Michael Manning - The Archmage unbound

The veteran warrior understood immediately. This wasn’t the first time he had been asked to perform such a role. The fact that the priests would be arriving to take charge of the prisoners meant that the king wanted these ‘guests’ kept discretely in a place where none would think to find them. Edward had kept a number of such hostages over the years. What was unusual was the fact that the king had chosen to receive such prisoners without any other guards.

“Your majesty,” said Cyhan carefully, “I cannot guarantee your safety and secure the prisoners at the same time by myself.”

“We understand that,” answered the King. “Just make sure the prisoners are kept safely until the brothers arrive. There will be no treachery tonight.”

Other than our own, thought Cyhan. Given the timing he had a good idea who the prisoners might be though it still didn’t explain Edward’s obsessive need for secrecy. The King had a number of guards that could be trusted in such situations, and in the past he had used them. Something about tonight was different, so different that he needed to hide the details even from his most trusted guards. Except me, for my oath is my life.

They waited a short time, less than a quarter of an hour before several heavily cloaked figures entered through the open gate. Between them they had two people, bound and being led on short chains. All in all there were eight of them escorting the two prisoners. The prisoners were also cloaked but their faces were only partly hidden by the deep hoods and Cyhan was fairly certain that his suspicions were correct regarding their identities.

The king stepped forward confidently, “Let me see their faces. I need to be sure they are who you claim them to be.”

The voice that answered was a woman’s, though her speech was oddly inflected, as if she wasn’t used to speaking regularly. “Of course your Majesty, it shall be as you say. We do not wish you to suspect us of any trickery.” Despite her strange intonation Cyhan thought she sounded somewhat familiar.

Hands reached up and pulled the prisoner’s hoods aside, removing any doubt as to their identities. Standing before them were the Countess di’Cameron and Sir Dorian Thornbear. They appeared unharmed but their eyes were a bit wild around the edges. Penny’s gaze immediately locked upon Cyhan. “Snake! I should have known you’d be here serving your…,” she said vehemently but she was interrupted by one of her captors.

“Silence,” the strange woman’s voice broke in as she held up a finger in front of Penny’s face. The countess’s eyes locked upon that finger as it drew close to her cheek, and a look of intense fear and loathing was evident in her visage. Penny promptly closed her mouth while drawing her head back to avoid her captor’s touch.

Dorian struggled beside her, but he was tightly bound and gagged, even so he managed to pull away from those holding him for a moment and struck the woman threatening Penny with his shoulder. She stumbled backward as the two holding his chains pulled and tugged to get him back under control. The motion caused her hood to fall away and for a moment her face was clearly visible to Cyhan in the dim moonlight. It was Ruth.

A chill passed down his spine. Seeing her there was not unexpected, he had already guessed at the purpose of her mission before she had left. What unnerved him was her expression, or rather her lack of expression. Her eyes passed over him with no hint of recognition. That along with the strangeness of her voice a moment ago told him more than enough. She was no longer the woman he had known.

“Chain them to the post there,” said Edward calmly. “I want you gone before the others arrive.”

“We have kept our part of the bargain. Do not forget your part, King of Lothion,” answered the creature that had once been Ruth.

Edward’s eyes narrowed in the darkness. “Do not presume to lecture me. I have not forgotten. Begone lest I lose my temper!”

The shiggreth made no reply and within minutes they were gone, leaving behind their shackled prisoners. Cyhan stood guard silently beside his king while they waited for the priests to arrive. His eyes never left Penny and Dorian’s faces but his mind was far away.

My king has made an alliance with the undead, he thought quietly, and Ruth is now one of them. Those two facts chased each other in circles within his head and he could find no way to escape the horror they presented. He had gone numb, physically and mentally. Try as he might he could find no meaning or reason in what he had just witnessed. I have only my oath.

Our arrival in Lancaster was greeted with some surprise but I didn’t have much patience for formalities. I headed for the keep as soon as we arrived, stopping only to ask one question of the guard on duty, “Where is Genevieve now?”

“She’s in the study sir,” the man answered quickly.

I turned to Walter and Harold, “I will be meeting with the duchess, go ahead and find something to eat but don’t go too far. I plan to travel again momentarily.”

I ran into Benchley right after entering the main hall. “Your Excellency, it is good to see you again,” he said to me in a tone that was genuinely respectful. Since I had been granted the title of count I found I missed his sarcastic tones. He just isn’t the same anymore, I lamented inwardly.

“Benchley!” I exclaimed. “I’m going to see her Grace but she will need your assistance immediately thereafter. She will want to send several messages. I would appreciate it if you would call for the messengers and tell the head groom to get a fast horse ready.”

He gave me a tight lipped smile and walked with me to the study door. “Certainly sir,” he replied.

I stopped, “I mean now Benchley. I can let myself in. I don’t need you to open the door for me.”

He coughed. “Begging your pardon sir but I’ve already taken care of those things. Do you still wish to open the door for yourself or is there something else you would like me to do?” His hand was already gripping the door handle.

I almost laughed, instead I grinned at him. “You smug bastard, I’ve missed you.”

He gave me a quizzical look, “I never left sir.” His tone and expression gave nothing away, but my magesight showed me a distinct flicker of amusement as he answered. I could study for a hundred years and never attain this man’s level of sarcastic excellence, I reminded myself.

I waved my hand at the door and let him open it for me. I found Genevieve sitting at a desk leaning over a heavy ledger book. She glanced up at me in surprise, “I hadn’t expected to see you back so soon. Is James alright?” Her eyes had already taken in the fact that I was alone.

I walked around the desk and held out my hands. She tentatively accepted them and I pulled her gently to her feet before embracing her. “Penny and Dorian are alive,” I said softly. It was something I had only learned myself an hour past and the emotion that swept over me as I allowed myself to say the words was overwhelming.

“What?!” she said thrusting me out to arm’s length. “Where are they? How did you learn this?”

“They’re in Albamarl. The King has them…,” I began. It took almost a quarter of an hour to explain the situation and how I had come by the information. The matter was only made more difficult by the fact that I could barely speak due to the storm of emotions that was running through me.

The duchess was patient as I told my story, waiting till I had run down before she spoke. “What do you intend to do now?” she asked bluntly when I had finished.

“I need you to send a message to James. He still thinks we’re trapped in that cave. He should come back and I will probably need his help soon,” I told her.