The Forgotten King (Korin's Journal) (6 page)

I swallowed, braving another glance around the corner.  We were wasting a lot of time, and that was one thing we didn’t have to waste.  “And what do you ask in return?”

Kait’ shrugged again.  “No more than a few coins to aid our travels.”

I nodded, considering her offer.  Just like Til’, though, I felt something was off.   B
efore I could say anything, I heard Bill’s voice ring out in the night. 

“Damn this mud.  There are no tracks leading away from town.  They are still here somewhere.  Hullic, Ispan, take the eastern side of the town.  Niliv and I will take the west.  If anyone finds sign of their passage, raise the call three times.  We will find them before the hour is up.”

I peeked to see Hullic—er, Lily Pants—heading off in one direction with Crooked Nose.  Bill stepped into the stirrup of a piebald next to Niliv, the man with the bow. 

“By Jeilan’s blood,” I cursed softly under my breath.  Jeilan’s the god of dilemmas. 
Ridiculous?  Yes.  He’s actually worshipped quite widely, though.  People like to either pray to him for guidance when faced with difficult situations, or to blame him for causing them.  Gods like Jeilan were to blame for my wavering views on religion.

“Exactly,” Kait’ spoke in her breathy voice.

Til’s silver eyes glinted in the moonlight as he stared up at me.  He wore the same expression of begrudged acceptance that I did.

“Can you get us away unnoticed?” I asked, turning my attention back to Kait’.

Her darkened hood dipped in a nod.

I was more than a little uncomfortable with Kait’ being so enigmatic.  “Will you show your face so we can at least see who we’re tossing our lot in with?” 

Kait’ silently reached up and pulled the hood of her cloak back over dark hair drawn tightly into a tail.  Uncannily striking facial features matched her sensuous voice, both delicate and sharp at the same time.  Her dark, tilted eyes were full of intriguing mystery, her full lips smirking. 

Max would’ve shaken his head at me with his trademark huff for staring dumbstruck at Kait’ while four large men who meant to do bad things to me combed the streets of Laurlan.  I broke my gaze from her, hoping she’d thought I was just sizing her up. 
And no, not in
that
way. 

“Til’, we may not have much of a choice,” I conceded.

“I still don’t trust her,” Til’ whispered fiercely, glaring at Kait’.  “But it may be our best chance of getting the horses and back on our way to rescue—”  Til’ cut off sharply as if guarding his tongue from revealing too much to the mysterious woman before us.

“I agree,” I replied, though reluctant to admit it. 

Kait’ smiled.  “Then it’s settled, Korin and Til’.”  She’d apparently picked up our names from our conversation.  “Wait here.  Don’t say a word.”

Bemused, I pressed back against the house and pulled Til’ beside me.  Kait’ circled around the corner.  I heard hoofbeats nearing us, squishing through the sodden mud.  I held my breath for fear of even that being heard.

“Good evening, boys,” Kait’ greeted, her voice even more breathy at a normal volume.  She had some nerve to call Bill and his bow-slinging lackey “boys.” 

“Have you happened to see two men, one of them a Kolarin?” Bill questioned.  “The other is shorter than me with choppy, awful-looking hair, like a blind man set to it with garden shears.”  Ouch.

“Can’t say I have, boys.  Should I be worried?  I’d hate to be caught unaware by some lawless lowlifes skulking about in the night.”  Her voice had taken on a mockingly helpless tone. 

Niliv snickered.  Well, I assumed it was him.  I couldn’t see Bill letting such a sound escape his lips.

“No, I am just looking to question them,” Bill replied curtly.  Yeah, “question” us.  That made me want to snicker myself.  “Thank you for your time, Miss . . .”

“Remsha.
  Kaitlyne Remsha,” Kait’ responded, her tone nearly flirtatious.

“A pleasant night to you, Miss Remsha.”
  The squishy hoofbeats started away from where Til’ and I were hidden.

Moments later, Kait’ appeared.  She stared at the two of us briefly as if expecting something.  “You’re welcome,” she stated sarcastically when we remained silent.  “They won’t check here for tracks anytime soon.  Follow me.”  Kait’put up her hood and started briskly away from the town’s central clearing. 

With one last doubtful look shared between us, Til’ and I hurried after her.

Chapter 7

Day 11

Day 11

It’s been days since I last wrote, I know.  Boakler and Stemon took my journal pages away in retribution for calling them some names I won’t mention here.  Given my father, there was little else they could do to me.  They returned the pages this morning, but I’ve learned that I must be more careful with my words. 

I overheard Boakler and Stemon conversing with Alix and Jisan yesterday.  They’ve decided to keep a tighter watch for Korin because of what they read in my journal—I still can’t believe the bastards read it in the first place.  Boakler said that if Korin shows up, he won’t be as “generous” as the last time he saw him.  The very thought gives me chills.  I can only assume that they’ll find more excuses to comb through my journal for mention of Korin now.

