The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 (15 page)

I chuckled and
followed closely behind. It was too dark to devote my attention to
search for minds. The back alleys behind the houses were too narrow
and the risk of tripping or running into the side of a house was
too real. Whenever I could get a moment to stop and quickly scan, I
did. I wanted to know how many mercenaries we were facing at least.
I confirmed four, not including the four behind us from the bar and
the one Ser Cook had taken care of, but I wasn’t convinced that was
all of them.

Two mercs rounded the corner and Ser
Cook raised his shield and charged directly into them. They stood
their ground and Cathy ran up to assist him. I heard the four
others approaching us from behind and summoned my power through my
body. When they came into view, I unleashed a wave of lightning
that struck their metal armour and jumped from one assailant to the
next. All four stopped dead in their tracks and screamed out in
pain. As they dropped, I couldn’t tell if it had killed them or
simply stunned them and I wasn’t in a hurry to find out.

“
Come on,” I called
out to Cathy and Ser Cook.

I backtracked past
the fallen guards and slipped between the burnt houses towards the
main walkway. I heard the others following behind me as a mercenary
archer stepped into view. I raised a Ward as he released the arrow
and felt it bounce off my shield. I dropped the Ward and launched
an Ice Bolt from each hand. The archer took both bolts to the chest
and fell backwards as I stepped out onto the main walkway. Three
more mercenaries were running up from The Sewer Rats as Cathy and
Ser Cook joined me on the walkway.

“
They just keep
coming,” I groaned.

“
Follow me,” Ser Cook
said, taking off towards the far end of the level.

I summoned some power
and launched a Pulse towards the two remaining mercs from the alley
before following Ser Cook. He led us up some stairs to the next
residential level. As he and Cathy climbed, I paused at the bottom
and set up a Fire Wall along the base of the stairway. It wasn’t
enough to stop the Mercenaries, but it would delay them enough for
an idea I had.

I ran up the stairs and heard the cries
of shock at the fire. When I reached the top, I looked back and saw
the mercs jumping through the wall and climbing the stairs. I ran
forward and motioned for Cathy and Ser Cook to run to the nearest
abandoned house. We found cover behind some remaining household
items and I closed my ears as I stretched out with my mind.

I found the three mercs and planted a
different Illusion spell. It was a complex one I hadn’t used in a
while. They would see us running ahead of them, no matter what
direction they took. We would always just be ahead of them until
the spell wore off and they realised they had been duped.

I opened my eyes as I heard them run
past the house. The spell worked perfectly and I waited until I
couldn’t hear them anymore before standing up and letting out a
sigh of relief.

“
Nice one,” Cathy
said, breathing heavily.

“
Thanks,” I
said.

“
We are running out
of time,” Ser Cook said, also breathing heavily. “My Lady, you need
to get out of the city. I have to get back to my father. If they
report that I was helping you then he will be in danger. Get to the
dungeon and free Nathan, the expert. He will help you find the
evidence you need and locate Markus.”

“
Where’s the
dungeon?” Cathy asked.

“
Past The Sewer Rats,
one level down, in the mines around the back of the mountain,” he
answered. “Be careful, my Lady.”

“
You too,” Cathy
replied. “There must be more of them around here.”

“
Yes, but they are
not after me,” he said. “You are the vote that can stop him from
taking power. He won’t stop coming for you.”

“
Thanks for
everything,” I said.

“
Bring Markus back
here quickly,” Ser Cook stated. “Time is of the
essence.”

“
Time wasn’t exactly
a luxury to begin with,” I replied.

Chapter
13

We followed Ser Cook
back down the stairs and he departed towards the market, leaving us
to follow the bodies back to The Sewer Rats. We decided to walk
behind the houses on the opposite side of the street while Cathy
guided me as I focused on searching with my mind. I could feel the
mental activity of the unconscious mercs close to the pub, but I
couldn’t detect any new threats. My Illusion had the rest of the
group preoccupied. We hurried past the tavern and found the long
stairs down to the lower level.

The Thurlborn Mines ran along the
opposite bank of the river to the residential levels. Once a forced
labour camp for slaves, they decided to upgrade it into a forced
labour camp for criminals. All of the worst lawbreakers were put
into the mines in hopes of making them disappear. It made sense
that Lord Michaels would throw Lord Cook’s expert in there;
especially if he knew something.

“
We have to be on our
toes for this,” I said to Cathy.

“
I have a sword now,”
Cathy smiled. “We’ll be fine.”

At the last step, we
entered a small courtyard outside the guards’ barracks. High,
smooth walls loomed over the building and continued around the base
of the mountain covering each of the mine entrances. The place was
a heavily fortified nightmare where the only way out was in a
shallow grave. Ser Cook must have had a few drinks too many at the
bar if he thought we could walk out of here with a
prisoner.

Unless he had set something up.

“
You’re getting a
weird look on your face,” Cathy said, breaking my train of
thought.

“
I’m trying to figure
out why Ser Cook thought we could just walk in and out of here with
a prisoner,” I explained.

“
I
assumed through some sort of epic battle,” Cathy replied. “But I
think I know where you are going. The Cooks are
definitely
cooking
up something.”

I looked at Cathy silently.

“
I haven’t gotten
much sleep today,” she said in a huff.

“
Okay and you are
correct,” I said. “We haven’t spotted a guard yet. Let’s enter the
building quietly. It shouldn’t be deserted, just conveniently empty
in the right areas.”

“
Maybe it’s deserted
in the armoury,” Cathy said excitedly. “A couple of guard uniforms
left lying around too.”

“
A good place to
check either way,” I replied. “You’ll have to leave the shield
though. You can’t walk around with the Yellow Jacket
emblem.”

