Victim of Fate (18 page)

"Is she your woman?" Garrick asked.

Alto stiffened and then shook his head.
Patrina was a princess; he was just the son of a farmer. More so he
had a girl back in Portland that had laid a claim on him. Patrina
watched him hesitate, and then she blew threw her nose in the same
angry manner that Winter had done.

"I’m nobody’s woman!" she snapped. "I’m the
daughter of the Jarl of Holgasford and you’ll stop speaking of me
like a plaything or a possession!"

Garrick recoiled, and then chuckled. "She’s
got fire enough to keep the snow away!"

Alto nodded. "That she does."

Patrina glared at them both. She ignored both
of them and turned to Tyrus. "He called you Tyrus; are you the
leader of this group?"

Tyrus nodded but could not hide the smirk on
his face. "Daughter of the jarl—that makes you a princess?"

Alto saw the muscles in Patrina’s cheeks
twitch but she gave a terse response. "Yes, something like that.
These men who held us captive are working with evil forces and
seeking to overrun his kingdom and my lands to the south. They used
me to capture Alto, though we don’t know why."

"His kingdom? Is he a prince?" Tyrus
asked.

Alto laughed. "My father’s a farmer. I don’t
know why they want me."

Patrina snorted. "He’s the hero who killed
the man that had taken Highpeak. What more reason do they need than
to make sure you’re dealt with and out of the way?"

"Won’t be a hero anymore," Garrick muttered
and glanced at Alto’s hands.

Alto used his hips to force his fingers to
curl into fists. Now that the fight and the excitement was fading,
the cold was creeping back in. With it came a distant ache in his
wrists and feet.

"We know someone who can heal him," Patrina
said. "He’s a friend of ours, but he’s in the south. We need to
leave if Alto is to be healed."

"Another wizard?" Garrick sneered.

"No, he’s a priest of Leander," Alto said. "A
powerful one."

Tyrus glanced behind himself and up towards
the mountains. He returned his gaze on them and spoke as though he
hadn’t heard their bickering. "The men you speak of have been
bringing people through our lands. We fought them at first, but
they made a truce with our chief so now we leave them alone,
mostly."

Alto censored his chuckle to a mere sniff.
Two men were dead because they’d been mostly left alone. It had
been two men that had earned their fate, but dead was still
dead.

"Many men, hundreds or more, have come
through. Always they go into the mountains, to caves that we’ve
stayed clear of because of dark things that dwell within," Tyrus
continued.

"What dark things?"

Tyrus turned his gaze on Alto and let him
know by the fold of his eyebrows that Alto’s question was stupid.
"They wouldn’t be dark if we knew what they was! Men have gone in
and not come back out. Good, strong hunters and warriors. Snowbear
men, not weaklings like the Elkheart clan!"

The gathered barbarians laughed at the jibe,
even Garrick.

"These caves, were they made by dwarves? Were
they once mines?"

Tyrus cursed and spat on the ground. "Evil
creatures! We’ve not seen them since before my grandfathers’
grandfather’s time. If they’re in the caves, they best stay
there."

Alto nodded. "We need to be going," Alto
said.

"I’m not going back to be trapped in my
father’s hall," Patrina snapped at him.

Alto walked over to where Rynn’s body lay on
the ground. He kicked him over and then reached down and used both
hands to draw his sword. He presented it to Patrina and said, "No,
we’re headed to the mines. We need to know what they’re doing down
there. Tristam meant for us all to explore them, but since it’s
just us, we have to do the job."

"You can’t wield a sword or fire a bow!"
Patrina pointed out.

Alto nodded. "You’re better with a sword than
me," he said.

She nodded. "I am, but you’re stronger and
more reckless."

Garrick laughed. "A woman with a sword?"

Patrina turned to glare at him. She raised
the blade and pointed it at him. "Got a problem with that, big
guy?"

Alto started forward but Garrick spoke before
he could intervene. "Put that away before you get yourself hurt. I
see a fierce spirit in you, but fighting is a man’s sport!"

Patrina turned away from Garrick, ignoring
him. "Do you have a shaman? A seer? Witch-doctor? Anyone who can
call upon the saints to heal?"

