Learning the Truth (Fighting for Freedom Series Book 1) (3 page)

By the time they reached Damascus’ stronghold Louise had managed to convince Scott that their plan would only work if she went in there alone. Damascus knew Louise well enough to believe that she had escaped Scott’s men and was there to help her take the fight to him. “I’ll be in and out in a night.” She kissed him. “I know you hate this, but this is the only thing we can do to give us the time we need to prepare for Septimus. Any messenger is going to take at least a week to get to his stronghold.”

“You’ve told me this before, but it doesn’t make things any easier.” He took a step back. “Go on then, before I can’t let you go.”

Nodding, she walked away from him, wishing he could go with her, because she knew what was coming. After nine nights of not having any nightmares she was certain that she would have one in a place where she couldn’t show any weaknesses at all, but there was only one way she knew of from stopping that to happen. It wasn’t something Scott would have agreed with her doing, so she hadn’t told him, even though she felt guiltier than she thought she would for keeping secrets from him. She didn’t look back. With her eyes locked on the stronghold she kept walking. Forcing the fear she felt aside was much harder than she thought it was going to be, as she knew Damascus had scouts everywhere and any one of them might have seen her with Scott.

That was something else Louise hadn’t mentioned to him. She didn’t want him to be any more worried than he already was and she was certain that those were things he would have already thought of. “Lou?” A voice from the trees made her jump and then someone she never thought she’d see again jumped down. “What are you doing here?”

Finding herself facing her ex-boyfriend was not something that she’d expected to happen and she wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with it, so she focused on what needed to be done if they were going to bring an end to Septimus’ reign. “I was at Tristan’s stronghold until it fell, so I’ve come here to ask Damascus for sanctuary.” Louise was certain he hadn’t been with Damascus before, but that was a question she didn’t think she was ready to ask. “Take me to her.”

“Why would you need sanctuary?”

“Just do as I say, Charlie.” She shook her head. “How long have you been one of her scouts?”

“A month, I think, and she never mentioned that you might be coming here seeking sanctuary.”

“She’s actually spoken to you?”

Charlie shook his head. “No, but…”

“You obviously have no idea what you’re talking about then, as I’m certain that Damascus will be expecting someone from Tristan’s stronghold. We are not the sort of people to give up without a fight.”

He studied her. “I’ve been told not to believe anything anyone says. You could be trying to get into the stronghold to kill Damascus.”

Louise brushed a hand through her hair. “Take me to Damascus. She knows me. We’ve spoken before numerous times because I was one of the people closest to Tristan and we don’t, at this moment in time, have any issues that means I would want to kill her. When I last spoke to her she offered me a place here, but I turned it down, as I couldn’t leave Tristan at his time of greatest need.”

“I don’t know…”

“Remember your training.” That voice Louise recognized and she couldn’t help smiling. “If our visitor is telling the truth she will know the answer to one specific question.”

“Hi, Vance.” She waved at the tree she was certain he’d be in. “The newbie needs some work.”

“Unfortunately they always do, but at least this one is too careful for his own good, instead of being sloppy like some of them. We’ve taken on so many people recently that I haven’t had time to train them all and at least three of them have been assassins hired by Scott, coming here to kill Damascus.”

“Really?” After spending the last ten days with Scott she didn’t believe that, but it was always possible. “She must be terrified.”

Vance jumped down, their eyes meeting. “Her fear is the reason for the new scouts. They say that Scott isn’t with his men, so we have no idea where he is, and there is a chance he might be planning an attack against Damascus.” He sighed. “We haven’t had any sightings, but that could be because the scouts aren’t as well trained as I would have liked.”

“There was a man…” Louise shrugged. “I have no idea who he was, because we never had any pictures of Scott, but it might have been him.”

“No one has any pictures of Scott. The only people who knew what he looked like are dead thanks to him and we only know that he’s not there because of the rumors that we’ve heard. He might be there and people are telling us stories to make Damascus too afraid to attack, even though Septimus says that’s what we have to do.”

