Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (31 page)

“
I don’t believe
this,” Oaka said, getting up. “First, you say they are Followers of
Doomba, Captain Goga and Fobata, and now you are talking about
bloodlines, and Lord Crow whoever he is, and that we are only
targets of this whole debacle just because we happened to arrive on
a specific day
,
chased by Black Wolves I might add,” Oaka said,
trying to deal with all of this. His suspicions about Doomba being
involved in Basha’s prophecy, ‘control over man and
beast’
…
this was exactly what he had feared, almost, the proof that
it was possible.

“
It’s true!” Gnat
cried. “We’ve known for years that Goga and Fobata were Followers,
or at least we suspected, and it wasn’t until a few months ago that
Janus had
…
” Gnat gasped. “Ask Fato!” She cried
, causing the falcon to wince.

Basha, Oaka, and Monika stopped and
turned around. “Fato?” Monika asked.

Fato lowered his
head. “I have a message for King Sonnagh from Janus, a spy employed
by His Majesty, that Janus intends to sabotage
Lord
Fobata and
Captain
Goga
, who
are Followers of Doomba. That’s all I have to say
at the moment.” Fato was thinking about the woman he had seen with
Janus today, but it probably was not worth mentioning at this
time
, nor was the rest of the
message to King Sonnagh.

“
Why didn’t you stop
us
?
”
Basha began to say.

“
I did try to warn
you all against coming here, saying that we should bypass Coe Aela,
but you three wouldn’t listen to me.” Fato said, backing away from
them. “And I didn’t want to say the message then when it was
supposed to be a state secret
.
”

“
Never mind then.”
Basha said, angry at the bird as he turned around to Gnat. “So it’s
true then. Fobata and Goga are Followers of Doomba, and Lord Crow
must have found out that Fato had this message, and that he would
be coming back down here on his return trip to Coe
Kiki
.
”

“
It still doesn’t
make much sense to me.” Oaka said. He couldn’t believe it, Basha
was just trying to make another excuse again for what was happening
here. Did he just not want to face the truth about Doomba’s
involvement in this matter?

“
Does it matter?”
Basha asked, turning around to Oaka. “We have got to go, and Gnat
is our only way out of here before
…
is there a way out, Gnat, and can
we get out tonight?” Basha asked, turning to her again as Oaka
shook his head.

“
Why do you think I’m
here?” Gnat said, smiling. “There is a way out, I found it,
and
we can all go out as soon as you all
are packed.”

The group started collecting their
bags, Monika slipped out to go into her bedroom, and Basha turned
to Gnat. “What about the horses?” Basha asked.

Gnat hesitated. “I’m afraid it’s not
going to be possible to get them out.”

Oaka stopped packing,
staring at Gnat as Basha lowered his head. “I suppose we should
have known...” Basha said, and then hesitated. “There is
something else I need, in the stables. It’s in my
horse’s stall, in the saddle, a sheath with a sword in
it
. C
an we get it out?” He asked.

“
I suppose I can do
it, but it’s far better for you all to get out of Coe Aela first
before I do. I’ll fetch the sword, if you really need it, and bring
it to you.” Gnat said, looking up at him.

“
Thank you.” Basha
said, patting Gnat on the back. “I don’t know
how
…
do you want to come with us?” Basha asked. “Get away from Coe
Aela, and Captain Goga?”

“
That definitely sounds like a
good idea to me.” Fato remarked.

“
I
can’t...” Gnat said, lowering her head and
shaking it. “Thank you for asking, but it wouldn’t be fair to the
other servants, to Janus even, if I were to just go
without
…
I’m not ready yet.” She said, lifting her head. “Maybe
someday, when we are all together, but we’re not together yet.” She
said.

“
You should go.” Fato muttered to
himself.

Monika returned with her packs, and
learned the bad news that they would be leaving their horses
behind. She wept softly for Deja, and then lifted her tear-stained
eyes to slowly nod after a few moments--she would be ready to
leave. They rearranged their load, leaving behind a few possessions
so that they could carry enough for the trip without weighing
themselves down, and then turned to the door.

