Disclaimer: This is not the final version as it will be available from the usual e-book sellers and eventually, bookstores. Rather, it should be seen as an (almost) final draft. If you are interested in becoming a beta reader, or you have any comments, suggestions or thoughts that you feel I should consider before publishing please drop me a line using the contact form.
A Night in and Out of Gaol
After having mader their way back up to Peyrepertuse, she bid Gladiuth thanks and goodbye and went back into the depths of the dungeon. Myrthe was still watching over Matt, but it was obvious that she had set the matter straight as far as the dungeon keepers were concerned. They were treating Matt as a valuable asset, rather than the customary, brutal way prisoners were handled. The other prisoners were no longer present, Ala assumed they must have been moved to a different cell. Myrthe had made sure that the Guard Captain was already talking to Matt. It was a smart thing to do, because the wealth of information Matt had in his head was becoming clear to the man. It couldn’t hurt Matt’s chances if the Duke’s Guard wanted what he knew. Myrthe was sitting at the table where the gaolers usually took their meals, drinking watered ale with one of the guards, a middle aged man with a bit of a paunch who looked harried.
“Hey there.”
The guard fairly jumped up. “I apologise milady!”
Ala wondered how he could possibly reach such a conclusion about her heritage, still covered in dirt and grime as she was. It was as if someone had posted a sign on her forehead ever since she had found out herself.
“Relax, guardsman,” she said.
Ala sat down and Myrthe poured some of the watered ale into her cup and gave it to Ala.
“Sit down, for god’s sake,” Ala said to the guardsman, before turning to Myrthe. “Are you satisfied we can leave him here safely for the night?” Ala took a deep sip from the cup.
“Not completely. I think I convinced the Captain to make sure he has a guard tonight. That thief that got away has a lot of reasons to have him killed.”
“If they’re uncertain of his loyalty to the guild, which they will be since he turned on the man that escaped, the whole guild will feel the same way, I imagine. It’s a question of how far their reach is.”
It didn’t look like Myrthe was fully confident Matt would be safe. She had clearly fully taken the young man’s plight to heart after Guanshiyin had demonstrated her favour by healing him.
“It could well be they have agents within the castle walls. Shall we stay here then, just in case?”
Ala looked around the gaol, trying to gauge how she might defend it before she spoke, “it would make me feel better too, I think.”
This idea appeared to perk Myrthe up and relax her. “Shall we? Yes let’s! That idea is making me feel better already. This is Henry by the way.”
She gestured at the guard who had nervously sat down at the table again though he wasn’t really daring to move or speak.
“Hello Henry. I’m Alagariel. Would you please calm down?”
“Just think of the respect you’ll have when you tell them in the barracks that you spent the night drinking ale with two Ladies.”
Myrthe hadn’t helped with her comment. Henry had just bravely been trying to take a sip of his cup of watered ale. It now came out of his nose, which made him even more self-conscious.
“I don’t think that exactly helped to calm him down, Myr.”
The guard Captain came into the guard chamber then, having left his conversation with Matt. He was a man in his mid forties with a neat beard. He was also a knight. Poor Henry had to stand up again.
“Greetings, you must be Lady Alagariel, I’m Captain Jorwyn,” he bowed slightly to her. “Well Lady Myrthe, he’s certainly singing like he’s reformed. Never really known a man to change though, so I’m still suspicious.”
Myrthe replied, “I’m not sure it’s a change. I don’t think he was ever one of those guildsmen in his heart. Guanshiyin would never have saved him if his heart wasn’t true.”
“Well I hope you’re right,” the Captain said dismissively, “but, reformed or not, I too am concerned about the guild attempting to assassinate him down here. I’ve formed a detail of six trusted guardsmen to stand watch.”
“That is very kind of you. Ala and I have decided to stay here tonight too, just in case.”
“This is no place for Ladies…”
“We insist,” Ala said quietly.
It left absolutely no room for discussion. There was a moment of silence.
“Well, I can hardly deny it then, can I? We’ll clear out the next cell and organise some bedrolls and food. The door will stay open of course.”
“Thank you Captain.”
The Captain left them. Henry didn’t dare to sit down without orders apparently, so Myrthe asked him to sit down again. Shortly afterwards a platter of bread, butter, cheese and ham was brought by a servant as well as some more watered ale.
“So we spend a night in gaol.”
“Let’s hope it’s uneventful. So, where did you go today?”
