Arrows Of Change (Book 1) (20 page)

Satisfied he was far enough away, Ashlynn drew a large
circle on the rug with a glowing fingertip. Then she wrote in that fancy
magical language of hers, which he couldn’t make heads or tails of. Finished,
she opened the stopper on the vial and tipped it carefully, so that a drop of
blood fell directly on the lines. They turned blood red in an instant. It
seemed to him that she took a breath before stepping into the center and
settling down on her knees.

Watching her turn her eyes to something he could not see was
beyond strange. The way her head spun this way and that, gaze focusing on
different points, body shifting, it was clear she was reacting to something. If
he did not know what she was doing, he’d think her possessed.

Whatever she saw did not please her. A storm passed over her
fair face, hands clenching until her knuckles turned white on her knees.
Without warning, she slammed one fist into the floor, and he would swear the
wooden floorboard cracked even with the rug softening the blow.

Finally she stood and walked out of the circle, where it
unraveled itself and dissipated into the air.

“They alright?” he asked quietly.

“They’re alive,” she responded harshly. “That animal has
them
chained
, as if they’re criminals. Bria’s legs are already bleeding
from the metal cuffs. When I get my hands on him, he’ll lose his head for
this!” she swore in a snarl.

Broden would have offered to help, but she likely didn’t
need it. “All three be in the abbey, then?”

Ashlynn had to take a large, steadying breath before she could
respond. “Not only that, but all are in the same room. Broden, how long will it
take to rescue them from there?”

He splayed his hands in an open shrug. “Depends how fast we
can gather the information we need. But lass, we can no’ stay more than two days
or so. The longer we stay, the more chance someone catches wind of why we be
here.”

“Yes, I agree. Two days, eh?” Her eyes hardened, lip curling
into a feral smile. “Two days it shall be, then.”

They gathered in Ashlynn’s bedroom before dinner to tell
what they knew. There was not space for everyone to sit, of course, so the
girls took the bed, and the men either sat on the floor or simply leaned
against the wall.

“I’ll start,” Ashlynn volunteered. “I found them. All three
are in the abbey. In fact, they’re all in the same room.”

Marissa was brave enough to ask, “How are they?”

“Not in any shape to run,” Ashlynn bit off. “That
thrice-cursed dastard of an abbot has them chained, and their legs are in bad
shape because of it. Whatever plan we come up with will have to give us a
window of time for me to heal them, otherwise we might not make it.”

Konrath groaned. “Well, that makes things harder. We found
out the guard’s rotation and such today, roughly at least. There’s twenty-four
guards for the abbey, twelve for each shift. They close the main gates on the
fourth bell precisely.”

“Right before dinner,” Ashlynn muttered to herself. “When do
they open the gates again?”

“Sixth bell, right at sunrise.”

“Meaning we need to be in and out afore the fourth bell, or
it be impossible to get back out again,” Broden translated unhappily. “That
gives our pursuers a precious three hours of daylight to be chasing after us.”

“I don’t like the idea either.” Ashlynn stared sightlessly
at the ceiling. “Unless I can make an opening for us in the walls somehow.”

Several people looked panicked at this suggestion.

“Wait, Ashlynn, let’s think about this,” Seth pleaded.
“That’s a bit drastic, isn’t it?”

The wizard’s eyes came down to stare at him in puzzlement.
“Eh?”

“Surely that should be a last resort,” Amber agreed faintly.
“If we can’t think of anything else and have no other options.”

Broden watched this play out with a bemused quirk of the
lips. They looked nigh on desperate to talk Ashlynn out of this idea—which he
thought a sensible one—and that suggested to him that she had attempted such a
thing before. And the results had not been good. Oh, did he ever want the story
behind this!

“Well, I suppose that doing it will draw unwanted
attention,” Ashlynn finally agreed, although with great reluctance. “If we can
think of a quiet method, we should probably do that instead.”

There was a collective sigh of relief.

Oh yes. He was getting the story on this later. “Anything on
how the abbey be laid out?”

Tant shook his head in frustration. “We tried, but no one
really walks all the way into the abbey. They enter the main courtyard, worship
or ask for help, and then walk back out again. The only people that actually
know the place are the people that permanently live there…and the guards, of
course.”

He’d reckoned as much. “Then it be an excuse we need to go
in and take a tour of the place. What be the word on the street? Be they
looking for new members?”

