Bloodstone - Power of Youth (Book 3) (30 page)

The merchant’s eyes had already grown large and he nodded. Lotto doubted the merchant would be going anywhere. They left the tent by the front opening.

Lotto headed to Mander’s house with Kenyr struggling to keep up. “I’m going to have to learn to teleport,” Lotto said. “I could be at the border, heading back to Beckondale in a few moments and now we’ll have to get our bottoms burned on the saddle.”

Mander greeted both of the men as they rushed into the warmth of his house and into the sitting room. “You two look as if—”

“I have some potentially bad news.” Lotto said. “Kenyr ran into a merchant with crates of Zarronan food in the Beckondale market. I think it was lifted from the supplies of a Dakkoran regiment. The merchant’s guard told us that they bought the goods from a man who came from Histo.”

“So you want to run off and capture him?” Mander said.

“Of course, wouldn’t you?”

“Aside from my bad back? No. Aside from being transported a few times to Learsea and riding a horse around with Anchor, I won’t go seeking trouble. I suggest that you let Lessa handle it. It’s a little early for lunch, but we can manage it.”

Lotto gritted his teeth. “The seller still might be in Beckondale, anyway. I’ll try there and then…”

“Do we have visitors dear?” Lotto heard Anna, Mander’s wife call from the hallway. He heard two sets of steps. Anna came into the room, followed by Sallia.

“Princess,” Lotto said and bowed to her.

“You’ve never bowed to me before,” Sallia said.

“We are in Beckondale. It’s different.” The situation flustered Lotto. He caught some amusement in Kenyr’s eye.

“No, it’s not, Lord Mistad,” Sallia said. “Or is it?”

She played with him. Lotto didn’t like her confidence. He wondered if it had always been there.

“Lotto, Kenyr. Don’t let us disturb you, except to sit and listen in,” Anna said.

“My dear, Lotto thinks he’s uncovered evidence of a regiment of Dakkorans.”

Anna laughed. “Right under our noses?” She dipped down to look under a chair.

“Histo,” Lotto said. He’d been subjected to Mander and Anna’s humor before. Time hadn’t stopped their making him the butt of their jokes. But he didn’t mind. The two were his dearest friends along with Kenyr.

“Councilor Lessa can take care of that,” Sallia said.

Mander clapped. “I said the same thing.”

“I think the Red Rose who brought us worked with Lessa on the coast, he might have even traveled to Mountsea,” Sallia said. “I do more than just roam around, you know,” she said, looking at Lotto.

He didn’t know what to say. Did her time with King Goleto put some spine in the woman? Or Anna? Lotto shook his head.

“Is that a no?” Sallia said.

Lotto looked at Anna’s smug smile. “Let’s go, Kenyr.” He really needed to learn how to teleport. He wanted to disappear from this room. Mander’s expression didn’t appear to provide any help. “We’ll check out the tavern and then grab our Ropponi friend.”

Mander saw them to the door and made sure the two women weren’t listening in. “I imagine Anna’s provoking the princess. I think it’s good for her. Sallia used to be quite a brat and somehow Unca tamed her. I’ll have a servant bring the Red Rose here. He should accompany you wherever you go. They are all superb fighters. Now go.”

~

The Winding Road looked more like a collapsing building. Lotto rarely came through the West Gate. The army generally left the city from the South and East gates. The buildings seemed to lean this way and that way. The roads didn’t seem to be kept up as well as the rest of Beckondale and he could see why.

“A dangerous place,” Kenyr said.

Lotto nodded his agreement. The sooner he found the mysterious Gart, the better.

Kenyr rubbed his hand on the dirty ground and rubbed some on his face and Lotto’s and ruffled their hair before they entered.

The stench of ale, urine and unwashed bodies just about pushed Lotto back out into the street. Kenyr merely belched and sauntered up to the bar. “A couple of ales, my good man.” He rubbed his eyes as if to see better.

Lotto leaned his back against the counter and propped his arms up behind him, looking out at the clientele while he talked to Kenyr. “I don’t see anyone that looks like who we seek.”

“Someone’s coming down the stairs.” Kenyr took a sip of the ale and winced. “This will clear you out if you’ve a mind.”

Lotto saw four legs. One set belonged to a pudgy woman and the other might have been just like any in the room. “Looks like we won’t be blistering our behinds,” Lotto said.

