The Whisperer (28 page)

‘Hurry now. We’ve been seen. Now we must melt away into the woodland behind Tarrow’s Landing,’ Bitter Olof encouraged.

‘Where are we going?’ Tess asked.

‘Nowhere in particular. We have to hide. They’re going to pursue us. I won’t lie, Tess, it will get rather dangerous from here on.’

She glanced at Griff. ‘We’re going to stay well out of their sight—as best we can, Tess,’ he reassured. ‘Come on.’

Little Thom had already swung the dwarf into a sling. ‘Follow me,’ he said, his long legs making huge strides up the hillside. ‘Stay in line with the buildings. Use them as cover for as long as possible.’

‘How long have we got?’ Griff wondered aloud.

Bitter Olof replied from his position, watching Griff and Tess scramble along in Little Thom’s wake. ‘We were noticed when your porridge was served.’

‘That long ago?’ Griff said, clearly surprised.

‘We couldn’t let the man who was watching us know that we knew we’d been spotted. I had to wait until he’d left and he seemed determined to finish his own bowl of porridge.’

‘So how much of a lead do we have?’ Tess persisted, her breathing already erratic from her exertions.

‘The mercenary had to cross the river, find his leader, who would then have had to advise the Duke, who would then
furiously saddle up. He would have to make his way to the Landing itself and then await the ferry, cross to this bank. I should imagine he’d be waiting impatiently to get on board the ferry by now.’

‘You’ll probably be able to see them once we get to the top of this hill,’ Little Thom said, not even vaguely out of breath. He turned and hauled both Tess and Griff up a particularly hard part of the climb. ‘Come on, slowcoaches. If you value your lives, you’ll move faster.’

‘Tess, get a firm fix on where Davren is. We don’t want to be searching for him once we round the hill.’

She nodded, and despite her climbing he could see her concentrating as she sent a message.

They crested the hill.

‘Stay low now,’ Little Thom urged. ‘We can be seen, so we mustn’t attract too much attention.’ He put Bitter Olof down. ‘You two crowd Bitter Olof—his shape is too instantly recognisable, even from afar.

Bitter Olof grunted. ‘Just worry about your own strange shape, Little Thom.’

‘That’s why I plan to run in this rather strange, crouched position you see me in,’ Little Thom responded.

Tess came back with a message. ‘Davren says he can see us. We’re to head for that stand of hazel trees. And some bad news. Rix can see our pursuers from the treetops. The Duke is already halfway across the river.’

‘Alright, forget trying to mask who we are,’ Bitter Olof said. ‘Pick me up, Thom. We run for it. Our best chance is in the woodland.’

‘I agree,’ the big man said and scooped up the dwarf. ‘Let’s go,’ and the strange party of four began to run for the trees.

In the distance they heard a shout go up. They’d been spotted.

Lute had never ridden this hard or fast before. They said nothing to each other; couldn’t even if they’d wanted to, such was the speed they were pushing their horses at. He dearly wished he had
his brave Tirell beneath him. She was the fastest filly in the realm. He imagined Pilo sorely wished he had Bruno galloping beneath him but their horses were doing their best and this was no time for wishing things could be different.

Pilo finally gave him the nod to slow the horses.

‘Their hearts will give out if we ride them any harder,’ he explained when he saw Lute frowning.

‘We’re not going to make it, are we?’ Lute asked airing his fears. He didn’t want to be so pessimistic but Pilo’s face told him he was right.

‘We’re doing the best we can.’

‘No, Pilo. We’re running away. You’ve got me to safety, so in your mind that’s alright. You’re thinking the others may have to be sacrificed so long as the precious King is alive and can claim the throne.’

‘Your majesty, I—’

‘I can’t do this.’ Lute dragged on the reins until his horse actually stopped.

‘Lute!’

‘No! You knew we wouldn’t make it.’

Pilo shook his head. ‘That’s not true. I promise you I did not lie. This plot was not even my idea.’

‘That may well be but I know how your mind works, Pilo. I know you love me and you admire my parents and above all you are loyal to the Crown. So the royals have to come first in your eyes. You couldn’t risk my life any further and Tess’s plan gave you that wonderful chance to keep me safe…and let Griff take all the risk.’

