Chapter 30

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Marc pulled Sheed back into the shadow of the shop they stood by, looking the way they’d just come. Dynan was waking up. They’d left the house of a friend when Sadek had arrived and hurried as best they could to the Constable’s. They found the building alive with activity, men coming in and out, and a few bodies being taken to the infirmary.

“Ralion,” Sheed said tersely.

“Dynan, where are you?” Pain washed through Marc, making his head spin and him unable to focus. He thought he heard water, but lost him the next instant. “He’s not here. Dynan isn’t here.”

“Where is he?”

“I couldn’t tell,” Marc whispered and pulled Sheed away from the guardhouse, retracing their steps down the alley. Another wave of nausea hit him. An oar put into the water and a boat creaked. He heard voices through a haze.

“Is he waking up?”

“What if he is?”

“This isn’t right.”

“We put him in, awake or not.”

“It’s murder.”

“So we save him a hanging in the morning. Shut up and row.”

Marc grabbed Sheed again, pointing him down the road they’d just turned onto as he started running. “They’ve got him on the pond. We need to hurry. We don’t stop for anyone.”

“Which way?”

“Up and over the hill,” Marc said and ran. He cut through someone’s yard, ran over a bush, past a dangling vine that smacked him in the face. He thought about Dynan racing to a clearing to save his brother. He thought about Matt drowning, terrified he was about to have the same horrible experience. He couldn’t seem to move fast enough, fighting through paralyzing fear.

Sheed outpaced him, running as fast as anyone Marc had ever seen. He heard someone yelling after them and then the sound of pursuit. It didn’t last. They outran them and crested the hill. They came on another guard who tried to stop them. Sheed punched him in the face and kept going. It seemed like he didn’t even slow. Marc swore and pounded after him.

He saw the pond and the boat on it near the middle. Two men struggled to lift Dynan. He was awake now and fighting them. Marc was trying not to hear him, trying not to feel panic stealing away his strength. They weren’t going to get there in time to stop this. Dynan knew it, just as Matt had known that he was going to die. His mind screamed in denial over what was happening. He was going to get married. He knew it. He’d seen it and this wasn’t part of the plan.

Then there was someone else on the shore, rushing from darkness into bare moonlight, shedding clothes as he went. “Dynan, Ralion is right there. Take a big breath. Now. They’re about to—”

Blind panic seized him as water went over his head. Marc stumbled, fell, and rolled down the hill until he forced his feet back under him. He was pulled down through murky water, weighed down by something chained to his ankles. He couldn’t escape, he couldn’t breathe, and the water came in. Darkness pressed all around and then he was gone.

“No,” Marc breathed, forcing his legs to move.

Sheed hit the shoreline. Marc got there the next instant, ripping off clothes and weapons. Ralion was halfway to the spot, while the men with the boat oared for the shore. They knew they weren’t alone on the pond anymore, racing to get off of it and get away from what they’d just done.

“We need the boat,” Marc said and grabbed Sheed before he could go in. “Get the boat.”

He didn’t wait to see if the guard listened, tossing off his boots, sword, and jacket, and charged into the water. He saw Ralion dive under, but Marc thought he was in the wrong place. He didn’t hear Sheed behind him. Marc swam as fast as he could and reached the place where they’d dropped Dynan in. He waited, trying to calm fear, pulled in a lungful of air and dove in.

The pond wasn’t deep, maybe twice his height or so. He’d been to the bottom before, many times, swimming in High Day treasure hunts with Matt, or just for fun on the times they’d visited Crey with Loren. He’d been here in the middle of the night before too. He knew this place and still it felt like forever before he touched bottom.

He heard something, or thought he heard something, or someone. He went that direction, cutting through the murky water.

Dynan was right there. Marc’s hand brushed against cloth, the burlap sack they’d put over his head. He reached under it, grabbing for something more securely attached. He got his feet planted on the bottom, then pushed off.

