up his hand.
“I’m good, I didn’t get hurt.”
Keither broke in with a bit of a frantic voice, “So what the hell is going on? Why were those people after us?”
Kovos put his hands on his hips. “There’s a lot you don’t know about Keither, and we’ll tell you all about it later, but for the sake of this conversation I’d say it’s fair to guess that the empire knows there’s someone of Elven descent in Salmont, and the only way I can think that the empire would know that is if someone is trying to finish something they started eighteen years ago.” He let the last bit hang in the air.
Kovos had hit it right on the head. Somebody was here finishing a cleanup job, but what was even more frightening was that it was the queen who was cleaning up, not some no-name Iumenta. Legon didn’t know much about the queen, but from what he did know, making mistakes was not in her nature. And if the queen of The Cona Empire did make a mistake, he assumed she would send in Iumenta to take care of it quietly, not the royal guard. They were not quiet in the least bit. If she had made a mistake then she wouldn’t want anyone in the empire, or out of the empire for that matter, to know about it, so why send royal guard? She had to know that her quarry was part Elf, and maybe full Elf. It didn’t make sense.
Legon started to pace. It didn’t make sense unless she didn’t know where to look in the empire. If that was the case, then she would need to send agents out to large parts of the empire. This helped explain part of the situation, but using humans still didn’t seem to make much sense.
Kovos broke his concentration. “Talk to us! I hate it when you pace.”
“Oh, sorry. Here’s what I’m thinking: the queen is looking for someone who fits my description, someone who may be part or full Elf. But she doesn’t know exactly where I am, because if she did…”
“… then she would send Iumenta for an Elf, not humans. I’m with you,” Kovos continued.
“Right. Now, because she doesn’t know where I am she has to send her men out all over the place to find me, and probably in small parties.”
“And she has to be counting on you not being full Elf yet, or not having been trained in combat, if she sent out royal guard. That’s perfect! The royal guard won’t attract too much attention and would be able to handle an untrained human,” Kovos said.
Both Kovos and Legon started when Keither broke in. They had almost forgotten he was there.
“I bet the men don’t even know what they might be dealing with, because if they did they would have used a little caution when trying to bring you in.”
“That’s probably true, Keither. I bet they think I’m some sort of a fugitive or something.” Legon said.
“Maybe. What about your back? I mean, do you think they would suspect magic?” asked Kovos.
“What’s wrong with your back?” asked Keither
“I have an Elven tattoo that was put there by magic, and now it’s turned from green to purple,” Legon said. He was caught off guard by the casual tone in his voice. Apparently his mind had decided that magic tattoos were old news compared to the current situation.
“A tattoo can be any color, and if the royal guard had suspected magic, don’t you think they would bring magic users themselves?” Keither asked.
Legon did a double take at this. Keither knew a lot more than he let on, or maybe the pain and panic of the day had jolted him into thinking. It was probably the latter. There are two kinds of people: those who fold under pressure and those that focus. Keither had to be the latter because not only was he thinking, but the news of Legon’s tattoo didn’t faze him at all. Keither had taken the news as just another piece of information.
The question was, how much pressure could Keither stand before he caved and lost control? Everyone had a limit, and when they hit it they hit it hard. Keither would need to keep his head for some time to come, because he was now in just as much trouble as Legon and Kovos. He had not only run from the royal guard, but he had also assaulted one, and that meant that he was going to have to come with Legon, Kovos, and Sasha. Legon came to this realization when he was hiding like a coward from the queen’s men, sometime between becoming a bug’s new burrow and a rather large and foul-smelling man almost urinating on him. The look on Kovos’ face also said that he too knew for his younger brother to be able to call Salmont home.
“We need to get back to town if we’re going to have a chance at getting out of this alive,” said Kovos grimly, and he nodded for Legon to lead the way.
Arkin’s senses were attuned to everything in his surroundings, from the cooling breeze that let him know he was almost to the top of the hill he was climbing, to the rustle of leaves in the distance. The air told him that he had about a half mile to go before he could find a way to get word out, and the leaves, well-that was just rabbits. They were young by the sound they made. If a predator didn’t pick them off in a few months they would learn to make less noise. He, on the other hand, was silent as he moved. The only sound anyone would be able to hear would sound like nature, nothing out of its place. They wouldn’t even know that an animal was there. A lifetime of training made sure that no one could track him. Soon he would be at the top and could report back in, and then hopefully he would get orders before someone messed things up.
Kovos felt his legs burn from staying crouched for so long. It had taken them twenty minutes to run to their hiding spot and three hours to get back down. They moved slowly now as Legon plotted a safe course. They wrapped around the town and were entering close to his house. They didn’t have a huge amount of time. The moon told him it was about eleven at night and they needed to pack and get out long before daybreak.
As they closed in on the sleepy houses he felt a pang as his eyes crossed Emma’s house. He wasn’t going to have time to say goodbye, and even if he did, what could he say? He would come back for her in two or three months. He’d come back and they could start their life together. That’s what was going to happen-if he didn’t get killed first.
He didn’t blame Legon for being forced to leave. He could have told the queen’s men the truth. He could have hid like a coward, but he wasn’t a coward. He had made his choice, and if he died it was his fault, not anyone else’s. Keither had chosen as well when he had charged that soldier. Maybe leaving would be good for Keither, teaching him how the world works and how to live in it.
They moved in the shadows of the buildings they passed, keeping close to the walls and doing everything not to make a sound. This wasn’t new to Kovos. After all, he did it all the time when he was going to visit Emma. If he could just have spent one more night with her or maybe…“Get yourself together! Now’s not the time to get sentimental!” he thought to himself.
There was still no sign of the soldiers. That was worrisome; they could be anywhere, maybe at their homes, maybe watching from somewhere out of sight. After all, it was royal guard they were dealing with here. Kovos could see his house. There was light coming from inside, but nothing to suggest that anything was amiss. They had made it home for probably the last time.
The hours after Legon got home were intense. His father had come home right before him, bringing the news that the soldiers had set up camp by the pond, putting them right next to the only road out of the valley. That wasn’t the problem Sasha was having right now. She had to figure what to bring based on what they were likely to need over the next few weeks. They only had two horses and they just couldn’t bring that much, not if they needed to move fast. She had packed all the essential things early in the evening, but now it was down to what she wanted to bring that was hers-things to remember her parents and her old life.
She picked up her diary. That was a given, but what else? She didn’t have a lot of jewelry or fancy things, which depressed her because she didn’t have that much after all, but still… In the end, she managed to get everything into a few bags and began her way downstairs to load up the two horses and go. The abruptness of the day had removed almost all emotion from everyone. Normally people would be sad and crying at the parting of a family, but not in these circumstances. There was no room for emotion; things just needed to be done.
Her mother was in the kitchen writing down a few last notes in a book, which she handed to Sasha.
“Here. I know you don’t have much room, but I’ve been making this for you over the last few years. In it is everything I know about healing. I’m not saying you need to follow in my footsteps, but on the road…”
The tears were coming now. Sasha knew what her mother was thinking, because it was the same thing that had just crossed her mind: this was it. This was going to be the last time they had together as a family. After tonight nothing was going to be the same.
