The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear (48 page)

and to the best of his ability fulfill his duty.

She had smiled at him, but at the same time she had looked a bit

worried. She had shown him a map and had traced out a route with

her finger. She had done so while leaning over his shoulder and her

long blond hair had touched his cheek. He could still feel it, and the

sweet smell of roses still lingered in his nostrils.

“I want you to take the side roads that run parallel to the Northern

Highway.”

She had asked Grunwell, who had stood silently by the door, to

join them to take a good look at the map as well.

“I doubt the Black Shields can patrol every little country-road.

It will take you slightly longer, but since there’s only some twenty

of you and you will not be carrying much luggage, you should make

good time. Be careful though. Very careful.”

She had looked earnestly at the both of them in turn. Her friend,

the nice baroness, had told him to follow her to her room. On her bed

lay something covered in heavy cloth. When she removed it some fine

clothes were revealed. Not that they were over ostentatiously rich.

They were just of the finest possible materials and workmanship.

“Try them on, dear,” the baroness had urged him. “See if they

fit. We can’t have a prince of the House of Mekthona run around in

Bonds of Fear

375

clothes that look like hand-me-downs from his much bigger brother,

can we? I’ll turn my back to you while you change. Take your time.”

When he had finished changing and she had mustered him from

head to toe, she had nodded satisfied.

“I’ll have the sleeves taken in a few inches, but otherwise they

seem an almost perfect fit. Walk around a bit, dear.”

How strange it had felt stepping around the room in those fine

garments. He had stood more upright, and there was a certain self

assured bounce in his step, he had felt. So, it was true after all. The

clothes did make the man, or the prince in this case.

An hour before midday they had gathered in one of the stables.

Once the doors were closed and men outside guarded their privacy,

the queen had removed the Avadesquan veil she had been wearing.

“Men, this may be the most important thing you will ever do. The

life of the last of the Mekthonas is in danger. You and Jerruth will

prevent the vile beast from harming my son. This is why you took the

oath. This is why you trained all these years. This is why you were

born.”

She looked around and each of them, most of all Jerruth, felt that

she sought him, not only him, but mostly him with her eyes.

“My sources assure me that the Bloody Baron will soon have

reason to believe that my son will be in a little place called Elmshill.

So, let’s make sure that he finds exactly what he is looking for.

Never disillusion your enemy when he is making false assumptions.

He will send scouts. They must come back to him in the absolute

certainty that they saw the prince with a small following, waiting

for a rendezvous. The baron will break cover and I will personally

chase the animal off the face of the earth with the other Tribesmen.

Chances are you won’t set eyes on him.”

376

Andrew Ashling

She had let her words sink in.

“Once more, if you don’t play your role to perfection his spies will

see through our ruse, the baron will not break cover and reach the

Northern Marches, where his authority will be such that no power

on earth can prevent him from killing my son.”

Once again she had looked each of them in the eyes. She had been

satisfied. She saw these men would give their all.

“You will depart during the midday hustle. You leave in groups

of three. You all know where you will meet. Jerruth will change his

clothes there. From then on there can be no falling out of character

anymore. You will treat Jerruth as a prince, you will call him your

highness, and you will stand on your head if he tells you to. Without

a second thought. We can never be sure where and when the Black

Shields will have ears, ears that will listen for the slightest false note.

Have I made myself clear?”

The men had nodded solemnly.

After a while she had sent the first party of three on their way.

The baroness took care that the others left at irregular intervals.

“Jerruth,” she had said softly, taking him apart and laying a

light hand on his shoulders while looking him deep in the eyes, “as

important as this is, please be careful. I don’t foresee any danger, but

still, keep your eyes and ears open.”

“My lady,” he had answered gallantly, “don’t worry about me

when his highness is in so much danger.”

“Of course I worry about you, Jerruth. You’re a direct descendant

of the second Anaxormas.”

“On the wrong side of the bed,” he had reminded her wryly.

“Blood doesn’t care about a piece of parchment, or some

Bonds of Fear

377

mumblings of a priestess, or the scribblings of an official of the

administration. Blood won’t be denied. I saw that the first time I

set eyes on you. How you commanded your way in. You’re more his

brother than you realise and certainly more than those three idiots

of half-siblings... Believe me, I know them.”

He had become intensely red and for a minute or two didn’t trust

himself to speak. He had been afraid he would hug her, then and

there, saying that she was more his mother than his mother was.

And so much more even than that.

“Just promise me you will be careful, Jerruth.”

