ROAD TO CORDIA (28 page)

     “I’m all right,” she said, between pants.

     “Can you sit up? Straighten your legs? Anything?” She stayed curled in a ball. “Are you in pain?”

     “Of  course, I’m in pain. Will you shut up for a minute? I’m thinking.”

     He sat back on his heels. Apparently, her hero worship of him had died a quick death. He watched carefully as she slowly unfolded her legs and sat up. To his relief she finally stood up. She stared up at the trapdoor.

     “I have an idea,” she said.

     Minutes later, Ja’Nil was again standing on Ee'Rick’s hands. His belt was wrapped several times around her waist. “You sure about the time?” she asked him again.

     “It’s the middle of the night,” he assured her. “If there are any guards, they’re probably fast asleep.”

     “If,” she muttered to herself. “Of course there’ll be guards. Jadµ,” she said to him. “I’m ready.”

     “Keep your head tucked in,” he reminded her.

     She gave the trapdoor a quick look to measure the distance. “You,” she told the door, “are going to fly open. Understand?” Not surprisingly, the door remained mute--and closed.

     “Off we are,” said Ee'Rick. Both of them bent their knees slightly, Ee'Rick bent his arms. “One,” said Ee'Rick. “Two. Three!”

     On ‘three’ he straightened his knees, straightened his arms, and heaved her up towards the door. At the same time, she literally jumped from his hands, tucking her head down and hitting the trapdoor with her shoulder. “Open,” she said fiercely. She felt her shoulder crash into the door. Her head was not tucked in enough and it scraped against the bar. There was a wobbly sort of feeling throughout her whole body, and then she was falling. She landed on her feet, staggered, and was caught by Ee'Rick who held her steady. They both looked up. The trapdoor was open. It balanced precariously back and forth uncertain whether to fall back or land open in the stone corridor.

     Ja’Nil and Ee'Rick held their breaths. Ja’Nil made a waving motion, subconsciously encouraging the door to fall open. Another one or two seconds of indecision, and then the door slowly leaned away from the dungeon and fell open onto the stone corridor.

     They didn’t wait. She climbed onto Ee'Rick’s hands. He lifted her high enough for her to catch the edge of the opening and pull herself through. Once out, she lay very still, listening. Nothing, quiet as a tomb. She shuddered at the thought of tombs, quickly tied one end of Ee'Rick’s belt to a hinge on the heavy door, and dropped the other end down to him.

     “It’s secure,” she whispered.

     He scrambled up the belt so fast you’d have thought poison toothed blue rators were after him. Once out of the cell, he froze as Ja’Nil had done, and listened. Then he untied his belt and carefully lowered the trapdoor back into place.

     “It took two men to close it before,” she said.

     He merely grunted. “Off we are,” he said.

CHAPTER 28

     Princess Lil’Li checked the time; midnight. Lady Bel’Dor had long since left the chaise and retired to her room. She had no difficulty determining if the lady was asleep. The whole palace could probably hear her snoring and snorting.

     Lil’Li closed her bedroom door and reached for the lever to lock it. The lock had been removed. She stared at the empty space in amazement. How dare they? How dare
he
!

     Cursing softly under her breath, she said every dirty, disgusting, insulting word she knew. Quite a few, actually.

     Finally, she stopped cursing, and rolled up an extra blanket to make it look as if she was asleep in the bed. She doubted it would fool anyone, but she had wasted enough time.

     Opening the huge armoire, she pressed a specific place on the side panel and watched with satisfaction as the other side panel slid open. She stepped through and the panel slid smoothly shut behind her. She was now in complete darkness. With careful fingers, she located a small shelf, fumbled around until she found an object about the length and thickness of two cigars, and rubbed the tip against the wall. It immediately lit up with a soft blue-green glow, enough for her to see about five lengths in either direction. Another shelf held a box containing two extremely efficient and deadly looking knives. She took one, hesitated, and then took the second one also. While she was at it, she thrust a second glow stick in the pocket of her tunic. Thus armed, Princess Lil’Li, Queen Presumptive of all Cancordia, moved down the blue and green glow-lit passage. If she wanted, it would lead her outside the gates of Cordia. But she had no intention of leaving a clear field for Lord Raptor. Cancordia was her responsibility; she would not desert her country.

