The Assassin's Mark (Skeleton Key) (11 page)

I glared at them, hoping they’d take the hint.

Tabitha nudged my foot. At least she knew how to play the game.

But we all needed to be more aware of our words. Even slipping the word uncle into the conversation would be plain enough for anyone who knew her family history. Even though the tavern was mostly empty, we didn’t know how extensive Doyle’s the network of helpers was. After all, he’d had years to prepare for this.

“That’s not all I’ve heard,” one of the knights who’d taken the night shift piped up. “There were travelers here late last night. There are rumors of some old prince moving to claim the throne. They say his claim is true and that we haven’t been led solely by queen so far.” He rubbed at his bleary eyes before sipping on his tankard of ale. “Not that it really matters, but it seems the current heir is indisposed of. Freehaven needs someone to sit on the throne. Those who are against his claim have supposedly found themselves in a dungeon or taken away into foreign lands. I’d watch my tongue out there.”

“When did you hear this?” Sir Alan asked him with a sharpness to his tone. Apparently, that hadn’t been shared among the rest of the group yet. However, I’m happy he chose not to intrude late last night with this news. It would’ve been quite compromising.

“What’s done is done. Our investment should be safe regardless of who sits on the throne. I’m sure in the end it’ll all work out. What are our plans for today? Head out on the trade route to find yet another tavern by the evening?” I asked, keeping my gaze on Sir Alan’s.

He glanced around the table before nodding. “Yes. We should head out as soon as possible.” He pushed his empty plate away from him. “We need to get on the road as soon as we can. Daylight is wasting, and we have quite a distance to go.” As the knights went to pay the bartender, I took a moment to lean closer to Tabitha. She’d been quiet this morning.

“I hope I haven’t offended you.” I meant every word. Brigit and her maid had a kind friendship between them, and I didn’t want to cause of friction between them.

“You spent the evening with her. I’m not as blind or as deaf as the knights. The two of you should keep quiet next time. The amount of giggling that came through the walls woke me a few times.” I felt the slight press of her blade against my thigh. “The one thing I really care about is that you don’t harm her. If you do, no amount of training will save you from me. She’s more important to me than everyone in the keep we left behind, and you’ve dragged her into danger’s path. While our knights kept an eye on the tavern and drank, I watched what was going on outside.” Tabitha fixed her gaze on Brigit across the table. “A few messengers entered and left the town. That’s not normal. Yesterday on the road there were very few travelers or messengers. A few of them spoke amongst themselves near the stables across the road. With the tavern’s noise, I couldn’t make out much, but something happened at Skyhaven. Something bad.”

Brigit’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened but no words came out.

Within the half hour, we’d taken our belongings and paid the staff for their hospitality. The town’s blacksmith had repaired the shoes on one of the horses, and Sir Alan had a relaxed chat with the man. It wasn’t hard to imagine him as blacksmith’s apprentice in his youth with his wide, strong frame.

When we finally hit the road, he shared what he’d learned. Apparently the messengers had run their horses so hard their shoes had needed repaired too. He’d been awoken in middle of the night to help the men. They bragged amongst themselves about working with someone from the royal family who’d paid him well for his services. After everything was said and done, the messengers departed in a hurry but not before letting slip that they were searching for a group of men with a young woman among them. They were slowly closing in on us.

I scouted ahead first, riding quarter mile ahead of the others to ensure we weren’t blindsided by Doyle’s minions. For the first half of the day, nothing happened, then I began to see incoming troops. The banners in the distance were my first warning. They had Doyle’s colors on them with an angry red-eyed scorpion staring into cloudy skies.

Hidden behind a bend in the road, I turned the horse and galloped away. We barely had enough time to move everyone, including the horses out of sight from the road to a nearby dry riverbed. As the troops marched by, I became aware of just how many mercenaries Doyle had been able to recruit. There were easily a thousand infantry, not counting his mounted force.

