Search for Audric (14 page)

"Are you two requiring a room?" asked the innkeeper.

"We are not together," Monte declared.

"Have you seen this man?" Asgar asked as he brought out the drawing.

"Not that I remember," the innkeeper shook his head. "Do you wish a room?"

"No," replied Asgar as he turned and left.

Monte spun and followed Asgar out the door.

"Can I see that drawing?" he asked. "I had a customer today that looked something like that."

Asgar's eyes widened with interest, and he showed the picture to Monte.

Monte walked towards the Rose and Thorn and stood near the torch to stare at the picture.

"I think it is him," Monte remarked. "Is he a wanted man?"

"Did you see him or not?" Asgar asked impatiently.

"Yes," Monte nodded vigorously as he handed the drawing back. "It's him alright."

Monte spun and started walking away.

"Wait," called Asgar. "Come back here. Where did you see him?"

"I have to pick up a package at the stables," called Monte. "As a matter of fact, it is a package that I have to deliver to that very man."

Monte swiftly turned into the alleyway at a brisk walk with Asgar running after him.

"Where will you deliver the package?" Asgar asked. "Perhaps I can deliver it for you?"

Monte passed the small cutout and stopped. He turned around to face his pursuer.

"Is there gold in it for me?" asked Monte.

Asgar halted facing Monte, his eyes gleaming with success. He opened his mouth to answer the question, and his world suddenly went black as Horst slammed the hilt of his scimitar into Asgar's head.

"Get the drawing," urged Horst.

"You hit him rather hard," commented Monte as he retrieved the drawing, "but he is still alive. Carry him to the stables. There are some feed sacks there that we can use."

Horst easily lifted Asgar and tossed the body over his shoulder. The two men moved along the alleyway to the stables where they stuffed the body into a burlap sack. Monte gave the drawing to Horst and picked up the sack.

"I will see you tomorrow night on the Caxon-Kyland Road," he promised. "There is a small bridge that runs over a stream which you should probably reach around sundown. Just on the other side of the bridge is a trail leading north. Take that trail and you will find an excellent campsite alongside the stream. Few people know about it, but it is where I do a great deal of my hunting. I will meet you there."

Horst returned to the Rose and Thorn and found Kerzi and Gunnar waiting. He detailed the excursion that he and Monte had undertaken, and revealed the plans for the next day.

"Can Monte be trusted to do as he says?" asked Kerzi.

"I think so," nodded Horst, "but we would be wise to take some precautions."

"I agree," declared Gunnar. "While I do not think that Monte would betray us, I think he is unaware of what we are up against. Either the Caroom army or the Borundans might try to follow him. Anything is possible and we should plan accordingly."

"Should we choose a different campsite?" asked Kerzi.

"That would show Monte that we do not trust him," Horst shook his head. "I do think we need to get there as soon as possible to check it out. After we load up the wagon, I will ride out ahead. By the time you arrive, I will have a plan thought out."

"That leaves you traveling alone on the road," frowned Kerzi. "That is precisely what you did not want Monte to do."

"Monte will also be riding alone," Gunnar pointed out. "There are times when it is unavoidable. Besides, it will only be a half-day's ride for each of them. I think it is a prudent plan."

"Then let's get some sleep," suggested the merchant. "It will be a busy day tomorrow."

Gunnar rose before the sun, and he woke the others. They ate the morning meal in an empty common room and had the wagon sitting in front of a wood merchant before the shop opened. Gunnar chose the hardwoods to purchase, and the wagon was loaded within an hour. As the wagon pulled away from the shop, Horst mounted his horse and headed for Caxon-Kyland road.

The Odessian reached the small bridge by high sun. He followed the trail to the campsite that Monte had described and nodded in appreciation. He dismounted and surveyed the surrounding landscape. The campsite showed few signs of use, and there was a cliff face on the opposite side of the stream. He forded the stream and climbed the cliff wall. From the top of the cliff, he could reconnoiter the area surrounding the campsite.

The small campsite was surrounded by dense woods, and he saw nothing that posed a threat. There were no signs of human habitation in any direction, and there appeared to be no other trails that would allow easy access for riders to get behind the campsite. Moving to a spot on the cliff further to the east, Horst was pleased to see the view afforded of the Caxon-Kyland Road. He could see along the road for miles, and the cliff turned out to be the perfect place to observe the traffic approaching the turnoff. Horst settled in for the wait.

It was almost four hours later that he saw the wagon approaching. He squinted to make out the distant image, and suddenly became concerned. He could see two people in the bench of the wagon, but there was also a rider following the wagon. He waited anxiously for the wagon to get closer.

