Mary Herbert - City of the Lost

Linsha ground her teeth in frustration. Maybe she should trust Lanther and accept his help. He already suspected the dragon eggs existed, and he seemed quite adamant they be protected.

“Are you all right?” Mariana said beside her.

Linsha gave a lopsided grin and said, “As well as anyone else. Just lost in thought.”

The two women arrived in the courtyard and found it a place of barely contained chaos. Rows of wounded lay under the trees where healers worked hard to ease their suffering. Dragon’s guards, militia, centaurs, and a few Legionnaires ran back and forth carrying messages from Falaius to General Dockett, restocking supplies, fetching water, collecting weapons, and doing their best to fortify the walls of the old palace. This, Linsha realized, would probably be the place where those who survived would come to make their last stand. The thought grieved her more than she imagined it would.

From a battered table set up under a tree, General Dockett waved for Captain Brownstem to join him.

Linsha helped her friend over to the table. Without asking the militia commander’s permission, she eased the half-elf into the single chair and poured a glass of water from a pitcher on the commander’s table.

The militia commander took a look at Mariana’s shoulder and did not complain. He called for a healer, and while the man carefully cleaned and stitched the worst of the slash, he listened to her report.

Linsha had met the commander only a few times, yet she had only to look at the tightly-knit, well-organized militia under his command to know he was a good leader. The centaurs, too, thought highly of him, which said a good deal for his character and abilities. While the two officers talked, she sat on the ground in the shade and added only a rare comment. She shut out the noise and hubbub around her and concentrated on the tranquil movement of the wind through the tree leaves above her.

She was nearly asleep where she sat when something heavy moved beside her and a familiar voice said, “You’re not going to believe what I found.”

A charge of fear shot through her. It was Lanther’s voice. The eggs! He’d found the eggs. Her eyes flew open, and she stared uncomprehendingly at the man standing in front of her.

“He insisted on seeing you,” Lanther said beside her.

She twisted around to look at the Legionnaire then back to stare at the ragged, dusty young man in the blue Solamnic uniform. “Sir Hugh,” she whispered.

“Curse me for a draconian,” said General Dockett in surprise. “I heard your whole garrison was wiped out.”

The Solamnic Knight wiped the sweat on his face and folded his legs to sit on the ground across from Linsha. “Almost,” he said, his voice subdued with exhaustion and sadness. “About twenty of us managed to escape.”

Linsha held up a finger. “Don’t tell me. Let me guess. Sir Remmik had an escape route. Probably a tunnel under the hill. He led you all down there and as soon as it turned dark, he led you out and you fought your way through the lines to the North Gate.”

A pale twinkle lit in Hugh’s red-rimmed eyes. “You know the man well. We came in through the gap as the Brutes took down the North Gate.”

She sighed an exaggerated breath. “I guess that means he is still alive.”

“Very much so,” Lanther said.

“And the rest?”

Sir Hugh shook his head. “Sir Remmik waited too long to pull them off the walls. The only reason I survived was because I was in the cells at the time. The escape tunnel entered the dungeon at the back of the corridor, and Sir Pieter let me out as the survivors fled.”

“The cells?” Lanther asked. “What were you doing in there?”

“Spending some time reflecting on my incompetence as a Knight. I allowed an important prisoner to escape.”

Linsha did not appear to hear him. She stared at the tree. “Nearly fifty Knights,” she said. “How much we could use them now.”

“We’re fighting now,” said Sir Hugh. “Sir Remmik is coming here to join our forces with the militia.”

“Oh?” General Dockett exclaimed. “That’s news to me.”

“Sorry, sir. I was sent ahead to tell you.”

An unexpected feeling of irritation burned through Linsha. Sir Remmik was coming to the palace. Now. He never came to the palace when Iyesta was alive—only now when she was dead and her lair appeared to be the last large stronghold left. Now, when Linsha thought she had some time to rest and recover before the next attack. Why couldn’t that man stay away from her?

“Thank you for the warning, Sir Hugh,” she snapped.

Snatching up her weapons and helmet, she jumped to her feet and stalked away from the tree.

“Wait a minute,” Mariana called. “Where are you going?”

“I’m an escaped prisoner, remember? If I stay here, Sir Remmik will hang me from the nearest tree.”

“He wouldn’t, would he?” The half-elf turned to the general. “She is with us.”

Sir Hugh watched Linsha cross the hot courtyard and answered for him. “He might try. The commander is very unreasonable about her.”

Mariana shrugged her shirt back over her shoulder. “Huh,” she grunted. “I never thought much of that man before this. Now I’m afraid if I see him I will put a bolt through him. With your permission, sir, I will go back to my company.”

General Dockett frowned. “Eat something first. The company will wait.”

Lanther, too, watched Linsha leave and made a note of where she turned and entered the gardens. After a moment he climbed to his feet and saluted the general. “I will be back,” he said. “And you,” he told the Solamnic Knight, “will not mention to Sir Remmik that you saw her here.”

Sir Hugh rose to his feet and stared up at the tall Legionnaire. Even at his fullest height, the young man barely reached Lanther’s nose. “No,” he said mildly. “I won’t. I didn’t tell him about the courtesan either.”

Lanther’s weathered face split into a grin. “You’re a good man, Hugh.”

Leaving the others behind, he limped out of the courtyard and took the path he had seen Linsha follow.

It soon became clear to him, though, that Linsha was no longer on the path. In the wild, heavily overgrown gardens full vines and shrubs, trees and tall grass, it was very easy to lose sight of someone who did not want to be seen.

The Legionnaire paused. There were many questions about Linsha he had not yet found answers for. She was an enigma to him, and he found that fascinating. She knew about the eggs—of that he was certain—and he was also very sure she would try to go find them. The question was when and where. He studied the woods around him for while then walked back the way he had come. He had a thought that perhaps she would not go far from this palace. She kept returning here, and only the Solamnics had driven her away for now. No, she would be back, and when she came he would find her.

In a clump of wild chokecherries, Linsha pressed into the shaded cluster of trunks and watched Lanther walk back to the palace. When she was sure he was out of sight, she slipped out of the trees and moved deeper into the ruins of the palace gardens to the place she remembered where a door led down into the cool, dark tunnels of the labyrinth. At last she had an opportunity to go down to the chamber alone. Her fingers reached for the dragon scales around her neck and gripped them tightly. She could only hope Iyesta had been right and the scales would protect her from the guardians in the dark.

Linsha.

She started violently, nearly slipping on the stone step. The name rang in her head.

Linsha! Where are you?

Her heart gave a great bound. “Varia?” she cried, both delighted and amazed.