Dwarven Ruby (8 page)

“Perhaps,” mused Boris, “but perhaps that will be acceptable. Suppose the Emperor had sent for a specific healer because one of the children was sick? Maybe the resident healers could not determine the cause of the illness? We cannot continue to stroll around the Imperial Palace. Time is our enemy now. Sooner or later, we will be discovered as frauds.”

“Very well,” sighed Bin-lu. “My heart cannot stand much more of this anyway. I would rather fight my enemy than sneak around among them.”

“You are doing fine,” commented Boris. “It is not like we are after the Emperor’s jewels. Lead on.”

Bin-lu continued to lead the way along the corridor. Traffic was fairly light and the people they did pass were not soldiers, but rather servants. About halfway down the long corridor, two soldiers appeared from another corridor. They were talking and paid no attention to the infiltrators.

“Stop,” ordered Bin-lu.

The soldiers immediately halted, and upon recognizing an officer, saluted.

“I am escorting healers for the children,” declared Bin-lu. “I am not used to such demeaning tasks and cannot find the proper room. Where is it?”

The soldiers looked at each other briefly and shrugged.

“Which children’s room do you mean?” asked one of the soldiers. “There are many. There are prayer rooms, playrooms, meal rooms, sleeping quarters, and education centers. I fear that I cannot help you without knowing which room you seek.”

Bin-lu stared at the soldiers and shook his head in dismay.

“I was informed that the child was hurt in a garden,” offered Boris. “I believe that they were studying lessons in Sordoan culture at the time of the accident. Does that help any?”

The two soldiers chatted with each other for several moments as they discussed which room it might be. Finally, one of the soldiers asked,” How old is the child?”

“Between eight and ten years,” answered Bin-lu. “A female child.”

“That is just down this corridor,” smiled one of the soldiers as he pointed. “You cannot miss it. It is a few doors from the end of the corridor.”

“Show me the way,” ordered Bin-lu.

“But…,” the soldier frowned.

“Now,” demanded Bin-lu.

The soldiers dutifully nodded and turned around to lead the way. Their pace was brisk, but the infiltrators kept up as the soldiers marched silently towards the end of the corridor. When they reached a door, they stopped and pointed to it.

“I think this is the room that you seek,” one of the soldiers stated.

“Good,” Bin-lu said brusquely. “I want the two of you to stand guard while the healers are inside. Nobody gets in and nobody leaves without my authorization. Do you understand?”

The soldiers nodded glumly and took up positions at both sides of the doorway. Bin-lu opened the door and stepped into the room. Boris and Tedi immediately followed him and closed the door.

The room was fairly large with several doors leading out of it besides the one the infiltrators had entered. There was a large desk at the front of the room and a couple of dozen smaller desks. About twenty young children were seated at the smaller desks. They all looked up as the door closed. Bin-lu scanned the room and saw that there were no adults present.

“Where is your teacher?” Bin-lu demanded.

“You did not bow to me,” frowned one little girl in the front row. “I am the Emperor’s daughter and demand your respect.”

Bin-lu stared at the little girl. Swiftly he bowed before he breached some unknown protocol. The rest of the students began laughing.

“She is not the Emperor’s daughter,” shouted another girl while the rest of the children continued laughing. “She made you bow.”

“Where is your teacher?” Bin-lu demanded again. “I do not have time for games.”

“She had to go somewhere,” answered a student. “She told us to study until she returned. Who are the men in the white robes?”

“What is your teacher’s name?” asked Bin-lu.

Before the students could answer, there was a loud knock on the door. Boris swiftly moved in front of Tedi so that he was blocked from the view of the doorway. Bin-lu strode to the door and opened it.

“She says she is the teacher,” offered one of the soldiers. “You said nobody was to enter without your permission.”

“Let her in,” Bin-lu nodded.

The woman swept into the room as Bin-lu closed the door.

“What is going on here?” the woman demanded. “Who are these men?”

Bin-lu smiled broadly as he recognized the woman. Slowly she recognized him too.

“You?” she said softly as she stared at Bin-lu.