Considering that writing in this journal is all that’s keeping me sane in this carriage, I’ve decided to keep all of my new entries hidden.  I’m going to hide them underneath the carriage floor’s carpet.  I’ll also keep a set of fake entries to keep my captors from suspecting anything.  I’ve already been thinking of ways to have a little fun with the fake ones.

Moving on, I’ve decided that I’m not going to let my life go down the path of my father’s wishes.  In my head, I’ve been reciting again and again exactly what I’ll tell him when I arrive at the Academy.

What it comes down to is that I’m
not
going to stay at the Academy any longer.  It’s been years since it truly felt like home to me anyway.  My only purpose there is to keep the Grand Wizard title in the Fellway name.  I couldn’t care less about that, though my father seems to believe it’s all I’m good for.  I know that there’s something else for me outside of that place.  Something more than playing wife to the next Grand Wizard.

I don’t know how to break the news to Saiyre just yet.  But as I said, my father’s wishes are no longer my concern. 

I need to find a way to talk to Max.  He’s being fed—I’m sure the type and amount of food isn’t to his discernment—but he’s not responding to the questions of our captors.  They witnessed him talk and use magic the night we were taken, so they’re reasonably frustrated by his silence.

Fortunately, they won’t dare do anything to harm him.  They know that he must be brought to the Academy alive and well for study.  Once in the laboratory, though, I’m afraid of what the researchers will do to him in order to draw out his secrets.

If I could just speak with Max, maybe we could work out a plan to get him back to Korin.  Sadly, any requests that I’ve made to see him have gone unheeded.  This is all such a mess. 

But, I
will
fix it.  Max
will
be freed no matter what I have to do.  My father will have to accept that he can’t control me.  I will not give up.  I will not lose hope again.

We are well over halfway to the Academy at this point, with maybe a week left before we arrive.  We travel through most of the night now, taking me further and further from Korin . . .

No, I will
not
lose hope again.

Chapter 8

The Walking Not-So-Dead

It’s hard to follow your instincts when you’re busy speeding through the woods, trying to keep up with the very person those instincts are warning you about.  Hell, it’s especially hard to do when the moon decides to take cover behind the night-darkened clouds, necessitating every ounce of your attention to be focused on not breaking an ankle or running into a tree.

Kait’ kept a goodly distance ahead of us, leaving Til’ and me unable to question her.  With the pace she was setting, I didn’t have the breath in my lungs to get out anything more than unintelligible grunts anyway.  Til’ kept up right beside me, his diminutive stature doing nothing to hinder his speed.

“I don’t like this,” Til’ said suddenly, making me jealous of his ability to speak clearly despite our exertion. 

“I . . . I . . . yeah,” was all I could say, though I’m not sure it didn’t just come out as “ugh.”

“If things start looking bad, we should just run,” Til’ continued, sounding way too somber for his usual nature. 

“Ugh,” I responded, for sure this time.  I hoped Til’ took it for the agreement it was.  Like him, I still wasn’t feeling certain about Kait’s intentions.  However, if her traveling companions could help protect us from Bill, maybe taking a chance with her would be worth it.  Even if she
was
vague in her motivations and about as shady as an elm.

We eventually came within sight of a campfire, its orange glow illuminating two huddled individuals and three canvas tents in a small glade.  Kait’ drew up short of the upcoming encampment, her body just a slender shadow surrounded by a golden aura from the fire.  She pulled back her hood and raised her hand into the air, flicking some sort of hand signal towards the camp. 

Two figures in hooded cloaks leaned out from behind trees ahead of us, longbows held outstretched from their bodies.  I wasn’t sure whether to take the gesture as a warning or as an indication that they weren’t going to attack.  They slipped back behind the trees and gave a wordless shout to the camp.

The dark shapes in the camp shifted.  I stepped up just behind Kait’, now able to see that there were actually three people sitting around the fire, their backs turned to us. 

“Here we are, as promised,” Kait’ said with just a hint of breathlessness.

I simply nodded, still too winded to speak.  Til’ came up beside me, breathing heavily but looking alert and wary.  His right hand was tucked into his cloak.  I had a feeling that it was gripped firmly around the handle of his dagger. 

Chiding myself for my lack of caution, I bent forward to covertly draw my own dagger, trying to appear as if struggling to catch my breath.  It wasn’t much of a stretch.  I was in pretty good shape, but Til’s and Kait’s relative stamina made me feel like a wild boar that had just raced a grazil.

I rose to my feet, carefully sliding the dagger up my sleeve. 

