Why is it raining?
Who am I kidding- this is Caymead, of course it's raining.
Gathering my courage, I hike up my skirt and run into the muddy street. Water instantly soaks the cheap fabric of my dress, and a shiver racks though me. All around me, people are hurrying around to get to shelter. A carriage drives by and kicks up a sheet of mud, which hits me dead on.
Just my luck. I'm already running late for my meeting because my mother was causing a fuss, and now I'm soaked and muddy. Stupid rain.
Walking through the mud is difficult, but I eventually make it to the meeting place- Ranvet Tavern. Pushing open the solid oak door, I gasp as a wave of heat hits me.
"Come in lass, have a seat!" an older gentleman behind the bar calls out. I nod in appreciation and take a table in the corner of the room. The tavern is about half full, but the abysmal weather makes me guess that most of the people here are just sheltering from the rain. A young man plays a fiddle on the roughhewn stage, and my toe taps without my knowledge to the driving rhythm. As much as I want to be absorbed into the music, it's really the fiddler who catches my attention. His piercing gray eyes constantly scan the room as he plays, making him seem much more alert than the average musician.
I'm so distracted by the gray-eyed fiddler that I miss the waiter coming to take my order. "Hello Miss, welcome to Ranvet Tavern. Can I get you some beer to ward off the cold?" he asks.
"No thank you, I'll just have tea." I reply, trying not to feel awkward that unlike everyone else in Caymead, I don't drink.
The waiter's gaze holds no judgement. "That'll be out in just a minute, Miss," he says. As he walks away I tune back into the music. The fiddler's fingers are flying over the strings so fast that they are practically a blur. Outside, lightning seems to flash in time with the music, and thunder punctuates the melody ominously.
I've already checked, but I look around once more. No one in the tavern matches the description of the person I'm supposed to meet. A tall, sandy-haired man has a proposal for me, but apparently he's a no show, which is unfortunate as I'm running low on money.
The tavern door opens, letting in a blast of cold air and a sheet of rain. A cloaked man walks in with just a hint of swagger. After gently shutting the door, he pushes back his cowl. Ruffled hair springs loose, which frames his gentle green eyes.
I'm betting this is the guy. He's tall, has blond hair, and possesses a sense of confidence that most of the other tavern patrons lack. He glances around before his eyes settle on me. Walking with purpose, he quickly approaches. "Are you Miss Sang Sorenson?" he asks with a smile.
"Yes sir, and you are..."
"Asen. Pleasure to meet you Miss Sang," he says while holding out his hand for me to shake. I oblige, marveling at his smooth grip- most of the people in Caymead have hands calloused from farming.
Asen sits across from me with a playful smirk, and I know that it's time to shock him.
"So Lord Sean, why do you need the services of a cryptographer?" I ask, causing Sean to look at me with dismay.
"Excuse me Miss, I believe you heard me wrong. My name is Asen, not Sean," he postures, but I can tell he knows I'm onto him.
I roll my eyes. "Please Lord Sean, what kind of cryptographer would I be if I couldn't recognize a simple anagram? Plus, your face is on every two thawel coin!"
Sean looks around furtively. "Shh! I'm trying to be undercover! Just keep on calling me Asen."
"Fine, Asen, but can you please explain why you requested this meeting?" I ask, and Sean brightens.
"That I can do. You see, we need to send a message to a friend in Drathe, and it absolutely cannot be intercepted and read. So, we need you to encrypt it for us," he explains.
"By 'we', I'm assuming you mean the nine lords of Caymead. You want to send a message to Drathe, the enemy realm, and apparently this message is so secretive that the official cryptographer can't handle it," I clarify. Sean nods.
"Right, so now I want you to come with me to Saninom for a couple days while we get this figured out. Does that work for you?" he asks. I repress a gasp. I've always wanted to see Saninom, the royal palace, and now I'll get to stay there! I would have avoided home for the next week or so anyway until my mother cools off, so this is perfect.
"Sounds great," I tell Sean, "When are we leaving?"
Suddenly, the fiddler plays a horrible chord, and Sean stiffens. "Right now, let's go!" he says urgently, pulling me to my feet. I toss a thawel on the table to cover the tea I never got and hurry out behind Sean.
"Why the rush?" I ask breathlessly. Sean hushes me with a look.
