The Lord Son's Travels (46 page)

“Do
not anger me.”
 
He leaned
closer.
 
“Or your husband will pay
the price for you.”
 
She shuddered
as he slipped one hand under the bodice of her dress.
 
He slid upwards over her until his eyes and the blade were
inches from her own expression.
 
She squirmed under his weight and clenched her eyes shut.
 
He smiled.
 
“If you relax, you might be surprised how much you could
enjoy this.”
 
He pulled at her
skirt, ripping it as he forced it up higher over her legs and hips.
 
Elenna twisted around until her right
hand was free and forced herself to wait.
 
When his confidence grew and his grip lessened slightly on the blade,
suddenly she connected her free hand with his left ear and twisted fiercely.
 
He bellowed in surprise and pulled away
from her, trying to break free of her clutch.
 
She used the moment he was off-balance to twist violently,
knocking him to the floor.
 
As she
landed on top of him, his knife dropped from his grip; she swatted it, sending
it bouncing harmlessly across the wooden floor.
 
Elenna jumped to her feet, Midiral glowing in hand, and
regarded his frightened expression as he sprawled on the floor unarmed.

Chapter 42

“You!”
the assistant overseer called.
 
He
was the small man who had brought them to the plantation; Adrien had not seen
him in days.
 
Adrien looked up in
surprise and worry, then forced his expression back to neutral.
 
“You come with me to the house.
 
The overseer wishes to speak with
you.”
 
Adrien kept his gait slow
and easy as he followed the man to the house.
 
The slaves they passed inside regarded him with pity as they
passed; he worried about Elenna.
 
The overseer pushed open the chamber door and roughly motioned Adrien
inside.
 
He stepped in to freeze
still and gasp in shock.
 
Elenna
stood half-hidden by the sofa.
 
What he could see was disheveled and splashed with blood.
 
She held Midiral upraised, as if she
was about to strike again.
 
The
assistant overseer followed him inside, surveyed the scene, and immediately
shut and locked the door behind him.

“What…?”
Adrien yelped and rushed to her side.
 
Elenna didn’t move, but continued to stare down at the floor in front of
the sofa.
 
He followed her gaze and
blanched.
 
The body was barely
recognizable.
 
He turned to the
woman, who had started to shiver slightly.
 
He forgot their observer when he caught the glitter in her
eyes.
 

“Elenna,
send Midiral away.” She either ignored him or couldn’t hear him through the fog
in her mind.
 
Adrien stayed at a
distance, afraid that in her fugue state she would strike at anyone who
approached.
 
Her dress had been
ripped brutally at the bodice and skirt and hung loosely from her frame.
  
He studied the scene again, and
realized what had taken place only moments before.
 
He swallowed his fury and turned again with pity to his
companion.
 
“Elenna, I will not
hurt you.
 
Tis I, Adrien.
 
Send Midiral away.”
 
He took a step forward, repeating her
name gently over and over.

Elenna’s
eyes swiveled to study him.
 
“Adrien?” she whispered.
 

“Yes,
it is I.
 
Send away Midiral.
 
You are safe.”

“Is
he dead?”

“Yes,
you are safe.”
 
He held her gaze
with tenderness and calm.
 
She
blinked several times, then dropped Midiral to the ground.
 
It remained a moment, then disappeared
in a flash of light.
 
He approached
closer and offered his hands.
 
“Come, Elenna.
 
Come with
me.”

“I
couldn’t let him do it,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”
 
He grabbed her limp hand.
 
She was violently shivering now, still
staring blankly into space.
 
He
pulled off his cloak to cover her.

“Bring
her to the wagon, Lord Son,” said the new head overseer.
 
Adrien had forgotten he was there.
 
In astonishment he pivoted his
way.
 
The man bowed slightly.
 
“I am a Student of the Lady, but I was
born Allé-dônian.
 
For the last
year I have lived here in Her service.”

