Demonkin (71 page)

“I have men crawling into each wagon. Frankly, I think we are wasting time here. The warriors are not even anxious about our searching. That alone tells me that they know that we will find nothing.”

“Pull the men out of the wagons,” agreed Colonel Fisker. “We need to get word back to Giza about the need to search the Sea of Tears.”

“And beyond.”

The wind whipped through the streets of Valdo as the monstrous hurricane approached the city. The stinging rain blew horizontally out of the north, and the soldier used the protection of the buildings as he headed eastward towards the Royal Palace. When he reached the intersection, he halted and stuck his head around the corner. The wind blasted his face, and the rain pelted his skin. He pulled his head back and sighed as he looked at the intersection. Pieces of cloth and tree branches were flying down the cross street, and the street itself resembled a river more than a road. An eerie howl sung through the buildings protecting him, and he wondered how much of a storm the old buildings could really withstand.

The howl faltered a moment later, and the soldier saw it as a good omen. He dashed into the intersection and raced for the opposite side of the street. His boots splashed through the ankle-deep water flowing down the street, and a piece of wet cloth slapped the side of his head. He subconsciously grabbed the cloth and tossed it to the wind without breaking stride. When he made it to the safety of the next block, he paused with his back to the building. He wiped the side of his head with his hand and noticed that his hand came away bloodstained. He cautiously raised his hand again, pressing a finger to the part of his temple that was stinging. He winced as his finger made contact with the wound, but there was nothing still imbedded in the skin. He sighed with relief.

Keeping close to the buildings, the soldier made his way down the street to the next and final cross street. He stopped at the corner and stared across the broad avenue at the gates to the Royal Palace. The gates were closed, and he cursed silently as he pictured himself standing before the gates waiting for someone to open them. He searched the area near the gates, trying to locate the hidden guards. He finally found them sheltering alongside the stone wall that lined the drive to the palace. The guards were crouched down to avoid the wind and the rain as much as they could. The soldier knew that the guards would not care to stand up and open the gates any more than he wanted to stand and wait for them to do so, but he had to get the reports to General Vladin.

The soldier waved his arms in the air as he tried to get the attention of the guards. He knew that they had seen him, but they were pointedly ignoring him. He could hardly blame them, but it made him angry nonetheless. When he felt a slight weakening of the wind, he pushed off the building and raced across the street.

“Report for General Vladin,” he shouted as loud as he could. “Open the gates now!”

The guards ignored his first cries, or the wind merely tossed his words away, but the soldier continued shouting as he ran across the wide street. As he neared the entrance, one of the guards finally rose and dashed to the gates. The soldier saw the guard lift the bar to allow the gates to be opened. The soldier blinked in disbelief as the wind caught the unbarred gate and slammed it back against the wall. The guard holding the bar was in the way, and the gate clipped him. The guard tumbled to the ground, moaning in pain. The soldier winced sympathetically, but he did not even slow down as he dashed through the open gates. The soldier raced along the tree-lined drive towards the palace. Small branches whipped through the trees, and the soldier shuddered each time a branch flew past him, but he didn’t stop running until he reached the entrance to the building. The guards at the door stood in sheltered recesses, and they made no move to halt his entry into the building.

“There is a man wounded at the palace gates,” the soldier said as he opened the door and fled inside.

The door slammed behind him, and the soldier paused to catch his breath. His uniform was soaked and filthy, and a muddy puddle formed at his feet as he waited. He ignored the puddle and the curious stares of the passersby. When his breathing had returned to normal, the soldier moved through the corridors and entered the general’s office. General Vladin turned and stared at the soldier.

“The reports from the city gates,” the soldier said as he reached under his tunic and extracted the papers.

The general stepped close and took the papers. He glanced briefly at them and nodded when they said what he had expected them to say. The general dropped the papers on his desk and returned his attention to the soldier.

“You are bleeding,” stated the general.

