After The Rabbit (Waldo Rabbit Series) (26 page)

“I am not Charming him,” Alice said.

“That’s not what I had in mind. Gronk, you can eat one of his fingers, one of the small ones.”

“Really, Master?”

“Sure.”

Gronk grabbed Daring’s left hand and brought it up to his mouth.

“Now, will you agree to help me? Or do I tell Gronk to go ahead.”

Cleptus grinned. “This isn’t a very good bluff. Obviously you would never…”

“Do it, Gronk.”

CHOMP!

“Aaaaahhhhhh!!!”

At Cleptus clutched at the bleeding nub Waldo spoke.

“One of the many lessons my mother taught me was to never bluff when you make a threat.”

XXX

Coming to an intersection in the tunnels they saw the image of a chicken scrawled on the tunnel wall.

“We turn right here.”

Cleptus was leading the way with Waldo right behind him, then Gronk holding the torch and finally Alice bringing up the rear. Going down the new tunnel there was the image of a cat.

“Why do you use animals to mark your tunnels?” Waldo asked.

“Not al
l of us can read my lord wizard,” Cleptus sneered.

“My proper title would be Master Rabbit. You don’t like me very much do you?”

He held up his bound wrists. On his left hand there was a thumb and three fingers. “Does that surprise you?”

“I healed your wound. Otherwise, it would have definitely become infected.”

“You expect me to be grateful? I had my pinky bitten off!”

“You know, where I come from just speaking to me with that tone would get you your tongue ripped out, if you were lucky. Never mind the fact you stole from me.”

“Let me guess, stealing is punishable by death.”

Waldo nodded. “Usually by beheading, though impalement is also an option. Depending when you are caught you might also be forced to fight to the death. You should be thankful that I still intend to let you live once you’ve helped me.”

“I don’t believe you. Everyone knows White Mages are as hard on criminals as they are on monsters.”

“You might be surprised, my attitudes are a bit more liberal than my brethren.”

Cleptus gave a snort and rubbed his wound. “Yes, you are an angel of mercy.”

“Being insulting is not going to help you. You stole from me, and so I am within my rights to do as I please with you, but I am willing to spare you so long as you help me.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you?”

“Of course, I’m a White Mage, doesn’t everyone say we’re trustworthy?”

“You don’t want to know some of the stories they tell about your kind.” Cleptus shook his head. “Markus and the others were right, I should have just stayed away from you and your friends.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Obviously, I was blinded by your wife’s beauty. I fell in love at first glance, curse my romantic nature.”

“As if your sort would even know what love is,” Alice said.

He smiled back at her. “Now there you’re wrong. I can love quite well, if not always wisely.”

“I’ve known men like you all my life. You only ever love with your eyes, never with your hearts.”

“Unlike your husband I suppose? He loves you with his whole heart?”

Alice opened her mouth to answer yes, but hesitated. That Waldo genuinely cared about her she didn’t doubt. Unlike every other man she’d ever met she knew his feelings were more than simple lust. But did he love her with his whole heart? He’d made the point of telling her he trusted her. That made her happy, but trust wasn’t actually the same as love was it? What did his feelings for her really come to? He certainly didn’t act like a normal husband. Most men wouldn’t offer to trade their wives for five sheets of velum, not even as a joke.

Yet he had put his life in danger to save hers. He’d healed her and protected her, apologized for hurting her. He’d taken her virginity and given her the most soul shattering pleasure. And even if it had been for his own reasons, he had rescued her from Elsa and a future as Lancel’s mistress.  In their short time together she’d enjoyed this amazing, if dangerous, life of adventure.

But did all of that amount to true love? She couldn’t honestly say.

“What, no answer?”

“He loves me more truly than any man ever has.” That was definitely true, and felt good to say, but it was not the answer she’d wanted to give.

“I have a question for you thief,” Waldo said. “Do you know of any Great Monster in or near here?”

“What, you mean other than goblins?”

“That’s right.”
 

“Well, there’s the story about Willmon’s Tower. Back in the duke’s grandfather’s day he came up with the brilliant idea of building a whole line of fortresses in the marshes to keep an eye on the goblins. Willmon’s Tower was supposed to be the first.”

“What happened?”

“About what you’d expect, halfway through building it the thing fell into the marsh. The old duke tried to rebuild it, but there was a fire and it burned down. He tried a third time, and that one burned down and then f
ell into the marsh. The old duke finally gave up. Now they say the ruins are cursed and some terrible monster lives there.”

“Is this more than a rumor? Is there any actual proof?”

