Son of Soron (28 page)

Kerth was a decent sized town. It was built at the mouth of the Elmon river, where it joined into the bigger Betine river. When they made their way into Kerth, it was late afternoon.  With haste, they made their way to find the stables.  The stable hand took one look at the two of them and knew these were the men that would be exchanging horses. “You got here quick, the count's rider only got here an hour ago himself."

While they exchanged the packhorses, Verin let Nathan know that they would go as far as possible that night, then camp till dawn.  Nathan did not complain about the amount of riding. He would ride as long as possible to get to the girls. Besides, riding the wonderful stallion was no hardship now that he had a saddle to alleviate that issue.

When they finally stopped riding that night, Nathan was tired. Even Thorn, who never seemed to tire, seemed grateful for the reprieve. The spot where they were camped was one Verin had camped at once on his way north to Elderwood. They were more than halfway to Venecia and would arrive the next night.

Verin asked Nathan if he was getting a stronger sense of Ava.

Nathan had been trying his hardest to gain a better sense of her but nothing worked, the connection was still too weak. “It comes and goes. It is still very weak but is getting stronger.” It was like catching a scent, but not quite being able to recognize it.

…

When the duke got to Venecia the first thing he did was find a small cottage on the outskirts of town. He paid the owner to go visit family. In reality, the cottage owner simply went up the street three blocks and rented a room. The leftover money he spent on drink and a woman. This mattered not to the duke he simply needed a quiet place to hide the girls for a few days, while he arranged for a boat to take them across the narrow sea to Mithbea and the port of Pailtar. From Pailtar, he would travel on to Morthon. Pailtar was much like Venecia; a port city that did not owe allegiance to any of the kingdoms in Mithbea. Being a port city and a natural gateway for travel, it attracted great amounts commerce, as well as a healthy amount of shady enterprises. Whores, thieves and slave runners were common in Pailtar.

The question now was what to do with the girls? Bailmont wanted to use and then give the oldest one, Sharon, to the men as a gift and kill Rose and Ava. Prisoners were an inconvenience. In Bailmont’s twisted mind, women were to be used and thrown away, not kept as bargaining chips.

The duke took a more practical approach; he cared not for the lives of the girls only the results that keeping them alive would achieve. “No, for now the girls are the bait to bring the boy to us. If she is dead, we can’t very well exchange him for her. Besides, once we kill the boy we can sell the girls in Pailtar as slaves, but you can let the men use the oldest one. It won’t matter as long as no one roughs her up too much.”

Bailmont smiled at this. He had been pushing the duke to let him have the girl. The men might get a turn, but he was to be first.

It was late when Bailmont came and grabbed Sharon from the small bedroom the girls were tied up in. When Ava started to yell at him to leave her alone Rose started to wake up in a panic, wanting to know what was going on. Sharon calmed her, despite the fact she was being pulled out of the room. “Nothing my dear. Go back to sleep. Ava was just having a bad dream.” Sharon wanted to scream, but Rose had been terrified enough. Her eyes darted from Rose to Ava appealing her to be calm. Bailmont was ugly, leering. He smelled of sour wine, and his touch, as he untied her, was rough and indecent. Sharon shuddered as he shoved her outside the bedroom door.

Ava stopped yelling, Sharon was right. There was nothing she could do, and yelling just scared Rose more. If Sharon could be that strong in the face of such evil, so would she. She would not cry in front of Rose, even though she was terrified that they would take her next. Frantically her mind raced, searching for some way out of this situation. Where was Nathan? He rescued her before. Where was he now when she needed him again? Where are you, Nathan? She yelled in her mind.

...

Nathan awoke at that very moment, sensing her distress. Something was happening and it was bad. But he had her in his mind now, something had strengthened their connection. He could feel where she was. Nathan forced himself to go back to sleep. In his mind, he kept saying the same words over again. I’m coming, Ava, I’m coming.

...

A few hours later, Bailmont returned Sharon to the room, her dress torn and her face stained from the constant tears. After Bailmont finished tying her up beside Ava and left the room Sharon spoke in a cracked voice. “Just tell me we are going to live. I can manage the pain of them using me… but I don’t want to die, Ava.”

