The Rogue Knight (22 page)

Jace leaned forward. “What's in the middle? Ground meat?”

“Yep,” Cole said. “Beef.”

“Okay,” Jace admitted. “That looks pretty good.”

Cole heard a noise downstairs. “Is that Skye?”

The burger vanished.

Jace grinned. “Might want to fix your hair a little, Dalton.”

Dalton glared.

“What?” Jace whispered innocently. “Don't you want to be the favorite nephew?”

Cole heard soft footsteps downstairs. Dalton quickly ran his fingers through his hair.

Jace rolled off the couch, grabbed a heavy lamp, and crept over to where the ladder came up from below. Holding the lamp ready to swing, he put a finger to his lips.

“This is why it's nice to have Jace around,” Cole whispered.

Skye's head came up through the fake floor. She was momentarily startled when she saw Jace, then she smiled up at him. “Expecting someone?”

Jace lowered the lamp. “I'm almost disappointed. It's not every day you get this good of a free shot.”

“I have great news,” Skye said, not coming all the way up. “I know the people who nabbed the guardsman. We get to go meet him right now. Don't leave anything behind. We may not come back here.”

They wove through the streets of Merriston disguised as unremarkable people. From the quiet basement of a large inn, Skye led them into a maze of underground passages. After navigating a clever assortment of seemings, they reached a heavy wooden door hidden behind an illusionary brick wall.

Dropping her disguise, Skye slapped a palm against the door. “Let us in!”

A peephole slid open to reveal a pair of dark eyes. “Skye! Good to see you! What goes up, must . . .”

“Be higher,” she replied.

“A ringer saved is a ringer . . .”

“That owes you one,” Skye finished.

“Seeing is . . .”

“Deceiving.”

“Word of the day?”

“Lemon.”

The door opened. A tall man with brown skin and a wide smile pulled Skye in for a hug. “You've been too unseen lately,” he said. “Who are your friends?”

Skye introduced Cole, Jace, and Dalton. “This is Sultan,” she said. “One of the best.”

“Ben told me to watch for you,” Sultan said. “Come with me.”

They moved through two more doors and into a confusing warren of halls and chambers. Cole got glimpses of people in rooms they passed, men and women eating at a long table, an old guy petting a big dog, a woman with an eye patch studying a map. Some doors were closed.

They reached a muscular man guarding a heavy door. He stepped aside, and Sultan opened it. Inside they found a young, lean man with scruffy whiskers and very short hair. He stood up as they entered. “More visitors?” he asked.

“You told us you want to get your story out,” Sultan said.

“Not one person at a time,” the man said. “This needs to go public. Nobody gets what's coming. Cities that don't evacuate only make her stronger. Our leaders need to face the facts.”

Cole wasn't sure the guy was quite sane. His earnestness and intensity seemed almost fanatical.

“Her?” Skye asked. “The monster is a girl?”

“Her name is Morgassa,” the man said.

“How big?” Skye asked.

“Your size,” he said. “More or less.”

“She's a woman?” Skye asked.

“She looks like a woman.”

“You saw her?”

“Sure did,” the man said. “And heard her. I saw her horde. They passed by all around me.” He glanced at Sultan. “What's with the kids?”

“This is Skye,” Sultan said. “She's one of our top operatives. The kids are in her care. She can help get your message heard.”

“I worked at the Silver Lining,” Dalton said. “There's no better place in Elloweer to start a rumor.”

“The kids belong here,” Skye said. “I never caught your name.”

“I'm Russell,” the man said. “Look, I don't mean to be rude, but spreading this message is up to you guys now. I've done my part. Sultan already knows all I've got to say. He can tell you as well as I can.”

“Humor us,” Sultan said. “I want Skye to hear it from your lips.”

Russell gave an exasperated sigh. “Where do I start? Nobody can stop her. She won't be here tomorrow, or the day after, but she's coming this way, and Merriston is a big city. If they don't get people moving now, it's going to be pandemonium.”

“Tell your story,” Skye said. “I swear to help share it. How did you see all this and get away? I thought nobody got away?”

Russell chuckled through his nose. “It wasn't by any skill of mine. One of those Enforcers helped me. The guys in black. The horde was coming. My unit retreated too slowly. We were overrun while trying to help stragglers.”

“How did the Enforcer help you?” Skye asked.

“He turned me to stone,” Russell said. “I became a statue of myself. He told me to wait. Like I had a choice! I stayed conscious. I could see and hear. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Didn't need to. They were all around me. I watched some of the guys in my unit get taken.”

“How did you see if you were a statue?” Cole asked.

