Secrets at the Keep (Kingdom of Denall Book 2) (3 page)

Kaz flexed his hand as he gripped his magical iron ash bow and he looked through the woods down the trail that led west toward Omer’s realm. As he thought of Omer and their mission to free the slaves which Omer kept hidden from the king, he clenched his jaw and breathed out in derision. He could hardly wait to get back into that region of Denall and help the people who lived there. It would take them several weeks on horseback, but after learning that almost every misfortune that had happened during his Troven had been caused by one of Denall’s most powerful barons, Omer, he knew he needed to go back.

He pressed one of his magically enchanted rings into his side to warm up from the chill of the coming evening, then looked to his right at his riding companion, P. As he looked at her he wondering how she had found a group of secret slaves, and how she would have the resources to help them while not having a way to get the help from another baron, or even the king. He knew that Omer had a lot of political power in the country, and he was one of the wealthiest barons, but even he couldn’t get away with something this egregious.

Kaz stared for a long moment at her. It was hard to believe that someone so pretty had sought him out and wanted him to go with her on this quest. Without looking at him she spoke, “What?”

Kaz looked down. “Nothing, I was just…”

“Staring at me, I know,” she interrupted. “Did you need something?”

He looked back up at her. Now she was staring him down with those penetrating eyes. “No, nothing at all. Just wondering how long we’re going today before we stop.” It was starting to get darker and Kaz worried that they’d be setting up their camp in the dark again. He didn’t worry so much about himself as he could see in the dark with the Sight Stone, but Digger and the other slaves were not so lucky. Not only were they strongarms, but they didn’t even have thick travel clothing like he did. They had already traveled a lot, spent the evenings in thin tents and ragged clothing, and now they were forced to march through the darkness.

“Soon,” P responded. She turned her head and continued down the path without saying anything else.

Kaz wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but remembered what happened last time she didn’t like how he did or did not respond to her questions. He didn’t feel like getting slapped again, so he kept silent. As they continued late into the evening, Kaz had so many questions he wished he could ask, however he did not want to be the first to break the silence, so the night remained silent except for the footfalls of their horses and the men who followed. Though not the fastest way to travel, they walked through the dwindling light. Kaz was grateful for his horse that was able to keep a steady, slow pace without faltering.

Suddenly, though Kaz had seen no sign of danger, P made a motion to the men and they began walking more quickly down the path. Not sure if it was something P had heard in the distance, or something she knew was waiting for them up the path, Kaz tested his bowstring and prepared for whatever was up ahead. After a couple of minutes, Kaz was shocked by what he saw. In the distance there was a small encampment of four makeshift tents similar to those carried by the men. Worn canvas was thrown over ropes that were strung between trees. While the canvas could not provide complete protection from the wind, it provided some shelter from precipitation. In the camp he counted fifteen men in all, mostly thin and wearing little more than rags. They had a look in their faces that was not consistent with their destitute condition: hope.

P slowed her pace and walked her horse next to Kaz. “I wanted you to see this,” she said as she jumped down from her horse. “You’ve already met Digger and Pence,” she said, pointing to the two men they had been walking with. “This is Asher,” she said, motioning to an older man who grabbed the reins of Kaz’s horse and held out his hand to help Kaz dismount.

Kaz got down from his horse and stood face to face with Asher. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, extending a hand.

Asher looked questioningly at Kaz’s hand and instead threw his arms around Kaz’s neck. “You’ve come to help free my people. That makes us family, and in my family, we hug,” he said with a broad smile.

“I’ll do what I can,” Kaz said, not sure if he had done anything to earn the man’s affection, but hopeful that he could save the people of Hess and bring down Omer. While P spoke with Digger and another slave he hadn’t met, Asher pointed to the other people who were thronging around. First Dirt and Smudge, a father and son approached. The father, in his mid-thirties proudly introduced his teenaged son. After hugging them, Kaz leaned over to Asher. “Dirt and Smudge? How did they get those names?”

Asher sadly shook his head. “I think it’s a bit of a joke among some of Omer’s guards. They give names to the slaves who are born in Hess, so we’ll never forget our place.”

“What about you?” Kaz asked, now wondering more and more about Hess and the people who were there.

“I wasn’t born in Hess,” he said with a far away look. “I was brought here and sold to Omer’s father forty years ago. Some of us were brought in secretly, but most of the people in Hess now are ones who were born into bondage under Baron Luc. There used to be slave quarters all over the Luc Barony. When the old king abolished slavery, Omer’s father realized that he would be ruined without the free labor the slaves provide. He freed the slaves from most of the locations on his land to make it seem as though he was willing to comply with the new law, but secretly kept the slaves from three of the locations and established the village of Hess on a barren section of land far from any of the main roads.”

“How many people live there?” Kaz asked as he looked around at the men who had come to meet with him.

“About three hundred families, and nearly two hundred single men and women. No one gets married without approval from the Keep.”

Kaz felt a slight hug from his side and turned in surprise to see a thin young man looking up at him with extraordinarily large, blue eyes. He moved to put his arm around the youth and return the hug, but when Kaz patted his back, the young man moved away hastily and held his hands in front of his face defensively. “It’s okay,” Kaz said reassuringly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Despite Kaz’s words, the young man ducked away behind the other men from Hess. “That’s Seed,” Asher said, pointing. “His mother died when he was very young, and his father was killed shortly after that by one of the guards who oversees our village – got caught trying to organize a school of sorts for the young ones.”

Kaz’s eyes shot open wide at hearing this. “He was killed because he wanted the children to learn?”

