The Red Knight (32 page)

Alyda didn’t sound particularly happy about having to explain her plans, even if it was to the Queen of Antia. He empathised; he’d been on the end of his mother’s habitual interrogations many times. No matter how critical the situation, he knew she wouldn’t move unless forced or convinced that they were taking the best route.

“Are you sure we wouldn’t be better off swimming the river here?” Thea asked as if to prove his point.

“Yes, Majesty,” said Alyda. “The river’s fast and deep here and there’s no cover on the opposite bank. Even if we all made it across we’d more than likely be spotted. The water meadows have tall reeds that we can use for cover and they’re bordered by Tyris wood. They’ll be a damn—.” Ali coughed. “They’ll be much easier and safer to cross than the river.”

Talin grinned. He could hear his mother give a tiny worried sigh, but she nodded her assent.

The ledge at the base of the curtain wall was about four feet wide and overgrown with wiry shrubs and snagging brambles. It was just about passable if they went in single file.

Corvinius glanced over his shoulder at Alyda as she shoved him ahead of her. “How long are you going to keep me alive, ‘Lyda?” he whispered. “How long before you decide I’m of no further use and just slowing you down?”

She didn’t answer. She had no desire to get drawn into an argument with Corvinius.

He laughed softly. “I don’t think you know. I’m sure the Queen and her get are also wondering why I’m still alive. Why aren’t I dead ‘Lyda? Why aren’t I in that,
‘cold place in the Void’,
dear old Thea has lined up for me?”

Why not indeed.
Alyda tightened her grip on his arm, and let him feel the point of her knife against his ribs.

“Because I want to see you hang, Rufus. I want everyone to know what you’ve done and see you swing for it. I want you to hang until you rot off the fucking rope.”

“Now don’t hold back, ‘Lyda my love. You know what I think? I don’t think your childish notion of honour will let you kill an unarmed prisoner, least of all me. Could it be that you still have feelings for me?”

“Trust me, that’s not a wager you want to make, Rufus.”

She was sure that she could end him in a heartbeat if he tried anything, but he knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t given to killing in cold blood. She was an oath-sworn knight; her honour meant something to her, even if it meant nothing to him.

Pain in the arse though he was, Corvinius wasn’t her only concern. Even though she made allowances for the Queen and her younger son, their progress was painfully slow. Not only were they far too noisy, but they had to keep stopping every few feet to help Thea, who kept tripping over her heavy gown and catching it on brambles. If they didn’t hurry up, it would be daylight before they reached the woods.

Eventually they came within sight of the West Gate Bridge. Alyda gave a sigh of relief, they were almost there.

As they clambered over a particularly dense patch of undergrowth, Corvinius stumbled. Alyda lost her grip on his arm. It was the moment he’d been waiting for. Her stomach lurched as she watched him hop his legs through his bound wrists, and angle his body towards the water. She leapt on him and hooked her arm around his neck as he made to dive in the river. Planting her feet, she threw herself back, towards the curtain wall, dragging Corvinius away from the water’s edge. They fell, Corvinius landed on top of her.

Hot blood gushed down her arm as his weight drove him on to Tain’s knife. The traitor gasped; their eyes met. She twisted the blade, up, deeper and held his gaze as he died.

She pushed the corpse off her and put her back against the wall, steam rising from her blood-drenched arm. Someone, probably Trease, had said killing should never be too easy, and never too hard. In this case it had been very easy, and that shocked her.

By the time Talin had struggled past his mother and brother it was all over.

“Are you alright?” he asked. He had the same horrified look on his face as when she’d killed the Rusties earlier.

“Aye,” she said, and wiped the knife on her breeches.

“We should throw him in the river,” said Thea. Her voice was surprisingly cold. For all her tears, it seemed that the Queen wasn’t as delicate as she looked.

“That’s not a good idea, Majesty,” said Alyda. “He might float downstream into the river gate. We don’t want them to start searching up-river for us. We need to keep them in the dark for as long as we can.”

