Chapter 26

 

 

The storm lasted the rest of the day and most of the night. Although he was sheltered and warm, the howling wind kept him awake almost until dawn. The morning sun found the ground littered with branches torn from the trees by the wind, a few of which had landed dangerously close.

William nibbled on the nuts Vincent gave him the day before, while Clyde dug up some ferns to chew on. “Are you hungry?” he asked Adonis.

“I ate my fill of your duke’s sheep yesterday,” answered the dragon. “I do not need to eat for several hours.”

William nodded. “We should fly back to the duke’s mansion soon, but I want to investigate where the smoke was coming from first.”

They lifted off a few moments later, and William caught sight of the frothy waves pounding the beach, still agitated by the storm. The occasional gust of wind still buffeted them, but both Adonis and Clyde were more than equal to the task. They gained height first, wheeling around before leveling and aiming for the other side of the island.

The smoke was gone. He’d expected that—no fire could have survived such wind and rain—but he hoped at least to find where it had come from. He had Adonis fly low along the beach, but they spotted no sign of human activity.

What should he do? On the one hand, the island itself wasn’t going anywhere. On the other, whoever built the fire might still be here, and he needed to know if they were worthy of further investigation. What if it was only a fisherman who had scrambled for shelter before the storm? With so much area to cover, they couldn’t afford to waste time.

He asked Adonis to land on the beach. Landing in such an open spot was risky—anyone hiding in the woods could spot him easily—but it also meant he could get away quickly if he ran into rebels. Plus, he had Clyde.

It didn’t take long to find the source. Even to his untrained eyes it was obvious this was no wayward fisherman’s campsite. The ground was trampled by heavy boots, and several logs surrounded the giant firepit, clearly meant for many people to sit on. A trash pit had been dug nearby, larger than the one he had found at Kirby’s hiding spot in his woods. Whoever they were, they’d spent at least a day there, and had left recently—possibly shortly after spotting Adonis in the sky.

A small cove lay a few dozen yards from the fire. The water looked calm and deep, and he found several places where the ground was scraped by something large and heavy like a rowboat. No ships were moored there now, but William could picture them, hidden beneath the canopy of tree branches that arched over the little bay.

He had to tell the others about this, and soon. He raced back to the beach, only to find Adonis in an agitated state. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” answered the dragon. “But my brothers tell me your friends are upset. No doubt they are worried about you, not knowing you are safe. We should return at once.”

“Agreed,” said William. “They’ll want to know what we found here as well. I think I found where our rebels have been hiding.”

With the storm’s remains at their backs, they made excellent time. William slid off Adonis’s neck the moment they landed beside the other drones and ran toward the manor. Melissa ran out to greet him and squeezed him tight as they crashed together. “Come inside,” she said urgently. “I have bad news.”

“Thanks, I was worried about you too,” said William in a hurt tone.

“Yes, Will,” she said with more than a touch of impatience. “I was worried, but I can see you’re safe now. Come inside, quickly.”

Puzzled by her urgency, he followed her to the mansion, surveying the damage along the way. The storm had hit the duke’s island hard. Fallen trees littered the grounds, and at least one small outbuilding had been crushed. Was Melissa upset about that? Or had someone been injured? Or missing? But no—Adonis had said they were all safe.

When they reached the dining hall, it was filled with grim faces. William looked around the table at his friends, until he reached Reggie, whose face was streaked with tears. “Where’s Vincent?” asked William.

“They took him,” said Reggie. He tried to continue, but uncontrollable sobs choked his words away. Maya wrapped a consoling arm around him.

“Who did?” asked William, stunned by the news.

“The rebels,” said Jack, his face dark with concern. “They came as soon as we left. They may even have been here on the island, waiting for us to leave. I’m surprised we didn’t see them when we flew away.”

“I don’t understand,” said William, becoming alarmed. “The rebels were on this island?”

“They broke into this house, Will,” said Rachel. “Dozens of them. They tied up Reggie, rounded up the staff and locked them in the servants’ quarters. Then they dragged Vincent away. He’s been kidnapped.”

“What about his guards?” asked William, his jaw slack with surprise. “He had four of them here on the island!”

“Killed,” said Jack. “They never stood a chance against so many.”

William slumped into a chair, stupefied. He’d imagined all sorts of outcomes when he accepted Earl Bradford’s challenge to recover the stolen tax money, some good and some bad, but this possibility had never crossed his mind. Jack’s frequent admonishments about his hero complex echoed in his head; instead of saving the day, he’d made things so much worse.

But how could he have predicted this? Whether they were rebels or robbers, escaping with their stolen goods would have been more sensible. To remain where they were and commit an even bigger crime was a gamble they shouldn’t have been willing to take.

And yet they had. At every step they had done something unexpected. He needed to fit the pieces together, figure out the rebels’ end game so they could finally get ahead of them. Their first step had been to replace or incarcerate the town officials. Attacking his barony was a mere distraction, at least according to Kirby Elric. The real crime was the robbery of Marshland’s tax money, the diversion of the fire, and subsequent escape by stolen ship. And then they’d burned the very ships they’d escaped on, even though they were likely worth almost as much as the tax money itself. And now, instead of continuing their getaway, the rebels planned and executed the kidnapping of Azuria’s highest official, in his own home no less. William was certain a common thread ran through these separate events, that a master plan dictated each of these moves, and that he was mere moments from discovering it. All he needed was a few more moments of silence.

“Your breakfast, sir,” said Oz as he set a tray in front of William. “I figured you’d be hungry after being away all night.”

“Thank you, Oz,” said William, trying not to show his displeasure at being distracted at a critical moment. He was, in fact, famished, but the puzzle of the rebels’ actions had taken his mind off his hunger until then. He tried to immerse himself again in the trance-like state of mind where things were becoming so clear, but the spell was broken. It seemed as though every time he came close to the truth, something grabbed his attention.

