'What happened?' I asked.
'One of the priests recognized me from Darthnor. I tried to tell them Kella and Pavo didn't know about me, but I don't think they believed me. They want to know how I got here, and how I made it look like I died. They want to know where I've been and if I had help. I'm scared. I think they mean to take me out to the Isle.' Jik's terror spilled over into my own mind and for a moment I saw his nightmarish vision of the interrogation methods awaiting him.
'I won't let that happen. I'm coming,' I sent, but the contact had begun to fade.
I found myself slumped in the doorway, gritty water seeping through the knees of my trews. Sweat was freezing on my cheeks and my teeth were chattering violently.
I had meant to try reaching Darga as well, but that would have to wait. I had to get to the Cloisters as fast as I could.
The night had grown steadily colder and my stomach echoed with hunger, but there was no time. I had to get Jik away before he was taken to the Herder Isle. Get him away, or turn him into a mindless idiot, a darker voice reminded me. I shuddered and walked faster.
I was certain the scars on my feet were open again, and all Kella's good work undone, by the time I reached the other side of the walled town. It was not hard to tell which building was the Cloister. Set apart from the other buidings[Sic], it had its own high wall. Branches of trees and leaves visible at the top told me there was a garden inside. I made my way carefully round the perimeter looking for a weak point. There were two small gates, barred and guarded, and one larger gate open, but heavily guarded. The contact with Jik had left me too depleted to coerce a guard, let alone more than one. Somehow I had to find another way in. I decided I would have to climb over the wall, and try to find them.
Leaning against it trying to gather my energy for the climb, I realized there was someone on the other side. A dog, and about to bark. I sent a quick greeting, and its urge to bark became curiosity.
'Who/what are you?' It was a dog named Kadarf.
'I am a funaga. I mean no harm. I want to come over the fence and visit a friend,' I sent. Forcing back a wave of nausea, I pushed the dog's mind, forcing its acceptance. Fortunately it was not smart like Darga. I climbed the fence with the help of a spindly tree growing up the side. Sitting on the top, I could see the Herder Cloister through the trees, a dark, squarish building with few windows and no visible doors.
At the foot of the wall, a muscular, brindle-coloured dog watched me slither awkwardly to the ground. He bore a strong resemblance to Darga. I closed my eyes and reached out my mind for Jik. Finding him, I was almost paralysed by a wave of emphathized terror.
'What is it?'
'Elspeth!' Jik sent. 'They're taking me to the Herder Isle tonight!'
'I won't let them take you. I'm right outside. Now, how long before they come?'
Jik made a concentrated effort to control his panic. 'In ... in an hour they said. But that was a while ago. Is Darga with you?'
I sent a gentle negative. 'I was delayed at the inn and sent him back to the cart, but you must already have been taken. He's a smart dog. Remember when he disappeared in the Druid camp? He'll turn up.'
I left Jik for a moment to locate the others. Kella and Pavo were in a cell together but I could not farseek either of them easily, since both lacked coercive or farseeking abilities. I found Avra in a stable near the perimeter of the grounds.
She responded with relief to my probe, and I realized she had been afraid we would abandon her. She had been unharnessed, but the harness containing the all-important maps had been set near her. Quickly she outlined the arrangement of the stables. I told her Kella and Pavo would come to get her shortly.
Returning to Jik, I was glad to find him calmer. 'I've found Kella and Pavo. I'm going to free them first because they're on the top level, then they can free Avra,' I sent.
'If the Herders come . . .' Jik sent fearfully.
'I'll get back in time,' I said.
'Promise you won't let them take me to the Isle,' Jik said urgently.
'I promise,' I sent, feeling sick at the knowledge that it was a promise I might be unable to keep.
I looked down at Kadarf and probed him to locate a lesser house door.
Following me, Kadarf stretched himself outside the door to wait.
Inside was a short hall branching in two directions. I took the left way, leading to Kella and Pavo, noting the other way would bring me to stairs leading down to Jik's level. Passing numerous closed doors, a slight amplification of my senses was all I needed to warn me if anyone were coming the other way, or about to enter the hall.
