The Lone Traveler - Part Twenty-Five

The Lone Traveler

Chapter Twenty-Five



The slow moving wagon train finally reached the great city of Havenhall. There were no serious incidents during the trip, no brigand raids, and no major breakdowns. After Aideen and Elise put the wagon master in his place by an amazing display of archery and knife throwing, the dirty little man put his tail between his legs and stayed away from the mummer’s wagon.



When they were stopped at the first gate of the city, the soldiers checked the piece of paper signed by Lord Clynton, giving them permission to travel with the wagon train. A cursory check of their heavily loaded wagon revealed no weapons. The weapons they had brought, including Elise’s daggers, were hidden in the bottom of a trunk covered with female undergarments. Like most men, the guards were reluctant to dig into the pile of girly things, especially since two of the Aelfen females were lounging on top of the soft silky pile of garments and the guards were completely fascinated by them.



At the last gate, the scribendi merely glanced at their written authorization and quickly passed them through. Although they were suspicious of all mummer troops, considering them the lowest dregs of society, they did not care to dirty their manicured hands by verifying what the guards had already checked.



There was no need to seek directions to the castle, the great walls clearly stood out in the distance. As they passed through the massive market, Elise spotted a sign on one street with three red sparrows painted on. The street of red sparrows, she thought. “Hold,” she called to the driver. “I have an errand to complete on that street.”



She climbed into the wagon and removed her daggers from the trunk then jumped from the back tailgate. “What’s this important errand?” Ruolf curiously asked from his seat on the wagon. “It canna wait til later?”



“I promised a dying soldier boy I would inform his family of his death,” Elise replied. “They run a bakery on that street over there, the Street of Red Sparrows. I may also garner some information about Analia’s whereabouts if she is still in the city. I will meet you at the castle.”



“Careful lass,” Ruolf replied. “These streets are full o’ cutthroats, murderers and thieves. We will inform the guards at the castle gates to be axpectin’ you.”



“May I join eu?” Aideen asked, jumping down from the wagon. “We can watch each the other’s back.”



Elise smiled. “Certainly sister, no bows though. I think it might look strange for a pretty girl to be walking the city streets carrying a long bow and gray goose shafts.”



“Aye! “Aideen agreed. “I will carry me quarterstaff though, nae anything unusual aboot a forest savage a carryin’ a stick.”



They were wearing slim mummer’s dresses with short hip-length jackets. Elise figured they would most likely be mistaken for prostitutes in the gaudy outfits, but that should work to their advantage. As they slowly walked along the cobblestone streets, they were amazed at the number of unwashed people crowded around. Accustomed to the clean sweet smell of the wilderness, the cloying stench of the city assaulted their nostrils. Although there was a sewage system of sorts, there were still small piles of waste and trash piled against the walls where the contents of chamber pots and spoiled food were cast.



After several long blocks of travel, they could actually smell the bakery shop before they spotted it. The delicious aroma of baking bread and pastries was strong enough to overpower the ever present stench. The front of the bakery was open and a portly man was passing out loaves of bread to several customers, while his wife, probably his wife, stood kneading dough on flour covered tables.



Elise walked up and ordered a loaf of crusty white bread from the small rack to the man’s right. He was delighted with the sale because servants purchasing for the wealthy were the only ones who could normally afford such luxury. As payment, she removed the medallion from around her neck and laid it on the clear counter. The baker looked at the cheap piece of metal then up at her.



“Are you Duncan? “ She asked?



The baker suddenly became warily suspicious. He and his wife had buried the five gold crowns of the reward in a safe place, but word may have gotten out. Those street urchins could have spilled the beans. “I am Duncan, he finally replied. “Who ye be?”



“I am a friend and, unfortunately, a bearer of bad news,” Elise answered. “You have a son named Duncan fighting in the Emperor’s Army?” The man nodded his head. “Your son was killed in battle. His last words to me were to tell his family that he died with honor. He gave me that medallion to give to you as proof of my words.”



The woman at the back flour table placed her hands over her mouth and started to whimper. The baker solemnly nodded his head. “Duncan was our first born,” he stated. “From the time ‘e could run, ‘e had dreams of becoming a war hero and joining the Emperor’s Guard. Did ‘e receive a proper burial, if oi may ask?”



Elise glanced down at the counter. “He lies among his fellow heroes,” she stated, “It is where he wished to be.”