“Oh yes. The intellect who comes through every now and again to evaluate how our village is being run explained to the guards one year how keeping our minds dull would keep our bodies sharper for work. They have taken that very seriously. I’m one of only three slaves who can read at all, and I learned that long ago before I was ever brought to Denall.” Then, seeing the shocked look on Kaz’s face he added, “Our people don’t have much in the way of book learning, but they have studied how to protect each other, and save them from as much misery as they can. After his parents died, the whole village worked to help take care of Seed. He’s got a willing heart, but he’s a little skittish.”

“Both my parents died when I was young too,” Kaz said quietly as he watched Seed make his way shyly over to P. “My village all helped to take care of me too. I was really grateful, but it isn’t the same as belonging in one place. Seed must have had a hard life.”

“All the more because of the way people in our village are treated by Omer’s men.” Asher agreed with a low growl in his throat.

Kaz looked back through the men and tried to make eye contact with Seed. When their eyes met, Kaz waved in a friendly way, but Seed ducked out of sight.

“How is it that you were able to escape? It seems like seventeen men going missing would raise the alarm among the guards.”

“Ah, that is a story to learn from our Lady Pentra here.”

The crowd from Hess parted slightly and Kaz looked to see P coming through with Digger and Seed clinging tightly to her side.

“Kaz here wonders how so many men were able to escape from under the nose of Omer’s guards.” Asher said loudly enough that everyone in the little camp could hear. There was some scattered snickering, and everyone turned their eyes on P.

P offered a crooked smile and looked around at the gathered men. “What are you talking about, Asher? No one escapes from Omer. In fact, I don’t see any men here at all. I only see ghosts.” There was a hearty round of laughter at this pronouncement. “These are slaves which were killed during a raid on one of Omer’s merchant wagons this summer. The guards had been woken in the night by the sound of two dozen crazed, masked bandits who swooped down upon them unawares, killed all of the slaves, and made off with the wagons. The guards reported seeing the bloody bodies of the slaves as they left in pursuit of the wagons, and when they returned, a pack of drams had arrived, and only the bloody clothing was left to bring to Omer as proof of the raid.”

Kaz was speechless as he looked around the group of men. He finally managed to ask, “So what
really
happened.”

“I told a crew of thieves where they could expect to find Omer’s wagon. Happy for the tip I provided, they agreed to fake the death of the slaves hauling the supplies.”

“What about the drams?” Kaz asked.

“The thieves spread a special potion to attract the drams and covered some old clothing in pig’s blood,” she explained, as she crouched down to finish the story. “What made it even more convincing was that I made a donation of ‘special’ wine to the guards the day before to ensure they were a little out of it and easy to scare and fool.”

“Lady Pentra was amazing! It was the most exciting night of my whole life!” Smudge exclaimed as he gestured animatedly with his hands.

“Yes, well, tonight has also been an exciting one. We have found an archer of unmatched skill to join us. Omer will answer for all he has brought on your families.” There was a cheer that went up at these words, and Smudge jumped in the air excitedly. “But we will need our strength for the morning. Everyone get ready to turn in for the night.”

The group slowly dispersed, though Seed stayed where he was at P’s side, watching Kaz shyly.

“He seems to like you,” Kaz said, nodding at Seed. The young man flinched and hugged tightly to P.

“Seed and I have been friends for many years,” P said, looking down at the young man. “I used to live in Omer’s keep,” she explained. “My mother and I used to sneak food out to Hess. We tried to do more to help the people, but Omer is an evil man.”

Asher came up to P and bowed down low. “My Lady Pentra,” he said, then he turned to Seed and gestured to a nearby tent. “Come on, Seed. You need sleep as much as the rest of us.” The young man gave P a quick wave and went to settle in for the night. It seemed that Asher was also simply going to retire for the evening when he suddenly turned and caught her in a tight hug.

Her shock was evident on her face, and Kaz couldn’t help but be amused at the way her composure had been thrown off. He tilted his head to the side and smiled and she gave him a slight glare.

“Pentra,” Kaz said as Asher pulled away and began moving toward his tent, “that’s a nice name. Why don’t you use it more often?”

She looked around the now quiet camp, then leaned in close to Kaz and whispered. “On this quest you’ll probably learn some things about me and my past. This mission is very close to my heart, so that is unavoidable, but don’t press your luck. If things go wrong, and you know too much, you will be in a great deal of danger.” The look in her eyes gave no room to doubt the seriousness of her words. Kaz silently nodded with wide eyes. “Now it’s probably best that we set up our own sleeping arrangements for the night and get some rest; we’ll be leaving early in the morning.”

*****

The next morning began early with breaking camp, eating a small breakfast, mainly from Kaz and P’s saddle bags, and moving west toward Omer’s realm. While they travelled, P was up next to Digger, and Kaz trailed behind next to Asher. From Asher, Kaz learned about the people in Hess. How they lived in small cabins, worked long days and were given small amounts of food, clothing; and tools to get the work done. For several years P, or Lady Pentra as they called her, had been trying to gather resources and get help for them, but all her attempts had either been ignored or had been thwarted by Omer, so now she was taking things into her own hands.

After walking as far as the more frail men in the group could make it, P called for them to stop for the night, and they quickly got their camp set up.

After the meager tents had been set up and the horses turned out to graze, Kaz was setting out his own bed roll and removing his bow and quiver from his back when he noticed several of the men whispering with Digger and casting shy glances in his direction. He decided to play it casual and continued on with his evening preparations as though he hadn’t noticed. A few minutes later when Kaz was sitting on the ground, and had ceased appearing to be busy, Digger approached and slapped him on the back. “So how about a bit of a demonstration?” he said, and the other men around stopped what they were doing and turned to watch.

Nodding amiably, Kaz stood up and retrieved his bow and two arrows. He held one together with the bow in his left hand, and eased the second onto the bowstring. “Pick a target,” he said confidently. With his training from Boon, he knew that anything they could see, he could easily hit.