Healer (Brotherhood of the Throne Book 2) (28 page)

“I’m going to spell him, so someone needs to hang on to him at all times,” Brenna said. It would do no good if they lost him while he was invisible.

“I will,” Madelay said from beside her.

Brenna nodded and uttered the invisibility spell. Neal disappeared from view but she heard him grunt as he was helped to his feet.

They did not cross paths with anyone else until they met up with Dasid. He stepped out the door and into the church to return a few moments later with Gaskain in tow.

“The High Bishop looks ready to give his blessing,” Dasid whispered. “Be careful not to bump into folk as they head towards the dais.”

“All contact is through me now,” Brenna said. “Let’s go.”

The others would head back to the Dog, where Madelay could better care for Neal. She and Kane were going to Duke Thorold’s estate to recover Duchess Avery.

Once had Brenna spelled Dasid and Gaskain invisible, she heard a grunt as Gaskain hefted Neal onto his shoulder.  They would watch each other for signs of the spell wearing off in case the spell faded before they reached the Crooked Dog.

Madelay hugged her goodbye and then only she and Kane were left, huddled against the back wall of the church. She looked up at the High Bishop - he smiled as the worshippers filed past him, hoping for any bit of good luck and good will he might bestow on them. Not from him, she thought angrily, they’d get nothing from the High Bishop despite what the One-God may teach - and he’d take much more from them than they could afford to give.

Brenna slipped her hand into Kane’s and let her anger drain out of her. They weren’t finished yet - she couldn’t afford to let her emotions drive her any more tonight. Finally Kane tugged her hand and led her out of the church.

Brenna pulled his hand downward and Kane stopped and knelt. They were just outside of Duke Thorold’s estate on a small road that ran between the wall that surrounded the estate and the river. The sound of water rushing downstream and the fresh smell of the early summer grass helped clear away the odors of old sweat and fresh blood.

He’d taken the time to wipe the worst of the gore off his weapons but the coppery smell of blood still clung to him. He didn’t regret killing men who’d watched a man being tortured to death in a long, slow, painful process – and he was even more grateful that Brenna had released his uncle from that same nightmare.

Brenna squeezed his hand and he got ready to move. She led them over to the wall. There was a low rumble and part of the wall swung open to reveal a dark doorway. He slipped through it and waited while Brenna closed the opening behind them. She huddled beside him and he took the opportunity to hug her close for just a moment - the feel of her skin and the scent of her calming him.

Kane followed the ghostly glow of Brenna’s knife as they headed down stairs and around corners. She stopped and her knife went dark. He heard the sound of stone grating on stone.

“
We’re into the storage room here
,” Brenna told him through his sword. “
Once we’re in the hall we may come across guards
.”

He nodded, realized she couldn’t see him, then squeezed her hand in reply.

She led him across a dark room that was scattered with trunks and dusty furniture. Once on the other side, she eased a door open a crack. He quietly slid his sword out of its scabbard and pulled Brenna behind him before stepping out into a hall.

It was dark, but a flickering light from an intersecting corridor provided enough light for him to see by. He stopped at the edge of the corridor and peered out first right and then left. Empty. Brenna touched his right hand and Kane nodded. The right hall led to Avery’s cell.

With an eye on the door at the opposite end of the corridor, he touched Brenna’s shoulder. He felt her slip past him and then he stepped softly along the hall before stopping a few paces in front of the door. After some soft scratching noises, the door opened slightly. He grabbed Brenna’s hand and edged her behind him before he pushed the door inward as quietly as possible.

The two guards didn’t even look up from their game of dice until the door thudded against the wall. By then it was too late - Kane’s sword sliced through the neck of one on the way to stabbing the second in the heart. Both guards slid to the floor, their scabbards scraping the stone, their undrawn swords still in them.

Brenna touched his arm as she slipped past him. The wooden bar was lifted off the brackets and the cell door opened. Kane reached out a hand, wildly feeling for Brenna. He grabbed her sleeve and tugged her back behind him. He gripped his sword tight as he pulled the door open and stepped into the cell.

Avery Kerrich, the Duchess of Aruntun, sat with her back straight against the stone wall, glaring at the open door. Her hair was matted and flecked with straw and her eyes were shadowed and sunken into a face more gaunt than last time he’d seen her but thankfully, she seemed to have none of the physical wounds that Neal had.

“Avery, it’s me, Brenna.”

Brenna squeezed past him.

“Thank the gods,” Avery’s face crumpled in relief. “And Neal?”

“He’s being taken somewhere safe,” Brenna said.

Avery moved her leg, revealing the shackle that ran from her ankle to the wall.

“I’ll get this off you,” Brenna said.

There was some rustling and the metal band opened and was lifted from Avery’s ankle. Kane sucked in a breath when he saw the raw wound left behind.

“Can you walk?” he asked. Brenna would want to put something on it but he wanted them out of here, now.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do.” 

“Then let’s go before the High Bishop’s message arrives.”

He felt Brenna’s agreement through his sword and then Avery too was invisible.

Kane led them back past the two dead guards to the darker hallway. He let Brenna pull Avery past him and then followed them to the storage room. He paused halfway across the room to listen – but there were no sounds of pursuit, nothing to tell him that fresh guards were on their way. He rolled his shoulders slowly, trying to ward off a feeling of dread. He shook his head and followed the path through the broken furniture and crates to the wall and waited for Brenna to open the passageway. A small draft lifted the hair off his neck. He sheathed his sword and reached out to help Avery into the tunnel.