The moment Marc took all his weight, he thought he wouldn’t make it. He’d have to drop Dynan and go back up for air or help. The rock, or whatever, that was tied to Dynan dragged him down. Marc couldn’t stop kicking, or he sank again.

He didn’t let go. He was afraid if he did they’d run out of time and they wouldn’t get Dynan back. Marc looked up at the surface and thought he saw the moon, concentrating on making it get closer, on seeing it above the water instead of from below it. He strained upward, needing air.

When it became a question of his survival or dropping Dynan, still Marc didn’t let go. He knew he wouldn’t survive if he dropped him. Marc looked up and saw that he was close. He could see the surface. He told himself and heard the words in a voice that, at the same time, was different from his own, that it wasn’t that much farther. That he could hang on. That he could make it. He just had to keep going. He was almost there.

The light of the moon was brighter, coming right down to him. His vision narrowed, black dots swimming before his eyes, blotting out the light. With one last burst of energy, his head broke the surface. He got one gulp of air, meant to take another, but went right back under. He meant to call out and didn’t have the chance. He forgot to keep kicking. Dynan slipped and Marc grabbed for him, begging for strength when he didn’t have any left.

A hand latched onto his shirt, yanking upward so hard Marc almost lost his grip again. Ralion was there then, with him in the water, holding onto the boat and lifting them both with the other hand. Sheed reached for him.

“Get the rock,” Marc gasped and went under again when Sheed let him go.

Suddenly Dynan’s weight was lifted from him. Marc thought for an instant that he’d let go. He couldn’t feel his hands anymore. Sheed grabbed him again and made sure he had hold of the boat this time. Ralion almost heaved the rock over the side, but set it down inside, fearing it would go right through the flimsy craft. Sheed hauled Dynan up and together, they pushed and pulled him out of the water.

Marc clung to the side, coughing because he’d pulled in a mouthful of water. He couldn’t get enough air and didn’t have any strength to get himself out of the water. He watched Sheed rip open the burlap sack with his hands. He rolled Dynan on his side and put his fist into his stomach. Water poured out of his mouth. Marc closed his eyes, unable to watch, afraid they’d taken too much time.

“Come on, Dynan,” Sheed said, bent over him and breathed into him.

Abruptly, Marc felt like he couldn’t breathe. His fingers slipped off the boat and he went under, pulling in a mouthful of water when he shouldn’t have. Ralion dragged him back up choking. The same sounds came from inside the boat and relief flooded through him. A sense of redemption that he hadn’t expected came next. He hadn’t been able to save Matt, but saving the man who’d tried to save his brother seemed to atone for that failure. He didn’t know why, only that it felt like something was right again in his life.

He was weak. Ralion solved that problem by heaving him into the boat. Sheed told Ralion to get in too. They had company on shore. Marc couldn’t lift his head to see, watching the stars overhead as Ralion rowed and listened to Dynan being sick, still choking from all that water.

Sheed was encouraging him to throw it all up, telling him that he was going to be all right. He cut his arms loose and then used the laser cutter on the chain around his legs. Ralion held the rock up. It was smaller than Marc thought it would be.

“I’m going to use this on the heads of the two men who did this.”

“I already took care of them, but you might want to hold onto it when we get to shore,” Sheed said, nodding that way. “What do you want to do if they want to take him again?”

“Not let them,” Ralion said and Marc thought that these two men could probably stop them. “How many we got there? Ten?”

“Twelve.”

“I see their Captain,” Ralion said. “Have a light?”

“Yes,” Sheed said and pulled a small box from his jacket.

“Blind them with it. We’re going to hold off the shore. It isn’t deep, so they can come out if they want. If they do, we stop them. Marc, think you can paddle this boat out of here if you need to?”

Marc wasn’t sure he could, but then knew he would try and nodded. Dynan was telling him not to let the guards do this. He couldn’t talk without choking. Marc was inclined to ignore him. “We’re going to get out of this, one way or the other, like it or not, Your Highness,” he said so that Ralion and Sheed heard him.