“I will, my lady,” was all he had dared whisper.

They had met at a deserted piece of road some ten miles from

the Highway. The baroness, who had come with them, gave him

his clothes, and he retired behind some bushes to change. When

he reemerged the men had looked at him with new found respect.

The baroness had collected his own clothes to take back with her.

Nothing was to be left for someone to find and wonder about. She

had tucked them away in her saddle bags and then pressed him to

her ample bosom.

“Never you worry, Jerruth, I will be so close behind the Bloody

Baron that he will never come within a mile of you. And Grunwell

will take care of you, I’m certain of it.”

If so, why had she been on the verge of tears, he had wondered.

“Why do I have this sense of foreboding, this urge to pray to the

Goddess of the Hopeless Cases and the Lost Causes, Murandana

herself?”
Sobrathi thought, trying to hide her unrest.

She had drawn Jerruth even closer.

378

Andrew Ashling

“May the Great Goddess guard and protect you, my little prince”,

she had said.

She hadn’t waited to look after them when they got on their way,

but mounted her own horse and galloped off, back to the caravan.

Now they were on their own, and the full weight of his mission

made itself felt.

“Grunwell, we must be thirty miles or more inland, so this must

be where we turn off,” he asked more than he stated when they came

at a fork in the road.

“I think your highness is right,” Grunwell answered.

Although he knew what the queen had said about staying in

character, even when they thought nobody could possibly observe

them, still it came a bit as a shock to be called your highness in a

demure voice by this strong, big man. It was even more of a shock

when he realized how natural it felt. Could it be true? Could it be

true what the queen had said? The last words she had spoken to him,

when he was about to mount his horse still rang through his head.

“Be careful, my son, and remember: your brother’s life is in your

hands. I will make certain he will hear about everything you did for

him.”

He had nodded and smiled comfortingly at her.

“Don’t worry, my lady, all will go well. I’m sure of it,” he had said

with all the optimistic brazenness of his fifteen years.

Another voice also wouldn’t keep quiet. This one a far less

pleasant one.

“My poor boy... That’s what they always do when they want to

use you. They make you feel all special, but it’s only an act. It’s how

Bonds of Fear

379

they make you put your life on the line for them.”

That voice he
commanded
to shut up.

380

Andrew Ashling

Chapter 11:

Edge of Despair

One blow with a supple pine branch on his balls was enough.

A pain, whose existence he hitherto hadn’t suspected, shot up

through all his nerves to the farthest reaches of his body. He let out

an inhuman howl. Then he shouted at the top of his voice that he

would tell everything they wanted to know, if they would only please,

please, stop, in heaven’s name, stop.

The man with the pine branch didn’t even seem to enjoy his work

particularly. That was the most worrying aspect of it all. These were

professionals on a fact finding mission.

Another swishing sound announced a whole new world of pain,

and Ondrov almost fainted. He wished he would lose consciousness,

but he didn’t.

“Of course you will tell us everything, sir,” another man said

softly. “I know you will.”

They hadn’t asked any questions, however, but instead kept

beating him on his testicles.

“Who are you and in whose employ are you?” finally the man had

asked.

He had told them as fast as he could. Still they had hit him again.

Bonds of Fear

381

His testicles must be twice the size they normally were by now. He

didn’t dare look.

“Very good, sir. Now, what is your mission? Take your time. Be

thorough.”

He told them. He told them everything he knew. He told them his

message word for word.

He had been but an hour on his way when suddenly, from behind

some trees, four knights in black had appeared and blocked his way.

The leader had courteously introduced them as Black Shields on an

official mission to capture enemies of the state. They would like to

ask him some questions. They were very polite about it, so damned

polite.

He had not been unduly worried. Even when they asked him to

dismount and guided him into the woods, far away from the Highway,

he had stayed calm. He had been trained after all. So he knew

that when they stripped him that was only a standard technique

to humiliate and intimidate him. They had practiced that at the

Ormidonian chapter house in one of the special classes.

He hadn’t been bothered in the least to stand naked before the

rest of the class and his teachers while they asked him all kinds of

intimate questions. Not like some who had cringed and had wanted

to sink into the ground. Not Ondrov. Ondrov lived mostly in his mind.

He knew his body wasn’t his best asset. Who cared? It was only the

carrier of his mind, much like a horse carried his body. You cared for

the beast. You fed it when it was hungry. You gave it water when it

was thirsty. You kept it clean. That was about it.

He had stood calmly before them when they asked him from