Kethril (17 page)

“I couldn’t help but notice when you
mentioned the word ‘prison’, Your Majesty,” Tathan said. “I don’t
think I like that part of the plan.”

King Cranwer rested his chin on Fluffy. “I
should
have you executed for murdering the Prophet of
Telemooo. You’ve riled the monks and most of the farmers in my
kingdom as well. However, I’m willing to overlook that for the
greater need.” Tathan didn’t respond. Liselle noticed he didn’t
look guilty either, even though he had admitted back at the inn
that he had committed the murder. The king studied him for a moment
before continuing. “Well, in any case, I need this task performed
and I’m willing to give you your freedom after your companions
complete it.”

Felina balled her fists and stomped her foot
in anger. She didn’t do anything more due to the numerous drawn
swords around her and Steve.

“I would know what the task is, Your
Majesty,” Sir Danth said.

King Cranwer nodded. “A ship has been
terrorizing villages and stealing sheep along the southern
mountains. I want you to find this ship and destroy it. After the
task is done, I will give Tathan of the Shadows his freedom.”

The companions stared at him for a moment.
Vevin scratched his head. “I don’t think there’s an ocean along the
southern mountains . . . in fact I’m sure of it.”

“I mentioned that very fact to the first
villagers who made the claim. They were very insistent that a ship
had, in fact, attacked their village.” The king shrugged. “I didn’t
take it seriously until representatives of the next village, the
one after that and eleven others came forward with the same story.
A ship comes sailing along, shoots three or four fireballs from
catapults into the village, then goes to capture all the sheep in
the surrounding farms.”

Sir Danth frowned, which caused the king and
a couple of people nearby to do a double take. “Have you not sent
your soldiers and wizards out after this ship, Your Majesty?”

“I’ve ordered the troops in that area to
find it, but they’ve been unsuccessful and I’m awfully disappointed
in them. The damage to the village is obvious and it’s clear that
the sheep are missing, but they just can’t find the ship.”

“How did Felina know I was in Kethril?”
Tathan interrupted.

“That’s a very good question,” King Cranwer
replied. “How
did
you know?” he asked the bounty hunter.

“I scryed his location.” She bit off each
word in fury. “The signs said he would be in Kethril. As you can
see, I was correct.” She gestured irately in Tathan’s
direction.

Liselle had a question for the bounty
hunter. “Last we heard you were running away from the Rojuun. How
did you escape?”

Felina waggled her fingers. “Magic.”

King Cranwer got back to the point at hand.
“The way this will work is that my soldiers will take you to jail,
Tathan of the Shadows. Your extraordinary friends will quest for
the ship and stop it from terrorizing my villages. When that’s
done, I’ll release you.”

“How will we prove to you that it’s done?”
Sir Danth asked.

“I will send my niece, the Duchess Emmaoen
Silverheart.” King Cranwer put his arm around the young
wizardess.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Tathan interjected with
a hand up. “What makes
anyone
think I’m willing to go to
jail?”

“You killed a man,” Liselle said, drawing
everyone’s attention. “I don’t know what all you’ve done before,
but you
murdered
that man. You’re traveling with me, Tathan,
and you
still
murdered him, knowing how I would feel.” For
the first time, guilt crossed Tathan’s face. He looked down at his
feet and didn’t respond. It bothered Liselle that he felt regret at
disappointing her, but not for committing murder. “I don’t want you
to go to jail, but I think it’s a reasonable request. I promise
I’ll find that ship, take care of it and then come back and get
you.”

“Oh yes! We’ll find the ship,” Vevin agreed,
doing a ‘find the ship’ version of the happy dance.

“I will also take up the noble quest, both
to gain your freedom and to help the suffering villagers,” Sir
Danth joined in.

“I don’t know what good I’ll be, but I’ll go
to,” Anilyia contributed.

“No.” King Cranwer shook his head. “I will
not allow a princess to go into mortal danger. Your father would
send assassins after me were I to allow you to come to harm so
foolishly.”

Princess Anilyia narrowed her eyes and
stepped forward. “And will you have your people escort me back to
Mayncal when this task is done?”