She looked around for somewhere they could hide the body. The ledge wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. “We’ll hide him in the undergrowth. He won’t stay hidden for long.”
Not when the rats get at him.
“But we’ll be far from here by then,” she said with more hope than certainty.

Thea didn’t balk from piling stones and dirt onto the still warm corpse, but Prince Olin was shaking like a colt. When they set off again he kept glancing over his shoulder at the rough mound, as though he expected Corvinius to climb out of the make-shift grave and come after them. Alyda felt sorry for the boy, but she had no words of comfort to give him. He’d have to find the key to unlock his courage by himself, or learn to live with his fear. All she could do was get him and his mother safely away from here; the demons in his mind were his alone to conquer.

Passing beneath the West Gate Bridge was going to be the most dangerous part of the escape. It wasn’t as busy as the East Gate, but there would still be more guards concentrated in the barbican than along the wall. Alyda tried to hurry them along, but they were only as fast as the slowest member of the group, which in this case was a middle-aged woman completely unused to scrabbling around in the undergrowth. Alyda didn’t like looking after civilians, not even—or perhaps particularly, royal ones. She served them best on the battlefield. All this sneaking about was a job more suited to Tain, wherever in the Void he was.

When they were safely hidden in the shadowed arches of the abutments, Alyda called a halt so that the Queen could rest. She was quietly grateful when, of her own accord, Thea took off her heavy over-gown and hid it between the bridge supports. She looked cold in her thin under-gown and petticoats, but they might move a little faster now that she wouldn’t be caught on every thorn they passed. While his mother and brother rested, Alyda took the opportunity to speak to Talin.

“The river veers off soon, and the water meadows are about two hundred feet beyond the bridge. If we’re spotted, I want you to lead them into the woods. If Bainley’s there, get the horses and ride north. If not, head north through the woods, follow the river as far as you can. Don’t try to find your father; the west will be crawling with mercenaries and Guthlanders.”

Talin plucked a leaf from her hair. His fingers brushed her cheek, rousing altogether inappropriate feelings given their situation and what had just happened.

“If you think I’m going to leave you, you’d best think again,” he said.

She laughed softly. “You’re such a pain in the arse, Highness.”

Beyond the bridge, Alyda led them along the ledge until it widened out and became part of the watery reed beds that pushed the inky flow into the depth of Tyris Wood.

Wading across the waterlogged ground was hard going for all of them, particularly the Queen. When they finally reached the trees and solid ground, she and Prince Olin collapsed in a heap, exhausted and shivering in the cold night air. If Tain hadn’t found Bainley they’d have no choice but to head out on foot. Looking at Olin and his mother, Alyda didn’t imagine they would get very far. Neither looked to have much walking left in them.

Leaving Talin on guard, Alyda went to find Bainley. She looked back at the Arth. Torches skipped along the parapet, but there was still no sign to indicate they were onto them. Without Corvinius, there was nobody to give the orders, nobody with wit to organise a proper search.
Rufus.
In the old days, knights were soul bound to serve, it seemed so primitive, so unnecessary and yet after what damage he had wrought
. Damn you Rufus.

She put him from her mind, and carried on looking for Bainley. She wasn’t concerned that the armourer wasn’t waiting to meet them. It would have taken time for him to get to his sister’s farm even if the spy had found him straightaway. Of course, she had to consider that he may not have found him at all.

After half an hour of fruitless searching she was about to head back to the others and tell them the bad news when she heard a horse snicker a greeting. She ducked down until she saw Bainley’s familiar, barrel-shaped outline loom from the darkness. He was leading a group of horses.

“Ali!” he exclaimed in a loud whisper when she showed herself. “Asha’s paps! You’re like your father, you are. You don’t ask favours often, but gods, when you do…” He threw his arms around her.

“I’m glad to see you, sir,” she answered when he let her go and she could breathe again.

