CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Damon
If Elizabeth was walking into a trap when the Gallant arrived in port, we needed to rush to Vin and rescue her. A quick estimation of time from when Kendra’s dragon had attacked the mage’s ships and the distance she had to sail, compared with the timeframe of us traveling on foot, provided a guess that she would arrive perhaps a day before us. Maybe more. We’d be too late.
Kendra said as she stood and looked east, “We have to hurry. She needs us.”
Flier began gathering the few items we’d brought with us as he offered a brief explanation to Slacker. “We are on a mission to help the King of Dire. His daughter is due to arrive by ship at the port of Vin in only two days, but she knows nothing about the new council ruling there, or that it seems there are no more kings anywhere in Kondor.”
Slacker exchanged a look with his men. “She is here to support the rightful king?”
“No,” Flier said, “That’s not true. She is here to negotiate a treaty with our kings or the present rulers. The king of Dire suspects there may be a replacement rule and wants to protect his kingdom from the same.”
The expression Slacker wore was not as friendly or welcoming as that of a few moments ago. “She will deal with the council?”
“Of course,” Flier paused in his packing and said, “There is more you should know. The King of Dire took ill and has been unable to rule, so a committee, a council, was set up by the mages to act in his stead. Kendra here ran all the mages out of Dire, and now the king has healed and has taken his rightful place, again.”
Slacker and several of his men turned and cast disbelieving looks at Kendra.
I said, “It’s true. The details can wait. We’re in a hurry.”
“The mages are behind it all,” Slacker spat. “I knew it.”
I couldn’t help myself from adding. “We don’t know all mages are involved, or how much they are. We know a little and assume much. Assumptions like that can be dangerous.”
Slacker still faced Kendra, and while he listened to me, his attention was on her. He said to Flier, “This young woman ran the mages out of Dire?”
“She did.” Flier didn’t add information.
For that, I was glad but saw Slacker and his men didn’t believe him. What Slacker saw was a young woman who moved like a princess. The fewer that knew of her new powers, the better. He said, “What you mean is that she ordered an army or something similar.”
“What I mean is that she did it alone, with a sword in her hand,” Flier snapped back, protecting Kendra and her reputation. I was proud of him.
A shrill whistle sounded in the distance, drawing the attention of all of us.
Every man in the camp leaped to his feet at the sound. One raced to the river and sprinted along the bank where the footing was good. He raced in the direction of the whistle. I asked, “What is it? And where’s he going?”
“Vin troops are approaching again, I suppose,” Slacker said. “We’ve avoided them for months, but they keep after us, sending one company after another. The runner will meet the lookout halfway and return with the information on the sighting so we can plan our response.”
*Run.* Anna’s voice rang in my head with a sense of urgency clear in the single word.
*Maybe it will come to that, but first we will hear them out. Do you want to leave these men here to die?*
*Is this the place you’ve chosen to die?* Anna scowled in my direction as she sent me the question.
Anna was scared, but her defiance and attitude were growing. She was transforming from a little girl to a young lady with ideas of her own—and it had happened within the few weeks we’d known her. Pride swelled in my chest as I said aloud to her, “We’ll talk later. Right now, we have to decide what to do.”
I didn’t miss the exchange of looks between her and Emma, and for the first time, I wondered if they were silently communicating too. If not, Emma had made an accurate guess as to what was going on between us and didn’t approve.
Kendra moved to my side and said quietly, “I’ve already called my pet to help us. It’s in the foothills not too far away. Now, we need to move away a little because I don’t want to talk in front of these men. Didn’t you see my signal earlier to talk in private?”
I had, but the right time hadn’t arrived until now. We moved a few steps to one side while the others prepared for battle. Kendra handed me back my sword as she accepted another from a rebel. She said, “This battle will delay us from reaching Vin if we take part. Your thoughts?”
I buckled the belt around my waist and adjusted my sword to ride comfortably as I gathered myself to disagree. “We are already a day late in arriving to help Elizabeth. The ship will reach port and Elizabeth will do what she’s going to do. We can’t change that. Reverse the situation and put us in Dire. Would you wish the foreigners to run away on their own business or help defend our king?”
“It isn’t the same thing. Okay, we need to have Slacker outline how this is going to go and then decide. We won’t enter a fight we’re going to lose, and we cannot stay here two or three days waiting for the attack when Elizabeth needs us.”
I watched Slacker giving orders to his men in short bursts and with encouragement. We didn’t know how well they would fight. That worried us. It was clear they knew how to obey, and Slacker knew how to command, so that helped calm my worries but going into battle with unknown fighters should be avoided. The runner returned from the river and breathlessly told us there were at least forty of them marching up the bank in our direction.
I glanced at Kendra. Forty. It was time for our small group to depart and avoid the coming conflict. Ten or twelve against forty are poor odds. No, that was not strictly true. A dozen men in Slacker’s unit, plus Flier, Kendra, me, and a dragon evened up the odds a little if we remained, but we’d still be sorely outnumbered.
Slacker’s plan consisted of fighting and withdrawing, fighting and withdrawing again, eventually to where they had hidden water caches in the desert evened the odds more. Besides, we couldn’t leave Flier’s friends to fight alone. They’d taken us in and fed us. We owed them.
Kendra drew in a deep breath, tested the edge of the heavy sword she held and looked sheepishly at me. “We can’t run off. You know that. It isn’t like us.”
Anna said, “Why don’t I get a sword?”
Emma echoed the question.
Even the soldiers laughed. One of them pointed to the ridge with the funnels to climb up. “Can you two run?”
They nodded.
He continued, “First, there will be fighting out here in the open. A few arrows and such. Then our men will rush up there on the ridge and wait. Behind those piles of rocks, you’ll be safe, but there will come a time when we tell you to run again. See that tall mountain right behind us? The one with the pointed peak? You’ll run for that, understand? No matter what happens, you run in that direction. We’ll find you.”
“Won’t they chase us?” Anna asked, her eyes alight with excitement.
“Not at first. They will have wounded to care for, and we’ve set a few traps along the way to slow them. Besides, the King’s Army does only what it is told, so they will wait for the officer to give all the orders.”