Tyrus nodded. "We have a shaman. He prays to
the saint of the hunt, though Arcan tells me that the saint seldom
listens."

"All right, when I beat your boy in a fight,
then you take us to him, and we’ll see if he can heal Alto’s hands
and feet. Then we’ll be out of your hair and no one will know
what’s happened."

The gathered men stared and then started
laughing. Garrick scowled, his face red at the thought of the
embarrassment of fighting a woman. "I won’t cross swords with a
woman," he spat.

Patrina spun around and slapped the flat of
her blade against the side of his cheek. Garrick stared in shock at
her and then reached up and felt the blood where one of her edges
had nicked him. He stared at the blood on his fingers and then
howled and reached for his blade.

Alto grabbed for his blade but found he
couldn’t get a grip on it with one hand. Before he could try to
press it between both palms and draw it out, Patrina had spun away
from the charging barbarian and tripped him with her sword. She
pounced on his back and had her sword pressed against the back of
his neck.

Alto let go of his weapon and shook his head,
impressed. She’d gotten quicker and even more skilled since the
last time he’d fought with her. Was there nothing she couldn’t find
a way to do better than him?

"What say you, Tyrus?" Patrina asked from
atop Garrick’s back.

Tyrus stared at the fallen man and shook his
head. He chuckled and motioned for them to get up. "Come, it’s a
few hours walk. Gather their horses; if they can’t be used, they’ll
make a fine stew."

Alto grimaced at the thought but remained
silent. He stripped Krey of his cloak and wrapped it around
himself, praying it would keep him warm as the sun dipped toward
the mountains in the southwestern sky.

"We’ve ridden hard for days; where can he
be?" Namitus complained as Tristam climbed back onto his
saddle.

"That’s no ordinary beast our young friend is
on," Kar lectured. "A unicorn is a magical creature, to say the
least. Highly intelligent, as much as a man. Some say they come
from another place, a different dimension where goodly and pure
beings exist."

"Bah, it’s a horse with a horn, what’s so
special about that?" Tristam muttered. "The innkeeper said a
warrior rode through a few days ago on a white horse that some
thought had a horn."

"A few days ago? That’s impossible!" Namitus
muttered.

"Magic works in many ways," Kar reminded
them.

"Goodly and pure? Is that why they’re
supposed to only allow maidens to ride on them?" Tristam asked.

"That’s the theory. Few sages have ever had
the opportunity to have a discussion with a unicorn."

"They’re horses! How can you have a
discussion?" Namitus interjected.

"Do you pay any attention at all?" Kar
snapped at the rogue. "You have elven blood in your veins—how can
you not understand all things are possible with magic?"

"Alto’s no maiden," Karthor pointed out.
"Doesn’t that mean you might be wrong?"

"A maiden, no, but he’s about as goodly and
pure as anybody I’ve ever met," Kar said.

Karthor chuckled. "And, unless I miss my
guess, he’s yet to spend any time rolling a lass like Aleena in the
hay."

The others laughed at the priest’s opinion,
each of them nodding in agreement. When they quieted Kar said,
"Perhaps being a woman isn’t the prerequisite. Mayhaps instead
purity is all that is needed. Finding such purity in a man is
rare."

"There are good men out there," Karthor
retorted.

Kar raised his eyebrow and stared at his son.
"Indeed there are, but I can’t recall any tales of priests riding
unicorns."

"I’ll keep that in mind the next time you
need Leander’s blessing."

"No you won’t," Kar said with a grin. "You
are a good man; you’d never hold such a thing against me."

Karthor scowled and spurred his horse ahead.
Tristam and Kar both chuckled behind his back. Namitus sighed and
stared at the road ahead, his mixed heritage allowing his eyes to
pick out details and distance in the dusk better than his
companions. "Another day to Holgasford."

"Aye," Tristam said. "That barkeep said as
much."

"I’ve ridden these roads with the jarl and
Patrina," Namitus said. "I recognize where we are."

"Alto’s got a few days of travel on us; we’ll
find him there, I’m sure," the wizard said.

"Then we’ll box his ears for running us all
over the damn countryside," Tristam added.