“Desperately so,” Amber confirmed. “Quite a few apparently
quit earlier this year because the life was too strenuous.”

Serving the church likely was, and not much glory to be had,
either. Broden had an idea playing about in his mind, one he thought had
possibilities. “Ashlynn.” He waited until she faced him before asking, “How
about being me daughter for a spell?”

Not understanding, she just stared at him blankly.
“Daughter?”

Tant was the first to catch on, and he snapped his fingers
in understanding. “Of course. Play the role of father and daughter, ask to take
a tour of the place so you know what environment she’s going into, then walk
away as if you’re thinking about it. No one will suspect anything, and you’ll
get to see most of the building that way.”

“Ahhh.” Ashlynn gave a judicious nod. “Not bad. I like it.
They probably won’t show us where my sisters are, but at least we’ll know how
the rest of the building looks.”

“Lass, can ye remember a thing after seeing it once?” he
asked uncertainly. His recall for places was dismal at best. He had to be very
familiar with an area before he felt he knew it.

She dismissed this concern with a wave of the hand. “I have
spells for that sort of thing. Actually, the spell I’ll use will let me play it
out on a wall so that everyone else can see it for themselves.”

“Magic be a convenient thing,” he marveled.

Ashlynn winked at him. “Aye, it be that. Alright, I think
this is a solid plan. Broden and I will go in tomorrow morning for our tour.
While we’re doing that, I want you to split up in groups and find the quickest
escape route. Try to find a way that will give us some cover so that I can
heal. Their legs won’t stand up to long hours on horseback in their present
condition.”

“I spoke with Jeri, and he’d more or less mapped out our
possible routes,” Seth volunteered. “It really comes down to one of two ways.
Either down the main street and through the gates, or through the market gate
that lets out on the east side.”

“Which way did he recommend?” Tant queried.

Seth hiked up one shoulder in a shrug. “Depends on the time
of the day. If it’s morning, then the market street. Evening, main street. More
traffic that way, and a better chance to lose our pursuit.”

“So if we wanted to just quickly get out of the city, and
then lose our pursuers later, we’d reverse that.” Amber frowned, chewing on her
bottom lip thoughtfully. “Although I don’t know how we’ll lose them outside the
city.”

“Without another wizard battling me, and no innocents
around, I can just flatten them.” The way that Ashlynn smiled made the fine
hairs on Broden’s neck raise in alarm. “We’ll go with the market route
tomorrow. We shouldn’t stay past tonight and tomorrow.”

“It’s too risky to stay for more than two days,” Konrath
agreed, hands tapping a silent rhythm against his thigh. “We’re already getting
odd looks from people who think we should be out on business. We’re obviously
foreign, so hanging about the inn like this without doing any business in the
city doesn’t look right.”

“So we plan to get my sisters out tomorrow and leave before
nightfall.”

Seth raised a hand. “Ashlynn, can we get dinner and think
about how to break into the abbey? I can’t think on an empty stomach.”

Passing a hand over her face, she capitulated with a sigh.
“Probably best. Hungry stomachs make desperate plans. Alright, go eat. We’ll
meet back up here after dinner, and I expect someone to come up with something
brilliant, otherwise I
will
blow a hole in their wall.”

Effective threat, that. Broden saw at least three people
shudder in true horror.

They filed out of the room, Seth leading the charge down the
stairs. Broden hung back, catching Marissa’s eye before she could leave as
well. With a wary eye on Ashlynn’s retreating back, he asked in a low whisper,
“Lass, could ye tell me why it be no one be keen on the idea of Ashlynn making
her own door?”

Marissa also flashed a look in Ashlynn’s direction before
answering in an equally low tone, “She tried this about two years ago. We had a
situation where a house was burning in town, leaving a pair of siblings trapped
in a back room with no way out. She cast a quick spell around them, to protect
them, but we still had to get them out quickly before they inhaled too much
smoke. Ashlynn tried to carve a hole in the wall so we could get in.”

Broden quirked a brow. “What went wrong?”

Shaking her head, Marissa corrected, “Nothing went
right
.
Oh, the spell worked, certainly. But she blew away the whole side of the house.
If the children hadn’t been protected by that shield of hers, they’d have been
crushed under the roof. Ashlynn has never been good with moderation.”

Which was why Edvard set Ash to building things and not
Ashlynn? Broden had thought it because the lass had a better handle on
punishing the unjust, but mayhap that was not the only reason. Regardless, he
now understood why no one wanted Ashlynn making her own doors in the walls. She
like as not would bring the abbey crashing down upon their heads.

