Escana (48 page)

He knew he was done for if he
stayed here. A number of unsavoury looking men had already started
eyeing him up, he couldn't tell if it was to kill him, eat him or
have their way with him. He shuddered at the thought. No, something
had to be done now, he had been lucky so far not to be singled out.
He refused to pin it on the proximity of The Hermit, eventually that
luck was going to run to an end.

He stood and stretched, eyeing
his former saviour. The man had conveniently moved closer to him,
Jakob was also in close proximity after their reconciliation.

Without knowing exactly what he
was doing, he balled his fists and flung himself at the man.

He stared at the dusty road as it
travelled past his face, he was pinned in an odd position and no
amount of struggling seemed to free him.

He eventually heard footsteps
approaching and the guards rattling on the near wall of the cage with
their spears.

'Hey, you. Either finish him off
or let him go, nobody was going to bet on the runt against you.'

The Hermit loosened his grip and
Jimmy lashed out a kick at him, it didn't connect but it was enough
to be forced onto the floor of the cage once again.

'So the runt still wants to fight
you?' the guard said, his peers chuckling at the thought. 'Why not
finish him off then, quiet one? Otherwise he'll be snapping at your
heels for the rest of our long trip.'

Jimmy's heart pounded in his
ears, he was about to find out where The Hermit's loyalties really
lay, he found it odd that the guards didn't treat him quite like the
other slaves.

He didn't feel any easing of
pressure this time, the grip he was held in seemed permanent. He
thought he briefly saw Jakob's arm attempting to wrestle the man out
of the hold but to no avail.

His face was starting to hurt,
being pressed up unrelentingly to the bars of the cage floor. He
tried to shift position one last time but he would have had more luck
trying to gnaw his way out of the cage with his bare teeth.

He heard the door opening, it
would seem the guards were planning on dealing with this matter
personally. They were reserved with The Hermit and tended to avoid
him but ultimately they couldn't let insubordination of any sort
occur from a mere slave.

A shuffling of bodies indicated
that the men were herding the slaves up against the wall and the
sound of boots heralded the arrival of the guard who was talking to
them from the cage. Jimmy felt completely powerless, unable to
witness the culmination of a plan he was beginning to regret.

'Slave, take your hands off the
runt or snap his neck, the choice is yours but make it quick.'

Jimmy held his breath, waiting
for a reaction that seemed to take an age in coming. The grip
tightened slightly as if in warning, then finally relaxed.

He found his feet and the guard
gave him a look of disgust. 'Are you done biting off more than you
can chew, little runt?'

Jimmy nodded mutely, he now had
three choices. Either attack the guard and hope that The Hermit would
come to his aid, attack The Hermit again and see if he could provoke
the guards into confronting him or make a run for the cage exit and
hope that they didn't skewer him before The Hermit could mount a
rescue. Assuming The Hermit would mount a rescue... The man may not
have killed him in cold blood but that didn't necessarily mean he was
on Jimmy's side.

As he thought these things the
guard briefly looked at his spear, then back at The Hermit before he
raised his voice and negated Jimmy's options entirely. 'Anyone that
kills the runt need not fight for the rest of the journey. I give you
my honour as an Imperial guard, though that may not mean much to you
dogs.'

Satisfied that the matter would
resolve itself, the guard marched out from the cage and watched
events unfold. Jimmy's plan to antagonise The Hermit now seemed a
very bad idea indeed.

His heart skipped a beat, he
found himself getting dizzy and realised he was still holding his
breath. A tap on his shoulder brought him face to face with Jakob,
whose features seemed a mixture of disgust and fear. 'What were you
thinking?'

Jimmy stayed silent, refusing to
answer.

'They're going to try and tear
you limb from limb now so they don't have to fight again. Whoever
gets rid of you will have guaranteed protection from the guards for
the rest of our delightful trip.'

Jimmy didn't have time to explain
what he had been thinking, a number of men that had been eyeing him
previously were flicking their gaze to and fro between himself and
The Hermit, waiting to see what the strangely silent man would do.

After nothing happened, all eyes
lay upon The Hermit. In a way Jimmy had provoked the man into making
a decision with regards to their safety. He was just hoping that his
stupidity hadn't turned the man against them.

Several men finally got tired of
waiting and rose from their positions in the cage, they circled round
where The Hermit was standing and surrounded the three of them.

If The Hermit gave any indication
that he was going to help, it wasn't forthcoming. Jimmy and Jakob
both watched on helplessly as the circle started to tighten.

S
he awoke to
a strange sensation, it was like she was being observed, but the
feeling was intensified and permeated her immediate surroundings
rather than a specific point.

'You can feel it too, can't you?'
the voice said.

Startled, she turned and found
El-Vador lying beside her and staring directly into her eyes. She
fought down the feeling of unease, he had been the utmost gentleman
thus far aside from his initial abduction.

'It feels like there are eyes
watching every corner of the room.'

He gave her a crooked smile.
'Yes, taking in the entirety of the room without settling on us
specifically. An odd sensation, is it not?'

She had certainly received her
fair share of odd sensations over the last day or so.

'What's causing it?' she asked.

'Sadly I'm at a complete loss to
provide you that information. Though I doubt the fact that we can
detect it is in the designs of the person attempting the spying.'

He deftly rose from the bed in a
single fluid motion and vanished from sight.