“I’ll take the reprimand later, Dynan,” Ralion said and stood, holding the rock by its chain like a weapon. Marc really didn’t want to see him hit anyone with that thing. He thought the men waiting for them on shore needed to turn around and run. He got up and took the oars.

“Hold us right here,” Ralion said and nodded to Sheed.

The light came on, blaring in its brightness and startling the men before them. They had to shield their eyes to see. Marc noticed they didn’t have their weapons drawn.

Kint Bur took a step forward. He was hesitant, as were those with him. He was also completely out of his depth, facing Ralion and Sheed, and didn’t know how to handle the situation. He held up his hand, but Ralion didn’t let him speak.

“You and your men withdraw now,” he said, tightening his grip on the chain.

“I didn’t condone this. All I want to do is talk. I have a duty—”

“Save the speech for someone who cares. I was told earlier that’s all you wanted to do. You’ve a strange idea of what that means. Withdraw your men, Captain. We can talk later.”

He stepped around Marc, meaning to show them that he was serious, and about to get off the boat to prove it. A couple of the guard stepped back in response, whispering among themselves.

“I have to bring you back to the station where you’ll be safe,” Kint said. “I talked to Secretary Eldin and saw the message from the Chancellor. I was told by Inquisitor Sadek that the telepath could control minds and make anyone do as he wanted. I’ve seen and heard enough to question what I’ve been told. I have a duty to find the truth and I will. You have my word that none of you will be harmed.”

“I don’t trust your word, Captain. Withdraw your men. Now.”

Sheed had his sword out then, the metal ringing in echoes across the water. A few men on shore responded in kind. Kint turned to them, holding up his hands, stopping a fight that he knew no one would win, but mostly not his men. Marc was a little surprised by it, that Kint would back down when they were so outnumbered. Maybe he’d heard enough about Ralion and Sheed to second guess the ability of Crey’s Guard to stay alive. He ordered the men with him to disperse and return to the station. The Captain remained.

Ralion didn’t move until the entire area was clear and then waited a few minutes longer just to be sure. Sheed got out and pulled the boat up onshore when Marc poled them into the shallows. Kint reached to assist them, but was stopped. “If you want to help,” Sheed said, “go get the cart they used to bring him here. It’s over by the stand of trees, with the two men. I don’t think they’re dead.”

Kint nodded, stepping back. “Neither are any of the men who were attacked at the station.” He looked at Ralion. “They told me, the ones who can talk at all, that you could have killed them to a man and yet you didn’t. The Secretary said that you wouldn’t. I believe it now. This town isn’t safe for you, which is why I want you at the station. Sadek has men here who I don’t know and don’t trust. Too many of them. You’ll be safer there than anywhere else.”

“Or locked up. Sorry, I don’t buy it,” Ralion said.

Kint nodded. “I understand why, but...” He pulled in a breath. “I’ll not have someone murdered on my watch, regardless of who he is. I didn’t like this from the start. You’re taking him to the Mendrel’s? Loren’s place? I’ll have the guards you brought from Quilar sent over.”

“Kint,” Marc said and crawled out of the boat. He couldn’t do much else, finding it difficult to stand. Dynan was unconscious. “The High Chancellor is in danger. A messenger I had sent to him was stopped by Sadek. You’ve got to get word to him.”

“I’ve already seen to it, Marc. I sent a troop of men with orders to stay off the road until they reach the Chancellor. Sadek kept news of his arrival from me and everyone else. I’m sorry that this happened. If I’d been at the station when Sadek showed up, I wouldn’t have let it. I didn’t have much choice but to go along with it.”

“All right, Kint. I believe you. Can you go get that cart? We have to get him inside and to his doctor. Where’s Sadek now?”

“I don’t know. According to my men, he left the station and hasn’t been back. He’s not at the inn either.”

“Get the cart,” Ralion said and turned to Sheed. “We need to get to the house. Loren.”

Sheed swore under his breath. “I’ll go.”

Marc nodded him on and Sheed took off at a run.