has been unused for many years. I can lead you there. There will be two horses outside. You can use them to get out of the city. Go to the field where the Rangers waited to enter the city before King Eugene was unmasked and Garth will meet you there. I hope you understand, because it means nothing to me.”
The General put his hand on Tedi’s shoulder and looked him in the eye. “You will make a fine soldier someday,” General Gregor stated. “You have the guts and determination already.”
Tedi nodded at the General and smiled. “I already am, Sir,” he replied proudly. “I am an Alcea Ranger. Let’s get out of here.”
The General grinned and shook his head as he followed Tedi out of the dungeon with his Sergeant close behind. Tedi led them through the corridors of the Royal Palace as if he had spent time there before. If anyone saw them at a distance, it would look like a foreign servant and his two unarmed foreign escorts. It was Tedi’s job to make sure that no one got a close look.
They made it without incident to the half collapsed corridor that led to the old servants’ entrance. Only two servants had seen them at a distance and they paid no particular interest to the foreign men. The corridor was barely passable in spots and the going was slow, as they had to climb over portions of crumbled walls. When they reached the end of the corridor, the door was jammed tight. Tedi almost panicked as he put his shoulder to the door and it refused to budge.
The Sergeant chuckled politely and tapped the pouch that Tedi held his picks in. “It’s locked, Ranger,” he prompted. “Work some of the skills from your misspent youth.”
Tedi swore as he extracted his picks and went to work on the door lock. They had already exhausted too much time getting out of the dungeon and Fredrik should be done with his meeting soon. Even if the guards did not wake up for an hour, somebody could discover them at any time. The door unlocked was still hard to open, but Tedi cracked it enough to peer outside. There was more debris from the Collapse past the door, which had never been cleaned up, and Tedi soon realized why Garth chose this doorway. They were able to make it easily across the unoccupied courtyard to a small gate in the wall. The gate was locked only with a beam laid in metal braces, which was easily removed, and the three escapees stepped into a street where two horses were tied to a tree.
The few passersby looked oddly at them for using a gateway which had not been used in years, but the tethered horses and foreign uniforms on the men, with the apparent lack of weapons, caused them to go about their business. Tedi saw the two military men mount their horses and then turned to walk the short distance to the Palace Shadow.
Fredrik led Duke Everich into a prolonged discussion of how the two countries might be of benefit to each other. The Duke seemed to be uninterested in most of the conversation with the exception of the Cidal Mercenary Company, but he was patient enough to let Fredrik rave about the great nation he was going to carve out of old Sordoa. The Duke probably thought Fredrik a young fool, but was trying to find some angle to get control of the mercenaries for his own benefit. Fredrik was sure that the Duke would use the mercenaries in some grand scheme of the Contest of Power.
It suddenly dawned on Fredrik why the Duke was being so patient. As long as Lord Wason was tied up in his study, the other players in the Contest could not talk to him. Even the length of time spent with Lord Wason would probably be used to some advantage. Fredrik was mulling over these thoughts when he heard the bump of something against the door. That was Arik’s signal that the escape was underway. Arik had hidden where he could observe Tedi’s group leaving and shadowed behind them to make sure they got off all right. The signal meant it was time to flee.
“Well,” Fredrik began, “I think this talk has given me much to think about, Duke Everich. I would like to meet with some of the other Council members tomorrow if you can arrange it, but I must be going now. I am afraid that as good as the Palace Shadow is, I did not sleep as well as I would have in my own bed.”
Duke Everich snapped his head up as if he had just heard Fredrik speak for the first time. “I could arrange for quarters here in the Palace if you wish,” he offered. “The other members of the Council have very busy schedules and I may not be able to arrange your meetings for a few days.”
“That is unfortunate,” Lord Wason declared. “I must start my journey back home tomorrow at the latest and the Palace Shadow will do for one more night. Perhaps there will be time for another meeting with you before I go. We can continue our plans by courier if that is not possible.”
“A pity,” grinned the Duke. “Well, I should send a guard down for your man to spare your bodyguard the trip while I see you out.”
Fredrik showed no sign of panic as he replied. “That won’t be necessary, Duke Everich. If you don’t mind, I will leave him there overnight. Perhaps he will be more understanding in the morning. I can easily find my own way out of the Palace while you check with the other Council members about their schedules for tomorrow.”
The Duke merely nodded, lost in thought, as Fredrik opened the door and stepped into the corridor where Arik was waiting. As quickly as they could, without appearing to be in a hurry, Fredrik and Arik made their way out of the Palace to the Palace Shadow where they met with Tedi and all checked out with great haste. Within minutes of each other, the three groups of Alcea Rangers started their journey out of the city towards the field where General Gregor and Sergeant Trank awaited them.
Garth, Kalina, Niki, and Tanya were waiting for Fredrik, Tedi and Arik a short way from the city and the group reformed into one. The field where the General waited was not far away from the city, but it was between the main road westward and the main road northward, which placed it in the forest where few would go. The General and the Sergeant were already talking with Mitar Vidson, head of the Targa Rangers, and David Jaynes, head of the Red Swords of Targa, when the Alcea Rangers arrived.
Garth introduced everybody and sat by the campfire as the rest of the group joined him. “General,” Garth began, “I am sure that your old friends have brought you up to date on why we are all here. I believe that you have met most of the Alcea Rangers already today. We will be leaving in the morning, but you four will have much to do before we return.”
“I must not have been told everything,” the General prodded. “Why have you formed the Alcea Rangers? Where are you going? When and why are you coming back and what is it you expect us to do?”
“Many questions,” mused Garth. “Still, you have the right to know what you are getting yourself into. First, I must ask a harsh question. Is your Sergeant Trank trustworthy?”
“I have staked my life on it in the past,” the General declared, “and I have not regretted it. You may speak of anything in his presence that you wish to speak to me about.”
“Very well,” Garth continued. “You four must prepare for the rising of Alcea which will occur when next you see us. Targa’s Army is young, weak, and untrained and, yet, a tremendous army will be coming to crush us. You must round up the remnants of the Red Swords and the Targa Rangers and get them ready for battle and you must do it covertly. No one is to know that you are forming this army. Let our enemies believe that Targa is ill- prepared to fend off their attack.”
The General looked around the campfire examining the faces before him. He understood the reference to Alcea rising because he had heard of the Prophecy and had been told to prepare for it or train a successor to prepare for it. What he did not understand was the great army that would be descending on Alcea. Nobody had mentioned that before.
“You lead me to believe that I should be kneeling before one of your Rangers,” the General stated. “May I know which one?”
“Not until I do,” Garth stated. “We know the Prophecy has begun, but little more. When I return, it will be with your King.”
“I will accept you at your word,” General Gregor acceded. “What is this talk of a great army descending on Alcea? This was never mentioned before in conjunction with the Prophecy.”
“The Dark One will soon know that the Prophecy has begun,” Garth explained. “If my plans go well, he will be unable to find us. His only recourse will be to eradicate Alcea to see that it never rises again. He has many under his control and he will not hesitate to use every last one of them. If he attacked Targa today, do you think your Army would stand any chance at all?”
“No,” conceded the General. “And if Targa gets wind of the building army, the battle will begin before the