I was limping badly by now but there was no time to rest. Turning warily into another hall, I jumped at the sound of voices, but no one came out.
I could hardly believe I was creeping through a dread Herder Cloister. I would not have imagined I would have the courage, but Jik's fear of being taken to the Isle and my own fear of having to erase his mind spurred me on. I did not have the reserve to handle an open coercing if I was seen, but I kept my powers in readiness.
I stopped abruptly, realizing I had found them. A brief straining and the lock clicked. Kella and Pavo looked up, mouths falling open in astonishment.
There's no time to talk,' I said, forestalling their questions. 'Jik is about to be taken out to the Herder Isle for questioning. I'll take you to an outer door. There is a dog there who will take you to the stables where Avra is kept. Make sure you get the harness with the maps in it. Avra said you can get out of the stable to an exercise yard. You can get out into the street that way. Leave at once, and get straight out of the city. You might have to bribe the gate man. Head for Murmroth until the lights of Aborium dim. Camp on the beach. I'll find you. Now let's hurry.'
'I will slow you down,' Pavo said faintly. I was shocked by his ravaged face. He seemed to have aged years in a few hours.
'Help him,' I said to Kella brusquely. She looked hurt at my tone but some of the dazed horror faded from her eyes. Moving back down the hall, I was puzzled to note how awkwardly Pavo moved. Had the disease begun to affect his limbs? I noticed a bloody streak on one ankle and then I understood. He had been questioned.
I felt sick with disgust. I had heard much of Herder interrogation and torture, but I had never been confronted so brutally with the evidence.
For a second, I was overwhelmed by a black tide of hate. This dissolved into fear as my senses told me a priest was approaching. There was no door near enough to offer refuge, and the hall was long and straight with no turnings behind and in front of us. Neither Pavo nor I were capable of running fast enough to go back to the cell before he came round the corner.
Desperation gave me an idea.
'Get close to the wall and don't move, no matter what happens,' I whispered. I blew out the candles on either side, throwing a small section of the hall into shadow. Flattened to the wall in the dimness, I mustered my strength.
I could feel my legs shaking as I sent out a fine coercive probe and let it mesh with the priest's mind. The alignment was perfect and, for a time, I simply mirrored his thoughts about the power-hungry manipulations of a fellow priest. Then, gently, I began to exert my own force beneath the conscious level and into the semiconscious region of the mind.
My brother Jes and I had played hide and seek as children, and I had always won when he searched, no matter how bare the boundary we set, because I could make his mind look everywhere but directly at me. Our only hope was that a child's trick would work on the priest.
He came around the corner and Kella hissed in fright. I willed her to be still as he came nearer. It would only work if we were completely motionless. Pushing him fractionally, I made him turn his head absentmindedly to the wall where the candles were extinguished. He passed us looking steadfastly the wrong way, entirely unaware of us or my subtle coercion. I did not dare release him until he had turned the corner, then I slumped back, exhausted.
'He didn't see us,' Kella said incredulously. 'How could he
not?'
'Quickly,' I snapped.
Outside Kadarf agreed to take them to the stables and prevent their harassment by any other dogs. I did not stay to see them go. Time was running out for Jik. Nearly hobbling now, I sent my mind ahead.
To my dismay, he was not alone. There were two priests in the room with him. I was too late!
Agitation made me careless and Jik perceived me. 'Elspeth?' his mind cried out in hope. I was filled with remorse at the terrible duty that lay before me. I knew I could not let them take him without a mind lock to stop him betraying Obernewtyn. No matter how brave he was, in the end they would make him talk, even as Brydda's friend had been made talk. But as I tried to rouse my sluggish thoughts, I knew I had neither the heart nor the strength for such an operation.
I had another idea.
Retracing my steps painfully I came back into the garden. Kadarf was waiting. He followed me back to the fence and watched me struggle to climb it. 'I'm sorry you are going,' he sent.