“Before we go down,” Marissa openly hesitated before
continuing, “I should tell you something. You’ll probably need to take the lead
tomorrow, when you go in as father and daughter. She won’t know how to act.”

Blinking at her, he cocked his head in confusion. “What mean
ye by that, lass?”

“I don’t know how much of Ashlynn’s personal history you
know.” Blowing out a breath, she shucked her caution and just spelled it out
plainly. “Ash and Ashlynn’s father died when they were two from drowning. He
was a sailor, you see, and his ship went down off the coast in a mother storm.
They have no memory of him. Their mother got by because she was the old duke’s
mistress after losing her husband. None of us really blamed her for making that
choice—she had two children to feed somehow—but it wasn’t the best decision she
could have made, either. It would have been far better if she simply remarried.
Edvard’s father wasn’t a father at all, to any of his children. The only man
that has been a constant in their lives is Edvard, which is why all the
siblings are so good at looking out for each other, and are so fiercely
protective of their own.”

Broden took this all in, mulling it over. So Ashlynn had no
father figure in her life, did not remember her true father at all, and a
mother that no one thought highly of. His wizard had a harder start in life
than he’d assumed. But it explained, too, why Ashlynn called those three girls her
sisters when there was no blood connection twixt them. It was a bond forged by
hardships and love.

“Bless ye, lass, for telling me,” he responded quietly. “It
be a thing I needed to know, so that I can watch out for her proper-like.”

She flashed him a quick smile before offering cautiously,
“We’re all hoping that you’ll be a father to Ashlynn. You’re such a good one to
Riana. We’ve seen that for ourselves. Whether Ashlynn will admit it or not, she
needs one man that she can turn to, no matter what happens. With Ash and
Edvard, well—” Marissa sighed “—she tends to be half-mother, half-sister with
those two. Even Tierone, although we don’t see him often.”

Broden rubbed at the back of his neck, looking away.
“Whether the lass will accept me as such be up to her. I can no’ force such a
bond atween us. But I would no’ worry about it, lass. A wizard’s partner be the
one thing they can lean upon, always. She knows that.”

“Oh. Good point.” Somewhat relieved, Marissa took in a
breath and suggested, “Well, let’s go down to dinner. We have a brilliant
scheme to hatch.”

“Lovenanty,” he groused, turning toward the door. “Me
talents be in hitting things at a distance, not breaking through guarded
walls.”

“If you don’t want a building crumbling around your ears,
you’d better think of something.”

Broden started praying for a miracle.

Directly after breakfast, they left the inn and headed for
the abbey. They’d prepared as much for the role of father-daughter as they
could last night. Seth had pointed out that the two of them would need to speak
like each other, otherwise the abbot would find it odd. Broden had spent the
majority of the evening trying to mimic Ashlynn’s speech and failing. Ashlynn,
however, had an ear for such things, and had already spent the past month or so
teasing him with his own phrases, so she had his pattern more or less down. It
also made her seem more like a Trenenian, so the wizard was the one that
adapted her speech.

The morning market was in full swing. Even though they had
not reached it yet, people were coming and going at a fast walk, about their
morning business and not dallying. He kept Ashlynn close at hand to avoid being
separated, and to shield her some from the more careless elbows that passed
them. As they walked through the streets, he ground the thought into his mind,
repeating the litany:
The lass aside ye be yer daughter. Daughter. Daughter.
She be yer daughter.

It was not a hard idea to get into his head. Ashlynn was
like his Riana in so many ways, after all. Mayhap that was the reason why he’d
took to the girl so quickly. As they walked, he stayed closer to her side than
he normally would, and he kept an eye on the men they passed. A few let their
eyes linger too long, and to them, he gave a warning glare.

“Broden. Be there a reason ye glare at everyone so?”

“That’s ‘Da’ to ye, lass, and aye, there be good reason.
Some of those men we pass seem to have some trouble keeping their eyes on their
business.”

She choked on a laugh. “Is this what Riana has to put up
with? This overprotectiveness?”

“Nonsense,” he snorted. “I give me daughter time enough to
warn the man off herself. If he do no’ listen, well, that be the time a father
should step in.”

Those sky blue eyes glanced up at him, a quirk to her mouth
that could have been a smile. “Heavens,
Da
, ye be worse than Edvard. And
I thought he be bad.”