Kenyr twisted to find a black haired man, shorter than the woman of rather majestic proportions that accompanied him down the stairs. There was the scar. Now if Gart knew something, they’d be on their way out of this part of town as soon as possible.

The woman took Gart to the bar. “Pay the barman, dearest. He don’t trust the likes of me. Do you Barn?”

The barman shook his head. “Not while I breathe.”

Gart plunked some silver coins in the man’s hand and his ‘woman’ turned to walk alone back up the stairs. “Next!” she called out as she clomped back up to her place of business.

“Ale.” Gart said, lifting his chin to urge the barman on.

“You Gart?” Lotto said.

The man squinted back at Lotto. “What do you want to know for?”

“My friend is from Serytar. He bought a jar of Serytaran honey sauce from a merchant in the market. His guard told us that you supplied them.”

“A man can buy and sell freely in Beckondale, so what?” The ale came and the man smacked his lips. He glugged down a good portion of his mug. Lotto heard Kenyr groan and he had to concentrate not to smile.

“I’m interested where you acquired those goods. Histron?”

“Perhaps. What’s it worth to ya?”

Lotto dug around in his purse and pulled out a gold coin. “This is all I’ve got to give.” He didn’t want to dicker with this man. Gart quickly slipped it in his pocket.

“I stole it from a Dakkoran army in the woods of Histron. They nearly caught me, but I grew up where they are camped. More than a regiment, I reckon. I’ll not be going back for more, if that’s what you think.”

Lotto smiled. “I think you’ve just been drafted into the Valetan army. We’re taking you to Mountsea in Prola and then you’ll show a friend of mine where the men are. Don’t tell him, but I’ll give you forty-nine more of those when you get back and I know those men are taken care of.”

“It’ll take weeks to get to Prola,” Gart said. “The army may be gone by then. It’s been nearly a month since I lifted the goods.”

“An army that size leaves tracks. That’s all my friend will need. Come along with us.”

Gart drained his ale. “You gonna finish that?” He looked greedily at the mug and then up at Lotto.