Pilo looked suddenly helpless. His mouth was open to say something but no words were coming out. He simply shook his head again.

‘I can’t let Griff die.’

‘And I can’t let you die, your highness. I love you as my own. My child was lost to me. You can’t imagine how that broke me or how long it took for me to even be able to live with myself again without loathing. She died because I didn’t take care of her.
And I’ll be damned if I let you die because I allowed the same fate. I hardly shared Ellin’s life but I have shared much of yours. I can’t risk losing you.’

‘But you’re risking Griff and Tess, Bitter Olof and Little Thom. They’re all being so brave and all for my sake.’

‘They are, but who’s to say they won’t survive?’

‘Me! Because I’ve ridden this journey before at speed and it took me a lot longer than we have to spare before the Duke catches up with them. He’s ruthless, Pilo. He won’t care about the others. He might spare me for his own reasons and manipulations but he will happily kill our friends. I don’t know what I’ve been thinking allowing this to happen. I must have—’

‘We are not going back. There is no point. It’s already too late. By the time you catch up with them, it will—’

‘At least I’ll give my life for good cause. Do you honestly think I can happily sit on that throne knowing my friends spilled their blood for it and I did absolutely nothing except run away and let them spill it?’

‘You have no choice. If you don’t want Janko running this realm, you
have
to claim that throne…and quickly.’

‘I understand. But Pilo, you need to understand that I would rather stand alongside those brave people and face Janko than beat him with our clever trick but know in my heart that I lacked the courage.’

‘It’s not about courage, majesty. This is about—’

‘Ladies?’ enquired a voice, one that both Pilo and Lute recognised instantly.

They both turned in their saddles, stunned to see Queen Miralda on a horse, standing on top of the rise not far from where they had stopped to argue. Next to her was the Captain of the Drestonian Guard. They both looked stunned.

‘Are you both alright?’ she continued. ‘We could hear you arguing from—’

‘Mother?’ Lute said, pulling off his bonnet, and realising that the male voices Miralda had heard would have been at odds with their appearance.

‘Lute?’ She stared dumbly at her son, unable to continue for a few long moments, during which time Pilo sheepishly untied his bonnet.

If this was any other situation than the dire circumstances they faced, Lute would have exploded into uncontrollable laughter to see Pilo’s stubbly face emerge from beneath the frills and flounces that Calico Grace had insisted he wear to disguise the fact that he was clearly a man.

‘Pilo?’ she whispered, even more shocked, her hand moving to her throat.

‘Your highness,’ he answered, pulling angrily at his gloves and flinging them down to the ground.

‘Am I seeing things?’ she pleaded. ‘Tell me it truly is you two.’

Lute leaped down from his horse and pulled off a dress to reveal Griff’s old clothes beneath. ‘It’s me, Mother.’

Now her hand covered her mouth to prevent the cry of relief making her look too undignified.

Pilo was also off his horse in a flash and bowing. ‘What are you doing here, Queen Miralda?’

She pointed behind her, laughing amongst the tears that flowed down her cheeks. ‘I’m bringing the army to your aid.’

‘What?’ Lute said and ran up the rise to look down into the small valley. ‘Pilo, look! The Guard is here.’

Pilo strode up the rise to join him. ‘Lo, save us, it is. How did you know? How did you escape?’ he asked her, shaking his head in confusion. ‘The last I heard you were under mercenary guard.’

‘I was,’ she said, climbing down from her horse. ‘You’ll never believe it but Lambert the cook was the one who mustered all the right people!’

‘Lambert?’ Lute questioned, astonished.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He was the first to notice something was wrong, long before your father was told or was able to act. He managed to get out of the palace before the mercenaries took full control. He stole out via the herb garden and that creaky old side gate that no-one seems to pay much attention to. Can you imagine it?’ Lute shook his head. The Queen continued. ‘He
took as many people with him as he could and got them all to find and brief the various army lieutenants on what they thought was happening. When Captain Drew was,’ she glanced at Pilo, ‘well, shall we say, detained by your traitorous uncle, it was Lambert who found the next-in-command and, in secret, explained what was really going on in the palace.’