“No. They would not be able to get you
home,” the king refused. “You will be a target for kidnappers in an
attempt to gain ransom or political agreements. Any escort would
fall prey to hunters and once again, your father would send
assassins to murder me.”

“And if you don’t help me, my father will
declare war on you,” the princess threatened.

“No he won’t.” King Cranwer tapped Anilyia
lightly on the nose with Bonkers. “What’s he going to do, send an
army over the Caaldith Mountains and through the Willden? I don’t
think so. An assassin is much easier.” He scanned the companions.
“Your friends have a much better chance of getting you back to
Mayncal. Your father won’t have me killed for leaving you in their
hands considering they’ve already rescued you.”

Anilyia continued to glare. No one seemed
thrilled with the arrangement other than the king and Emmaoen. King
Cranwer waved aside any concerns. “Tathan of the Shadows, please go
with the guards. You’ll be given a private cell and treated well
enough. I promise you that.”

Tathan looked at Liselle and nodded.
Princess Anilyia threw arms around his neck and kissed him,
eliciting gasps from the crowd and a raised eyebrow from the king.
When guards grabbed Tathan’s arms, Liselle noticed his sword was
gone and wondered where he had put it. When he glanced back over
his shoulder at her, she saw the misery in his eyes and felt guilty
for telling him to go to jail.

“Your highness, please go with these women.”
King Cranwer pointed at two young women dressed in quality work
dresses. Anilyia watched Tathan disappear through the doors. Then
the handmaidens took her by the arms and led her away, much the way
the guards had done with Tathan.

“I recommend you three begin your quest as
soon as possible, providing you want to get your friend out of
jail,” the king suggested. “You will, of course, be given rooms for
the night in order to rest. Reasonable supplies will be provided as
well as steeds to hasten your journey.”

“We’ll leave immediately,” Liselle said
curtly, fire burning in her eyes yet again. She spun around and
moved down the aisle. She didn’t curtsey or say goodbye to the
king, which elicited more gasps of shock from the observers.

Vevin and Sir Danth followed her, also not
saying goodbye. Their loyalties were to Liselle, not the king.
Emmaoen gave her uncle a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before
running after.

Their horses were still in the courtyard.
Liselle stomped to her steed, climbed up and took the reins from
the groom. Vevin and Sir Danth mounted an instant later, jumping
effortlessly onto their saddles with Emmaoen right behind.

A few minutes later, they were through the
castle gates. Liselle was still angry at everything and people were
in her way. She didn’t understand why cities had to have so many
people and so much noise. Her horse stepped high, moving along at a
good clip. The ride was jarring, but in tune with her emotions.
Vevin was trying to get her attention, but she ignored him.

Suddenly he was in front of her, blocking
her horse with his. “Dearest, you’re on fire and it’s scaring the
people.”

Liselle glared at him for a moment before
looking down and observing that her entire body was on fire. She
noticed it didn’t burn the horse or her clothes. The people on the
street had scrambled to the sides, leaving a wide path. An elderly
woman was struggling to get a small vendor cart out of the way.
Vevin had placed his mount in front of Liselle to prevent her from
running the woman over.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath
to calm herself. The anger was overwhelming, ready to consume her.
It took a moment for enough of the ire to die down and the fire to
leave her body. The emotions weren’t gone though and Liselle
desperately wanted to send fire running along the streets.

Vevin remained in front of her while Emmaoen
pulled up on her left and Sir Danth on her right. “Peace, Milady.
All will be well,” Sir Danth consoled. “I promise to lay my life on
the line to battle this sheep stealing ship that terrorizes peasant
villages and, in doing so, secure your cousin’s release.”

Liselle burst into uncontrolled laughter at
the mental image of the knight fighting off an angry ship. Then she
began crying. Her moods were washing over her in waves. She didn’t
notice that the old woman had made it to a side street even though
no one had been brave enough to help her escape.

“Let’s ride out of the city,” Vevin
suggested. “We’ll get away from all these people and find a nice
field of flowers for you to sit in. It’s crowded, so we’ll have to
take it easy riding down the street.”