“You
are Allé-dônian?” Adrien muttered in disbelief.
 

“Yes,
Lord Son.
 
Bring the Lady to the
wagon and we shall find Lord Brendan in town.”
 
Adrien had no choice other than comply.
 
When someone discovered the body, he
and Elenna and likely their secret countryman would be hung before
sundown.
 
Already one of the
servants could have heard the commotion and be on the way to investigate.
 
He gently led Elenna from the room straight
through the front of the house to the wagon.
 
She stared straight ahead, offering no resistance as he
picked her up in his arms and laid her down carefully on the floor of the
wagon. The Student leaped up to the driver’s seat as Adrien climbed in next to
Elenna.
 
Without a glance
backwards, the Student drove away from the house towards town.
 
The guards waved him on without any
interest, used to the assistant overseer taking slaves to and from market; some
in even worse condition then the woman who rode with him today.

“How
is the Lady?” the student called back to Adrien when he had reached the main
road.
 
Adrien had found an
abandoned, half-unraveled blanket in the back of the wagon and wrapped it
tenderly around her shoulders.
 
She
still stared blankly at nothing.
 
Frustrated, Adrien didn’t know what else to do for her.
 
He settled with clutching her cold hand
in his, and whispering words of assurance.

“He
was going to kill you if I didn’t let him do it,” she said suddenly.
 
She still couldn’t face him but spoke
into the air.
 
Adrien grimaced.
 
“I stopped him though,” she continued.
Her voice was casual; like she was discussing the day’s events over dinner. “He
is dead, right?”

“He
is dead,” Adrien confirmed.
 

She
smiled weakly.
 
“Good.”

They
reached the outskirts of town, and the Student asked where they thought they
could find their companion.
 
Adrien
mentioned the inn and the student grinned broadly.
 
“That is the will of the Lady Eva to be sure!”
 
The inn was one of the main buildings
in the town;
 
it would be
impossible to hide their entrance or exit from public view.
 
They had to hope that if their deeds
were already discovered, their pursuers were still far enough behind.
 

They
abandoned the wagon at the edge of town.
 
Covered by the blanket and flanked by the men, Elenna’s stay of disarray
was not obvious to any casual passerby; at that time of the afternoon, not many
people were out in the streets of the town.
 
They reached the inn and, following the Student’s
instructions, slipped around to the back of the main building.
 
He tapped on an unobtrusive door, and
was let in by one of the innkeeper’s slaves.
 
He silently led them up a flight of stairs to a small,
sparsely furnished parlor.
 
The
three renegades were instructed to wait while the innkeeper was summoned.

Brendan
had only arrived a few minutes previously from an errand to the
blacksmith.
 
He had gone
immediately to the kitchen for a drink before leaving for his next errand.
 
The innkeeper found him only a minute
before downing the last drops in his cup and setting out again.

“Bran,
my boy, come with quick!” she ordered cheerfully, sticking her head in the door
and smiling.
 
He nodded and
followed her through the house to the rear entrance.
 
She motioned him into the rear parlor she used as an
office.
 
He stepped in, then
faltered in surprise.
 
Adrien leapt
to his feet with an cry of relief.
 
Bren crossed the room to embrace his old friend, then released him to
greet Elenna.
 
She only gazed up at
him with trembling lips.

“Elenna!
 
What has happened!” he exclaimed,
moving to embrace her as well.
 
She
shrank away, as Adrien caught his arm and pulled him back.
 

“Much
has happened, friend,” he muttered in a low tone.
 
“We must leave now.
 
We’re pursued as master-killers.”

Brendan’s
brows furrowed.
 
His owner stepped
in.
 
“I can have you ready to go in
a serpent’s strike.
 
While I prepare,
you should have food and drink before your travels.”
 
She called out down the hall for someone to hurry and bring
three meals from the kitchen.

Brendan
turned to regard her blankly, his confusion mounting.
 