“Ask the Enforcer,” Russell said. “I'm no enchanter. It was a changing, not an illusion. I couldn't move a bit, but I could still see.”

“You saw men taken?” Skye asked.

“Morgassa isn't alone,” Russell said. “She travels with all the people she has claimed and with her army of figments.”

“Living seemings?” Skye verified.

“More like blank seemings,” Russell said. “She controls them. They look like people, but kind of blurry, without features. You can see through them a little. They don't seem to hurry, but they're fast. They kind of glide. When they reach people, they merge with them, and Morgassa takes control.”

“Her figments merge with people?” Skye asked.

“You'd have to see it to fully get it,” Russell said. “The people she has taken run ahead. They fight anyone who resists. They're stronger than they should be. They hold people down. Then the figments swoop in and take them over. The same people who were running away start helping her, like they've completely lost their minds. They get changed. Each person who gets taken swells her ranks.”

“How many figments?” Cole asked, unsure if he was supposed to be part of the conversation, but unable to help himself.

“A vast horde,” Russell said. “As many as she wants. You can see her making more like it's nothing. She waves an arm, and twenty spring into being. She waves her other arm, and thirty more appear. She's already claimed thousands of people. All of them drones. Changelings. There are always more figments. She's going to control every corner of Elloweer. It won't take long. She won't even break a sweat.”

“They didn't bother you?” Skye asked.

“Not at all,” Russell said. “Her horde flowed around me like I was a rock in a river. They never gave me a second look. They took everybody else. The town was left empty. It was like nobody had ever lived there. Nobody peeked out the windows once the trouble cleared. No one came creeping up from the cellar. The town of Pillocks was dead. A graveyard without bodies. The bodies all left with her.”

“Then what happened?” Skye asked.

“Time passed,” Russell said. “I didn't get tired standing there. Didn't get thirsty. I couldn't move my head or my eyes. But I saw. I heard. I worried I would stay like that forever.”

“How'd you change back?” Cole asked.

“Another Enforcer came. Different guy. I don't think the one who changed me to stone escaped. The new Enforcer changed me back to normal.”

“Did he tell you anything?” Skye prompted.

“He asked what I had seen. I told him. He gave me a horse. He told me Morgassa and the horde were heading toward Glinburg. He told me to ride southeast to Ambrage and warn them. I did what he said. I warned them. I told them about Morgassa and the people she controls, and the figments. They sent me on to Westridge to warn the garrison there. I talked to a champion and the alderman. That's when everyone turned on me. They arrested me. They were scared I'd cause a panic. I told them Elloweer needed a panic. Her horde will just keep growing.”

“It sounds terrible,” Skye said.

“Sister, you have no idea. I can't do it justice. I've never had any use for the resistance. Bunch of wackos still fighting a war that ended decades ago. But it was the resistance who freed me on the way to Blackmont Castle. As a prisoner, I'd repeated my story to some of the higher-ups in the legion and the city governments. How was I thanked? They sent me to Blackmont. They wanted to shut me up. I don't care what your politics are—Elloweer needs to be warned. There's no time to plot and scheme. There's no time to weigh alternatives. All we can do now is try to limit the damage. The people of Elloweer need to get out of the way. If the resistance will spread that message, then they're the real champions of Elloweer.”

“We're setting plans in motion,” Sultan said.

“You need more than plans,” Russell stressed. “You guys are called the Unseen? It's time to be seen. You need riders going back the way I came, telling everyone to leave everything that might slow them down and run. For so many it's already too late.”

“We've already begun,” Sultan said.

“What about you?” Skye asked Russell. “What are you going to do?”

He pressed his fists against his temples. “You mean once my rescuers are satisfied that I've told enough people my story? Once they let me, I'm gone. I'm thankful they freed me. I'd hate to be stuck in Blackmont with Morgassa on her way. But I've paid them back. I told what I know. I'm handing over the problem to them. I'm now a fugitive. But I'm not alone. We're all fugitives.”

“Welcome to the club,” Jace said.

“He means the whole kingdom,” Skye said. “Everyone is a fugitive now.”

Russell winked. “Most just don't know it yet. I'll be running scared, but not from the champions or the aldermen or the legion. I just want a seeming that makes me unrecognizable, and then I'm leaving Elloweer for good. Anybody with an ounce of sense will do the same. To stand against Morgassa is to join her. Avoidance is the only defense. She wants Elloweer? Let her have it! Elloweer is over. There's only one champion who matters now. Her followers repeat her name like a mindless prayer. Morgassa.”

