Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The moment we got back to Fenling's room, I stripped off the dress, tearing it in my haste to get it off. "I want my own clothes," I said. "I want my own clothes, my things, and then I'm getting the hell out of this place."

Tonyah, who was waiting, scurried out the door to get them.

Fenling pressed her lips together. "You can't run off by yourself—it's too dangerous."

"I can't stay here. Did you hear her? This is almost worse than if I'd stayed at home." I turned as the door opened. "What?—?"

Bran stormed in the room. "What happened? I heard that you stormed out of Chara's quarters?" He was staring at Fenling. "You know we have to be cautious?—"

"Stop," Fenling said, cutting him off. "I'll tell you exactly what happened and you'll back us up."

He froze at the tone of her voice, and at that moment, he noticed I was in my undergarments. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"You didn't," I said. "I'm gathering my things and then I'm leaving. Now."

At that, he sat down. "All right, what's going on? Tell me. All I heard was that you two were exceptionally rude to the princess and she's now on the warpath."

"She's lucky Asajia didn't deck her one." Fenling shook her head. "Charla asked her if she was a virgin—said her husband liked virgins, but she didn't want some slut giving him a disease. If that doesn't answer your question, I don't know what else to say."

Bran paled. "You're serious," he said.

"Damned right, I'm serious," Fenling said.

"I can't stay here," I said. "I have to leave. I'm not going to be some perverted gift for the prince's bed."

"All right, give me a moment." Bran worried his lip. "We should ride out tonight, then. I'll concoct a logical reason for us to leave so abruptly—" He paused at a loud knock on the door. "Who's that?"

"It might be Tonyah," Fenling said, hurrying over to answer it. She cracked the door, peeking out, but then whoever was on the other side slammed the door wide, knocking her back. She went sailing back to the bed, landing hard.

Bran pulled out his sword, but froze as a group of guards entered the room. "What do you want? You're intruding where you aren't welcome."

"I'm sorry, Lord Bran, but His Majesty has ordered that we place you under arrest. You are to come with us. Lady Fenling and her guest will stay here until they're summoned." The guard looked like this was the last thing he wanted to be doing. He was holding a pair of manacles. The guards behind him looked warily on.

Bran's eyes widened. "He what? Karehl can't arrest me?—"

"I'm sorry, milord, but he can order your arrest. He's the prince." The guard placed on hand on his sword. "I have to ask you to forfeit your weapons, now."

Bran glanced at Fenling. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," Fenling said. "Did he say why he called us back early?"

Bran shook his head. "No, I was supposed to meet with him later this morning." He turned to the guards. A man like Bran could probably kill at least two of them before the others swarmed him, but there were too many for him to counter on his own. Fenling could jump in, and I'd do what I could, but the guards were well-armed and it was likely at least one of us would die.

"Please, sir, don't force our hand," the guard said, lowering his voice.

Bran slowly placed his sword on the nightstand. "Very well, but I can tell you this isn't going to end well. I will come with you, but you will not place me in irons."

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have to."

As the other guards crowded in, Bran held out his hands. He glanced at Fenling. "You know what to do."

"Yes," she said, and with that one word, I knew that a whole line of communication had passed between them without being verbalized.

As the guards shackled Bran and led him away, one of them stopped to lock the door to Fenling's room as he left. As soon as they were gone, Fenling ran to the door and tried to unlock it but her key wouldn't work.

"Why won't this open?" She jiggled the handle. "Oh crap, I know why. There's a secondary latch and he locked that. We can't get out through the door."

"What are we going to do? Why did they take Bran?" I was starting to panic. It was then that I realized I wasn't dressed. "I need something to wear?—"

At that moment, there was a sound over by the armoire.

"Thank gods. Tonyah!" Fenling ran to the cupboard and opened the door. Inside, a smaller door against the wall opened and Tonyah entered. She was carrying not only my clothes but my other things.

She held her finger to her lips, then whispered. "Quiet, Mistress. There are guards outside the door. I thought something might be happening, so I decided to come through the hidden entrance." She held out my trousers and tunic, and then shook out my cloak and set my boots beside the bed. Keeping her voice low, she said, "I have your packs in the tunnels."

