The Guardians (Book 2) (2 page)

‘
I can’t be certain who any of you really are, and right now I have no proof that one of you didn’t murder Jostan and Kirsty as well as this man here and the three in the forest.’ Principal Con stared anxiously at Borgulnay.

Kelian steppe
d forward. ‘I will speak for the King’s Captain.’

‘
And you are…?’

‘
He is Prince Kelian of Castle,’ said Araas and the Principal’s jaw dropped.

Borgulnay and Gilgarry couldn
’t help but laugh at the expression on the man’s face but silence fell as Kelian lifted his hand and it was immediately obvious to the Principal that the young, thin, black haired Prince was commanding these men. Kelian turned and gestured to his companions. ‘This is my fiancée, Elena, and her sisters Ladies Louisa and Immosey. You’ve met Timbul of the Dwellings, and Sergeant Gilgarry, also brother to these ladies. Timbul and his brother Araas are guardians, sons of Lord Tiernan and Lady Karrijeuiga of the Daoine Maithe. Borgulnay is our loyal and trusted King’s Captain and this is Milgorry of Tarl, warrior of the free.’

Principal Con stood looking around the group in astonishment.
‘Highness, what are you doing here in Naraloon?’

‘
The fallen attacked a barge that was carrying Elena, Louisa and Immosey to Castle. They took the girls to Nyinaku, I won’t explain why, but with the help of Milgorry here, we’ve managed to bring them back across the Ice Coast to Alkira. Unfortunately Nandul badly wants Louisa back and he won’t care how many people he kills to get what he wants. So the sooner we leave here, the safer your town will be. We need to go as quickly as we can.’

Con gestured to his companion
.

‘
This is Physician Jarah. He will look after any injuries.’ He glanced once again in disbelief at the body still pinned to the hallway wall.

‘
Immosey has cuts on her knees and her hand is injured, and Elena smashed her head into the windowsill and she cut her feet and her knees on the glass,’ said Borgulnay as Immosey and Elena stepped forward to show Physician Jarah their wounds. He removed the glass fragments carefully before bandaging their wounds, and then he spent some time examining the bloody gash on Elena’s head. Eventually he confirmed there was no glass in this wound, and did his best to clean the blood from the injury.

The Principal
shook his head incredulously once again as he walked to where the warrior’s body hung. He tried unsuccessfully to pull the knife from the wall. Eventually he shrugged in resignation and turned to Borgulnay. ‘Captain, your knife seems to be permanently embedded in the wall,’ he stated. Borgulnay slipped from beneath Immosey, sliding her onto the bed and joined the Principal. He flexed his massive shoulders and with a quick flick of his wrist, he wrenched the knife from the wall and the body crashed to the floor. He leaned forward and wiped the knife on the dead man’s shirt, inspected the blade, then he flicked the knife into the air, caught it deftly and slid the weapon into its sheath.

‘
Show off!’ said Gilgarry under his breath, shaking his head, but the Principal briefly met Borgulnay’s gaze as the knife disappeared and he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end. He was sure this was not a man he would wish to cross.                                                                                   

Chapter 2

Castle

Dale stood at the gates of the city staring in horror at the wreckage and carnage spread before him. From where he stood, he could see no building completely intact. There were bodies everywhere, mostly soldiers but also townspeople and his heart tightened at the horrifyingly high number of women and children among them. He walked past the gates, his eyes moving across the wrecked and burning buildings.

‘
Guardian General,’ he said, and Callian moved to his side. ‘What do you sense?’ he asked, knowing that as one of the Daoine Maithe, Callian should be able to sense each human presence around him. Callian’s bright blue eyes stood out startlingly against his dark skin as he stared around at the ruined city.

‘
There are people alive, quite a lot of them, but they are hiding because they are terrified. Danil?’

‘
I can sense them too. They’re all horribly frightened,’ King’s Marshall Danil agreed. Dale had known Danil before he joined the Daoine Maithe and he was pleased to see that apart from his enhanced abilities, the King’s Marshall had not changed very much. Dale had been amazed when Danil returned from the Dwellings within the Province of the guardians married to Lady Valeska and with his new wife carrying his child, but the bond between the two was undeniable and this bond was the catalyst for the changes Danil had experienced. Dale wondered what their child would look like, as Valeska was a small woman with very dark hair and the typically bright blue eyes of Daoine Maithe, whereas Danil was a very tall, broad shouldered man, with brown hair and serious dark brown eyes. Dale was relieved at this moment to have both Callian and Danil with him.

