All The King's-Men (The Yellow Hoods, #3) (18 page)

Marcus grabbed the table as they laughed. “And Richelle tried to help her but then she tripped… knocking over the crates of flower petals.” 

“Oh! The flower petals!” Nikolas bent over, laughing hard. “They stuck to her. From head to toe, yes?”

“She… she looked like a chicken!” said Marcus, doubling over.

Nikolas roared with laughter, falling on his butt. “Oh, but she was a most beautiful and graceful chicken.” 

“Richelle kicked me so hard for laughing. I still have the scar,” said Marcus, starting to calm down.

“I will never forget the image of everyone so horrified. Yet Isabella stood there, dignified, and then started to laugh and dance about, yes? She was an angel,” said Nikolas, sighing. He’d forgotten how much he’d missed the good times, when Marcus had been an older brother figure to him.

Marcus sighed. “They were great women.”

Nikolas nodded, a moment of sadness creeping over him as the memory of Isabella faded back into history.

Marcus patted Nikolas on the back. “We’ll come back later, as I want to prove to you this works.” He motioned for Nikolas to head out. “Let’s have some lunch. I had one packed for us.

“While it is not perfect, does this solve the problem of communication?” asked Marcus, returning them to the points from earlier.

Nikolas had always assumed that Marcus’ ambitions would hit a limit—whether the limit of his lifespan, or a limit of technology. Clearly, he’d been wrong.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Brotherly Love

Hans slammed Saul against the old wooden door of the cabin, his hand on the hilt of the rapier on his belt. Saul was stunned, his ears ringing. He’d barely caught sight of a flash of Hans’ red hood before hitting the floor.

“Tell me!” yelled Hans, his eyes filled with fury. “Tell me why Gretel took half of the treasure? Was it all for medicines to heal her broken dog?” 

“What? Where have you been? We thought you’d run off,” said Saul, focusing on his brother. His eyes darted around, searching for his staff. The tip of it was peeking out of the grass several feet away.

Hans turned to see what Saul was focused on, then let him go. “Go on, pick it up. Let’s see just how much of a coward you are.”

Saul straightened his beige tunic and red hood.

“At least you bought yourself a new tunic. You didn’t let her have all the money for that hideous beast,” said Hans, feigning relief.

 “Hans, she’s—” 

“Wrong!” barked Hans. He rubbed his hand through his dirty, light-blond hair. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” he muttered, taking out his rapier.

Saul kept his hands up and backed up. “Let’s talk about this. You took off after you dumped us at this cabin. That was days ago. You’re not well.”

“I needed to think,” said Hans. “I just needed to think. I’d never desert Gretel.”

“Brother, look—”

Hans pinned Saul to the door again. “Don’t ever call me that. You are no more my brother than that dog you’re protecting.”

“That’s a bit harsh,” said Saul, trying once again to shift the tone.

“Is it?” said Hans, leaning in so that they were only inches apart. “Let me share with you one of Mother’s little secrets. Shall I?

“Why do you think you don’t look like Gretel and I? Because she and I are the twins. You were just thrown away, left on Mother’s doorstep the same week that she found us.”

Saul didn’t want to believe Hans, but he’d suspected it for a long time. He could see the delight in Hans’ face at his pain and confusion.

Hans glared angrily at Saul. “My patience is running out with you and her over this dying dog. Leave, or I’ll kill you.”

Saul rammed his forehead into Hans’ nose, and kicked him in the stomach. As Hans stumbled backward, Saul ran over and picked up his staff.

Before Hans knew it, Saul brought his staff down on top of him, knocking Hans to the ground. Saul then kicked the rapier away.

“That’s a warning!” yelled Saul, wiping Hans’ blood off his forehead.

Hans immediately pulled a knife out of his boot and scrambled forward, stabbing Saul in the foot. Saul screamed.

