The Queen of Mages (33 page)

Dardan bowed. “My lord, I cannot thank you
enough. It is good to know that there are still men of character in
this realm.”

“Think nothing of it, my boy,” the count
said, coming around the desk and putting a hand on Dardan’s
shoulder. “It is the least I could do.”

Amira could not feel so grateful. Stay here,
when Edon might be on their heels? She was still marshalling her
words when Dardan spoke again. “My lord, there is one other boon I
might request. Nothing material, I assure you.” He reached down and
took Amira’s hands in his.
Oh, no. No no no, don’t ask, I told
you to wait…

“If you might arrange that… that my lady and
I be married this very day…”

Count Kirth laughed and embraced them both.
“Of course! I only wish that your father were here to share in this
joy, but he will be glad when he hears of it, I do not doubt.”

Words failed Amira entirely.
I just had
to bed him, didn’t I?

Dawn saw them through the Festival Gate.
Liam walked Bandit, with Katin at his side, the better to keep a
low profile. The gate guards paid them no mind, mixed in as they
were with all the other morning traffic, and Liam breathed a sigh
of relief once they were through.

Liam mounted Bandit and lifted Katin up. She
still wore the same blue dress, which was not split for riding, so
she sat sidesaddle before Liam, arms wrapped around his torso, head
resting on his shoulder. She’d been quiet since they awoke, letting
him lead the way. He thought she’d have been more excited about her
escape, but her eyes stayed wary.

As they passed from Callaston’s outlying
farms into the countryside proper, Liam tried to lighten her mood
with a jest, but Katin shook her head. “There is no mirth to be had
now. We are hunted.”

Liam started and looked around. There was no
one else in sight, save a man driving a wagon on the road ahead of
them, but he was alone and harmless. “No… ah, I assume you mean the
royals.”

“Taya will not simply curse her luck now
that I am gone. She’s as determined as her brother, and a good deal
more clever. She will send knives after us.”

Liam bent forward and kissed her temple. “I
will not let them hurt you.”

Katin twisted to glare up at him. “Am I to
be reassured by pointless bravado? They will send armies against
us, not one man at a time for you to duel. We will be overrun!
Amira is the one who can kill with her mind, not me.”

Why was she being so hostile? “I only said
that I will not
let
them hurt you,” Liam said lightly. “They
might kill me and hurt you anyway.”

She jabbed her elbow into his side, making
him grunt. “You might find this funny, but I do not.”

Liam shrugged. “The world abuses us all, and
we can laugh or cry. I know which one I wish to spend my life
doing.”

Katin ignored him, and they rode in silence
for a while until Bandit started to snap his teeth. Liam got down
and gave the stallion an apple. He let Katin ride while he walked
alongside. He had good boots; she had only the thin slippers Taya
had given her, and it would do them no good to ruin her feet before
they reached Hedenham.

It’s the best place to go,
Liam
decided. Aside from his time in the royal army, he’d lived his
whole life in Hedenham. They could get help from Calys, or
others—Liam rejected out of hand the idea of going to his father
for help—and maybe discover whether Dardan had returned in their
absence. It had been the better part of a month since Foxhill Keep;
if Amira really did have this power that Katin said she did, then
maybe she’d been able to keep herself and Dardan alive.

Liam was vaguely unsettled by the
possibility that Edon had taken his army to Hedenham. All the
gossip had said that he was going to Vasland, but what if they were
wrong? Taking Katin right back into Edon’s hands would be a
nightmare.

———

They had to go off the main road to a little
village called Petherton to find an inn cheap enough for the funds
they had left. The room they got was somehow even more cramped than
the Sailor’s Delight in Callaston had been. At least here the
innkeeper was friendly, although when Liam lied that he and Katin
were a married couple, the man pointedly asked where their rings
were. Liam cribbed from Pater’s story, and said they were saving
every copper for a farm.

The bed in their room would fit them both,
if just barely. That first night in Callaston, he’d been so
exhausted he hadn’t even thought about the fact that he was lying
in bed with the woman he’d been chasing for months. Would she give
in, if he asked? But he couldn’t. He hadn’t rescued her from Edon
just so that he could turn right around and use her like any common
whore.
She’s quite the uncommon whore,
he thought, then
immediately regretted it.

It would be better—safer—if he simply slept
on the floor. So he gallantly offered her the bed. “After what
you’ve been through, you deserve a decent night’s sleep.”

