Without Rhythm (The Lament) (5 page)

"Not bad. Now, when the Doctor comes, Doctor Millis, he'll need to go into the cell. Technically we aren't responsible for that part of things, but since this prisoner has shown he's willing to fight, we'll go in with him. For now, if there's a problem, I'll deal with it. If for some reason I can't, then your first priority is to remove the Doctor from the cell safely."

"OK." She didn't like the sound of that part, her mind filling in the thousand and one things that could go wrong, like the man having another weapon on him, she mentioned it, only to have Clark laugh.

"Mara and I both checked, but good thinking. From now on I expect you to check every prisoner or person taken for questioning personally as well. Even if we swear we've already done it. There will be training in that as well. Both in how to find weapons and how to hide them. A Guardian is never unarmed. Not once they have even a little training. That's for tomorrow. Remember your job now. It looks like the Doctor is here." He gestured down the dark hallway toward a form that came carrying a brown bag with a handle on the top and who was wearing a nice suit with a funny looking tie. It was crinkled fabric, a bow made of fat red ribbon.

Doctor Millis also had an amazing amount of wrinkles and perfectly round wire rimmed glasses that shone a bit in the dim space, the lamps on the wall not exactly up to showing everything clearly.

"So, Guardian, what do we have here? Some monster that failed to pay his taxes on time perhaps? Or a drunk that tried to run out on his tab?" It could have sounded horribly wrong and dismissive, but the tone, which was prissy and higher pitched than Pran would have thought it would be, sounded like he was trying to be funny instead.

Clark seemed to take it that way, but didn't play back.

"Rapist that was caught in the act. Managed to lose some teeth, tripping as he tried to go for the new apprentice here. Oh, this is Pran. Just signed on."

"Oh? Good then. So you knocked the man's teeth out for him? That's an uncomfortable thing. I don't suppose anyone tried to collect them? Perhaps put them in some cool water? I can replace them of course, but it's generally better to do it with a person's own teeth. Less work for me, since otherwise I'll have to manufacture some." He didn't wait, looking through the cell window, then walking in without hesitation at all, Clark right behind him.

The man was bruised and injured, a lot more than she would have thought, his groin swollen to the point that the Doctor gave him a shot for it, not bothering to leave the man any dignity, doing it with her right in the room. Then, she'd already seen what he had there, so it wasn't a big deal.

Not for her. The rapist felt it was demeaning, but the Doctor just laughed at him, patting his shoulder gently.

"Oh, my... That's a good one. You want to complain about a Guardian seeing you naked, after she had to stop you from raping a woman? Ah... Very funny." He kept working, as if the man weren't an actual person then. Polite the whole time, gentle, but detached. The man didn't try to fight, which was good. He just did what the fussy looking man said and sat on the floor, where there was a thick mat for sleeping or resting.

Once the door was shut, everyone safely in the hall, Doctor Millis sighed.

"I've seen worse. This is unusual though, isn't it? We normally don't take prisoners ourselves, just have them delivered in capital cases. He didn't kill the woman, did he?"

"No. It was closer than I like, and I don't think she would have lived, but Pran stepped in just in time. Ten minutes later and we'd probably have just found a body in the morning. It won't influence the case, so this man is getting off lucky this time. Hopefully the retraining will work and he won't have to be executed for trying this twice."

There was a genuine sadness to the man's voice, matched by his face in the dim light. It was hardly the callous expression she expected at all.

Then, even if it was late and most of the ship was asleep, they went out to stand first watch, Clark telling her what to do, but not giving her a weapon. It was pretty much what it seemed like on the surface, they just listened and watched. There was a deeper level, where they were supposed to hold a meditative state that allowed them to be hyper aware of their surroundings the whole time.

"Which you don't know how to do yet. Pay attention and try not to let your mind wander. That's really all there is to it, but it can be a bit difficult at first."

It really was too, since the events of the last day kept hammering at her. All she'd lost, the fear she felt from the attack in the alley, even now. The ache of her body, in places she hadn't even been cut. It was a lot harder to just pay attention to everything outside herself than it sounded like, which meant she was nearly half a minute behind Clark in noticing that something was coming.

He pointed it out with a relaxed hand gesture.

"The carriage. You can tell by the sound. Pay attention, since this is one of our horses. You should be able to recognize it by its walk. The sound of the wheels squeaking too. Stand ready anyway, since it could be a trick or trap. We
always
have to be prepared, even when it might not make sense. Being constantly ready and observant is a large part of standing watch." He focused for a few moments, his eyes locked on the carriage as it moved toward them.

"For instance, why are they driving without lights? There are several reasons they might do that, but the prime one is trying to escape from someone following them. We need to spread out. You stay here, off into the night, so you won't be easily seen, but near the camp. I'll call for you if it's safe. If an attack comes, for right now, try not to engage with anyone. Stand back and throw things. Rocks or sticks. Throw and then move, and repeat that as quietly as possible. Remember, Guardians don't retreat in battle." He grinned, actually showing teeth in the dim firelight.

"At least that's what we tell everyone when we aren't running away. Head to the right." It was pretty clear that he was kidding with her about retreating. It made her sigh and wonder what she'd signed on for.

Pran took it at a jog, her leg stinging a bit as the bandage slid, wondering what could be wrong, if anything honestly was. Maybe it was all a test for her? Or a game to keep her mentally active?

Hopefully it was just that, not a real attack.

Trying to control her breathing she felt around on the ground for something to throw, and came up with a stone the size of her fist, ready to fight if she had to.

