Remembered (35 page)

“Borm will guard the top of the stairs that lead to the
prison, and Danus will stand guard at the back door that leads out to the
garden. All we have to do is walk down the stairs, overpower the peaceman on
duty—a blade to the throat should do the trick—and demand that he open the gate
to the cell.

“With Kellus freed, we’ll order the peaceman into the cell
and lock it. This will give us many hours to enforce the next part of our plan.
Danus thinks that the peaceman won’t be discovered until his relief arrives at
seven o’clock in the morning.”

“What’s the next part of our plan?” Annie asked.

“We run—all of us,” Markum answered.

“What do you mean?” Cora questioned. “How are we all going
to run?”

“We have no other choice,” Markum responded. “We will all be
implemented in his escape, not to mention that Lionel can’t allow us to talk.
Kellus, Annie, and you will head south,” he addressed Cora. “I will head north
with Max and Zif, and Mother and Father will go east. We’ll lay low for exactly
one month.

“In that time, Danus and Borm will try to persuade the
peacemen of the truth, as best they can, without Lionel growing suspicious.

“After the month is over, we will all meet at the inn beside
Spartas Lake. Then we will select someone to keep an appointment with Danus and
Borm.

“By that time, they should understand the mood of the
Citadom. They will be able to advise us whether Kellus and Annie should go
there and plead their case, or maybe arrange for a sympathetic peaceman to meet
with Kellus and Annie at another location.”

“So, it’s set for tomorrow night, then,” Annie said to
herself.

“Does that meet with your satisfaction?” Markum asked,
sensing her disapproval.

“What if we’re too late? I wish it could have been tonight,”
she replied.

“We did well to get the break we did. Let us have hope.” Tol
piped in.

“Danus foresees only one problem,” Markum continued. “The
guard will have full view of the stairs leading down to the prisons, and he’ll
see us descend. If there was any way that we could wear a uniform of the
Citadom, we would be upon him before he realized that we didn’t belong there.”
He turned to his mother. “Has there ever been a time when Kellus left a uniform
behind.”

“No, Markum, it’s forbidden, you know that,” she replied.
“The Citadom would never risk someone getting hold of a uniform and parading
around Vistira disguised as a peaceman or apprentice. Crimes of all sorts could
be committed that way.”

“It was just a thought. We’ll just have to move fast—”

Annie cut him off. “It seems we’ve caught another lucky
break,” she piped in. “There are two apprentice uniforms in a wardrobe at my
house.”

“Kellus left them?” Tol asked doubtfully.

“They were given to Max and me, by Nordorum, the morning
after Cora’s surgery,” she replied.

“Are they still there?” Max asked.

“I saw them when I was at the house just last week, the day
I arrived back in Vistira,” Annie answered.

“This will be easy…effortless,” Markum said, looking almost
happy since his return home.

“If we’re on time, that is,” Annie replied solemnly

“I’ll go to your house now,” Tol said, rising from the
table. “Let’s not waste any time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Cora piped in.

After they left, Annie returned to her room and tossed for
hours in her bed.

Finally, giving up hope of ever being able to sleep, she
slipped out of her room and quietly made her way down two flights of stairs to
the kitchen. She turned on the light.

Sara sat alone in the dark, holding a light blue rag to her
cheek lovingly. “There was no hope of sleeping?” she asked Annie.

“No,” Annie whispered, sitting down across from her
mother-in-law.

Sara held the rag from her face and looked at it. “This was
his baby blanket. He carried it everywhere until the age of four.” A tear sat
at the edge of her eye. “It’s barely in one piece now, but I kept it for him,
put it away in a box of keepsakes.”

Annie smiled sadly, feeling pity for the woman in front of
her. How hard must it be to face losing a child?

“He was the sweetest little boy,” Sara continued. “He was
always smiling, always laughing, and so affectionate.” She let out a sad
chuckle. “He drove Markum mad with his constant pranks and teasing, but Markum
has always idolized Kellus. From the time that they were toddlers, Markum would
have followed Kellus through fire. And, unfortunately, Kellus would have
willingly led him through. He was always my little rascal.”

