The Channel (The Gifted Book 2) (20 page)

"Have you sent any other birds since following us?"

"No. I promise." He sounded sincere.

Beth returned a few minutes later with a message she found on Durth and handed it to Gaibel. After reading it, Gaibel started to open the door that led out of the cell hall.

"Wait! What about me? I told you what you wanted to know."

Gaibel paused. "That's true. You'll be fed. Cooperate with the guards, and I'll speak to the king on your behalf when I return."

"Thank you." His voice was quiet and humble.

~~~

Bandon was still on guard when they returned from the guard station.

Gaibel turned to Beth. "Go pack your things and then relieve Bandon if he wants to pack as well."

Daen heard Gaibel's voice in the hall so he let them into the room.

Once inside, Rhea dropped the veil and turned to Gaibel. "You were great!" She glanced at everyone in the room. "You should have seen them. The spies were no match."

Gaibel shook her head. "They were nothing, Terrwyn." Her face was serious.

"You certainly made it look that way. Your interrogation technique was perfect."

Gaibel turned to Rhea and explained as gently as possible, "The man's a sniveling rat. We were lucky he wasn't the one I knocked out. I doubt we would have gotten anything from Durth."

Before Rhea had a chance to ask about the message, Daen looked between them and asked, "What happened? Fill us in."

Gaibel told them what had transpired and about the information she'd gained. When she got to the message Beth found on Durth, she read it aloud. "Help is on the way. Send a message if they leave. Stay with Argeon's group."

Rhea shrugged. "It looks like Durth didn't lie to Berdie. He doesn't know what's coming."

Randell stood. "I take it we're leaving now."

"Yes," Daen confirmed. "Let's get packed. Our provisions will be waiting for us in the lobby."

Taulin stood to leave with Randell and Daen, but before Daen opened the door, he stopped and met Taulin eye-to-eye. "You don't have to do this."

Taulin didn't flinch, didn't hesitate. "Yes I do. This affects Laundan just as much as Taulomi."

"Will you be bringing Bandon?"

"I've been thinking about that, and I have an idea. I'm going to have him stay behind ... hide at the edge of town and wait for the next group to arrive. When they head out in search of us, he'll follow. He's one of Laundan's best trackers and hunters."

Rhea thought about Bandon standing in the hall. "But what about his uniform?"

"He has other clothes that he can wear. He just wears the Laundan doublet when he's on guard duty."

"Then what?" Randell looked a little puzzled.

"If they track us down, he can help prevent an attack or at the least, we'll have them on two sides."

Daen hesitated. "Are you going to tell him where we're going?"

"Only that I'm with you and heading south to investigate further. That way, if he gets stopped, there isn't much they can force out of him." He motioned to the door. "Shall we?"

As Daen closed the door behind him, Lanne turned to Rhea. "We haven't had much time together, have we?"

Rhea wrapped her arms around Lanne. "Thank you for all you've done for me over the years." She was suddenly feeling a little dewy-eyed.

Lanne hugged her back, and years of friendship and love passed between them.

They released their embrace but still held hands as Lanne looked at her shyly. "I take it you've forgiven me for putting you in the other world?"

Rhea chortled. "I will admit I was a little upset at first, but I could never stay mad at you."

Lanne glanced over Rhea's shoulder to Gaibel who couldn't help but watch the exchange. Lanne could see the envy in Gaibel's eyes and felt guilty about what she and Rhea shared. She so wanted Gaibel to have the bond a mother has with her child and prayed that, in time, she would.

Lanne released Rhea's hand. "We need to pack and get out of here." As Rhea turned away to get ready, Lanne whispered in Gaibel's ear, "Give her time."

They were packed and ready to go to the stables in a few minutes. Taulin briefed Bandon and gave him coins for the gear he would need before he left on his mission.

Still not wanting anyone to see them together, they said their goodbyes in the room. Rhea hugged Gaibel and Lanne again. "I'll see you soon."

Gaibel nodded. "Yes, you will. I'm going to report to King Argeon, and assuming he agrees, I'll head to the southern quadrant station. You'll be able to get word to me there in two or three days."

Daen and Lanne gave each other an embrace that said they would see each other again.

Within ten minutes, Gaibel's group was picking up their share of the provisions and heading to the stables at the back of the inn where their horses were saddled and ready to go.