‘
Can you sense from their thoughts who did this?’ asked Dale.

‘
No. That’s odd.’ Callian frowned. ‘It’s as if they all saw it happen, but they didn’t see who it was.’

Dale knelt beside the body of a child. He brushed her hair from her face then sighed heavily.
‘Dead,’ he said softly, blinking back tears. He picked up her body and placed it carefully on a stone bench next to a burnt building. ‘It must have been the fallen. Who else would attack Castle?’

Lias
looked around slowly, taking in every detail of the scene. His almost black eyes were a stark contrast to the blond hair which hung messily around his shoulders. He frowned as he surveyed the burnt buildings. ‘Dale, I don’t think this was done by my people,’ he said, sounding confused.

‘
I beg your pardon?’ said Dale, wondering if he had heard Lias correctly.

‘
This is not what would happen,’ said Lias firmly.

‘
Which part, Lias?’ asked Dale cynically. ‘Killing women and children, or burning a city? After all, when the fallen destroyed my home and my family, this is exactly what it looked like!’

Lias shook his head.
‘Dale, even I can sense a lot of people alive. If this was done by Nandul and his army, I can assure you there would be no-one left alive.’

‘
Unless the Daoine Maithe intervened,’ Alexander suggested.

‘
No,’ Lias insisted. ‘If the guardians intervened, my people would be lying dead from one end of the city to the other, and the humans wouldn’t be terrified and hiding.’

Alexander walked over to the body of a soldier wearing a uniform identical to his own. He crouched and rolled the body over.

‘Do you know this man?’ asked Dale.

‘
Mulber,’ Alexander replied. He sighed heavily. ‘We began our service on the same day. He was good friend,’ he added sadly. ‘Did you know he named his second son after me?’

‘
I wonder what happened to him,’ Dale whispered under his breath.

‘
Right now I’m wondering what happened to his wife and his four children,’ said Alexander despondently and his green eyes were filled with sadness. He was a short stocky man, and he lifted Mulber’s body easily. He carried his friend away from the middle of the street and gently placed him against the city wall. ‘Where do we start?’ he asked helplessly.

‘
At the castle,’ said Dale decisively and he began to pick his way through the rubble. ‘Someone’s started cleaning up,’ he said, gesturing to a cleared area where rubble had been heaped against a wall and the ground was devoid of bodies.

Danil
pointed through a doorway which led into what had once been the city’s public baths. On the tiled floor lay row upon row of bodies, all wrapped neatly in blankets and awaiting burial. ‘See how the bodies are uniformly wrapped. This was done by soldiers. I wonder where they are now.’

King
’s Marshall Danil moved ahead of the group and led them through the wreckage. It took them over half an hour to reach the curtain walls around the castle, though the distance was not great. To Dale’s relief the keep appeared undamaged, at least from where they stood in the street, and the warehouses were still standing. The walls seemed ominously free of guards, though he felt sure he could hear noises from within. The massive gates were closed and the portcullis was lowered.

‘
I guess it wouldn’t be a good idea to knock on the door,’ Alexander stated and Dale shook his head. He walked alongside the warehouses, chose a door and entered the building. Everyone followed him through the door. The body of Aran, the warehouse overseer, lay sprawled across the floor. He had no visible injuries but Dale could tell that he was dead. He stood looking sadly at Aran’ body for a moment, then Danil stooped down and picked him up and placed him on a low wooden table. He covered the body with empty grain sacks.

‘
What now?’ asked Alexander and Dale pointed towards the supplies stacked high against a wall. Dale held up his hand and everyone waited patiently.

‘
I need to be absolutely sure no-one other than ourselves sees what we are about to do and where we are about to go. And somehow we need it to look like we didn’t go where we are going.’ They waited patiently as guardian General Callian concentrated on what he could sense happening around them.

‘
There’s no-one else here Dale. Shall we move these supplies?’

‘
Let’s try to move them a short distance from the wall and only in this one area. The door is about here.’ Dale pointed towards the wall behind the supplies to indicate where he meant. ‘We’ll try to make the stack look untouched from this side.’

‘
And how do we get behind everything without tipping it all over?’ asked Alexander.