“Thank you,” the baker said in a heavy voice. “It be a long journey to where ‘e lies, we appreciate you a coming all this way to tell us o’ Duncan’s last words.”



“We are also looking for a lost girl,” Elise asked. “She was a good friend of Duncan’s and he also wanted us to let her know he would not be returning home. We assume she is in the city somewhere. He called her, Analia. He said she is petite, with large violet eyes, and long auburn hair.”



The baker scrunched his features as if in deep concentration. “No girl by that name,” he finally stated. “The only girl we ‘ave seen fitting that description is an enemy o’ the realm arrested a week or so ago. Word has it she was one o’ those fearsome witches who ride the ‘orrible dragons. I think they called ‘er, Aubrey or Audrey.”



Elise glanced at Aideen and nodded her head. “Thank you, ser,” she stated, throwing a silver coin down on the counter, “for the bread.”



“You’ve paid for your bread,” the baker smiled, handing the coin back to her. “May the gods smile on eu.”



“Has to be Analia,” Aideen whispered as they walked down the winding street heading for the castle.



“They obviously do not know her real identity,” Elise whispered in return. “They’re still calling her by a different name. Whoever the girl is, we now know where to look for her.”



Half an hour later Elise suddenly halted and placed her hand on Aideen’s shoulder. “We’re being followed,” she whispered. “I noticed a young boy with a quarterstaff dart into the bakery as we left and he has been tailing us ever since. Stay alert, he may have bigger friends.”



As they passed around a sharp curve in the street they spotted a score of young boys carrying quarterstaffs standing in the center of the cobblestone street. When they stopped another gang of youngsters rounded the corner behind them. They were boxed in and the expressions on the faces of the youths did not appear friendly.



“Why are you following us?” Elise asked. “If you mean to rob us, you are in for a bad day.”



The eldest of the youngsters coming up from behind them halted and planted his quarterstaff on the solid stones. “Eu ave been askin’ about a friend of ourn,” he stated. “The baker said eu knowed of er?”



“Audrey?” Elise asked.



“Wot eu wants wit er?”



“Her name is not Audrey,” Elise replied. “She is Analia and she is a friend of ours. We are searching for her. Do you know where she is?”



“Are eu one o’ them nasty dragon riders?” the youth blurted. “Guards don said she was a dragon rider when they take er to the castle.”



Elise could sense the uncertainty in the youth’s clouded features. “We are not dragon riders, but we are warriors and we mean to help her. Analia is a Dragon Rider, but she is kind, brave, and gentle, not a nasty person.”



“They says they be warriors,” another of the boys chuckled, “taint nuttin but two scared street women, thay be.”



Faster than the boys could see, Elise quickly pulled three daggers from her belt beneath her short jacket and cast them toward the youths. A dagger stuck into the quarterstaff the chuckling youth held, and one in each of the quarterstaffs of the boys to his left and right. She held a fourth dagger in her hand.



“We want no fight with you,” she stated in a calm clear voice. “But you are messing with the wrong two people. We seek to find our friend and will allow no one to get in the way, especially street rats.”



“She’s our friend!” the eldest youth quickly yelled. “We wants only to protect her. She calls me Will and we be the Grays. Audrey lived wit’ us and helped learn us to fight and she turned ‘erself in to the Emperor’s guards so we would have coin for food.”



“So, she is in the castle?” Elise mused. “We will not harm you. Will you show us the quickest way to the castle gates?”



“They won’t be lettin you in,” Will replied, “but we will show eu the way. Do you really think eu can ‘elp er?”



“We have friends already inside the castle,” Aideen finally spoke. “We will do our best to find and rescue her.”



The three boys sheepishly removed the daggers from their quarterstaffs and handed them to Elise. They said nothing but their expressions retained an aura of awe and respect. Never in their young lives had they witnessed such an awesome display of weapons skill.



They had no problems getting through the main castle gate. The soldiers had been told to expect them. Elise carried the fresh bread and a bouquet of sweet smelling flowers to conceal the bulge in her jacket where the daggers were kept and Aideen held a basket full of nick-nacks they had purchased along the way. For all intents, they had left the mummer troop to do some personal shopping.



Following the easy directions from the guards, they quickly found the rear door to the castle keep and were immediately passed through without question. The blushing young guard tried to make a later date with Aideen, but she promised him nothing and everything. The troop was quartered on the first floor beneath the main floor so they had to descend down one flight of stairs.