“I didn’t lack for comfort. Taya’s bed was
bigger than this room,” Katin pointed out. “Even if I did have to
share it with her.”

“Oh. Well, I’m used to sleeping rough.” He
spread out his bedroll on the floor.

Katin stared at him for a moment, then blew
out the lamp. They lay in silence for a while. Liam heard Katin’s
breathing slow, but it took him longer to fall asleep. Where had he
acquired such honor?

In the morning he took her to a cobbler.
“You’ll need boots to make it to Hedenham, or you’ll ruin your
feet.”

“I’ll make you eat these boots if we end up
needing the coin more,” she warned him. The only boots they could
afford were thin and seemed unsturdy, but would have to do until
they reached Calys.

Their funds thus depleted, the next few
nights were spent on Liam’s bedroll in the woods. He again offered
her the bedding, saying the ground would be good enough for him,
but Katin stared him down and said they needed to share warmth. It
was well into fall now, and the nights grew colder, so he gave in.
She has to convince
me
that we should share the bedroll?
Something really is wrong with me.

They soon passed into Hedenham County and
found the crossroads at Harron’s Dell. The townsfolk there said
that Edon’s army had turned northwest, along the Caswick road. Liam
felt a palpable relief. They’d asked about Edon’s army in each
village they passed and had been met with angry mutters. Apparently
Edon had been camping his men in whatever field they were passing
by at sundown, trampling crops and upsetting livestock.

“What lies up the Caswick road?” Katin asked
as they walked on that afternoon. They’d ridden the morning, and
Liam wanted to give Bandit some rest.

“Caswick County, for starters. Then the road
runs along the Black Dells through Witchdale, and into Cold Hills
County and the Black Mountains. It seems Edon really is going to
fight the Vaslanders.”

Katin was holding his hand, and he felt her
grip tighten. “With that power of his… If he uses it against
them…”

Liam snorted. “Edon used his power against
his
own people
. Vaslanders are less than animals to
him.”

He meant to elaborate on that, but he heard
a rhythm building, and looked back to see a lone rider cantering
along toward them. There was no one else in sight on the road, fore
or back. As the rider closed, Liam could see a glint of armor under
his cloak. He was only one man, and they were two, but Katin had no
weapon…

Liam loosened his sword in its scabbard and
discreetly checked his dagger as the rider approached. But he sped
past, causing Bandit to shy back a little. Katin watched the rider
go by with searching eyes.

Liam had begun to relax when the man pulled
up short and turned to trot back toward them. He hadn’t reached for
any weapon, but Liam now noticed that he wore silvered plate
pauldrons over mail, and a black cloak.
It could just be a
coincidence…

The rider came to a halt before them. No,
Liam was certain now, and his stomach tightened. The crest
emblazoned on the man’s pauldrons, a sword lain across balance
scales, was unmistakable. This was a Warden of Aendavar.

“Ho there,” the Warden called.

“Good afternoon, sir Warden,” Liam replied.
The Warden blocked the road ahead of them, making Liam and Katin
come to a stop. Bandit halted as well, eyeing the Warden’s own
horse.
Pray that this Warden is on his own business, and not
sent by Princess Taya,
Liam thought. Wardens occupied many
roles; sometimes they were attached to army garrisons, as sort of
spiritual warriors in residence. Other times they acted as roving
constables, helping hunt down criminals and brigands.
Or
escapees.

“What are your names?” the Warden demanded.
It was not posed rudely, but the man’s natural tone dripped with
hostility.

“Will White, and this is my wife, Rose.”
Katin curtseyed, keeping her eyes down.

“Rose White,” the Warden snorted. “Well.”
And he stared at them for what seemed quite a long time.

Liam ducked his head. “Might I have your
name, sir? I recognize your device, but…”

The Warden’s dark eyes penetrated deep. If
he turned his gaze on the rocks, they’d divulge their secrets in
seconds. “I am Jack Penrose, Warden of Aendavar.” And he turned and
rode off north toward Hedenham, perhaps a mite faster than
before.

Neither Liam nor Katin moved until the man
was out of sight past a bend in the road. Katin had been holding in
her breath and nearly gasped for air. “That was close.”

Liam waved it away. “Some Wardens are just
suspicious by nature.”

Katin shook her head. “We should get off the
road. What if Taya sent him?”

“If he wanted to arrest us, he would have.
Let’s just get going.”

———

When the setting sun illuminated a growing
cloud of dust ahead of them, Liam began to feel uneasy. The road
dipped here, giving them a view across a shallow valley.