Ava leaned into Sharon giving her as much of an embrace as she could while being tied up. “We are going to live. Nathan is going to come for us. I swear I can feel it, we are going to live.”

Sharon thought it was a lie, but a sweet one, and right now any lie sounded better than the true of the nightmare they were living. Neither girl got any sleep that night, too terrified Bailmont would return to take one of the girls again.

…

Before dawn, Nathan was up and getting the horses ready to go. When Verin awoke, Nathan had already packed everything and was waiting to go. Nathan passed Verin a hunk of bread to eat and simply said “Let’s go.”

Today they took a slightly slower pace. There were no villages between here and the coast, so the packhorses would get no reprieve today.  As they rode, Nathan focused his concentration on Ava. He could not push his thoughts towards her, but he was getting a better sense of her location, they were getting closer. Nathan picked up the pace a bit, they were getting closer.

…

Bailmont entered the cottage. “I found a ship, sir, and I spoke to the captain. A secured cabin and no questions asked. It has enough cargo room for the men and horses as well. “

The duke was pleased, the previous day they had no luck securing a ship across the narrow strait, the ships had no room, or captains that asked questions. “Excellent work, Bailmont. When does our ship set sail?”

Bailmont grinned. “Couple of hours, sir, for an extra gold piece the captain adjusted his schedule.”

“And did you manage to find someone to keep an eye on the Dew Drop Inn for our young friend?” asked the duke.

Bailmont smile got bigger. “Got that taken care of as well, the desk clerk is a crooked sort with very questionable friends. If young Stoneblood shows up, he will be taken care of.”

The duke was pleased by the turn of events. Things were going well. Soon they would be in Morthon and he could focus on working his way into power in this new land. With a large supply of gold and men like Bailmont working for him, anything was possible.

Chapter thirty seven

NATHAN AND VERIN were close enough to Venecia to see the cities shadow when Nathan felt movement from Ava. “She is here, but they are moving.” Nathan wanted to push the horses to go faster, but after the long days ride, they were exhausted and could go no faster. Once they made it to the outskirts of the city, they slowed to a walk.

When they were about four blocks into the city, Verin went to turn right onto a side street. “If I remember correctly the Dew Drop Inn is about a block up this street.”

“Okay, but Ava isn’t there. She is this way and still moving away from us.”

Verin processed this information, what was the duke up to? “The wharfs are down there. He is not staying in Venecia he is taking them across the narrow strait to Mithbea.”

Nathan was confused. “He is taking them to Balta?”

“No, he is probably taking them to Morthon. He will be sailing to Pailtar. We cannot let him get there or we will never get the girls back. “

They hurried to the docks but even as they got there, Nathan could tell Ava was still farther away. He looked up and seen a ship making its way across the strait. ”There, in that ship, Ava is there. Are we too late?”

Verin looked at the ship. “No, it is a merchant ship. Big and it can carry a lot of cargo, but is not the fastest of ships.  How strong is your sense of Ava right now? Can you track her now?”

Nathan nodded. I’ve been able to since last night. Something bad happened and seems to have triggered a stronger connection. I won’t lose it now.”

“Okay then, we are going to need to get across the strait. Come with me.” Verin led Nathan away from the docks towards a large estate on the ocean shoreline. As they walked the horses up to the gates of the estate two guards stopped them and asked them to state their business. “Lord Verin Albet of Balta, I am here to see Paulo Ventego.”  One of the guards excused himself to go announce their arrival, while the other escorted them to the stables.

“Lord Albet?” Nathan questioned his uncle. It was the first time he had ever heard him use the label. Verin simply shrugged. “They like their titles here in Venecia, even more than in Progoh. Dropping the lord in is a friendly reminder that my brother is the king and helping us is a good idea. Paulo is a good man. He would help us regardless, but servants talk and it benefits Paulo if the rumors are that he entertains foreign dignitaries who refuse to see anyone else. Royal politics is a pain in the ass, but necessary sometimes.”

Nathan saw that while Verin disliked the nature of politics it did not prevent him from using to his benefit. Nathan could see the prudence in the subtle methods Verin used to strengthen his ally.

