The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (91 page)

“Okay, we’ll figure that one out later. Now, there’s another phase of this rescue operation.” Kevin told them about the cave where Marcus had ended up and the possibility that the men and older boys were being held there to work the mines.

“I’ve talked to Joan about finding temporary housing for the women and children, but that’s stretching our resources as it is. Does anyone have any ideas where we can put these men? And keep in mind, there may be only a few but there could be a hundred or more, provided we can find them.”

Wythe cleared his throat and said, “We can take them.”

Kevin looked at him and frowned.

“We can, honest,” Wythe insisted. “We’ve always got room for more. And it’ll be good for them to be around others who’ve been slaves. We know what they’ve gone through better than any of you ever could. We sleep in tents, out in the open, where we can get up and walk around any time we want to. You may not realize how important that is to an ex-slave, but there’s a reason we’ve never built barracks up there. And we understand the need to hit, and we’re prepared for it. These men will be angry, deep down angry. We have straw men they can slug it out with whenever the mood strikes. Let them come up there for a while, at least until they settle down inside. And that’s going to take some time.”

“He’s right,” Gen. Crandal said. “It would be best, but I’m not sure they’ve got enough supplies for that many more men.”

Kevin looked at Cpt. Lawrence. “Can you take care of getting what they might need?”

Cpt. Lawrence didn’t answer for a moment, then he slowly nodded. “I know I can get the supplies. I’ll get with Cryslyn on that, but …”

“What’s the problem?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t know how much of anything we’ll need.”

Kevin nodded. “I can’t do anything about that until tomorrow, so for today, plan for around a hundred men. If there aren’t that many, we’ll keep the supplies and use them later. Better to have too much than not enough.”

Cpt. Lawrence nodded.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” Kevin said and started to stand.

Darrell shook his head and motioned for Kevin to sit back down. “About the second phase. Who’s helping with that one? When are you doing it? You haven’t said.”

Kevin sighed. “Because I don’t know yet. It depends on what my friend finds out. Let’s meet again tomorrow morning to finalize everything. I should have more information then."

Chapter 78

King Merdin at the Cave

After the meeting in his office broke up, Kevin made a quick trip to Shadron’s to ask Kayla to tell Marcus he’d be there to pick him up at 4:30 that afternoon. Then he went back to the castle, but after he got there, he couldn’t settle down. He wanted to go to Landoryn. He wanted to do something, but there was nothing he could do. He felt like a caged animal.

Finally it was time to pick Marcus up. When they got back to his room, Kevin explained he’d gotten a message from Chris concerning the caves and told Marcus what he wanted him to do.

“Is King Merdin the gnome Theresa and Hayley met?” Marcus asked.

“Well, they met more than one, but they know King Merdin. Prince Jardin, the one they took care of, is King Merdin’s son.”

Marcus nodded. “And all you want me to do is take him to that cave and leave him?”

Kevin nodded.

“Are you sure?”

Again Kevin nodded. “He has a key. If anything happens, he can get out.”

Marcus didn’t look convinced. “When we get there, what do you want me to do if someone’s in the cave?”

“Get out as fast as you can, preferably before they see you.”

Before Marcus could argue, King Merdin arrived. He looked Marcus over head to toe and nodded. “You’re the fellow who was with Theresa in Farowood, aren’t you?”

Marcus’s nod turned into a frown. “How did you know? We didn’t meet. Theresa met you farther down the stream.”

“I checked out the campsite,” King Merdin said. “I always know who’s in my backyard.” He looked at Kevin. “I’ll be back when I know something, but it may take a while. Depends on how big this cave system is and what I find.”

Kevin nodded. “I’ll be here.”

“Let’s go.” King Merdin put his hand on Marcus’s leg.

“Don’t worry,”
Dani said to Kevin.
“I won’t let anything happen to him.”

Marcus turned the key and they were gone.

Kevin paced to his door and back, but before he could turn around and start again, Marcus was back.

“That was quick,” Kevin said, a little surprised.

“Well, you told me not to wait around, to deliver him and come right back.”