Broden just grinned, not the least bit insulted.

Shaking her head, she said instead, “I wish everyone hadn’t
vetoed the idea of me creating another door inside. It would solve a lot of problems
for us.”

“They be worried ye would bring the building a-toppling on
our heads,” he answered truthfully.

“What?!” Indignant, she stopped in place and nearly got
bowled over by a passing matron who had her arms full of groceries and
children. Stumbling, the wizard hopped to one side, almost ducking behind him,
to avoid a certain crash. When she straightened again, she demanded, “Now why
would they think that?”

He shrugged. “They told me a tale about a burning house with
children trapped inside.”

“Ohhh.” Ashlynn gave a put-upon sigh. “Of course. That’s the
only time anyone’s seen me actually do that. But that truly wasn’t my fault.
The fire had weakened the brick and mortar so much that what should have been a
small concussion became a huge explosion. I just hadn’t taken into account how
hot the fire had gotten, or how much damage it had done.”

Made sense. “So ye be thinking that ye can tackle yon
abbey’s walls and not take off a corner doing it?”

“Oh, sure, it’s a very sturdy building. I mean, those walls
are what? Two, three feet thick? I couldn’t bring that thing toppling with a
single hit. It would take several strikes, and a lot of determination before I
could do any real damage.”

He found himself nodding in agreement. He could not fault
her logic. “Then we should keep the idea in mind.”

Satisfied he saw things her way, she went back to acting
like his daughter instead of his partner.

They wound their way through the crowded market streets, at
times almost holding their hands over their faces. It was such a mix of smells
from the overly ripe to the enticing, that Broden’s nose could not decide
whether to wrinkle in disgust or not. Finally, though, they stood before the
towering wooden gates of the abbey.

Broden could admit frankly that he did not like the feel of
this place. It felt…cold. Aye, that was it. Like stepping into a graveyard at
night without even the moon to keep a man company. An errant shiver ran up his
spine as they stepped slowly past the open doors and into the paved courtyard.

“They be ordinary locks,” Ashlynn said in surprise, although
she kept her voice low.

He turned that over in his head, but it did not make sense.
“What did ye expect, daughter?”

“Magical protections of some sort,” she responded, twisting
her head so that she could study them a second longer over her shoulder. “Or
divine protections. Something, anyway. But those be just ordinary, iron locks.
Stout enough to ward off thieves, certainly, but not anything more.”

From the way she said this, he felt it changed things. “Can
an ordinary lock stand up to a wizard, then?”

“Not a determined one.” Her smile was borderline evil as she
replied. “I thought that we would have to get in and out afore they closed the
gates, but—” Ashlynn abruptly snapped her mouth shut as a man in a long black
robe with greying hair made a beeline for them.

“My dear children, welcome.” He spread out his hands in a
welcoming gesture, expression and voice warm. “I’m Abbot Haney. Have you come
to worship this day, or to seek counsel?”

Ashlynn changed in the blink of an eye from a strong,
independent woman to a shy little girl that hung onto her da’s arm. Broden’s
eyes nearly crossed watching the transformation. “Oh, I be not sure,” she said
in a sweet voice, eyes demurely on the ground. “W-we came to talk about me
joining ye here in the abbey.”

It took all Broden’s control to bite his tongue and not bust
out laughing. Lovenanty, what game was she playing?! They’d spoken the night afore
about her acting more demure today, aye, but he did not remember advising that
she be a doormat either.

The abbot found nothing strange about her behavior. In fact,
he was delighted. He beamed at her, excited by her words.

Afraid the man would get the wrong idea, Broden hastily
added, “Me wife and me, we be no’ so sure this be the right choice for our
daughter. So we came to take a tour of the place, and see what life here be
like. If that be fine with ye, sir.”

“Oh, certainly, certainly,” Abbot Haney assured them. “Might
I have your names?”

“Broden Ravenscroft,” he replied truthfully, having no
reason to lie. “This be Ashlynn.”

“A pleasure to meet both of you.” Haney gestured toward the
main doors and offered, “Let me show you around and explain things as we go.”

“Kind of you.”

Ashlynn seemed to be under the impression that a ‘demure’
girl had all the backbone of a washcloth. She openly clung to Broden’s hand as
they followed the abbot, her eyes never looking up. Then he realized she was
muttering steadily under her breath, her words barely discernable even for him.
It hit him that she was using that gold amulet around her neck to somehow take
a record of what they were seeing, and her focus was so totally on the spell
that she weaved and trusted him to guide her.