21
South

Daen, Randell, Rhea, and Taulin checked out of the inn and crossed the road to the stables, hoping to put enough distance between themselves and the next set of spies arriving later that day.

Rhea walked down the center of the building, peeking into each stall, looking for the horse she'd ridden the day before. She was starting to get concerned, but when she reached the last stall, there he stood.

"You might want to be careful with that one." The manager of the stables approached Rhea as she stood in front of her horse's stall.

She looked at him warily. "Why's that?"

"He's made it quite clear he's not to be messed with."

Rhea stepped closer to the stall and reached her hand up to his muzzle. "Are you being difficult?"

The horse nickered in response.

"Watch yourself." The stable manager tried to reach for Rhea's arm, but she was already stroking the animal's forehead.

Rhea stepped under the rope that acted as the stall door. "He's not clean."

The manager watched in wonder. "I know. He wouldn't let us near him."

"Can you hand me a brush and comb? And he'll need his hooves checked."

The manager handed her a brush and comb from the bucket hanging on the stall wall. "I'm not going near him."

Taulin walked over to the manager with his horse in tow. "What seems to be the problem?"

"My horse needs his hooves cleaned. Can you help me?" She could manage brushing the horse but she'd never cleaned a horse's hooves.

Taulin tied the reins of his mount to a ring outside the stall and slipped under the rope.

Rhea's horse stepped back and stomped his foot, snorting and shaking his head.

"Shh. He's my friend." Rhea stroked the spot just behind the horse's ear and he calmed.

Taulin approached slowly, keeping his voice calm as he tried to reassure the horse that he wasn't going to hurt him. He pulled a hoof pick from the bucket and showed the animal what he had. He rubbed the horse's leg and lifted his front hoof.

The manager snorted under his breath, something along the lines of 'crazy people' and walked away.

Rhea looked into the big brown orb shining behind long lashes, and it was as if she could see into the horse's soul. "What's your name?" She didn't actually hear his name, but one came to her all the same. Sedare.

"Sedare. I like it; it suits you."

Sedare nickered and nodded his head.

"All right, Sedare. We have a long day ahead of us, so I need to get you cleaned up and ready to ride."

Sedare nodded again.

"You have a way with horses." Taulin was just finishing the third hoof.

She winked. "I think he knows who I am." Rhea brushed him quickly, ensuring there weren't any bits of dirt that could rub him wrong under the saddle blanket.

Taulin finished the hooves. "Would you like me to help you tack up?"

Rhea banged the dust from the blanket.
Tack up?
She tried not to look confused as she thought about what he said. Then it dawned on her. "Yes. That would be helpful. I saw his saddle outside the stall wall."

Ten minutes later, Rhea and Taulin joined Daen and Randell at the entrance to the stable where Daen was paying for the stable services and purchasing a bag of feed for each horse, just in case.

They walked their horses into the road and mounted up. They headed north, so as to leave town the same way they entered it.

Daen rode next to Rhea. "Can you see anyone coming this way or on the road that we used to cross the valley?"

Rhea closed her eyes, forming a mental picture of the road ahead. When it came into focus, she looked north, reaching for what she couldn't see. The vision moved forward through town. She continued to reach until she couldn't see anymore and then turned back to check the valley road. She could see just inside the tree line on the other side of the valley.

When she opened her eyes, Daen was next to her, waiting to hear. "I saw a man driving a wagon, heading this way, but he was quite a ways from here. The valley road is clear for now."

Cauhill was southeast of Eantan, in the realm of Sentran. Therefore, the assumption was the spies would approach Eantan from the south. Daen's plan was to lead the group north, hopefully away from the spies, before turning and heading for Cauhill.

They would pick up the seldom-traveled high trail that Beth had used to follow Durth and Berdie into town. It skirted the town to the west, running along the base of Stone Mountain. It would allow the foursome to re-enter the main road, hopefully, after the spies had already gone by.

They rode for about ten minutes before the rain came. The road became muddy, slowing their progress.