“Was anyone in the cave when you got there?”

Marcus shook his head. “No one, and I didn’t hear anyone either, although I wasn’t there long enough to listen.”

“As long as no one was in the room when you got there, he’ll be fine. Now, let’s get you back to Shadron’s. Oh, and Marcus, don’t mention anything about King Merdin to anyone, ever.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin ate a quick dinner at the castle and then he and Nikki went up to his room. While he was waiting for King Merdin and Dani, Kevin brushed Nikki, answered some of the messages that had come in over the past couple of days, paced, ran through his plans for the rescue and tried to think of everything that could possibly go wrong, paced some more, and finally went out on the balcony and stared out at the night.

Around 10:00 Nikki growled. Kevin reached for her collar and, once they were back in his bedroom, asked, “King Merdin?”

A moment later, King Merdin appeared next to the chair Kevin had set out for him, but Nikki was still growling and looking at Kevin’s dresser. A few seconds later, Kevin saw Dani sitting up there, grooming himself.

“King Merdin mentioned you had a puppy. I wasn’t expecting one quite so large,”
Dani said.
“Think I’ll stay up here until she gets used to me.”

Kevin nodded as he held Nikki’s collar and stroked her head. He turned to King Merdin. “Well?”

“That cave system is huge. We’d still be wandering around in there if Dani hadn’t peeked into a few minds to get the layout. Good thing we went. You’d never have found the men in time. The room they’re in is half a mile from the room your sorcerer took us to. As it is, I can take you straight to them tomorrow night.”

“Do you have any idea how many men there are?”

“I’m not sure. From the little bit I overheard from the guards, I’d say forty or fifty men, maybe a few more.”

“Are they in cells like the ones in the dungeon?”

King Merdin shook his head. “They’re in one big cavern, about the size of this castle, which is why I couldn’t tell how many men were in there. But it only has one exit, down a narrow hall into another room, and there are guards in that room twenty-four hours a day, although I doubt anyone would try to escape from that place. Some of the tunnels, the ones the guards use, have glowstone torches on the walls, but the others are dark, and I mean dark. There’s no way you could use those tunnels to find your way out of there.”

“Did you see the mines?”

King Merdin shook his head again. “Didn’t see much need to find them. According to the guards, they knock off every evening at 9:00 and start around 9:00 the next morning.”

Kevin thought for a moment. “That means they’re knocking off about lunchtime, our time, and starting back around midnight.”

King Merdin nodded. “You need to be in and out of there well before that though, because they do feed these men. Right before we left one of the guards said something about being hungry, and another one told him the food would be coming down in about an hour. The guards didn’t bother to check on the captives while we were there, but you don’t want to be there when more guards arrive with the food.”

“What do you think the chances are we could get those men out without the guards realizing we’re there?”

King Merdin shrugged. “Guess it all depends on how happy the captives are to see you. If they call out, if they cheer, if they make any noise at all, the guards will hear. The hallway leading to the guards’ room isn’t very long. It would have to be a very quiet rescue.”

“So we better count on dealing with the guards.”

“I’d say yes. And you know that food I mentioned?”

Kevin nodded.

“The women who cook it are slaves, too. Do you plan to rescue them?”

“I hadn’t even thought about that, but yes.”

“From what Dani was able to pick up, the women start cooking around 5:30 in the morning.”

“Did you find out where they’re staying?”

King Merdin nodded. “Both where they sleep and where they work. I wasn’t sure how you’d want to handle it.”

“If we wait until all the men are out, we’ll run the risk of finding guards in the kitchen with them, but I think I’d rather do that than sound the alarm early by having them discover the women are gone before we’re done with the men.” Kevin stared off into space. “If there are eighty men, and if we take two out at a time, that’s forty trips. If both Alek and Rigel use keys, that means twenty trips each. If we allow five minutes a trip, that’s a hundred minutes. Two hours should take care of the men.” Kevin looked at King Merdin and asked, “Do you know how many women are being held there?”

“From what we could see, I’d say no more than a dozen.”

“Another half hour,”
Kevin thought.

