∞Kaitra∞
I spring from the bed towards the wash basin and nearly trip over my own legs in the process. While I dunk my whole face in the lukewarm water, three voices swirl around me.
“Should you change?”
“Where do you want me to go?”
“What on earth are we going to do?”
I grab the towel Calanthe holds out and scrub my face raw and dry, so the redness is uniform. “Not going to change: this is an army meeting; you, Traugott, go make yourself look like we beat you; and, all of you, follow my lead. I need your trust.”
Maxen grasps my hand, “You have it, to the full and overflowing, dearest Lady Kaitra.”
My scrubbed cheeks do not betray my blush, thankfully, so I merely nod and smile. “We must make haste. Calanthe, Maxen, grab any weapon you can find. Calanthe, drag Traugott on a rope. Look sharp, look furious, and look mean.”
In moments Traugott is covered in mud and tied and stumbling behind Calanthe, who pulls him like a disobedient dog. I grip the large hilt of the sword I found in the closet and stride forward like I own the place, because now I suppose I do, at least in theory. Elves and Granzians alike part as peppered water just doused with dish soap. Once in the village commons, I raise my hand for silence.
“The prisoner will lie on the platform.”
Again, crowds part to allow Calanthe to kick Traugott up onto the rough wood. He moans pitifully, and I can only hope he acts.
I turn to those gathered. “Cyneric? We must make haste.”
He bows deeply, “Your plan, Madame? We wait anxiously for your wisdom.”
I scramble together an elaborate scheme in the time it takes to sneeze heartily. “Cadfael and Carys plan to meld into the hills and come down upon us from all sides. We must set up contingents in houses at the edges of town, with arrows, many arrows, and pick them off as they come, for they expect to take us by surprise in the center of Rite. Cyneric! I need you and your valiant men in homes along this main street. Master Maxen will lure Cadfael and Carys to the plaza right outside these doors. At his sign,” here, I pretend to stroke a beard, “you will jump upon them and lay them waste.”
“Excellent, your majesty, brilliant,” Cyneric sneers. “And you, you will retire to your palace, under my best men’s protection, along with Master Maxen. I believe Calanthe, with your humble permission, will be a better decoy here, in the street.”
I breathe slowly, trying to keep the color in my cheeks and the resolve in my heart. “Most certainly, Honorable Cyneric.”
“To a new Yuragwyn!” Calanthe cries out, brandishing her bow.
I turn to her and Maxen for just a moment while the crowd celebrates, and we share a look of horror. Cyneric touches my arm, mine and Maxen’s, and escorts us forcibly under heavy guard back to the house- prison. Once inside, a deadbolt slides none too softly across the front door.
₰Traugott₰
I watch the happenings below me with dread, for, contrary to Kaitra’s knowledge, she had actually guessed her parents’ plans and had set up a deadly defense. If only I could fade into the mahogany walls and slip away, perhaps to warn them. If they would listen, only this time, maybe the massacre soon to be could be avoided.
“Traugott, Traugott, Traugott,” Cyneric says coldly, menacingly. “What shall I do with Lord Cadfael’s favorite?”
“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!”