Then she just had to wait, tensely.

Pran waited, crouched down so that if anyone had projectile weapons they couldn't hit her as easily, not having a clue what to really do. Clark had disappeared and the only sound, other than the wind in the distant trees, was the carriage coming ever closer. Still dark, no lantern hanging to show their way.

After a bit it stopped, and there was a sound of voices talking in hushed tones. She couldn't really make them out, but it wasn't Claire or Mara as far as she could tell. If they were in the carriage they were lying down or something, since the three forms that got out were pretty clearly all men. It was tempting to move closer, not knowing what was going on, but she had her orders. Besides, for all she knew these men were just there to chat with Clark or the ship's Captain.

That didn't seem too likely, since less than a minute later one of the men vanished.

She'd been watching the scene and as far as she could tell he was just gone. She got it long before they did, whoever they were. It was so eerie she nearly thought of ghosts before she realized that Clark had gone in that direction. A moment later a second one did the same thing, going from visible to gone faster than she could really track in the dark.

The last man let out a scared squeak and ran away from the carriage and the fire, toward her after a fashion, even if it wasn't perfectly in line with where she was. Without pausing to think, she threw the rock in her hand as the man got close, not standing up to do it, which made it more of a hard toss than a good powerful blow. He screamed when it bumped him anyway.

"God! Help!"

Then she stood, holding her right hand like she held something, which she didn't, not able to find a second rock yet.

"Get on the ground and place your hands over your head. That's all the help I can give you right now. Do it or the thing following you will kill you!" Pran waited, ready to... run away actually. Or maybe fight, but if it was possible she decided to avoid that one. After all, she didn't really know how, so it made sense to not try until someone showed her a trick or two.

"Quick, he's coming closer, I can hear him. I can try and beg for your life, but...
Hurry
!" Its urgency was so great that she nearly believed it herself. That was what good acting was about after all. The man in front of her, thankfully, seemed to think so as well.

"God." It was whispered this time, not screamed. He went to the ground, a set of muffled grunts as he went to his stomach.

Then all was silent for a while, too long maybe. Just as the man made a noise like he might try to get up and run, Pran found a second rock and worked to dig it out, speaking slowly as she did.

"Careful... don't make too much noise. He'll hear you. We do
not
want that."

That earned her another few minutes, which meant that the man was still on his belly when Clark finally came over, just appearing alongside the fellow somehow.

"Good. Caught two in one night." In a few very deft moves that didn't seem like movement at all, the man on the ground was restrained.

"Now, please tell me where the Judge and the Guardian are. You have one half minute to do this. I don't have time to play. My charge is gone and that does not make me happy. Tell me what happened to her. Now."

The man on the ground laughed, a half panicked sound that didn't make sense.

"Or what, you'll kill me? I'm ready to die. You took my brother. You had no right."

Pran walked forward herself, but stayed a good ten feet back.

"Wait, who's your brother?" She had a feeling that it wasn't going to be Paul the wagon driver.

"Yarl. Some trumped up claim he raped some bitch in town. We stole the carriage from in front of the Doctor's house and came here to get him back. You have no right. He's a good man."

"What?" Pran knew she shouldn't speak, but her nerves were too far gone to care about what was right anymore. At least for the time being.

"We caught a man in the act of raping the woman. Beating her at the same time... That isn't what a good person does. I'm also pretty sure that trying to break him out is also a bad idea. Shouldn't you have waited for morning, and, oh, I don't know, gone to the trial and tried to find out what actually happened first?"

The response wasn't what she expected, which was a reprimand from Clark for running her mouth. Instead it was just cursing from the man on the ground.

"Well, we should get these men in a cell then and go back into town to pick up the others. Can you drive a wagon or carriage?"

"No. I've never had the opportunity to do that." The orphanage hadn't had one after all.

"Alright. I'll get Paul. I have to stay here and watch the prisoners and protect the ship. You and Paul will go and find the others. I'll get you some weapons, just in case there are more people involved in this. Help me with these three."

By "going to get Paul" he meant ringing a bell just inside the main door loud for half a minute, which pretty much got everyone on the ship, which was more people that Pran had suspected traveled on it, even though she should have guessed, given how big it was. They boiled out, most carrying some kind of weapon. Makeshift stuff for the most part, no pistols or knives. A few had sticks and one woman had a pole that when she really focused on it, turned out to be a broom. She did a quick count and found there were nine in all. Half of them women and one a boy that seemed to be about her age, give or take a year. Probably an apprentice something or other on the ship.

"We've had an attempted attack, and taken three prisoners. We don't know if more are coming, though it seems unlikely. Everyone should take what precautions the Captain says to secure the ship." Clark said it all as if it wasn't a command, but no one seemed to be buying that part at all.

"The new Guardian Apprentice, Pran, is going to collect the Judge, Guardian Mara and First Shipman George. Their carriage was taken and brought here. We weren't told of any harm done to them, but we can't be certain of that yet. I'm remaining here to secure the vessel." There was a pause, which invited questions from one of the women.

It was hard to make out her face, but she was decently lean and tall, had large breasts and sounded older, like a person in her early fifties might.

"We should be able to secure the ship, if you need to go into town after your charge. Sending a brand new apprentice on her first day..."

Clark nodded.

"I
have
given that some thought, but have no doubt that Apprentice Pran can meet this task. Paul, do you know where the Doctor's office is in town? That was their last known location. It concerns me that they haven't called in yet."