“Oi smell fresh bread,” Ruolf growled as he saw them approach. “Did ye find ye baker man and tell ‘im of ‘is poor dead boy?”



Elaine briefed the troop on what she had uncovered, cementing the fact that Analia was being held somewhere in the main castle.



“We are expected ta be putting on a shew tanight,” Ruolf continued. “You need to get with Cleatus so e’ can tell you wot ye will be a doin. We ‘ave ta set up in the main feastin’ room in one hour.”



“All I’m supposed to do is stand around and look pretty,” Elise replied. “I may later throw a few knives into a turning wheel, but I certainly do not need to practice that.”



They suddenly heard a loud ruckus above them. Elise sauntered over to the stairs and glanced up. She spotted two guards carrying someone between them, followed by half a dozen other guards armed with halberds. A gap was created between the guards when a great door was opened, and Elise was shocked. It as Analia, they were dragging into the chamber, a dirty and exhausting looking Analia.



“She’s here!” she shouted to the troop in the small room a short way down the hall. “Who’s ere?” Sean asked, his head peaking around the door.



“It’s Analia,” Elise blurted. “The guards are taking her into a large room. The troop rushed up the stairs and squeezed their way among the small crowd pushing into the elaborate room. They moved back against the far wall where a small platform had been built for the show they were to provide, so they had a clear open view of the entire proceedings.



They held their breath at Emperor John’s last words. “I sentence you to be beheaded immediately and your head mounted on the castle walls,” they heard him say. They noticed Analia’s face turned a pale white at the death sentence.



The guards turned to take her from the crowded room. People moved aside to let them pass, expressions of outrage and disgust on their pampered faces. As they neared the door, Elise jumped up and ran for Analia. Sean yelled something that sounded like, ‘stupid girl’, and rushed to catch up with her. He was too late; Elise had already pushed one guard aside and was fighting with another to take his halberd from him. He was too big and far too strong and she was losing the fight.



Ruolf ran and leaped on the guard’s back. Suddenly there was a wild melee in progress, lords and ladies were running to escape the brawl, more guards were rushing in to help their companions, and the mummer troop was climbing over, under, and around the guards trying to reach the two girls. Ruolf pulled the halberd from the guard’s hands and was forcing him and two other guards back towards the now open doors, Analia was pushed from behind and fell to the hard marble floor and Elise was facing two other determined guards charging towards her. Sean and the Khelti had grabbed two heavy benches and were pushing the guards slowly back. They were unarmed and the fight was one sided.



Analia watched in horror as one of the guards stabbed Elise in the abdomen with the spear point of his halberd and tried to push her into Ruolf. She jumped up from the marble floor and was immediately struck in the head by the butt end of a steel tipped halberd, it was a severe blow and she collapsed to the floor unconscious.

Empress Cathrine suddenly jumped up and ran to the Emperor. She spoke into his ear in an angry and pleading voice, swinging her arms and occasionally pointing at the deadly brawl going on.

“Hold!” Emperor John yelled. “Clear the chamber, everyone out!” All action halted, the lords and their ladies quickly filed out of the room. As soon as the chamber was empty, except for the emperor and empress, a squad of guards still in the attack stance and the mummer troop, they walked over to where Analia lay on the hard marble; her knees were bleeding from the impact from when she was dropped by the guards. The Empress walked around to her back, got down on her knees, and pulled Analia’s tunic down to expose her left shoulder and nodded to the Emperor.

“See that small red birth mark,” John?” she asked. “It resembles a tilted dragon’s head and is just below her shoulder blade. Do you remember who had that mark?”

Emperor John was shocked. “Audrey,” he blurted.

“Yes, Empress Cathrine replied. Our baby girl Audrey had that same birth mark. This young girl is the same age as our Audrey would be if she is still living.”

“She is our daughter,” Emperor John smiled, a tear forming in his eye and sliding down his cheek.

“She can be no one but our Princess Audrey.” The empress started crying and hugging Analia at the same time.”

“My baby is home, my baby is home,” Emperor John muttered over and over again, his luxurious knee britches soaking up the crimson blood slowly pooling on the marble.

“Go find our personal Apothicarius, you fools!” Empress Cathrine yelled at the shocked guards. “If he’s not here in five minutes you will all lose your heads.”

Emperor John stood and glanced at the mummer troop now completely surrounded by the remaining guards who held their halberds in the en garde position pointed at the troop. He walked up to Ruolf who stood with a defiant look on his face. “What are you mummers and midgets doing here?” he asked, suddenly noticing a group of small people running between the guard’s open legs. They were all less than two feet tall.



