The Blinded Journey Read online

  “This is nuts, Shaiss,” he muttered in exasperation, as he felt his blue energy release itself into the staff. He opened his eyes, and at the same time both the staff began to glow, and the ground shook violently with a momentary earthquake that made the palace tremble. The stone walls groaned while the women in the room shrieked and one of the guards swore loudly.

  Don’t give me any disrespect – ever, Shaiss’s voice was a frozen threat in his soul.

  “He is a most powerful sorcerer,” one of the guards observed.

  “But he couldn’t stop someone from slicing him with an ordinary sword,” the other said in reply.

  Kendel ignored them and approached the recumbent king. He still didn’t know precisely what he would do, but Shaiss – he tried not to allow any emotion to attach to the name in his thoughts – had told him to use Miriam’s power. He held the staff lengthwise above Ardur, and as he put it in place, it suddenly brightened, then cast a brilliant blue glow directly down upon the surface of the king, making the audience gasp audibly.

  The light bath lasted for two then three, then five seconds, then ceased.

  Kendel held the staff above the body longer, as it returned to its lesser glow. After ten seconds, he concluded that whatever had been intended to occur had happened.

  “We need to bring him with us,” he turned to the others and announced, looking first at Elline, then at Grace, who still carried the two swords she had lifted off the floor.

  “Won’t he die?” Grace asked. “What are you going to do with him?”

  “I don’t mean to kill him, but I have to bring him along,” Kendel replied, looking directly at Grace, trying to convey that he sincerely meant no harm.

  “You two, lift him – respectfully – and bring him with us,” Elline surprised Kendel by commanding the two guards to comply with Kendel’s wish.

  “Where are we going now?” the renowned knight asked Kendel.

  Kendel paused to see if Shaiss would provide any further instruction.

  You know where to take them, her voice rumbled in his soul, using a comparatively benign tone.

  “We’re going to leave now,” Kendel spoke aloud to the group. He believed he did know where Shaiss wanted him to take Ardur. It was an audacious proposal, and a long difficult journey. But it held an element of poetic justice, in some fashion that he couldn’t articulate to himself. “Let’s be on our way.”

  Chapter 12

  The small, mismatched band left the king’s quarters, joined by the unnerved nurse who was only semi-coherent in the face of the inexplicable disruption of her life. They passed through the kitchen, where Sheenda dressed Kendel’s wound.

  “Now what?” Elline asked.

  “I came here to set you free. Now, I’m going to leave the city, and take the king with me,” he announced as they all stood in the kitchen. “I’m going on a long journey,” he announced. “None of you are forced to go with me. I’ll set you all free right now if you promise not to betray me to Beches or his henchmen – you can go wherever you’ll be safe.”

  “Will your journey take you and the king to safety?” Vivienne asked.

  “If we make it to my goal, I believe we will be well-treated upon arrival,” Kendel replied.

  “Where is this harbor of safety you have in mind?” Elline asked. “Shoreline?”

  “No, I came from that direction, but I intend to go to a place in Four Borders,” Kendel replied.

  “That’s a nasty and unworthy land,” Elline commented.

  “But I know a place there that will be a refuge, where I expect we’ll be treated with courtesy – certainly the king will be,” Kendel countered.

  “Let me put together a bag of goods from the larder,” Sheenda said. “I’ll go with you, and we’ll need supplies, won’t we?”

  “Bring enough for me too,” the nurse said. “I’ll stay with the king to tend to whatever this sorcery does or doesn’t do.”

  I’ll join you,” Elline replied. “To protect my king.”

  “I’ll go with you too; I’ll be executed if I stay here,” one of the guards said.

  “Will you wait for me to go get my wife and bring her too?” the other guard asked.

  “I’ll join you, sir sorcerer,” Vivienne spoke up.

  “We all will,” Grace added, with a look at Sophie, who nodded in agreement.

  “It’s like the fellowship of the ring,” Kendel muttered to himself. “With a lot of differences.”