“You were always free, Bran,” she admonished him, with a
glint of delight at breaking the secret.
 
“I planned to wait to tell you until you could carry through a plan to
rescue your friends, but I see that time is now.”

The
Student explained, “She is a Freeman.
 
We work together to help slaves escape.”

Brendan
smiled at his benefactor.
 
“That is
why you lose so many slaves as runaways.”

She
nodded.
 
“My neighbors worry that I
run my house so badly that I lose all of my investments.
 
But I will ready you some horses and
provisions.
 
It will not be long
until your pursuers reach town.”
 
She turned to their silent companion.
 
She knelt at her feet and gently touched her hand.
 
“Do you wish clean clothes, Lady?” she
asked softly.
 
Elenna nodded
slightly.
 
She took her hand and
helped her to her feet.
 
“I will
take the Lady to my room and help her bathe and dress,” she informed the
men.
 
The women exited the room,
Adrien and Brendan watching their companion shuffle slowly towards the door.

When
they were gone, Bren turned again to Adrien and demanded.
 
“What happened?”
 
Adrien took a deep breath and relayed
what he had seen.
 
Brendan cursed
throughout the story.
 
“This place has
been torture for us all,” he muttered.
 

Adrien
cocked his head in consternation as he made an observation.
 
Brendan’s right arm hung loose at his
side.
 
He asked his friend about
his wounds.
 
A few days after his
arrival in the inn, all feeling had disappeared from his shoulder down to his
fingers.
 
Sensation had returned to
most of his arm, but he could not lift anything heavy with it yet, including
his sword.
 
With practice he should
return to normal, Brendan said lightly, with an optimism that didn’t quite
reach his eyes.

The
women returned at the same time as the plates of food the innkeeper had
ordered.
 
Elenna had regained some
color in her cheeks, but her eyes remained distant.
 
She refused her share of the meal, retreating to the corner
as the men downed the plates of meat and bread.
 
When they had finished their rides were ready for
travel.
 
They retreated back down
the steps they had climbed earlier and entered the barn.
 
Three horses were saddled and loaded
with water and other supplies.
 

The
innkeeper warned them that men from the plantation had swarmed into town
boasting of awards for their capture.
 
She asked which destination they intended.
 
When she heard Evendor, she nodded thoughtfully.
 
Their town lay southeast of the City in
the Sky, she informed them.
 
They
could cross the desert and reach their road in two days.
 
The Student nodded.
 
The desert was a rough ride, but he had
seen how the slave traders managed to keep their caravans constantly traversing
it.
 
He had heard the tales of the
Lord Son as a good soldier and patroller, and hoped they were true.
 
He worried about the woman, but he
couldn’t leave her in the city, even with the innkeeper.
 
Sooner or later she would be found, and
he doubted she would find that end preferable than the dangers of the desert.

They
arranged their supplies on their mounts and were ready for departure.
 
The innkeeper nodded to the Student
with respect and hugged Brendan as he thanked her for her kindness.
 
“Lady go with you!” she whispered in
his ear.
 
“Free us from this
scourge!”
 

Just
as in the days after her arrival in the Eastlands, Elenna rode with Adrien on
his mount.
 
He wondered at her
tenseness as he urged the horse from the barn into the inn yard.
 
He heard her sigh, then spurred on his
mount to lead his companions on a gallop to the beginning of the desert sands.
 
They raced until the town had dwindled
behind them, then slowed their fatigued mounts to a walk.
 
The sun was beginning to darken to red
as it slipped down its path to the horizon.
 
The land was flat; they would be able to see pursuers at
some distance, though their pursuers would also be able to see them.
 
They had to hope that they had enough
lead.
  
In their speed the
horses had spread out a bit; the Student had taken the lead, while Adrien and
Elenna had fallen to the rear by twenty feet.
 
In the quiet of the horses’ steps Adrien heard a sob, and
wondered how long she had been crying.