Kait’ shifted her weight onto one leg, thrusting her hip out enticingly with a hand planted firmly on its shapely curve.  Not that I was attracted to that
;
I’m just saying that she seemed in no way positioned to turn against us.  With her relaxed stance, I began to think that maybe I’d been completely off base with my reservations.

“If you’re ready,” she prompted with playful reproach, “let me introduce you to the boys.”  Kait’ swept her arm dramatically towards the camp.  As she turned, the glow of the fire highlighted her face, revealing the dark tone of her skin.  I could finally make out the earthen colors of her tight clothing.  She didn’t appear to be carrying any weapons on her.  Not overtly, anyway.

“We’ll stay right behind you, if you don’t mind,” I answered cagily, keeping Kait’s body between me and the men in the camp.  Sure, it may seem paranoid, but I had Max counting on me.  I couldn’t do much for him with an arrow shot through my chest.  Chasus taught me that trust must be earned, and Kait’ had yet to earn hers.

“Suit yourselves,” Kait’ replied smoothly, turning with a sweeping flair of her cloak.  Once her eyes were no longer on us, I transferred my dagger to my left sleeve and dropped my right hand to my sword’s hilt. 

Kait’s hips swayed with dangerous femininity, sheer confidence clear in each step.  Til’ and I followed guardedly, approaching the camp in a near-crouch, as if we were sneaking up on wild game.

As we neared the camp, I saw that all three men around the fire had hoodless black cloaks drawn tightly around their bodies.  Their heads swiveled to watch us in their periphery.  The firelight splashed across their profiles, painting them with a sinister glow.  Their faces were gruff and unshaven, their hair clean yet unkempt.  The fact that I couldn’t see their hands made me nervous.  Granted, paranoia had become a large part of my life ever since my Activated Contract with Galius.

Kait’ stopped just before reaching the three men and turned back to us.  “And here are our companions.  These three are Vhillin, Oslen, and Kevrin.”  Kait’ swept her arm from left to right as she introduced the men.  “The other two are Ullian and Tagin.  They’re currently on watch, if you hadn’t noticed.”

I looked to the trees where I’d seen the two men hiding, but there was no sign of them.

Kait’ gestured towards Til and me.  “And boys, this is Korin and Til’.  They’ll be staying with us for a while.” 

“Well, until morning,” I countered warily.  My hand tightened around my sword’s hilt as my conscience berated me for not trusting my gut about Kait’ from the beginning. 

“Did I not tell you before that I don’t think that’s necessary?” Kait’ asked, her breathy voice taking on a hard edge.  She nodded towards my sword with a malevolent gleam in her eyes.

That was it.  An alarm sounded in my head.  I’d been wrong to allow myself to put any trust in this woman.  Til’ and I were in danger.

“Run, Til’,” I commanded under my breath as I unsheathed my sword.

Only, I didn’t unsheathe my sword.  I couldn’t.

I pulled at the hilt, my muscles straining, but the sword wouldn’t budge.  Changing tactics, I dropped my dagger into my left hand, readying to defend myself.  The dagger ripped from my grasp and shot down to my hip, clanging against my sword’s iron hilt. 

A second clang resounded as Til’s dagger joined mine, the force of its contact staggering me to the side.  I tried to wrench the daggers from my hip, but they were firmly held in place.  Someone in the camp was using magic of some sort against our weapons.  Something small and metallic glinted in the firelight as it soared through the air and thudded to the ground beside me. 

“Run, Til’!” I screamed in a panic.  I knew we had no chance against the five men and Kait’, especially if magic were involved.  When I tried to flee, though, there was a sudden, violent tug at my hip.  My left leg was thrown off balance, and I was pulled to the ground on my side.

Til’ gave me a swift, fearful look that was quickly exchanged for a murderous glare at Kait’. 

“No, Til’.  Run!” I screamed.  I tried to push myself up from the damp forest floor, but I couldn’t lift my hip from the ground. 

Just as I was starting to worry that Til’ was going to ignore my plea and recklessly throw himself into battle with Kait’ and her men, he thankfully turned and fled.  It had to have been hard for him to leave me there, but it was the only logical course of action.  Otherwise, we would’ve both been captured. 

Kait’s lips pulled into a vicious snarl.  “After him, boys,” she commanded.  The three men around the fire were to their feet quicker than I would’ve expected.  As they turned to sprint after Til’, my body went numb with dread.

Each of the three men had a circular green light emitting from the center of his chest.  If their faces had looked sinister in the firelight, they looked downright demonic in the green glow shining through their dark shirts.  Apparently the drunken man in the Old Homestead had been right.  I mean, I didn’t think that these men were the walking dead, but they did have the green lights he’d spoken of in their chests. 

It was only after my heart started beating again that I noticed the other two men sliding from the shadows and taking up the chase as well.  Seeing only their backs, I wasn’t sure if they had green lights emitting from their chests or not.  What I was sure of was that I couldn’t let them get to Til’.  I had to fight.