The teacher turned and gazed at the other two men, although she could not see the second one because he was hidden behind Boris. Bin-lu held his finger to his lips and smiled. Master Khatama stepped aside and the teacher saw Tedi for the first time. Her knees buckled with recognition, and Tedi raced across the floor to catch his mother before she fell. Lara shook her head to clear her vision and gazed at up Tedi. Tears started running down her cheeks, and she clung tightly to her son.

“You should not be here,” Lara cried. “They will kill you.”

“We are going to take you home,” Tedi said softly.

“No,” sobbed Lara. “They will never let me out of this building. Take your friends and get out before you are discovered. The will kill you horribly. I do not want that to be my remembrance of you.”

“I am not leaving here without you,” Tedi said adamantly as he led his mother towards the rear of the room. “I have lost you once, and I will never lose you again. I don’t care if we have to defeat the whole Lanoirian army. You are coming home with us.”

Bin-lu heard loud talking outside the room and started moving towards the door. Suddenly the door swung open and a noble walked in. The two soldiers were right behind him.

“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the noble. “Nobody is allowed in here without permission.”

Bin-lu noticed that the soldiers had drawn their swords as they entered the room. He also recognized the noble as the man who had escorted him to see the Emperor.

“You,” shouted the noble as he pointed at Bin-lu. “You dare to come back here after the Emperor spared your life? Seize him!”

Bin-lu wasted no time. He leaped into the air and extended his foot in a flying kick to one of the soldier’s chests. The soldier flew against the wall and collapsed. Bin-lu landed and dropped to the floor. He swiftly pivoted and used his legs to sweep the other soldier off of his feet. As the soldier hit the floor, Bin-lu brought his stiff hand down hard on the soldier’s neck. Neither soldier moved, but the children ran screaming out of the room.

The noble turned with fury on face and Bin-lu leaped to his feet. Tedi shoved his mother behind himself and picked up his staff. Bin-lu executed another flying kick to the noble’s chest. The noble hit the floor hard and slid towards the rear of the room. Tedi placed his staff on the man’s throat to keep him from getting up. Bin-lu turned and slammed the door shut.

“We will never get out now,” he shook his head as he dragged the large desk to block the door.

“This one is out cold,” Tedi declared as he examined the noble. “What other ways are there out of here, Mother?”

“You should have just left me,” Lara cried. “Maybe you still can.”

“I am not leaving you, Mother,” retorted Tedi adamantly. “What other ways are there to leave this building?”

“None,” cried Lara. “The whole palace is walled off from the city. There are hundreds of guards stationed all over the grounds. What are you going to do against them? One soldier, an old man, and a fisherboy? Why did you have to come?”

“Because he loves you more than his own life,” Boris said softly. “We can get out of here, but we will need your help. Which way is the garden?”

“The garden?” sobbed Lara. “Through the next room, but that will not get you off the grounds of the palace. There will already be guards heading towards it. They will seal this room off quickly.”

Now would be a good time, Niki. We have precious little time so do not dally. Meet us at the wagon when you are done.

“We need to move quickly,” shouted Bin-lu as soldiers began pounding on the door that he was still piling furniture against.

“Can we really escape from the garden?” asked Lara. “Is it really possible?”

“Anything is possible,” Boris said softly. “Mostly you have to want it bad enough.”

“Wait then,” Lara shouted as she dashed through the doorway to an adjacent room.

“Bin-lu,” called Tedi, “leave that door be. If these adjacent rooms open to the same corridor, you are just wasting your strength.”

Bin-lu nodded and headed towards Tedi as Lara reappeared leading another woman.

“Mistress Clava!” shouted Tedi.

“You look old enough to call me Kamil now, Tedi,” smiled Arik’s mother. “I thought Lara was imagining things when she told me about the necklace. Goodness it is good to see you. How is Arik?”

“There will be time for that later,” Master Khatama said impatiently. “To the garden, now.”

Lara nodded and pointed to the other adjacent room. Tedi gripped his staff and dashed through the doorway. Boris followed Tedi and moved towards a door on the outside wall of the palace. He eased it open a crack and stood there watching. The rest of the party gathered around him.

“What are we waiting for?” Tedi asked. “We do not have much time.”

“Patience,” smiled Boris. “The Lanoirians have yet another surprise heading their way. It will give us the confusion that we so sorely need right now.”