     Admittedly, her plans were not yet clear. For now, she intended to find those two prisoners and see if they really came from Lady Fayre. In the back of her mind was a half-formed plan on how to use Lady Fayre’s gift to save Cancordia. She worked on the plan as she moved down the dusty, cobwebby secret passage.

* * *

     Outside their cell, Ja’Nil saw the walls were also made of rough stone and dirt, only up here, there were sturdy looking wooden support posts to prevent cave-ins. Just as well they hadn’t tried to climb the walls; they would probably be buried under a ton of rock if they had. There were three lanterns on a rough wood table near the trap door. Two of them were dark, but one still fluttered and flickered.

     “You sure you can’t see in the dark?” Ee'Rick asked her.

     “Of course I’m sure,” she whispered. “I’m not a cat.”

     He grinned. “Cats aren’t the only animals that see in the dark,” he whispered back, as he buckled on his belt. “If it gets too dark, grab hold of the back of my belt and hold on so we don’t get separated.” Then he leaned forward and blew out the one remaining lantern.

     “What are you doing? I can’t see.” 

     He reached out, grabbed her hand, and guided it to his belt. “Off we are.”

     How he knew which direction to take was a mystery to Ja’Nil. As far as she was concerned, the passage was pitch black. But Ee'Rick seemed to know, or at least see, where he was going. He moved fast. Clutching his belt, Ja’Nil stumbled after him. At one point, she banged into a series of metal bars. “What’s that?” she asked.

     “Cells. They’re empty.”

     “We were the only prisoners?”

     “So far. Keep it quiet, there must be guards somewhere about.”

     Not if they were planning to just leave us there to die a slow death, thought Ja’Nil. Thank the Lord of the Circle they had escaped.

     Suddenly, Ee'Rick stopped. He stood very still.

     “What is it?” she whispered.

     “There’s a locked door in front of us. Can’t you see it?”

     “No.” She was getting tired of counting all the ways she was inferior to him. “Can you open it?”

     “Maybe,” he said.

     Oh great. After everything, they had gone through to escape, to be stopped now by a locked door. .

     She heard metallic sounds. “What are you doing?”

     “Picking the lock.”     

     Ja’Nil grinned. ‘Never say die,’ that was Ee'Rick.  Suddenly, she felt his back stiffen. “What?”

     “Someone’s inserted a key in the other side.” He pulled her in front of him. “Stand here where they can see you,” he said, as he moved away.

     “Where they can see
me
! What about you?”

     Ja’Nil wanted to move away also, but it was so dark that she wasn’t even sure where the door was. She froze. There was a loud screech as the door was pushed open from the other side. A sliver of light outlined the opening. She took a step back.  As it opened wider, the light fully illuminated Ja’Nil. She put a hand up to shield her eyes.   

     “Who are you?” demanded a vaguely seen figure. The figure, glowing with a strange greenish light, stepped over the threshold, advancing on Ja’Nil.

     Ee'Rick stepped out of the darkness. From somewhere, he had found a short iron bar that he raised to swing at the intruder’s head.

     The intruder was no slouch either. Dropping the light stick, the barely seen figure whirled to face Ee'Rick, knife hand outstretched to slash at him. Ee’Rick had already started to swing the iron bar when he realized the intruder was a young woman. He managed to twist his body so the iron bar passed harmlessly over her head. The intruder, however, kept a firm hold on her knife.

     “Who in the name of the Blessed Golden Goddess are you?” Ee’Rick snarled. He was sick at the thought that he’d almost decapitated a female.

     The female in question straightened from her knife fighter’s crouch and looked them both over.

     Ja’Nil sidled around so her back was to the door the woman had just come through. Now the woman, who was really not much older than Ja’Nil herself, had Ja’Nil on one side of her and Ee'Rick on the other. Ee'Rick, was looking the knife wielding stranger over carefully. To Ja’Nil’s annoyance, he seemed to like what he saw.

     “Are you the prisoners who are supposed to be in the dungeon?” she asked.

     “Yes,” said Ee'Rick. “Who are you?”

     The young woman looked at him proudly (arrogantly, thought Ja’Nil).

     “I am Princess Lil’Li, Queen Presumptive of all Cancordia.”

     “How can you be Presumptive?” asked Ja’Nil. “Either you’re the Queen or you’re not.”

     The intruder cast a quick dismissive glance at Ja’Nil and turned back to Ee'Rick. “I will be proclaimed Queen as soon as the council meets and my coronation is celebrated. For all practical purposes I am your Ruler.”