Gnat let them out, and then softly led
the way, through the corridors of Coe Aela. She paused along the
way to shove them into alcoves or abandoned rooms, if she thought
that someone was coming they should beware of, but for the most
part no one was about at this hour, possibly because they were
eating dinner. Only once or twice did the group see people, and
they seemed to be servants that Gnat trusted--she nodded at them
slightly, as if she knew them, and they nodded back, as if they
knew her secret. No one spoke, even though the group members had
some questions, until Gnat opened a door at the end of a corridor
that led them outside.

Basha had gotten
turned around by their progress through the corridors, but as he
looked out, he knew that it was not the front bailey, or the back
bailey, or the east bailey
.
I
t was instead the west bailey, which
apparently had been abandoned by the groundskeepers as weeds ran
rampant, vines crawled up the walls and trees, and bushes
irregularly shaped and untrimmed were gathered together in clumps.
Statues, allowed to break and fall, had been left where they lied
beside still, dry fountains.

The group stopped a
moment to stare at this grim sight as Gnat crept up to the curtain
wall, feeling around amidst the vines with her head slanted in
thought
. T
here were no sentries within sight on the ramparts. She
paused, and pushed aside some vines, waving over to the group to
come. They hurried over as best they could amidst the littered
field, and their hands felt as well in the spot where her hand had
been until they felt the gap. She pushed them through the hole,
barely large enough for a full-grown woman to slip through, but
Oaka and Basha managed the gap
after Monika
, and then Gnat came
through once the group was out
.
Fato had flown over the
ramparts.

Trees clumped
together outside of Coe Aela, the start of Mila Forest, hid the
hole from where the guards could have seen it on top of the
ramparts. Basha gasped, turning around to face the hole in the
failing light. “That was
…
how did that hole
happen?”

“
No clue. It’s been
there for awhile, I think.” Gnat said, panting as Fato flew back to
them for a moment. “Perhaps as far back as when Fobata’s ancestors
claimed they had invaded this impenetrable castle. I think that’s a
legend, but what else could explain this breach?” She asked,
looking ahead. “Let’s get going again.”

“
I hope they have
forgotten about this,” Monika muttered as she and the others
followed.

They ran through the forest, Gnat
leading the way, trying not to trip over everything in their path
until they came upon a glade surrounded by wild oaks. There was a
rock formation as large as a hill, which formed an outcrop, in the
glade with a waterfall tumbling down from its lip into a pool and a
thin creek wheedling away from it.

Gnat went around the pool toward the
rocks at the edge of the outcrop, and they followed her slowly
across the slick surface, careful not to slip even as she got
closer and closer towards the waterfall. They hesitated as they
thought she might be leading them on with nowhere to go but a dead
end, but then she slipped through the waterfall without coming back
out, and so they followed her--and nearly fell over the edge of the
cave mouth.

“
Sorry!” Gnat called
back, lifting her head up. “I should have warned you all. It’s just
a little bit further. You three should be safe in
here
,
with Fato
,
” Gnat remarked, as the falcon
flew into the cave just above their heads, flapping about to shake
off the water he had been doused with, and to explore the cavern.
“Until it’s clear enough for you all to leave with Basha’s sword.”
She added.

“
Why can’t we all
just go?” Oaka asked, staring down into the cave. “Leave Coe Aela,
Goga, and all of that stuff behind us
. W
hy do we have to wait? It seems
clear enough now.”

“
Because I need the
sword, and
Oaka
…
” Basha started to say, but
then Monika shushed him, staring straight ahead into the
half-illuminated darkness, shimmering with the waterfall and
falling sunlight. She thought she had seen something glisten in
there
, something she had
never seen before, and yet she recognized it.

“
Oh, no! Not again!”
They heard Fato’s voice cry in the distance.