She lay there for a time,
awaiting his inevitable return. She considered dashing out the room
and into the unknown beyond to escape her captor but given his
capabilities she doubted she'd get very far. She also had no idea
what lay beyond that archway, having spent the entirety of her time
in Levanin confined to this room.

She heard a bell ringing in the
distance, it was a strange sound unlike any she had heard before.
Deep and sonorous, it lingered in the air like an alien presence.
Then again everything about her captivity seemed strange and oddly
intriguing to her.

Had she not wanted an escape from
the soul-crushing reality that she'd been trapped in so long?
Initially there had been Jakob's actions that had sent her on an
unknown path to an indeterminable future. Now this El-Vador had taken
possession of her and provided her with exactly the opportunities she
desired.

The gentlest of footfalls
indicated his return, bearing a platter full of strange-looking
fruits and a selection of cheeses and bread.

He offered her it wordlessly and
she hesitantly picked an orange from the midst of the more exotic
selections, running her fingers across the skin as if expecting it to
vanish at the touch.

El-Vador seemed to sense this.
'It's quite real, I assure you. Go ahead and taste it, I'm not going
to bring you all this way simply to poison you.'

She hadn't considered the
prospect of being poisoned, it said much of him that he had, what
other thoughts were racing through his mind?

The orange was juicy and sweet,
better than any she had ever tasted.

'Where did you get this?' she
asked, noticing his smile at her appreciation of it.

'As it has probably occurred to
you, I am capable of travelling great distances in a short space of
time. The majority of these fruits are freshly picked from the
Anduvilian forests that have lain untouched by the hands of man for
centuries.'

She found that she didn't have
anything to say to that.

'The bread and cheeses are less
foreign fair and are locally produced here in lower Levanin. A much
less impressive feat of exploration yet a tasty one all the same.'

Quietly she listened to him,
pretending to focus entirely upon the platter as if it were her last
meal. Then again there was no guarantee that it wasn't, he didn't
mean her harm now but what if she said the wrong thing?

'You don't trust me. I know.'

She nodded at him, lying to him
now would be pointless. 'I don't know you. Even if you were the
character from the book, I don't know the person you have become
since then.'

'A wise precaution. After all, I
could be anyone I pleased, given the amount of time and resources at
my disposal. Why should you trust in my current incarnation? It may
well be entirely catered to your sensibilities rather than an open
reflection of my soul.'

Ella paused, wondering why he was
sabotaging himself. 'You don't know me, what makes you think you can
cater yourself to me? Can you read my mind?'

El-Vador laughed, apparently the
implication had entertained him. 'No. I can read most minds, yours I
cannot. That's one of the reasons you intrigue me.'

If what he was saying was true,
then he wasn't as entirely in control she had initially thought.
Certainly he could force her into doing anything he pleased, but if
he wanted to win her over he'd have to do so without knowing her
every thought.

'So how do you plan to make me
trust you?'

He shook his head sadly. 'I will
not force you into doing anything. I simply ask you to open your eyes
to me and see for yourself who you'd choose to be putting your trust
in.'

It didn't quell her sudden sense
of doubt. She pressed on, hoping that her thirst for knowledge didn't
cause her to say something regrettable. 'How do I know that we are
not simply in an illusion? Can you convince me of that?'

He set the platter down on the
bed and closed his eyes as if in meditation.

A brief tearing sound was emitted
from the air in front of him and a figure was thrown through.

'Father?'

Harvester picked himself up from
the marble floor and eyed Ella with suspicion and fright. 'Ella?
Where are we? Who did this?'

As if on cue, El-Vador spoke.
'Mr. Harvester I have taken custody of your daughter from the
murderers who stole her away from you. I assure you that she is in
good health and currently she resides in the capital, Levanin.'

There was something so utterly
genuine and compelling in the tone that Ella had never heard from him
before.

'So you're telling me that my
sweet Ella is safe thanks to your efforts?' Harvester said, looking
at the man with an odd mixture of respect and relief.

El-Vador smiled at him and Ella
couldn't help but smile at Harvester's giddy grin. How long had it
been since she last saw him smile like that?

'Your daughter is safe and in
time she will return to visit you, she is under my protection now and
I will not let any ill deed befall her.'

Her father finally turned back to
her. 'Is what he says true then? Are you safe from harm now?'

Ella couldn't help but wonder why
this deeply suspicious man wasn't angered by his sudden appearance in
the capital.

'I am safe, father,' she found
herself saying, and believing it. 'You don't have to worry about me
any more.'

'I must confess Mr. Harvester,'
El-Vador continued. 'I did not bring you here simply to assure you of
your daughter's well being. I require you to tell her something about
her that only you would know.'

Again the man didn't seem put out
by this request at all, if anything he seemed mellow and relaxed,
Ella started to get suspicious.

'I remember when you were young,
you always used to run around the barns pretending to be the hero
from the book I gave you. Your favourite chapter was always number
twenty four.'

He was right, and it was
something only he could have known. She still wasn't entirely
convinced, but this did much to sway her.

'Mr. Harvester I thank you for
your time and patience in this matter. You will now be returned to
your previous location with a minimum of fuss.' There was a ripping
sound in the air and her father was gone.

'Well?' El-Vador asked into the
silence that followed. 'Could an illusion demonstrate the knowledge
that your father supplied of his own volition?'

'No,' Ella conceded. 'It's
possible that you can actually read my mind and have been lying to me
this entire time. You could then be using my own thoughts to
construct illusions.'