Bazza'Jo

Chapter 20

Raina had to convince the envoy to wait until the sun had really come up to leave for the town. Although they knew Keissarians worked during the day rather than at night, they found it difficult to really understand. It was bright, hard to hide. Kal and Nat had a matching set of puffy, sleepy eyes through which to glare at her. Still, they took their cue from her and waited impatiently until she'd had a nice breakfast and found someplace to wash up.

They crept silently into town, listening for and avoiding patrols of Negators. Raina remembered what her sister had said, about how the men were under Mr. Widestock's, not her father's control. She thought it was best if they reached her house without drawing their attention if they wanted to speak with her father alone.

There were seven of them in the envoy - Raina, Kal, Nat and four carefully chosen hunters. She led them into town the same way she had left it the previous day, right to the front gates of her house. Although she had wanted to lead them around back, through the garden and the kitchen door, Kal refused.

"This is it." He announced to them. "If we're here to talk, as equals, with your father, we cannot sneak in through the back like bandits. We will enter through the front door. We can judge Mr George Ratherhams's attitude towards us by our reception." Raina crossed her fingers and hoped her father had the manners - or the strength - to pass this test.

The sun shone a cool white light over the courtyard in front of Raina's house, illuminating everything except two small puddles of shadow huddled behind each gate-post. Raina approached the gate and pushed it open. Not a person could be seen in the courtyard, not even a stable hand or coachman, who should have been present to attend to visitors. Raina hoped that they were just inside.

They passed through the gate two by two without making a sound. Raina withstood the urge to run to her familiar front door, throw it open and call for her Nan or her father as she might have when she was younger. She walked shoulder to shoulder with Kal, heart beating with nerves. They all stood tall and marched with relaxed steps, as if they had every right to be exactly where they were. 

But then the silence was shattered by the sound of the gates crashing closed behind them. All of them whirled around to see two indistinct black figures leech out of the gate's shadows, as wispy and hard to see as they had been the night they were chased from the storehouses. Their features were blurred and formless, and shifted from black to cobble-stone brown as they moved, quickly, to flank the back two hunters.

"No!" Raina shouted, "Don't let them touch you!" but she couldn't keep track of the shadowy Negators, whose motion blurred and blended with their surroundings. Kal and all four hunters had their bows out and drawn within seconds.

"Stay back!" Kal yelled at the Shadows. "Don't shoot if you don't have to, hunters! We've come in peace, we've come to-" His words were cut off by a scream of pain from one of his hunters as she dropped to the ground, clutching her side. A pale arrow was sticking out of her abdomen.

"They're poisoned! Run, run to the house!" Raina yelled. She glanced at the door and saw it had been cracked open. The frightened face of Doba watched them. "For goodness sake Doba, get help!" she cried in desperation, running towards the house with Kal, followed by an unarmed Nat and two of the hunters. The third stayed to help the fallen woman up, and was shot in the shoulder-blade for his troubles. He yowled with pain, heaved the fallen woman to her feet, and half-dragged her to the door of the manor.

They made it through the door and found the foyer empty but for some frightened faces of the servants peeking out from doorways. Raina could hear the Negators running across the cobblestone towards them.

"Shut the door!" she screamed and whirled around wildly looking for a helpful face. "What is the matter with you people? We need help! Where is everyone?!" Kal and Nat were leaning on the doors, forcing them shut.