They led the horses over to where the others were waiting.

“You’re lucky your man caught me. I was just shutting down the forge for…well, I don’t know how long. Hmm… anyway, a few minutes later and I’d have gone.”

Alyda looked at the horses. “Only three?”

“Aye, and I cannot guarantee these beasts at all, but they’re the only ones my brother-in-law could spare. They need the matched pair for the cart.”

“I’m grateful to you and your family, Trell.”

The armourer waved his hand dismissively. “Ah, ‘tis the least I could do. You’re the daughter of one of my oldest friends, and I know you’d do the same for me.”

“True enough. I’ll see your family right for these.”

“No need to worry on that score. Bless her heart, but my sister’s a grip like death when it comes to her purse and property. She wouldn’t give over a cheese rind without seeing coin first, but as I’m her only brother I got a good deal.” He winked. “Hmm. Anyway, here they are.”

Bainley peered at the shadowy figures in the darkness. They didn’t come forward and Alyda didn’t offer to make introductions.

“They look fine. There’s something else I need to ask you and it’s no small task…”

Bainley raised an eyebrow. “Hmm. Let’s hear it. Although I must warn you, my Free Company days are long gone. I’m fit enough to swing a hammer, but I’ve not done any soldiering for many years.”

“No offence, but if you get into a fight, we’re fucked. Avoiding trouble is what’s required. I need to you take a message to the King.”

Bainley listened while she explained the meat of what had happened without directly telling him the people with her were the Queen and her sons. The creases on his brow deepened as the tale unfolded. She felt guilty asking him to take on such a risky mission, but she didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t rely on Tain getting out and she couldn’t leave the Queen and Princes and go herself.

Bainley scratched his balding head, he didn’t look happy. “Hmm…well now. Nothing for it, I suppose. The King needs to know right enough. I’ll have to go tell Nessa and the girls. They’re at my sister’s; we’re all heading off north until this blows over.” He smiled tightly. Asking him to perform an even more dangerous task was a poor reward for helping her.
Hard as iron, cold as stone, Ali.
She took the reins from him. “I’d tell them to leave tonight if I was you. Guthlanders will be here on the ‘morrow.”

“Aye? Can’t believe it. We’d planned to set out as soon as I got back, because of what the 5th were up to, Nes isn’t going to be happy when she hears this.”

She nodded; anything she said now would be cold comfort.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d need any supplies,” said Bainley, “so I put some food and spare cloaks in the saddle bags just in case.”

“Thank you, Trell, I owe you.”

Bainley chuckled. “Aye you do. You can buy me an ale or five when we’re back in Weyhithe and this bad business is done. Hmm…speaking of which, I’d best be going. Good luck to you, Ali, and to your friends.” He inclined his head to the shadowy figures before heading back the way he’d come.

When he’d gone, Alyda gave the Queen the reins of the most docile looking animal.

“What an excellent fellow, I’m sure I’ve met him before. Tell me, how do you know him?” The Queen’s tone was more questioning than conversational.

“I’ve known him all my life, Majesty. He served in my father’s Free Company.”

Thea patted the dark bay cob. “Forgive my caution, Captain Stenna. I find that I’m a more suspicious person today than I was yesterday.”

“I understand, Majesty.”

“So, where do you think we should go from here?” Talin asked.

Good question
. And one she’d given a great deal of thought to as they’d made their escape. “Ill-equipped as we are, I think the closest and safest place we can reach is Gallen Arth where the First and the Fourth should be.”

“Not Trelanlith?” asked Thea.

“No, Majesty. Corvinius forged a letter from the King and ordered the First to Gallen.”

“Is there anywhere else worth considering?” Talin asked, as he helped his brother onto one of the horses before climbing up behind him.

“No, not really. It’s too risky to go across country to try and find the King, and there’ll be Guthani warbands hunting for you on the ‘morrow.” She didn’t add that the King might already be dead.