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*
Martin checked on Joan at eleven when he went to bed for the night, and found her sound asleep. She was scared, really scared, and he knew this because she was holding Cathy’s blanket while she slept. He brushed her hair back behind her ear, placing a soft kiss to her temple, noticing when she sighed in her sleep and relaxed her grip on the blanket. He knew how hard this was on her. It would be a long, hard battle to keep her here. He’d been lucky enough to catch her earlier, and he would have to watch her every minute once she woke up tomorrow. He placed another kiss to her temple, then quietly left the room.
The next morning at six, Joan didn’t answer. Her bed was made and he assumed she was downstairs eating already, making plans to charge off after the Light Bearers. It wasn’t until eight, when he realized no one had seen her, that he started to worry that she was already gone. “Search the entire castle,” he ordered his guards, furious with himself, knowing she wasn’t here. “By the crown, how did she leave?”
Thirty minutes later, it was confirmed that Joan was gone. Martin went back to Joan’s room and looked harder, and then he saw the folded piece of paper on the desk, her diamond arrow on top. I’m sorry, it said in Joan’s handwriting, but this is how it has to be.
He took it to the others and swore impressively until Simon cut him off. “We all knew this was going to happen.”
“She said she wasn’t leaving today,” Martin growled. “She wouldn’t lie.”
“She might,” Liam said, a smile that was more of a grimace on his face.
“She wasn’t lying,” Quinn said.
“No, she wasn’t,” Randall said, a scowl on his face as well. “She said ‘not today’, and she meant yesterday. Yesterday ended at midnight. She knew we would all think she wasn’t up to going, and she took advantage of that. She’s long gone.”
“But where?” Martin demanded. “She doesn’t have a clue where to go!”
“Maybe she does,” Simon said slowly. “Yesterday she was in the prisons. Captain Parkton was down there, I heard one of the guards fetch him, and Joan never said what she was doing. She said she’d talk to him about it today. She never intended on talking to him; she already had what she wanted.”
“Let’s start there, then,” Remy spoke up. “Figure out where she’s going and follow her tracks.”
“We’re not following,” Martin growled.
“Is that an order?” Remy asked no one in particular. “I’ve never refused a direct order before.”
Liam looked amused for sure now. “Are you going to follow her?” he asked Martin.
“I am,” Martin said tightly. “And you know it.”
“Uh-huh. So when you leave, that means Randall will be in charge, and he’s going, so we’re all going, whether you like it or not.”
“I’m going,” Quinn spoke up. “I can’t bring any men with me, but I’ll go.”
Martin’s eyes narrowed at the shadow shifting under the door and yanked it open. The boy leapt back with a startled yelp, but Martin had already grabbed him and dragged him inside. “Eavesdropping is rude,” he said in a hard tone. Then he recognized the boy. “Terris, isn’t it?”
He nodded, starting to stammer. “Y-yes, sir.”
“What were you doing eavesdropping, Terris?”
He shrunk down guiltily, telling Martin that he knew something. “I wanted to know if Joan was gone yet,” he muttered.
“Yet?” Martin repeated. “You knew she was going?”
“She said she was. She said she was going after them.”
“Do you know how she left? When she left?”
Terris shook his head. Martin was about to let him go and send him away when Terris spoke. “I didn’t see her after I took her to the dungeon.”
Martin felt he’d been handed a gift. “Do you know why she went to the dungeon?”
He nodded. “She said she needed to talk to the Light Bearers, but she didn’t know where the prisons were. She asked me to show her, so I did. Am I going to get in trouble?”
It was a place to start to figure out Joan’s plan. “No, you’re not in trouble.”
“Where’s Guardswoman Ilion?” Captain Parkton demanded, bursting into the room. “She and I need to have a discussion.”
“We need in the dungeon,” Martin said.
Captain Parkton scowled. “She’s not down there again, is she?”
“No, she’s gone.”
“Gone?”
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
“She’s gone, man,” Mark said with exasperation. “It’s a simple word with a simple meaning. Joan’s gone.”
“Not after the Light Bearers!” The silence confirmed it and Captain Parkton started swearing.