‘
We don’t. We leave a small gap and slide something back into it once we’re through,’ Dale explained. ‘Callian, we will move the goods. I want you to concentrate on warning us if we are about to be discovered.’ Callian walked away from the group as they began to move the supplies. They were not interrupted and soon they crawled through a small gap at the bottom of the stack. Callian came through last and turned and pulled a huge sack of flour into the gap, effectively hiding the entrance to what they called ‘the baker’s door’, the tunnel which led under the street and through the curtain walls to the castle. The tunnel came out in the castle kitchen and Dale was certain that if anyone was in the castle they would have this passage guarded. He hesitated, wondering how far they would get before someone put an arrow through him, thinking him an enemy.

‘
I’ll go first,’ said Danil, pushing past and moving up the tunnel. ‘Alex, bring up the rear.’ Alexander waited until everyone passed and then followed the group down the tunnel. They had barely gone a hundred paces when they were challenged.

‘
Who enters?’ a voice asked from the darkness.

‘
King’s Marshall Danil.’

‘
Prove yourself before approaching please King’s Marshall,’ the voice demanded politely but firmly.

‘
Is that you Lieutenant Callum?’ asked Danil curiously.

There was a flash as a lamp was uncovered and Lieutenant Callum peered towards them.
King’s Marshall!’ he exclaimed.

‘
What happened?’ asked Danil.

‘
Sir, it’s probably better if you go straight through to the conference room. General Marnol is there,’ Callum explained.

Danil
’s heart quailed. ‘Callum, where is the King?’

‘The King disappeared during the battle. Did you not know?’

Danil shook his head and turned to see his
shocked expression mirrored in the faces of his companions.

‘
Let’s go,’ said Dale, pushing his way past Danil and heading towards the kitchen.

Chapter 3

Mulgrew and Peta

‘This could be an absolute disaster,’ Kelian stated emphatically as they gazed across the field to the farm house which had been built not far from the stream running through the shallow valley. 

‘
We have little choice,’ said Borgulnay, looking down at Gilgarry, who lay trembling on the ground where he had placed him moments before. ‘If we don’t get help, he’ll die.’

‘
And if we do, anyone within shouting distance of this farm is in danger.’ Kelian knelt in front of Sergeant Gilgarry.

Gilgarry gave a rasping gasp. His eyes stared wildly and his body shook uncontrollably
. Sweat ran down his face as Elena and Louisa frantically tried to keep him still. His head fell forward and saliva dribbled from his mouth, and then his body gave a great spasm and he vomited.

‘
Kelian, please,’ Immosey whispered, her eyes filled with terror as she tried to clean the vomit from her brother’s mouth. Kelian looked from Immosey to Louisa and then to Elena.

‘
I can’t let him die,’ he said. ‘We’ll take the chance and hope we don’t bring doom on whoever owns this little farm.’

‘
I’ll take him,’ said Milgorry and he picked up Gilgarry’s body as though he weighed nothing.

Five minutes later they stood at the door of the farmhouse. A man appeared at the side of the house before Kelian knocked on the door and he hurried over to the group.
He was dressed in heavy trousers and a sleeveless, cotton undershirt. He stared intently at Gilgarry and gestured to the door.

‘
Inside,’ he said gruffly, glancing in the direction from which he had come. He opened the door and led them through the house to a small sunny room. Milgorry laid Gilgarry on the bed and stood back. The man rummaged through a drawer and drew out several bandages and a straight wooden rod.

‘
It was a spider wasn’t it? Where was he bitten?’ he asked. Kelian pointed to the tiny mark on Gilgarry’s hand. The farmer placed the rod against Gilgarry’s arm and bandaged the limb firmly. He took a second bandage and wound it firmly over the first then he sat back and grimaced sourly at Gilgarry’s writhing body. ‘I reckon it might be too late,’ he grunted. ‘There’s too much of the venom already spreading around his body.’

‘
No! Please no! There must be something we can do!’ Tears ran down Elena’s face and her voice was barely a whisper.

‘We need to keep him really still, and if we could get his body to relax, that would be even better.’

Araas reached over and ran his hand over Gilgarry
’s face. The Sergeant was immediately completely immobile. Understanding dawned on the farmer’s face.

‘
Well, now there’s a chance.’ He turned back to Elena. ‘It’s just a chance, lassie. I see you love this man.’

‘
He’s our brother,’ said Elena, gesturing to Immosey and Louisa.

