Bronze Magic (Book 1) (71 page)

Once Danton was up and dressed, he wandered off to procure them
both some breakfast, leaving the wizard to his studies. When he returned,
Stormaway glanced up and nodded his thanks as Danton handed him a
cup of tea and a plate of freshly baked bread and soft cheese.
“The problem is,” explained Stormaway, “that most poisonous plants
either kill you quickly or only make you very uncomfortable for, at most,
about three days while they go through your system.” He bit into his roll
and munched on a mouthful before continuing, “Now, what I’m looking
for is something that will cause them grief for at least a couple of weeks.
That’s how long Tarkyn suffered serious pain. If I can’t come up with
something longer term like that, then we may just have to kill them and
be done with it.”
Danton eyed the wizard with something between a frown and a
smile hovering on his face, as he sat down opposite him. “You have a
bloodthirsty streak that I am only now beginning to appreciate.” He took
a sip of tea. “Of course we will have to kill them in the end. We can’t
allow anyone to get away with attacking a member of the Royal Family,
even if the prince has been outlawed.”
The wizard shrugged, “Strategically, we can’t really kill them in the
foreseeable future unless we can make it look accidental - and two people
dying accidentally does strain people’s credulity somewhat.”
Danton heaved a sigh, “Yes. I’m afraid I agree with you. We will have
to leave their execution until the woodfolk are safe. I think the most
frustrating aspect of this scheme we’re concocting is that we can’t afford
to let them know why they are being made to suffer.”
Stormaway gave a half smile, “Not very satisfactory, I agree. But one
day in the future when we are well away from here, we will let them know
in retrospect, before we kill them, that they were punished.”
“Hmm.” Danton sipped his tea. “I can think of lots of ways of
humiliating them but in every case, they would know someone had set
them up or attacked them. It’s much harder to find a way to make them
suffer with no apparent cause.”
The wizard frowned thoughtfully. “I think what I need is a combination
of poisons administered in different ways. Yes, I think that might do it.
Where do they get their water from?”
Danton thought about it. “They have a large wooden water barrel just
outside their tent, but I don’t know where the water comes from.”
“And how long would that water last them, do you think, before it
needs to be refilled?”
“I don’t know. Maybe four or five days. Depends on their wine to
water ratio, if you see what I mean.”
“Hmmm.” There was a protracted silence while Stormaway riffled
through his books and thought through his tactics. Danton sat beside
him patiently, eating his breakfast and allowing the expert free rein with
his ideas. When Stormaway finally lifted his head, his eyes were glowing
with satisfaction. “Right. I think I have it. Now, is there any protracted
length of time that Andoran and Sargon will be away from their tent?”
Danton nodded. “Most of today. They are heading off down to the
road to bring back another group of travellers. They’re leaving mid
morning and won’t be back until close to nightfall. Thank goodness. At
least I won’t have to talk to them all day today.”
“Excellent. We can put our long term punishment in place while they
are gone and you will be able to set up their short term punishment when
they return.” Stormaway ticked off a list on his fingers. “We’ll need to
treat their bedding, their spare clothes, especially the undergarments, and
a bottle of wine that they will drink tonight. I think it would be too hard
to infect their food without affecting other people too. I expect everyone’s
meals are cooked in the same place.” Stormaway frowned for a moment,
“This water barrel of theirs. Does it have a tap at the bottom or do they
just upend it and pour from the top?”
Danton thought back, “It’s quite large. I’m sure it must have a tap. It
would be refilled from the top, though.”
The wizard rubbed his hands together. “Excellent. Just what we want.
It is all coming together nicely. Now, you run along for a while. I need
some time to prepare a few concoctions. Come back and tell me when
they have gone and we’ll get to work.” Just as Danton was leaving the
tent, the wizard called softly after him, “You know, even though I have
devised several nasty experiences for them, I keep wanting to think of
more. Nothing seems bad enough to repay that sort of treachery.”
“No.” Danton looked back over his shoulder. “Nothing is bad enough.”
our miles away and six hours later, Tarkyn was glaring down at
Waterstone. “If they can’t ride, tie them to the horses. They may
well be too weak to ride on their own, anyway.”