"I'll explain later. Right now, we just need to get to Saninom," he whispers. As we start to run into the downpour, the tavern door is thrown open and two huge guys exit. One of them roughly grabs my arm, trapping me.
"Sang!" Sean yells. Two additional men emerge from the alley next to the tavern, and my heart clenches when I realize just how outnumbered we are.
Sean starts attacking the man holding me. I'm dropped to the floor unceremoniously as the man desperately tries to fend off Sean's assault. One of the alley guys helps Sean while the other attacks the remaining guy. I guess that the alley guys are on our side, or at least I hope they are.
All of a sudden, the guy who originally grabbed me scoops me up while pulling out a wicked looking knife and holding it against my throat. The blade nicks me. A drop of blood mixes with the rainwater already drenching me.
"Stop!" the man roars. All the fighting halts as everyone turns to see the source of the commotion. Sean and his two helpers pale when they see my current predicament.
"Sean, Nathan, Silas," the man snarls, "I don't care about you right now. I'll let you run back to your pretty palace if you leave the girl with me. Or stay and fight, I really don't care. I'm always up for dishing out a good pounding."
I hear a whooshing noise, followed by a loud crack. I can see out of my peripheral vision the fiddler pulling back the hilt of his knife after whacking my captor in the head with it. Unfortunately, I don't think he really thought his action through because the man falls over, unconscious-
Pinning me underneath him.
The knife is pushed into my throat under the man's weight. I cry out, but the sound doesn't carry over the thunder and pounding rain.
Masculine grunting resonates above me. The weight is lifted off of me, and strong arms lift me up. I hear a sharp intake of breath.
"Doc, she's bleeding!" my helper yells. His dark brown eyes resemble pools of tar in the darkness. Sean whirls around to look at me. His eyes travel over my cut, rapidly assessing it.
"It's not too bad, and we really need to get out of here. Silas, carry her. Nathan and Owen, you take point and I'll take rear." He orders. Owen? I look around, catching the fiddler staring at me. Ah, he must have been scoping out the tavern for Sean.
"I can walk," I protest feebly when Silas picks me up bridal style into his arms.
"I know you can Aggele Mou, but this way we can go faster," he explains. Owen looks around to make sure that everyone is ready before running ahead with Nathan. Silas charges in after them, and Sean falls into line behind me.
"Silas, what about those two guys?" I ask. Silas looks down at me compassionately.
"They're alive. We knocked them unconscious, so Nathan leaned them against the building like they were passed out drunk. No one will suspect anything. Besides, once those guys wake up they're not going to go around claiming that they attacked four of the nine Lords of Caymead," he says, not even sounding winded from the strain of holding me and running through the rain.
After ten minutes we halt before the royal palace. Even at night in the pouring rain, Saninom is breathtaking. Graceful spires reach towards the sky, punctuating the clouds and giving the palace an ethereal air.
Guards at the foot of Saninom snap to attention when the four lords approach. "What is the code word?" one of them asks.
"Chocolate," Owen tersely replies. The guard gives an approving nod before opening up the gate. It seems like everything in the palace would be in proper working order, but apparently not because the gate makes a horrendous squeaking noise as it opens.
"Luke and his stupid code words," Silas grumbles as he follows Owen into Saninom. We are greeted by the other five lords in the entry hallway. Now that the adrenaline is wearing off, the cut on my neck begins to burn and I wince. Nine heads whip around to look at me, and if I wasn't in so much pain then I would have laughed at the comical motion.
"Really Doc, you couldn't stop to fix her neck?" one of the men accuses.
"Relax Gabriel, we were ambushed- there wasn't any time," Owen says soothingly. The cut really is starting to throb now, and it seems to be getting hotter.
"Guys, I'm not feeling so good," I say in a weak voice.
"I know Sang, just hold on a bit longer. I need to get the first aid kit." Sean says, but his voice sounds deeper than before. The lights in the room start to pulse and blend all the colors together.
"Sean, that cut doesn't look normal!" a voice says urgently. I turn my head to see a pair of eyes looking right at me. Fire leaps out of the brown orbs. I cringe into Silas, but the fire keeps on coming.
"You're on fire," I try to say, but it comes out more as "Smur mfir".
Sean leans over me and suddenly shouts out "Poison!". All of the lords gasp, not bothering to hide their horrified expressions. What happens next I don't know, because fire engulfs me.
Followed only by blackness.