Secrets at the Keep (Kingdom of Denall Book 2) (22 page)

He watched the patrolmen enter the firelight, watched the battle unfold, watched again as Samel was struck down, watched P run into the woods, watched as the last of the Hess men had been struck down before P had circled back, and saw again how the patrol leader’s skull had given way when he had brought the club down on him to save P’s life.

He almost couldn’t bear to continue, but he watched as Seed’s life slipped away from him, and how he and P had stood together, resolved to go to save Dirt and Smudge. That was when he saw it. Movement. How had he not noticed it before? Someone on the ground had moved ever so slightly. He replayed the memory of scanning the battle scene one more time and realized there had been not one, but two people still alive. Looking back now, he could see two chests rising and falling, their faces obscured from Kaz’s vantage point. Who were they? He replayed the battle again, trying to remember who had fallen where.

“Digger and Asher!” Kaz cried out, startling Kire.

“What did you say?”

“Digger and Asher – they weren’t dead!”

At the stables, Dune climbed into the saddle and dug in his heels. His dark stallion leapt into action. Trae pushed his horse to catch up. “What’s going on?”

Dune kept his horse at a walk until they passed the front gate. Several yards past the gate, he pulled his horse to a stop.

“What about the crater in their yard?” Trae asked when he came to a halt next to his friend.

“Right, I need to take care of that.” Dune waved his right hand and held it out in the direction of the east side of the building. “Done. Anything else we need?”

Trae smirked and shook his head as they continued to trot down the road.

When they had gone a safe distance, Dune pulled off the road and quickly dismounted. “Put this on.” He tossed a long magician’s cape to Trae.

Trae struggled to put it on as its color seemed to be changing. “What is this?”

“It’s a magician’s robe,” Dune replied. Then, seeing Trae’s scowl, he added, “To keep us hidden. It’s good for hiding, but doesn’t provide as much protection as other robes.” Dune had a matching robe of similar material. He was visible when he moved, but when he stood still it was as though his body disappeared, blending perfectly into the woods. “Please hurry, there isn’t much time.”

“Why do we need to keep hidden? What happened with Melna?” Trae asked, pointing back to the keep. “I thought we were just leaving early. You’re acting like we’re fleeing for our lives.”

“When haven’t we been running for our lives?” Dune asked with a flat look.

“That’s a good point,” Trae conceded, “so what happened with Melna?”

“Concerned about your wife are you?” Dune began to smirk, but he saw that Trae was not in the mood to joke. “I left Melna in our room, she’s tied up and I destroyed her Han’Or. With any luck she’ll be going crazy within a couple of days. The important thing is that the supply line is for Mordyar’s army.”

“The supplies that Scar is delivering?”

“Yes,” Dune began, “he’s also working closely with a magician who will help to lead the group.”

Trae looked over at Dune, “So you need to catch up with the supply train.”

“Yes,” Dune said in frustration, “but I also need to intercept the evil magician who is coming this way,”

“How are you going to do…” Trae looked down at the magician’s robe he was wearing and began to shake his head, but before he could finish the thought, Dune was waving his hands in a familiar way.

Trae looked down at his horse, which was now black to match Dune’s animal. “Do I really need to be you? This really is a new kind of low for me.” he complained.

“I think you’re very attractive,” Dune countered. “Now stop whining or I’ll make you a woman. Do you want Melna’s face? That would be fun.”

Ignoring Dune’s threat, he looked at his hands and saw that there were five magic marks, and his skin was a darker shade. “You do know I can’t do magic, right? How am I going to be you?”

Dune pulled out a small sack filled with the items from the table he had been working on enchanting. “The bracelet is a guard against magic attacks, this ring will make a bright light when you squeeze your fist tight, the spoon will levitate small pieces of food, and this,” he said, placing an iron bracelet sized ring in Trae’s hand, “will glow bright yellow if it is near a person who is telling a lie…”

“Levitate food?” Trae asked in shock. “Why would I need to levitate food?”