“Woodfolk don’t ride horses,” reiterated Waterstone stubbornly.
“Well, it’s about time you learnt.”
“Horses leave tracks, Your Highness. We don’t.”
Tarkyn put his hands on his hips. “And how are you proposing to carry
three woodfolk, complete with chains, all the way here then? Awkward
bundle, wouldn’t you say?”
“We will manage. We have four hours before the guard changes.”
Tarkyn turned away and took a couple of strides to calm his temper.
He swung back and demanded, “And don’t you think the chains are
going to make some noise and alert other people in the compound? What
then? You’ll be exposed to everyone’s view and be unable to move quickly
because of your burden.”
Waterstone glared at him and said nothing.
Tarkyn threw his hands up. “And then we’ll have ten imprisoned
woodfolk and even more people knowing about you.”
“The chains will make a lot of noise clanking up and down on a horse’s
back anyway.”
“But at least you can be away from view inside the forest within
seconds.”
“Excellent,” said Waterstone with withering sarcasm. “Leaving a trail a
mile wide that even the dimmest sorcerer can follow straight to us.”
Tarkyn eyebrows came together in a frown that had the beginnings of
puzzlement amongst the anger. “Waterstone. You’re being deliberately
obtuse. You know better than that. We can easily extract Golden Toad
and his family from the back of the horse up into the trees and let the
horse keep going to leave a false trail.”
Waterstone scowled disdainfully. “Any tracker would be able to see
that the horse had slowed down or stopped. And its tracks would be
shallower after its load was lifted.”
Much to the woodman’s irritation, a slow smile began to dawn on
the prince’s face. “And can you find no solution to this, Waterstone, my
determinedly obstreperous friend?”
“Don’t patronise me!” snapped Waterstone.
“If I were patronising you, I would be praising you with insufficient
cause. As it is, I find nothing whatsoever to praise. You are being a
stubborn, oppositional, old goat.” Despite the words, the smile still
hovered around Tarkyn’s lips, infuriating the woodman further.
Waterstone put his hands on his hips and glowered at him. “Your
suggestion is unworkable. But that is no reason to start insulting me.”
Tarkyn smiled and shook his head. “Waterstone, even I can think of
ways to overcome the problems you’ve raised. If a town dweller like me
can do it, I’m sure you can. And before you accuse me of patronising
you again, you should stop to consider the truth of what I’m saying.” He
paused and his smile broadened. “Come on. Admit it. The real problem
is that you’re scared of horses.”
Waterstone stared at him in silence. Then as Tarkyn watched, a dull
red crept over the woodman’s face from the neck upwards. There was a
long awkward pause.
Finally the prince said quietly “Sorry, Waterstone. I didn’t mean to be
flippant about something you’re sensitive about. I didn’t realise it would
matter. There’s nothing wrong with being scared of horses. Lots of people
are.” A thought struck him, “But if all woodfolk are scared of horses, then
that really will put paid to my plan.”
Waterstone dropped his eyes. He cleared his throat, “Not all woodfolk
are scared of horses. There are forest ponies that we come across from
time to time.” He raised his eyes. “We don’t use them much, though,
because of the tracks. That objection was genuine.”
“I know, my friend. All your objections were genuine. But that doesn’t
make them insurmountable.”
Waterstone turned his head to look away into the trees. After a few
moments, he returned his gaze to Tarkyn. “I don’t know that I can do
it. They are so big and unpredictable.” He sighed. “When I was small,
maybe three or fours years old, a hunting party came into the forest. We
were watching from behind a row of trees. One of the horses broke away
from the control of its rider. It lunged between the trees towards us and
trampled the bush I was hiding behind. This huge animal towered high
above me, its rider fighting for control. Its hoof scored the side of my
shoulder as it plunged over me and off into the forest. Neither horse nor
rider even noticed me but I will never forget them.” He gave a crooked
smile. “I’ve always watched hunting parties from up in the trees since
then.”
Tarkyn smiled, “Very wise.” He hesitated, “Waterstone, you don’t have
to go near the horses. Others can do that. All who wish to can ride.
Everyone else can escape on foot. Only Golden Toad and his family should
go on horseback so that you woodfolk are in view of the encampment
for as short a time as possible.” The forest guardian considered his friend.
