Kethril (27 page)

The reins of Tathan’s mount were put in her
hands and both horses were smacked on the rump causing them to leap
forward to the alley. Anilyia looked back at Tathan and saw that
his hands were tied to the pommel at the front of the saddle. He
was trying to regain his senses, but his head kept rolling to the
side and drool was coming out of the corners of his mouth.

Anilyia was truly afraid for him, but
couldn’t think of any course of action other than riding. Outside
the alley, she led Tathan’s horse at a walk. At the next corner,
they passed the man who had shown them to the temple. “You’ll want
to move more quickly,” he said ominously.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that
Tathan’s eyes had cleared a bit and his head was no longer flopping
about. He still wasn’t coherent, but she thought he would be able
to handle traveling faster. Both horses were well bred with smooth
gaits and she picked a pace that would keep him from being jostled
as much as possible.

She continued on the street for another
mile. It was a major road with a few revelers and the occasional
worker. The night was still clear and the temperature mild, which
helped her fight off the exhaustion from the night’s events.
Anilyia figured it would be about two hours before dawn broke. She
giggled when she imagined the sky breaking in half as the sun hit
it from underneath, then wondered how the expression came to be.
Perhaps some time ago in history it had broken.

Rambling thoughts made her realize how tired
she was. Looking ahead, she realized a group of men was at the next
intersection. Her senses flared danger and she pulled up. “There
they are! We’ll be rich!” one yelled and the others cheered
agreement as they started running toward the riders.

Anilyia spun the horses and galloped back to
the last street, turning toward the highway. Someone in the crowd
threw a rock that missed. Fear was beginning to rise again and she
stamped it down. They disappeared behind her and she was soon on
the highway. A tented marketplace on the left was empty and quiet
except for a few vendors that slept there at night.

She slowed to a fast walk to preserve the
horses. They seemed to be doing well, even with the stress. The one
she was on was a beautiful steed. King Cranwer had given her one of
the best. Tathan’s new mount was just as magnificent, much to her
surprise.

The market gave way to businesses. About
another half mile further, two horsemen appeared on the highway
ahead. They were dressed in dark cloaks and looked dangerous.
Anilyia didn’t take any chances and turned onto a side street to
her left. There were no other outlets available without riding back
a short distance.

It was a skinny road with small specialty
shops that sold trinkets, items of dark magic and other odds and
ends, the kind of shop a princess would never be allowed in. The
main light was the mellow bluish glow from Siahray directly above.
Dim candlelight came from the windows of a couple of shops while
torches on the front of the occasional storefront flickered with
their last few flames. Anilyia didn’t like it at all.

The riders followed her into the alley. She
looked over her shoulder at Tathan. His eyes were still glassy,
though he was sitting up in the saddle better. Then two more riders
appeared from the street in front of her, blocking off the escape.
Anilyia looked around frantically for an escape and found none. All
four riders stopped. Their faces were stone-cold and hard, letting
her know not to expect kindness or mercy.

Shadowy figures dropped onto the men from
above. One rider to the front of her managed to avoid having his
throat cut and threw his attacker off. The other fell to the
ground, not being quick enough. Anilyia felt a few spatters of
blood hit her face from the man and threw up an arm to try to avoid
worse.

Thuds from behind indicated that those
riders fell prey to shadowy figures as well. Anilyia looked to see
the bodies on the street and their attackers making sure the job
was finished. In front of her, the lone rider had his sword out and
was swinging it skillfully at the two figures who had teamed up
against him. A whistling sound came from the street behind him and
a bolo wrapped around the rider’s neck, choking him. It gave the
other two attackers the opening to slide their daggers between his
ribs and he fell to the ground.

The princess had never seen death and
violence so dark. It was more intense and gruesome than bards had
ever mentioned in their songs. The bodies were moved to the gutter
and the attackers went through the belongings. It seemed
disrespectful, but she knew it was the way of the things. That
didn’t make it any less unnerving.