“We are Sidhe,” Ruolf replied, “nae midgets.” He threw the halberd he was holding in his hand to the floor with a clang. “I am Lord Ruolf MacArgid and we are dwarfs, and the other people ere are our friends, the Khelti and the Aelfen. We are ere ta rescue our friend, Analia, Audrey as you now be a callin’ er.”



“You came all the way to Havenhall, your small group, with the expectation of rescuing one single prisoner from my castle? Surely you are mad, Ser.”



“Nae, tis not mad we are, your Higness, we come ta aid a great friend in peril. Tis love that bonds us, nae madness.”



“You did not know she was my daughter, Audrey?” Ruolf and the others shook their heads.



“I need help!” Alideen shouted from the corner of the circle. She was sitting on the cold marble floor holding Elise’s head in her lap. “She was stabbed by one of the guards during the fight and there’s a lot of bleeding.”



Thoden the Aelfen walked over and glanced down at Elise. “She’s wounded in a vital spot,” he stated. “If she doesn’t get medical help soon she will not survive.”



Analia was dreaming that she was back in the beautiful place where the emerald green grass was flowing in the wind, where the beautiful oak, chestnut, hickory, and maple trees surrounded the small valley and the sky was achingly blue, with puffy white clouds chasing each other like sail boats on the sea. The beautiful young people were whispering, Tuath De. As in the other dream, the great wizard suddenly appeared and the young people faded away.



“Merlin,” she whispered, glancing into his startling blue eyes. His long white hair still flowed over his shoulders and blended with his robe of pure white. He solemnly gazed at her with concern and warmth.



“It is time to return to yourself, little one. Your memory has been fogged for too long and there are people counting on you for help.”

“What of Audrey?” she asked.



“You were conceived in the womb of Empress Cathrine from her union with Emperor John. They are indeed your true birth parents, but it was not the life you planned. When you asked to be reborn into human existence, you sought birth as the lowest of the low so that you could make your own place in your new life. You were accidentally reborn into royalty. I took it upon myself to spirit you away to the village where you grew up, and to the poor parents who raised you. You must now choose which life you prefer to follow, one of wealth and power or the one you were living before you lost your memory. Only you can make that choice.”



“I have learned enough to know that either life offers wonderful opportunities,” Analia replied. “Which one is the best route to take?”



“A decision you must make,” Merlin smiled. “I will aid you in whatever choice you make.”



Analia slowly opened her eyes but everything around her was a blur and it was difficult to see. A teary eyed face finally settled into focus, the concerned face of Empress Cathrine. Her head was being supported by Cathrine’s lap and she could see Emperor John standing off to her left talking with a circle of people. “Mother,” she whispered, remembering Merlin’s words.



“Oh John!” Cathrine yelled. “John, she remembers. She called me mother!” Emperor John rushed over and glanced down into Analia’s face. “How can she remember us, Cathrine? She was a new born babe when she was stolen from her crib?”



“Your faces,” Analia whispered. “I somehow remember your faces and I remember the warmth and love when I looked up into them.” She slowly sat up and leaned her hand on the cold floor. Her eyes wandered over to where one girl sat and another lay on the cold marble. “Elise!” she screamed, crawling on hands and bloody knees to where she lay.



She grabbed Elise’s hand and brought it up to her face. The hand was cold and her eyes were open but glazed over.



“No!” Analia screamed, a torrent of tears cascading down her cheeks. She held the hand tightly to her face, kissing the fingers and gently rocking back and forth.



A tall regally dressed man squatted down beside her and reached for Elise’s hand. Analia slapped his hand away. “I am an Apothicarius,” he stated. “Let me see the girl.”



He checked the wound and placed his fingers against Elise’s throat. He then stood and nodded to the Emperor. “I cannot help her,” he stated. “The gods have taken her to the next life.”



“Take these people to their room and secure the door,” Emperor John ordered. “No harm will come to you, Lord Ruolf, or your brave people. I must however, sequester you until we can determine the veracity of your statements.



“And the girl?” Ruolf asked, pointing at Analia. “No harm will come to my daughter,” the Emperor bluntly replied. “As for her friend, we will handle her body with the utmost care and honor. You have my word of honor on that.”



In the back of her mind, Analia heard a somber but comforting thought. “Welcome back, Little Lady.”