CHAPTER 23
Lord Caden said nothing more about Erynn's father and minutes later all three men had left the shop and the girls were alone. Quinn had seemed reluctant to go, as if he had something he wanted to say to the girls, but there was clearly nothing he could say that wouldn't draw attention and he simply followed Marik outside.
When they were gone, Erynn sank to the floor and lowered her head to her hands. How could she have let this happen? How could she have been so foolish to get caught?
"Maybe we should have poisoned his soup," Adena muttered, kicking her chains out of the way and sitting down next to her. "Marik's, too."
Erynn thought about the old woman in the market and her warning that she would one day regret not taking those poison herbs. She wondered what might have happened if she had.
"Think Quinn will help?" Adena asked.
Erynn almost laughed. "With a couple dozen men outside?"
"What about Krystalix?"
"If he wanted to help us, you'd think he would have done it at the creek."
"Well, they'll have to move us some time. Maybe we'll have a chance then."
Erynn held out her arms and gave her chains a rattle. "Doubtful. And they're not moving us together, remember?"
Adena leaned back against the wall. "Well, there has to be something we can do."
Erynn wanted to tell her it was pointless, that she couldn't see any way out of this, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She had dragged Adena into this mess and now her friend would hang for the king's death. Just the thought was almost too much to bear. She wished now that she had left the castle on her own. That she hadn't stopped to say good-bye.
"I wonder who this Brock is," Adena said. "Boy is he going to be in for a surprise."
Erynn thought again of the two men she'd seen at the market, but didn't have the strength to mention them. "I just hope Marik doesn't run into him any time soon. Or Dillon."
"Or he kills them before he can ask any questions."
Erynn doubted that would happen. Marik would want Brock and Dillon to know exactly why they were going to die. "At least he bought our story."
"Do you think he knows about the banquet?"
Erynn remembered the look on Marik's face when he told her Gareth wasn't coming home. "I don't think so. I think he knows the Galians have a plan, but not the details. Just like Holden said."
"Think we should tell him?"
Erynn shook her head. "I don't see how it would help. And who knows, maybe it would be better to know something he doesn't."
"I don't think he likes Lord Caden much."
"I don't think he likes anyone telling him what to do. Anyone besides Holden."
Adena was quiet for a few moments. "If they do separate us, you'll have to watch for a way to escape. Maybe you could find a weapon or something."
Erynn sighed. Lord Caden was right. She was in shackles. And not much of a threat. She didn't know how Queen Naedra ever got it in her mind that she would one day destroy her, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was wrong. "I just wish we could find Sheldon and that falcon. Ruin their plans. All of them."
Marik's men returned to check on them periodically, bringing them food and water and ensuring that they hadn't somehow found a way out of their chains, but otherwise they were left alone. Two candles had been left on nearby tables and provided just enough light to see each other in the growing dark. Marik returned once, later in the evening, but he said little and they didn't see any sign of Lord Caden. And eventually, as the night wore on, more ale from the local inn flowed to the soldiers in the street, and their checks grew less and less frequent.
Erynn rested her head back against the wall, chains nestled in her lap, and listened to the laughter and talk outside. The soldiers had shut both of the shop doors, but she could hear them clearly. Most of the talk was about the king and how Alyria was going to change now that he was gone and Holden was in charge, but she heard no mention of the Galians and suspected that was because Lord Caden's men were nearby. She might not be able to see or hear them, but she knew they were there — ensuring she didn't escape.
Two more Alyrian soldiers came in a short time later, and when they left she finally closed her eyes. Some time later — she wasn't sure how long — she found herself awakened by an odd fluttering sound. Adena was sound asleep next to her, her head resting on her shoulder. Erynn glanced around the shop, but didn't see any source of the noise. Then one of the candles flickered and she assumed she must have been imagining things. Or at least she hoped she was. An image flashed in her mind of rats scurrying away from them in the castle tunnel, but she banished the thought from her mind and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to think about that. Not while she was stuck there in chains.
A second later she sensed something move inside the shop. Her eyes flew open.
A figure dressed in a long brown cloak stood in the shadows by the front doors; the hood drawn.
Erynn flinched — waking Adena, who raised her head and looked around.
"What?" she asked. Then she noticed the same figure and immediately sat up.
At first Erynn thought it was one of Marik's men, come to check on them, but then the figure stepped toward the side wall — and further into the light of one of the candles — and she realized it was an older man. He was thin in build, and slightly stooped in the shoulders, most of his face hidden in the shadows of his hood. He carefully lifted a ring of keys from a hook on the wall, and then turned and walked toward them.
Erynn opened her mouth to ask who he was, but he quickly raised a finger to his lips.
"Let me free you," he whispered. "But we must be quiet or they will hear."
Erynn's breath caught. She knew that voice! But from where? She tried for a glimpse of his face as he came closer and bent towards her, but the shop was too dark and his hood too deep. The keys clinked together as he searched for the right one, and then he motioned for her to raise her hands and seconds later the shackles slipped from her wrists. She caught them and scrambled to her feet. Moments later, Adena was standing next to her.
"How did you get past those men?" her friend asked, keeping her voice low.
The old man's bones seemed to creak as he lifted himself back up. "No questions. We must hurry."