  The group ended up carrying a great deal of food out of the palace larder courtesy of Sheenda, then the whole unwieldly group managed to cross the palace grounds and leave through the culvert.

  Once they were out, the group paused while Kendel tried to get his bearings.

  “It’s this way to the eastern gate out of the city, correct?” he asked, pointing down the street.

  “Yes, your greatness,” one of the guards replied. The man and the other guard were still carrying the body of the unconscious king.

  “We need a better way to bear his highness,” Elline stated. “Do you have any magical ways to do so?”

  Kendel shook his head. “None that I can think of right now.”

  “Come to my house with me while I fetch my wife, and we can find a way to carry him along,” the married guard spoke up. “My brother-in-law has a rickshaw we can take.”

  “What’s a rickshaw?” Kendel asked.

  “It’s a small, small carriage, pulled by a man instead of a horse,” Vivienne answered.

  “It would work,” Elline agreed, “at least while we’re traveling on good roads.”

  “Part of the way we’ll travel will be rough,” Kendel acknowledged, thinking of the roads leading to Four Borders, especially in the hilly country where the second sun witch had attacked. Still, he decided, it would help them much of the way.

  “Let’s go give your wife a surprise,” he nodded to the guardsman. “Lead the way.”

  The guardsman moved to the front, as Elline took his place carrying the king, with the others strung along in a line and Kendel in the rear, his staff dully glowing blue, prepared in case they ran into any danger in the evening streets. Their guide led them through a tangled maze of urban streets and alleys to avoid taverns and places with people; after twenty minutes they stopped at a door in a neighborhood that Kendel would have called squalid, just based on the smells from the refuse in the streets.

  “Gayl, wake up,” the group heard the guardsman speaking in a room off the main room where the rest of them stood, a small room that was kitchen, dining room, and sitting room combined, it appeared by the light of Kendel’s staff. There were murmured words for a moment, then the woman exclaimed.

  “That’s crazy! We can’t!” she spoke loudly. There was more murmuring.

  “They’re here? With the King?” she asked in an incredulous voice.

  A moment later a woman’s head stared out the doorway, taking in the sight of the group that shuffled and tried not to stare back. She gave a gasp as she spotted Kendel’s glowing staff, then again when she saw the figure of the King, slumped in a chair as Elline held the sovereign’s shoulder. The head shot back into the bedroom, and more indistinct conversation occurred, then a minute later the guard came out.

  “She’ll be ready in a second,” the husband reported.

  “Weber, come give me a hand with the rickshaw,” he jerked his head towards the door and the two men went out.

  “What are you people doing to my husband?” the distraught wife emerged from the bedroom, hastily dressed and carrying a bulky bag of belongings. “Where are we going? What will become of us?” she asked.

  “We’re taking the King to a place where better things will be, and where treachery and death do not rule the palace, isn’t that so, sorcerer?” Elline spoke.

  “We’re going to a safer place for all of us,” Kendel agreed.

  “These were going to be killed at dawn, but for the young hero,” Sheenda spoke up.

  The door open
ed, and the married guardsman stood ready. “Let’s go, if you’re ready,” he said to Kendel.

  The group arranged the king in the rickshaw, placed several of the bags of food that the girls had carried upon the frame, then started on the way, as one guardsman pulled the rickshaw and the other held his wife’s hand and continued to speak to her in an urgent low voice as they walked.

  Two minutes after they left the apartment, a bell started to ring in the distance, then others started to join in.

  “The alarm’s sounded,” the two guards spoke simultaneously.

  “We’re going to be caught and killed,” Gayl the wife wailed.

  “How long to get to the gate and leave the city?” Kendel asked.

  “Five more minutes if we walk at a fast pace,” the nurse answered.

  “Three,” Gayl and her husband Waxen, both said at the same time.