“
I won’t miss it,”
Cathy said, placing it on the ground and out of the way.

I approached the door
and turned the handle. It stopped with a click as the lock held it
in place. I placed my hand on the lock and the door opened a crack
before I could cast a spell. I stepped back and prepared for
anything, but only a nervous looking man peeked out.

“
Lady Middleton,” he
said, relieved. “I was getting worried.”

“
Lord Cook told you
of our intent?” Cathy asked.

“
Yes, there are some
here that don’t feel too positively about Lord Michaels seizing the
throne,” he answered. “You are here for the political
prisoner?”

“
Yes, uh, Nathan was
it?” she asked, looking towards me.

I nodded.

“
Good,” the guard
responded. “I had him moved to isolation for you. Getting him out
is going to be tricky.”

“
Yes, we figure we
can borrow a couple of guard uniforms to travel around more
easily,” Cathy stated.

“
That is a good
idea,” he said thoughtfully. “I was told you had a Mage with you
and would be able to slip through without problems.”

“
Sometimes the
simpler solution is the more life-saving one,” I said.

He nodded quickly.
“Agreed. I’ll lead you to the armoury. Just be quiet. I sent
everyone I could on patrols but there are still a few
here.”

He opened the door to reveal his
officer’s uniform. Lord Cook certainly knew how to work the angles.
It made sense now why Ser Cook would confidently think we could
break a prisoner out of the city. I wondered how much money it took
for the warden to agree to this. He motioned for us to follow him
and he led us to a small room with weapon racks and crates along
the wall.

“
You can get changed
here,” the warden started. “Isolation is through the door in the
main room and along the wall furthest from the mines. One of my
most trusted guards is watching the entrance. Tell him Lord Cook
sent you. He’ll take care of the rest.”

“
Thank you very much,
I greatly appreciate this,” Cathy smiled.

“
No problem, my Lady.
If the rumours are true and an heir lives, we need to all do our
part,” the warden stated proudly.

“
Is Lord Michaels
going to be surprised that his prisoner escaped?” I
asked.

“
Don’t worry about
that, Mage,” he smirked. “We’re quite good at covering our arses
out here. Be safe and get out of the city.”

“
Thanks,” I
said.

The warden left and shut the door.
Cathy started fishing around in the crates and pulled out some
pieces of armour. “Find what fits you,” she said.

“
Your dress is going
to make things difficult for you,” I smirked.

“
Not if they have...”
she trailed off then pulled out a pair of breeches from a crate,
“Ha. Found them. Turn away.”

I chuckled and turned to face the other
way as I started to put on the armour. The straps were easy enough
to figure out based on my limited knowledge of wearing armour. The
weight of the chainmail was entirely different though. I couldn’t
imagine wearing it for any extended period of time.

I suited up and after
some gentle cursing from Cathy, she said it was okay to turn around
again. She was ready to go with her helmet secured to hide her
face. She handed me one and I secured it on my head with her
help.

She fastened her sword to her side and
grabbed a shield off the wall. I grabbed an axe from the weapon
racks and fastened it to my side. It was the only thing that didn’t
seem too long or heavy for me to use. I regretted the thought as
soon as the axe’s weight pulled me down. We left the armoury and
headed through the door outside to the prison area.

Various mines dotted
the mountain side and paths wound their way up the mountain. The
mountain side was too steep to worry about an inmate trying to
climb to freedom even without regular guard patrols. I think the
true cruelty came from being able to see over the wall the further
up you were. Forever seeing freedom, but never getting the chance
to experience it.

My sudden sympathy confused me and
Cathy looked at me worried. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“
Couldn’t figure out
why I feel bad for the criminals,” I whispered my
answer.

She shrugged. “Are you sure it’s the
criminals you feel bad for? You are probably just comparing their
lives with yours. You grew up a prisoner in the Tower to escape it
and end up living on the run, becoming a criminal again because of
your magic. Being here just reminds you of that.”

I nodded
thoughtfully. “You must be feeling the same way about this place
too; given similar circumstances?”

She smiled. “Yeah,
you could say that. I certainly won’t get in the way if you want to
get through this as quickly as possible.”

We continued along the wall to a small
building with a lone guard. A single lamp hung close to the
entrance illuminating the guard. If they had used a giant sign with
an arrow, it would have been less obvious. We approached the guard
and he scanned over us quickly.

“
Who sent you?” he
asked.

“
Lord Cook,” Cathy
responded.

“
Greetings, my Lady,”
the guard said in a quieter voice. “The prisoner is inside. Here is
the key.”

He handed Cathy a shiny silver key and
she pocketed it. “Thanks.”

“
Now, if you’ll
excuse me,” he said, stretching his back and arms. “I’m going to go
do my patrol. I’m sure two guards will be able to handle protecting
this building in my absence.” He smirked and walked briskly away
from the building.

“
What a dedicated
employee,” Cathy said happily. “We should request he gets
promoted.”

“
It will be the first
thing we tell the new king,” I replied, deadpan. “Ladies
first.”

“
Thank you, good
sir,” she said sweetly, unlocking the front door to the
building.

Inside was a single cell that occupied
half of the room. The other half was bare except for a table
containing the equipment that belonged to the prisoner. The
prisoner himself lay on a bed but stood up as we entered. He was
short and thin and wore an unusual headdress that covered most of
his head except for his eyes; his vaguely familiar, feminine
eyes.

“
Right, what’s this
all about?” The prisoner asked in a familiar gruff
voice.

I chuckled and removed my helmet.
Recognition lit up in my old friend’s eyes as I smiled. “How did
you get into this mess, Natalie?” I asked.