“These horses will be under my guidance. They will do whatever we think
is necessary to confuse the pursuit. I will back down gladly if you truly
believe this to be a bad plan. But I don’t think either of us would want
me to back down to pander to your fear.”
“Now that would be patronising. No, I will have to deal with it
somehow,” said the woodman firmly. He frowned, “I wasn’t deliberately
misleading you with my objections just to protect myself, you know. I
didn’t realise my fear was driving my thoughts.”
“Do you really think you need to tell me that?” The prince’s amber
eyes twinkled at him, “So now that we have that sorted, the question
remains; is my plan workable and worth doing?”
Waterstone sat down on the ground with his back against a solid birch
while he thought through his objections and possible solutions. Tarkyn
sat down next to him while he waited quietly for the answer.
“Yes, on both counts,” Waterstone conceded finally. “We can easily
swap the woodfolk for a load of wood to keep their hoof prints at the
same depth. The horses can stop under several trees so that there is no
way of telling where the exchange was made. Then they can lead the
pursuit far from us before they allow themselves to be caught.” He looked
up and grunted, “But get that self-satisfied grin off your face or I’ll think
of another objection.”
If anything, Tarkyn’s grin broadened. “I’m so pleased to discover you’re
not perfect. It’s made my day!”
Waterstone blinked in surprise. “What? Me? You’re mad. I’m always
losing my temper, once so badly that I damaged the forest.”
“True,” smiled Tarkyn.
“And I can’t manage my resentment to the point that I nearly killed
you.”
“That wasn’t your fault. My ribs were already broken.”
“Hmph. And I nearly abandoned you when I couldn’t handle the
pressure.”
Tarkyn waved all this aside. “But you didn’t. And you are so rock solid.
I didn’t think there would be anything that could intimidate you.”
“Well, there is,” said Waterstone shortly. “Anyway, have you looked at
yourself lately? Nothing frightens you at all. You walked into that camp
of hostile woodfolk and calmly threw yourself on their mercy.”
“I don’t know what made you think I wasn’t frightened. Just because
I didn’t fall down in a quivering heap doesn’t mean I wasn’t scared.” He
shrugged. “I suppose though, to some extent you’re right.” Tarkyn flicked
a quick glance at his friend, “My greatest fears aren’t physical.”
“I know,” said Waterstone quietly.
Tarkyn picked up a stick and set about breaking bits off the end. “Did I
mention that I saw Andoran and Sargon at the camp?” he asked casually.
Waterstone frowned. “No. You didn’t happen to mention that
significant piece of information and you didn’t include it in your replay
of your images.”
“No. I also left out the fact that Danton spent some of yesterday
afternoon and most of yesterday evening talking with them.”
“You did, didn’t you?” Waterstone turned his head to look at the
prince. “You didn’t consider that our safety might depend on these little
snippets, I suppose?”
Tarkyn turned troubled eyes to meet his friend’s gaze. “Stormaway
knows. He was there in the background, at least in the afternoon. Danton
knows I was watching too.” He gave a slight, reminiscent smile. “I sent
the raven to sit on his shoulder. He hates birds. I sent it to reassure him
that I trusted him. He thought it was funny at first but shortly afterwards,
I could see he seemed shaken.” The prince’s smile faded. “I don’t know
if that was because he was worried that I might be doubting him or
whether it was because he was feeling guilty.”
“And in the evening?”
“I didn’t have time to watch closely because I was coordinating the rats
eating through the horses’ ropes. But I do know Danton left Sargon and
Andoran’s tent late in the evening. Stormaway didn’t go with him at all. I
hope Stormaway knows what he’s doing.”
“Stormaway is nobody’s fool,” said Waterstone reassuringly, “And to
be honest, neither is Danton. If he were going to double cross us, I don’t
think it would be in full view of your raven or with Stormaway knowing
his movements.”
Tarkyn nodded. “That’s what I think. That’s what I hope. Unless he’s
doing a double bluff.”
Waterstone shrugged. “If he is, the damage is already done and he will
have told them of your location. We must change your location now, just
in case, before we set our plans into motion.”