B008P7JX7Q EBOK (34 page)

Alexis simply nodded. Michel turned away.

Alexis turned and darted towards the rear of the
crowd as Michael headed down the street.

4

His throat was on fire and his chest burned. His
head ached and pulsed as though it wanted to rupture. He could feel his eyes
growing painfully larger, wanting to fall out. There was a drumming in his
head, like that of a madman, and he knew that it was the blood in his head. He
could feel the rope around his neck every time he tried to inhale futilely.
There was no energy left in him to struggle.

It was as though he was in another world than
the people that watched him. He could see them, perhaps not clearly, but he
could see them. Yet he was deaf to their world, and fading from it with every
moment that passed. His thoughts, however, seemed to come with a vivid clarity
that was surprising and frightening.

I’m suffocating to death
,
Adrian thought, and then,
God, this is what Connor must have felt as he was
....
He rolled his head to the side as far as he could, and saw Connor hanging
limply from the noose, eyes wide open, seeing nothing, and his dry tongue
protruding a little from between blue lips.
I’m sorry, Connor
, Adrian
thought, and wanted to weep, but found that he couldn’t. His eyes drifted
toward the crowd, which faded in and out of reality, into a sea of faces that
distorted into indiscernible blurs. He looked to Wendyl, and met the man’s
insufferable eyes as they stared into his own. A smile seemed to hover over the
fat lord’s lips, and this at least seemed to be a real smile. He was enjoying
this whole ordeal.

Adrian felt weariness creep in like a thief in
the night, and thought how he had never before felt such a strong need to
simply go to sleep. The pain around his throat began to subside. The burning
around his bound wrists didn’t even announce itself any longer with small
twitches of pain. Dark flowers began to bloom before his eyes, and with every
slow wink the world faded away some more and was replaced by darkness. There
seemed to be an everlasting darkness around the edges of his vision now, and he
realized that his eyes were closing as the darkness clouded his sight. Before
the blackness claimed him Adrian saw the crowd as indistinguishable faces, and
thought he saw a black figure darting through them towards the dais.

Darkness closed in on him, and Adrian let
himself go.

5

Alexis struggled his way through the thick crowd
.
It was like fighting his way through a dense forest, but they yielded to
his shoves and parted before him. The sight of his guns helped as well; the
people looked at him and then at the guns and pushed away from him. Over their
heads Alexis could see the top of the gibbet and the taught ropes trailing
down. He forced himself to move faster.

When he burst out into the small clearing around
the dais he took only a moment to register everything. His eyes skimmed over
the surprised guards and went directly to the boys, hanging listlessly. Alexis
raised his right gun and squeezed off two shots. The ropes holding the boys’
snapped and they fell heavily to the wooden platform.

The sound of the shots in that eerie quietness
was deafening. Horrified screams erupted from those at the front, screams that
the sight they had been witnessing had not dragged out, and wondering murmurs
arose from those farther curious to know what was happening. It all sounded
like the unintelligible gabble of geese. The crowd broke then, like a dam,
those in the forefront turning and pushing and shoving in whichever direction
they could.

“Get him, you idiots!” a voice screamed above
the noise of the mob.

Alexis turned to see Wendyl pointing towards
him, and saw the Sune Guard running down the short steps of the dais. It didn’t
matter; he wouldn’t be stopped now. He raced towards them, raising his guns as
he did, feeling the blood rush through him. The first man fell back before he
even had his sword cleared from his scabbard, a dark hole blooming in his
chest. Another fell with a wounded leg. The rest stopped where they were,
looked uncertainly to one another, and then, deciding perhaps that it was
simply not worth it, disbanded and joined the crowd in their frenzy to get away
as quickly as possible. Alexis barely saw them.

He ran to the boys, noticing that Wendyl had
already joined the fleeing mob, and knelt beside them. He placed his smoking
guns aside and undid the ropes from around their necks, horrified at the swollen
scars left behind on the skin. He bent an ear to first Adrian’s chest and then
Connor's.

He has to live! He can’t die! I won’t let
him die!

There was nothing.

For a moment the Legionnaire could do nothing
but stare at those faces. The glazed and bloodshot eyes that looked out seemed
accusatory to him. His mind raced for a solution. He closed his eyes and took
three deep breaths, as he had been taught long ago, and it helped to calm his
nerves and his mind a little.

He did the only thing then that came to mind,
drifting up from lessons learned as a child. He bunched his right hand into a
fist and brought it crashing down on Adrian’s chest with all the force he could
muster. The boy’s body jumped from the blow, but remained lifeless. Alexis
placed his head against Adrian’s chest to listen for a heartbeat. His own blood
pounding through his head made it all the more difficult to hear whatever weak
heartbeat there might be. With a silent curse he bunched his hand again, and
brought it crashing down onto Adrian’s chest.

The boy jerked up so suddenly that Alexis nearly
fell back. A harsh gasp escaped Adrian, like a drowning swimmer breaking the
surface and swallowing one more precious gulp of air. Relief washed over Alexis
so strong that for a moment he could do nothing but stare into the boy’s gray
eyes. “You’re all right,” he said breathlessly. “Thank God.”

Adrian attempted to speak, but all Alexis heard
was a wheezy sound. “ ...
Con ... Connor
...” Adrian raised one weak
hand and pointed towards his cousin.

Alexis’s gaze followed that finger, and he
studied Connor silently, thinking how calm and dead the boy looked.
He’s
spent too long up there
, he thought. Nonetheless, he moved to Connor’s
side. He listened for a heartbeat, and was certain this time he heard nothing.
Again he balled up his fist. He brought it crashing down on Connor’s chest. The
boy’s body shook, but not from the breath of life but rather from the blow.
Nothing. Again Alexis brought his fist down on Connor’s small chest. It felt
like hitting something dead. Nothing. Again. Again. Again.

