “What’s the trouble here?”

Chapter 37

THEY LEFT SENNETH BEHIND WITH A HANDFUL OF GUARDS
to make sure there was no massacre at Fortune, and then they set out at a rapid pace for the old Coverroe house north of the city. Wen had paused to pick up a few essential additions—including Bryce, the young mystic boy, and a change of clothes from his sister, Ginny.

“You have a plan,” Justin said, watching her stuff Ginny’s dress into her saddlebag.

“I’m still thinking it through.”

Wen couldn’t get out of the city fast enough to suit her, but there was one stop they needed to make first. Leaving the bulk of her retinue behind, she carried Bryce before her on the gelding to make a slow pass in front of the Coverroe town house. The gold doors were blinding in the noon sunlight.

“Can you tell me if serra Karryn is inside there?” Wen asked him. She didn’t want to make the mistake of careening all the way up to Covey Park when Karryn was still in the city.

Bryce tilted his head as if listening to a conversation two rooms away. “She’s not there,” he said.

“Are you positive?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We’ll keep riding.”

Wen remembered that it had taken a little more than an hour by coach to cover the ground between Forten City and Covey Park, but riders on horseback made better time. Still, it was close to two in the afternoon when they finally arrived on the poorly maintained stretch of road where the turnoff to the old Coverroe house was located. This much deeper into spring, the trees in the surrounding woods were even more overgrown, thick with new greenery and sprouting twigs.

“There’s a house back here?” Justin asked. “Pretty well hidden.”

Ryne was looking around critically. “I’ve been here before, but it was a lot more civilized then.”

“Everybody slip into the woods and spread out a little,” Wen directed. “I don’t want anyone to see you from the road or from the house. Bryce and I will make our way up to the house so he can tell me if Karryn’s inside. We’ll come back and report—and then we’ll make our move.”

“I’m coming with you,” Justin said.

“So am I,” Ryne added.

She nodded at Justin, because there was really no dissuading him when he spoke in that tone, and shook her head at Ryne. “You stay here. One way or the other we’ll be right back.”

On foot, she and Justin worked their way through the undergrowth of the woods. Justin had hoisted Bryce onto his back, and the little redhead clung tightly and looked around with bright interest, but didn’t say a word. Both Wen and Justin used their left hands to push back branches in their way. They had daggers in their right hands in case they needed to engage in sudden fighting.

It took them fifteen minutes to get close enough to see the three-story gray house through the final scrim of trees. The mat of ivy covering the lower levels seemed to have grown even denser with the onslaught of spring, but the place still looked as dreary and unwelcoming as Wen remembered.

Not deserted, though. Two soldiers stood at stiff attention before the front door, and two more were winding past the flower garden, now gloriously in bloom.

“Probably at least two more patrolling the grounds, and two inside,” Justin whispered. “Minimum of eight. Could be four more patrolling and four inside. Twelve.”

Wen nodded, for she had been doing exactly the same calculations. Not counting Bryce, her own party numbered fourteen, but two of them were Riders.

No. One was a Rider. One
used
to be a Rider. But even former Riders were twice as good as ordinary men.

She looked up at Bryce, who was still riding on Justin’s back, studying the house with his fine little features all squinched up. Her stomach tightened. She had gambled so much on the answer to this question! “Can you tell if serra Karryn is inside?” she whispered.

He nodded. “She’s there.”

Wen felt so much relief that she had to lean her hand against a tree for support. Justin turned his head to ask, “Is she alive?”

Bryce looked surprised. “Of course she’s alive!” As an afterthought, he added, “She’s mad.”

Wen felt the ghost of a smile come to her lips. “That’s good. Can you tell if she’s—”
Been abused
. No, she didn’t want to put any images in Bryce’s head. “If she’s in any pain?”

He frowned again. “I don’t know. She’s scared, too, but mostly she’s mad.”

“Well, wouldn’t you be?” Justin said.

“Can you tell how many other people are in the house?” Wen asked.

Bryce concentrated for a minute, but then he shook his head. “They’re moving around too much and I don’t know them. But more than the ones we just saw walking by.”

“Figured that,” Justin said. He hitched Bryce up a little higher on his back. “But you’ve told us what we really wanted to know. Good work.”

“Let’s circle the house,” Wen said. “See what it looks like from the back.”

They traced a slow perimeter around the clearing, noting potential entrances and exits. Wen remembered the narrow windows on the upper floors, but she hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at the rear section of the house. The vegetable garden had been allowed to run just as wild as the flower garden in front. The door to the kitchen was narrow and recessed, accessed by a crumbling pile of stones that served as steps. Two guards stood watch there, a little more relaxed than their fellows at the front.

“Bad place to try to enter,” Justin observed. “And there’s no way to get in on the top two stories. Ivy offers a good handhold, but not even Bryce could get through those windows.”

“I know,” Wen said, turning back toward the outer rim of the woods. “But I have an idea.”

HER
plan was simple enough. She was going to walk right into the house.

She had already changed into Ginny’s dress, stripping down right in front of the others, though she did turn her back for a modicum of modesty. “I’ll tell them I’m the maid Demaray has sent to keep Karryn comfortable,” Wen said.

“They might not believe that,” Eggles pointed out.

Wen shrugged. “They’re hired blades. They don’t know Demaray and what she’s likely to do. Besides, who else but Demaray knows Karryn is here? They might think it’s odd, but they won’t think I’m a threat.”

“They’ll search you,” Justin said.

She nodded. “I know.” She’d taken off every bit of weaponry, even her ankle sheath, and handed it all to Moss. “Pretty sure I could take out a couple of these soldiers even without a sword, but I won’t have to.”

“Do explain,” Ryne said.

She nodded at Moss. “She’s a mystic. She can move small objects through the air. Once I’m inside, I’ll signal from a window—and Moss can send me my knife and my sword.”

Orson actually laughed in admiration at that. “Knew there was a reason to keep these damned mystics around.” Moss punched him lightly on the arm.

Ryne was grinning as well. “Oh, Rayson Fortunalt would love to know that magic had saved his daughter’s life.”

“Well,” Justin said, “magic and skill with a sword.”

“Once I’m armed,” Wen said, “I’ll create a distraction. Maybe have Karryn scream. I would assume some of the interior guards will enter her room. I’ll take care of them. The rest of you then storm the building.”

Justin was frowning. “It would be good to have at least one more of us inside before you start your own battle. If it takes us too long to breach the door and there’s four men inside—”

She looked at him. “I can hold them off.”

“I might be of a little assistance here,” Ryne said.

They all turned his way. The Fortunalt guards had obviously been surprised that the serramar had been allowed to ride with them on the rescue mission, but they hadn’t asked Wen any questions aloud.

“I don’t think this lot will care much about your fine clothes and your noble blood, ser,” Orson said.

“That’s not the advantage I can bring you,” Ryne said. “I can get inside the house without being seen.”

BOOK: Fortune and Fate (Twelve Houses)

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