Emergence (Book 2) (20 page)

Berk clenched his teeth. "Not if I have to keep stopping to put you back in the saddle." He twisted, pushing his chest forward to get her to shift to the other side, and caught her in the crook of his arm. "Sleep if you need to. I won't let you fall off."

Goddess willing he wouldn't fall off either.

"Can't sleep yet. Need to
tend the spell."

"How long will it hold?"

"Till morning, I hope. But the farther we go, the weaker it'll get. I'm very tired."

"Then we better put some leagues behind us."

She turned to center herself firmly in front of him. Berk squeezed his eyes shut for a heartbeat or two, trying to avert a reaction he would have been happier blaming on the drug. He glanced skyward to get his bearings and nudged the horse into a canter. Goddess willing they'd find the road, or the rest of escort, before the marauders found them again.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Donovan watched the sunrise from the balcony outside his study. Though dealing with marauders had felt somewhat like drinking from a chamber pot, they had served him well. Their mage had managed to enrage a simple storm enough to mask their attack. The priestess had sent one of her pets to occupy the General, and though Donovan would have preferred him to be killed, at least the marauders had succeeded in their part. They had his daughter. By nightfall she would once again be in his hands.

It occurred to Donovan that with all the power soon to be at his disposal, there would be no one who could stand against him. Certainly not the General. As much as the man's death would have removed a chief annoyance, the thought of breaking him and keeping him alive had a morbid appeal. There were occasions when he could understand the crone's attraction to her pets.

It would take time, though. Donovan needed to exercise care and patience. He used to have more of the latter. Like his carefully ordered and maintained power, his ability to take things slowly had been mauled by the battle with the crone, and his joining with her. He still needed to gain more control of the
crone's power. Binding the priestess hadn't brought him near the relief her physical touch did. Not yet, anyhow.

"You owe me a new creature."

Ah, think of evil and the wind brings it
. "I owe you nothing, priestess."

She moved into his line of vision, her hips swinging seductively. She wore the look of a hungry predator. "It's just a little thing I want."

Donovan dropped his gaze to look down his nose at her. "He would destroy you."

Her violet gaze sparkled with mayhem. "I brought him to his knees."

"You caught him off guard and once more did not press your advantage. He will not give you that opportunity again."

She made a purring noise in her throat and turned away from him. Lifting her arms above her head and intertwining her fingers she stretched until her bones popped. "We shall see."

"No, you shall not." Donovan did not turn when his servant, Colm, came up behind him, quietly clearing his throat. "Are preparations finished?"

"Yes, my lord. The vanguard shall be leaving momentarily. Your horses are waiting in the yard."

Teeva stilled in her stretch. "You're going somewhere?"

"We are going. Yes."

She dropped her arms and turned. "Where?"

"On a fox hunt, priestess, and you are my hound."

She bristled at that. "How does the old woman's power sit with you these days?"

"Of what concern is that to you?"

She shrugged. "Only looking out for your well-being, Lord. Is it wise to stray from here when you remain so unsettled?"

"Something makes you believe that is the case?"

Again the shrug. The gesture annoyed him, especially when accompanied by feigned nonchalance. "Your success is my success. I do not care to fail."

"You have known nothing but failure your entire life," he said. "It would behoove you to focus your energy and concern on not repeating past mistakes. Do not think to play me against the General,
Priestess. It will not go well for you. Your magic is a delicious delight, as is your body. I shall not miss either should I feel I am being betrayed."

***

"There." Sully pointed down the hill.

The first rays of the sun were just peaking above the horizon, sliding through a scattering of clouds. It had rained again over night and though no one wanted to, Bolin had called a halt near
midnight. They all needed sleep, and the horses definitely needed a break. Even Sully couldn't track in the rain and dark. Bolin had Nialyne slip something into the tea she brewed for them and gave it to the Lieutenant, or he wouldn't have taken any rest. Even with that, all of them were up before dawn. Now they lay, stretched out on their stomachs in the still-wet grass, looking down at the marauder camp in the shallow valley below.

"No movement," Sully commented.

"And no horses?" Garek asked.

Bolin nudged his shoulder, and pointed toward the far side of the camp where several loose horses grazed. "Not like marauders to tie a sloppy line."

"Too much celebrating last night, maybe." Garek's tone held an edge, and Sully gave him a hard look past Bolin.

"Something's not right here," Bolin said. A tingle spread across his chest from where the pendant rested. He rolled and motioned Nialyne over. "Can you feel that?"

She knelt down beside him. Her face twisted into a mask of concentration. She frowned and started to shake her head then, "Wait. Yes. But it's very faint. Some kind of...is it a healing spell? Calming..." Her eyes widened. "She put them all to sleep?"

"They're not here," Bolin said.

Garek grabbed Bolin's arm as he started to his feet. "You know that for a fact?"

"Do you honestly think I'd risk their lives on speculation?"

"Maybe I could get a little closer, and take a better look?" Sully offered.

Bolin held his temper just barely, and pinned Garek with a look. The Commander shifted, then shook his head. "No need, Sul."

"Where would Berk head?"

"The road and Broadhead," Garek answered without any hesitation.

Bolin turned to Sully. "You think you can get down there and string those horses?"

"Me
, and one of the boys."

"Do it," he said. "Get as many as you can but don't take any risks. If you
see any movement in that camp, leave. Understood?"

"Aye, General."

"Take Sal," Garek interjected. "Send Duff over with Berk's crossbow."