* * * *

An early start the next day saw the Blades of
Leander riding up to the outer gates of Holgasford with a few hours
of sunlight left in the day. The guards met them at the southern
gate and called them to a halt.

"Are the memories of the Kelgryn so fickle
they forget their friends?" Tristam asked. "We rode with Lady
Patrina and rescued her earlier this year."

The guards turned to consult when another and
then ushered them through and bade them dismount so they might
stable their horses. A soldier with a long blond beard met them
inside the gate and said, "Then you are friends, but times are
difficult. One of your men, Alto, was already here."

"Was here?" Namitus interrupted. Tristam
turned and silenced him with a glare.

"Yes, he was. He arrived with a unicorn, of
all things, and then gave it to the Lady Patrina. Then she went off
riding on and the beast came back without her. Your man rode out
with the jarl and his men to find her."

Tristam swore. "When was this?"

"Two days back now, about this time."

"They’ve not returned?" Kar asked.

The guard turned to study the wizard. "No,
they’re still in the northlands."

"Alto’s a tracker," Tristam mused aloud.

"Does anyone know where they are?" Kar asked.
Before the guard could speak he added, "Other than to the
north."

The guard snapped his mouth shut and shook
his head. "You should speak to Lady Kenna, the jarl’s wife."

"If it’s all the same, we’ve been on the road
riding hard for days to meet up with Alto," Tristam said.

The guard’s brows furrowed, an expression
mirrored by Karthor and Tristam.

"You wish lodging?"

Tristam laughed. "My apologies, good man! No,
we’d best be off if we’re to catch up with them and help."

The guard’s beard twitched upwards in a
smile. "You do your deeds justice," he offered. "Ride north by
northwest. I saw them head that way until darkness fell and I could
see them no more."

"Our thanks," Tristam said with a nod. He
turned and climbed back into his saddle with a masked groan.

"One thing more," the guard said, giving them
pause. "The unicorn that Alto rode, I hear tell his name is Winter.
He runs so fast he’s more like a white hawk streaking across the
countryside. He left the jarl with only dust to track."

"Aye, we’ve learned all too well how hard it
is to follow that beast," Kar quipped.

"Tell your lady that we’ll find them,
hopefully with everyone safe and on their way back. If not, we’ll
make sure of it."

They turned and rode back out of the city and
made their way around the city. Homes and shops were set up outside
the wall, slowing them with the traffic of merchants and of
shoppers. When at last they cleared the crowds and found the open
countryside ahead of them, they bid their horses stretch their
weary legs and gain as much distance from Holgasford as they
could.

"We’ve no idea where we’re going." Kar had to
raise his voice to be heard over the trotting horses.

"North by northwest the man said," Tristam
shouted back. "If you’ve become a tracker, you’re welcome to
help."

"A blind fool could track the contingent of
guards the jarl took with him," Kar snapped.

Tristam peered ahead of his horse and then
gestured at the ground before them. "Put your eyes where your mouth
is, wizard. That was days ago and we’re moving too fast to be
certain of anything."

"If Alto and the unicorn were running as fast
as that guard said, the jarl and his men would be near a full
gallop in pursuit," Karthor said.

"So they would," Kar agreed.

"All the more reason to ride fast," Tristam
said.

Kar frowned. "Hoping for the best seems the
province of priests. Finding them a day later is better than not
finding them at all."

"Unless we find a field full of crows
feasting on their rotting corpses."

"All for a missing princess?"

"Remember the last time Trina went missing?"
Namitus spoke up. "I was there and it wasn’t no bit of chance or
bad luck."

Kar frowned but didn’t refute the rogue.

"So we ride," Tristam confirmed. "Keep an eye
out for smoke or campfires; we’ll go as late as we can without
risking laming the horses."

"I’ve already lamed myself days ago," Kar
muttered.

Tristam smirked but gave the wizard no other
satisfaction for his surly comment. They rode on, chewing up the
ground and searching for any sign of the jarl or Alto.

* * * *

Two days later, early in their ride, Namitus
spotted the jarl’s campsite. The sites were abandoned but only by a
few hours judging by the warmth left in the fire pits.