Dune pushed the bag into Trae’s hands. “You need to convince them you are a magician, doing little things like that will help. Just act like me until I can find that other magician, and then I’ll meet up with you on the road.”

Trae wanted to make a smart remark about how he was going to act like a buffoon, but there wasn’t time. “What if they need me to do something with powerful magic? I can’t just fake that sort of thing.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Dune replied, “Besides, I won’t be gone long.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Trae countered, as he held up the large ring Dune had given him. “I thought this was supposed to glow when you told a lie.”

*****

Melna rubbed her head and rolled painfully onto her knees.
That boy is going to pay!
She reached down and touched the broken bottle that had contained her Han’Or, and used the glass to cut through the ropes that bound her hands together. When she was free to get up, she angrily threw what was left of her Han’Or bottle against the wall. The exertion sent pains to her head. Cradling her head in her hands she rose slowly to her feet, and using the wall for support, made her way down the hall. She moved slowly through the corridor, down two flights of stairs.

The keep was quiet in these halls, as most of the guests had finally retired for the evening, having danced and drunk themselves into a stupor at the banquet. She passed by one trio of inebriated young nobles, laughing ridiculously as one of the group pretended to be the great master magician. Just the thought of that magician made her grit her teeth tightly and she released a low growl from deep in her throat. He had poisoned their Han’Or supply, and now he was at Omer’s Keep. She needed to find out what he knew and then kill him, and his strongarm friend. But first she needed to recruit some help.

She pressed open the door to her chamber and practically fell into the arms of the awaiting seekers. Her daughter, Loana, cleared a space for her and helped lower her down to sitting. “What did you learn from him?”

Melna glared up at her, then looked defiantly at the other gathered seekers. “He was ready for me. They set a trap and now they are gone.”

“What?” Loana practically shouted. “You had protection. How could they?”

The older woman did not answer, but instead took a long, slow drink of water and tried to recover. Thinking about the past would not help solve the current predicament. She needed a strong group to go after the magician, and she needed replacement Han’Or. As she looked around the room at the gathered seekers she did a quick assessment of these last seekers remaining in all of Denall. Franklin was strong and fast, probably the best on a horse. Keal was getting older, but still reliable with a short staff. Owen was strong as an ox and very useful in a fight, and the young couple, Jin and Drake, had been seekers for the shortest amount of time, they both had good bow skills, they were skilled trackers, and were very loyal to each other. Then there was Loana. She hated that the seekers had dwindled down to this, and she hated even more that they would need to get smaller still.

Melna rose to her feet, and beckoned to Loana to come close. “They have a very powerful and very clever magician. I underestimated them, and I will not do it again.” As if an afterthought, Melna pointed to the dagger at Loana’s side. “Can I see that for a moment?”

Without thinking, Loana handed it to her mother. Melna held it in her hand and examined it closely. It looked nondescript, with a simple wooden handle and what looked like a dull blade, but it was enchanted so it would never dull, and it provided the person who wore it with some moderate physical protection. “Thank you,” the older woman said, as she turned and without hesitation plunged the dagger into Loana’s heart.

Loana’s eyes went wide with pain and confusion, then they glossed over and she fell forward, slumping onto Melna’s shoulder. Melna reached down and sliced Loana’s bottle of Han’Or from her belt, then let the younger woman fall to the ground.

Without giving Loana another thought, she looked to the other seekers. “We cannot be slowed down on our next mission.” They all nodded fervently, but did not speak. “Franklin,” He stepped forward and stood at attention awaiting his orders. It was nice to see them showing a little more respect. Since the loss of the supply of Han’Or they had been starting to grumble. “Get our horses ready. Load up the spare horse with supplies for a long journey.”

Franklin bowed deeply, then quickly ducked out of the room, being sure to stay out of Melna’s reach. She liked having people obey her exactly without question.
Perhaps I should have killed Loana sooner.
“Keal, retrieve our weapons from the barracks, meet us by the stables. Owen, Jin and Drake, pack our things.”