Boris leaned out of the door and gazed towards the front entrance of the palace grounds. He smiled when he saw a rat scurry through a hole in the wall. Within seconds rats began pouring through small holes and cracks in the wall. He could hear shouts of alarm from the front of the palace and screams echoing through some of the windows. Boris nodded and flicked his wrist. A dense cloud of mist appeared at the bottom of the stairs before him. As he held his arm out, the mist grew swiftly into a huge fogbank. When he could no longer see anything, including the stairs before him, Boris stepped through the door.

“There are twenty-six steps before you,” Boris called to the others. “Take them slowly so that you do not go lame on me. As you get to the bottom, take the hand of the person before you. Tedi, come first. Bin-lu, you will be last. Let’s go.”

“How can you see in this fog?” asked Tedi as he reached out took Master Khatama’s hand at the bottom of the stairs.

“I cannot,” answered Boris. “I memorized the path to the outer wall while I waited for the rats to arrive.”

“Rats?” asked Tedi. “What rats?”

“Niki has sent thousands and thousands of rats to invade the palace,” chuckled Boris. “It will create so much confusion that we shall be lost in the turmoil. I suspect that the Emperor will demand immediate action to clear the rats out of his palace. The only soldiers we should have to worry about will be the ones already trying to get into the room we just left. I wonder if they have memorized the path through this garden?”

“We are all here,” called Bin-lu from the back of the line.

“Good,” smiled Boris. “Walk slowly and quietly. I shall lead us to the wall. Keep holding hands.”

Within minutes Boris had reached the outside wall of the palace grounds. He heard the shouts of soldiers who had entered the garden, but they sounded distant in the dense fog. He gathered the group around him.

“Now what?” asked Tedi. “I can hear the soldiers following us and we are up against the wall. They may not have memorized the garden paths, but they will find us soon.”

“No, Tedi,” chuckled Boris. “What they will eventually find is a large hole in their wall. Use your staff, lad. Make it a good whack.”

Tedi nodded unseen by the others and separated from the group. He set his feet apart and swung his staff at the wall with all of his might. He heard a loud resounding crack and then the stones of the wall collapsed. Tedi leaped back as the wall tumbled down.

“Watch you step,” Boris warned as he led the small group towards the hole in the wall. “Tedi, you go through first. There may be soldiers on the other side. Bin-lu, you watch our rear. This is going to be the dangerous part. Getting to the wagon was the only part I could not plan well for.”

Tedi leaped through the hole in the wall and scanned the street. The only figures visible were distant, and they were running away from the palace. He shook his head as he saw a black wave flow across the street in the distance. As he focused more keenly, he realized that the wave was a massive group of rats heading for the palace.

“We are all through,” Bin-lu called softly as the fog began to seep out through the hole in the wall.

“Let us move along then,” ordered Boris. “No need to hold hands anymore. Tedi, you lead the way from here. Turn right at the first opportunity. Seek the alley closest to the docks and then turn left. Keep us going until we reach the wagon.”

Tedi maintained a brisk pace, but he constantly looked back to make sure that the women were keeping up. The shouts from the palace grounds were starting to diminish. There were surprisingly few people on the streets. There were people hanging out of the windows looking towards the palace, but nobody paid much attention to the small group passing by them. Every so often Tedi saw stray rats that must have become separated from the thousands that stormed the palace. He chuckled inwardly as he thought of Niki commanding the rats to attack. He wondered how she had managed to do it, and more importantly, if she had meant to. Niki was already at the wagon when they got there. She had the biggest grin on her face that Tedi had ever seen.

“I told you I had a big role to play,” grinned Niki. “I just wish I could have been there to see it.”

“You did excellent, Niki,” congratulated Boris as he tore off his white robe and threw it into the wagon. “Bin-lu, you will ride behind us this time. Let us clear the city gates first. After you get through, tell the guards to lock the city up.”

Boris helped Lara and Kamil up to the seat of the wagon. He waved his hand behind the seat and chuckled. Now instead of being able to reach into the wagon from the front seat, there was a solid wall there. Between the wall and the front seat were two more seats near the outer edges of the wagon facing each other. The cloth cover of the wagon extended over the two additional seats and hid them from view. Two additional cloth flaps extended down in front of the special seats.