I quickly began to dress, but Tonyah motioned for us to join her in the tunnel. "You can't be too careful about who might be listening," she said, shutting the armoire door. "I'll get your clothes, Mistress." She hustled away, down the tunnel, then disappeared to the right.

I quickly began to dress, leaning against the wall. "How long have you had a secret entrance to your room?"

"Since I was young. Bran's father believed in preparing for the worst. All the royal rooms have hidden entrances to the network of tunnels that lead outside of the castle. I think Karehl must have forgot about them."

"Maybe. Or maybe that's why he sent his guards to arrest Bran before he could reach his room." I finished dressing, then quickly braided my long hair and tucked it in back. I pulled one of the laces off my boots and tied back the braid. "Can the prince really imprison Bran?"

"He has the right. And I'm sure he's been edging that way for a long time. I'm surprised it didn't happen before this. He's so convinced that Bran's going to try to dethrone him. I'm afraid Bran's life is in danger. We have to get out of here, and we have to contact Quen. We can trust him." Fenling stripped off her dress. "Karehl knows how close Bran and I are, and I wouldn't be surprised if I get thrown into the dungeons next."

Tonyah returned, this time carrying Fenling's traveling clothes.

"What about my weapons," I asked as Fenling quickly dressed.

"They're with your pack, milady."

"Thank you." I turned to help Fenling finish dressing.

"You're welcome, milady." Tonyah handed Fenling her boots.

"Tonyah, do you know anybody you can trust?" Fenling asked. "We'll need to hide somewhere until nightfall, and our horses will need to be ready for us."

"I do, actually. A stable hand who's like my little brother. There's a storage closet near one of the side entrances that the spies use."

"Spies?" I asked.

"Every kingdom has its spies," Fenling said. "The storage closet will work, and a stable hand is perfect. Thank you, Tonyah. You know I rely on your silence."

"Yes, Mistress." But the maid looked worried. "Beg pardon, Mistress, but you know they'll question me."

Fenling stood very still for a moment. "And if it were Bran, he'd be on his honor, but the prince won't be. Would you like to come with us?"

"I have little other choice," Tonyah said. "My family lives in the forest, so they should be safe enough. Nobody knows much about my background. But I'm afraid the prince—and his wife—will use whatever means they need in order to find out the answers they seek."

"Go gather the clothes you'll need for going into the wild and change here in the tunnel. If you have anything dear to you, bring it with you. We won't be coming back once we leave."

As soon as Tonyah was out of sight again, Fenling turned to me. "Karehl isn't above torture when he wants answers. Neither is Chara. If we leave Tonyah behind, they'll do whatever it takes to pry everything she knows out of her. I can't leave her to that fate."

I nodded in agreement. "What about the other members of the Lorani? Can we notify them?"

"Possibly. I'm hoping that Tonyah's friend can get to Quen. You can be sure when they find out Bran's been arrested, they're not going to be happy. Most of them look on Bran as the rightful leader of Eleago, and they don't like the prince at all. When Karehl exiled him to the Lorani, they signed up with him." She worried her lip. "I'm trying to think of a way to get a message to them without being seen."

"If we are spotted in the halls?—"

"We'll be tossed in the cell with Bran. And you…Charla's set on making a gift of you to her husband. But don't be under any illusions. She'll push him to humiliate you as much as he can, to punish you for catching his eye."

"I'm surprised she'd willingly give other women to him," I said. "She seems like a jealous cur. Maybe I'm wrong though, maybe she likes to watch. Or join in," I added.

"I doubt if she'd join in, though maybe I'm wrong on that. But you're right—the princess is jealous. Even though she's furious he wants you, the fact is that he'll look favorably on her if she doesn't complain. He'll probably buy her something precious that she wants. And if you're his mistress, she'll be able to order you around. The only thing he would object to is for her to leave marks on you, but I guarantee, the scars that woman can leave without a visible bruise…" She shuddered.

Tonyah returned, dressed in a tunic and trousers, boots and a long cloak. She turned and led us down the hall to where she was keeping our things. We gathered our packs and weapons and, as quietly as we could, headed for the storage closet.