“Septimus has been to the stronghold?”

“He’s still at the stronghold. We have no idea when he’s planning on leaving, unfortunately, because having him there isn’t making things any easier. Damascus needs a chance to settle herself before we make a move, but he’s pushing for it to happen now, unable to accept that anyone would try to kill her.”

“He’s an idiot then.”

“We all think it. None of us have said it to his face, however.” Vance shrugged. “I’ll take you to Damascus. Maybe your arrival will help set her mind at rest, because she definitely needs someone here to talk to about all this and Septimus is not that person.”

Louise’s eyes met Damascus’ and it was obvious there was something very wrong. The last time Louise had seen Damascus she’d been her old self, but things had changed. “You were with Scott.” Louise opened her mouth to deny that until Damascus shook her head. “Don’t. I understand why you made that choice and I want you to help me.”

“Help you with what?”

“I’m not still doing as Septimus wants me to because of the feelings I once had for him - I’m doing it out of fear. You came here to get me out of the picture, right?” Damascus smiled. “That was the most logical thing to do, so I’m not angry with you for that, but I want to be in the picture. I can help you and Scott plan the attack on Septimus’ stronghold in such a way that he won’t survive it.”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

“You don’t. I’m hoping that telling you what I know, without any anger, is going to help, especially as you know I could easily have had Vance kill you before you got this far.”

“Vance said you didn’t have any knowledge of Scott’s whereabouts.”

“He lied to you, because I asked him to. He knows that I want your help and the best way to get that was for me to talk to you about what I needed.” Damascus shook her head. “This isn’t something I ever thought I’d do, but Septimus is getting more… he’s a bastard, Lou, and I don’t want to be a part of this mess any longer. I want to help Scott bring an end to the man I once thought I loved.”

“Scott isn’t going to believe you.”

“No, he’s not, and that’s why I wanted you to come to me, as I’m hoping you’ll be able to convince him that I am on your side.”

“Damascus, I’m not convinced you’re on his side, so how can I convince him that you are?”

“This should help.” Damascus got a pile of papers out of her desk. “Septimus doesn’t trust many people, but he does trust me, so he gave me a map of his stronghold as well as other information he thought I might need before he realized that Scott was actually going to be a problem. When they first crossed paths Septimus was certain he would be able to get rid of Scott before he did any damage. Fortunately Septimus was wrong.”

“Can I have a look?”

“Of course.” Damascus pushed them across the desk so they were in front of Louise. “Take me to Scott, Lou, because I can’t do this any longer. I can’t let Septimus bully me into being someone I’m not.” Damascus nibbled her bottom lip. “I really did think I loved him, once, and I’m glad I realized it wasn’t love - I wanted it to be love, desperately, but you can’t love someone like that. He never saw me as anything more than a tool to be used.”

As Louise looked through the pile she didn’t know what to think. It was exactly what Damascus said it was going to be, which made Louise want to believe it was possible Damascus was telling the truth, but… Louise couldn’t just believe what she was being told. Damascus could be using Louise to remove Scott from the picture, to make things simpler for Septimus. Sighing, she looked between the papers and Damascus.

“This is something I’m going to need to think about for a couple of hours, Damascus, because this isn’t a simple decision for me.”

“I know.” Damascus smiled. “When Vance came back to tell me what had happened to the two of you I was so pleased that something nice had finally happened for you. You deserve happiness, Lou, but that isn’t going to be an easy thing to find when Scott and Septimus are doing their best to kill each other. I can help you. I can put an end to this quickly and then we can start rebuilding again without someone like Septimus trying to take over the entire country.”

“You’re certain that Vance is your man?” Louise couldn’t help worrying that Vance knew so much, even though Damascus obviously trusted him. “He’s not working for Septimus as well as you?”

“Vance has been with me since the beginning and I can’t believe he would betray me to Septimus, but there is always a chance of that happening.” Damascus looked at the door. “If he has we’ll know soon enough, because Septimus will be here to bring this meeting to an end, so if he doesn’t then I’m going to keep believing that Vance is my man.” She sighed. “I hate this. I hate that I have to be wary of people that I always trusted before, because of Septimus.”