“First, I practised with Gladiuth. Out in the yard.”
“Oh really? Just practised?” Myrthe raised an eyebrow.
“Your mind lives in the gutter. Yes, just practised… he’s interesting actually… just more as a swordsman than anything else. Something strange did happen though.”
“Like what?”
“A sort of trance. We apparently practised for hours. I can recall every second of it, yet it seemed like no time had passed at all. We were so engrossed, that we didn’t even notice that half the court came out to watch, including the Duke himself.”
“Sounds like a kind of sex to me. Bit kinky, with everyone watching…”
Poor Henry just didn’t know what to do with himself. Myrthe took pity on him.
“If our conversation is too unnerving why don’t you take the new decanter of ale and go sit in a cell or something, Henry?”
Henry fled, clutching the ale and his cup to him as he mumbled apologies.
“Where were we?”
“You said it sounded like sex to you. I have only a little experience of that, but I can imagine that if you were completely into someone it might be the same. This was with swords though. Live ones.”
“So a live sword was involved?”
Ala couldn’t help but smile and blush.
“You’re incorrigible, Myr!”
“Just having fun with you. So a sword-fighting trance, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.”
“Gladiuth said he’d experienced it once before in Amahle. With an elven sword master. He called it a Battle-Dance.”
“That I’ve heard of. I’ve read stories about elven battle dancers. They’re said to be the most deadly blade wielders that ever lived. They turned the tide at the battle of Vani-something. I think my grandfather was killed there, in fact.”
“Vanidil, so the Duke said. Your grandfather was killed in battle? Really?”
“A fate that befalls a disproportionate number of nobles. But, to get back to things. You’ve been chatting with the Duke too? Can’t leave you alone for a minute. You didn’t kick the Duke in the nuts too or anything, did you?”
“No! Of course not!”
“Well, that’s something, at least. So does this mean you’re a battle dancer now?
“Hardly. I have no idea how I got into that state, only a very slight idea of how to reproduce it even with Gladiuth. No idea how I would do it in a real fight. So, it’s like spotting a glimpse of light in the mist. That’s how it feels, a fleeting glimpse.”
“As usual you are full of surprises. Maybe you just need to want it.”
“I think it’s a little more involved than that. It’s something to study. I may figure it out, or maybe I will find an elf who can teach me more about it. Anyway, after that I went with Gladiuth to see his mother and aunt.”
“You’ve met his mother already, that’s quick going.”
“Stop it. He’s not unattractive, but I don’t think he’s for me.”
“Why not?”
“The idea of him dying centuries before me scares the hell out of me.”
“You don’t have to marry the man, Ala. You are allowed to have fun.”
Ala was silent for a moment.
“I’ll think about it. But anyway, actually speaking to other real live elves was useful and wonderful. Apparently the five elven realms are a bit of a mess at the moment, in the opinion of older elves anyway. The High Throne has been empty for five hundred years and Gladiuth’s family at least, wasn’t happy with the situation.”
“Really? Hmm… it’s never been explained to me that way. I suppose if something has been the same way for five hundred years, humans would see it as a more or less permanent situation. Interesting how points of view differ. What happened to the last High King again?”
“Reputedly slain by demons, opening the way for a demonic invasion of the world. Or something. That’s the popular story… among elves anyway.”
“Well, I haven’t seen that happening yet.”
“Yeah, well who knows what kind of timescales demons… or gods work in.”
“There is that. Are demonic invasions of the world a popular problem, with elves?”
“You’re ridiculing it. If you must know, you know who rid the world of demons the last time?”
“An elf, no doubt.”
“Of course. A Queen the humans call Alagariel.”
Myrthe smiled, “the faerytale. Of course. Well, I can only hope they’re wrong and we won’t be seeing any demons in the short run.”
“I suppose that would be best…”
There was a thunk from the cell where they were to sleep, which was strange. Henry was in there. Ala got up and walked over. Henry was lying on the floor, convulsing, having fallen off the bench where he had been sitting.
“Myrthe, there’s something very wrong.”
Myrthe got up and rushed over, checking Henry’s pulse.
“He’s dead.”
She smelt the cup he had been drinking from.
“It just smells like ale… maybe something. I’d say… maybe nightshade and perhaps some sort of accelerant? Enough to kill a horse. How the hell did they cover the taste of that?”
“Myr, Where in the hell are the guards the Captain was going to send?”