The shadowy figures finished looting the
bounty hunters and took the horses away, two disappeared back down
the street toward the highway and the other two turned north on the
next street, silent except for the clopping of hooves. Anilyia sat
there for a moment until she realized it was just her, Tathan and
four dead bodies in the narrow passage. Curtains moved in a shop
window and she saw an old woman’s face appear. The crone’s eyes
grew wide and she disappeared back behind the curtains.

Anilyia decided it would be unwise to stay
around any longer and went back to the highway. Tillg was turning
out to be a much larger city than she had imagined as she rode
another mile and still saw buildings along the road.

Her heart sank when she saw three more
riders waiting. Anilyia looked around for the best way to escape
them, but two more came out of the closest side street behind her.
Looking back at Tathan again, she saw that his eyes were
half-lidded and there was no real awareness. It was unfair that she
was doing all the work when
he
was supposed to be protecting
her
.

The sound of thundering hooves echoed off
buildings as a squad of cavalrymen came around a corner behind the
three riders. The sergeant raised his fist and slowed. “What goes
on here?” he challenged. Anilyia saw a young wizard with the group.
Sensing danger, the wizard cast a spell that visibly sent magical
energy to the other members of the squad.

The bounty hunters behind Anilyia slunk back
down the street they had come from. The other three between her and
the squad moved to the sides of the highway and started to follow
their compatriots. The sergeant gestured for his men to spread out.
“Hold I say! Go no further. You are wanted for questioning by the
crown.” The riders spurred their mounts to a run. The squad
galloped after them, leaving Anilyia to stare after in shock.

“You should keep moving, you know.” A cowled
woman leaned against a porch post of a general store. She was
dressed in the same black clothes as the people from the temple.
“Ride four miles outside of the city and then turn east on a lonely
dirt road called ‘Crow Lane’. You’ll see a crow on top of the sign.
There’s always one there. Ride ten miles until you reach an
abandoned church with a rotting roof. There’ll be crows on it as
well. You can rest there without being disturbed until tomorrow
morning.” With that, the woman climbed up the post, grabbed the
bottom of the second floor balcony, swung herself up and
disappeared over the roof to the darkness beyond.

Anilyia stared after her. The people in
black had helped her every step of the way, so she had no reason
not to take the advice. She set the horses at a distance-eating
trot, knowing they would be able to keep the pace for a few hours
and hoping Tathan would be able to handle the jostling.

***

Other than stopping to give the horses
water, Anilyia continued traveling until she reached Crow Lane just
as the sun was beginning to rise. Sure enough, there was a crow
sitting on top of the sign. It cawed at her once. She didn’t know
what to think about it and was too tired to care. The horses were
tired too, but she didn’t dare take the time to rest them. Clouds
coming in from the ocean threatened to make it a wet, dreary day
and she hoped she would make it before the rain came.

***

A little over an hour later, just as the
first drops of cold rain were beginning to fall, she reached the
abandoned church. The clouds had sped across the sky along with a
brisk wind that whipped Anilyia’s hair about her face. In most of
the areas she had ridden through, the leaves wore brilliant fall
colors. However, the trees here had already lost all but a few
scraggly leaves, giving the place a stark and uninviting feel.

The church walls were dark stone and it had
a red, wood-shingled roof that was rotting. Past rains falling on
the roof had left red trails down the stone, making it appear as
though the church was bleeding.

Crows stared at them from the roof and
trees. She felt like she was being judged as she walked the horses
past the rusted iron gate that was lying ineffectively on the
ground nearby. There were hitching posts in the yard outside. Most
were fallen, but one was good enough to tie the horses to.

It was the first time she had been off the
horse since the temple. After tying the horses to the post, Anilyia
stretched her aching arms and legs. Another bath and a nap would
have been lovely. She moved to Tathan who was staring blankly
ahead. His hands were still tied to the pommel. The person who made
the knots was an expert and it took her five minutes to get them
undone. She even cussed once during the process.

