hurt a lot of people. I worried how that might affect her, but there was little I could do about it.
We entered the warehouse district without trouble. The streets here were wide, to better accommodate wagons, and the buildings were large. The royal warehouses were enclosed by a stone wall, separating them from the rest of this part of the city. Our wagons rolled to a stop as we reached the wide iron gate that gave access to them. Naturally it was closed and locked. Looking through its bars I could see four large buildings looming in the darkness… our goal.
“What are you people doing here?” a voice called from inside the gate.
“Step back from the gate, it’s about to open,” I told the voice, and then repeated myself to the people behind me.
“You’d best clear off! They’ll arrest the lot of you if you try to steal from the king!” Whoever was inside sounded scared. I probably would be too if I were a night watchman facing an unknown mob. I didn’t bother to answer this time. I released the power I had been holding, channeling it along the length of my staff. The gates rang like a bell as they were ripped apart by the force of my magic, slamming them inward. One flew back to strike the inside of the wall while the other was torn completely free.
The men behind me cheered and the wagons began rolling in. “If you find any watchmen inside let them go. We’re not here to fight!” I called out to the men. At this point I anticipated that whatever few guards were within would be in more danger than my own men. Hopefully they would have the good sense to run or hide.
Rose had gotten down from her wagon and stood beside us now. “You sure that’s wise? They’ll bring the town guard.”
“They’ll need a large force to stop us, and that will take time to muster. We should be gone before they can effectively counter us. Chasing down the watchmen would be dangerous and waste time. Very likely some of them would be killed in the confusion. I don’t want that on my head,” I answered. In the dim light I could see a man’s form on the ground and I knew it had to be the man who had been at the gate.
I hastily moved to examine him and I drew a sharp breath. The man lying there looked to be in his late sixties at the youngest. His head was only attached to his body by a bloody bit of flesh and bone, the gate had nearly severed his neck. My only consolation was that he had probably not had time to feel it. A wave of guilt and self- loathing washed over me. I had killed someone’s grandfather. Through no fault of his own the man before me was dead. How many people would mourn him tomorrow?
Rose stepped up beside me, “We should put him in the wagon.”
“Why?” I asked once I had gotten control of myself.
“If they find his body it will only worsen your situation,” she replied calmly.
Penny stared at her, “How can you be so cold?”
If the remark bothered her Rose didn’t show it, “We’re at war. Anything that distracts from Mordecai’s efforts to stop Gododdin will lessen our chances of victory. Something like this could undermine whatever good-will Mordecai has among the people of Albamarl.”
Something broke inside me, “I am not at war with these people, and I won’t take this man’s body to hide my crime. How would his family feel? Never knowing what happened to him? They couldn’t even grieve properly, not knowing if he was alive or dead.” I bent down to examine his uniform. The cloth was old and thread-worn, the result of many years of wearing and washing. His name had been stitched across the left side, ‘Jonathan Tucker’ it read. I was sure I would never forget it. It was one more crime I could never atone for.
While I brooded over the fallen watchman the wagons had continued rolling in. Joe had brought a large crowbar and they soon had the doors to the buildings open. Men were moving quickly back and forth, loading the wagons with everything that could be moved. Large wooden crates and sacks of grain were stacked high upon the wagon-beds.
Even with as many men as we had loading it took nearly half an hour to fill the wagons. I couldn’t tell for certain what we had taken. There was surely a lot of grain and dry goods. A casual inspection with my extra-senses told me that most of it was food of one sort or another. Many of the crates held weapons and armor, or possibly tools. I didn’t take the time to be sure; we loaded everything that would fit.
I counted thirty-nine wagons as they left, heading back toward Lancaster’s house. Once the last one went by Penny and I ran to reach the head of the line. I wanted to be there in case we met anyone on our return trip. We were almost to the duke’s house when our luck ran out.
Chapter 29
A small column of cavalry rode down the street from the opposite direction, at least thirty mounted soldiers armed with long spears. The gate to the duke’s house stood fifty yards ahead of the first wagon on the left hand side of the road. The soldiers were at least fifty yards or more beyond that. “Take the wagons inside. Ignore what occurs here. Line them up outside the duke’s store house, we’ll need to roll them in one by one when I get back,” I told Joe.
“What are you going to do?” he asked wide-eyed.
“I’m not sure. Penny stay with him,” I commanded and began running toward the oncoming horsemen.
“Like hell I will!” she said, pacing me easily. I should have known better than to try to keep her out of it. I sighed inwardly… outwardly my lungs were working hard to keep me supplied with air as we ran. We reached the duke’s gate well ahead of the cavalry. They had broken into a trot when they saw us but were still a good twenty yards away.
I put more power into my staff, causing it to blaze with light. “Stop!” I yelled. The cavalry commander held up a hand and the column came to a halt less than ten yards from us.
“What the hell is that you’re holding? Get out of the road fool, this is the king’s business!” their leader shouted at me. The light from my staff had left him uncertain; few people these days had any experience with magic.
“My name is Mordecai Illeniel. I am here to reclaim my property and be on my way. Withdraw and no one will have to be hurt,” I told them loudly.
“I thought as much,” he answered, shielding his eyes from the glare. “Surround the traitor!” he commanded.
I had expected that, “Lyet ni’Bierek!” I said loudly. Not that anyone could hear me over the roar of my ‘flash- bang’. I hadn’t used the spell since my battle in Lancaster Castle, but it was brutally effective here. Then I had faced men on foot… these were mounted. An intense dazzling flash of light went off, right in the middle of the column, accompanied by a sound like thunder. The light and sound were so powerful anyone within twenty or thirty feet of it would be deafened, and blinded as well if they were facing it. Men cried out in shock and fear, horses screamed and reared. Chaos erupted as most of the men were thrown from their bucking mounts.
My spell did no physical damage, but it hardly needed to. Panicked horses trampled some of the riders while others struggled to stand up. Riderless horses ran in every direction, some of them, still blind, ran into buildings. I might have laughed, but I could see a number of the men on the ground were not moving. Those that were able moved poorly, blind and disoriented. I put those to sleep. It seemed a mercy.
Penny was shouting at me but it was hard to hear her. I had forgotten to shield our ears again. “Why didn’t you just put them all to sleep at the start?” she yelled.
I shook my head. “I don’t think I could get that many at once,” I shouted back. In the past I had never put more than five or six to sleep at once, though I thought ten at a time might be doable. I looked back toward the wagons; they had stopped at the gate. Everyone was staring in our direction. I could hardly blame them. I began making motions with my arms, pointing at the gate. “Move your asses! This isn’t a show, don’t waste time!” I shouted.
That got them moving again. I could only hope we would have enough time to get the wagons out before the rest of the guard arrived. I noticed lights coming from shuttered windows along the street across from the duke’s house. I must have awakened everyone within a half a mile.
As the last wagon passed through the gate James closed and barred it. I gave him a nod and kept walking; I needed to get inside the store house quickly. The first wagon was already waiting at the large double doors when I got there. Joe stood next to it. “Get back on that damned wagon!” I told him roughly.