Liselle nodded, not able to speak. Vevin
took her reins and led her while Sir Danth rode forward to take
point with his sword resting upward next to his thigh. His horse
high stepped to draw attention so people could see to move aside.
Emmaoen moved behind Liselle to keep from crowding the avenue,
giving other traffic room to move around.

By the time they reached the city wall, the
flames had diminished to faint ghosts behind Liselle’s eyes. She
continued to feel miserable and the further they got away from
Tathan, the more she realized how much she had come to rely on him.
He had been there for her when their family died and her world came
crashing down. Throughout all of her experiences since then, he was
there with an impudent grin and unflagging confidence. She wondered
if he had ever gone to jail for anyone else. It just didn’t seem
like the sort of thing he would do.

“Are you better, dearest?” Vevin’s eyes were
swirling with concern for her.

Liselle let her thoughts go and smiled
softly at him. “I am better, thank you.”

“Oh good. I’ve never seen you that mad or
scared before.” He leaned over and looked into her eyes. “Most of
the flames are gone. There’s only a tiny bit of fire in there.” He
jerked his head back. “Oh wait. They’re on fire again. I’m sorry I
upset you.”

Liselle closed them and took another deep
breath. She was going to have to stop letting emotions get the
better of her. At least it was easier to calm them now. She looked
around to see that they were closer to the outskirts of the city.
Turning back to Vevin, she asked, “Scared?”

“Mm-hmm. You were mad, but I can also see
that you’re scared for Tathan. I think he got himself into a lot of
trouble.”

She nodded. “I think you’re right. Vevin, I
am
scared. What if we don’t succeed? I get that he’s a
scoundrel, but he’s my cousin and my best friend. I don’t want him
to rot in jail or die.”

“We’ll succeed,” he reassured her with
determination. “It
does
sound like he’s been very bad
though.”

“Yes. I’m ready to know more about that.”
She turned in her saddle. “Emmaoen, tell us what you know of my
cousin’s misdeeds.”

The wizardess nodded. “You’ll want to turn
right at the next road. It’s a highway that leads south, the
direction we want to go. I’ll tell you after we get outside of the
city a ways and it’s not so noisy.” Liselle noticed that people
were everywhere making a great racket. There were merchant trains,
workers, peasants, soldiers and just about every other type of
person going in every direction.

They turned onto the highway, which was wide
enough for a number of caravans to travel side by side. Emmaoen
explained that it was the main supply road for the kingdom from
fertile farmlands to the south. Kethril’s main exports, wool and
clothing, came from the south as well.

A short while later the noise became even
louder and the reek of people and animals grew overwhelming. “This
is the market,” Emmaoen yelled over the din. Liselle saw covered
tents and stalls with vendors shouting for potential customers. The
market was on the left, separated from the highway by a low stone
wall that didn’t deter people from jumping over, but did provide
some separation.

The market bordered the highway for at least
a mile. The sight of so much activity awed Liselle and if it hadn’t
been for Vevin still leading her horse, she would have run into
numerous people along the way. After passing the market, it took
another hour of plodding along to get to the southern outskirts of
town where the traffic wasn’t so bad.

Emmaoen rode up to Liselle’s side again.
“Come. We’ll stay at my place for the night.” She gestured to a
side street leading to an area of larger houses with trees around.
It was evening and a breeze brought the smell of the ocean from the
west. “It’s quiet, plus we can get baths, a nice meal and supplies
for the road. I’ll get some traveling expenses too so you don’t
have to waste any of your money. This is a quest for our kingdom
after all.”

“I want to be done as fast as possible,”
Liselle disagreed. “I’m sure your house is nice, but Tathan will be
sitting in a cell, waiting for us to return.”

“The duchess has a sound idea, Milady,” Sir
Danth said, turning in his saddle. They had come to a stop at the
side of the road near the intersection. “It will take at least one
or two weeks to accomplish the task before us. In instances such as
this, it is always best to begin well rested and prepared.”