Knight Fall (The Champion Chronicles Book 1) (38 page)

“My Queen,” he said softly.  “You have my support.  May you govern wisely and honorably.”

One by one, the other Lords of the realm came forward to offer their fealty to Queen Elissa.

Chapter Thirty

Conner followed Havid and Paul through the city streets.  They walked purposefully, but not too fast.  They kept to the shadows of alleys and side streets and avoided the main lamp-lit thoroughfares.  The dark blue Royal Guard tunic that Conner had worn was traded for a simple woolen one that would help him blend in with everyone else.  Several times they had come within sight of a group of guardsmen marching through the streets.  They stopped everyone they saw and rummaged through every building they passed.  But darkness was their friend, and the guardsmen were not being covert by any means.

Their closest call came when a rider suddenly appeared behind them and nearly ran them over.  They ducked into an alleyway only to see a company of ten guardsmen just around the corner.  The horseman pulled his horse into a swift stop and leapt off in one smooth motion.  He shouted orders to the guardsman, but none of the three could hear what was being said.  They could only see the strange reactions.  Swords were sheathed and the guardsman fell into formation and began marching back towards the castle.  They passed right by them without looking at them or at anyone else they saw.

“What was that all about?” Conner asked.

Neither Havid nor Paul said anything.  They watched the horseman mount his ride and race off in another direction.  A moment later, three short trumpet blasts rang out from the direction of the castle, followed by three long blasts.

Havid and Paul shared a look.

“What is it?” Conner asked.

“The gates are opening,” Havid said.  “If I were to guess, I’d say they are calling off the hunt.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Conner said.  “They haven’t found me.”

“Let’s keep moving,” Havid said.  “Stay to the shadows and we act like they are still chasing us.  At least until we know what is going on.”

Havid took the lead again and they wound their way through alleyways and side streets until they reached the main city gate.  The entire area around the gate was lined with large lamps, illuminating a wide area that gave those who came and went plenty of light to see.  It also gave the gate guards plenty of time to see anyone trying to assault the gates.  Or if they were looking for someone, plenty of light to see the faces of those who came and went.

“No extra guards,” Paul said.  They stood casually in a dark corner of a building well away from the light.

“We only need one to recognize him,” Havid said.

A handful of people moved through the gate.  Some were pulling or pushing wagons of merchandise.  Others were just casually strolling through, minding their own business.  Late at night maybe only one or two would be passing through in an hour’s time.  But with even a small handful going through the gate, it would not take the guardsmen much effort to take their time studying each and every person who walked through.

“Smuggler’s tunnel?” Paul asked.

Havid nodded.  “Let’s move.”

“What is smuggler’s tunnel?” Conner asked.

Paul patted him on the back.  “I hope you like cold dark places.”

Until today, he didn’t mind them.  Now he despised them.

Conner was led through another winding path that led them away from the gate and the walls and towards the slums of the city.  There were no more street lamps to light their way.  Occasionally a house had a window open that gave them some light to see by, but mostly it was through the light of the stars that they walked.  Conner feared that at any time a desperate mugger or even a company of guardsmen would jump from the shadows of an alley.  But no one bothered them.  Every once in a while, they passed by someone walking the streets, but they were ignored.  Not even a glance or a nod for a greeting.  They all kept to themselves.

Suddenly, Havid gave a quick look around and then ducked into a house that was more shack than home.  Paul pulled Conner through the doorway quickly.

There was an elderly couple that had been sleeping on a blanket-covered pile of straw. They jumped up as soon as the three entered.

“The robin is red,” Havid said quietly.

The elderly man nodded and pulled two shovels from under the straw.  His wife rolled over, pulling the blanket over her head while Havid and the old man began shoveling the dirt in the middle of their house.  It didn’t take them long to dig through six inches of soft packed dirt.  But even after the trap door was exposed, they kept digging until the entire door was visible.

The old man then pulled out a small iron stick with a notch at the end and tucked it into a particular spot on the door.  The iron stick caught, and the door came up.

Havid dropped a few coins into the old man’s palm and then turned to Conner.  “Down you go,” Havid said softly.

Conner looked down into the darkness and hesitated.  The old man handed a lamp to Havid, who handed it to Conner.  “We’ll light it once we are in the tunnel.  If we light it too soon, the light will be seen from all around us.”

Paul stepped forward and extended his hand.  “This is where I leave.  Take care Conner.  I am not a person who likes to see people get killed, but as Havid can attest, Neffenmark is well known to the Merchant’s Guild.  He is no friend of ours.  His trade practices are criminal and he uses thugs to get his way.  We will not be sorry to see him out of our hair.  He might have been king in name, but he was no king of ours.  As far as we are concerned, you did us all a favor.”

Conner nodded, but he could not say anything.  Although the words helped his conscience, he still felt horribly guilty about the way he had killed Neffenmark.  He just hoped that someday he would be able stop feeling guilty about it.

Without another word, Conner stepped through the doorway onto the ladder that led into the darkness.  As soon as his feet touched the ground, Havid followed.  A moment later, the door was closed. Paul and the old man began shoveling dirt onto the trap door.  With a quick flick of his wrist, Havid struck flint to stone and a spark started the small oil lamp.  The light of the lamp extended a dozen feet down the tunnel.

Conner looked up and around.  Unlike the smooth stone of the tunnel within the castle walls, the smuggler’s tunnel was rough.  But at least he could stand.  The tunnel sloped downward at a steep angle, but always the tunnel was tall enough that he could walk upright.

“Let’s move on,” Havid said.  “The tunnel was dug out many hundreds of years ago.  Grank Thorndale was king then.”

“Don’t you ever worry about it collapsing?” Conner asked.

Havid slapped a thick cross timber just above his head.  It was supported vertically by two thick timbers along the tunnel’s side walls.  “Every ten feet.  These keep the tunnel from collapsing.”