“You know the problem?” asked Hans, standing and wiping the blood from his nose. “You almost had me convinced that you weren’t the worthless weakling I’ve always taken you for. Gretel at least has her bow, but you—you just have a big stick. A big, dull stick. It really is the perfect weapon for you.” He grinned at Saul pinned to the ground, trying to pull the knife out of his boot. “Let me get that for you.” He quickly removed it, and kicked Saul over. “Gretel’s now got two wounded to worry about. I wonder who she’ll focus on. The broken brother or the damaged dog. She won’t be able to afford to save you both. I hope she was careful with her coins.”

Saul rolled around in agony.

“See you in… shall we say a week? Let’s see how you fare then, brother,” said Hans, cheerily picking up his rapier. “I will have my sister back and to myself.” 

Hans started to walk off, and then turned back. “Oh, you can keep the knife to remember me by.” He tossed it at Saul, narrowly missing his head.

Gretel was exhausted. It had been a long walk to the closest village. She’d almost gotten lost again, but thankfully had found the rocks she’d left for herself marking a trail home. She hadn’t been able to find any of the canopy bridges in these parts, which surprised her.

She had been afraid to leave the Hound, but she trusted Saul and knew that he would do his best to care for him while she was away.

As the cabin came into view, Gretel saw a slumped, shirtless man leaning against the front door. She dropped her basket of food and medicine, and ran as fast as she could to him. “Saul!” she screamed. 

Gretel fell to her knees and examined him quickly. He was sweating profusely, his right foot wrapped in his blood-soaked shirt.

“Hey,” he said weakly, trying to sit up.

Gretel felt his forehead. He was feverish. “What happened?” she asked, panicked. “Is it that Yellow Hood girl?” She glanced around, fearing that the moment of reckoning had come.

“No,” said Saul, shaking his head. “Hans was… a bit upset. He’s taken the rest of the treasure. He’ll be back in a few days.”

Gretel had been relieved when Hans had left. Seeing him brought up inexplicable fear and anguish mixed with relief. Her stomach turned over and over as the emotions refused to reconcile. 

She took off her red cloak and draped it over Saul, not sure what to do. “Let me have a look at your foot,” said Gretel, gently unwrapping the shirt. “Saul, what really happened?” She couldn’t understand why seeing the wound bothered her so deeply, especially given that she’d seen much worse, and had even done much worse to people in the past.

Gretel glanced back at the toppled basket and its contents. She hoped that none of the vials or jars had smashed when she’d dropped them. “I have vinegar; that will help. I hope.” 

“I managed to break his nose, I think,” said Saul.

She smiled sadly. She knew that Hans had accomplished exactly what he’d wanted, like he always did. He was trying to force her to choose.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Forked Road

Tee rolled her sore left shoulder as she walked the last yards to the inn. The sun was barely up, and she was dripping with sweat. 

She quietly turned the doorknob of the inn, and opened the door.

Christina stepped in her way. “You’re quite the early bird,” she said, startling Tee.

Tee leapt back, pulled her hood down and had two wooden sticks at the ready in the blink of an eye.

“So what’s your plan? Sneak back in, get up when Elly does, do your normal workout with her, and then do the full day’s hike? You can’t keep doing this every day. You’ll wear yourself out. You’ll get sloppy and make a mistake.” 

She studied the expression on Tee’s face, recognizing the experience of having been unfairly given responsibilities and secrets. Tee was a younger version of her in so many ways. She hoped fate would be kinder to Tee than it had been to her.

She leaned against the doorframe, and finally something came to her. “If you let things like guilt and duty infect you too much, Tee, they’ll drive you to a dark place. Trust me. Sometimes you’ve got to make a tough call. Your life, or the life of someone you care about, might depend on it.” Christina waited to see Tee’s reaction.

Tee thought about it and nodded, her face showing doubt. She was not quite convinced that what had been said aligned with how she was feeling, but she could sense there was some wisdom in the message.

