Richard Parker - Elsewhere

‘But she did not recognize me,’ de Baard reminded herself.

Her heartbeat slowed even more and she finally got control of her emotions. Even if the girl didn’t recognize her, the presence of Tars now hampered her plans all the more.

‘I could add the Noble girl to the list of those who will die,’ she considered with as smile, but it soon fell into a frown. The list of people she planned to kill but had not, was growing very long.

In the end, de Baard only had two real options; she could run, or she could kill Vio along with the bitch…and possibly Gwaynn. Of course if the opportunity presented itself she could just kill Gwaynn and his whore and then flee, but perhaps…yes perhaps poison should be brought to bear.

‘With poison I could kill them all…all the Tars and all the students.’

de Baard quickly sat up and considered the idea a moment longer and then she smiled her sweet, warm smile.

‘To kill Tars would go a long way with Sinis…I would be welcomed back and then I could deal with Nacht.’

de Baard stood and began to unpack once more. If she was to succeed she must be calm; she must not lose her head. She pulled her two needle knives from the pack and attached them carefully back to the underside of her bed, making sure that they were out of sight and then she pulled a small bottle of scented oil from her pack. On impulse she pulled the stopper and placed her left index finger over the opening then tipped the bottle once, then twice and touched the oil to the base of her neck. The scent of cherry blossoms suddenly filled the small room and instantly de Baard felt at ease and in control once more.

‘I’ll kill the bitch first. If I fail with the others so be it, but Samantha must die.’

de Baard frowned again and tried to exercise her shoulder. Pain shot through it, but she ignored it and continued to rotate it, gradually loosening the muscles and improving her range of motion.

‘I’m healing…but I must act soon. When Gwaynn leaves to fight the Palmerrio…he’ll take the Tars and then she’ll die. It will be very easy to kill a one armed whore.’

Again de Baard smiled. ‘Perhaps Gwaynn will even be relieved to be rid of the cripple.’

The thought came unbidden, and de Baard mentally brushed it aside then continued to unpack the rest of her things.

ǂ

“No Gwaynn…I’m going with you,” Vio insisted, determination etched on her face.

“As will we,” added William, holding tightly to Tam’s hand.

“There’s not a question of any of us staying behind,” Saran said and the rest of the students nodded.

Gwaynn stared at them all in exasperation. He knew they had skill, and he knew they would be a tremendous help against the Palmerrio, but they were young and untried. He doubted any of them had ever killed another human being. War was not like sparring. They were not truly aware of the danger they would be in, he was utterly sure of that.

“Krys died!” He finally said, using his last argument. He hoped that Kostek and the other Tars would rally to his side, but to his surprise they supported the students’ view.

“They’ve come to fight,” Kostek said, “and I have no power over them any longer. We’ve all left Noble behind.”

“I’ll stay in Manse,” Tar Grace finally spoke up, knowing that as the eldest she would be hard pressed to survive an extended campaign, “and see to the defenses here. Take the rest, you will need them. From what you’ve told us, the Palmerrio must be defeated quickly if we are to trap the Knights on the plains. They,” she added with a sweeping gesture which included all the students, “can help you. They’ve been well trained.”

“Very well,” Gwaynn finally agreed and shook his head when Vio’s face erupted into a smile. A quick look around showed that her expression was shared by all of the students except Saran, who looked thoughtful. ‘They will soon learn what it is to kill a man,’ Gwaynn thought but said nothing more on the subject.

“Monde tells me that the Palmerrio cavalry have been hitting the edges of the army all afternoon, trying to drive them back toward the Scar. I’ve called on my own cavalry to move up from Lynndon and join with Bock…we’ll have need of them,” Gwaynn explained.

“You expect the Palmerrio to attack soon?” Tar Myson asked.

Gwaynn nodded. “Tomorrow morning…or the day after. We should leave this evening while it is still light, I just have a few details to go over while I’m here,” he explained with a nod toward Tar Grace. “There’ll be a lot of hard riding ahead of us.”

“What of the Travelers?” Tar Halstad asked, who was by far the thickest Tar Gwaynn had ever come across. Most of those from Noble were lean and wiry from the constant running and exercise.

Gwaynn shook his head. “I’ll need them rested for the upcoming battle…the ability to move troops about during the fighting is a great asset.”

Tar Halstad nodded, liking the young prince’s manner and instincts.

“We could…” Tar Kostek began but Tarina re N’dori interrupted.

“I can take us to the Massi army,” she stated simply and though the group had just come from Noble via Tar Nev, N’dori’s revelation still shocked the other Tars. “It is not nearly so far as Noble…I believe I can manage the task.”

“We should leave immediately,” Jinja spoke up, eager to get into the fight. Fighting was his life and he did not relish missing even a moment of the battle to come.

Gwaynn frowned. “No, Zebo is keeping in contact with Monde; as long as the Palmerrio behave we’ll go in the morning…if we are to Travel.”

N’dori nodded.

The Tars took the news stoically, but each and every student wore a look of disappointment.

“Tarina Grace, if you’ll come with me I’d like to introduce you to my Captain,” Gwaynn said. “She’s quite a fighter herself…very talented. She killed an Executioner on her own several weeks back and is still recovering from her injuries…she’s a great loss to me. Master Kostek, would you join us as well?”

“Of course,” Kostek said eyeing Gwaynn with wonder and amusement. The boy had always been calm and mature for his age, but now…now he was a man, a very confident man.

“I’d like to come,” Vio chimed in, eyes only for Gwaynn. She hoped she might be over him emotionally, but seeing him again…seeing the way he was, brought every past thought and feeling home to her so strongly that at times she felt she couldn’t breathe. Everything about him was attractive to her and though she realized she could not have him in any permanent way, she was still determined to spend as much time with him as possible.

It took almost a quarter of an hour to track down Captain Huntley but in the end Gwaynn found her out near the entrance to the oxbow, manning the walls of the levee and looking out over the plains in the direction of the Temple Knights. The Knights were currently in the process of building several large siege weapons in the distance. From what they could tell the weapons were mostly towers, though what good they would do with the ditch and then the steep levee in the way, Gwaynn did not know.

“They’re not towers, they’re causeways tipped on end,” Kostek explained. “Once they reach the ditch down in front, the enemy will simply tip them over for an easier approached to the walls. Who planned your defenses?”

“My General…Lonogan Bock,” Gwaynn said and was surprised that he felt pride in the older man, now his man, though he’d fought for his father and for his old friend and Weapons Master Afton Sath.

“Impressive,” Tarina Grace said as they moved down the wall toward where Captain Huntley was deep in discussion with several older men. She stood up, very straight when she spotted them coming and waited impassively.