When the wagon did get closer, Horst was finally able to identify the following rider. It was Monte. The Odessian's eyes scanned the road back towards Caxon and could see no other riders, but he remained in place just to be sure. An hour later the wagon passed out of sight as it crossed the small bridge. Horst gave one last look to the east and scrambled down to the campsite. He reached the ground just as his friends were entering the campsite.

"You must have left Caxon earlier than planned," Horst called to Monte as they rode in.

"There was little reason to delay my departure," grinned Monte. "My brother was very pleased with the package I delivered to him. The army had heard rumors about someone paying gold for information, but they had no idea who was hiring the spies. Now that they know that it is Borunda that they are dealing with, I think the government will be more alert. It all worked out well, Horst."

"And Monte brought some presents with him," interjected Gunnar. "We have enough arrows to ward off a small army. He brought a small bow for Kerzi and a recurve for you. I think you ought to try it out."

Gunnar lifted the recurve bow out of the wagon and held it up. Horst's eyes widened in appreciation and walked over to inspect it.

"I think it is time for a little hunting competition," the Odessian grinned. "Let's see what we can get for the evening meal."

"You should be forewarned," cautioned Gunnar. "You will need to shoot quickly. If Monte sees the game first, he will not miss."

"There is more to hunting than being a good shot," retorted Horst. "Let's see just what this Caroomite has up his sleeve."

Horst awoke before dawn, troubled by his inability to understand why the Borundans had singled out Prince Antion as an enemy. Thinking of the drawing of his friend's face being shown around the inns of Caxon caused a shiver to run down his spine. The Odessian's horse sensed that he was awake and snorted. Rather than be the cause of waking up the whole camp, Horst sought some solitude to dwell upon the mystery. He had intended to merely cross the creek to get away from the camp, but he instinctively began climbing the challenge presented to him.

Once on top of the cliff, Horst lay back and stared up at the brilliant stars overhead. He tried to think of anything Arin might have done to inflame the Borundans, but he could find nothing. In fact, all of the Land of the Nine Kingdoms had gotten along rather well for generations, so it could not be a national problem, and if it were, it would be directed against Antion's father not the prince. That meant it was more on a personal level, but Antion had been to Tarent only a few times, and never in an official capacity. He would have had precious few chances to upset anyone.

Round and round the Odessian's mind spun trying to unravel the reasons, but nothing came to mind. The bright stars dimmed as the predawn lightening of the sky began, and still Horst could not find a handle on the problem. He tried focusing on Antion's words about the Talent, but none of that made any sense to the Odessian. Horst had no knowledge of magic in any of its forms, and he did not pretend to understand it. Before Horst knew it, dawn had arrived. An angry, red sun peeked above the eastern horizon, and Horst rose up on his elbows. It was time to return to the camp and prepare to leave.

As Horst rose, a distant sound intruded upon his pondering mind. He cocked his head and heard riders coming, which was not unusual on a road, except that they were coming from the east. There was little to the east besides the city of Caxon, and that was only a half-day's ride. For riders to be on the road this early, they would have had to leave Caxon in the middle of the night, a most unusual circumstance. Curiosity got the better of the Odessian and he moved along the cliff until he could see the eastern portion of the Caxon-Kyland Road.

A group of thirty riders moved swiftly along the road. The Odessian dropped to his stomach to avoid being seen. It was not a conscious thought, but rather an instinct. Horst half-expected to see an army patrol heading westward, but that is not what he saw. As the riders got closer, Horst inhaled sharply and he found himself subconsciously holding his breath.

The men wore dark, nondescript clothing, but there was a certain discipline about them that spoke of the military. That in itself was not disturbing, but the sight of a hooded man in their midst set Horst's hair on end. Many people wore hoods in inclement weather, but the day was fair and had all the markings of remaining a pleasant one. The Odessian immediately thought about the hooded Borundan that Antion had seen in Caxon, but the skeptic within Horst discounted such a coincidence. It was only when he recognized the face of Asgar that Horst knew that the hooded figure was most likely the dark prince of Borunda. Horst's hands clawed at the rock as he felt his body tense, and then the party passed from his sight, hidden by the very cliff the Odessian was on.

Horst rose to a crouch and hurried across the cliff top to see if the Borundans turned off the main road towards the campsite, but they did not. He soon saw the party reappear on the Caxon-Kyland road racing westward. He watched for several long moments as the party continued onward, before heading for the edge of the cliff and scrambling down. His three companions were already awake and Kerzi was just beginning to start a fire. Horst raced over and kicked it out.

