“Of course. You have a grandson. So you have a wife. Can I ask her age?”
“She is a few years older than me.”
“How old does she appear? I know it’s none of my business, but as a woman, I have to ask.”
Gareth drew in a deep breath and held it before allowing it to escape past pursed lips. “She looks her age, and is beautiful.”
Ann mounted and said, “We need to go. And as far as I’m concerned we never stopped for a drink or talked.”
She rode tall in her saddle as she urged her horse up the path. Gareth gathered Tad and helped him into his saddle. He believed her. The Brotherhood and King reacted to him with animosity and posted rewards for him. They desired to cage him and use him to suit their needs. Ann and the Sisterhood asked nothing of him. Perhaps he should consider the Sisterhood more as allies than he previously thought. Or perhaps, Ann was different from other Sisters.
The roads occasionally held farmer’s wagons heading to markets or trader’s goods on their way to the great market in the palace square. Men walked the road because horses were signs of wealth most couldn’t afford. Women worked in gardens or tended to small domesticated animals beside farmhouses. Soldiers stood at checkpoints, usually at bends in the road and unseen by travelers until they were almost upon them and couldn’t duck into the forest to circle around.
The soldiers asked their destinations, home villages, and assorted other questions to identify the travelers. They were looking for a man of fifty, traveling by himself most likely. Ann answered most questions in an irritated manner, the same any woman might use. She was Gareth’s mother, and Tad was his son. They were going home to Freeport.
As soon as they left each checkpoint, Gareth reached out and brushed the soldier’s minds of the details of their passing. If asked, most would state that they believed they had spoken to a family of three, none of whom bore any resemblance to the one they searched for.
Despite being delayed on the road seven times in a single day, they made good progress because the army never detained them for long. Gareth used the time in the saddle to find that over half of the Brotherhood in the kingdom now resided at one of the several farms outside of the major cities, under the watchful eyes of the King’s men. He also touched minds with Blackie and ordered him to move to a new roost. Remaining in one place could be dangerous.
He wished he could speak with his family on Bitters Island if they were still there, to consider the new idea that a member of the Sisterhood living with them might be a good idea. He could use her to pass on information, and then realized he was just homesick. The Brothers he touched minds with at the various farms were calm and held little information of value.
Having nothing else to do as he rode, his mind drifted to the vapors of the unknown, like closing his eyes in a large crowd, listening to voices that stand out for one reason or another. He listened to snatches of conversation, felt the reaction as a Sister burned herself on a wood stove, and there was a Brother, who shared the knowledge that the King would soon meet with the leaders of the Brotherhood to discuss a treaty concerning Gareth.
Ann pulled her horse to a halt and turned. “Did you hear that?”
“The Brothers mentioned the King’s meeting?”
“No. I heard the new voice in the mists.”
“Give me a minute to listen.” Gareth closed his eyes and waited, letting the wave of thoughts, ideas, and subvocalizing was over him as if someone poured the minds of a thousand people over him. Most were casual, some wary, and as he searched and filtered, one apart took shape, and he felt drawn to it.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Gareth.” the new voice purred as if satisfied that it had done something of value. It almost smiled with each word.
The mental touch felt unclean, but Gareth steadfastly held onto the thread, knowing he’d touched minds with a voice he’d never heard, but one responsible for his father’s death. “Where are you?”
“I am closer than you think, and I intend to kill you.”
“Why? Have I offended you in some manner?” Gareth refused the bait and didn’t argue or threaten. He asked his questions in a soft, reassuring, mental tone, while smothering further the thoughts in Tad’s mind, and also keeping his mind compartmentalized so the new voice could not gain any information from him or the boy. Meanwhile, he frantically tried to gather information without being obvious. The owner of the mental voice had little control over much of his thinking—especially emotional.
“You think you’re so important, Gareth. Others think you’re great. I’m going to show you who’s got the most power and who is the greatest, and it isn’t you.”
Again, the response sounded and felt like a younger person blustering, but that made the owner of the voice no less dangerous. It makes him more dangerous in many ways. He would have little restraint. Gareth touched the other mind again with soothing feelings. “Can we talk about this? Maybe we can resolve it peacefully.”
“You just want to get the upper hand and attack me.”
The mental touch again felt scared, angry, and without filters. Gareth tried to shake the feelings of distaste as he reached out again. However, as he touched the young mind, another was waiting there too, concealed and waiting. It attacked.
With the first touch, a pain shot through his mind, a piercing scream of anguish and hate. Gareth threw up his hands to his temples attempting to cut off the increasing torture, but the pressure built and built. The wailing and filth of an insane mind entered his head. He shut it off as he fell from his saddle and struck his shoulder on the ground. His mind went black, but even then he held tight to one small section that nothing could enter. He lashed out with a mental whip of his own and felt the tip strike and slash across the other mind.
CHAPTER NINE
Ann cradled Gareth in her arms while crouched in the center of the dirt road where he’d fallen from his horse. He came to with fear, loathing, and anger foremost in his mind. The mental power that entered his mind had at first felt unclean, but near the end of the conversation, it was loaded with feelings so strong it had almost taken control of his mind, all but that small section he protected as his last stronghold.
He gained awareness slowly and stood on shaky legs with the help of Ann. He tried to recall every thought, word, threat, and emotion. The new voice was someone unknown to him, a stranger, and someone young. But age did not relieve Gareth of danger. A sword in the hands of a young man will kill as certainly as one in the hands of a soldier if used at the proper time.
But the most confusing portion of the encounter was that it was not the mind he’d touched before—the one that threatened him. It was another, one listening to the young voice. Pulling himself together, he glanced at Tad to ensure he was well.
“He did this to you?” Ann asked, the worry and fear clear in her tone. “The voice we hear?”
Tad ventured to his side and took his limp hand in his. “Dad, are you all right?”
“I’m going to be fine.”
“I don’t like that person,” Tad said.
Gareth looked at him, more fear bubbling to the surface. Had the boy heard what passed between them? Asking would reveal information Tad didn’t need to know about, but if Tad had managed to listen or feel what passed between them it implied greater danger for the boy. If the second voice sensed Tad, it would go after him.
Ann said, “His voice was so strong at times I could hear him, and I’ll bet a lot of others did too.”