‘
I don’t know what else you can do, guardian, but if you know any little tricks to get the venom out of his system or to change it so it doesn’t hurt him, now would be the time,’ said the farmer adamantly.

‘
I can think of nothing that would help.’

The farmer moved towards the door.
‘Now I don’t mean to be rude, but I have cattle that have broken through a fence and are wandering around many miles from where they should be,’ he said looking back towards Gilgarry. ‘Don’t let him move.’ He hesitated and turned to Araas. ‘I assume you can wake him if you want to?’ he asked. Araas nodded. ‘Can you hear his thoughts when he’s sleeping?’ he asked curiously.

‘
Sometimes I can, sometimes not. There are times I can sense nothing from someone when they sleep, and sometimes I can see dreams as clearly as people can see them themselves. It’s more difficult when they have been caused to sleep, when someone has forced their mind to be still.’

‘
We’ll give you some help with your cattle,’ said Borgulnay, and he followed the farmer into the field with Timbul, Kelian and Milgorry right behind him. The cattle had wandered quite a distance, and even with the help of Timbul and Milgorry’s speed, it took hours to locate and muster the beasts. Finally they were confined to their paddock and everyone returned to the farmhouse. Gilgarry had not moved and Araas stood motionlessly watching him. Elena, Immosey and Louisa were talking quietly together, sitting on the floor with their backs to the wall but Araas seemed lost in concentration as he stared at Gilgarry.

‘
What can you sense, guardian?’ the Farmer enquired curiously.

‘
The few thoughts I can sense are a lot clearer than I might have imagined.’

‘
That’s a good sign!’ the farmer exclaimed, sounding far more positive than he had earlier. ‘If he was going to die or lose his mind I think this might have happened by now!’

‘
Are you certain?’ asked Kelian hopefully.

‘
No, of course not. This type of spider bite is fatal often enough. What was he doing when he was bitten?’

‘
He was digging around in the soil looking for anything worth eating. We left Naraloon in rather a hurry, so our supplies were a bit limited. We were hoping we would have a chance to hunt between Naraloon and Tarlique, but we’ve had a difficult enough time just trying to stay ahead of...’ Kelian shook his head. ‘He became so ill so quickly!’

‘
That he’s even alive is…unexpected. But good! What did you do, guardian?’             

‘
Well, I did put him further into unconsciousness than normal, to a point where his heart is beating only enough to keep him alive. It may be helping. Of one thing I’m certain. If you hadn’t helped us, he would be dead. He owes his life to you, Farmer…?’

‘
Mulgrew,’ he answered. He picked up Gilgarry’s hand and felt it. ‘I have no idea what to do next,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve been bitten so many times that I recognize the symptoms easily, but the bites no longer affect me. Perhaps we could wake him?’

Timbul reached over and brushed his hand over Gilgarry
’s face and his eyes opened very slightly. ‘You’re a guardian too eh?’ The farmer looked inquisitively at Timbul. ‘I could have guessed from how fast you moved with that bull after you!’ He laughed as he remembered the difficulties Timbul had experienced in trying to move the bull in the right direction.

‘
Captain?’ said Gilgarry hoarsely, and Borgulnay sat on the edge of the bed. ‘This bandage is hellish tight. How about I take it off for a while?’ Borgulnay turned to the farmer questioningly.

‘
We can always put it back on if he goes downhill,’ said Mulgrew.

Immosey leapt up an
d began to unwind the bandages whilst Gilgarry lay staring up at the ceiling. She removed the wooden rod and then rolled the bandages, placing them on the little table beside farmer Mulgrew’s bed. Gilgarry reached out and took Immosey’s hand and gave her a little smile before he resumed his study of the ceiling.

‘
I’ll boil some water and we’ll have a cup of tea,’ said Mulgrew. ‘Then you can tell me why I have a bunch of guardians in my house.’ He watched Milgorry suspiciously for a moment and then said, ‘I’ve never had much to do with the guardians, and now here they are standing in my bedroom!’ He left the room and they could hear him moving about in the kitchen.

‘
Mulgrew probably has no idea who we are and its best if it stays that way,’ said Kelian quickly. ‘Even so, I don’t see how we can keep him safe after we move on. Can you sense his thoughts?’

‘
His thoughts have been only on saving Gil’s life,’ said Araas. ‘So either he’s quite disciplined at hiding his thoughts or he has no idea who you are. Probably the latter, but don’t be deceived. I’ve known more than a few humans who learned to hide their thoughts. Have you ever seen him before?’