“Debris, sir. There is also a wounded man at the palace gates. It is not safe to be outside. If it gets any worse, some of the buildings in the city will collapse.”

The general nodded. “Get yourself to a healer and then get cleaned up. I will not have my men marching around the palace in such condition. Report the gate guard to the healer.”

The soldier saluted and retreated from the office. The general glanced at the wet floor and snapped an order to his aide. He exited the office and strode down the corridor to the Queen’s office. Her door was open, and he walked in. Queen Samir looked up expectantly.

“We have a situation,” stated the general. “The elven children have escaped.”

“All of them?” asked the queen.

“All of them.” The general nodded. “It happened sometime during the night. We are not exactly sure when, but they did not leave the city through any of the gates.”

“Tell me what you know, General.”

“There is not a lot to tell,” the general frowned. “The guards were sealed in the lobby. In fact, we still have not managed to get the doors open. Both the front door to the building and the door leading from the lobby to the rest of the building are sealed tight. I have authorized men to tear the doors away from the building if necessary. At the rear of the center, an exterior wall has a large hole in it. It appears that someone pushed the wall out from the inside, but we can’t imagine how anyone could do that. Is it possible that one of the elven children might be a mage?”

Queen Samir shook her head. “The elves only have weak healing spells, and very few are even capable of that. Certainly nothing that could break walls. Are all of the guards accounted for?”

“We are not sure yet. We can talk to the trapped guards, but an investigation of them will have to wait until they are freed.”

“You said this happened during the night. Why am I just hearing about it now? Why hasn’t an alarm been raised?”

“The city is sealed off,” the general said reassuringly. “While the escape happened during the night, it was not discovered until the shift change. I ordered the gates closed as soon as it was reported. As for presenting it to you, I waited until I had the information I knew you would ask for. The harbormaster reports that a large ship entered the harbor last night, but it didn’t stay more than an hour. The captain never reported to the harbormaster.”

“Coincidence? Or was this escape planned with outside help?”

“I am not a believer in coincidences,” answered the general. “This storm had already started churning the sea yesterday afternoon. While it makes sense that any nearby ship would head for the harbor, they would not be anxious to dock, and they surely wouldn’t leave again in the middle of the night. I think the escape was planned, but that only raises more questions than answers.”

“The reeducation center is not near the docks,” mused the queen. “How could the children possibly cross the city and not be noticed by someone?”

“And how did they break the wall of the center?” added the general.

“What about those healers who set up shop in the slums?” asked Queen Samir. “Could they have been involved in this?”

“They left the city days ago,” answered the general. “I had men watching them when they were drawing such a crowd. They were nothing more than sellers of potions.”

“Their potions did seem to work,” replied the queen.

“I will not dispute that,” countered the general, “but they showed no interest in the city outside the slums. I suspect that they filled their pockets with gold and have moved on to another city.”

Queen Samir nodded and sighed. “I suppose we need to inform Emperor Jaar of our troubles. I can’t bear the thought of his lecturing me on how careless we have been. Can we find someone to blame for this?”

“You are not concerned with recovering the elves?” questioned the general.

“The elves have never been of any use to Spino,” retorted the queen. “The Baroukans use them to labor in the mines. The only reason we even have the center in this city is because the emperor was afraid to keep all the children in the same place in case the elves got uppity and decided to rescue them. I would just as soon burn the building down and tell Jaar that they all perished in the fire. I certainly do not look forward to housing them again.”

General Vladin raised an eyebrow. “There is a danger in doing that. If the elven children are somehow discovered, the emperor will know that you deceived him. I also do not know who is aware of the escape. It is possible that someone already knows. Perhaps we should just report the truth and then refuse to accept them back.”

“That might work,” mused the queen. “I will let Jaar belittle our security and then tell him if he doesn’t like the way we handle things, he should just keep all the children in Despair. Very well, send the message to Despair.”