     Maybe, thought Ja’Nil.

     “And what is the Queen Presumptive of all Cancorida doing sneaking around prison cells in the middle of the night?” asked Ee'Rick.

     “I was coming to interview you.”

     “Why not send for us…Your Majesty?” Ee'Rick added ironically.

     Lil’Li ignored the question and his tone. “Did Lady Fayre send you?” she asked Ee'Rick.

     Ee'Rick said nothing.

     “Well?”

     “She sent me,” said Ja’Nil.

     “You?”

     “She thought no one would notice me.”

     “Ahh, yes, I can see that.”

     Ja’Nil decided to ignore the implied insult; after all, it was true.

     “What message did she send?”

     “The message was for the Queen.”

     “I am--”

     “The Queen, your mother.”

     “My mother is dead.”

     “Yes. I’m sorry about that.” Ja’Nil’s good manners came to the fore again.

     “Thank you,” said Lil’Li. Her voice was suddenly husky with pain. “I will be such a Queen as my mother was,” she said. It was a vow.

     Ja’Nil recognized the pain in the princess’s voice. She looked at Ee'Rick for some hint of what he was thinking. He was studying the soft, slim figure of the princess, admiring her long white hair, her slender graceful neck, and her big dark eyes.

     Ja’Nil thought of the way Ee'Rick had literally run away from their camp to avoid being alone with her. Apparently, a little Fisherfolk girl wasn’t worth a second look, but a Queen Presumptive, ah, that was a whole different story. She watched as Lil’Li became aware of Ee'Rick’s scrutiny and smiled at him.

     A sharp pain twisted in Ja’Nil’s chest.
So this is what jealousy feels like
.

     Lil’Li turned back to the Fisherfolk girl, who was actually little more than a child. “Please tell me what message Lady Fayre sent the Queen.”

     Grudgingly Ja’Nil did. “She thought there was a lot of magic in childhood friendships. She said I was to tell the Queen ‘Lady Fayre has wired you the truth and the name of your enemy.’

     “I know the name of my enemy,” said Lil’Li. Holding her hand out to Ja’Nil, she said, “Give me The Thread of Truth.”

     “The what?”

     “You said Lady Fayre wired my mother the truth.”

     “All she gave me was a ring and a parchment. Your Lord Raptor took both.”

     “He is not my Lord Raptor,” said Lil’Li.

     “He was giving orders. The soldiers obeyed him.”

     “Not my soldiers.”

     Fisherfolk girl and Queen (Presumptive) glared at each other.

     “Anyway,” said Ee'Rick, wading in to break-up the tension, “he destroyed both.”

     “He destroyed the ring?” Lil’Li was horrified.

     “It was in pretty crumbly condition. He just finished smashing it up.”

     “There was nothing in the ring?”

     “Just dust,” said Ja’Nil.

     “I think Lord Raptor had something to do with my…” Lil’Li took a deep breath. “I think he killed the Queen,” she said.

     “What!”

     “You can prove that?” asked Ee'Rick.

     “Not without Lady Fayre’s ring.”     

     “What does the ring have to do with it?”

     Lil’Li slumped with defeat. When she had heard the two prisoners were from Lady Fayre, she had counted heavily on The Thread of Truth to resolve things legally; now war might be the only answer. The thought of her country torn, bled to death by civil war, made her sick. But it was impossible to just give up. Without a royal female carrying the Queen’s Gift on its throne, Cancordia would crumble away into nothing, easy pickings for the jackals just waiting beyond the borders. To prevent the destruction of Cancordia would she be willing to marry Lord Raptor? Civil war, or wife to Lord Raptor?
Lord of the Circle, help me.

     “The ring?” The Fisherfolk girl reminded her.

     Lil’Li leaned wearily against the dirty wall, her knife forgotten in her lax hand. “Do you know of Lady Fayre’s gift?” she asked.

     “No,” said Ja’Nil. “Someone said she had a powerful one, but that was all.”

     “Her gift is to infuse into metal threads made of Troyceum--”

     Ee'Rick made a soft whistling sound.

     “Yes,” agreed Lil’Li. “Troyceum is very rare and valuable. Also it takes a great deal of energy on Lady Fayre’s part to infuse the metal.”

     “Infuse it with what?” asked Ja’Nil.

     “The Truth.”