"Hey," growled Kerzi, "What are you doing? I've got a mind to make you starve while the rest of us eat."

"Make no fire," commanded the Odessian. "Riders have just passed on the road and we must not let them know that we are here."

"What kind of riders?" asked Gunnar.

Instead of answering, Horst turned to Monte. "Did you tell anyone where you were going?" he asked the Caroomite.

"Only my brother," Monte replied hesitantly. "I told him nothing about you or Gunnar. I merely told him that I was heading west with a merchant and his warrior. Why is this important?"

"Only your brother?" pressed the Odessian. "Are you sure that no one else knows?"

"I am positive," nodded Monte, "and I asked my brother to tell no one, and he will not. I trust him explicitly."

"Why the questions?" asked Gunnar. "Tell us what you saw."

"I saw a group of thirty riders," reported Horst. "They were either military out of uniform, or they were ex-military. I cannot be sure which, and they were coming from Caxon. As the sun is just now rising, they would have to have left in the middle of the night."

"The Caroom army would not have soldiers out of uniform," declared Monte. "Their authority rests in their uniforms."

"So a group of riders left the city in the middle of the night?" shrugged Kerzi. "It may be abnormal, but it is not unheard of."

"No," frowned Horst, "except this particular party had two riders of extreme interest to us. One of them was hooded, and the other was Asgar."

"Asgar?" gasped Monte. "That is impossible. I turned him over to my brother personally. He would never have let Asgar go free. He would have been put in chains when they got him to the prison."

"There was a leg shackle on one of his ankles," replied Horst, but it was attached to nothing. The chain had been broken."

"So he had been shackled," mused Gunnar. "I suppose that the hooded man was the dark prince. I wonder if his Talent would allow him to help Asgar to escape?"

"That is possible," nodded Kerzi. "I have heard some strange stories about what the Talent can do, but I never know what is truth and what is not."

"It is a shame that Asgar is again free," remarked Gunnar, "but that is not the end of the world. His identity is now known in Caroom, so his use as a spy is worthless."

"I am more concerned that they might be tracking us," countered Horst. "Asgar knows what Monte looks like, and if he knew that Monte was traveling with a merchant, we would be in grave danger. Are you sure, Monte, that your brother would not repeat what you told him?"

"Positive," Monte nodded vigorously. "He would never break a confidence."

"What if someone else overheard the conversation?" suggested Gunnar.

"There was no one else around," answered Monte. "I had him meet me in the cellar of my parent's home. I told him what he needed to know and then he took the sack and left. There was no one else there. I am positive."

"The sack?" questioned Kerzi. "Would that have been the same sack that held Asgar?"

"Could Asgar have been awake?" asked Horst.

Monte's face paled, and his eyes opened wide in horror.

"I don't think we are going to like his answer," sighed Gunnar.

"He was awake," confessed Monte as he began to shake. "I didn't think anything about it at the time. After all, he was going to prison to be interrogated. I thought that would be the end of him."

Monte was obviously upset that he had endangered everyone by his carelessness. Gunnar smiled and put his arm around the bowyer.

"At least we know what we are up against," Gunnar said with acceptance of the situation. "We will have to proceed very carefully."

"We can't continue onward," Monte shook his head. "After what I let Asgar hear, they will be looking for us. We must turn back."

"Turning back would accomplish nothing," retorted Gunnar. "We cannot hide in Caxon, and taking the Caxon-Laborg road would only lead us to Borunda. There must be another trail that will get us to Kyland."

"There are other trails," interjected Kerzi, "but they will be slow going. It will takes several times as long to get to Kyland."

"But we will be safer," shrugged Gunnar. "Is speed that important to you, Kerzi?"

"Speed is never more important than safety," the old man shook his head. "When one makes a small amount of profit on each journey, time does become your enemy, but you have made my profits soar on this journey. I am in no hurry."

"Do you know these trails?" asked Gunnar.

"Some of them," nodded the merchant, "but it has been many years since I have been on them. Some years the bandits are thicker than fleas on an old tom cat, and the best way to avoid them is to use alternate trails, but I have not had the problem in some time."

"About an hour's ride westward," interjected Monte," is a trail on the south side of the Caxon-Kyland Road. It starts out as if it is heading back towards the Vine River, but that is only a momentary bend that soon straightens out in a westerly direction. It runs halfway across Caroom."

