The Awakened Book Two (4 page)

Kael’s eyes snapped open as he tried to shake off the sense of loss and the associated pain. Needing a distraction, he grabbed hold of the reins and kicked his horse into a run.

As the day wore on and the sun dipped behind the trees to the west, Kael sighted something emerging from the forest less than two hundred yards away to the south. He steered his horse just inside of the tree line to his right as a precaution, and continued forward. It took only a moment to see that it was the mainsail and mast of a ship.

As he neared, his heart began to beat more quickly, knowing that what he was witnessing was cause for alarm. The boat, which had now entered the ocean from a river outlet, was long, sitting low in the water, with a high prow that curved like a talon toward the sky. Its hull was polished for speed through the water and its crew was a motley assortment of rough-looking men. It was a Syvak warship, and it wasn’t the only one. Kael counted twenty-one gray sails before the trees and rocks upriver obscured his view.

As he watched from the security of the forest, another six vessels came nimbly downriver to join the others in the sea. When all were present, the agile fleet turned to the south and caught the full force of the wind in their sails. Within minutes, the enemy ships were no more than discolorations on the ocean’s horizon.

Kael kicked his heels into the flanks of his horse and the animal burst into a run. As he leaned into the beast and prepared himself for a rough ride, his mind raced with explanations. The Syvaku used to live throughout the southern territory of what is now part of the Orudan Empire. After being driven from their land, they settled in the lands far to the southwest of the Empire’s boundaries and gained an infamous reputation for their brutal raiding of the coastal cities. But it had been many generations since the Orudan Empire established its dominance in that part of the world. It was from these very people that Kael’s mother was descended. In fact, Kael’s own name had its origins with the Syvaku. To his knowledge, no one had even seen them in the last fifty years, let alone in this part of the Empire. Whatever their intentions, they were headed south for
Bastul
.

Chapter 3

The night dragged on as Maeryn waited in anticipation for the escort that Thaddius had promised. She hadn’t heard from Lemus yet, which meant that he hadn’t gotten any information out of the captured messenger. Still, Maeryn’s heart had been racing for most of the day and now her exhausted body refused to stay awake any longer. Despite her worry, she fell asleep only seconds after her head touched her pillow.

Maeryn awoke to the sound of knocking. She didn’t know how long she had slept, only that her slumber had been fitful. She jumped out of bed and raced to the door, pulling it open.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, m’lady. There is a man at the gate who claims to have a delivery of fabric for you,” the guard stated, obviously skeptical.

“Yes. They were to send it as soon as they received their shipment. Let him in immediately,” she replied, hoping her explanation quieted his suspicion.

The guard left, returning after a few minutes leading a tall, dark haired man carrying a bundle under his left arm.

The guard nodded and Maeryn returned the gesture, indicating that she was alright to be left alone with the man.

“Please come in,” she said to her guest. “When I requested to have it immediately, I didn’t intend for you to come at this hour. The morning would have been fine,” she said to him, loud enough for the retreating guard to hear.

The tall man smiled and walked into Maeryn’s bedroom.

Maeryn shut the door behind him and turned to see the man toss his bundle on the bed. “That was smart.”

“I was told you were in the market district this morning, so I thought this would sound believable.”

“Well, it seems to have worked,” Maeryn said with a smile. “So, what is the plan?”

The man paused for a moment, staring at her before replying. His expression disappeared quickly, but Maeryn saw the disappointment in his face. “It’s to look like a kidnapping. I have a few men waiting to cause a disturbance at the north courtyard gate. While the guards are distracted, we will ride through with horses from your stables.”

“Aelia will come as well,” Maeryn stated.

“Of course.”

“Then how will it look like a kidnapping if the three of us ride through the gate?”

“You will have to be tied…both of you,” he spoke plainly, not showing any regard to Maeryn’s position and the courtesies that she was used to.

Maeryn looked over to the bundle on the bed.

“No,” he said, anticipating her question. “I knew the guards would search me.” He then lifted his cloak and revealed a thick rope belt around the waist of his tunic.

“Where do we go after we get through the gate?”

“We will travel quickly by the north road into the mountains and then cut back to the west, making our way to Thaddius’ land.”

“That’s it? Has he no other plans than that?” she asked.

“Those are my instructions. Although, I heard that Thaddius was making arrangements to have a boat ready for you in
Nucotu
, but that’s all I know.”

Maeryn turned from her kidnapper and walked toward the balcony, trying to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Now that the time had come, she felt herself immobilized with fear. It was one thing to plan and write letters to people, but it was quite another to take the only surviving member of her family and run from the Empire aided by a group of criminals. All of a sudden, it seemed too much for her to bear.

Leaning on the railing, she breathed in the fresh night air and tried to calm herself.

“M’lady?” the escort questioned, using the appropriate address for the first time since their meeting. “We don’t have time to waste. This is a dangerous mission and we must leave at once,” he argued, following her out to the balcony.

But Maeryn was no longer thinking about the logistics of escaping. Instead, she stared down into the city as her eyes began to glow with the reflected orange light of fire. There were foreign ships in the bay that brought memories from her childhood. She watched as fires began to spread from the bay throughout the water district, lighting up the night sky. The battle was too far away to see individuals, but she could make out the bouncing light of torches being carried through the streets by running men. To her right, a collection of torches gathered together and soon, a building was burning. She stood motionless for a few minutes, trying to digest the vision before her.

“We’re under attack,” the escort said, and Maeryn nodded in response.