C
HAPTER

 22 

CHALLENGE

T
he black serpent spiraled up the table leg, its body winding and flexing precisely. The head hooked outward and curved onto the top of the table, followed by the rest of its sinuous length. With syrupy grace, the snake flowed across the table toward Cole, who watched with wide eyes as it reared up and bared a pair of slender fangs.

“That looks pretty real,” Cole said.

“Thanks,” Dalton replied.

Suddenly, the snake had the head of a chicken. The body became a slender pink balloon. The chicken head pecked the balloon body, popping it without making a noise.

“A little less real,” Cole said.

The seeming vanished.

Cole and Dalton sat on cots in a small, damp room. A flimsy table, a hammock, and some wooden crates added to the decor. At least they had a door. Some of the rooms in the Unseen hideout were only made private by shabby curtains. They had slept in the cots one night so far. Skye planned to spend one more night there before going to the Bloated Udder to find Joe and Twitch.

“Do you wonder why the Unseen aren't already running for it?” Dalton asked.

“Maybe they will,” Cole said.

“Sounds like it's going to get ugly here before long.”

“Things were ugly in Sambria too.”

Dalton folded his arms. “Will Skye want to go after Morgassa?”

“Maybe,” Cole said. “If Morgassa is Honor's power, finding Honor might be the only chance to beat her.”

Dalton stared at Cole, lips compressed.

“What?” Cole asked.

“Do you ever wonder if staying with Skye might not be the best way to help Jenna? Would we find her faster if we took off and did our own thing?”

“Maybe,” Cole said. “I've considered it. But the Rogue Knight has Mira. I can't just abandon her. She's great. She's a real friend.”

“Aren't those other guys going after her?” Dalton asked.

“Joe and Twitch,” Cole said. “They're on her trail, but I won't leave here until I know she's all right. I wouldn't leave you either. I've thought a lot about this. Aside from everything else, I really think that staying with Mira will be the best way to help Jenna and the others. Don't get me wrong. I hear about Morgassa, and I want to run.”

Dalton nodded. “It might not be a bad time to search in other kingdoms for a while.”

“I hear you,” Cole acknowledged. “But with Mira, we get help from the resistance wherever we go. And if Mira can defeat her father, we might free everybody. I don't think that happens without her help.”

“We also might get caught breaking into Blackmont,” Dalton pointed out. “Or we might get killed by some horrible monster.”

“I didn't say it was safe,” Cole said. “But if we want to help Jenna, staying with Mira beats wandering blindly without any help. Don't forget, sticking with Mira led me to the people who helped me find you.”

The door opened without warning. Jace burst in, his eyes bright with excitement. “Have you guys heard the news?”

“I don't think so,” Cole said.

“The Rogue Knight challenged the Dreadknight to a duel,” Jace said. “The Dreadknight accepted. They fight tomorrow for control of Edgemont.”

“Whoa,” Cole said. “Seriously?”

“Everybody is talking about it,” Jace said. “I guess word is out all over town. Only residents of Edgemont are supposed to attend the fight.”

“Have you talked to Skye?” Dalton asked.

“I can't find her,” Jace said. “She must have gone out to follow up on the news. You get what this probably means.”

“The Rogue Knight learned about Honor from Mira,” Cole said. “Do you think she told him on purpose?”

“Maybe,” Jace said. “She may have decided the Rogue Knight was the perfect tool to bust into Blackmont Castle. Or maybe the Rogue Knight pried the information from her and wants to add another princess to his collection. Either way, there's a good chance Mira will be at the duel.”

“There's also a good chance it's a trap,” Dalton said.

“What do you mean?” Jace asked.

“Rustin Sage wants the Rogue Knight out of the picture,” Dalton said. “But he doesn't want to risk his championship. If Rustin knows where the Rogue Knight will be tomorrow, it would be a golden opportunity.”

“We have to be there,” Cole said. “It'll be our best chance to help Mira.”

“Let's hope Skye is working on it,” Jace said.

Skye returned later in the afternoon. She came to Cole's room with Sultan. The boys had been playing a dice game Jace had taught them to pass the time.

“You heard the news about the duel tomorrow at dawn?” she checked.

“We're going, right?” Jace asked.

“Sultan will help us,” Skye said. “It'll be complicated. We have information from contacts within the Merriston guardsmen.”

“Rustin Sage plans to surround Edgemont tomorrow during the duel,” Sultan said. “He'll let them fight it out, because if anybody can beat the Rogue Knight, it's the Dreadknight. If the Rogue Knight loses, problem solved. If the Rogue Knight wins, Rustin Sage and his knights will descend with his guardsmen and a battalion of legionnaires.”