There was nothing.

“
Please
...
help him
...” Adrian
whispered in a strained voice. Alexis looked at him and saw he had made it to a
sitting position. He saw the tears running down the boy’s cheeks and turned
back to Connor, wishing he could do something more.

He raised his hand once more, and was startled
by the sound of a gunshot. He looked up to find Michael standing across the
dais with one gun leveled before him. Alexis’s head snapped behind them and he
saw a man in a red coat fall to the street, gripping a crossbow in his hands.

“This is what happens when you become careless,”
Michael said as he headed towards them. “What are you doing there? The boy’s
dead, now take the other and let us leave this place.”

“No!” Adrian yelled, his voice raw and
surprisingly strong. “
We can’t ... leave him
,” he added sorely.

Michael frowned at Adrian, then at Alexis. “Move
aside, and keep a watch.”

Alexis stepped back from the body and moved to
pick up his guns. He stood and looked around the plaza. The mob was still
dispersing from the town square, and the noise they made nearly swallowed all
other sounds. He kept an eye on everything around them, but he also watched
Michael.

Michael knelt besides Connor and placed two
fingers bellow the boy’s jaw. He waited ... and shook his head. He then placed
both hands on Connor’s chest just below the breastbone, and pressed hard for a
few turns, then pinched Connor’s nose and placed his mouth over the boy’s.
Alexis could see the man blowing air into Connor’s lungs. Michael let up and
began to press on the boy’s chest again.

Alexis turned to watching the emptying town
square. All the streets leading away from the square seemed clogged with people
fighting to get away. Those on the rooftops had dispersed as well, but he saw
some heads peeking over the abutments, no doubt thinking themselves safe up
there. He watched the crowd, filled with an odd mixture of hope and fear.
Adrian was safe, but the simple thought of Connor’s death made him wither
inside.
He doesn’t matter; only Adrian
, he reminded himself, but it
didn’t change how he felt. Behind him he could hear Michael’s struggles to save
the boy.

Alexis watched the crowd, and became aware of
something peculiar at once. While many of the folk were trying to get far away
as fast as possible, he saw some fighting the other way, fighting to enter the
town square. He saw them coming through all the avenues leading out, all of
them dressed in maroon coats. He concluded that they must be the rest of
Wendyl’s personal guard.

“We must--” he began, and was interrupted by a
harsh, wheezing sound. Alexis whirled around to find Connor coughing on the
ground, his head held in Michael’s arms, sucking in deep frantic breaths.
He’s
... alive.
How?
For a moment he simply stared at the boy, unable to
believe what he was seeing. He then turned to Michael and spoke in a dazed
voice. “There are more of them coming.”

Michael stood up and walked over to where he
stood. Alexis pointed out the men to him. Michael nodded gravely. “So there
are.”

Alexis turned to the boys. Adrian sat besides
Connor, with Connor’s head in his lap, and held his cousin’s hand in his own.
“You’re all right,” he whispered softly over and over in deepest relief, and it
sounded to the Legionnaire as though the boy found it hard to believe it
himself.
They are too weak to move on their own
, he thought as he turned
to face Michael. “And what do we do now? We’re surrounded from all sides.”

Michael looked at him, and then at the boys. “We
get them out of here, that’s what we do for now.”

Michael walked over to where the boys sat and
picked up Connor in his arms as though he weighed nothing. Alexis watched the
backs of the crowd, and saw how much closer those red-uniformed guards were to
breaking through. He went and scooped up Adrian.

“Alexis … what are you doing?” the boy asked.

“Taking you someplace safe,” Alexis told him.

The two Legionnaires carried the boys off the
dais and across the square to the side alley where Michael said the horses
waited. For a moment Alexis feared that Leah had left with the animals when the
crowd had broken. Then he saw her standing at the rear of the alley holding the
horses’ reigns, looking agitated and greatly relieved to see them.

“Where have you been?” she demanded. “I have
been running out of my mind thinking of what might have been keeping you. Are
those the boys?”

Alexis placed Adrian on one horse as Michael put
Connor on the other. Alexis turned to face Leah. “Wait here for a signal, then
take them out of here and down the street.” Then, in a softer tone, he advised,
“If it all turns bad here, make your way to Gale with the boys and find my
father, Galen Marshall. He will help you.”
I hope
.

“What will you be doing?” she asked.

Alexis looked at Michael.

“Clearing a path,” said the other Legionnaire.

6

The folk in the streets were like rats running
from the disturbance and bolting to their holes to escape being caught in the
open. Alexis and Michael stood at the mouth of the alley, staring out both ways
into the street. The red-uniformed guards were easy to pick out.

“We only need to clear this street,” Michael
said. “No need to tackle them all.”

“All right,” Alexis said. “There are two coming
from farther down the street.”

“There are two more across the square and
another one entering the square from the north.” Michael made a disgusted
sound. “Whatever we do, it will draw their attention.”

“I can handle these two, open a path for the
boys and Leah--”

“And I can hold off the others.”

Alexis frowned at the idea. He didn’t like the
thought of one man taking on more than twice his numbers, but he knew it was
all they were left. “All right.”

Michael clapped him on the back and Alexis
turned to find the man smiling bitterly at him. “Lighten up, man. They’ll be
telling stories about us for years to come in Grandal. There’s a sort of
immortality in songs and stories.”

“I don’t want immortality. I simply want to get
out of here.”

Michael only laughed.
Alexis looked to the back of the alley. Leah sat on one horse holding Connor
before her, and Adrian was slumped across the other, all of them looking at the
two of them with apprehension. He turned back to Michael’s somber face. “Do you
know who you’re helping save?”