It Ends Soon

It wasn’t until the third night that Sackrin realized they had two tails, not one. He hadn’t confronted their first tracker. Whoever it was stopped whenever they did and hadn’t yet made any move to get closer or harm them in any way.

This second tail was more skilled. They moved silently, and only when no one was looking. It was pure happenstance that Sackrin had noticed them. He had dropped a piece of dried hogbleet and turned to pick it up. One did not have the luxury of worrying about a little dirt in times like these. As he spun, he caught the barest hint of movement from within the trees, a little to the left of where he knew the other tracker was moving. The movement stopped as soon as he was facing that direction, so quickly an untrained eye wouldn’t have seen. He pretended he hadn’t seen it either. For now.

***

When Aluri walked in on Aniah, he was smiling. That seemed like a decidedly bad sign.

“So good to see you, child,” he said. There was an odd perkiness in his voice, a skip in his step. He must’ve murdered some baby gibbles on the way over to be in such high spirits.

“I wish I could say the same,” she muttered.

“I am here to bring you to the King,” he said, ignoring her. “He is very eager to see you.”

She sneered at him. “Oh, so you aren’t afraid anymore? I thought you must’ve gone off and hidden in your burrow or something.”

He nodded as if in acquiescence. “I’ll admit, you had me worried there for a bit. But,” he waved a dismissive hand. “That is all in the past. Come along now.”

She folded her arms. “And what if I just decide to strike you down instead?”

His eyes narrowed, lips curling up into a distinctly disturbing smile. “Ah, but you see, I no longer believe that you can.”

She felt her heart lurch. But beneath her initial panic, she was annoyed. This cocky little peasant thought he could control her, drag her around, use her as a pawn? Who did he think he was?

“I most certainly can,” she snapped.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “No, no I don’t think you can. Thank you, though. You have been most informative.”

She glared at him. “Bastard.”

“Demonstrably false,” he replied flippantly.

“Flame wraith,” she spat.

“That one might be accurate, depending on whom you ask. Regardless, is this your version of striking me down?” He seemed far too pleased with himself.

“No, I haven’t gotten to that part yet.” She reached inside herself, seeking for…something. Something that she had used to hurt this man before. Her Will was there, but as she tried to lash out with it, nothing happened. Frantically, she pushed harder. Nothing. She wanted to scream.

“And you never shall,” he said, lifting his arms to his sides, palms up, in a mocking shrug.

“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re still not getting any information out of me. Or that prisoner of yours. So it doesn’t really matter if I can hurt you or not. You still can’t win.”

He shook his head in a pitying way. “Oh, child. You’ve already given me so much information. I wanted to know what that prisoner could do. He has a very…special skillset. And now, with your help, I almost have the puzzle completed. I suspect it won’t be long before I tease out the final secrets.”

She continued to glare at him. He was bluffing, obviously. Hoping she would assume he already knew and be more free with her words. Well, the joke was on him, because she didn’t have a clue what the prisoner could do anyway.

“Wasn’t I supposed to go meet with the King?” she snapped, folding her arms.

He gave her a look of mock-puzzlement. “I thought you would be glad to delay the inevitable.”

“Better to get it over with and move on,” she said wryly.

He smiled, eyes narrowed to slits. “Oh, I think after this encounter you will find it rather difficult to move on.”

She frowned. What did that mean?

“I’m sorry, I thought it would be clear,” he said, feigning surprise. He slapped his forehead, then grimaced exaggeratedly. “My apologies. Don’t you see, child? I have all the information I need from you. Your mother is clearly not concerned enough to pay ransom. We have no further use for you.”

Her throat suddenly went dry. He’s bluffing, she thought desperately. He has to be.

“No,” she whispered. The word came out unbidden, and Aluri’s smile deepened.

She slumped down onto her bed, suddenly numb. She wasn’t going to meet with Abicotta for another meaningless round of verbal banter.

She was going to her execution.

***

Crossing the river was easy via one of the numerous enormous bridges. They looked like regular travelers, and the fact that they were actually a family and thus resembled each other made their story more believable to anyone who might’ve doubted. Kritose and Manicot had open borders to each other, even still. Jistan doubted that would last long, but for now, they moved without opposition from Manicot to Kritose.

Jistan felt the experience should have been more…well, more. Looking around, he felt he could easily be in any number of outlying villages or farmsteads in Manicot. Shouldn’t entering a foreign country, especially one that was currently trying to destroy your home, feel different?

He shook his head. Meaningless thoughts.

“The King’s seat is only about a ten mile journey southwest,” Sackrin said. “We can be there by nightfall.”

“What if that’s not where she’s being kept?” Jistan asked, keeping his voice low even though there was no one even sort of close enough to overhear them.

“Then we’ll have to try to discover where she is. But I seriously doubt she would be very far from the King and his central power.” Sackrin seemed confident. Jistan wished he could share that emotion, but his brain was so stretched and tied up in knots it could have been used as a climbing rope.

“Even if she is in the King’s seat,” Karrin said, flipping a knife absentmindedly into the air as she walked, “that’s a lot of area to cover, especially with us having no connections in the city.”

“We’ll just have to do our best,” Sackrin said. Jistan eyed him. Being confident was one thing, but Sackrin seemed far too relaxed, too unconcerned.

“You already know where she is, don’t you?” Jistan exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at his father. Sackrin shrugged.

