“Everything’s ready,” Fadili whispered. “The boy is already inside.”
“Gran and Ashinji should be along very soon,” Magnes replied, his lips close to Fadili’s ear. “Have you seen Aruk-cho?”
“No,” Fadili said, then added, “Are you sure we can trust him?”
“Gran and Ashinji do, and I trust their judgment.” The two men moved into position beside the wagon, Fadili crouching down by the front wheels, Magnes standing at the rear. Anxiously, Magnes peered into the darkness, straining to catch any movement. Snippets of sound drifted past his ears-discordant voices raised in song, the trill of a nightingale, the restless sigh of the wind. Magnes forced himself to take deep, slow breaths, but his heart insisted on pounding against his breastbone until he thought it might tear itself free.
Where’re Ashi and Gran? What’s keeping them?
The wind picked up, gusting through the yard, laden with the smell of rain.
This is good, Magnes thought. Rain would discourage lazy sentries from too much diligence and keep the drunks ensconced in the taverns, thus reducing traffic on the streets.
“Someone’s coming!” Fadili hissed. Magnes pressed against the smooth wood of the wagon and held himself still.
Gran materialized out of the darkness like a wraith, gripping Magnes’ arm with startling strength. He stifled a yelp, then whispered, “Where is Ashi?” in a voice edgy with apprehension.
“He’s coming. He had to take care of someone first,” Gran breathed in reply. Magnes didn’t need to be told the name of that someone. “I should have taken care of her myself, but Ashi wouldn’t let me!” The old elf woman made no attempt to hide her irritation.
“I’ll go get the horse,” Fadili whispered. He disappeared into the dark. Magnes let out a ragged sigh.
Gran squeezed his arm reassuringly. “Don’t fret, Ti…I mean, Magnes. Aruk-cho has taken care of his end of things, as have I. When the mistress sits at her desk tomorrow morning to go over the accounts, she will find a small pouch with two hundred gold imperials inside. She won’t understand at first where the money came from, but when she discovers that we are all gone, it will make sense to her. Aruk-cho has promised he will try to talk her out of sending the slave catchers after us…or rather, after Ashi, for it’s his loss that will sting the most.”
“Do you really believe Mistress de Guera is in love with Ashi?” Magnes asked.
“It isn’t as far-fetched as it seems,” Gran replied. “Ashi is beautiful, even by elven standards, but perhaps love is too strong a word. I know she desires him and is powerfully intrigued by him. Maybe she does love him…Ai, here he comes!”
A figure approached, slipping furtively through the shadows. Magnes breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ashi!” Gran hissed. “We must hurry. Aruk-cho is waiting by the gate!”
“I’m sorry,” Ashinji whispered. “I couldn’t get away from Leeta. I had to go with her to…to her bed.”
“Ashi you didn’t…?” Magnes began, then stopped himself.
He owes me no explanations. He did whatever he had to.
The soft thud of hooves on sand signaled the arrival of Fadili with the horse.
“Let’s go!” Magnes bent down to reach under the wagon bed, his fingers questing for a tiny knob protruding from the undercarriage. He found what he sought and pressed. A panel popped loose and swung down, revealing a square opening cut into the wagon bottom.
“Is that you, Ashi?” a small voice whispered from inside.
Before he could answer, Gran gasped. “Someone is coming!” she exclaimed.
A light, bobbing and swinging, approached the wagon.
“Quick, Ashi! Get in now!” Magnes hissed, but Ashinji had already hoisted himself into the secret space. He reached down and pulled the panel shut with a snap.
“Magnes, act as if nothing is amiss. You have a reason for being out here,” Gran reminded him, her voice almost inaudible. “I will meet you at the gate.” She melted into the darkness as completely as if she, herself, were made of shadows.
Magnes walked to the front of the wagon to help Fadili harness the horse. The two of them worked in silence, each knowing the next few moments would prove decisive.
“Stop what you’re doing, healer and step away from the wagon!”
Magnes recognized the voice snapping orders from the dark. He and Fadili turned around as five figures moved with quick, purposeful strides to surround them.
His heart sank in dismay as he faced Corvin, Armina de Guera’s majordomo, and four armed men.
Chapter 40
Magnes stood his ground.
“Good evening, Corvin,” he said.
Corvin swung the lantern up and caught Magnes in its glow. “I thought you and your assistant had left already.”
Magnes could not see the other man’s face, but he heard something in the majordomo’s voice that set off alarm bells in his mind.
“We were about to.” Magnes raised his hand to block the glare of the lantern. “Do you mind?” Corvin lowered the lantern, but his face remained hidden. Fadili shifted nervously at Magnes’ side.
Two of the burly guards flanking Corvin inched forward.
“Have you seen anyone out here?” the majordomo asked.
“Just you,” Magnes replied. “Why do you ask?”
“Don’t lie to me, healer!” Corvin spat. “I saw the tink slave come out here, and I saw him run toward this wagon!” He jabbed his finger in Magnes’ face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Magnes replied coolly. “My assistant and I haven’t seen or spoken to Ashinji since we left the fighters’ mess.”
The guards surged forward, swords drawn. Fadili cried out in alarm.
“It’s all right, Fadili!” Magnes shouted. “What the hell are you doing?” he yelled at Corvin.
“Shut up!” Corvin growled. “Move a muscle and I’ll have you both gutted like fish.” He motioned to the remaining guards. “Search the wagon,” he ordered. One man scrambled aboard the infirmary through the front while another threw open the rear doors and climbed in the back.
“You won’t find anything,” Magnes said softly.
Corvin stepped in close enough for Magnes to smell the aroma of garlic and wine on his breath.
“Do you know the penalty for aiding an escaped slave, healer?” the majordomo asked. Magnes remained silent. “I’ll tell you, though I’m sure you know already. You lose both your hands. Now, what good’s a healer with no hands, eh?”
Magnes shrugged. “That’s not anything I need worry about,” he replied. He shot a sideways glance at Fadili. The younger man’s eyes shone white with fear in the light cast by Corvin’s lamp.
“If I find the tink hiding in your wagon, you’ll know for sure what it’s like, and so will your boy, here.” He tilted his head toward the terrified Fadili. Magnes took a step backward and fetched up against the side of the wagon. Through the wood, he could feel the vibrations made by the two guards as they tossed the inside of the infirmary, and abruptly, his fear turned into anger. It took all his will to hold his fury to a simmer, for to allow it to boil over now would only invite disaster.
Magnes and Corvin stared at each other across a chasm of suspicion and anger. Intellectually, Magnus understood-sympathized even-with the other man. Corvin was sworn to the service of his mistress, obligated to obey and protect her from all things detrimental to her, including the theft of her property. Magnes respected the majordomo for his loyalty, but he would not let that stop him from doing what he needed to do.
Several tense moments passed, and then one of the guards poked his head out of the back of the wagon and reported, “Naught in ‘ere, sir.”