The Key (16 page)

“Don’t you trust me?” Lennek asked. He grinned, as if he enjoyed watching the panic swim across her face.

“No,” she answered, her heart slamming against her chest.

“Good.” He pulled her away from the ledge, closer to his body. “You’re honest.” Sweat dripped down the back of her neck. “If I ever catch you lying to me,” Lennek whispered in her ear, “I’ll kill you.” His hot breath felt like acid. Prince Lennek released her and walked to the carriage, never looking back. Rema fell to her knees, a bruise already forming where Lennek’s hand had held her arm.

Darmik

“T
he rebel’s base camp isn’t near the bay,” Darmik said, exasperated. They had been going around in circles for over an hour.

“But look at the map,” Neco gestured toward the paper spread out before them on Darmik’s desk. “The heaviest concentration
of the rumor is near the bay.”

“I agree,”
Erikk said. He scooted closer to the edge of his chair to get a better view of the map. “That’s the most likely location.”

And that was precisely why Darmik
suspected the base camp was nowhere near the bay. Darmik sighed and crossed his arms. “Erikk, gather the rest of my personal squad. I want everyone ready to leave in one hour.”

“Yes, Commander
.” Erikk jumped up and sprinted out of the office, leaving Darmik and Neco alone.

“We’re leaving?” Neco asked. Darmik nodded. “But isn’t Prince Lennek due
to arrive soon?”

He was. They barely had a week before Darmik needed to be back in
King’s City for the official announcement.

“Neco,” Darmik
dropped his arms to the desk and leaned over the map. “Look again.” Neco studied the paper. “There are two areas of concentration—and both of them are in Telan.”

“Yes, but the towns near the base of the Middle Mountains are small and spar
sely populated. The bay cities make sense, not the villages.”

“It
does if the rebels’ camp is near the villages, and not at the bay,” Darmik said. There were hundreds of unknown caves at the base of the Middle Mountains—enough to conceal the rebels.

Neco rubbed his eyes.

“And the port towns,” Darmik tapped the map. “There are three major cities within a close proximity to one another.”

“But the rumors have only been linked to two of the
m.”

Darmik pointed to Trenek, the third city located
just north of Telan in Adder. “That’s why we’re moving out. I suspect the rumors will surface here. And time is of the essence if we want to capture the rebels.”

****

Darmik and his squad rode hard for two days, only stopping at night for a few hours of sleep. When they reached the outskirts of Adder, they exchanged their uniforms for plain clothes. Darmik broke them up into groups of two so they wouldn’t attract any attention.

The
pairs continued separately to Trenek. After Darmik and Neco stabled their horses at an inn on the outskirts of the city, they walked the remainder of the way.

Trenek was a border town in Adder close to Telan and the water. It was one of the oldest and largest cities on Greenwood Island because of its location next to the bay. The buildings were mostly stone structures built a hundred year
s ago, made to withstand storms. However, everything was severely discolored from the crisp, cool, salty air.

The streets became crowded a
s suppertime neared, and the larger ships returned to port with their day’s catch. The smell of fish and salt hung heavy in the thick, musty air.

“Commander
, there they are again,” Neco said. He and Darmik strolled down one of the main roads lined with shops that passed through the center of the town.

People walked with large wicker baskets on their backs, transporting fish and various goods to the market.

“I see them,” Darmik answered, noticing the three men up ahead.

“They look like they don’t belong
, only, I can’t say why,” Neco commented. Touching the brim of his hat, he signaled the pair of soldiers thirty feet behind them to be on alert for a potential confrontation. When undercover or doing surveillance, Darmik liked to have his men spread out, yet close enough in case of trouble.

Agreeing,
Darmik scrutinized the three possible rebels. The suspects were all in their mid-twenties, wearing plain brown pants, worn shirts, and dirty boots. The men walked down the main street not talking to one another. If they were men just off work, they most likely would’ve entered a tavern. But so far, the men had passed by every single one.

The three
suspects crossed the road and headed in the direction of the town’s largest market.

“I want a better look,” Darmik said. “Let’s go.”

Neco turned his hat around, signaling the pair of soldiers to join them.  Once they caught up, the four of them turned down a side street and sprinted a few blocks north. When Darmik was confident they were well ahead of the suspects, they went back to the main street, now traveling south. Darmik and his men stopped outside a tavern, pretending to wait for someone.

Searching the sea of faces, Darmik found the
rebels walking straight toward him. As the suspects passed by, the man on the left, closest to Darmik, lifted his arm, scratching his cheek. The man’s index finger had a heavy callous running along its side as if from rubbing the cross guard of a sword—odd that this man’s hand would harbor a sign of combat training.

“
I want them held and questioned,” Darmik whispered under his breath, realizing what was wrong. The suspects’ bodies were muscular from heavy labor but their hands and arms were clean, not stained or cracked from a day’s work.

Darmik
knew, without a doubt, that these men were spreading the rumors and once they entered the market, it would be impossible to follow all three of them. The suspects needed to be grabbed beforehand.

“
Let’s go,” Darmik said, pushing away from the wall and following the rebels.

Darmik and his soldiers
weaved through the crowd, slowly closing in on the men. The suspects stayed on the main street, passing the blacksmith, a shoe cobbler, and another tavern.

“There
are an awful lot of civilians about,” Neco said.

“If we grab them quickly, no one will interfere
,” Darmik said. They were one block from the market. “Ready?” His soldiers nodded.