Conner paused to touch it.  The timbers were hard and solid, despite being underground for hundreds of years.

“Thellian miners helped construct this.”

“Thellian?”

Havid smiled.  “King Grank Thorndale had stopped all trade with our northern neighbors during another of our kingdoms’ little spats.  However, there were a few special Thellian items that some of our nobles could not do without.  One of them was Queen Pollip, who could not go without Harmmis on her eggs.”

“Harmmis the spice?” Conner asked.

“Eventually we figured out how to grow it down here where it is warmer, but back then, you could only get Harmmis from Thell.  And boy, did the Queen get mad when she was told she could not get it on her eggs.  It made her nuts, too.  She eventually went so crazy that she leaped into the oceans and cracked her skull on the rocks below.  Or at least that’s the way the story goes.”

“So the tunnel was built so the queen could get her illegal spice?”

Havid chuckled.  “Yes.  But it has come in handy quite a few times over the years.  And as far as I know, no guardsmen or knight has ever discovered it.  Only a handful of us in the guild know about it.  Mostly, it really isn’t necessary any more, either.  Trade is free flowing, and as long as the king’s tax is paid, no one cares where it comes from, or where it is going.  I don’t think I’ve had a need to use it five years.”

They stopped at a stone wall.  The stones had been chiseled out to make a hole to pass through.

“Is this the wall?” Conner asked.

Havid touched the stone as they passed through.  “Little known fact that the walls were not only built up, but also down.  The ground was soft enough that they could not just build right on top of it.  They had to dig down.  About forty feet, here.”

Conner let out a soft whistle.

“And thanks again to the Thellians,” Havid added.  “Yes, the Thellians helped us build the walls.  Master miners and stone masons they are.  We owe a lot to them.  It’s a shame that they are our enemy.”

“They shouldn’t be,” Conner said.

“Agreed!  If we could have open trade with them, I’d be wealthy beyond compare!”

“King Thorndale tried to, you know.”

Havid stopped and gave Conner a look.  “The same King Thorndale that led our knights and soldiers into an ambush?”

“It’s a long story,” Conner said.  “And we won that battle, you know!”

“Not without much cost, my young boy,” Havid said.  He continued walking.  “Maybe Queen Elissa can figure it out.”

“Figure what out?”

“How to have peace with Thell.  It really can’t be that hard.”

“If it can’t be so hard, how come it’s never happened?” Conner asked.

Havid let out loud laugh.  “You may look like a man, but in some ways, you are still a boy.  We can’t have peace because people have to get involved.”

“I don’t get it.”

“People with pride and ego.”

Conner shook his head.  “I don’t understand.”

Havid slapped Conner on the back.  “When you do, then you’ll know.  But by then, you’ll be old like me!”

They continued to walk in silence until the ground started to slope up.  The tunnel ended at a ladder.  A rope hung from the ceiling and Havid gave it two sharp pulls and then sat down.

“It could be a while,” Havid said.  “First they have to hear the bell, and then they have to dig out the trap door.”

Conner sat down and said, “Seems like a lot of work.

“It’s kept it a secret for hundreds of years.  If it was easy, it would have been discovered.”

After some time had passed, Havid stood and gave the rope two more quick pulls and sat down again.  This time, they heard digging above their heads.  They waited patiently until the digging stopped and the door was pulled up.

Havid climbed up first.  Conner quickly followed.  They found themselves in the kitchen of a small farm house.  Unlike the house in the city which had a dirt floor, the farm house had a wood floor.  The flooring had been pulled up to get access to the covered trap door.  A man and a woman, presumably husband and wife, stood across the room.  The wife held a shovel.  The man was missing his right arm below the elbow.  The bandages indicated it might have been a somewhat recent wound.

“Welcome,” the man said uncomfortably.  “My name is Dane.  This is my wife Laura.”

“Thank you,” Havid said.  “May I?”  He took the shovel from Laura and started putting the dirt back on top of the trap door.

“I am sorry that we did not answer the first ring,” Dane said.  “It is the first time we have ever…done this.”

“No worries,” Havid said.

“It had always been my pa,” Dane said.  He glanced at his arm.  “We were both fighting the Thellians.  He took an arrow and killed him right away.  I lasted a bit longer.”

“I was there, too,” Conner said.

Havid snapped up straight and gave Conner a stern look.  He wished he had talked to Conner about talking to the people who manned the tunnels.  You weren’t supposed to.  It kept things more safe.

“You’re just a boy,” Laura said.

Conner rubbed his face.  He could not wait until his fine facial hair grew in thicker.  “I’m old enough,” Conner replied.

Dane nodded.  “It was a horrible time.  Never seen so much blood.  So much death.”

Laura patted him on the shoulder.  “It’s been tough for Dane.  He and his father ran a smithy.  Just over yonder.”

“It’s tough to pound steel with just one arm,” Dane said.

Havid tapped the last of the dirt and set aside the shovel.  He pulled a handful of coins from his pocket.  Dane took them with his good hand, turning them over, showing Laura.  She raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a little more than normal.  But we’ll need some supplies.  A horse if you have one.”

“No horses.  I have an ox and a mule, though.”

“Hunting supplies is all I need,” Conner said.  “A bow.  Knife.  Warm blanket or two.”

Laura stepped forward.  “Dane, you help this man put the floor back in.  You know how it goes.  You, come with me. We’ll go to the shop and you can pick out what you need.”

Conner followed Laura outside.  It was the middle of the night and the moon hung low on the horizon.  There was plenty of light to see, as there were no clouds in the sky.  Conner glanced back over his shoulder at the city.  The castle was clearly visible, lit up from the torches that lined the walls.  He wondered what Elissa was doing.  His heart ached now more than ever.