Ala ran back into the cell and grabbed Henry’s keys. She opened the cell door to Matt’s cell.
“Wake up sleepy head. Someone’s coming to kill you.”
“Huh what? Haven’t I done enough today?”
“Well, we’re going to have to do a little more otherwise it will be for nothing. Myrthe bring Henry’s club. Give Matt your riding sword, he’s probably more use with it than you are….”
“I… ehh… daggers… are more my thing…”
“Just take the sword Matt, I don’t have any daggers. You can have my knife, if you must.”
He glanced at the small knife at her belt and shook his head, “hah, I’ll go with the sword, that’s barely a weapon.”
“Right. Myr, Lock Matt’s cell, and let’s bring Henry’s body to the table, put his keys back on his belt.”
“What do you have in mind Ala?”
“We wait until they come, we’ll ambush whoever comes in the door, then we move. Put out some of the torches. Make it dark in here, but not darker than it would be if a gaoler was sleeping. They’ll be looking for three corpses. Matt, put on my cloak, lie down on the floor behind the table. Myrthe, you play dead too.”
They didn’t have to wait long. The outer door wasn’t locked and Ala saw the latch move a few minutes later. The door opened slowly inwards. The first thing she saw was a the tip of a crossbow stick out from the doorway. She was standing with her back to the wall, and her sword high, pointing upwards from her right shoulder. The first intruder crept in, keeping his crossbow shouldered, covering the table, he was wearing a hooded cloak. The crossbows complicated matters, especially since her shield had been left at the temple. The second man came in and began to turn his crossbow towards her. They were certainly well drilled. It decided the matter for her. She dropped her sword level and stuck it through the side of the man’s head at the temple as he was turning towards her. The sound of the blade entering through his skull made slight crunch and the man began to sag. The front man obviously detected something and whirled round. She judged that she wasn’t going to have her blade free of the first man’s head before he brought the crossbow to bear. She flared her flames as hard as she could. In an out of body kind of way she felt the room fill with searing light, a ball of white flame rapidly expanding outward from her. She frantically stopped doing it as she belatedly realised she might hurt Matt and Myrthe. Darkness returned but for some reason the light hadn’t blinded her. The crossbowman was not so lucky. He was weaving around like a drunk, his clothes burning, giving Ala more than enough time to step past him, in case there was a third assassin. Matt and Myrthe had now also started to move. They had had their heads down, so they shouldn’t have been too affected by Ala’s firework display.
Ala turned round. There was indeed a third man in the doorway. He was opening and closing his eyes obviously trying to get his vision back. Ala pushed the man who had been engulfed in her flames forward, towards his companion in the doorway. The man standing there just saw a vague blob coming towards him, and fired his crossbow at it, hitting the man in the chest somewhere. As he toppled over sideways, Ala rushed forward towards the third man. She hoped that was the last of them. She didn’t relish trying to deflect a crossbow bolt with her sword. The man in the doorway thought better of it, dropped his crossbow and started running down the hallway to Ala’s right. She rushed after him, drawing her knife with her left hand. She threw it after the man, but it just missed him and clanged onto the floor as he turned to his left. She decided not to pursue, reminding herself of Bernard’s lessons – the prize was keeping Matt alive, not catching the thieves. She quickly walked back to the gaol. Myrthe had lighted all the torches they had extinguished earlier. Both the crossbowmen were dead.
“Third one got away,” Ala said as she came in. They could hear sounds of armoured men running.
Matt looked at the two of them, the tension he was feeling was obvious. “Being a Guildsman is much safer than being a former Guildsman. People have tried to kill me twice today.”
“I’m not sure what time it is. If it’s just after midnight, then the first time was yesterday, just so you can whine about the right things,” said Myrthe, looking annoyed.
“Grab that crossbow, would you Myr, and use the table for cover. If that other table isn’t too charred, maybe you can do the same with that one, Matt. I assume the sound of running men I hear are guards, but we can’t be certain.”
It turned out the be the captain with four guardsmen. The Captain was flushed as he rushed in and stopped abruptly, looking surprised as he was facing the two crossbows. Ala was at her spot next to the door.
“Hello Captain. Nice to have you back.” said Ala.
“You’re all alive. Thank Belus! What happened?”
He was obviously looking at the blackened marks on the wall, floor and the charring on one of the corpses.