One suspect glanced b
ack at Darmik. Then all three rebels stiffened, their hands disappearing into pockets and jackets. The men knew they were being followed.

“Grab them!” Darmik ordered
. He slipped his sword from its scabbard, keeping the blade low. There was no way this was going to be done quietly.

H
is men drew their own weapons at the exact same time the three suspects split up, running in different directions. Darmik followed the man on the left. A second later, he realized Neco was pursuing the same person. That meant his other two soldiers were going to be fighting one-on-one.

People
scattered as Darmik and Neco darted through the crowded streets. Darmik ran after his suspect, yelling at the civilians to stay aside so he wouldn’t lose sight of the rebel he pursued. An elderly woman dropped her basket right in front of Darmik. He leaped over it and continued on, his feet pounding on the ground, sprinting as fast as he could. The suspect skidded and turned down a side street as Neco and Darmik remained fifteen feet behind him.

Rounding the corner,
there were two merchants up ahead. They were using a pulley system to get their net loaded with goods up to a third-floor dwelling. As the rebel ran past the men, he took out his knife and threw it at the rope, cleanly slicing it through. The net crashed to the ground, goods smashing everywhere on the road.

The rebel turned down another side street, out of sight. The me
rchant yelled at Neco, demanding he pay for the damage. Neco didn’t hesitate—he ran through the mess, stumbling a few times before rounding the corner in pursuit of the suspect. With Neco gone, the merchants turned to Darmik.

The man
closest to Darmik reached for him. Darmik hated to hurt an innocent man, but time was of the essence. Ducking, Darmik took his sword and smashed the pummel into the civilian’s head. The civilian dropped to the ground, wounded but alive. The other man threw his hands in the air, stepping away from Darmik.

Darmik
continued. Turning down the side street, he found Neco standing a foot away from the rebel, his sword pointed at the man’s chest. The suspect feinted left, and quicker than Darmik ever thought possible, the rebel’s elbow smashed into Neco’s face. Blood dripped to the ground and Neco fell, unconscious.

The man turned to
face Darmik, pulling out a dagger.

“Impressive,” Darmik said, trying to
get a sense of the man’s intensions. He was glad the man hadn’t killed Neco—it certainly seemed within his abilities.

“Commander,” t
he rebel responded, his face full of concentration.

So the rebel knew who
Darmik was, and yet, he still wielded the knife. Interesting. “I want to ask you some questions,” Darmik said. “Put down your weapon, and I won’t hurt you.”

The
suspect raised his dagger in attack. Darmik lifted his sword to parry the blow—and found himself flat on his back, his legs kicked out from under him. It was hard to get over the shock. Darmik hadn’t been so easily leveled since training in Emperion.

But he had no intention of going quietly. Letting go of his sword, Darmik shifted his body weight
, throwing himself back into a standing position. He immediately punched the rebel’s shoulder—not where Darmik had intended, but at least he struck him. Darmik automatically blocked a blow and hit the man’s wrist, causing the rebel’s dagger to fall to the ground.

“Behind you!” Neco shouted, sit
ting up.

Darmik turned to see the other two
suspects running toward him with weapons drawn, his soldiers nowhere in sight. So these men hadn’t been apprehended either. When Darmik turned back to his opponent, the rebel was gone. Darmik swerved, ready for the other two—only they were running away from him instead of toward him. Shaking his head, he chuckled. He couldn’t help but appreciate the well-orchestrated diversion.

Neco stood
on shaky legs and looked to Darmik.

“Ready?” he asked, wiping the blood from his chin.

“Leave them,” Darmik commanded. He and Neco would never be able to catch them in Neco’s condition, and Darmik needed to find his other soldiers. “They were well trained. Using techniques I’ve never seen,” Darmik said, breathing heavily. “Neco, things are going to get interesting around here.” He patted Neco on the shoulder.

“Yes, because there isn’t enough excitement as it is,” Neco
dryly replied, wiping blood from his nose.

The
two went back to the main street where they found the other pair of soldiers, unharmed.

They bombarded Darmik with questions
, but Darmik shook his head, ordering his men to be quiet. “Rendezvous point, one hour.”

Everyone
nodded in acknowledgment, and the group divided.

“Neco,” Darmik
said, taking a side street. Neco was still covered in blood and attracting too much attention. “You’re going to stay here with ten soldiers. You’ll organize a search of the city and flush out those rebels. Do whatever you have to, but I want one captured and brought to King’s City for interrogation.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“We’ll make a big production out of leaving. Hopefully they’ll see, and then you can double back after dark. Catch them off guard.”

Neco smiled
. He always loved a challenge.

****

Darmik and his remaining soldiers reached King’s City two days later. He guided his horse down the main street of the city, which led to the military compound and then to the castle. The road was always clean and gave the illusion of wealth and grandeur. It was mostly trafficked by the wealthy or people coming into or out of the town. The shops lining the main road had to be approved by the king, and as a result, only the most expensive stores, businesses, and counting houses lined the road. Most of the city’s commerce was on the cross streets, and one only had to turn down any of them to find how the majority of the city really lived.

It always amazed Darmik how different this
town felt compared to others throughout the kingdom. And not just in terms of the size and population, but the way people behaved and treated the royalty. Here, the outright hostility was gone; however, civilians in King’s City did have better lives than those throughout the rest of the kingdom. There was still poverty, but people weren’t starving to death on the streets. The king wouldn’t want to see that. Darmik had to keep in mind that these people lived in the king’s backyard with an entire company of the army stationed here. Of course everyone would behave living under these circumstances.