Paulo came to the door. “My old friend, Verin, what brings you my humble abode? Come in please.”

Once inside and sat down with an offer of tea and pleasantries out of the way, Verin gave Paulo a brief explanation of the situation from the attack on Elderwood, to his arrival all the way up to following the duke to Venecia.

“I actually know of the attack on Elderwood. Bandits killed my brother, Raul, on his way to Progoh. The horsemen that the duke encountered were Chundo warriors sent to find out what happened to my brother. After they met with the king and were told that Raul never made it to Progoh they began to scour the country sides in search of the bandits. Eventually, they tracked them back to a mountain hideout. But by the time Ashuna and the Chundo got there the bandits were all dead. The scouts say two men killed them all. This was your doing I presume?”

Verin nodded. Nathan nodded in unison.

“Well, you did Venecia a service. Those bandits were costing us a lot of money, not to mention the loss of lives. Now you are here. The duke is sailing across the strait. Obviously his letter to get you to Venecia was a trap. The girls are still alive, so he is keeping them for insurance… for now. But for how long? We need to get you across the narrow strait as soon as possible and make sure that the girls don’t disappear into a slavers camp. “

Nathan shivered at the mention of slavers camps. He refused to consider that a possible outcome. He would die before letting that happen.

Paulo rose and walked to the doorway and called out for Peter, his servant. “Peter, send for Captain Berthal. Tell him to have the Lady Bonita ready to sail within the hour. Then have someone find Ashuna and send him here immediately."

Peter left without a word, matters of intrigue were common in Venecia and Peter had proven his value many times over. He always came through for Paulo.

“Peter is going to get captain Berthal. He will take you across the strait tonight. The Lady Bonita is a small cutter, you won’t be able to take your horses across with you, but it will get you there fast. In fact, I would wager you will arrive in Pailtar before the duke. I have also taken the liberty of sending for someone who will be able to assist in the slaver issue. But I will explain that if and when he gets here, so for now let us discuss more banal topics.”

As the conversation between Verin and Paulo drifted into the politics and trade of Venecia and Balta Nathan focused his thoughts on Ava. He felt her getting farther away, but the bond was not weakening. He was learning how to focus and not let distractions interfere with his silent focus. The trick in the future would be to be able to do both at the same time, be aware of everything around him and still focus on magical connection.  

When Peter returned, he informed Paulo that the captain was almost ready and would be able to set sail within a half hour. Along with this news, he brought with him another man. Paulo greeted the stranger.  “Ashuna, please come join us. I thank you for getting here so quickly. Ashuna, this is Lord Verin Albet and Nathan Stoneblood.”

“A pleasure to meet you” Ashuna was impressed. A lord and a young boy were the ones who wiped out the entire collection of bandits that Ashuna had been tracking in Solotine. Ashuna would not have suspected that Nathan was so young from the scene of the bandit hideout. He had envisioned a seasoned warrior. Ashuna was glad that his mistaken judgment had happened in these circumstances, making that mistake in a battle would cost you your life. Likely, the bandits found that out the hard, way mused Ashuna. Paulo called Verin a lord but Ashuna cared not for titles; he knew these men were also warriors and very skilled ones. He respected that. “How can I be of service?”

Paulo explained how the duke had gone back to Elderwood kidnaped the girls and was now sailing across the narrow strait to Pailtar. Ashuna asked them what they would like him to do. Paulo addressed this carefully. “I was hoping that you would accompany them across the strait to Pailtar. If you were to spread the word that the Chundo were looking for the girls then no slaver in the city would dare take them. The duke would be forced to take them to Morthon.”

Ashuna could see this working. Slavers were a cutthroat bunch and would do anything for a dollar. However, as much as they liked money, they lived living more. The Chundo were well feared in Pailtar. “This is a good thing, the duke taking the girls to Morthon?” was Ashuna’s reply to the request.

Nathan, seeing what Paulo was suggesting, spoke up, “No, but the duke trying to take the girls to Morthon is a good thing. It is a long ways from Pailtar to Morthon. If the girls are all together it makes rescuing them easier.”