‘And they got you out,’ Pilo finished.

‘It took a while. I was under very close guard. But as soon as the Duke was out of the palace, our own army struck and there were far too many of them so the mercenaries were overwhelmed. Janko has no idea yet, I suspect.’

‘That’s because he’s too busy stalking me over at Tarrow’s Landing.’

‘Yes,’ she said, hugging her son hard, stroking his hair. She looked at Pilo again. ‘You’d left the message with people you could trust that we should look there for you both.’

Lute nodded. ‘Except Uncle Janko thought he saw me, or at least his hired thugs thought they saw me headed north-west out of Tarrow’s Landing. He’s giving chase as we stand here and discuss it.’ His voice held an edge and Pilo gave him a warning glance.

Miralda looked between them quizzically. ‘What is he talking about, Pilo? Is he not well?’

‘Talk to me, Mother. Talk to me quickly about how I came to be your son. Time is short. I have to ride back now to save my twin brother, who is masquerading as me, tempting my treacherous uncle to kill him instead of me!’

Lute watched his mother’s face turn pale and her mouth move with no words. She looked ready to faint.

‘That was harsh, majesty, and not very fair of you,’ Pilo cautioned.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said to both of them, and meant it, ‘but—’

Lute got no further. The link was slicing open in his mind.

Griff had forced Tess to climb a tree and with the help of Little Thom she was now hidden high amongst an oak’s branches with Rix delighted and nearby. Unless she made a noise, their pursuers wouldn’t think of looking for anyone up there. As far as Griff was concerned, she was safe and so were the creatures; he’d made Davren melt back even further into the woodland.

‘He doesn’t know you’re here, he won’t be looking for you, nor will he care. But I don’t want you attracting his attention. Don’t do anything heroic, Davren, alright?’

The centaur gave no indication that he was agreeing, other than to turn solemnly and head deeper into the trees. Griff sighed with relief.

‘It’s the right decision. We are the one he’s interested in and in fact he couldn’t give a damn about us,’ Bitter Olof said indicating himself and Thom.

‘We’re just a nuisance,’ Little Thom agreed.

‘So, we’re going to do our utmost to stay out of sight but we’re not going to split up.’

‘Surely that would give us a better chance?’ Griff reasoned.

‘Perhaps, but we gave our word we would stick by you, Griff,’ Bitter Olof said. ‘And I’m not going to let Pilo down again.’

‘Shall I try and talk with Lute?’ he asked. ‘Perhaps they’ll have some news for us.’

He saw the dwarf share a sad glance with his tall friend.

‘Er, Griff. There probably was never going to be a good time to tell you this but I suspect no-one is coming back for us—not in enough time anyway.’

‘What do you mean? Pilo has—’

‘Got Lute to safety, yes,’ Bitter Olof said gravely. ‘I’m sorry, Griff.’

He looked at Bitter Olof, then at Little Thom. He still said nothing as his gaze slid back again to the dwarf as understanding fell into place.

‘I’m bait, nothing more.’

Bitter Olof looked briefly at the ground, then faced Griff. ‘I wouldn’t put it quite like that, but I’m sure that’s how it’s going to feel shortly.’

Griff looked incredulous. ‘But that makes you bait also. And Little Thom.’

The dwarf nodded.

‘Why?’ He shook his head. ‘I mean, whether or not I’ve been tricked, why would you do it?’

‘I can only answer for myself. I owe Pilo this much. And beyond that debt, this is the King we are talking about.’

‘And where Bitter Olof goes, I go,’ Little Thom explained.

Bitter Olof looked up and smiled at his friend. ‘You’re far too loyal.’

Griff pushed past his shock. ‘You’ve got Lute all wrong. Perhaps Pilo, in his fear for the King’s life, is prepared to let us sacrifice ourselves but I don’t believe Lute would knowingly agree to this.’

‘You don’t know him at all.’

‘He’s my twin, Bitter Olof. I know me. And I wouldn’t let him walk into such danger without knowing I was going to do everything I could to help.’