“No, but you can.”

~~~

Chapter Twenty-Eight

~

A
nchor picked up the sword from the ground.
It looked like Anchor’s old blade that he picked up in Happly. The Ropponi had brought the weapon since it had a similar weight to the Sunstone sword.

“Your friend’s weapon. We don’t see too many like that,” Antzen said. “Now fight.” All amiability vanished from Antzen’s face. “I don’t want you killing Sergeant Dellamo.” He looked at Anchor’s hulking opponent. “And I don’t want you killing him. Not until we’ve found out where he’s from. Got it?”

“Yes, Captain.” Dellamo didn’t look any happier about the situation than Anchor did.

“Go ahead, both of you.” Antzen said and sat down on a camp chair.

Anchor would fight to the level of his opponent, but he suspected Dellamo would do the same. They saluted one another and began to test each other out.

“Attack, Dessolo,” Antzen said. Anchor had to remind himself that was his last name.

“No killing, remember?” Anchor said as he parried a slash from Dellamo. “I will assess my opponent’s capability first. He may do the same with me.”

“Why are you here in this camp?” Antzen said. It appeared he intended to interrogate Anchor while he fought. The technique certainly kept Anchor’s mind whirring as he continued to spar with the sergeant.

“I told you.”

“That’s horse fodder and you know it. You are a spy. No common traveler would bear a sword like the one you have in your hand. It’s from the continent of Zarron, you know.”

Anchor held out his hand to stop Dellamo. He offered it to Antzen. “Then take it. You already have, once.”

“Proceed. I wanted to see your reaction when we threw it at your feet. You recognized it.”

“Of course I did. It’s been in Banner’s family for centuries. It has seen better days, but it’s still a fine sword and he’s a fine swordsman. Why don’t you bring him here?”

Antzen colored a bit. “He has vanished.”

Anchor had to hold back a smile. Perhaps Shiro’s magic had returned. “With the damage to his skull, he’s probably passed out somewhere.”

“Perhaps your friend has. Fight on, but make it more convincing.” Antzen flipped his finger as a signal to proceed. Dellamo began to press Anchor a bit more. The man’s size got in the way of Anchor’s style of fighting.

“Why is the army here? If I’m a spy, perhaps you should tell me a few nuggets of information,” Anchor said as he now had found a pattern to Dellamo’s style.

“It’s all rather obvious, isn’t it? We know that the Learsea Marshal will drive through the southern duchies. He’ll pass to the north of us on his way to the Red Kingdom and we will take him from behind. Elementary, really.”

Elementary, indeed, thought Anchor. It made superb sense and it told him all he needed to know. Now it was time to get this fight ended and he would have to leave, hoping that Shiro had made it back to Learsea. He closed with Dellamo.

“Take me with you whenever you leave. He’ll kill whoever is left standing,” Dellamo said. “Antzen is more than a captain.”

They broke and Dellamo swiped his sword to take out Anchor’s legs. The man telegraphed his move and Antzen was sure to see it. The captain or whatever he was stood. “Enough!  I’ve found out all I need to know from you, Dellamo, and you, Vance, or whatever your real name is. Both of you will die.”

Dellamo and Anchor backed up as the men surrounding the ring began to close in.

“Anchor!” Shiro’s voice rang out behind him.

“If you want to live, follow me,” Anchor said to the giant sergeant and pushed over the men that guarded a tent alley. He saw Shiro with a string of three mounts. Perhaps the Ropponi hadn’t regained his magic, but it didn’t matter now. Anchor knew enough. Dellamo ran past him and grabbed a horse, sheathing his weapon while Anchor pushed men back and took off. Dellamo had already taken off when Anchor mounted another horse.

“Who is the big man?” Shiro said as they caught up to the big sergeant.

“I suspect he is a spy, just like us. Right, Dellamo?”

The man nodded. The escape had deprived him of his breath. “I work for the Duke of Ashof. He’s an ally of King Willom of Learsea. I have to return with important information. General Fallon is a traitor.”

“Didn’t you hear that Fallon is dead?”

“No, but I still have to return.” Dellamo said, panting.

“We will be making for Learsea,” Anchor said as they charged back up the road from where they came.

“Don’t go that way. Antzen will be looking for you to flee towards the east. We must turn south.”

Shiro pulled up his horse. “South?”

Anchor knew what the man proposed. “South, skirting Port Grianne and taking the coast east. Right?”

“Not too far. Three leagues or so, then we’ll be among friends and return to the road.”

“So be it,” Anchor said, winking at Shiro. “We might be able to push ahead even faster than you might think then.” Shiro only frowned. So his magic still failed him?

“Here is the turnoff. We must stop and cover our tracks.” Dellamo dismounted and pulled some branches down. “Take the horses along there.” He seemed to sweep the road and throw leaves from underneath the trees along their path as Shiro and Anchor led the four horses along a track barely large enough to be called a trail.

They heard a number of horses pass the track. Dellamo put a finger to his lips as they slowly made their way through the branches and the brush. He kept wiping out their track for another fifty paces and covered it with leaves. Anchor couldn’t see their tracks. He hoped the Teryons wouldn’t be able to either.

~

Lotto, Kenyr, Gart and the Ropponi appeared in front of the castle at Mountsea. The Red Rose led them to a large house facing the castle. A servant appeared.

“We are here to see General Lessa,” the Ropponi said.

“Tell him Lotto is here.”

They stood on the steps for a quarter hour or so when the door burst open. “Lotto!  What brings you to my doorstep?”

“More Dakkoran knavery,” Lotto said as Lessa led them into his house.