“Isn't that against the rules?” Cole asked.

“They have an excuse,” Sultan said. “Because of his robberies, they've labeled the Rogue Knight a criminal. They'll deny him his rights as a champion and take him by force. The governor is backing the plan, along with Alderman Campos.”

“We have to be there,” Skye said. “If the Rogue Knight loses, we'll rescue Mira and get away. If the Rogue Knight wins, there may be a window of opportunity to free Honor. Should the Dreadknight fall, the Rogue Knight will temporarily be master of Blackmont Castle.”

“Until the Merriston guardsmen and the legionnaires take him out,” Dalton said.

“It'll be dangerous, but I'm not sure we'll ever have a better chance,” Skye said. “Get some rest. We'll leave in the night. I want to arrive well before dawn.”

By the time the first hints of sunrise began lightening the sky, Cole sat huddled beneath a blanket at the Edgemont Arena. Many people had already claimed seats on the tiered benches surrounding the battleground. Skye and Sultan had disguised themselves and the three boys as an actual family who lived in Edgemont. Sympathetic to the rebellion, the family had agreed to skip the fight.

When Cole and the others had reached the arena, officials had taken down their names and the father's occupation, then quizzed them about where they lived. Sultan had given all the right answers, and they were admitted to the event without trouble.

Cole wore his Jumping Sword. Jace had Mira's. Dalton brought a knife. Sultan and Skye were armed as well. The illusionists had hidden the weapons with seemings.

The early morning was cold enough that Cole could see his breath. He held his blanket close around him and kept watch for Mira.

Because time had been short, they hadn't attempted to rendezvous with Joe and Twitch. Skye had guessed that Joe would show up at the fight. So far Cole hadn't noticed them in the crowd.

Color slowly bled into the sky. The walls of Blackmont Castle loomed high above the arena, with sharp, angular towers soaring even higher. Harsh and jagged, the entire castle appeared to be composed of dark iron, though Cole assumed at least some of that had to be an illusion.

As dawn approached, spectators crammed into the arena. Cole became pressed shoulder to shoulder with Dalton and Jace as people sandwiched themselves onto their bench. Latecomers stood on the stairs and wherever they could find a spot.

With the sun about to rise, the Rogue Knight strode out onto the arena floor, his bright armor impeccable. He drew Verity and saluted the audience. Most cheered him, though some booed loudly. Eight knights came after him, and lastly the little Halfknight, who received some jeers.

The knights formed up at one side of the arena. Directly above them, in the first row of the stands, Cole saw Mira. She wore a scarlet cloak and looked unharmed.

“Do you see her?” Cole asked Jace.

“Where?”

“Just above the knights,” Cole said.

“You're right!” Jace exclaimed. “She looks . . . well.”

Cole thought Jace had stopped himself from saying “pretty” or “beautiful.” She did look very nice. Cole was too relieved by her presence to tease him.

Jace spread the word to Skye, who nodded as he pointed toward Mira. Cole explained to Dalton where she was. The scarlet cloak helped him find her.

“She doesn't look like a prisoner,” Cole observed.

“No,” Skye agreed. “But looks can be deceiving.”

A hush fell over the arena as the Dreadknight emerged from the far side. His dark armor matched the jagged appearance of Blackmont Castle. Spikes bristled on his helmet and his broad shoulders. Cruel edges protruded from his vambraces and greaves. The Rogue Knight was an imposing figure, but the Dreadknight stood at least a full head taller. He carried a broadsword nearly the height of a man. The blade looked thick enough to chop down a tree.

The Dreadknight's twelve other knights came out and lined up behind their master. None looked nearly as fearsome.

Sheathing his blade, the Rogue Knight went to the center of the battleground to await his opponent. The Dreadknight held his oversize weapon in one hand. Cole suspected most men using two hands would have to drag the broadsword along behind them.

Flames spewed out from within the Dreadknight's helm, causing many in the audience to flinch and gasp. Inky smoke unfurled into the air above him.

“Is this for real?” Dalton asked, shaking his head.

Cole looked at him, relieved to finally have someone else with him who understood just how crazy all these experiences were. “It's like the jousters at the Renaissance festival,” Cole said. “Except this might be a little more intense.”

The Rogue Knight drew his sword again. “No need to wallow in theatricality,” he cried, swishing Verity through the air. The flames and smoke disappeared, some of the spikes vanished from the armor, and the Dreadknight shrank a little, though he was still half a head taller than the Rogue Knight. His sword remained enormous.