‘And I’m sure his majesty will try but you need to understand that the distance is too far.’

Griff began to pace, his shock crystallising into anger. ‘Tess is not to know anything about this. Agreed?’

‘Agreed,’ his two companions said solemnly.

‘And the other thing we need to agree on is that we are not
going to die here. Little Thom has already given his life once for Lute and if not for magic, we would have been burying him at sea. Each of us has risked plenty. Lute knows that. He will not let us die here. We are going to stay alive until he can get us help. Agreed?’

‘Agreed,’ they said, more slowly this time and with a lot more doubt in their voices.

‘Right,’ Griff said, although he was back to pacing nervously again.

‘So how do you propose we are going to stay alive?’

‘I’m going to start by finding out where my brother is. Give me a few moments.’

He found the Silvering with ease. Within the silvery void he tugged at Davren’s mind. Davren was with him in the blink of an eye and Griff quickly told him what he’d learned.

I’m not sure Tess will accept this situation
, Davren said.

You can be sure I’m not going to give her an inkling.

There was an awkward pause and Griff was about to ask what was wrong when Davren sighed and spoke before he could.
You’d better speak with Lute.

It was easy to find Lute as well. It occurred to Griff how difficult he had found this initially and how Lute’s voice had only ever sounded like a whisper in his mind. Now Lute sounded clear and as close as if they were standing next to one another.

Lute, it’s us. Where are you?

Griff, I’m so relieved you’ve reached me. I wish I knew how to do this.

You did it first, remember?

I have some news.

I hope it’s good, because all I’ve been hearing is bad news.

Oh?

Bitter Olof and Little Thom have just admitted that they don’t think anyone’s coming back for us
, Griff said carefully.

Lute sounded excited when he replied.
Well, you can assure them that we certainly are coming back. In fact, we’re already on our way and we’re bringing the might of the Drestonian Guard with us.

Are you serious?

Utterly.

I knew you’d come.

Did you doubt me?

Never.

Griff, you just have to hold on now. Stay hidden until we arrive.

I’m not sure that’s going to be so straightforward. The Duke is almost upon us. We’ve hidden Tess and the creatures are safe but
…Griff trailed off. He didn’t want to utter the words that were in his heart.

You make it happen—find somewhere to hide! You are not going to die, Griff. Do you hear? Stay safe. We have to ride.

Wait! What about your father?

I’m afraid he is dead, confirmed by my mother, who also rides with us.

I’m sorry to hear that.

There will be time to grieve but only when I have his murderer to answer for his death
, Lute said grimly, his voice driven with emotion.
I must go, Griff. Please, be alive when we arrive.

We’ll do our best
, Griff replied doubtfully. Still, it felt heartening to know his instincts about Lute were right and he wasn’t going to allow his companions to feel anything but pride for their new King. He snapped the link shut and shook his head clear of the silvery void.

Bitter Olof and Little Thom waited expectantly. ‘Well?’ the dwarf prompted.

‘King Lute is riding hard, with the Drestonian Guard at his rear,’ Griff said triumphantly.

They could barely believe what they’d heard. Smiles stretched across their faces.

‘Truly?’ Bitter Olof asked.

Griff nodded. ‘We just have to hold on, he urged me.’

‘I’m too difficult to hide,’ Little Thom reminded them and he smiled regretfully. ‘But let’s get you two hidden. Perhaps I can lead them away?’

‘No!’ They both said it together.

‘We’ll fall together if we have to,’ Bitter Olof told his friend. ‘But we must do everything to save Griff. He’s got his life ahead of him and I’ll be damned if I allow the murderous Duke the satisfaction—even for a few false minutes—of thinking he’s destroyed the real heir.’

‘You can talk all you like between yourselves but it just soaks up more precious time and it doesn’t alter the fact that I am standing alongside you. It’s only when he sees me that this trick can work. We will have to face him, keep him talking, hope that he will want to prolong the pleasure of finally having me at his mercy.’

‘You’re putting a lot of faith in his arrogance, son. He may just fill us all with arrows and be on his way back to the palace.’

‘Well, if he does that he’s going to meet the real King and the Guard flanking him. I’m sure Janko’s hired soldiers will flee at the sight.’