My mind returned to the brave men at Skyhaven. I only hoped Sir Orlan would be able to maintain his hold on the keep a while longer. It was now only a matter of time before it would fall. Even as we moved the horses back up the muddy embankment, I had hard time keeping my thoughts clear. Fifty of the princess’s men plus whoever had been stationed in the keep against a thousand. If Sir Orlan was a wise man, he’d surrender to keep his troops alive, but he’d given his word to buy us as much time as he could.

Sir Alan eagerly took the next turn to scout for us, perhaps to have time alone to think. The group continued on our way solemnly along the dusty road. The clouds above darkened, and it wasn’t long until thunder could be heard in the distance. It would likely rain soon. If we didn’t find shelter, we’d be caught in the open on the road. Sir Alan returned after a few moments, and the storm front nearly on top of us.

“We need to get off the road,” Sir Alan yelled to be heard over the sound of thunder.

Without any maps to guide us, we had no clear insight to which direction we should go. The nearest cover was a forest not far off, but it wouldn’t be enough.

The two knights broke off from the group in a search of shelter, while I remained with the women and Sir Alan. A few wet minutes passed before they returned with good news. There was a small cave not far away. Dry and out of the sight. Hail started pelting us as we rode hard to the much needed protection.

With their guidance, we tied our horses beneath a thick set of trees and ducked inside. There were no signs of local wildlife in the tiny cave, and within a few moments, Sir Alan had procured a small fire. We all sat around it as we shared rations and tried to warm up.

Strangely enough, I was happy since I was near someone I’d do anything to protect.

Edward

The rest of the evening had been lost to heavy rain. Lightning and hail made it impossible to travel more than a few feet from the cave’s entrance to retrieve more wood. The knights had taken turns doing that and set the wet wood close to the fire so it could be used during the night to come. Tabitha and Sir Alan had the forethought of using their cloaks to block the fire’s light from leaving the cave. It was doubtful Doyle’s little spies were roaming the countryside but not unlikely. If they were paid enough, they’d known to seek out signs of open flame. During a night like this, the fire would draw immediate attention. A brief respite came as we boiled water and brewed a light tea by using pine needles and berries that had been close to the cave.

Rations of cheese and breads, along with the tea kept everyone happy and alert. I had taken the first hour’s watch, which mostly consisted of listening to the flames and ensuring they didn’t go out. Before I knew it, Sir Alan had relieved me, and I’d fallen asleep against the wall with one hand on my sword’s hilt.

Morning light and the smell of porridge woke me up. I’d been dreaming of bacon, eggs, and scones. To my stomach, it made no difference. Even with everyone being so crammed together, I found a couple of chances to gently touch Brigit’s elbow or hips as we maneuvered around for food, and then when we packed everything up to leave again. She’d given me a knowing smile.

Outside, the weather had cleared, and the storm’s power was plainly evident in the forest. Broken branches, beaten bushes, and bark-stripped trees lined our path back to the road.

There was mud everywhere, and although, the blazing sun was out in the valley. It glinted against pools of murky water on the ground. Puddles, holes, and other such environmental problems would be abundant, making it hard to know what to trust. We couldn’t let a horse break its leg at this point in our journey. Although it was painstakingly slow to guide them, it’d end up saving us time in the end.

Sir Alan had been first to scout ahead. It wasn’t long until he returned with news that a small company of men were fast approaching. As he neared us, his face went suddenly pale.

I didn’t have to turn because I heard the heavy trampling of horses from somewhere behind us. We were flanked.
Crap
. There were no bushes or patch of forests or anything useful around. In the distance were small hills, but in our immediate vicinity, we had no protection and were on a patch of road that could prove hazardous for our horses.

“What should we do?” Tabitha asked, the slightest tinge of fear evident in her voice.

“What we can. We need to split up and hope they go after the wrong people or that enough of us manage to escape.” I knew the chances of getting away were slim to none. And yet, we didn’t have an option. I turned my horse toward the grasslands and saw Sir Alan hesitantly steer his in the opposite direction.

“Keep her safe,” Sir Alan shouted before taking off, making a wide arch to get around the riders behind us.