  “We better hurry then,” Weber, the other guard spoke up. “They’ll be closing the gates any minute now.” He picked up the pace as he pulled the rickshaw along the unevenly paved road, and the others increased their stride to match his speed.

  Two minutes later they reached the empty plaza in front of the gates. The gates were open, but a squad of four guards stood in the gate way, holding torches and staring around.

  “Weber, you take Rachel,” Elline indicated the nurse as he spoke, “and see if the two of you can get through the gate. We’ll stay here and watch.”

  The guardsman nodded and held out his hand to Rachel, who took it after a pause. The pair walked away from the others in the shadow of the roadway and walked towards the gate where the guards were studying them.

  “They know the alarm’s ringing, but they won’t know what it’s for yet,” Waxen said to the others. “They don’t know it’s Sir Elline escaped, or they don’t know the King’s been kidnapped, so they can’t look for anything in particular.”

  “You girls get started now,” Waxen suggested. “Gayl, you go with them. They surely won’t think four women walking together are anything to raise an alarm over.”

  “What about you?” Gayl asked her husband.

  “When there’s just the four of us, we may be able to fight our way past against the guards. When you catch up to him, tell Weber to come back to support us,” Elline answered first, as Waxen nodded agreement.

  Kendel noticed a motion out of the corner of his eye and saw that Grace and Sophie were both lifting their skirts high so that they could tuck the confiscated swords into their garments out of sight.

  “Sir sorcerer, a gentleman would not gape at a lady in such a manner,” Vivienne admonished him., making Kendel quickly turn his head away and blush. He’d seen next to no actual skin; compared to the swimsuits he was used to seeing girls wear at the public pool in Bedford, he’d seen nothing at all. But by the conventions of Sunob, the display had been risqué.

  Gayl gave her husband a hug and a kiss, then the four young women began their own approach to the gate, as Weber and Rachel were just reaching the guards.

  From the shadows, Kendel and the others watched as the guards began to speak to the pair, then waved them through. Waxen gave an audible sigh of relief.

  “Sheenda, you take his majesty next. Tell the guards your husband is ill and you’re taking him home,” Elline dispatched the next set of travelers.

  “I should’ve known I’d be the one to pull the rickshaw,” the cook grumbled as she maneuvered to take her spot between the handle shafts of the vehicle.

  “It’s only because you are good enough to be the queen,” Elline grinned, displaying a sense of humor that impressed Kendel.

  “You’re a scoundrel, you are. No wonder you’re so good around the nobility!” Sheenda grinned at him, then gave a grunt and set herself in motion.

  The remaining three watched the cook pull her vehicle across the bumpy plaza.

  “Sir sorcerer, will you be able to cast any potent spells to help us travel through the gates?” Elline asked Kendel.

  “My name is Kendel. You can just call me that, Sir Elline,” Kendel answered. “And yes, I’ll be ready to see what I can do if we need my powers.” The girls had reached the gate and were talking to the guards.

  “The name rings a bell,” Elline mused. “It’s not an ordinary name, is it?”

  “Not around here,” Kendel agreed. “And not at home either, really.”

  “Where’s home?” Waxen asked.

  Before Kendel could answer, all three looked up to see a new squad of guardsmen entering the plaza from a different street to reinforce the guards at the gate. The four young women were just released and starting to walk under the city walls, as Sheenda and her rickshaw arrived at the quartet of guards blocking the gate.

  “This gets tricky,” Elline said softly. Kendel noticed that he raised the hand that was carrying the sword.

  The guards took notice of the new squad approaching as well, and waved Sheenda through without comment as they all turned to await the arrival of their companions. Sheenda looked over her shoulder to see what distracted the guards as she kept the rickshaw rolling; when she recognized the arrival of more guards, she increased her speed and disappeared into the darkness under the city gate.

  “What now?” Waxen asked.

  Elline held up his hand. “Let’s watch for a moment to see what happens.”

