Michael Spradlin - Trail of Fate

“Guard! The Captain demands you go at once to the bailey! The criminals have been located!” He faced me, momentarily confused. His hand went to the sword at his belt. “Halt-” he started to say, but now I was upon him and swung the hilt of my sword up, driving it into his chin. With my momentum, the blow lifted him off his feet, and his eyes rolled inward as he landed hard on the ground.

I pushed at the door with all my weight and it swung open, revealing the Queen Mother’s chambers. The room was brightly lit by oil lamps, and behind a beautiful oak table she sat. She must have heard the commotion in the hallway, but her face was serene. Behind her stood two of her ladies-in-waiting, and their hands flew to their mouths at the sight of the ruffian who had barged into their ladies’ chamber.

When the Queen Mother recognized me, her eyes went dark. Though she tried to hide it, the color drained from her face and she bolted to her feet.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.

Rushing up to the table, I pointed my sword directly at her.

“Your highness, your presence is required in the bailey at once,” I told her.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, boy!” she spat.

“My lady, they are about to hang my friend and I have no time to stand on formality. Now, it’s your choice: come with me willingly or so help me God, I will drag you down there.”

“I’ll see you hang for this!” she shouted.

“I’ll hang anyway! Now move!” As I feinted a thrust across the table with my sword, the Queen Mother stumbled backward with a squawk. Only the quick action of one of her attendants kept her from falling to the ground. Grabbing her arm, I pushed her toward the door.

“Let go of me! How dare you lay your filthy hands on me!” she shouted, clawing at my hand.

Before leaving, I warned the ladies-in-waiting, “Stay here. If I see you outside this room, you’ll die, do you understand?” Of course I had no intention of harming them, but they both looked ready to faint. They wouldn’t be a problem.

Throwing open the door, we stepped over the still unconscious guard. All the way down the hallway she twisted and tried to jerk her arm free from my grasp. I pushed her up against the wall and put my sword very near her throat.

“Listen to me! I haven’t the time for this! Now you walk quickly, or I swear I will run you through!”

“It will be a pleasure watching you hang,” she spat.

“If hanging means spending less time with you, then I happily choose the rope,” I said. “Now move!”

I grabbed her by the back of the neck and held my sword at her back. We reached the staircase and stumbled our way down. I took a tighter grip on Eleanor and stepped through the door into the courtyard. By even laying a hand on Richard’s mother, I had already committed a hanging offense. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t giving them Maryam without a fight.

“Sir Hugh!” I shouted.

He was standing less than thirty paces away. When he saw me, I could see his face in the torchlight, and his eyes went round with horror when he realized I held the Queen Mother. The Captain and a few of his guards started toward me.

“Stay where you are!” I shouted. “Another step and she dies!”

The guards skidded to a stop, all of them looking to the Captain for instruction.

“Release her, squire!” Sir Hugh shouted.

“Not until you free Maryam! Captain! Tell your men to cut her down!” I shouted.

“I don’t make a move until you release the Queen Mother,” the Captain replied.

“Have your men bring three horses, saddled and ready. Open the gate. Do it now!” I ignored him.

The Captain hesitated.

“Do what he says, Captain. There’s no doubt he’s quite mad!” the Queen Mother shouted. Finally she sounded a little afraid. Luckily, I had managed to convince her I was serious.

“You heard her!” the Captain ordered his men. The rumble of the gate echoed off the stone walls as it slowly rose. Then everything went quiet.

“Let her down, Sir Hugh!” I said.

“No!” he shouted back.

“Good. I’ll look forward to hearing you explain to King Richard how you got his mother killed,” I warned him.

“In case you’ve forgotten, boy, I’m a Templar. Do you think I care what a King thinks?” he sneered.

The Queen Mother tensed at this. Whatever scheme they had allied themselves in, it involved King Richard somehow. Or so I thought. These people were insane. Who knew what they were up to? But Eleanor let out a quiet hiss, as she clearly did not like her son being so easily dismissed by someone she considered nowhere near his equal.

Peering over the Queen Mother, I found Robard behind the wagon. He squatted there, his arrow nocked. He was coiled and ready, listening intently to every word and waiting for my signal.

The stable doors banged open, and guards led three mounts to the center of the courtyard. The Captain took a few steps closer to me.

“All right, squire, we’ve done everything you asked. Now let her go,” he implored.

“Not yet. Order Sir Hugh to release Maryam. When my friends are on their horses, we’ll discuss our next move.”

The Captain faced Sir Hugh. “You heard him, sire-time to let her go. They won’t get far. We’ll catch them again soon enough.”

Sir Hugh shook his head, the strain evident on his face as he pulled his sword. The Captain saw something in his eyes he didn’t like and drew his own weapon.

“No, Captain. She stays where she is,” Sir Hugh said, pointing his sword at the Captain’s chest. “Not another step.”

Sir Hugh looked wildly around the bailey. He was sweating and about to fall apart. In his own perverse way, he had come as far as I had in his quest. He had followed me like a bloodhound, only to be thwarted at every turn, just when the Grail was within his grasp. The look on his face now was one of a man who knew the chances of realizing his dream were growing dimmer by the second. If we escaped, if we left this castle, the Grail would elude him once more. He couldn’t accept it.

“Sir Hugh!” the Captain pleaded. “You must stand down, sire. Don’t make the situation worse. I trust my men. The prisoners won’t get far.”

But it was not to be. Sir Hugh said nothing, and even the Queen Mother tensed as the moments went by.

“Listen, boy,” the Queen Mother whispered to me. “Let me go and I’ll have my guards arrest Sir Hugh.”

“No, your highness. Sir Hugh will kill her before your men can approach him. Be quiet.”

“But you heard him. He’s crazy now. Doesn’t even care if I die, though Richard would hunt him down and kill him. What do you have that he wants so badly?” she hissed.

“Quiet, both of you!” Sir Hugh shouted at us, having heard our whispered conversation and grown unsettled by it. “Or she dies!”

“I have nothing. He’s guilty of crimes against the Order-” I started my standard lie to the Queen Mother.

“Posh!” she interrupted me. “I don’t believe you! Sir Hugh wouldn’t be going to all this trouble for something as meaningless as crimes against the Order. What is it squire, gold? Give it to him. I’ll give you more. Just let me go.”

“You don’t have enough gold, your majesty,” I said, looking at Maryam standing precariously on the barrel.

Sir Hugh was still watching us intently, straining to hear what we said. He slowly twirled his sword in front of him. Behind him, two of the Captain’s men crept stealthily forward.

“Captain! Tell your men to hold! If they touch him and Maryam dies, I will strike her down!” I warned him.

Sir Hugh whirled at my words, his sword at the ready, facing the men to his rear. Robard started to rise, but I shook my head, afraid if he shot now and Sir Hugh fell into the barrel, Maryam would still die. He grimaced in frustration but crouched behind the wagon again, waiting.