‘
He’s familiar somehow. I don’t know.’

‘
Perhaps the fallen won’t follow us here,’ said Louisa hopefully. ‘I was hoping when you killed – I should say ‘returned’ the warriors at the inn, that you might have put an end to this.’

‘
I doubt it, Lou,’ said Milgorry. ‘They will certainly know where we are and they will have already planned their next move.’

‘
What if I make some sort of excuse to stay here for a while after you all leave. Just in case they attack Mulgrew,’ Timbul suggested. ‘He could dress in my clothing and go with you. I can catch up with you later.’

Gilgarry pulled himself up into a sitting position.
‘How soon are we planning to leave?’ he asked croakily.

‘
I don’t know yet, Gil,’ said Kelian. He turned as Mulgrew entered the room.

‘Right,’ said Mulgrew, placing a laden tray precariously on the end of the bed. ‘I have tea for everyone, and some biscuits.’ He made to hand a cup to Gilgarry, then stopped and placed it on the table beside him as he noticed the Sergeant had his eyes closed. He moved the tray from the bed to the top of a high dressing table and then he lifted Gilgarry and slid him so he was half lying down, and he placed a large pillow behind his shoulders and head. He flipped the bedcovers over him and expertly tucked him in, and then he took the cup of tea and a spoon and began to place spoonsful of the warm tea in Gilgarry’s mouth. Gilgarry opened his eyes a little and swallowed reflexively and Mulgrew continued until most of the tea was gone. As soon as Mulgrew moved away from the bed, Araas ran his hand over Gilgarry’s face and the soldier slept. Immosey picked up her brother’s hand. She could feel only a weak, slow pulse. She took the bandages and bound Gilgarry’s arm.

‘
Just in case,’ she said softly.

‘
You look like you’ve had some practice at looking after the sick,’ Kelian commented as Mulgrew began to hand out cups of tea.

‘
I have. Now tell me,’ said Mulgrew firmly, ‘what the son of the King is doing wandering around down here in this God forsaken end of the country.’ Kelian’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

‘
You can hide your thoughts?’ Timbul asked in surprise.

‘
Being this close to fallen territory has given me plenty of practice,’ Mulgrew confirmed. ‘And now I suppose you’re wondering how you’re going to get out of here with all the warriors of the fallen looking for you?’ Kelian was now stunned. ‘Or are they looking for their own warrior?’ asked Mulgrew, frowning at Milgorry who remained expressionless. Mulgrew glanced perceptively at Araas and Timbul then turned back to Kelian. ‘And I’ll bet you’re also wondering how long I’ll survive after the guardians leave?’

Kelian leaned back against the wall
and looked appraisingly at farmer Mulgrew. ‘Correct,’ he confirmed.

‘
I’d come with you, Highness, but my wife has not returned as yet from Chayse.’ He stared out the window. ‘She should have been back by now,’ he muttered anxiously.

Kelian started forward as Araas and Timbul exchanged glances of dismay.
‘Let’s go!’ said Milgorry and he rushed from the room with Timbul.

‘
You think…’ Farmer Mulgrew stared at Araas in horror. ‘Surely not! Oh Peta!’

Araas moved to the window.
‘She’s actually less than a mile away,’ he said. ‘No!’ he added emphatically as Mulgrew flew towards the door. ‘I have no idea who else is out there right now, but if Tim and Mil can’t get her home, then no-one can. Don’t jeopardize her safety by giving them a second person to protect if they’re attacked.’ Mulgrew sighed and joined Araas at the window. Five minutes later Peta appeared, flanked by Timbul and Milgorry.

‘
Well, if they didn’t know we were here before, they certainly will now,’ Araas stated.

‘
You can be sure they already knew,’ said Milgorry.

‘
What’s our plan?’ asked Timbul.

‘
If Farmer Mulgrew and Peta can put up with us for a little longer, perhaps we should stay for a bit. Gilgarry will have time to recover properly and if we’re attacked, we’re all here together. We can defend this place.’

‘
You are most welcome, Highness,’ said Peta graciously. ‘Bedding might be difficult…’

Elena smiled at Peta.
‘We’ve been sleeping on the ground for so long now I will simply be pleased to be indoors. We have blankets and we can use our packs as pillows,’ she said practically.

‘
Tsk! I think we can do better than that!’ Peta exclaimed and she bustled from the room.