“You mean from people? No, the patrols don’t go into the marshes. The goblins though are afraid of the place.”

“I asked the duke if he knew about any Great Monsters and he didn’t mention this.”

“Why would he? You think he wants a White Mage to go running off into the marshes on a werbil hunt? I’m sure you see killing monsters as a sport, but the last thing the duke would want is one of your kind dying on his doorstep.” Cleptus had a sly grin. “Course, he might not be so reluctant now.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“What, you think I didn’t notice you had his sword? Everyone in this city knows what it looks like, kind of hard to miss with the gold thread and all. And you’ve already said you want to sneak out of Norwich. Hah, and people call me a great thief.”

“The duke lent it to us of his own free will.”

“Oh, yeah? Did he say you could keep it?”

In the flickering torchlight there was a coiled snake on the wall just ahead.

“I have my reasons.”

Cleptus nodded. “Don’t we all?”

Passing in front of the snake Cleptus deliberately stepped over a trip wire. Not noticing it Waldo dragged his foot through the wire, releasing it.

There was a clunk. Cleptus broke into a run just as the floor beneath them gave way. Waldo gasped as he fell. In the firelight he got a clear look at the pit filled with sharpened spikes below.

“
Levitarus
!”

Waldo spoke the spell just in time. He levitated with his face no more than three or four inches from the tip of one of those spikes.

Cleptus meanwhile was quickly around the nearest intersection and gone from sight. His voice rang out clearly.

“You should have made a deal with me wizard. Good luck to you finding a way out!”

Chapter 22

There Is No Easy Way Out

“We have a frog, a dog, a rat, and a duck,” Alice said. Beneath the frog and dog were chalked ‘X’ marks.

“I think it’s a goose,” Gronk said.

“No, it’s a duck.”

“Looks too big for a duck.”

“All the drawings are about the same size, whether they’re horses or snakes.”

“I still say it looks more like a goose to me.”

“I don’t care whether it’s a duck or a goose,” Waldo snapped.

They had been wandering about the sewers for what felt like hours. Their torch had given out and Waldo was using a fire spell to let him see. Alice and Gronk had both suggested he not bother as they could lead him through the dark. He’d decided to use some of his mana to maintain a small fire on the tip of his wand. He did not want to feel completely helpless.

“We’ll take the tunnel marked with the rat. We’ve already been through the ones with the dog and frog.”

“You sure darling? We haven’t been down the one with the duck yet either.”

“Goose.”

“We’re going this way,” Waldo took a piece of chalk and drew an X beneath the rat and then left the intersection and started down the tunnel.

Alice and Gronk were quickly right behind him.

“Make sure to keep an eye out for snakes on the wall,” Alice said.

“I know,” he muttered.

“I am just trying to help, darling.”

“I know, I know.”

Waldo did not mean to take his frustration out on her.

He felt like a complete fool. He had actually let Cleptus outsmart him. It was the mob at the bridge all over again. Waldo had assumed the thief could be no threat and had gotten careless. As a result he had nearly died, again, and he and his familiars were lost in these wretched sewers. He could imagine his mother hanging her head in shame, a look of disappointment in her eye.

Wasn’t he supposed to be better than this? The quest had started off rather badly, but after escaping Middleton with Gronk things had improved. He still had to worry about his grandfather and possibly that White Mage, Melissa. Yet, he had felt he had gotten better at this whole adventuring thing. He had his brilliant disguise down and was spreading suspicion and doubt about the whites. Slowly he was discovering how to lead Alice and Gronk despite not having proper Contracts with them. Waldo had also made the ingenious decision to rob the duke of his most prized possession before fleeing. Finally, he had chosen to use the thief not only to recover the money but to aid them in their escape. He had even dealt with Cleptus’s defiance in a way his mother would have approved of.

All those decisions were obviously the right ones. So how had things ended up this way?

Alice came to his side and placed a hand lightly on his arm.

“It’s all right, darling, you don’t need to worry. Everything will work out.”

“I’m not worried.”

“Darling, there’s no point to lying. I can tell what you’re feeling,” Alice suddenly wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him. “I’m sorry.”

Waldo was surprised and a bit uncomfortable, those were not words he’d heard often from people who mattered to him.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about Alice.”

“That’s not so, I let that thief take my purse. Then I made you come to the tavern to try and get it back. If it’s anyone’s fault that we’re here now, it’s mine.”

Waldo could sense her sorrow. He wasn’t sure how to respond to it. His mother hadn’t much cared about feelings.

Waldo slid an arm around the small of her back and pulled Alice a little closer.