Internally, he groaned. The lass should have warned him
afore she would do this!

No help for it now. He would have to look out for her feet
as well as keep the abbot’s attention away from her. Somehow.

They came to the center of the courtyard, a vast, open space
that could house all of the people in Cloud’s Rest without strain. In the
center stood a stone altar several feet long and two feet wide, where money and
religious trinkets seemed be traded back and forth.

Haney blathered on and on about religious rites practiced
here, and the services that Lugh’s worshipers came here for, and so forth.
Broden smiled, nodded at the right times, and let his eyes roam about the area.
The building had stout walls, over two feet thick, made of a red-brown stone he
had never seen the like of before. They had used mortar to build with, and some
of it was coming loose from sheer old age. Broden saw many a foothold in the
walls, and he knew it would not be any challenge to climb the walls, if it came
to that.

On the second level, there were, well, a man could only
describe them as battlements. They had turrets poking out on all four corners,
doors open and guards milling about on top. Oh, they dressed in the black robes
like the other priests and such, but no servant of Lugh would wear a sword
strapped to his side like that.

There was a bit of an overhang from the battlements so that
the side doors on the main floor had a sliver of protection from the rain. But
it was no more than a foot’s width, not enough for a man to hide in.

“Well, let’s go inside, shall we?” Abbot Haney suggested
with a charming smile.

They went in with him, Ashlynn still muttering to herself,
Broden guiding her so she wouldn’t trip. They went the full circle of the main
floor, seeing the kitchens, main dining hall, worshipping alcoves, and other
rooms that the abbot called “service rooms.” To Broden’s eyes, they looked like
forced labor, as dozens of men and women sat at tables and sewed leather
together. He did not like the look of it. Oh, the industry was fine, but the
depressed way that the people huddled around their work, no one speaking, gave
him an unpleasant knot in his stomach.

For a full hour, the abbot led them about and talked their
ears off. Finally, however, they came back to their starting point. Broden’s
smile muscles were giving out, but he managed one more as he said, “Well, Abbot,
it seems a fine place here. Me wife and me will discuss it with our daughter,
and think on it for a spell. We be seeing ye again after that.”

“Of course,” Haney assured him, not at all surprised he
wanted to think about things before committing. “I will be here and ready to
answer any questions you have.”

“Me thanks. Come along, daughter.”

Ashlynn bobbed her head at the abbot in farewell before
trailing after Broden. They were barely through the gates before she dropped
her guise and stopped muttering. “Well! That was informative, and yet not.”

Broden growled in vexation. “The man never did show us more
than the first floor. I lay odds on your sisters being up on the second.”

“Or squirreled away somewhere in the basement,” she added
darkly. “We don’t know for sure. But at least we have a better idea of how the
abbey is laid out now. Do we know enough to breach the place?”

“Mayhap.” He eyed her sideways as they walked. “Ye said
afore the abbot approached that since the locks are ordinary, we have no need
to break in afore they close the gates. What mean ye by that, lass?”

“Oh. Well, my fear of waiting until after dark was that I
would have to break through whatever magical or divine protections were on the
gates before we could go in. And doing that would not be quiet or subtle in the
least. It would raise major alarms, actually. I thought if we’re going to draw
attention to ourselves, why not do it in daylight, when it’s not as dangerous
to run? But if the locks are ordinary iron, then we can easily break in without
raising any alarms, assuming someone can take care of the guards.”

Broden stroked at his chin, a plan coming together in his
mind. “Oh, the guards be easy enough.”

Her head jerked around, eyes wide. “You can take care of the
guards?”

“Aye, lass, it be a simple matter. Did ye no’ notice the
walls? They have chinks in them, mostly from age, but they give a man plenty of
footholds. All it will take be a few minutes for me to climb up on top, and
from there, I can shoot any guards foolhardy enough to step outside.”

Her lips parted in wonder. “All twelve. You’re confident you
can defeat all twelve?”

Broden smirked at her and didn’t say a word.

“Oh, I’m so glad I partnered with you!” Rubbing her hands
together in glee, she nearly skipped a few steps before catching herself.
“Alright. We need to rethink our exit strategy on leaving the city, then. If we
can leave tonight, that changes things.”

“It be best we plan for late evening, I think.” He looked
overhead at the sky. “There be a storm brewing, and we best take advantage of
it.”