Sully nodded and scrambled down the embankment. Moments later, Duff replaced him, a bolt already loaded in the crossbow. Garek signaled him to take up a flank. "Keep a sharp eye, Duff. If you see anyone down there about to sound the alarm, put a bolt
through them."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed
, but he moved off to position himself behind a tree.

Bolin touched Nialyne's arm.

"Mount up," he told her. "If anything happens, set spur to flank and don't look back. Head northeast and keep going until you find the road. We'll catch up."

Whatever thoughts ran through her head at that moment, she kept to herself. Bolin watched her until he knew his orders were being followed, then shifted his attention back toward the camp.

"I didn't mean to suggest you'd leave a man behind," Garek said quietly, his attention on the two men moving like shadows through the trees. They made a wide circle around the camp to where the marauder's horses were grazing.

"Really?" Bolin said, trying not to sound like a peevish woman. "Because that's exactly what it sounded like to me."

"You know I've got no faith in what I can't see or touch. It may be like breathing to you, but to me it's like drowning."

Bolin shifted, reached beneath his ribs
, pulled a pine cone out, and tossed it away. "Next time you decide to question me, do it in private."

"Now I'm offended," Garek said. "You're assuming there'll be a next time."

"I would be concerned if there weren't."

"They've made it 'round."

Bolin peered through the trees. The sun had cleared the horizon, and the morning cavalcade of birdsong filled the air as the forest began to wake up around them. The tingling against Bolin's skin faded to nothing. Sully and Salek made short work of gathering the horses. Bolin lost sight of them more than once as they skirted behind the tents.

A shrill, warbling whistle, repeated twice, flitted to their ears.

"They're set," Garek said, and waved to Duff, who shouldered the crossbow and headed for their own horses.

As Bolin started off the rise, a shout ripped his attention back to the camp. A naked woman stumbled from one of the tents and looked around, then lurched toward another tent. One look inside and she raised the alarm, laying a savage kick into the ribs of the guard sleeping on its doorstep. She must have caught sight of the departing horses then because she sprinted off in that direction, yelling as she went
, and throwing random kicks at anyone she found in between as she tried to rouse them.

Bolin didn't wait to see more. He scrambled down the bank and vaulted onto Sandeen, signaling Garek to take the lead. He paused next to Nialyne. "Stay close to Garek."

She nodded and rode up to put herself between Garek and Duff.

They angled away from the camp, swinging northeast to intercept Sully and Salek. Shouting followed them for quite a while, echoing under the trees. The marauders wouldn't let lack of horses stop them. They'd look for retaliation even if they had to do it on foot.

Garek spotted Sully through the trees and reined in. The Lieutenant had a string of six horses, including the one he straddled bareback. Salek had another four.

"Couldn't get them all," Sully said, his disappointment obvious. "One of the guards was starting to come to. We tried to scatter the rest. It'll be a bit before they can manage to regroup."

"And then they'll be hard on us, like starving dogs on a bone," Garek said.

"I caught some tracks," Sully said. "One horse weighted enough I'd say it was carrying two riders. Heading northeast at a good clip."

"How far ahead of us?" Bolin asked.

Sully rubbed his jaw. "Wasn't raining when they lit out, but the ground was still plenty soft. Puts it a bit before dawn."

"Berk will make for the Southrun straight as he can," Garek said. "Knows he can make better time on the road. And if the garrison at Broadhead's been having any marauder problems they'll like as not have patrols out."

That got him a look from Bolin, but he let it go. For now. "It's still a good two days or more for them to make Broadhead. And that's pushing it on one horse."

"Berk's got more sense than to run his horse to death," Sully said. "He'll go to ground if he has to."

Something unsaid hung in the air until Bolin caught Sully's eye. The
Lieutenant shrugged. "He's not making any effort to hide his trail. Not the bit I saw."

"And they rode double," Garek said, pondering the significance. "Tells me one of them can't sit a horse themselves."

Bolin had come to the same conclusion. "How many horses were left behind?"

"Half a dozen?" Sully looked to Salek for confirmation. "Maybe more if they can manage to catch them."

"Get a fresh mount," Bolin said to those two. "We'll make for the Southrun."

***

Berk snapped his head up as he felt Ciara's weight fall forward. He swore, the muscles pulling across his wounded shoulder when he reached out to keep her in the saddle. Black dots scattered across his vision. He waited for them to fade before he glanced up at the sky to get his bearings. The sun had already started to slide into the west. Berk had no idea how much ground they'd covered or how far from the Southrun they were, but it didn't much matter. He couldn't go on without rest, and their horse needed water at the least.

They were still in the forest, but the trees here had started to thin, giving way to low shrubs and wide expanses of open field. He swung the horse's nose around to the north and pushed the beast forward at a more purposeful walk.

Berk didn't have as much familiarity with this part of the empire as he did with the lands to the west and north. A few tiny villages and one or two inns dotted the Southrun between Broadhead and Crossings, and there had to be holdings scattered across the countryside. Any one of those would suffice. At this point Berk would settle for a pig shack and a well. Not that he wanted to lead the marauders to anyone's doorstep. Goddess knew a blind man could follow the trail he'd left. Damn, he should have been more careful. Even with Ciara's tending, he couldn't seem to think straight, and having her nestled in his lap didn't help matters.

The horse stumbled, and they both lurched forward. Ciara woke with a start
, clutching at the front of the saddle to save herself. A good thing, because Berk could have done nothing to help her this time. He barely kept himself upright. Water and shelter or not, he had to stop.