What amazed me was just how spacious the tunnel was. Two of us could stand side by side, and it was a good three-four feet high over our head. There were glowing stones along the way that offered enough illumination to see our path, and the air was fresh and cool.

Along the way, Tonyah held up a key, then handed it to Fenling. "I have an extra, Mistress. This unlocks the door in the armoire."

"Thank you. I can't even remember where my key went?—"

"This is it, Mistress. One day, I noticed it sitting on the shelf in your room, and I pocketed it in case we might need it later. This was back when the prince started to change—when he began to fall into his paranoia."

"Good thinking," Fenling said. "All right, I have to figure out how to free Bran. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that Karehl plans to execute him. He can make up anything he wants to about the situation, and the people will have to accept it, or he'll send them to the axe as well."

"Would he really sentence Bran to execution?" The thought made me shudder. "I thought Bran was beloved by the people?—"

"Figure of speech. Even Karehl's not stupid enough to flaunt his power that way in front of a populace who adored their father and both sons. No, Bran will fall ill, no doubt, and die. It's easy to find poisons that mimic illnesses. It may take longer, but it wouldn't incite the violence that an assassination might." Fenling's voice was shaking. "I can't believe this is happening. We all thought the prince might lose it at some point, but there's a vast gulf between possibility and reality."

"This way," Tonyah said, as we came to an intersection in the tunnels. "We turn right, and then, after a stretch, left, and we'll be at the supply closet. We can wait there till nightfall and slip away."

"We'll need to get our horses out," Fenling said. "Can you contact your stable hand friend? And do you think he can talk to Quen?"

Tonyah thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, actually. Let me get you safely into the closet, then I'll cloak up and find him."

"We owe you more than gratitude," Fenling said.

We came to the storage closet. It was filled with food and other items that looked like they were meant for travelers, and Tonyah handed us a key, then pulled her hood down over her head and slipped away to find her friend.

We locked ourselves into the closet, and Fenling immediately began preparing several bags of food and other items like rope and flint.

"I can't believe this all happened so quickly?—"

"It's been a long time coming. Your presence is only peripheral to the main issue. I'm sorry you got caught up in things. Karehl knew his father wanted Bran to take the crown, but given he's older, he had the rightful claim. Even the king's wishes couldn't go against the royal traditions."

"What about their mother? Is she still living?"

"I think Karehl exiled his mother to some other place to live. Or he had her killed. Bran won't talk about it. Karehl's always been greedy for power to the exclusion of all else. Nothing else matters to him." Fenling handed me a loaf of hard-bread, along with some dried meat. "Eat. We may not have a chance to stop when we're on the road. We have to get back into the Bramble Fel Forest."

I ate, then helped her pack what we could so that it was easier carrying. We waited, tensely listening for any footsteps, for what seemed like an eternity until a tap on the door caught our attention.

"It's me," Tonya softly called through the door.

Fenling opened it. Tonya was there with another figure—he looked like a young man barely into early adulthood, with just a whisper of a beard on his face. He, too, was wearing a cloak but the hood was pushed back.

"This is Sparrow. He works in the stables. You can trust him."

"Sparrow? I need you to do three things: one, get a message to Quen, first lieutenant in the Lorani. Bring him here to talk to me, and don't let anyone see him. Go now, and tell him it's an emergency." Fenling pulled out several coins. "These will be yours when you return with him. And more later, if you make certain nobody else knows."

"Yes, Mistress." The young man's eyes glimmered and he turned, cloaking up as he moved away from the door.

"You're sure we can trust him?" I asked.

Tonyah nodded. "As much as I can trust anybody. He's an orphan. I've watched out for him for the past few years, since he first arrived in Eleago. He's loyal to me." She glanced around the storeroom. "Did you find the cache?"

"What are you talking about?" Fenling asked.

"Over here. The spies for the prince use this room now and then to outfit themselves before going out." Tonyah knelt down, loosening the floor boards in the corner.

"What kind of spies does Karehl employ?" Fenling asked.