Suddenly, all of her anxieties washed away and a plan began to form in her mind. No longer was she concerned with escaping Lemus’ wrath. The battle that raged before her eyes was the perfect distraction that she had been waiting for. And the more she thought about it, the better she felt that it wouldn’t be necessary to abandon her years of carefully laid plans.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?” questioned her would-be kidnapper.

“Oh I hope Thaddius is thinking what I’m thinking,” she said, more to herself than the man beside her. “This is it. Tonight we will all evacuate the city. Look. The soldiers will have their hands full.”

“But…we don’t even know what is happening!” the man protested, still looking down into the city.

“What does it matter? It is happening and it’s perfect for our needs.” The moment the words came out of her mouth, she knew they sounded cold and devious to this man, but she didn’t care. In fact, she knew that she lacked the compassion she once had, when she was with Adair. Times had changed, and so had she. When she looked back to the city, the only emotion she could feel was excitement for the enormous trick that was about to be played on the Empire.

“Go now, as fast as you can to Thaddius and tell him that we must move tonight. I will send up the signal as soon as you leave.”

“But…m’lady…”

“Go now,” she ordered. “Any second now, guards will come and take me to a safe place and I will be unable to escape their protection. You must hurry!”

The man took a few steps backward and paused, a smile spreading across his features. “I had hoped that I would live to see this day. Thank you for not abandoning us!” Then, he turned and ran for the door.

Maeryn turned back to look at the city, trying to gauge how fast the skirmish would reach her hilltop estate. So far, it looked as though the water district was the center of the confrontation. But war was unpredictable. Adair had taught her that. It could be minutes, or it could be hours before her life was in danger.

Maeryn turned and left the balcony, walking through her bedroom and taking a narrow spiraled staircase to the right of her door. The stairs wound through a dark passage and opened into a small enclosure on the roof of the mansion. Just as she hoped, she was alone on the rooftop. She left the enclosure and walked to the middle of the flat, gravel covered roof and stood at the base of a wide flagpole, carrying the Orud standard. With a few quick glances to make sure she was alone, Maeryn untied the rope at the base of the pole and let the flag drop to the ground. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, but she pushed aside her fear and continued with her mission, acting out the motions that she had practiced a hundred times in her mind.

Untie the knots, starting at the top.

Turn the flag over.

Thread the rope back through the holes.

Tie the knots again, starting at the bottom.

Then, as quickly as her hands would move, she pulled on the other end of the rope that led to the top of the flagpole and watched as the standard of Orud rose into the night, turned upside down. As soon as the dishonored flag reached its limit, Maeryn tied off the rope and ran back for the safety of her house.

Descending the spiral staircase, Maeryn saw a shadow of movement across the wall. Whoever was there was standing outside her bedroom, waiting. Maeryn stopped and moved to her left, against the wall. She held her breath, despite her urge to gasp from the exertion of running. If it was Lemus, then her life was over. She might be able to keep away from him if he chased her up the stairs, but where would she go once atop the roof? Maeryn tried to think of a way to escape, but her panic overwhelmed her ability to think. She stood against the wall, frozen with fear.

“Mother!”

Maeryn drew in a deep breath, wondering if her ears had heard correctly.

“Mother,” Aelia called again.

“Aelia,” Maeryn cried, running down the last few steps and into the hallway.

“Mother, what’s happening,” she asked. Her expression of concern resembled Adair.

“We have to leave. We’re in danger.”

“What’s going on?” the young lady questioned.

“The city is under attack and we have to leave.”

Aelia looked around and then returned her gaze to her mother. “I’ll call the guards.”

“NO!” Maeryn shouted, surprising even herself. “The guards won’t be able to keep us safe. We must go by ourselves where we’re not expected.”

“Okay,” Aelia replied, trusting her mother completely. “What about father?”

Maeryn paused, the question catching her off guard. “He’ll know what to do. It’s his responsibility to defend the city.” Maeryn knew it wasn’t much of an answer, but she didn’t want to lie to her daughter.
More than I already have.

Without waiting for her daughter to reply, Maeryn grabbed Aelia by the arm and ran down the hallway, her mind racing with plans to escape the guards and leave the city.

Six miles south of the guard tower, the northern boundary of
Bastul
, Maeryn crouched behind a bush along a dirt road. Aelia and dozens of escaped slaves waited a mile to the west, in the forest that covered the foothills. They were being guarded by armed soldiers of the Resistance movement. It was their planned rendezvous point for the evacuation, and with every passing hour, more slaves could be seen running in a crouched position along the side of the road, darting between the foliage for cover.

The sky was lightening to the east, though the sun couldn’t be seen through the trees. It had been a while since anyone had come up the road, and Maeryn’s body was getting stiff from the awkward posture.
Or maybe it’s the lack of sleep.

Suddenly, the sound of a galloping horse could be heard. Maeryn pulled her head back from the road and lay on her belly at the base of the bush, trying to hide herself as much as possible. Seconds later, an Orud messenger raced by on horseback, the hooves pounding into the earth in front of Maeryn’s face with an intensity that could only be brought about by war. As the rider faded away to the north, the forest returned to silence once again. Maeryn waited for several minutes before getting back to her feet, to continue the waiting.

Two hours later, after directing another fifteen slaves from the road to the rendezvous point, Maeryn decided to head back to the hidden camp. They were supposed to meet at sunrise and she had waited more than an hour longer than agreed. She started up a small dry creek bed created by rain runoff. Finding a footing in the soft sand was difficult, but the jagged narrow path was free of underbrush, making it the only viable passage. After several minutes of slow progress, the sound of a breaking twig brought Maeryn to her hands and knees.