The Sorcerer's Scourge (26 page)

Miles had been a student at The Martial Academy since he was eight years old and was now a sixth-year student. If someone caught him, he would receive a demerit and probably put on additional detail. It was a far less severe punishment than a first or second year would get. It was chilly in the halls of The Academy so he donned a warm set of soft nightclothes and slippers and crept out into dim halls.

He spied the light of a lantern far down the hall, borne by one of the other students who were on sentry that night. Sentry duty was a two-hour shift and rotated through the entire student body, although the older students got it less often than the younger. Miles had it tomorrow but it would be another week before he came up on the roster again thanks the almost over-crowding of The Martial Academy.

Unlike the magus side. They did not pull sentry duty over there and would not do so even if they had the numbers. Miles, like most martial students, saw wizards as lacking discipline. The Magus Academy was almost desolate with entire wings closed off since there were no students to fill them.

Miles darted down a passage then held his breath as a sentry passed close by but failed to spot him hidden in the dark recess of the wall. Once the student guard had passed, he crept back out and made for the stairs leading down towards the kitchens. He had to hide from three more of the roving patrols, but he made it to the enormous kitchens without discovery. Now he just needed to find food.

The only light came from the half-moon shining dully through the open window in the far wall. Beyond his ability to make out basic shapes, the darkness left him nearly blind. Miles fumbled about the counters in search of a loaf of bread or smoked meat left out, but so far had only found pots, pans, and a wooden block full of knives.

He gasped and reached out blindly when his hand knocked the block of knives from the countertop. By some miracle, he not only managed to catch the block, but not a single knife fell out to clatter noisily onto the floor. He smiled and breathed out a sigh of relief as he gently set the knife block back onto the counter. Only his exceptional training and military bearing kept him from crying out in alarm when a strong hand gripped his shoulder painfully.

Orange brilliance flared from a struck sulfur match then a greater light filled the room as it was touched to an oil lamp. Had his heart not been racing and his mind busy trying to come up with a plausible lie for being in the kitchen at this hour, he may have wondered who would be in the kitchens with something as rare and novel as a sulfur match.

Miles turned to face whoever it was that had apprehended him. He almost smiled in relief when he looked into the face of one of the kinder kitchen staff. Miss Elli had been there about as long as Miles had been attending the school. She was around thirty and was pretty in a plain sort of way. She seemed intelligent despite being in such a mundane position and had always been nice to Miles in the rare times their paths had crossed.

“Miss Elli, you almost scared me to death!” Miles whispered anxiously.

“Miles, is that you? What are you doing down here at this hour? You know you will get yourself into trouble.”

“I was so hungry it woke me up and could not get back to sleep. I thought I might find a roll or something to settle my stomach so I could get some rest,” he explained.

Elli smiled at the young man. “I think I recall wrapping up a loaf of bread and some smoked meat and sticking it in the cupboard today. Let me break you off a bit, but then you get yourself back to bed.”

“I will. Thank you miss….”

Miles’s expression of gratitude was cut off as Miss Elli yanked him so hard he nearly tumbled past her and onto the floor. A dark blur tumbled just past his head as he stumbled across the kitchen and fetched up against a countertop.

“Hey, what was that for?” Miles exclaimed and then saw the assassins.

Several men clamored into the kitchen with weapons drawn. Miles gaped dumbfounded as Elli yanked a handful of knives out of the kitchen block and hurled them one after another at the dark-garbed intruders. Two of the blades found flesh and the men dropped to floor and did not stir. Two others dodged the projectiles and continued to advance.

“Nice bit of throwing, missy, but now you and the little Prince are gonna bleed,” one of the men snarled as he quickly closed the distance separating him from the kitchen woman and the boy.

He knows who I am!
Miles thought frantically.

No one was supposed to know his true identity and that he was at The Academy except from his father and mother and father’s advisors. How did these men know who he was and why were they trying to kill him? He quickly surmised the why. Obviously, someone that hated his father had sent them to hurt him. Was his father in danger too? What about the rest of his family? He needed to get away, to tell someone, but more men were coming and the only thing between him and certain death was a kitchen woman!

Miles looked around for a weapon and found the knife one of the men had thrown at him laying on the floor. He reached down, scooped it up, and brandished it despite knowing that a fourteen-year-old with a dagger was unlikely to intimidate grown men wielding swords.

The two men charged Miss Elli with their swords, intent on cutting down the minor obstacle in their path. Elli dropped her night robe to the ground, revealing black scaled armor beneath. She drew two short, wide swords in one smooth motion and met the assassins partway through the kitchen. She blocked the strike of the man on her left with the sword in her right hand and sliced his throat with her left blade. She spun with a liquid grace, casually throwing wide the man’s thrust with her right sword and stabbing him in the heart with her left.

She turned to Miles before the second man hit the floor. “Highness, I must get you to safety!”

Miles could only gape like a fish at what he saw. Elli gave his shoulder a hard shake and snapped him out of his shock.

“Miles, you need to listen to me and follow my instructions to the letter and without hesitation. Do you understand?”