Owen left the room and the remaining three seekers scurried around the room throwing clothing into saddle bags. Melna reached down and touched Loana’s corpse. She quickly pulled off a necklace that had been enchanted to provide some enhanced healing, and placed it over her neck. She immediately felt her headache leaving, but it left her somewhat weak as the energy to heal came from her own body. After some rest she would be fully recuperated.

Melna turned her back on the other seekers and turned her attention to Loana. Although they had been friends with Loana and they might all want, in some way or another, to see Melna dead. Her magic protection was more than sufficient to keep them at bay. She pulled Loana’s hand and removed two rings, one that gave off a faint sound when she was in danger of a magical attack, and a second that dispelled magicians’ magic. She placed them on herself and dropped Loana’s hand to the ground. She also removed the case for the short dagger that she still held in her hand. She wiped clean the blade on her daughter’s dress and placed it at her waist. After the body was cleaned of anything useful Owen stepped up.

“What would you like us to do with the body?”

Melna looked up and saw the three seekers ready to get moving. “Nothing. We’ll let Omer take care of it. We need to get moving.”

She pushed open the door and walked out into the hall, moving toward the stables. Although her legs were somewhat weak, and she wanted to lean against the wall for support, or at least have a cane or walking stick, she walked in the middle of the long corridor with her back straight and her chin up. She would not show any kind of weakness.

When they reached the stables Franklin was ready with the horses and Owen was walking to them with his arms full. Jin and Drake jogged to meet him, relieving him of some weapons so they could quickly join with the group. With their weapons strapped to their horses and the supplies loaded, Melna led the group out into the night.

*****

From behind them on the road Dune heard a loud shout. “There they are!” Melna called from behind. “Stop them!”

Trae and Dune kicked their horses into a gallop and charged away down the road. “I thought she was tied up, and out of Han’Or!” Trae shouted over the pounding hooves.

“She was,” Dune responded, “it looks like she has some friends left. But she’s not our biggest concern right now. I need to intercept the magician who is coming this way, and you need to go with Scar and the soldiers and slaves.”

“Right,” Trae responded. “There has never been another time in my life when being chased by a psychopathic woman wasn’t my biggest problem,” he called out sarcastically.

“We’ll talk about your dating life later, right now we need to split up,” Dune shouted back with a grin. He reached behind him and threw up some dirt that disrupted the soil and made the chasing seekers slow down. As they passed around a corner and out of their sight, he got off his horse and handed the reins to Trae. “I’ll lead them north. I know someone who lives near here who might be able to help. You take the horses and catch the supply train. Go!”

Trae kicked his horse into action, charging ahead and leaving Dune behind, standing in the middle of the road. He knew Dune would be able to lead the group away, but he urged the horses to move more quickly so he could get as much space between them as possible. If they came within sight of him again, they would chase him down thinking he was Dune. He kept charging down the road until it came to the first crossroad, and then he turned right, heading east to catch up with the supplies.

*****

Dune knocked loudly on the small cabin door. He waited and then heard, “Four.” Dune pushed the door open and looked around the room while counting to four.

After the count, Dune closed his eyes. “I see you have a new student, and you look much older than when I last saw you.” He scraped the snow off his boots, crossed the room and greeted Kire with a hug.

“Those two observations are connected you know,” Kire said. “Each apprentice gives me more gray hair.” He motioned for Dune to take a seat in the kitchen, and Dune followed the older man to the table.

“It’s good to see you again,” Dune responded with a smile. “A lot has changed since we last spoke.”

Kire nodded. “I know,” he responded. “After we separated, I kept passing seekers on the road, and I noticed that they were headed in one of two directions. Most were going to Lexingar, but a handful were coming north—to Omer’s Keep. There is an awful lot going on there these days. With the seekers, the slaves and the attack.”

“Wait a minute? You know about all of that?” Dune knew that the older man lived in Omer’s realm, but it was surprising that he had figured out so much. “Did you know that he has been experimenting on slaves?”

“What?” Kire asked in confusion.

Dune nodded. “He has found a way to transfer gifts. I saw a man who was a level three intellect and a level three strongarm. He told me he gained the marks by some kind of magic that involved killing slaves.”