“Brothers,” Brenna whispered. “I’ve forgotten my pack.”

“Leave it,” Kane grabbed at her but she slipped away from him.

“I can’t, the coronet is in it.”

He swore as Brenna padded away from him, back through the clutter in the room. The door to the hallway opened and closed and fear clutched his heart.

“What coronet?” Avery asked quietly.

“Wolde’s,” he said. Worried, all he could do was wait for Brenna.

Brenna trotted back down the corridor as fast as she could. She couldn’t believe she’d been so inept that she’d left her pack behind. That’s the type of error amateurs made, not an experienced thief like her. She’d taken it off to get at the lock pick for Avery’s shackle and then she’d simply forgotten to pick it up. It was invisible, like everything else on her, but that wasn’t an excuse - she should have remembered.

She stepped past the bodies of the two guards and through the door to the cell. She
looked
and easily found the old steel of the coronet. She scooped up her pack and shrugged into it. Kane was trying to contact her through his sword. She heard a noise in the hallway. Was it Kane? She checked through old steel - no, he was further away and worried. She looked down the long hallway. At the other end, the door was opening.

Brenna’s heart stopped when a guard in Duke Thorold’s militia uniform stared down the hall right at her.

She repeated the invisibility spell, feeling it drain her energy. He can’t see me, she thought. But he
could
see the open door and the dead guards sprawled on the floor and he shouted an alarm.

Brenna tried to gauge the distance between her and the other corridor. If the guard waited for reinforcements from the house above she might be able to reach the corridor and the storage room. But the use of magic had finally caught up to her - her breathing was laboured and her legs felt heavy. The guard started forward with his sword drawn and Brenna grimaced - she didn’t think she could sneak by him in the narrow corridor. Two more guards pushed through the door and followed the first down the hall towards her. She slid behind the open door and flattened herself against the wall, feeling the cold stone press against her back.

“
Kane
,” she felt his fear when she contacted him through the old steel. “
I’m not caught, but I can’t get past the guards.
”

“
I’m coming
,” Kane sent. “
Where are you
?”

“
No, get Avery away
,” she replied. “
I’m behind the door to the guard room between the corridor and the cell. I’m safe for now
.”

Brenna prayed that what she told Kane was true as the first guard slipped into the room. He nodded and the second guard came in. She held her breath when he peered behind the door directly at her. Satisfied that the room was empty, they converged in the cell.

“The duke’ll string us all up good for this,” one guard muttered. Brenna heard a boot scuff and the rattle of a thick chain. “We’ll wish it were us lying there instead of them two if we don’t find who done this.”

Kane led Avery up the darkened stairs to the end of the tunnel. He didn’t want to spare the time but when he came back through with Brenna they’d need all the speed they could manage. Towing Avery would slow them down more than getting her out early would.

He was going back for her, of course. He left Avery at the exit with instructions on how to open it and in which direction to head if he and Brenna didn’t make it out.

“
Brenna
,” he called to her, hand on his sword hilt. “H
ow many guards are there?
”

“
No, get Avery away
.”

“
She’s at the exit near the road. Have Dasid and Gaskain come meet her there. I’m coming back for you
.” He felt her indecision through the old steel. “
Whether you want me to or not, I’m coming - so help me. How many guards are there right now?
”

Kane swore when she didn’t reply. He headed back down the stairs as fast as he could, pausing only before entering into the storage room.

“
How many guards, Brenna
,” he said, sliding his sword out. “
I’m in the storage room.
”

“
Three
,” came the answer. “
Dasid and Gaskain are on their way, but their spell has worn off them. Wait, I think there are more guards on the stair
.”

Kane opened the door into the corridor. He heard booted feet on the floor, at least three, maybe four more men. He ducked into the hall and gently closed the door behind him, hugging the wall as he inched towards the cross corridor. Four guards tramped past him - one stared his way, squinting in the dim light. Kane shrank back against the wall even though he knew he couldn’t be seen,

“
Brenna, four more guards
,” he sent. “
I need to know where they are
.”

“
Three are in the cell and the other four are huddled about the bodies
.” She sounded afraid, and he tried to send calm her way. “
Wait, three are leaving
.”

“You watch the stairs,” Kane heard a deep voice say, “We’ll check down this other corridor. There’s some rooms they could be hidin’ in down this way.”

Kane flattened himself against the wall as two guards trudged past him, a lantern held high. They both entered the storage room. Kane heard the sounds of things being moved and broken before the guards exited the room and headed further down the hall. Kane followed them as silently as he could, sending Brenna a quick message asking her to stay where she was. The two guards opened a door further down and slipped from his view. Kane followed with his sword in his right hand and his knife in his left.

He eased the door open with his elbow and edged into a large granary. The guards had split up and were busy sticking every bag and pile of grain with their swords. Kane crept up behind one and with a flick, his knife slit the man’s throat. He grabbed a shoulder and eased him onto a pile of empty sacks. The guard holding the lamp wandered further into the room, unaware that anything was wrong.

He must have made a sound as he crept up on the man because the guard spun toward him, his sword glinting in the lamplight.

“Nock? That you?” he called for his partner and peered around the room.

Before he could take more than two steps Kane’s sword had arced up and severed the main artery in his throat. Kane caught the lamp before it could drop and set it down on the floor.

“
Brenna
,” he called to her through his sword. He closed his eyes in relief when she answered immediately. “
Listen
,” he said. He quickly outlined his plan and once she’d agreed, he took a few minutes to pile some empty grain sacks near the back of the room. He dropped the lamp onto them and the dry fabric flared up.