I waved a brief salute then dropped to the path on the other side. The jarring filled my head with stars for a minute. Kella and Pavo were nowhere in sight. I hurried round to the ornate double gate Kadarf said was used for most coming and going among the priests. I prayed they would bring Jik out that way.
I waited, kneeling in the shadows beneath a bush to give my feet a rest. It was some minutes before I saw any sign of life. One of the guards brought a large cart out, and harnessed up two white horses. Then a group of priests came out, carrying boxes and parcels. Peering from my hiding place, I saw Jik between them looking small and frightened. My heart ached for him but I turned my mind resolutely to the horse. My only hope was to create some sort of diversion to give Jik the chance to run.
Suddenly a hand touched my arm. Whirling, I stifled a scream of fright as I looked into Brydda Llewellyn's face.
'How . . .' I began, only to be interrupted by the sound of horses and a carriage. Frantically I tried to collect my thoughts, but I was too slow. With a cry of despair I saw the carriage draw away and knew I had failed. I had a brief glimpse of Jik sitting upright among the grim-faced priest masters. Then he was gone.
17
I stared down the empty street, knowing I had failed Jik and Obernewtyn.
'Quickly,' Brydda said urgently. 'We will have to move fast if we are to catch them.'
He half dragged me across the street and round a corner where a grinning Reuvan sat behind the reins of a carriage embossed boldly with the gleaming Herder seal.
'Courtesy of the Herder Faction,' he said with a mock bow.
Dazed, I let myself be lifted in behind him. The cart lurched as Brydda climbed in. Reuvan shook the reins, urging the horses on to a wild pace.
'You are hurt?' Brydda shouted over the clatter of hooves on the cobbles. He nodded at my feet.
'Old wounds,' I shouted back. 'How did you know I was inside?'
'I didn't,' Brydda said. 'You were gone before I realized, before we could talk of ways and means to rescue your friends. But I knew where you had gone.'
'You said helping them was impossible,' I protested.
Brydda shook his head. 'I said only a madman would attempt such a rescue. I forgot you did not know me well enough to know that I am just such a man.'
I was struck dumb at his words.
'Besides,' Brydda said, 'you had not meant to come to Aborium, except to deliver my parents' message. Therefore I am the direct cause of your troubles and honour bound to help you. And if the Herders are so keen to have your friend, I am just as eager to stop them.' He grinned. 'We were waiting to see you arrive, never dreaming you had already magicked yourself inside . . .' He hesitated, obviously curious, but I said nothing. 'A lad and a girl came out stealthily leading a horse. They fit the description you gave, so we stopped them. It took us a minute to convince them we were trying to help, and then they told us you were inside and the Herders about to whisk the boy off to the Isle. I sent one of my people to show them a safe way out of the city. I wanted them to take the cart, but I have never seen a pair more attached to a horse.'
I don't know how to thank you . . .' I began, but again Brydda held up a hand. 'No need for thanks among allies. Now, the Herders will be going to the wharf. The girl said they want to question the boy . . .' For a moment his face really did look like stone, and I understood that Brydda Llewellyn would be a savage enemy.
'There's no time for subtle planning. I meant to leave the town tonight anyway, so it does not matter if the Herders think I freed the boy. It will madden them trying to understand the connection. Is he really a Herder novice?'
I nodded. 'What can we do? There are about five in that cart,' I said as Reuvan suddenly reined the horses to a slow walk. I could smell the sea and the sour smell of old seaweed.
'We're nearly to the wharf,' Reuvan said over his shoulder.
'Go softly then,' Brydda said. 'We can handle five between us, six counting the ship master.'
I nodded, praying they would succeed, for I knew I didn't have the strength to wipe Jik's mind clean of his dangerous knowledge.
The clatter of stones ceased as the wheels ran onto board. We had reached the wharf.
The waning moon shed a wan light and all was darkness and the mingled smells of oil and spices with sea and fish scales. Moored vessels bobbed in the dark, gurgling water, bumping occasionally into their mooring posts with a dull thud.