Katin saw it too. “Is that…? It’s getting
closer.” Her breath caught. “Where’s the garrison in Hedenham?”

Liam gritted his teeth.
Damn it, she was
right.
“A few more miles up the road.”

Katin let out a strangled cry. “He went to
get help. Soldiers. We have to hide!”

Liam leapt onto Bandit and put a hand down
for Katin. “Save the I-told-you-so for later. Come on!”

He put his boots into Bandit’s flanks harder
than he ever had, and turned the horse off the road. The stallion
bucked a little, but seemed to sense his riders’ urgency and
followed Liam’s guiding hand. There was no time to try to obscure
their tracks.

“Where can we hide?” Katin asked, clinging
to Liam’s back as they bounced across the hard ground. “You must
know the land around here.”

“Not well. This is all unsettled land for a
few miles.” The foliage here was mostly short tussock grass, with a
few stands of poplars and blackleaf scattered about.
Not much
cover. Unless…
Ahead he spied a wide ridge, with a thick line
of trees along its high crest. The face of the ridge was sheer, but
it looked familiar. He’d been here before, perhaps on a hunting
trip with Asmus and Dardan. Wasn’t there a way up the ridge?

They found it, a narrow track wending
between rock faces, a gap shattered by some ancient force, or just
the grind of time. At the top, Liam dismounted to give Bandit a
minute’s rest. He stared back out over the grasses below.

The dust cloud came closer.

“Damn,” Liam muttered, watching tiny silver
dots bob across the pale yellow grass, soldiers following their
obvious hoofprints. He wondered which one was Warden Penrose. “They
found our trail.”

“Then let’s not sit here waiting for them,”
Katin snapped, and they rode on.

Towering clouds loomed above, their tops
still orange in the setting sun. North along the ridge, rocks were
piled high in a jagged fortification. Liam began to wonder.

“What?” Katin followed his gaze. “What’s in
there?”

He grinned. “Rock. And no hoofprints.”

They couldn’t hide in the rocks; the Warden
had probably gathered a score of men to hunt them down. They’d be
found if they didn’t keep moving, even in the darkness… although if
Bandit tired too soon, they’d be caught anyway.

The rocks were treacherous, the broken scree
shifting under Bandit’s hooves. Liam and Katin dismounted and
walked the horse; he’d do them no good if he slipped and broke a
leg, tumbling them to the ground to break their own necks.

Dark had fallen by the time they emerged out
the other side. The tall clouds had gone by with no rain, leaving a
clear, starry, moonless sky.

“Now what?” Katin hissed in the dark. “I can
barely see.”

Neither could Liam, but he knew where they
were now. There were some farms not far north, and just to the
east… “This ridge backs on a long slope. There’s an estate beyond
it. One of the barons. Now be quiet. I have to concentrate.”

He couldn’t see Katin’s expression in the
dark, and prayed she wouldn’t become angry with him.
We have no
choice. She’ll have to understand that.

Down the slope they went. There were no
trees here, just the ubiquitous tussock grass, but in the night
they might miss a sinkhole or snake pit. Liam felt an itch and
looked back. Little orange dots swarmed in the blackness beneath
the tenebrous sky. He hoped they were confounded by the rocks, and
still trying to pick up the trail.

He forced his gaze ahead. And suddenly a
speck of light in the distance caught his eye. A hearthfire,
perhaps.

Katin saw it too, and gasped, but Liam
shushed her. Sound carried here. Only when the wild grass underfoot
gave way to a spongy, manicured lawn did he speak. “Say nothing. I
will do all the talking.”

Katin gave his hand one last, tired squeeze.
Liam glanced back one more time. He saw orange lights bobbing,
maybe larger than before. Closer.

When he knocked on the door of the manor
house, the loudness of it made him wince. A light glowed softly
through a curtained window. Someone was home, that was certain.
Would they answer to strangers in the middle of the night?

The curtain twitched aside and a shape was
momentarily silhouetted against the light. Whoever it was let the
curtain fall and came to the door. It clicked open a hair. “Yes?”
came a man’s voice still drowsy from sleep.

“I must speak with your master,” Liam said
as quietly as he could. “It’s a matter of some urgency.”

The man looked at him. “Is that… Liam? Liam
Howard? By the Caretaker, what are you doing here?” The door crept
open a hand further. Liam recognized Alvin, the house major. Not a
man he knew well; they had no particular love or hate for one
another.