“I am afraid that is impossible at the moment. Until this storm blows over, no pigeon would make it to Despair. We also cannot send ships out to search for the mystery vessel.”

“We will have to make a show of searching for the children,” frowned the queen, “but the storm will be seen as a legitimate reason to delay. I will leave this matter in your hands, but I want to be kept informed.”

* * * *

Grand General Kyrga had risen early, and he had ordered the morning meal brought to his office. When he heard the knock on the door of his office, he called out permission to enter. Expecting the servants with his meal, he frowned as Colonel Taerin entered the room. Kyrga sighed and waved the colonel forward.

“Isn’t it a bit early in the day for problems?” quipped Grand General Kyrga.

“Were you not already awake,” the colonel replied without humor, “I would be waking you. The elven children are no longer in the reeducation center.”

“What?” bellowed the Grand General. “They escaped? All of them?”

“I am not sure that escape is the proper term. The children were removed by soldiers of the V Corps.”

“V Corps?” balked Kyrga. “Garibaldi’s misfits? I doubt that the entire lot of them could storm the center and survive. If this is a joke, Colonel, you will regret this attempt at humor.”

“I find nothing humorous in this matter,” the colonel replied seriously. “There was no battle at the center. General Garibaldi showed up at the center last night with orders from the emperor. The orders gave the V Corps custody of the children. General Garibaldi informed the guards that the center was needed for three-hundred rebels that had been recently captured. They were given orders to refit the center for the rebels.”

Grand General Kyrga held up his hand to halt the colonel. “Rebels captured? I have had no reports of such an event. Is the emperor running his own private armies now?”

“I took the liberty of speaking to Emperor Jaar before bringing this matter to your attention,” volunteered the colonel. “He is unaware of any rebel captures, and he did not authorize the movement of the elven children.”

“You spoke to the emperor before reporting to me?” Kyrga asked. “Are you forgetting who you work for?”

“Certainly not, Grand General Kyrga, but I knew that you would want to know if the emperor did indeed issue such orders, and I wanted to be fully prepared before rousing you from your bed.”

“And meanwhile the elven children might be sneaking out of the city,” scowled Kyrga. “Timing is important here, Colonel.”

“If you will allow me to finish my report,” frowned Colonel Taerin, “you will see why I have acted the way I have.”

Grand General Kyrga sighed with impatience and nodded for the colonel to continue.

“The elven children are no longer in the city. General Garibaldi and the men of the V Corps marched them out the northern gates well before sunrise.”

“The northern gates?” interrupted Kyrga. “That is forbidden.”

“Again,” the colonel sighed with frustration, “the general had authorization from the emperor. I should point out in defense of both junior officers, each of them sent runners to the palace to make timely reports of these unusual orders. Both runners were later found unconscious.”

“How much of a head start do the elves have?”

“About three hours,” answered the colonel, “and they were on foot. Only General Garibaldi was mounted, and he returned through the northern gates less than an hour after he left.”

“So he is back in the city? Does the fool think that we will not have reports about what happened last night?”

“His actions make no sense to me,” admitted Colonel Taerin.

“Nor to me,” Kyrga said distractedly. “I wonder if someone is trying to frame our Vinaforan general. I find it hard to believe anyone could be so stupid as Garibaldi is being portrayed, but if someone is framing him, he couldn’t have picked a better mark.”

“Or perhaps Garibaldi is counting on you to believe such a possibility,” offered the colonel. “It looks so obviously like a frame that maybe it isn’t.”

“An interesting viewpoint,” mused Kyrga. “Time will tell, but have Garibaldi arrested anyway. I also want the entire V Corps disbanded and jailed. Also, send General Fortella in to see me.”

The colonel saluted and started to retreat from the office.

“Taerin, have there been any messages from the other cities with centers?”

“We had a pigeon arrive from Farmin yesterday,” answered the colonel, “but there was no message tube. It is possible the bird merely got loose, or it could be because of the storm.”