“We need in the dungeon,” Martin repeated, cutting him off. “We need to know where Joan’s going, and someone down there has the answer.”
“I think I know who,” Captain Parkton said in disgust. “And you aren’t going to like it.” His eyes went to Terris and he frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s not important,” Martin said, shoving Terris towards the door. “Take us to the dungeon.”
Captain Parkton entered the prison and went to the cell with a short, nervous looking man. “Who did Joan talk to yesterday?” he demanded. “Come on, Wilbert, you had to have seen her. Who did she talk to?”
The nervous-looking man glanced up at the ceiling, nearly whimpering the name. “Mickey.”
Captain Parkton muttered under his breath.
“Did I hear someone call me?” a southern voice drawled.
Martin walked to the lift in the middle of the floor. He was joined by Randall, Quinn, Simon, and Captain Parkton. “That’s the same voice,” Simon murmured.
Martin coolly scanned Mickey once they were at the second level as the lift moved so it was only a step from the lift to the walkway. “You’re Mickey.”
“I am.” Mickey looked idly at them, inspecting them all from his position on the bunk, learning against the wall. “More visitors. Quite an exciting time. What’s happened today?”
“More visitors. Then you’ve seen Joan,” Martin said. He recognized the type. Mickey didn’t give anything away without a price, and if Joan had talked to him, she’d promised him something in return for the information she’d gotten from him. And as desperate as he knew she was, she would have bargained anything.
“Joan? Do I know a Joan?” Martin could just see the humor dancing in Mickey’s brown eyes.
“Darlin’,” the girl on his left called.
“Oh, yes, that Joan.”
“Don’t play around,” Captain Parkton snapped, his brown eyes dark with anger. “What happened between you and the girl yesterday?”
Mickey grinned slowly. “Calm down, Killjoy. You’ll pop a blood vessel. Your girl walked away unhurt.”
“What did she want from you?” Martin asked.
“Information, of course. Something I specialize in.” Mickey locked eyes with Martin. “Something happen to Joan? It would be a shame if she couldn’t keep her end of the bargain.”
“And what was the bargain?”
“A sharing of information. I told her what she wanted to know, and she told me quite a bit in return. I assume your girl went off to rescue her sister and your princess then?”
Martin stiffened. “How did you know that?”
Mickey laughed and his laughter echoed through the room. “Information, Captain. It’s all about the information.”
“What information did you give her?” Martin asked quietly, walking over to stand in front of Mickey’s cell. “What do I have to do for you in order to get what I need?”
Mickey stared at Martin for a long minute, sitting up. “You must be the one then,” he said at last. “She said she was taken, although she didn’t say by whom. She was pretty focused on finding the Light Bearers, Delilah in particular. I don’t know what she wanted from them, but apparently she got it.”
“Hold it,” Captain Parkton interrupted. “You don’t give information for free. Why are you now?”
Mickey directed a grin at the captain. “I can play nice too, Killjoy. Besides, Joan’s already made the deal, and if she’s going to hold up her end, she’ll need to be alive to do it. I can see that at least one of you will follow, and I’m betting he’s not the only one.” He stretched out on his bunk, smiling with ease as he laced his long fingers behind his head. “Go find Delilah, and tell Joan if you find her that I’m not forgetting our deal.”
Martin nodded sharply, going back to the platform. “Where?”
“Block Three,” Captain Parkton said, annoyed. “Level three.”
Delilah looked solemnly at them as the lift climbed. “She’s gone then.”
“Where?” Martin demanded.
“After the Light Bearers who kidnapped the royal families. She wanted to know where they’d go.”
Martin had heard Light Bearers said nothing except that they were prepared to suffer. If one of them was talking, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. “What did you tell her?”
Her eyes were serious. “Otter’s Cove, five miles north.”
“To the gate?” Captain Parkton demanded, startled. “But how did you know where that was? Only a handful of people even know we have a gate...” He trailed off, looking like he’d been delivered a blow to the gut, winding him. Martin hadn’t known there was a gate in Geidy, although it didn’t surprise him that there was one.
Delilah shrugged. “I sent her t’ the safe house the Light Bearers got there. We only know there is a gate, dunno where.”