Miles swallowed hard and nodded.

“We’ll go through the cellar door then out to the stables. I have horses and supplies ready,” Elli, no longer a kitchen maid but one of the King’s famed Blackguard, informed him.

The woman did not wait for a reply and led Miles into a cellar, holding her lantern and sword in one hand. When they reached the bottom of the steps, she took them across the musty room where a set of steps led to a set of doors set near ceiling. She thrust the lantern into Miles’s hands, climbed the steps, and peered out of the doors before throwing them wide and motioning Miles to follow.

The pair emerged behind the kitchens, near the midden heap from the smell of it, and raced across the yard, sticking to the shadows cast by shrubs and walls as much as possible. Several times, they had to crouch in the shadows as dark forms walked about the grounds. Whether assassins or Academy members, he could not say and Elli was taking no chances.

They finally reached a small stable used exclusively for the staff. Elli ordered Miles to saddle two horses while she shifted several bales of hay and pulled up the floorboards beneath them. From the hole, she pulled two packs and an assortment of weapons and a shirt of chainmail. The Blackguard opened one of the packs and drew out a pair of good boots and a set of plain but sturdy traveling clothes.

These she tossed towards Miles and ordered him to dress while she finished saddling the horses. By the time Miles put on the clothes, boots, and mail shirt, Elli had both horses saddled and bridled for travel.

“Put on that pack and bring me the other,” Elli ordered the Prince.

Miles did as he was told and handed the woman the full pack then mounted the other horse.

“Highness, forgive my abruptness, but now is not the time to stand on formalities. Something has happened and we must flee this place.”

“We should go to the Headmaster! He will put the entire Academy on alert!”

Elli shook her head. “These men were sent to kill you, which means someone is moving or already has moved against your father. Right now, we do not know who that is or who are allies or enemies. The King was worried enough about this exact scenario that he personally tasked me to watch over you and to get you to North Haven if this happened. We can sort it all out once we get there.”

“North Haven? Why not Brelland?”

“North Haven has proved its loyalty and Brelland may already have fallen. No one would target you unless something has already happened there,” Elli grimly told the Prince.

A multitude of horrible scenarios ran through Miles’s brain. “What could have happened?”

Elli shook her head. “We can talk about that later, but right now we need to move!”

Two men must have spotted the light coming out of the stables and burst in with swords drawn. Elli spurred her mount and pulled a small crossbow from beneath her cloak. She let fly the small quarrel and buried it one man’s eye. The other she simply ran down with her mount with Miles following close behind her.

The Prince saw that they were not heading for the school gates but towards the trees at the far side of the enormous training grounds. As far as he knew, there was nothing but the outer curtain wall beyond the trees.

“Miss Elli, where are we going?” he called out over the rhythmic thrumming of the horses’ pounding hooves.

“There is a small sally port hidden in the wall. We will leave the city that way then head north. If we are separated for any reason, avoid everyone and ride to North Haven. From there you should have little problem getting an audience with Duchess Mellina and she will give you sanctuary.”

Everything was happening too fast. Miles was having a hard time understanding what was going on. Was his father dead? What about his mother, brother, and sister? Was he King now? If he was, it was only by title. He would have to raise an army to take back the throne. Did he even want to? He had seen how hard it was on his father and all the suffering it caused. Maybe he would just get on a ship, change his identity, and disappear.

His training took over and he berated himself for his lack of emotional control. He needed to focus on what was happening now and the things he could control. He would have plenty of time to deal with the other stuff when he reached North Haven.

They had been riding hard for nearly an hour and Miles was beginning to think Elli was going to push their mounts until they died beneath them. With a final look behind them, she finally eased the relentless pace and slowed to a walk.

“There is an official courier station a few miles ahead. We should be able to get fresh mounts there and at the other stations along this route. With luck, we will be having tea with the duchess in two days if we press on without stopping,” Elli informed the Prince.

Miles nodded. He could do two days without sleep. Operating on little or no sleep was one of the hallmarks of training at The Martial Academy. That was one of the reasons for the hall duties and other, longer duties that minimized their sleep so that they would become accustomed to going without.

A shiver crawled across his flesh. It could have been from the mortal danger he was in or simply the cold. Summer never did seem to come fully around this year. The snows lingered well into the spring, and even with summer still a month out from running its allotted course, snow could be seen in some of the higher mountains in the distance.

“There are trail rations in your pack. You may have lost your appetite in the excitement, but you should eat. Riding in this chill air will sap your reserves quickly, and it will only get colder as we reach North Haven.”

Miles unslung his pack, braced it against the saddle horn, and found the assortment of dried nuts, fruit, and jerky wrapped in cheesecloth. He replaced the displaced items and slipped the pack back over his shoulders. Elli was right, he had lost his appetite but he chewed and swallowed the tough fare anyway.

“So my father sent you to watch over me?”

“Yes. He had long begun distrusting many people around him. I don’t think anyone knew of my mission except him. To my knowledge, he did not even tell his advisors or anyone in my chain of command.”