Tonyah sighed. "I thought Lord Bran would have told you. In the past few years, the prince has sent out spies. I'm never sure what they're looking for, but I know of them because the keeper of this storage room is a friend of mine and she told me. They hide here, waiting to leave at night. The bed in that far corner? It gives them a place to rest."

"I wonder…" Fenling turned to me. "About a month before we found you, several new members joined the Lorani. I wonder if any of them were sent by the prince to watch us from within. Usually Bran decides our members, but Karehl promised several of them spots."

"Quen might know more," I said.

We whiled away the better part of an hour until Sparrow returned. Quen was behind him, also cloaked up and looking weary. The wound was healing quite well, but he looked tired.

"I heard about Bran," Quen said before we could say a word. "Several of the men are looking into it."

"First, that man who joined the Lorani about a month ago—who is he? Could he be a spy?" Fenling motioned for him to sit on the bed and he gratefully sank down on the mattress.

"You mean Gutan?" Quen's expression went from curious to concerned. "What makes you think so?"

Fenling motioned for Tonyah to tell Quen what she'd told us.

"Crumbs on a bed. You could be right about that. He's a tight one with information about himself. I didn't feel comfortable with him when he joined us, and that comfort level never grew. I kept waiting for something to happen." Quen shook his head. "Then again, we had several new recruits. I'll look into it. All right, what I see: we need to get the Lorani out into the wilds, without any of the new members knowing. We need to rescue Bran, and we need to protect both of you from the prince. You must get out of the gates and ride till you reach the forest."

"I think I know where you can stay if you want protection—at least for a day," Sparrow broke in. "Pardon me, Mistress, but I might be able to help."

"Where?" Fenling asked.

"There's an old witch woman who lives just inside the northern treeline to Bramble Fel Forest. She helped my mother get pregnant with me, and she helped again when my father hurt himself. I think she's some relative of mine, but my parents died before I could ask them about it. I've lived inside the castle walls most of my life, but my mother told me about her, a little."

"What's her name and do you know the path to her house?" Quen asked.

Sparrow nodded. "I do. And her name is Giselda. She belongs to the People of the Winds."

"We can make for her house," Fenling said. "Quen, do you really think you can get the Lorani out safely?"

"I think so. If asked, I can lie and say that we expect Bran to join us later, that we thought he had business with his brother, but we had to get back on the road in order to make our usual camping spot before the winter gets any worse." Quen frowned, shaking his head. "The prince has lost his way. The locals are grumbling a lot. And we were well-allied with several other nations before he came to power. He's destroyed so many of those contacts and commitments."

"We'll ride out at dark. I hope we can manage without being caught," Fenling said.

Quen gave me a thoughtful look. "I owe you my life. The two of you get out of here. I'll muster the Lorani and we'll meet you in the woods. We'll figure out a way to rescue Bran and smuggle him out."

"Should we make for this Giselda's house, then?" Fenling asked.

"I guarantee she'll welcome you in," Sparrow said.

"All right," I said. "We have to go somewhere. And it's cold out there."

"Then as soon as twilight hits, we'll sneak out. Quen, you should get back—be sure you're not followed, whatever you do." Fenling sighed. "I hate this, but we don't have a choice."

"I'm worried about one other thing," I said. "What if they do trace me back to Renmark and Goriman?" Both paths—the prince or the sheriff—promised to be a bad end for me.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Fenling said. "The prince wants you for himself."

"Either way, I'll get moving," Quen said. "We'll meet you at the witch's house in a day or two. Stay there for three days, and if we don't come by then, begin working your way south."

"I just wish we could free Bran before we leave," Fenling said.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. "I can go alone, but I think he's right. If they arrested Bran, they'll come after you. You know I'm right. The princess may be pissed at my presence, but I only represent a threat to her bedchamber. You…you're a threat to both her and the prince's very way of life. If they're worried about Bran, they're worried about you, too."

She sighed, then nodded. "You're right. What I did this morning—walking out on the princess—will be just the excuse they need. All right, we leave tonight. Quen, don't let us down. Please."

"I'll do my best." He turned to me. "You, take care of yourself. I will do everything I can to repay you for what you did for me."

And with that, our path was set.