"Then we have a plan," Horst took command of the conversation. "I want to make things clear before we head out. We will no longer turn these people over to the authorities; so do not even suggest it the next time, Monte. We cannot continue to give our enemies second chances at killing us."

"It is not just us that they might kill," interjected Gunnar. "I would not be surprised to learn that some good, decent guards died last night when Asgar was freed. These Borundans think nothing of killing anyone who gets in their way."

Monte thought about the possibility that his brother might have died during the escape. The thought caused an unwelcome shiver to race through his body.

"Agreed," Monte nodded. "There is no way to escape the prison without killing some guards. They would not have been able to even reach the cells unless they killed the outer guards. I guess I was a bit naïve the other night. If I had let Horst do what he wanted to, some dead Caroom soldiers would be alive today. I will not make such a mistake again."

"Your intentions were good," smiled Gunnar. "Dwell upon it no more. Let's get ready to leave this place. Kerzi, you will be riding alone. One of us will always ride directly in front of the wagon and another immediately behind, while the third scouts ahead of the track. Monte, you be the scout for now as you know the trail we seek."

"We should have some signals to alert the others to danger," suggested Horst. "That is preferable to shouting an alarm."

"Agreed," replied Gunnar. "For now a simple pointing to one side of the road or another will be enough of a warning to hide, but you should teach our new friends the horse language when we camp each night. It will come in handy."

"I will," agreed Horst. "Monte, try to ride far enough ahead to provide plenty of warning. The wagon cannot move quickly, especially on secondary trails. If you think pointing will not suffice, or if our attention is not on you, shoot an arrow to the proper side of the road. That is something that neither of us will miss."

"And if I am not sure which side of the road to direct you to?" asked Monte.

"Just pick one," shrugged Gunnar. "We will try to improve our signals when we camp each night. For now, I want to get off the Caxon-Kyland Road as soon as possible."

The campsite was cleaned up quickly, and Monte rode out to the main road. He saw nothing in either direction and waved the others forward. Once on the road, Kerzi pushed his team hard, and it took slightly less than an hour to reach the turn off. The secondary road was little more than a cleared path through the woods, two grass covered indentations that bespoke of little use and none of it recently.

* * *

"Are you sure of what you heard?" snarled Prince Zinan.

"It is how I told you, Chike," Asgar replied. "I heard him tell the soldier that he was traveling with a merchant westward. He knew the soldier by name, and I think they were close friends or relatives. I see no reason that he would lie."

"Then why have we not found them in three days?" snapped the hooded Borundan. "They could not have come this far, and I have had men backtrack along the road. There is no way we could have missed them."

"There are other trails," cowered Asgar. "Perhaps they are on one of those."

"And why would they not take the Caxon-Kyland Road?" Chike shouted in frustration.

"Maybe the one you look for is with him?" suggested Asgar. "Someone other than the bowyer struck me in that alley, and they bothered to take the picture from me when I was unconscious. Maybe they knew that you would follow them."

"Yet they had no idea that you overheard the conversation?" balked the dark prince. "You were imprisoned. There was no reason for them to assume that you would be able to follow them."

"I did not mean to suggest that they thought I would follow them," replied Asgar, "but there is no way for them to know that I alone was searching for the man. There are only two main roads leaving Caxon. Is it not possible that someone would check both of them?"

Prince Zinan fell silent for a moment. The fact was that Asgar was not the only spy he had placed in Caxon. If his enemy was aware of that, he might very well try to stay off the main roads. The dark prince nodded as his course of action became clear.

"Halt!" shouted Chike as he held up his hand.

The grouped stopped in the middle of the Caxon-Kyland Road and gathered around the hooded man to receive new instructions.

* * *

Once again Monte was the forward scout as the group traveled along the narrow road through the forest. They had been on the road for days, but the progress was agonizingly slow. Monte rode so far in front of the wagon that he was not visible most of the time as the trail twisted and turned among the trees. Occasionally another seldom-used trail forked off in one direction or another, but they had not seen another soul on the road since leaving the main road.

The woods were quiet, and Monte kept the wagon far behind him, so it immediately caught his attention when he heard a distant shout. He instinctively looked behind for the wagon although he knew that the sound had come from in front of him. The wagon was not visible as the road twisted too much. Before him was a sharp bend in the road, and he eased towards it. The shout had been distant, so he was not expecting anyone to be close, but he took the time to be cautious anyway. Slowing his horse to a walk, the archer's eyes gazed along the road in front of him as he rounded the bend. The road still twisted its way through the woods, but it was straight enough to see a fair distance. What he saw caused him to pull on the reins and disappear back around the corner.