Annie wiped her eye then stretched her hand across the table
to take Sara’s hand.

“You may have this,” Sara said, handing what was left of
Kellus’s baby blanket to Annie. “I hope it brings you comfort tonight.”

“I couldn’t, Sara,” Annie argued. “This must mean so much to
you to have kept it all these years.”

“It’s rightfully yours,” Sara insisted. “As Kellus’s wife,
you inherit all of his possessions.”

Annie winced. “I don’t want to inherit his possessions. I
want him back with me,” she replied.

“You misunderstood me,” Sara said. “I believe he is still
alive. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

“I wish we could go now,” Annie huffed. “I can’t stand this
waiting. If I went to the Citadom now and showed myself, told the first person
that I encountered, screamed at the top of my lungs, surely, I would be proof
of Lionel’s lies.”

“No,” Sara said firmly. “It’s too dangerous. You have to
stick to the plan. If Lionel knew you entered the Citadom, or was confronted,
in anyway, with the truth, it would force him to act sooner. He will not go
quietly, we can be sure of that. We don’t know what tricks he would attempt. He
may claim that you’re an imposter and pretend that he wants to interrogate you
alone. Remember, he has full ascendancy in Nordorum’s absence.”

Sara was right, but that did not ease Annie’s anguish.

“Sara, how will I go on if…if…” she broke off, too terrified
to speak the words.

“We can’t think about that now,” Sara replied. “Kellus
believes that faith is the key to—”

Annie cut in. “I know, faith is the key to creating
miracles, but my faith is hiding from me.”

“Take the blanket, Annie,” Sara insisted. “Go back to bed
and try to find your faith, your hope. I know this blanket will bring you the
strength.”

Annie drank a cup of hot milk that Sara made for her. She
climbed back up the two flights of stairs to her lonely, empty bedroom.

She lay in her bed, holding Kellus’s blanket to her face. Like
Sara promised, sleep found her at last.

By eleven-thirty the following evening, Annie was dressed in
the uniform of the apprentices.

“Sit down,” Sara ordered. “I need to pin up your hair. It
won’t do to have an apprentice with such long curls.”

Markum sat facing her, his likeness to Kellus never having
been more pronounced—wearing the apprentice uniform.

They exchanged nervous glances until Markum finally spoke.
“We’ll leave as soon as your hair is done. We should give ourselves some extra
time in case we need to detour. I think we should walk on the beach to silence
our footsteps. If anyone is still awake, they may grow suspicious of two
apprentices walking the road at midnight, carrying swords. It’s best if we
remain as inconspicuous as possible.”

Annie nodded slightly before Sara pulled her head back.

“When we turn right onto Sarry Road—the road that leads to
the Bank Building—we run. We’ll be close enough by then that two apprentices
out late may not cause suspicion,” Markum continued. “We’ll keep running past
the front of the bank, and up the street facing forward. There is a shop with a
wide pillar in front. We’ll wait behind the pillar until it’s time.”

“I know the shop,” Annie replied nervously.

“At two minutes to one, we’ll head for the building,” Markum
added. “When we have freed Kellus, we will run behind the Citadom towards
Lanshore Field. We’ll reach the end of the field and turn right on the street
there, the one that runs parallel to the field.”

Annie nodded again. She knew the street he spoke of.

“Then we run for four more streets and turn right again.
There is a small meadow there. The family will meet us with all three
carriages. Father will drive one, mother the other, and Max the third. You and
Kellus are to make for the carriage that father drove. He’ll climb down and
join mother. I’ll run to Max. Cora will be waiting for you in the back. She’ll
have directions for Kellus.”

Annie nodded one more time, making sure that she understood
the last part of the plan in case she and Markum should become separated.

“We’ll not have time for long goodbyes,” he stated. “In
fact, we won’t have time for any goodbyes, so say what you have to say to the
family before we leave. Once we leave the Citadom, we must keep moving at all
costs.”

“But I thought you said that we’d have many hours before the
peaceman on duty was discovered. You said that we would have plenty of time to
implement the second part of the plan,” Annie chided.