Without waiting, we began to split up. I rode past a few boulders and heard another horse make its way toward me. Taking a look over my shoulder, I saw Tabitha and Brigit heading to my direction. In the distance, Sir Alan had managed to draw a sizable portion of the cavalry his way. The other two knights had branched off to the other side of the road, pushing their horses into a similar arc as to what Sir Alan was doing but in the other direction. It wasn’t enough. Some of the cavalry officers remained on our tails.

“Fuck it.” I let out an exasperated grunt. It was useless to deny what would eventually happen anyway. “Brigit, Tabitha, keep going straight for those hills,” I yelled over my shoulder and began to pull my horse to the side. My gun might not have many bullets, but maybe it’d act as a deterrent. Dismounting, I took aim at the first horse and pulled the trigger. The huge beast went down and caused a small pileup as the horses behind it tumbled onto the first one. Knowing I wouldn’t have a lot of time, I fired two more bullets into the fray, hoping it’d drive some common sense into the heavily armored men.

I mounted my horse again, and pushed the stallion into a gallop. The horse lurched as one of its legs went into a pothole that had looked like just another puddle. A horrible snap sounded as the horse fell. I had a moment of weightlessness before a sharp pain stabbed the side of my head. Everything went dark for a few moments, then I awoke to the cavalry kneeling next to me.

“He seems dead, sir. Let’s leave this one and find the rest. This one might’ve gotten off lucky from I’ve heard of our new king’s plans for the group.” The man spoke with a hard-to-understand accent.

“Yes. Leave the corpse. We don’t need more dead weight. There isn’t much time to set up a pyre. Gather the men; we still have the bitch to catch. Remember, he wants her unharmed. I don’t care if she stabs you. You won’t lift a finger against her.”

I kept my eyes closed and my body unmoving. I breathed extremely shallow breaths and in controlled pace. I was happy for the cloak covering most of my chest to mask the movement.

“Damn it. I can’t stand to watch that horse suffer. You there! End that one. I don’t care the idiot ran him like that, but we should give the horse some peace.”

The men grumbled as one of them dropped into a crouch next to the injured horse beside me. It took all my self-control not to flinch as the man cut the horse’s throat. Its blood sprayed hot over me. Whoever these mercenaries were, at least they cared for the horses and seemed loyal to whoever bought them. It was more than some people I’d dealt with in the past. They didn’t seem to have an unreasonable bloodlust of injuring their enemy’s corpses.

It didn’t take long before the cavalry moved on. The vibration of their horses’ hooves no longer carried through the ground, but I hesitated to move. If they didn’t already have her, they likely would soon. I’d failed to protect her. Failed on a mission for the first time, ever.

With my horse dead and quite a distance to Darkview, I’d never make it in time. Tears dampened my cheeks. I’d let myself get close to her, and now she was gone. I had no way of reaching her. Despite all I’d done, it had been useless.

What are you going to do about it? Cry and hope it’ll all work out? Get on your feet. The woman you love doesn’t have much time left, and if you don’t save her, no one will.

I opened my eyes with the pep talk complete. I was an assassin. Those who dared hurt her would die. I wasn’t some sniveling peasant pushed aside and forgotten. I serve my princess and those who stood in my way had better move aside. The journey might be long, but so what? My feet might blister, my body might ache, but I was still alive. While I still drew breath, I would do everything in my power to save her.

Climbing to my feet took effort, but the more I moved, the more energy returned to me. I knew what direction I had to go, and with the training I’d had, this should be easy. I patted my pockets but couldn’t find my gun. It took fifteen minutes before I found it, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The horse still carried some supplies, mostly water and dry rations. I took what I could from the saddlebags. My cloak had been torn to where it was useless, but I took it along to help stave off the cold during the nights to come.

Brigit

I hated leaving Edward behind, but I knew I had to push on. He’d risked his life for mine. The future of the Kingdom depended on me getting away. Tabitha, bless her, noticed the cavalry took a turn toward us. Thankfully, they refrained from using their bows. At least it seemed that their commands were to take us hostage. The idea of being caught by the mercenaries wasn’t pleasant but it’d be better than outright dying.