Dark One Rising. Leandra Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ loaves of bread, a hunk of cheese, several apples, and some leftover tarts that were left from last night’s dinner.

      She opened the door just a crack again and peered out. The three woman were busy working and chatting among themselves, which made her padded footfalls on the stone floor almost undetectable. She crouched down again and headed for the far stairs that led down into the cellar. The only time anyone was in the cellar was on the afternoons every other week when the supplies came in. Three kitchen workers would unload the cart that brought the supplies, check them in, and load them onto the overstock shelves. It was quiet this morning so she had no trouble getting in and going out into the inner bailey from the loading ramp. Getting across the bailey would be another matter entirely. The day shift of guards would be in place by now, and that meant a group of four standing watch at the gate, right across from the entrance to the stables. If she was seen, she would be stopped, and Gerard never missed anything. He had eyes like a hawk, that was why he was Captain of the Guard. She would then have to explain her cut hair and the travel bag she carried, and, if she did that, her escape would be foiled. She had to be out of the castle and far away before her father or anyone else discovered she was gone. She had to have a good head start or Fallon would surely catch up to her.

      She waited until there was a clear path, when the sentries were turned away from her, pacing back and forth across the gates. When their backs were to her, she ran across the bailey, staying as close up against the wall as possible, but she didn’t see the guard coming out of the kitchen door. He stepped in front of her and smiled down at her.

      “Where could you possibly be going this time of morning, Princess?” he asked her, eyeing her now cropped hair. He didn’t look angry, in fact, he had a look of amusement on his face. She knew him. He was a young knight, newly appointed into her father’s guard, who had always been nice to her. He was the same young squire who always covered for her whenever she was breaking the rules. She didn’t want to get him in trouble again, but she really needed him today.

      “I wanted to go into town and get some things for myself. I wanted to get to the merchants before the crowds. It may be a while before I ever see the people of Kingswell again.”

      He touched a short curl falling on her ear and frowned. “What happened to your lovely hair?”

      “It was a hindrance. I decided I liked it better short, if it is any business of yours.”

      He wasn’t buying it. He frowned at her and glanced over his shoulder to see if Gerard was at the gate yet. He looked back down at her. She was nervous.

      “I believe Your Highness has been put into a terrible situation.”

      She swallowed and looked at him. She decided maybe truth was best. “Please, Tomas, I must leave. I have no choice.”

      He glanced over his shoulder again, saw Gerard coming out of the guardhouse and stepped in front of her to block her from view.

      “Let me help you,” he said as she nervously looked toward the stables. “I will not let that barbarian have you. If Lucan is helping, I will to.”

      She was shocked that he would risk losing his post for her. “Thank you.”

      He walked along with her toward the stables, keeping her hidden from the view of the Captain of the Guard, and she slipped into the stables. He glanced her way quickly. “Good luck, Your Highness.”

      She nodded. “Thank you, Tomas, I will not forget this.”

      The stable door closed behind her. She tip-toed across the hay covered stalls and slipped out the back door, crouching down behind the grain bins. She was almost there. She made sure the voices she heard coming from inside the stables were on the far end of the stalls, then she walked briskly toward the orchard. It was bitter cold, so she wrapped her woolen cloak around her shoulders and pulled the fur lined hood over her head. Her thick woolen pants and linen shirt would keep her warm for awhile, but the elements would eventually sink in. She slipped in between a row of now bare fruit trees, and waited for Lucan. Only a few minutes passed before she saw him approaching, leading her horse, who was laden down with two full saddle bags. He reached her side and looked behind him to make sure he wasn’t followed. He handed the reins to her. She took them and tried to smile. He took her sword off his hip and handed it to her. She pulled it from its scabbard and looked at it.

      The blade was Elvin steel, the strongest metal ever forged, and the color was almost translucent gleaming in the sunlight. The hilt was gold, with black glossy leather wrapped tightly around it as protection. The hilt wrapped around her hand snakelike, and the pommel had a large purple stone. It always amazed her how comfortable it felt in her hand, almost as if it had been made for her. When she held it she could feel a power emanating from it, and it sang to her. She didn’t know why, but there was a reason, she felt it. It was a beautiful sword, none other it’s equal, and it belonged to her. Her parents thought a sword a strange gift for a girl but accepted the honor with grace. When she turned sixteen, her father told her the story and said that when she married, it would go with her to her new home to pass on to her son. Since then, it had been wrapped and locked away in a special case in the armory under the protection of the Captain of the Guard. Every now and then, she would butter him up and talk him into letting her see it, but after a few moments of admiring it, he would take it back and lock it away again. It was rightfully hers, and she would take it with her. She didn’t know why she had been given it, but she always had a feeling that the elves had a purpose to do so. Some day she vowed to find out what it was. Her father probably ordered it to stay locked up, thinking it had been a bad omen for her peculiar behavior. A sword for a girl was not normal, but then she was not a normal girl. She slid the sword back into the scabbard and tied it snugly underneath the saddle. “Thank you for getting this.”

      “Don’t thank me; it was Tomas.”

      She smiled inside. If only there were men with royal blood who cared so much.

      He reached into his apron pocket and pulled out a small knife. He handed it to her and frowned. “I pray you will never have to use this, but just in case.”

      She placed the knife in one of the saddle bags and tied the straps tight. She took her traveling pack off her back and tied it to the pommel of the saddle.

      “Now go, Mel, make haste. Fallon and his men are on their way. You must be far away when he arrives. Ride hard all day; don’t stop for anything. Travel only the back roads and forest trails. You won’t be so easily seen. As soon as you are safe where Fallon will not find you, send word. I won’t rest until I know you’re safe. If anyone asks me, I will tell them nothing, even on penalty of punishment. I promise I will not betray you.”

      She smiled at him again and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Lucan, for your friendship all these years. I would never have been able to cope without you. When Kevaan was away, you were the only friend I had. I will never forget you. I pray that one day things will be different, and I can return. Until then, take care and know that I love you.”

      “And I you, Princess. Please be careful. Trust no one.”

      She swung up into the saddle and settled her horse.

      “Go through the orchard. I have left the back gate open. Go through it and take the meadow all the way to the stream, then go through the forest from there,”

      “I know where to go, Lucan. I have traveled this countryside thousands of times. I will not get lost.”

      “I’m sorry. I’m just afraid for you.”

      “The world outside these walls don’t СКАЧАТЬ