Yuragwyn: Ours

---Chapter 27

                “Have him grovel in the streets, Cyneric, great and powerful?” A Granzian soldier offers, mocking the title the elves have given Cyneric. 

                I am dragged, truly this time, down into the main street, clobbered a few times with scabbard, and left to grind my teeth at the pain in the dirt.  Calanthe never looks a moment back toward me and only shivers a bit when Cyneric brushes her shoulder.  “Be the darling goddaughter I know you are,” I hear him say to her. 

                She nods and runs her fingers through her hair several times.  I can tell by the slight turn in of her ankle that she is frightened, but she makes no sign of it on her face. 

                If we make it out of this alive, I need to make greatest amends and entreaties to Honorable Urien.

∞Kaitra∞

                Maxen makes no move to comfort me or find a silver lining in our situation, and this scares me more than anything.  If even Maxen cannot find something jolly to say, we are in dire straits indeed. 

                Shadows march around the perimeter of our home, keeping us locked inside until the moment they have my parents in their clutches.  Then what will they do, execute them before my eyes or me in front of theirs?  I nearly wretch at the thought and wish for the thousandth time that I could be home.  The dagger is here, but the leaves I need are beyond the guard holding us captive. 

                “You have a plan, miss Lady Kaitra?” Maxen asks quietly.  “I know that look in your eyes.”

                I blush, “Only a selfish one.”

                He gestures for me to continue, and I plunge forward, “The dagger you brought: it is mine.”

                “The one that will take you to the other world?” He asks.

                I nod.

                “What do you need to go?”

                “The leaves of a white oak tree,” I say.  Quickly I add, “But they are far from the edge of the house; there is no way to get to them.”

                “A warm-weather leader is no one worth following,” Maxen says.  “Master Hulderic told us that before the last war in the official sending off ceremony.” 

                Footsteps tiptoe down the hall, and immediately Maxen jumps in front of me.  I lean my head against his strong back, and a shiver runs up and down my spine. 

                “Who are you?” He asks. 

                A small voice coughs, and I raise my head to look at the intruder.  She- I think it is a she- wears a thick cloak, which hides her eyes and darkens her face.   Her right sleeve, though, hangs empty. 

                Eglantine. 

                I step to Maxen’s right.  “Eglantine, you return.”

                “I have done you great wrong, Lady- Madame- Kaitra, and you have done nothing but help me and wish me the best.  I want to set it right.”  She bows deeply. 

                “And just how do you propose to aide us?” I ask tiredly.  Was there no end to this girl and her tricks?  She even killed Granzian soldiers while she was with me the first time. 

                “You have said your parents will come one way; let me caution them to come another.”

                “You will do that,” Maxen cuts in, “and you will bring as many white oak leaves as you can carry here to Lady Kaitra.”  

                Eglantine bows again.  “Arm yourselves, Master and Madame.  Soon you might have need to fight your way out of this house.”

                And as quietly and swiftly as she came, Eglantine leaves us alone in the house. 

‡Eglantine‡

                I pay the guard at the cellar door and slip away, for time is short, and I must get to Lord Cadfael and Lady Carys.  Thankfully, few people pay any attention to me, and I soon intersect the path through the mountains and run down it in search of Yuragwynian soldiers. 

                Sweat trickles down my forehead and time passes, but I have yet to even glimpse a dark green uniform.  My heart beat increases to a frantic pace.  I can never face the world again if I fail Yuragwyn now. 

                “Lord Cadfael, I beseech you!” I cry out, fighting the tears.  “Hear me and save your daughter!”

                Before the words are completely out of my mouth, centaurs surround me, swords brandished. 

                “You speak of Lady Kaitra?” One of them asks, his voice harsh. 

                I nod vehemently.  “Please, tell Lord Cadfael that Cyneric of Granziar expects you to come from the hills and holds your daughter captive.  If you come directly into town, surprise might still be on your side.”

                “By what authority and what proof do you speak?”  Lord Cadfael himself strides up to me.  I must look up to see his face, and his harsh demeanor sits my bones to quivering within me. 

                “By Madame Kaitra’s herself.”

                Lord Cadfael turns a sickly shade of green, “You will ride behind me.”  And, to his soldiers: “we must make all haste, for the Daughter of Yuragwyn is at stake!”