Myrthe answered, “not all of us. Henry is dead. The jug of watered ale that came with the bread was poisoned and the poor bastard drank first. Shortly after, we were attacked by three crossbowmen. One of them got away.”
“A servant raised the alarm when he found two guardsmen with their throats cut in a side passage. I came immediately. What happened to the floor?”
Ala shrugged. The captain eyed Matt, with a crossbow and a riding sword, but didn’t say anything. The guards the Captain had brought were the remaining four that had been scheduled to do guard shifts.
“With all due respect Captain. It appears to me that the Thieves’ Guild is well infiltrated throughout Duilhac and even here in Castle Peyrepertuse. Might I suggest we try a different approach for safety? Myrthe and I will stay with Matt, but not here. We won’t leave Peyrepertuse, but perhaps it’s best if we find a place to spend the night which we don’t advertise to the rest of the castle?”
The Captain clearly didn’t much like it, but seemed to realise he didn’t have much choice as the security of his gaol had just been proven to be less than perfect.
“I would like to send at least one guard with you. I will need to go and tell the Duke what is going on in his Castle.”
“Alright. One guard. I pick, uhm… him.”
Ala randomly pointed out one of the four men with her sword.
“Rufus, stay with them, guard them with your life.”
“Yes Captain.”
They left the Captain and his guards. Matt had salvaged some equipment from the two dead would-be assassins. He knew exactly where they kept the tools he was looking for. He swiftly stored the lock picks and a few other items the purpose of which wasn’t clear to Ala. Taking a roundabout route around the castle grounds and trying to make sure no one was following them, they sat down in one of the arches on the inside of the outer wall on the side of the castle that was facing away from the city. It was a quiet part of the castle at any time, especially in the middle of the night. Only a lookout occasionally made his round along the battlements above. Ala took some time observing the area around them, but there was no sign that anyone had seen where they went and she could see no one at all moving around. She looked at her companions. Matt was still psyched from the night’s exertions. Perhaps it was simply that he would have to explain himself at the Duke’s court within a few hours? It would be enough to make Ala very nervous too. Matt fidgeted nervously, glancing about every few seconds.
Myrthe was chatting softly with Rufus. Ala decided she would lie down and meditate. Thankfully, there were no further incidents before dawn came. Precisely when dawn came was difficult to judge as the bulk of the castle blocked their view of the rising sun. The Duke’s court was scheduled to begin just after breakfast. Ala had been awake for hours and had been watching the denizens of the castle began their daily rituals. She’d managed to rest relatively well despite the discomfort of doing so while wearing her mail. The others hadn’t managed a lot of sleep. When Ala judged it time, she had Rufus lead them to the kitchens. Their arrival caused a bit of a flutter among the serving staff, as they made their way through, getting in the way of the morning rush.
“I don’t care who you are, milady, you have no business stomping through my kitchen!”
A large round woman wearing a well used leather apron over a simple brown kirtle blocked their advance. She had red cheeks and brown hair under a cap and her expression brooked no discussion. Ala decided she must be rather brave, or maybe the woman just defended the kitchen with her life, no matter how well armed or noble an intruder might be.
“I’m sorry, mistress, but strange as it may seem, we are on the Duke’s business. I need to be able to select some fare for my companions and myself without interference.”
The round woman showed no sign of caving to Ala’s wishes. A boy, a paige of some sort came up behind her and whispered into the woman’s ear. Her eyes went wide.
“I’m sorry, ladies. I don’t like people messing around my kitchen. Please tell me what you need.”
Ala moved closer to the woman so that people around couldn’t overhear.
“Cook, I assume you are the cook?”
The woman nodded.
“Last night, the thieves’ guild managed to infiltrate the castle.”
The revelation clearly didn’t surprise the cook. In a whisper she said, “they can get everywhere, milady, like rats.”
“Well this time they managed to poison a guard by mixing nightshade into the man’s ale. I just need to be able to select some foods for us that no one could have known beforehand would be consumed by us.”
The round woman had keen eyes, she nodded, clearly understanding why at once.
“Alright, I understand milady. Take what you need.”
Ala picked various foods for them, more or less at random, to make sure no one could bring them anything poisoned. Ala thanked the cook and apologised again for disrupting everything, who pointed out an area where they could sit and eat. They sat down in a corner of the kitchen and ate quietly. Ala was still making certain to keep careful tabs on their surroundings, but thankfully no one leapt down from the rafters to try and kill Matt.
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