Erynn again tried to remember where she'd heard that voice, but her mind was blank. She went for her pack. Marik had taken the gold, the map, and all of the letters and tubes, but she thankfully still had her quill and ink pot, along with the small black stone she had taken from her father's grave and the bundle of food from Cole's wife. She held the stone in her hand for a second, more relieved that she still had it than she had expected, and squeezing it tight as she remembered her conversation with Lord Caden. Then she slipped it away and returned to the back of the shop.
Adena was already there with her pack, watching as the old man somehow lifted the heavy beam barricading the rear door and set it down gently against the wall. Her eyes went to the swords and tools strewn along the ledge next to the forge.
"Are there guards out back?" she asked.
"There should be," the old man replied. "But right now they are taking part in the celebration of your capture out front. You can be sure they will pay for it in the morning."
He opened the door. It creaked, but the sound seemed to pass unnoticed amidst the laughter and talk outside.
Behind the shop was a yard littered with more tools, scraps of iron, an old and battered bellows, and an overturned tub partially buried in the dirt. A shed sat to the left side, the door hanging ajar, and a well in the center of the yard. Beyond was a wall of dark trees.
The old man stepped outside, and as he turned and motioned toward the trees, the light of the moon revealed his face.
Erynn gasped. It was Soren! The old man who had rescued her from the caves in Galia! He seemed older than she remembered, like he'd aged ten years instead of only two, but she knew beyond a doubt it was him. "I – I know you. You were there
. In Galia."
The old man smiled, but simply motioned again to the trees. "Quickly, Erynn. We must go."
Adena's eyes were wide, obviously as confused and surprised as Erynn that he could be there now, helping them, but she just shrugged, hitched up her pack, and followed him across the yard. Erynn ran after her.
The forest was dark and close and quiet, the light of the moon barely penetrating the leaves. Erynn stayed close to Adena, barely able to see more than a few feet in any direction, but Soren seemed to know exactly where he was going and never once faltered. He walked quickly, even faster than she had imagined for a man his age, and almost faster than they could keep up, but he refused to answer any of their questions about who he was or where he was taking them, and simply repeated that there wasn't any time.
Erynn wondered if he was with the Order of the Cael and had been sent to keep an eye on her. Perhaps watching over her and following her all this time. Or maybe some other friend of her mother's. The king had said her mother would come for her when the time was right. Maybe it was still too dangerous for her to come herself and she had sent Soren instead.
They walked throughout the night, never once stopping, and it was still dark when they finally came to the edge of the wood. Below them lay a shallow valley, bordered on both sides by a series of low hills and a line of trees far to the south.
Soren drew back his hood and turned to face them. "This is as far as I can go. To the west, beyond those hills, you will find the road south. Should you decide to follow it, you must be careful. Keep out of sight."
Adena blinked. "You're leaving?"
"I must retrace our steps. Try to draw Marik away from you if I can. Hopefully give you more time."
"Who are you?" Erynn asked. "And how did you know we were here?"
Soren smiled. "A friend, Erynn. One who doesn't want to see you delivered to Naedra."
"You know who I am? What I am?"
"I have known about you for some time. I feared Naedra would one day find out about you, too. And that she would come for you."
"You knew when you found me in Galia?" Erynn asked, her voice betraying the hurt she felt at learning this. That yet another person she had thought was a friend had known who she was all along and said nothing.
"I did, but it was clear you had not yet learned the truth and it was certainly not my place to tell you. You also had more than enough to deal with at the time."
"Are you with the Order? Or a friend of my mother's?"
Soren shook his head. "No, but the sooner you leave Alyria and find the Order of the Cael, the sooner they can help protect you. It is dangerous for you here, especially with the reward Holden has put out for your arrest. He is a desperate man, and now everyone will be looking for you."
Erynn was confused, but then she had another thought. "Are you Paddon? The king's friend?"
Soren again shook his head. "No."
"But I don't understand. Were you following us in Galia? Is that how you found me?"
Soren smiled. "I know you have many questions, Erynn, but you must trust me. Now is not the time. Soon those men will notice you gone, if they have not already, and will advise Marik. And you can be sure he will not wait until morning to come after you. You must be swift now, and careful."
"More careful than we were today," Adena muttered. She stepped out into the cool night air, away from the trees, and paused to wait for Erynn.
But Erynn couldn't move. She didn't want to go anywhere until she had some answers. She wanted to know who Soren was and how he had found them. And something else had crossed her mind, too, now that she'd had a chance to recover from their flight out of the blacksmith's shop and their race through the woods. Something that just a few short hours ago she had wished more than anything else she could do. But it meant going another way entirely. West.
"We have to go, Erynn," Adena said. "You know he's right. It's too dangerous now."
Erynn could hear it in her voice. Her friend knew what she was thinking. She could also hear the fear. A few hours ago, Adena was facing the noose for killing the king. For helping her escape. Now she had a second chance. And she knew if Marik caught up to them again, she might not get another.
"We will meet again, Erynn," Soren said. "And at that time I promise to give you the answers you seek. I also have a favor to ask of you. Something very important. But for now, you must go." He glanced back into the trees, as if he'd heard something, but all Erynn could hear was the gentle rustle of leaves. Then a grave look came over his face and he motioned down the hill. "Go now! Quickly!"
Erynn knew she had no choice. She stepped out from the trees and started down the hill after Adena. She glanced back once, just a few seconds later, but the old man was gone.