Louise wasn’t so certain and that was what helped her to make her decision. “You have a way out through this office, right? One that no one else knows about.”

Confusion filled Damascus’ eyes as she nodded. “How do you know about it?”

“We think alike, Damascus, and if I was in your position that’s what I’d have.” Louise smiled. “You also have a bag in here for emergencies.” That wasn’t a question, but Damascus nodded. “Then we need to go now, before he comes, because I think he is going to. Either that or he’ll wait until you’re least expecting it, at dinner for example, and then he’ll do something that removes you from the equation, leaving me in a very difficult position, as he’ll also know about my relationship with Scott.” Louise managed not to shudder at that thought and picked up the pile of papers as she stood. “It won’t take us long to get to him.”

Silently Damascus picked up the bag she had under her desk and went to a piece of wall that looked like there was nothing there. When she pressed a brick it swung open, revealing a passageway that they started walking down, with the door closing behind them. Louise wasn’t entirely certain she’d done the right thing, but she wasn’t going to leave Damascus there to die.

“Hello, Damascus.” Scott looked between the two of them, not showing any emotion, and Louise hoped he knew that she would never betray him. “I trust Lou has a reason for bringing you here.”

“Vance might have betrayed me to Septimus.” Damascus shook her head. “How can he have done that to me?”

“It happens, unfortunately. A number of people I trusted have betrayed me to Septimus, because Septimus offered them power and I didn’t, as I have no interest in that sort of thing. The only thing I want to do is remove Septimus.”

“These might help.” Louise held out the pile of papers. “Damascus is giving them to us to aid in the fight against Septimus, but we have to get away from here as quickly as possible. He’s going to know soon enough that we’ve gone and when he does he’s going to come after us.”

“Who needs sleep?”

Biting on her lip she put her hand into her pocket to take out the herbs she was going to use to stop herself from sleeping at Damascus’ stronghold. “Take this.”

Understanding filled Scott’s eyes, instead of the disappointment she’d expected, and he took a leaf, as did Damascus. “We can get back to Tristan’s stronghold much faster this way, but we need to know if Septimus is going to send an army after us straight away or not.”

Damascus nodded. “I don’t think he will. He doesn’t have many men at my stronghold. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t planned for this, although I get the feeling he wanted me to know that Vance had betrayed me before he killed me.” She shuddered and Louise took hold of her hand. “This isn’t what I wanted to happen, Scott, but as it has I hope you believe me when I tell you that I have not betrayed you to Septimus. A man I believed in might have and for that I am truly sorry.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Scott took hold of Damascus’ other hand. “Let’s go.”

Louise listened out for the arrival of Septimus, but it never happened. After five days and nights of walking one of Scott’s scouts jumped down in front of them, signaling that they would be safe soon enough, and relief flooded her body. “We need to prepare for Septimus’ arrival now. Send someone to get Connor, Jack, Keeley, and Marnie. I want them in my tent as soon as possible.”

“Tent?” Louise shook her head. “I’m sure they should know where Tristan’s office was. Have them sent there, rather than the tent, because we’re going to need to be closer to possible points of entry that the tent.”

“You’re right.” Scott squeezed her hand. “Tristan’s office then. I’ll take Lou and Damascus with me.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll get someone to prepare coffee.”

“Good plan.” Coffee was getting rarer, so that wasn’t something they would have done unless they had to. “This is going to be an anti-climax if we’re wrong about what Septimus’ plans were.”

“I prefer to be prepared and have an anti-climax. What we don’t need is to have not done the preparations and end up dead, as that’s what Septimus wants.”

“He doesn’t want you dead.” That wasn’t what Louise wanted to hear, but it came as no surprise. “He wants to own you, Lou, because of your skills with a bow, so be careful.” Damascus smiled at her. “I know he was glad to hear that you had escaped Scott and were making your way to my stronghold, as he thought he could use you to get rid of Scott.”