Led into Lessa’s sitting room, Lotto continued, “Gart, here, stole some supplies from a large Dakkoran force camped somewhere in Histron.”

Lessa left the room. “Please sit down” Lotto heard Lessa asking for wine to be brought to them. He returned with a few maps under his arms.

“Where?” Lessa said, looking at Gart. The man flinched under Lessa’s steely gaze. Good, thought Lotto. Gart didn’t seem too intimidated by Lotto and Kenyr didn’t even try.

The man examined the map and ran his finger this way and that along river and drawn-in hillock. “Here, a day south along the Merry River. There is a track that leads west. I came out of the forest here on a road that took me straight to Beckondale.”

“And they could do the same,” Lotto said, following his finger to a major road. “We’ll have to get that border fort reinforced.”

“Do that,” Lessa said. “But look here.” Lotto followed his eyes to a road that wound through Histron and went to Crackledown. “Here and straight south to Sally’s Corners and the flank of the alliance forces. How many… Gart, is it?”

“Lots of tents. I’d say a regiment and a half. Five thousand men. Lots of supplies. I took the sweet stuff, figuring it would be easier to sell.”

Lotto smiled at Kenyr. “Sweetie,” he said.

“Just lucky you spotted my honey sauce,” Kenyr said with a bit of a huff, but then his face blossomed into a grin. “And look what it will bring Dakkor? How did they get through your pickets on the coast?”

Lessa pressed his lips together. “Probably here.” He pointed at an indentation on the map. “There is a smuggler’s cove right here. No town for miles, so they’d have to bring in their own supplies. I’ll send a flotilla south and burn the blasted ships down. There’ll be no going back for servants of the Dark Lord. We should have the Red Rose teleport three thousand men just north and just south and squeeze them like a ripe pimple.”

“And a few thousand Valetan soldiers on Gart’s track towards Beckondale. That would force them to go one direction…”

“Right into my flotilla.”

“We can do it,” the Ropponi said. He’d been silent, but he had listened intently to every word. “I have been along the road here.” He pointed to the major road that ran from Crackledown to Mountsea. He must have been with Lessa when he pacified Histo.

Lessa looked at Lotto. “When do you prefer we start, My Lord Mistad?”

“Would you mind if we had lunch first?”

~

Anchor wrapped his hands in strips torn from his tunic. Dellamo already lost much of his own shirt. Five leagues in a large rowboat seemed doable when they started, but the current ran from east to west and they had spent too much time rowing, more slowly every day. At least they had another week’s worth of food and water. Dellamo had warned them that the coast would be hostile. Anchor gazed at the coastline, barely above the horizon. They must have been half a league out to sea.

“Who do you have to report to?” Shiro asked Dellamo.

“I have birds to send when we land. They go to Learsea then to Ashof and the duke. We will stay at our destination until the message is answered.”

Shiro went silent. Anchor twisted around to see his friend gone from the boat. “I don’t think so, Dellamo. We’ll be in Learsea before night falls.”

Anchor shipped in his oars and rested, urging Dellamo to do the same. In a few moments Shiro returned, grinning. “When I woke up this morning without a headache, I wondered if my powers had returned.”

After a deep breath, Anchor smiled. “Where did you just go?”

“Tassleton Castle. Colonel Baanth is starting the muster.”

“Good,” Lotto said. “Time to shed your disguise. If you would?”

Dellamo screamed and the boat began to rock violently back and forth. “What…  what are you?”

“I didn’t want to tell you until we were on land, but we will be soon enough. I am Marshal Anchor of King Willom’s armies and this is Commander Shiro, a Ropponi wizard of great power. Spies we were, but we’re all going to be soldiers soon enough. I have some people to tell I’m still alive and you will be able to personally send a bird to your duke. Perhaps Shiro might take you there under a specific condition.”

Dellamo furrowed his brow. “What condition?”

“He needs to stir a bit around in your mind to find where to teleport. Any secrets that you hold might be discovered.”

Dellamo laughed at that. “He can feel free.”

Shiro uncovered the Sunstone. After the exchange of minds, Dellamo fell back, nearly swamping the boat. I really didn’t believe you,” he said as he sat up. “I am at your service, Marshal!”

“The only service I want you to perform is for us to hold hands,” Anchor said.

Dellamo furrowed his brow, but held Shiro’s hand and Anchor’s hand. When they arrived at their destination, Shiro and Anchor both let go. Dellamo would have taken them down with them.

Anchor bent his head back and laughed. “I am so glad to be on land!” He walked up the steps to King Willom’s castle after helping an astonished Dellamo up the steps.

“Marshal Anchor,” the guard said. “I believe the king is in his map room.”

Anchor led the other two up the steps and through the castle corridors to Willom’s map room. The guards rose from their chairs while Anchor rapped his knuckles on the door.

“Marshal Anchor to see King Willom.”

The king opened the doors himself. “I thought you dead, man.”

“Shiro and I went on a little jaunt to Teryon and found ourselves an enemy army, quite by accident. I’m afraid it was a bit of a mistake. I thought I would make a great spy, but I got the information that I sought, just not in the way intended.” Anchor walked with the king into the room as Shiro pulled on Dellamo’s sleeve, to keep him from kneeling. “Not a happy sight in the winter,” Anchor said as he looked out Willom’s impressive windows at the gray seas dotted with whitecaps.

“I heard about General Fallon from Captain Leef and Colonel Baanth. I should hire some Ropponi to move me around.” The king shook his head. “And who is this mountain of a man behind you?”