  The new guards arrived, tripling the number of guards at the gate, and an animated conversation took place as the old guards displayed disbelief at the story the new arrivals told them. A trio of the guards left the larger group, and suddenly pulled shut the large wooden gates in the opening, truly sealing the city off from the outside world.

  “I’ve never known them to truly close the gates,” Elline said softly.

  “Is there another way for us to get out of the city to join the rest?” Waxen asked.

  Elline looked at Kendel. “The other gates will be just as shut as this one, I suspect. What can you do?” he asked Kendel.

  “Let me think,” Kendel answered. He tried to imagine options, looking at buildings near the wall, wondering if there was a way to simply climb over. No buildings seemed close enough to allow that. Kendel didn’t know how to use his energy to make them fly over the wall, he couldn’t make them invisible (and the gates were closed anyway). He could use his energy to blow up the gates, but he knew that some of the guards would die in the process, and he didn’t want needless blood on his hands unless it became absolutely the only way to succeed.

  “I could go over to that other street and draw their attention,” he said slowly, trying to figure out a strategy. “And when they came to get me, maybe you could sprint to the gate, open it and rush out? Then I could follow?”

  “They won’t all go after you,” Waxen answered first. “Some will stay back at the gate.”

  “He’s right,” Elline agreed.

  “I could just attack them, but I don’t want to harm any more than necessary,” his mind flashed back to the horrific scene he had witnessed when the guards at Elline’s door had killed one another. He’d been sickened by the sight.

  “Well said, Kendel,” Elline approved. “there is enough sorrow in our plagued city without adding to the despair.

  “Can you protect yourself if we can get away?” he asked.

  “I will,” Kendel nodded confidently.

  “Then I want to use part of your plan; you go to a different street entrance and draw some of the guards away from the plaza. Can you do that and evade them to return while they’re chasing after you in the city?” Elline asked.

  “Easily,” Kendel replied.

  “Good. You do that. Waxen and I will move to a closer position while you have them distracted, then we can meet at the gate and you can protect us while we open the gates. Will that work? Can you do it lad?”

  “I’ll give it my best; you won’t be disappointed,” Kendel found that he appreciated Elline’s leadership and personality. The knight had taken control of the mission to rescue the ladies of the
court as the mission had wildly expanded beyond Kendel’s expectations.

  “I’m sure I won’t,” Elline gave Kendel a clap on the shoulder, which unfortunately was Kendel’s wounded shoulder, making the boy yelp in pain.

  “Sorry lad,” Elline apologized.

  “Who goes there?” a guard’s voice questioned loudly. “Show yourself!”

  “Augh!” Waxen moaned.

  “This will still work; I’ll lead them away,” Kendel blurted out the words, then bolted into the square. He stopped after several steps, then swerved and started sprinting towards another street entrance off the plaza.

  The guards shouted warnings at his unexpected change in direction, but Kendel kept running. He wasn’t a sprinter; he was a distance runner, but he would manage to sprint for a couple of hundred yards at least to lead the guards away from the plaza.

  He thought of Liza, who was a sprinter. The cross-country season would have had its first meet after all the time he’d been traveling; he wondered if Liza was still running cross-country, and how she’d done in her first meet. He was in such good shape he was sure he would have finished in the top three or four at the meet. He remembered the schedule – the first meet would have been in Seymour, a large meet with ten schools competing.

  Kendel turned sharply and entered the mouth of the street, and as he did a noise next to him surprised him, and a stream of sparks along the cobblestones of the street revealed an arrow had been shot at him. It had been unexpected, and uncomfortably close. He hadn’t counted on arrows as part of the pursuit.

  The road ahead appeared to have a long straight stretch; that would be good for him to sprint, but also good for arrows to be shot at him. He looked for a cross street and ducked to the right, further away from Elline and Waxen. He’d try to give them time to establish themselves in a new position by leading his pursuers as far as he could. In turn, he realized, he had to let the guards stay close enough to him so that they’d continue to pursue, and not give up – at least not until he’d led them as far from the gate as possible.