“
There is another
reason, isn’t there?” Monika asked, staring down at Gnat. “Why you
have brought us here?”

“
Is she going to
betray us?” Oaka asked, nervous. “Is this like a second trap to
lull us all into believing you
?
”

“
It’s not a trap,
it’s important,” Gnat stomped her foot. “I need to show you all
this so that you can understand--it’s something that you might
need,” She said, turning away. “Come on, climb down, but slowly,
carefully.” She insisted.

The others followed
her order, inch-by-inch slowly and carefully until they made it
down onto the cavern floor. Monika thought she knew what was here,
what she had been searching for since the last Havin season.
Part of her dreaded finding it, as
it might mean that she was someone completely different from what
she had thought of herself before, in terms of her cultural
identity. Yet it was also a confirmation of sorts, that she was the
person she had thought herself to be, or at least suspected, and
this might prove to be the culmination of all her efforts in
finding it.
Fato flapped down to join
them, landing on Oaka’s shoulder.

“
This place is
amazing.” Fato said, looking about. “Difficult to see with very
little light, but what I could see
…
it’s amazing to think what water
can do to create a place like this.” He muttered.

“
What’s wrong? What
happened to you? Why did you scream?” Oaka asked.

“
Nothing.” Fato
muttered.

“
I came here quite by
accident, exploring around when I was young some years ago,” Gnat
said, walking deeper into the cavern. “Occasionally the washerwomen
would use the pool above to clean laundry in, and I would accompany
them. I nearly fell into the cave the first time, but I managed the
climb down after awhile. I kept coming back here, sneaking out
through the hole in the wall that I found in the meantime, because
I was lured here, in a way.”

She lifted her head. “I heard--I
felt--it was a presence, in a way, not exactly human, but not
exactly a thing either,” She added, stopping in front of--they
could not see it clearly, thrusting up out of the darkness.

“
It sang to me.” She
said. “It whispered to me a lullaby I had never heard before, soft
and gentle, like a mother--I had never known,” Gnat said, standing
aside. They saw the hilt, the pommel and its guard, above the wavy
figure of a curved sword in its
blue
scabbard thrust into the cave
floor. The light from above touched a hint of blue, turquoise,
cobalt and azul in the darkness, from the leather hilt down to the
blade’s wavy steel-forged lines.

“
What is it?” Basha
asked, stepping forward to stare at its appealing form.

But Oaka recoiled slightly. It
assaulted his senses, and made him feel trapped, cornered, like he
might be drowned or quenched.

“
What’s wrong with
you?” Fato asked now, frowning at Oaka. “At least it’s not so
bad.”

“
Not so bad?” Oaka
asked, shocked. “Compared to what?”

“
Compared to the
other one.” Fato said, glancing briefly at Basha.

They could feel the qualities that Gnat
had mentioned, that of a gentle, sweet, nurturing touch they longed
to take comfort in, yet it was also a powerful wave that could
sweep them away from here, carry them off to a faraway land where
they would never find home, and wash away all they had ever known.
Oaka was afraid of that awesome power.

“
It’s a sword, and
not just any sword,” Gnat remarked, turning to Monika. “It’s your
sword, is it not?” She asked. “Powerful, like the way you fight, a
Blue Sword of water.”

“
A Blue Sword.” Fato
muttered to himself.

“
A Blue Sword…” Basha
said, turning to Monika. “With a capital S?” He asked.

“
With a capital S is
right.” Monika said, nodding as she stared down at her weapon. In
the dreams she had of Renrawr’s death, the water closed in on her,
as if she had fallen into the ocean instead. But she did not drown
as she might have done, when she did not really know how to swim in
reality. Or fight it
,
with a struggle towards the surface, paddling
with her hands or kicking with her feet. No, instead, she dreamed
of being swallowed up by the water, and floating and sinking at the
same time as she breathed in the water like a fish. She became part
of the water
,
trembling in the currents, splashing with the
swells, and then evaporating up into the sky before dripping back
downwards as rain
;
she was water.