“Anyway,” continued Christina, “I was hoping to catch you alone. I have to leave. You need to lead the others to Herve to search for the plans. I’m not expecting them to be there, honestly. From there, head to Costello. If something happens, go straight to Costello. I’ll meet you there in a week or so.”

Tee was surprised. “Wait, what? Why? And aren’t you even going to ask me where I’ve been?”

“Did you kill anyone this morning?” asked Christina half-jokingly.

“What? No!” said Tee.

“Then I don’t care,” said Christina, smiling. “What you do, provided you don’t get yourself or anyone else killed, isn’t my business. My job is to get you to Costello, unless a bigger problem happens, which it just did.” She was being a bit cavalier, but it fit the moment.

Tee sighed, staring at the ground, the extra burden weighing her down even further.

Christina gave her a light punch in the shoulder. “You’ll figure it out,” she said, taking her backpack off and crouching down to open it. She handed Tee a folded piece of paper. “I’ve written where you need to go. You can read Crayo, right?”

Tee had never heard anyone other than her grandfather mention Crayo until recently. He’d always joked it was their secret language and that’s why it had such a silly name. They had a game where they sometimes left little messages for each other around town, in special places. As Tee had gotten older, the messages had required more skill to figure out. At one point they’d stopped being written only on paper and had shown up written in chalk at the foot of buildings, or on door frames. Her parents had told her the truth about it weeks ago, and how and when to use the code. She hoped she’d used it properly on Elly’s doorframe.

Tee nodded, taking the paper and unfolding it. It was a map with instructions and marked locations, with code words all over it.

“You’ll stay at this inn outside of Herve. It’s safe,” said Christina, moving around so she could point at the map easily. “This is the word you need to say to the wife of the innkeeper. Don’t talk to the innkeeper before you do that, and don’t say the word to him. They are very particular about protocol. 

“If you need a second place on your way to Costello, stay here. Use this code with the innkeeper or her wife. They are a very friendly couple.”

Tee took a big breath. There was a lot of information to take in. 

“Search Franklin’s old room and then get yourself to Costello as fast as you can. I’m positive the Fare will have people looking for you and the plans.” Christina reached into her backpack and then stopped herself. “You know how to tell the false arrows and notes on that map from the real ones, right?”

Tee nodded. “My Grandpapa drilled me on that regularly. He once—”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” said Christina, cutting Tee off, “and I’m sure it’s a great story, but I really need to be heading out. Oh, and a piece of advice. Be very careful with Franklin. I don’t trust him.”

“He’s okay,” said Tee nonchalantly. “He just doesn’t know how to handle being around smart girls all the time. He’s outnumbered four to one.”

Christina stopped herself from pressing the point. “Maybe.” She pulled out four shiny new shock-sticks. “You might need these. Keep them charged and hidden. And try not to lose them.”

Tee was confused as she took them. “You had these all along? Why didn’t you give these to us earlier?” She eyed Christina suspiciously.

“They weren’t finished,” she answered. “They work properly now.”

“Where are the handles?” asked Tee, letting the issue drop.

Christina buckled her backpack closed and slid it over her shoulders. “They don’t have any. You just twist them along the centerline, back and forth. You’ll know it’s fully charged when it gets warm, and that’ll happen pretty quickly. Don’t let Franklin see them, okay?”

Tee nodded, sliding all four into the secret pockets of her yellow cloak. She couldn’t figure out what Christina had against him, but maybe it was the real reason why she hadn’t given them the shock-sticks earlier.

Christina was about to go back into the inn when she remembered something. “By the way, I’m taking Mounira with me.”

“Oh?” said Tee, surprised. “You don’t want her to slow us down?”

“Something like that,” said Christina. She didn’t want to admit it, but the youngest member of the team made her feel special in a way she didn’t fully comprehend. Selfishly, she wanted to bring Mounira with her.

Tee stepped into the main room of the inn, and there on a chair, leaning against the closet door, was a sleeping Mounira. She looked like such a little kid asleep, even though she was only two years younger than Tee.