Randell expressed his concerned that they were leaving a perfect trail for someone to follow. "Is there a way to cover it up?"

Daen shook his head. "We can only hope it rains enough to smooth our tracks so the spies won't know if the tracks are old or fresh."

Rhea looked over her shoulder at the evidence of their presence and tried to imagine flattening the depressions left by their horse's hooves. The scene reminded her of the home improvement shows she used to watch with her dad. He was a do-it-yourself kind of person. She pictured a scene where the host of the show dragged a two-by-four over some lumpy concrete and smoothed it out.

Now all she needed to do was image the energy forming a hard edge and scraping along the ridges of their tracks. She crossed her fingers and concentrated on the energy around her. When she felt a slight tingling sensation crawled over her body, she pushed it out through her hands towards the ground, pushing down and back against the globs of mud that said they were there.

When she was finished, the ground was smooth for a far as she could see. Her success surprised her so much that she gasped and brought her hand over her mouth.

Hearing Rhea's reaction, Daen glanced back. "What is it?" Before Rhea could answer, his eyes went wide as he took in the change of the road's surface. He turned to face forward and then snapped his head back again.

Rhea giggled at the expression on Daen's face.

"Did you do something to hide the tracks?"

At that question, Randell and Taulin spun around in their saddles and saw only the few tracks they had just laid. Before that, the road was smooth.

Randell nodded with a big grin. "Cool!"

Taulin looked puzzled. "Cool? You never explained what that means."

Randell explained it was a word from his world to signify something agreeable, likable, or pleasant. "Originally, it simply described something that is moderately cold." He smiled. "It's a little out dated but I like it."

Taulin nodded. "Cool."

Rhea released a quiet guffaw at Taulin's acceptance of the slang and continued the smoothing process as they rode north, fascinated by the ease at which she could use the energy around her.

Daen glanced over his shoulder. "Rhea, how far away is the man on the wagon?"

She closed her eyes and searched forward. "On the other side of the next rise."

Daen glanced back towards town and could no longer see any sign of it. They weren't as far along as he would have liked, but this would have to do. "We can't afford to have the spies learn our direction from the wagon driver." He led them off the road, west towards the high trail and Stone Mountain
.

Rhea stopped at the edge of the trees and looked back. She cleared the last of their tracks in the mud, but they'd cut a path through the leaves after leaving the road.
Would it matter?
Probably not, but she was starting to feel confident in her abilities and wanted to see if she could do more.

She thought about how to move leaves, and a memory popped into her head of raking leaves into a pile, only to have the wind spray them across the yard, ruining all her hard work. That was it. She could use the wind to blow the leaves.

Rhea painted an image in her mind of what she expected, but nothing happened. The wind was just as still as it had been all morning. She tried again, but still nothing. She waved her hand back and forth and still nothing moved.

"What are you doing?" Randell asked.

Rhea jumped in her saddle. "Ack!" She quickly glanced over her shoulder. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Well, you looked pretty silly sitting there, waving your hand at nothing."

"I wasn't waving it at nothing. I was trying to make the wind blow to fluff up the leaves and hide our tracks."

Daen approached. "What's wrong? We have to get going before the wagon driver shows up."

Rhea surveyed the road to the north, to ensure she wasn't putting them at risk, before explaining again, this time to Daen.

Daen waved his hand, motioning them to come away from the tree line. "No one will notice them as horse tracks since there aren't any tracks on the road. Don't worry."

Rhea turned and nudged Sedare to catch up with Daen as Randell brought up the rear. "I don't understand why the leaves wouldn't move."

Daen glanced over his shoulder. "You said you imagined the wind moving the leaves?"

"Yeah. It seemed to be a good idea at the time."

Daen thought about her strategy, analyzing why it didn't work. It didn't take him long to realize the problem. "You don't have the power to control the elements: earth, air, water, fire. You can only tap into the energy in the elements' or what they produce."