Unexpectedly, the pieces snapped together in his mind. He turned to Reggie, whose tears still ran down his cheeks. “Reggie, I know this is an awful time to ask, but was anything stolen?”

“Will!” admonished Melissa. “That can wait.”

“No, it can’t,” said William. “I wish I had time to be delicate, but this may be the answer to everything, including getting Vincent back. Reggie, do you know where Vincent keeps his valuables?”

“In a basement vault,” he said with a shaky voice. “Do you think—”

“Can you take us there?” asked William breathlessly.

Reggie nodded. “I’ll get the keys.”

They followed Reggie to a room tucked away in a far corner of the mansion, where he slid open a hidden door that led to a narrow stairway. He lit a lantern and led the way down the stairs to a hallway carved from the bedrock of the island, reminding William of the Marshland Library’s basement. After a sharp right turn, it became clear they wouldn’t need the key. A large iron gate had been pried open, rendering the lock useless and the vault vulnerable. Reggie handed William the lantern, and William walked in, certain of what he would find.

It was a mess. Boxes were overturned, documents strewn across the floor, discarded as worthless by the rebels. He set the lantern down and surveyed the damage. An empty strongbox sat askew in the corner, its lid smashed to pieces. His worst fear was confirmed. “It was never about Marshland at all…” he said to himself in a quiet voice.

“What do you mean?” asked Jack.

“Marshland was a distraction,” said William. “Nothing else. Think about it. Ten thousand crowns is trivial when you consider how many people were involved in stealing it. And if that’s really what they were after, why would they have attacked my barony?”

“Maybe they were stupid,” said Jack.

“No, Will’s right,” said Rachel. “The attacks on William and Marshland were to get attention. They had to draw as many guards out of Faywater Port as they could, so they could move around freely, attack the duke’s manor in open daylight, and kidnap him.”

Reggie covered his mouth in shock. “That tax money was about to be shipped to New Athens—the king’s taxes. Over half a million crowns. It was here for no more than a week—how could they have known?”

William’s stomach dropped. The enormity of the crime was too much to absorb at once. The faces around the vault showed the same shock. “We have to get him back,” said William, his voice echoing in the empty room. “The money too. We have to get them both back.”

“You’re insane, Will!” said Jack, shaking his head violently. “This is too big for us. It’s not worth our lives.”

“What about Vincent’s life?” demanded William. “What about the lives that will be lost if Zander gets that money?”

“Half a million crowns can buy a lot of weapons,” said Rachel with a look of urgency. “Or feed a large army, even bribe officials. Add to that whatever ransom money they get for Vincent. If they get away with this, life as we know it will change forever. I’m willing to risk my life to stop this, Jack. What about you?”

“I’m not sure about this,” said Maya before Jack could answer. “I don’t want to abandon Vincent, but there’s only seven of us. What can we do when we’re outnumbered so badly?”

“We’re the scouts,” said Charlie.

“The what?” asked Jack.

“The scouts,” repeated Charlie. “A small, mobile unit, detached from the main force, tasked with collecting information about the enemy—they made us memorize that during training.”

“Well put, Charlie,” said William. “And if we can find them, harass them, slow them down, we can make Bentsen’s job that much easier. We haven’t lost until those ships get through the choke point.”

“And what if they decide to break through the choke point by force?” demanded Jack. “The harbormaster can’t keep dozens of men there forever, even if she sends them there at all. The rebels can simply overpower them, remove the chains themselves, and sail away.”

William slammed his fist on the broken strongbox. “We have to do something!” He held Jack’s gaze for several seconds. “Are you with me or not?”

Jack looked away, shame clouding his defiance. Finally, he looked back. “Yes.”

William looked around the vault. “No one has to do this. I’ll do it myself if I have to, but you all need to decide for yourselves. Jack’s not wrong about this being dangerous, but the more we stick together, the safer we’ll be. Show of hands—who’s with me?”

Rachel and Charlie raised their hands immediately, Jack a mere second later. Slowly, Melissa’s hand joined the others’. Oz took a deep gulp and lifted his hand as well.

“Doubts, Maya?” asked William. “No judgment, but what’s holding you back?”

“I’m not a fighter,” she said. “I didn’t take part in the defense of Rebel Falls, or at your wedding. I’m not sure what help I’ll be.”

“I’m not asking you to fight, Maya. But don’t tell me you didn’t play a part. If not for you, more lives might have been lost at both those battles. Besides, I don’t expect any fighting. You can pull out any time. Anyone can, so long as they agree not to abandon anyone in danger. But to begin with, all I ask is that we do what we can.”

Maya lifted her head, pride replacing her uncertainty. “In that case, count me in.”

Reggie went to William, taking his hands in his own. “Thank you, William. Vincent was right about you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Reggie,” he answered. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and no guarantee we’ll succeed. All I can promise you is that I won’t give up.”

“So, what do we do first?” asked Jack.

William turned to Maya. “Can you and Charlie go to the Guard office and let them know what’s happened here? I would suggest going to the Academy as well, but since so many rebels came from there, I’m not sure we can trust them.”

“I know someone at the Academy we can trust,” said Charlie. “I’ll talk to him too.”

“Great,” said William. “Then come meet the rest of us at the harbormaster’s office.”

“What are we going to do there?” asked Jack.

“I’m expecting crowds again, so I’ll need you all to clear a way for me. Besides, I want us all together as soon as possible.”

“That doesn’t answer his question, Will,” said Melissa. “What are you actually going to do?”

He picked up the lantern, a grim look of determination set on his face as he prepared to leave. “I’m going to have a little chat with the harbormaster.”