“Yes, we will if I can silence the peaceman effectively,” he
explained. “We will need to loosen the sashes before we enter the Citadom. I
can use one to bind the peaceman hands, and the other as a gag. But we must be
prepared in case he loosens the bindings. I’m no knot expert. If he manages to
free himself of the gag, he’ll yell for help. As a precaution, we will also
need to bind Borm. He is already aware of this. If we don’t, Borm would be
questioned as to why he didn’t answer the guard’s calls for help. We have to
assume they’ll give chase.”

“I understand,” she answered.

When Sara finished tying up all of Annie’s curls on top of
her head, Markum knelt down before his sister-in-law and began securing a belt
and scabbard around her waist. He looked up into her eyes. “Do you remember all
that I’ve taught you?” he asked.

“I think so,” she replied, nodding.

“One last thing,” he said with overwhelming seriousness.
“You have to be prepared to kill if necessary.”

Annie sucked in a deep breath and nodded again.

Markum slipped Kellus’s sword into Annie’s scabbard. He held
on to his own, plus a spare for Kellus.

When it was time to go, Annie looked around the kitchen one
last time, and then followed Markum through the back door and around the house
to the front, where three carriages stood in a row.

“Well, this is it,” Markum said, putting his arms around his
mother’s shoulders. “I’ll get him out alive and unharmed, trust me.”

“I need you to get yourself out alive and unharmed also,”
she replied, hugging him tightly. She leaned over and kissed Annie’s forehead
then walked towards one of the carriages.

Annie, Max, and Cora stood for a long moment with their arms
around one another. They said their last goodbyes. Cora and Max let go and
walked over to two different carriages.

Zifini hugged her brother and sister-in-law and made for the
same carriage as Max, wiping tears from her eyes.

Tol put one hand on Annie’s shoulder, then one on Markum’s.
“Good luck, both of you,” he said. He kissed Annie’s head and put one arm
around his son. “All our prayers go with you.”

Markum placed a hand on Annie’s shoulder. “Let’s go,” he
said quietly. He kept his hand on her shoulder until they reached the bottom of
the hill. They both turned to look at the five faces that gazed in their
direction, and returned their waves, before turning the corner.

They walked in darkness across the Ocean Road and hopped
over the small beach wall. They would not have the shield of darkness for the
entire journey—a full moon played hide-and-seek behind a scant cloud cover.

Beside them, the ocean roared, drowning out the sounds of
Annie’s nervous heartbeats. She felt the cold bite at her skin, and rubbed her
hands up and down her arms for what little warmth the friction could give.

They walked in silence, not daring to speak a word.

After a half hour, Markum stopped and placed a hand on
Annie’s arm. “Do you hear something?” he breathed into her ear.

She lifted her head and concentrated on blocking out the
sound of the ocean. “Yes,” she mouthed and nodded, hoping he could see her
response in the darkness.

In the distance, the sounds of hoofs were clear—a horse cantering
on the road, someone approached. Markum took her hand and led her back to the
beach wall. They crouched down beside it until the hooves passed and moved
along into the distance.

Time seemed to crawl as they walked on in utter silence.

When they reached Sarry Road, they left the beach and
crossed the street.

“Now we run,” Markum whispered.

They ran fast up the hill and kept running until they passed
the Bank Building. They continued running to the shop with the pillar in front,
and crouched down behind the wide post to wait until it was time to go to the
Citadom.

“How long?” Annie whispered.

“Twenty minutes,” Markum breathed.

This was not welcome news. As nervous as she was to enter
the Citadom, she wanted to get on with it. She had a full view of the building
as she ran past, and it suddenly looked dark and menacing, an unfriendly place,
but she would rather be there sooner to avoid the torturous waiting.

She passed the time wondering where the other members of her
family were. They had planned to journey in the opposite direction than she and
Markum, to go the long way around which approaches town from the back of the
Citadom.

She tried to push Kellus from her mind, needing to focus on
the plan, and not to be consumed with worry.

Annie was grateful when Markum finally put his mouth to her
ear. “Ready?” he whispered. It wasn’t exactly a question.