The Rogue Knight (25 page)

C
HAPTER

 25 

ESCAPE

C
ole focused on descending the stairs as quickly as he could without tripping. Ahead of him, Sultan raced down two steps at a time, toting Brady over one shoulder.

“Why are we running?” Brady asked, looking up at Cole.

“It's good exercise,” Cole told him.

Brady looked doubtful. “I think the bad guys found me.”

“We'll be okay,” Sultan assured him as they jounced downward. “We'll get away.”

They reached the iron door at the base of the tower. A bulky knight stood guard there, holding a large flanged mace. Several broken bodies lay scattered around the hall.

“Which way?” Minimus asked the knight.

He pointed down the hall with two fingers. From the other direction Cole heard fighting.

“That will work,” Oster said hurriedly. “Follow me.”

Unlike the men who rode with the Rogue Knight, Oster did not wear a full suit of armor. He had a long shirt with metal scales, a helmet, and leather guards on his arms and legs. As Oster jogged in the lead, Cole could tell the armor weighed him down enough to make running a chore. Minimus trotted beside Cole, but despite his complete shell of solid armor, the Halfknight moved as if unburdened.

They raced down the hall, turned a corner, went through a door, then rushed down some steps. At the bottom they charged along another hall toward a T intersection. Composed of dark stone blocks, the corridors all looked the same to Cole. He knew they were a few floors above ground level, but otherwise he felt completely disoriented.

As they passed a window, Cole glimpsed two knights out in the courtyard pressed by attackers on all sides. Bodies had piled up around them. Most of the attackers wore the uniforms of Merriston guardsmen.

Oster turned left at the T, then stopped short and raced the other way. When Cole reached the intersection, he found they had run into a large group of legionnaires. Cole sprinted with everything he had as the legionnaires gave chase.

Up ahead, where the hall elbowed, the Rogue Knight ran into view with three other knights. They charged down the hall past Cole toward the legionnaires. Glancing back, Cole saw the legionnaires jostle to a halt. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the four knights filled the hall, weapons drawn, blocking the way. Cole followed Oster around the corner and lost sight of them.

“Nice work,” Sultan told Skye.

“Won't hold them long,” she replied.

Only then did Cole realize that the Rogue Knight and his three companions had been illusions. That made more sense. The timing had been unbelievably lucky!

Oster led them down branching hallways, some narrow, others wide. While the others ran hard, Twitch hopped and fluttered. They hurried through a dining room with long tables and into a corridor on the far side. Around the next corner they ran into several oncoming guardsmen with crossbows. As the men took aim, a stone wall appeared, blocking them from view. Doubling back, Cole crouched and weaved as quarrels clacked against the wall beyond him. At least the crossbowmen couldn't see their targets.

As they raced down halls and around corners, walls kept appearing behind them, blending with the actual walls of the castle to obscure their trail. Cole was out of breath, but he kept running hard.

“They shot you,” Brady said from his position draped over Sultan's shoulder.

Cole noticed Brady staring at a quarrel buried under Sultan's unburdened shoulder.

“I've had worse,” Sultan replied.

Brady reached a tentative hand toward the protruding projectile.

“No,” Cole warned. “You'll make it worse.”

They came around another corner, and another fake wall arose behind them. “We need disguises,” Skye panted. “I didn't realize how many soldiers we would encounter.”

“Legionnaires?” Sultan asked.

“Anything so we're not instant targets,” Skye replied.

“I'll have to let some of the walls drop,” Sultan said.

“Just leave the last one up,” Skye suggested. “If they don't have the castle memorized, that should be enough to shake them.”

Cole watched as everyone in their group became legionnaires. The kids and Minimus appeared much taller. Instead of making Brady a legionnaire, the young boy merged with Sultan's false persona.

“I thought we'd try the dungeon exit,” Oster said from the front. “That way is cut off now. We'll have to use the champion's quarters. There will be guards out front.”

“We don't have to run from every enemy,” Minimus said, his high voice incongruent with his full-size seeming. “Let me handle the guards.”

“Some of our best guardsmen get posted at the champion's quarters,” Oster explained. “Keeping all but the champion out is their duty. I'd hate to harm them.”

“Nonlethal force,” Minimus replied. “Got it.”

“How can I help?” asked the legionnaire with Dalton's voice.

“If we run into more trouble,” Skye said, “I may have to drop some of our disguises to raise defensive seemings. You can help cover for me.”

“Why did you all turn into soldiers?” Brady asked. It was strange hearing his voice without seeing him.

“It's pretend,” Cole said. “Like rainbows.”

“Rainbows aren't pretend,” Brady argued.

“I mean like how rainbows aren't solid,” Cole said, short of breath from all the running. “We're using magic costumes.”

“Are we still in Dreamland?” Brady asked.

“Kind of,” Cole said. “But not like before. No dinosaurs.”

While passing through a doorway, their disguises dropped. “Scrubber,” Skye called.

“I'm on it,” Sultan said. Their legionnaire seemings promptly returned.

They rushed up some stairs into an anteroom with a large pair of double doors on the far side. Two guards protected the doors, armed with polearms.

“The old champion is dead,” Oster declared. “The new one has fled. We're under orders to secure these quarters.”