If my suspicions were correct, whatever magic was being used against me was only affecting metal objects.  Obviously the sword and daggers were primarily metal, and my scabbard had a metal cap lining its opening.  There were metal buckles on my backpack and a couple metal objects within it.  Aside from that, there was only my belt buckle. 

Practically tearing my belt from my around my waist and shrugging off my backpack, I rolled away and pushed up into a crouch, ready to make after Til’.  Before I could move a muscle, I caught sight of another metallic flash in the air, this time noticing that Kait’ had lobbed whatever it was in an underhand throw.

The object landed in front of me with a wet thump.  It appeared to be a small metal sphere.  I was suddenly jerked forward, as if someone had grabbed my cloak at its clasp and pulled.  From my crouched position, I was dragged face-first into the sodden ground.  There was a simple metal button clasping my cloak, and it had completely escaped my attention.  I quickly ripped my cloak from around my neck.

In the meantime, Kait’ had closed the distance between us, her leg drawn back and ready to plant a boot into my face.  As her foot rushed forward, I rolled away, grabbing her ankle with both hands.  My rolling momentum allowed me to twist her leg and bring her down onto her back.  I jumped to my feet, ready to run, but Kait’ recovered just as quickly.

“Why?” I asked, tensed and ready to defend myself. 

Kait’ let out a humorless chuckle.  “Because you and the Kolarin will be useful additions to our group.”  The baleful tone in her voice made me wonder how I’d ever found it—or her—attractive.

I didn’t have time to care about what Kait’ meant.  I had a friend to save.  Giving her my most impressive “you really don’t want to fight me” look—which I hoped was bolstered by my week’s worth of unshaven facial hair—I took a couple of retreating steps backwards. 

“Look, I don’t want to fight you,” I admitted honestly.  First of all, she apparently had magic at her disposal.  Without knowing what she was capable of, I was at a huge disadvantage.  Secondly—and I know it sounds chauvinistic—she was a woman.  It’s not that I believe women are weak or anything; it’s just that I was raised to never lift a hand against them. 

Kait’s eyes flashed with maleficent mirth.  “Then don’t,” she said, swiftly flinging another of the metal spheres towards my face.  With our close proximity, I barely had time to jerk my head to the side to dodge the projectile.  Only when I saw Kait’s amused expression did I realize that I’d done exactly what she’d expected. 

My scabbarded sword, along with the attached daggers, slammed painfully across my chest.  I threw my leg back to widen my stance and hold my ground.  I twisted my upper body, allowing the sword and daggers to slide off my chest and resume their flight towards the sphere Kait’ had thrown.  I’d put together that whatever the objects were, they somehow drew metal to them. 

Deciding that I had no desire to see what other tricks Kait’ had up her sleeve, I charged her.  Sometimes a little recklessness goes a long way.  Her eyes widened slightly at my brazen attack, and she reached a hand into the lining of her cloak.  I was too quick for her, though, throwing an arm around her waist and tackling her with my shoulder. 

We hit the ground hard, and Kait’ exhaled loudly, her breath knocked from her lungs.  I leaned up, ready to give up the manners of my upbringing as I lifted my right hand to strike her.  Before I could follow through, she threw a hook punch towards my jaw. 

Now, I’ve mentioned before how my uncle, Chasus, trained me in both swordplay and hand-to-hand fighting.  He was an expert in many techniques of unarmed combat: Tau’Shal, Henreti, Palong, and, you know, general street-tough brawling. 

The fighting technique that I’d always found most versatile was Palong, its basis grounded in anticipation and adaptation.  It’s almost a state of mind more than anything, and it was this state of mind that recognized the incoming attack in time to alter my punch into a forearm grab. 

My fingers encircled Kait’s lean-muscled forearm, effectively stopping her punch.  Kait’s sleeve had dropped halfway to her elbow, meaning that my hand should’ve latched onto bare skin.  Instead, it squished against something slimy and soft on her inner forearm, making me think of slugs.  I just barely kept myself from immediately releasing her arm in shock. 

It’s not that I was scared of slugs; I just didn’t find them very pleasant to touch . . . or see . . . or be around.  Okay, maybe I was a little scared of them.  I think my manly pride has taken enough damage in this journal already.  What’s another hit or two?

Anyway, I controlled my shock through the same Palong mindset, lifting my left hand from Kait’s chest and giving
her a solid punch to her chin.  Her head snapped to the side, her face twisting into a mixture of pain and unadulterated fury.  I wasn’t proud of punching a woman, but under the circumstances, doing so was the least of my worries.  After a follow-up punch for good measure, I jumped to my feet, taking a hold of her cloak as I did.