“Two and a half hours should be plenty of time,”
Dani agreed.

“So, when do you want to go?” King Merdin asked.

“I’d like to be out of there by 5:00 their time Saturday morning, so we need to start at 2:30 their time, which is 6:30 tomorrow evening our time.”

“Do you want Dani to help you with this?”

Kevin hesitated for a moment, long enough for Dani to say,
“I’ll go with you. If you don’t need me, no harm done, but if you do, I’ll be there.”

Kevin frowned. “Both you and King Merdin seem to think I should have you along. Is there a reason?”

It was Dani’s turn to hesitate.
“I don’t guess anyone’s told you, but telepaths have the ability to put thoughts into other people’s minds, which may come in handy, but even more, we have the ability to put someone to sleep and keep them asleep. I can put someone to sleep so fast they drop in their tracks, and not even another telepath is immune. Sorcerers aren’t either, and I can handle quite a few at one time, so it’s not like we have to pick and choose which ones to knock out. I can put them all under.”

“Is that why both of you insisted you stay with me while I talked to Rolan?” Dani didn’t answer, and King Merdin was suddenly occupied petting Nikki. “And that’s why Glendymere went along with it,” Kevin said, more to himself than to them. He turned to Dani. “In that case, yes, I’d love for you to back me up.”

“Good. I’ll be here.”

“When do you plan to go get Chris?” King Merdin asked.

“I’ve been bouncing back and forth between 9:00 and 10:00 Saturday morning our time. I don’t want Gwendolyn to find out what I’ve done before the meeting, but I want to give Chris time to eat, wash up, and change clothes before we go.”

King Merdin nodded. “We’ll plan to be here around 9:00 then. If your plans change, you can let us know tomorrow evening,” King Merdin said as he walked over to the dresser where Dani was sitting.

Kevin nodded. “Thanks for checking all of this out for me.”

“Any time,” King Merdin said with a big grin as Dani put a paw on his shoulder. “We had fun. See you tomorrow.” With a turn of the key, they were gone.

Chapter 79

Rescue

Friday was the longest day of Kevin’s life, or so it seemed. As the time crept by, Kevin alternated between complete confidence and utter terror. He had butterflies all day, but at times they felt more like vultures.

His biggest fear was that the guards at the cave would let Gwendolyn know he’d rescued the captives being held there before he hit the dungeon. He had to get the men out before they headed off to the mines, but he couldn’t get Chris until almost time for the meeting. He didn’t want Gwendolyn to show up at his castle before he confronted her on Chamber Island. He needed her to find out when they were face to face and on neutral territory. And it wouldn’t hurt that there would be several other sorcerers there who wouldn’t be too pleased about her snatching a page, much less an assistant.

Finally, it was late afternoon, time for a last minute check on preparations.

Pots of soup simmered on Miranda’s stove and her staff was busy making sandwiches. Cheese and meats were sliced and stacked on trays. Puddings and cookies were cooling on the counters and sliced fruit was piled high on plates. Cakes, pies, plates, and utensils were already set out on tables in the dining room.

Cryslyn, Wythe, and Cpt. Lawrence had rounded up tents, blankets, ground cloths, flints, pots, plates, utensils, boots, capes, hats, tunics, and leggings, everything the well-equipped mountain man might need. The supplies were stacked on the patio, waiting for someone with a key to take them to the mountain camp.

Cpt. Lawrence ran into Theresa on one of his trips into Milhaven for supplies. He took her off to the side and asked if she could stop by the castle that evening, saying some men who had been on a long and difficult journey would be dropping by and some of them might need some attention.

Theresa didn’t ask any questions, but when she got back to the chapel, she packed a bag with bandages, teas, poultices, and healing herbs.

Joan had arranged to house thirty women and their children for at least a week starting Saturday night. If the numbers Kevin had given her were right, she had more than she needed. The hosts were to be at the castle by mid-morning Saturday, pick up their guests, and be gone before noon.

Alek and Rigel spent their day cleaning and sharpening their weapons. They knew they probably wouldn’t need them since Myron would be with them, but old habits run deep.