“According to the one who sent me, she is being kept in the palace itself. He wasn’t positive of that information, but relatively confident. It’s a good start, at least.”

Karrin snorted. “Oh, goodie. We know where she is, but it just happens to be the most impregnable structure in the entire nation. I see no problem.”

“You shouldn’t,” Sackrin replied, grinning with an almost childish mischief. “After all, we have three Mind Scythes.”

“Two and a half,” Jistan muttered. Karrin slapped him on the back.

“Oh, come on now. I know our old man has started to slouch in his advanced years, but surely it isn’t that bad.”

“Ha,” Sackrin said wryly. “Last time I ever take it easy on you during training, missy.”

Karrin grinned. Jistan shook his head, amazed. How could they be so mirthful at a time like this? He was more likely to throw up than crack a joke.

“Do we have time to stop for food?” Karrin asked, eying a small bread stand selling packaged dinner rolls. “Need to have energy, ya know, for all the butt-whooping we’re gonna have to do later.”

Sackrin pulled a wheat bar out of his pack and tossed it to her. “We eat on the way.”

She grimaced. “Figures.”

***

Joree woke up to a pounding headache. His whole body felt wrong, somehow. Not just from weeks of starvation and torture. He forced his eyes open, a surprisingly difficult task.

The world was upside down. What? He shook his head, a motion that made his vision spin. As it cleared, he realized the truth. He was upside down, hanging by his ankles from the ceiling. His head throbbed like it was about to burst.

“The key wakes.”

Joree slowly turned his head, the motion exacerbating the pounding in his skull. A blurred figure stood at the corner of his vision, tall, golden hair. Even through his hazy eyesight, Joree recognized the man that had captured him and brought him to this place.

“Well?” he tried to demand. It came out as a groan. The figure moved towards him, placing an arm across the back of his shoulders. A second later, Joree was falling, back the man supported his head and caught his legs with his other arm, lowering him slowly to the floor. Joree was so dazed he didn’t even cry out.

“Wait,” the wraith-like man whispered. “It ends soon.”

***

“Wait, what?” Jistan exclaimed, missing a step and nearly stumbling over an uneven cobblestone.

“What what?” Karrin asked. “It’s a pretty straightforward plan.”

“Plan?” Jistan demanded, probably too loudly. “This isn’t a plan! It’s a…a…” He couldn’t think of a description that properly described the insanity of what his father had just proposed. “It’s pure stupidity!” he finally said.

“Waiting around won’t help,” Sackrin said. “The longer we remain in the city, the more likely we are to draw attention. I’m sure King Abicotta has people keeping an eye out for Manicoti spies, and they will know what to look for. We have no connections, which means that looking for information will be dangerous and risky. We will be more likely to expose ourselves than to discover anything useful.”

“So we’re just going to storm the Flaming palace?” Jistan threw his hands into the air.

“Keep your voice down, little brother,” Karrin muttered, nudging him with an elbow.

He glared at her, but lowered his voice. “This is a velching bad idea.”

“You just haven’t been with the Mind Scythes long enough,” Sackrin said, waving a hand. “We do things like this, things that others call crazy or impossible. And we succeed. You’ll see.”

Jistan was far from convinced.

“We won’t even make it through the front doors,” he insisted.

“Of course not,” Sackrin said.

That caught Jistan off guard. “So…um…you’re saying that I’m right?”

Sackrin grinned impishly. “Yes, indeed. We won’t make it through the front doors. We’re going to use the kitchen.”

***

Narissa stayed back, watching Sackrin’s group while trying to look inconspicuous. It had grown dark about an hour ago, and lanterns lit the courtyard around the palace with an eerie glow. Sackrin had moved to the side of the enormous structure. Now, he simply stood, chatting with his two young companions. None of them seemed in a hurry to do anything. Narissa resisted the urge to shuffle. She clasped her hands before her, trying to remain patient. What were they doing?

It didn’t take long for her to find out. A small side door in the palace opened, and a few servants wearing aprons and funny little hats exited.

Sackrin moved with blinding speed, the darkness making his motions even harder to track. He brushed by the servants, who yelped and looked around, clearly unsure what was going on. They spun about, but he had already vanished.

The servants grumbled amongst themselves, quickening their step as they left the courtyard. A few moments later, that same door opened. Sackrin emerged, gesturing for the other two to follow. How had he managed to get inside before the door closed?

Narissa hesitated for only a moment, and then dashed out into the open towards them. It was foolhardy, but Flames, she wouldn’t just sit here and wait while her son was trapped somewhere with that creature Vris.

Karrin spun on her, likely hearing her footsteps. Flames, she already had a knife drawn. Sackrin, however, held up a hand. He nodded to Narissa.

“So, it’s been you this whole time?” He didn’t seem at all surprised to see her.

“Yes,” Narissa said, cringing slightly. Honesty seemed the easiest explanation at this point. “The Kritons have my son. I overheard you talking about coming here on a rescue mission. So I followed.”

He nodded again. “And the other one? Are they with you?”

She frowned. “Other one?”

“Never mind. We need to move.” He eyed her.

“My son is in there,” Narissa said firmly. “I’m not asking you to help me, but at least let me in. Who knows, maybe I’ll get caught and provide a wonderful distraction for you.”

He grinned, a surprisingly childish expression. “Come now, I may be a bit out of practice with social mores, but I’m more of a gentleman than that.”