“Hold it,” one of the guards said, pointing the blade at the end of his pole at Oster. “These quarters are secure. The doors only open under direct orders from the champion.”

“We currently have no champion,” Oster said.

“Until that is resolved, nobody enters,” the guard insisted.

“Drop my disguise,” Oster said.

Instantly the seeming vanished.

“Oster?” the guard asked. “What's going on?”

“I'm here under orders,” Oster said. “With the Dread­knight gone and the Rogue Knight on the run, Desmond is now master of Edgemont. He wants me here to protect our sensitive documents from Merriston intruders.”

“Who are these other folk?” the guard asked.

“We're using seemings.” Oster turned and gave a nod. Some of the seemings disappeared. Three of them changed. Minimus now looked like a sickly child. Joe appeared to be a teenage girl. Sultan became an elderly humpbacked woman. Cole supposed that Brady was the hump.

“These people are in my care,” Oster said. “Women and children. Desmond wants them safe.”

The guards glanced at each other. “All right, Oster. Just confirm your identity with today's password.”

“Downstream,” Oster said.

“And your identity slogan?”

“Ignore nothing.”

The guards moved aside. Oster waved for the others to go ahead. “Don't admit anyone else besides Desmond,” he admonished the guards. “And don't mention seeing me to anyone but him.”

“Understood,” the guard said.

Oster came inside and pulled the doors closed, locking them. Unlike every other part of Blackmont Castle that Cole had seen, the champion's quarters were spacious and beautifully furnished. The bearskins on the ground and mounted trophy heads on the wall suggested that the Dreadknight had been a hunter.

Oster led them through a few handsome rooms to a bedchamber. He went to the large bed made of varnished logs, and started pushing. “A little help?” he asked.

Minimus hustled over to the bed, and together they slid it sideways. Minimus's and Sultan's seemings dissipated. Joe no longer appeared to be a teenage girl.

“The floor beneath the bed is a seeming,” Oster said. “Stairs lead down.”

“You all go,” Minimus said. “I'll pull the bed back into place to make it harder for anyone to chase us. I'll crawl under it and follow you.”

“The bed is heavy,” Oster warned.

“I felt its weight,” Minimus said. “I'm small but mighty. I can handle it.”

“Would you like me to take the boy?” Oster asked Sultan.

“I have him,” Sultan said, his face shiny with perspiration. “We may need your sword up ahead.”

“You know I can walk, right?” Brady said.

“I want to make sure we're quick,” Sultan explained.

“You're wounded,” Joe said. “Give me the boy.” Sultan handed Brady to Joe, who slung the boy over his shoulder.

Cole followed Jace and Twitch through the fake floor. With each step, the insubstantial floor came higher on his body until his head sank below it. Dim globes on the wall provided light. At the bottom of the long flight of stairs, Cole found himself beside Dalton.

“Having fun?” Cole asked.

“That was the first time I've ever been shot at,” Dalton said. “I feel bad for Sultan. That has to hurt!”

“Come on,” Oster urged.

As Cole followed, from above and behind, he heard the sound of the bed sliding into place. He kept glancing back until he saw Minimus catch up with the group.

“We should be in the clear now,” Oster said. “Only a couple of the other knights know about this passage, and they have their hands full with the Rogue Knight. Once we're outside the castle, we should make for the lower stables. If we can get you on good horses, I expect you can ride clear of all this. Any idea where you're going?”

“To find Trillian the torivor,” Mira said.

Cole cast a quick, nervous glance at Dalton, still curious what his friend knew about Trillian. Dalton leaned his way and whispered, “He's a caged monster. Sort of like the Ellowine boogeyman.”

Oster stopped walking. “Today I've heard some things that weren't meant for my ears,” he said. He held out a hand toward Mira. “I understand you're Miracle Pemberton. And it sounded like Trillian has your sister, Honor. But if Trillian has claimed her, the story ends there. The torivor is imprisoned at the Lost Palace for a reason. He is one of the most powerful beings in the five kingdoms. Maybe
the
most powerful. Trillian can send servants beyond his borders, but he can't leave. However, if you enter his domain, you'll be at his mercy.”

“I appreciate the advice,” Mira said. “We're going in that direction, though. The rest we'll figure out on the way.”

Oster shook his head and started walking again. “If you avoid the Lost Palace, that route carries some benefit. Not a lot of people will want to follow you to the northeast. For the sake of my peace, please give it a lot of thought before approaching the Lost Palace. Talk to some locals. Learn what perils await you. Consider alternatives.”

“I can tell Mira about Trillian,” Skye said. “We won't rush into anything.”

They continued forward. Oster glanced back at Mira. “Are you really the daughter of the High King? Weren't his daughters killed?”

“He staged our deaths and stole our shaping abilities,” Mira explained. “It stopped us from aging.”

Oster didn't ask more questions.

Cole matched Dalton's pace and spoke softly to him. “What's the full story on Trillian?” he asked.

Dalton sucked in a breath. “Oster covered the basics. I don't know much more, just stuff I've heard at the Silver Lining. People in Elloweer love secrets—they hide behind illusions, they use passwords, they trade rumors. But they don't want to know more about the torivor. They just want him locked away. Based on the little I've heard, this guy is a walking horror movie.”