'The Herders cast off from there,' Brydda whispered, pointing to the very end of the wharf. Lanterns swung from either end of a long slim boat moored there. Illuminated fitfully in the gritty, shifting light was the carriage that had brought Jik. It was empty and there was no sign of him. Priests were moving between the ship and the carriage, transferring boxes to the vessel.
'Why do they travel at night?' I whispered, as Brydda made a sign for Reuvan to draw the carriage into a shadowed corner.
'They are a secretive lot and night suits their fell purposes. Most ships go out at dawn or just before. Folk know the Herders come here at night, and that is enough to discourage anyone else. People who seem too interested in Herder business have a way of disappearing. There's the boy.'
Jik, was standing between two priests, half obscured by their flapping cloaks. His hands were bound behind him and his shoulders slumped hopelessly.
'Jik,' I sent.
His head jerked in surprise, but he subsided when one of the priests gave him a hard look.
'Careful,' I warned, and sensed him make an effort to maintain his dejected pose.
'Elspeth,' he sent in a powerful wave of gladness that twisted my heart.
'We are at the other end of the wharf in the shadows. We're going to help you. Be ready to run when you get the chance.'
I started and broke contact, feeling Brydda's hand on my arm. 'It's no good. There are at least seven priests down there. Some must have come earlier. And there is the ship master. Two of us might barely overcome the lot, and I'd take the risk, but for the dogs. They are trained by the priests to tear a man's throat out on command,' Brydda said.
I blinked at him trying to equate the savage picture his words evoked with Kadarf. 'But you said . . . we've got to get him away from them. I . . . I . . .' I stopped, gulping back tears.
'It's not possible, lass. You see that, don't you?' Brydda asked.
'You don't understand. He ... he can tell them about me, us. About everything.'
Brydda shook his head. 'Getting ourselves killed or caught won't help the boy or your cause.'
I threw caution to the winds. I had no strength left to wipe Jik's mind, so we would have to save him. I could not let him be taken to the Isle.
'Brydda, I am a Misfit,' I said.
Brydda sighed. 'Ahhh. I thought there was something. And the boy?'
'Listen,' I said urgently. 'The reason I'm telling you is because I can stop those dogs from attacking. You think - everybody does - that Misfits are Dreamers and half-wits. Useless. But there are other kinds too. Misfits lik
e me and my friends. I can make those dogs do what I want, and I can talk to Jik from here, inside his head. If you can handle the men, I can deal with the dogs.'
I could hardly believe myself revealing so much. Reuvan was staring at me as if I had gone mad.
'I'll prove it,' I said desperately. 'Watch Jik. I'll make him look towards us and nod. I sent a message to an astonished Jik asking him to respond as obviously as he could, without alerting his guardians. He turned his head slowly and nodded with a faint but obvious wink. Reuvan hissed in astonishment.
'You can hold the dogs?' Brydda asked.
I nodded, hoping they would be as easy to convince as Kadarf. 'Help me save Jik. Please.'
After a long tense moment, Brydda grinned. 'Well, I'm probably finally going mad, but we'll have a go at it. Seven men - we can handle that many between us, eh, Reuvan?'
'Seven men, yes. But those dogs . . .' he said doubtfully.
Brydda clapped him on the back. 'Come, man, you saw the boy. Those dogs will be all bark and no bite.'
Reuvan looked at me warily, as if I might bite, but such was the strength of Brydda's personality that he nodded.
'Good lad. Now, Elspeth, tell the boy to run for it as soon as he gets the chance. Don't wait for us. As soon as you have him, get out of the city as fast as you can. There is a gate back near the Cloister. Go out that gate and no other. Wait with your friends and I'll find you.'
'What about you?'
'I'll worry about me. Make sure you do as I said.'
I reached out and touched his arm. 'It was a glad day when I first heard the name of Brydda Llewellyn,' I said.
He smiled. 'Life is an adventure, is it not?'
At a signal from Brydda, they melted into the shadows and began making their way towards the Herder vessel.
I groped about until I found the mind of the ship master. He was in the hold organizing the laying of the cargo. I pinched a nerve experimentally, and sensed him groan and double over. I grinned, catching his thought that he must have eaten a bad fish stew.