‘It’s true those sorts of mercenaries won’t stick around. They’re little more than a motley mob of paid thugs…not even proper soldiers for hire from what I could see of them.’

‘So,’ Griff said, ‘we stand together.’

‘You’re very brave, my boy,’ Bitter Olof said, shaking his head. ‘We’re giving you a chance to live—both you and your brother can survive this.’

‘Bitter Olof, I’ve always been afraid. Afraid to be left behind by my elder brothers when they joined Master Tyren’s Travelling Show, afraid of the skill I had that allowed the thoughts of others to storm my mind, afraid of being found out. I was afraid for Tess when she arrived and afraid of the Stalkers when they were pursuing us. But mostly I was afraid of the truth I felt deep down that there were secrets to my life—I knew this because of the way my father kept his mind so closed. And now I know part of the truth, and now that I don’t feel so alone, with a twin brother and friends like yourselves and especially Tess and her creatures, I do believe it’s time for me to be brave and face all those fears head on. What we’re doing this morning could save a lot of lives. That’s worth being brave for.’

Little Thom nodded. ‘Well said.’

Bitter Olof smiled his sad agreement. ‘Alright, Griff. But we are going to do our best to conceal ourselves. I reckon we’ve just got enough time, so let’s not waste any more of it on chatter. Let’s settle on a spot where we shall make our stand and hope your brother—the King—gets here very soon.’

There was one more talent that Tess had not thought to mention to Griff before, mainly because she had always taken it for granted, as others might accept a talent for being good at sums or fast at running.

Tess had always enjoyed exceptionally fine hearing and here in the almost silent forest and despite being high up she had heard every word discussed by her three friends down below and she was both furious and frightened.

Davren!

He sighed.
I know what you’re going to say. I didn’t even bother explaining to Griff that you would have heard everything being discussed.

They’re all preparing to die. They’re accepting it!

He said nothing.

Davren!

I hear you, Tess. I just don’t know what to say to you other than don’t even think about climbing down from that tree or I’ll pick you up myself and drag you away from here. As it is I’m concerned that you are present at all. This is not something you should watch.

I’m not going to sit by here, cowering in an oak, and watch Griff give his life meekly to that thieving, murderous—

Tess, listen to me—

No!
There has to be something we can do.

You and I? What use are we against weapons? If I had my way I’d have nothing to do with men at all. They always bring my kind grief.

There has to be something we can divert the Duke’s men with
, she groaned.

Well, I suppose I could charge into the clearing and surprise them.

Don’t be ridiculous; they’d just shoot you full of arrows and worry about how interesting you are later.

We could sing for them
, he offered.

Davren, you’re not taking me seriously.

Listen, Tess. There’s nothing we can do.
His voice was grave now and all the sarcasm had fled.
If I heard it right then Bitter Olof and Little Thom have known from the outset of their journey that they were likely coming here to die. And so did Pilo.

Well, I can assure you neither Griff nor Lute had any idea.

No, but that was the point. The men knew that if either Griff or Lute realised this, they would not agree to the plan.

It’s all my fault. The plan was my idea. Griff is going to die because of me.
Her voice began to tremble.

You heard that Lute is on his way back now with the army. It’s not over yet. Lute told Griff they just have to hang on for a little longer, stay out of sight, keep the Duke and his men searching for as long as possible.

We need a diversion
, she repeated.
We have to throw the Duke off the scent or at least hold him up. What can I do? What can I do?
she muttered desperately.

I’ve got an idea
, said a new voice.

Rix?

You know I don’t care for any of these people. They’re more trouble than they’re worth in our lives.

I don’t agree
, Tess replied sadly.

I know. And because I love you, Tess, I agree that we should try and help.

What have you got in mind?
Tess asked.
I’ll go along with any idea if it’s got the slightest chance of throwing the Duke off Griff’s trail.

Oh, it will do a lot more than that
, Rix responded and she could hear the sly tone in his voice.
I can’t believe neither of you have thought of it. I just hope there’s enough time.

What? Tell us!
Tess shrieked across their magical link.

And Rix did.