I stuck my head back in the door to Rose’s room, “We need to hurry or I’m going to have to put everyone in the place to sleep before we leave.”
Her father was able to speak again and he waved for me to come closer, “I want you to realize I don’t agree with what you’re doing. I think it’s foolish and wasteful, but since I can’t stop you or my daughter I thought I’d give you some advice.”
“What’s that sir?” I asked politely.
He leaned close and spoke softly in my ear, “Make sure you have a good escape route planned for my daughter. When the enemy is knocking on your door and you have nowhere else to run she had better not be there with you. If anything happens to her and you somehow survive… I will spend my life hunting you down. You can count on it.” There was no humor in his face now. A chill ran through me, for I knew he meant every word.
I looked at him squarely to let him know I took him at his word. “Sir, if something happens to her and I survive there will be no need to hunt for me; I’ll present myself to you personally.” I turned and left with Rose and Penny close behind.
“What was that about?” Penny wondered.
“Most likely my father gave him one of his ‘have my daughter back by nine o’clock’ speeches,” Rose replied with a laugh. Penny didn’t understand the reference at first… not having been courted as Rose had, but Rose explained it to her. Soon they were both laughing behind me. Personally I didn’t think it funny; I had meant every word I had said to the man.
We walked with Rose between us until we reached the outer door again. Along the way we met several more guardsmen but had little trouble. I put them all to sleep. Rose protested after the first one, “There’s no need to do that.”
“Would it be more effective to beat them with a bedpost?” I asked with a chuckle.
Rose grimaced, “I’m sure they’ll stand aside if I order them, and that was an accident.”
I didn’t feel like taking chances, I put every person we met on the way to sleep. Soon enough we were outside and walking carefully away. Running might have attracted attention, so we kept our pace brisk and steady. “How do you plan to get us out of the capital?” Rose asked. “The king’s men will be scouring the city for us by morning. They’ll probably seal the gates once they know you’re here.”
“First I plan to recover our property, and then make a leisurely stroll back to Washbrook,” I said nonchalantly. Penny sighed.
“Surely you jest Mordecai,” said Rose. “Penny, tell me he’s joking?”
Penny snorted, “Oh no… he’s quite serious. What’s more I’m half convinced he’ll succeed.”
Rose’s eyes went wide, “Only half? The alternative might be quite unpleasant.”
“We don’t have a happy ending ahead of us Rose, so it’s hard to worry about unpleasant alternatives. We have a goal ahead of us, that will have to be enough for now,” I told her.
“You were never so grim before Mordecai… I’m not sure it suits you,” Rose opined.
“It will suit the king even less,” I gave her a feral grin. “Where are the men you hired? James said they were all taken away.”
“Those who could afford to pay a small fine were paroled, the rest were locked up in the Crown Tower,” she informed me. “Surely you don’t plan to attempt a break out?”
“I’ll need them to load the wagons. Speaking of which… where would they have taken my goods?”
Rose was alarmed, “Mordecai, this is insane. There’s no way this can work. The king will have your head!”
“The goods Rose… you can stay behind if you don’t like the plan.”
“By now he will have stored them in the royal warehouses. He’s been stockpiling grain and other materials there for the spring campaign. All the same things we were buying, it was his primary motivation for seizing the goods at Lancaster’s house,” she replied. “And I’ll be damned if you leave me behind.”
I ignored her declaration of loyalty, “I need directions to the Crown Tower. How far is it from there to the warehouses and how far from those to Lancaster’s home?” Any other time I might have been less rude, but the stress and anxiety of our situation had begun to wear on me. Our foray into Lord Hightower’s home had been nerve-racking, and I had two more places left to force my way into.
It turned out the warehouses were only a few minutes’ walk from the Lancaster residence, a fact that would be very convenient for my plan. The Crown tower however was a bit over twenty minutes from the warehouses. I wasn’t sure how quickly it would take the city to respond but I had a feeling things would get hairy.
“Rose I want you to go back to the Lancaster residence alone. Joe is there. Tell him to get ready, I want him to have the wagons and drivers ready and close to the royal warehouses,” I told her.
It was to Rose’s credit that she never even considered complaining about returning alone. Instead she worried about my plan, “Even as late as it is now people will notice if we park a line of wagons in the road.”
I had to admit she had a point, “Then have them wait within the Lancaster’s yard. I’ll come by there first. It should be close enough. If it isn’t then I’ve already attracted too much attention.”
She nodded, and a moment later we had split up. I worried for her, walking alone in the dark. Then again after a moment’s consideration I decided I should be more concerned for whoever might try to interfere with her. Penny and I began our own walk, striding quietly down darkened streets.
Chapter 28
The Crown Tower was dimly lit when we arrived. Although the tower was used for housing criminals it had originally been one of the defensive towers that were periodically spaced along the city wall. As the city had grown a new curtain wall had been built to enclose the outer regions and wall near the tower had been taken down, to allow more traffic between the inner and outer city. The tower itself was a squat ugly structure, built from the same rose granite as the majority of the capital. It rose over sixty feet high and possessed six floors above the ground level.
From what Rose had told me I knew the first floor was primarily administrative area. The guards that worked in the tower were kept in the main barracks, so at night there would be only a skeleton crew. That suited me just fine.
The outer door was unguarded. Apparently keeping people out was not considered a high priority. I had to assume there would be guards within the doors though. Penny spoke first, “How are we going to do it this time?”
“We’ll just knock and ask nicely,” I replied. Under other circumstances that might have been a joke. Not tonight though… I walked straight toward the door and began rapping heavily upon it.
A small window opened in the door, “Who’s out there?”
I focused my mind and I could feel two men on the other side of the door. “Shibal,” I said softly and I felt them falling to the floor within. Examining the door I quickly realized it didn’t have a lock… it was barred from the inside. I tried a spell to lift the bar but had little success. Someone had had the bright idea to secure the bar itself with a chain and padlock inside the door.
I considered trying to unlock the padlock from the outside but even if I did the chain would still have to be removed. Given a few minutes I could probably do it… but I didn’t think I had that much time. “Let’s step back a bit,” I told Penny.
“Oh jeez…,” she complained, “I knew this would happen. If you rouse the entire place you’re not going to be able to put them all to sleep.”
“I might… but I have an alternative,” I replied. I spoke quietly and added a few cosmetic enhancements to the shields around Penny and myself. Soft light flared and blue flames wreathed our bodies.
“Oh this is subtle,” Penny remarked looking at her hand as the flames ran up her arm.
“I’m not going for subtle, I’m going for ‘scared shitless’.”
“This should do it then. I nearly peed myself when you set me on fire just now, next time warn a girl,” she said.
“Here we go,” I replied. Raising my staff I pointed it at the tower door. I was pretty sure I could manage without it but the enchantments on it would focus my energies more effectively. I thought I might need my strength