“Tathan? Tathan, you need to get down so we
can get you some rest.” He didn’t respond. She smacked his
uninjured leg and yelled, “Hey! Tathan! Come on, get off the
horse.” He finally looked at her with a confused frown before
nodding and sliding off. She had to catch him as he stumbled.

Putting his left arm around her shoulder,
she helped him inside the church. Inside were a number of broken
pews littering the ground and an untouched statue of a hooded woman
kneeling on a dais at the far wall. Shafts of grey daylight leaked
in from the broken ceiling, letting drops of rain patter
inside.

The princess set Tathan at the edge of one
of the pews that was still upright and went to look around. A door
at the far end was still intact and unlocked. Inside was a large
room with a firepit in the middle of the floor. Wood was arranged
in the pit for a campfire. More wood was stacked along one of the
walls and straw was lain out for five beds. The ceiling was even
intact. She got the impression that they weren’t the only ones who
used the church as a hideout.

Remembering something Tathan had told her
back at the Lost Inn, she checked the rest of the building to make
certain there were no hidden surprises. In the process, she found a
watering trough and feed for the horses.

She brought the horses inside and tied them
to a rail along one of the walls. Anilyia realized she should take
off the saddles and brush them down, but was too tired and honestly
hated taking care of mundane tasks. Plus, the rain was getting
heavier and dripping on her. She was feeling petulant and
abused.

Her biggest concern was Tathan. Once she had
the sleeping rolls off the horses and set on the straw beds, she
started a fire in the pit. Then she went back to Tathan. He was
still sitting on the pew, his arms slumped on his lap and his gaze
straight ahead. She knelt in front of him and caressed his cheek.
“Are you going to be alright, love?”

Tathan blinked twice and looked at her. His
eyes were still glassy, but there was some comprehension. He smiled
and said, “Mabibble honk to the wibble.”

Anilyia laughed helplessly. It was either
that or cry. “Alright then. Let’s get you to bed.” She put his arm
around her shoulder again and helped him limp to the sleeping
rolls. His was on the bottom and hers on top so they could sleep
next to each other. Anilyia took his boots off and helped him
inside the makeshift bed.

The princess took one last look around the
church before going back into the room and closing the door. Then
she curled up next to him and fell instantly asleep out of sheer
exhaustion.

Anilyia woke to the smell of cooking food.
She groaned as she pushed herself up and looked around. Tathan was
sitting on a stool and frying something in a pan. A cloth partially
covered sliced bread and cheese on a wooden cutting board. Her
stomach growled in response, demanding she get up and seize the
food that taunted so cruelly.

Tathan smiled tiredly at her. To her relief,
the glassiness was mostly gone from his eyes. His hair was sweaty
and knotted with dried blood from killing the kidnappers the night
before. He had rinsed his face at some point, but there were still
a few spots.

“Gar ish magg di,” Tathan told her while
holding up the pan he was frying food in. He pointed at a clean
plate in front of her and then pointed at the bread and cheese.

Anilyia sat up straighter and rubbed the
sleep out of her eyes. Frowning, she tried to piece together the
words he had spoken. She failed. “Huh?”

“Ible wug froo,” Tathan clarified.

She shook her head to clear it. The words
still didn’t make sense. “Tathan? Are you alright?” she asked in a
worried voice.

“Mabibble honk to the wibble,” he answered
reassuringly. “Gar zif wawa.” Grabbing a cooking spoon, he began
scraping some of it onto her plate. It looked to be a mix of
potatoes, bacon, eggs, vegetables and some herbs. He stopped upon
seeing the horrified look on her face.

Anilyia gulped. “Tathan . . . can you
understand what I’m saying?”

“Mabibble honk to the wibble,” he replied
with a nod. The expression on his face was one of concern.
“Imshammalla?” He was speaking nonsense, but seemed to understand
what she was saying.

Tears came to Anilyia’s eyes. The stress was
beginning to get to her. This adventure was not what she bargained
for. At the same time, she wasn’t about to start crying again. She
had used up her quota back at the castle.