Samson glared. “Why aren’t you chanting how you will suffer for your cause?”
“Was Olson really a murderer?” a boy asked, probably sixteen years old. “Did he really kill King Nadem and betray Valeria?”
“He did,” Simon said, voice biting. “And his execution was better than he deserved.”
There were quiet shuffles as the others came to the edge of the bars, staring solemnly out. “Olson didn’t try to rescue the kingdom from corruption?” a girl asked timidly.
“He was the corruption,” Simon snapped. Having your King murdered in front of you wasn’t something you ever got over, even if the king had been insane and driving them to poverty and destruction. Martin didn’t think Simon would ever forgive himself for failing to protect his liege from Olson.
They looked among themselves, showing quiet pain, betrayal, some of them looking stricken. There were no chants and no determined looks.
Captain Parkton looked bewildered. “This is the most human I’ve seen you. You’re not chanting or arguing.”
“We ain’t Light Bearers any longer,” Delilah said, eyes shadowed.
There were several baffled looks exchanged at this. “What in the world did she do?” Parkton asked Martin.
“She told us the truth,” the other girl said simply, answering his question. “She could have hated us, but she promised to help us if she ever made it back.”
Delilah nodded. “We’d never know what we got until Joan told us. I always thought I had nothing and it was just like that forever, but Joan don’t think that. She’s different, and she cares. Nobody ever cared before. She don’t lie to us.”
“We know from the stories that once Joan makes a promise, she keeps it,” the boy said, eyes alight. “She made a promise to us help us. She said we had a choice, and we’re making it. We’re not Light Bearers any longer. We follow Joan!”
“Joan!” a shout went up.
Parkton stared in disbelief. “She’s not human,” he said at last. “She can’t be human.”
Simon grinned. “That’s Joan for you.”
Martin went back to the platform. “Let’s go,” he said curtly.
“What about Alan and Florinda?” Randall asked as they rejoined the others outside Block One.
“Remy...”
“I’m not going,” he said instantly. “You can’t make me tell them that we’re disobeying their orders. You go.”
“Which orders?” Joe asked, appearing. “Alan’s looking for you, Martin.” He noted the grim looks. “What am I missing?”
“Don’t you mean who?”
Joe shook his head. “She’s gone. Of course she is.”
“I’ll go,” Martin said, hating that they were losing time. “Someone catch Joe up to speed and everyone get to the stables. I’ll meet you there.”
*
I LOOKED AROUND FOR signs that many someones had been down this path. Thanks to a truck filled with potatoes, I’d gotten more miles in than I’d thought, and three more hours of sleep. The owners of the potato truck had gotten a shock when they’d opened the doors to find me. “Sorry,” I said, sitting up. “I fell asleep. Where are we?”
“Grapetown,” the elderly man stammered, his sons simply staring at me.
I knew exactly where we were. I’d heard the destination and climbed in the back on purpose, once I’d discovered that Grapetown was right on the path to Otter’s Cove. The truck hadn’t taken the most direct route, but I hadn’t had to exert any energy to get there either. I climbed out, and the youngest one got ahold of himself enough to start to draw his knife. “Relax, gentlemen,” I said calmly as I brushed myself off. “The only things you lost were five rotting potatoes. They smelled awful.” I handed the elderly man a wad of Valerian money. “I hope this covers the trip down here. Sorry for surprising you.” Then I left, leaving them standing, speechless.
Now I was on the right road to Otter’s Cove. A very nice man in town had told me the quickest route between Point A and Point B, and I was assured that a large caravan of people, if they had come through here, would go by this path. I had never done any tracking before, and I wasn’t sure how to do it, but I kept searching.
At eight, I took a brief break. I’d left the castle at midnight, gotten off the truck at five, and been out of town by six and eaten in between. I’d kept the sunrise to my right so I was assured that I was still going north, but at a fork in the road, I hesitated. One broke off to the east, and one broke off to the west. Logically, I would want to take the west one, as that would take me to the coast and I could easily follow the coastline if the path ended, but I didn’t want to get off path. The east path might turn back north, and it surely had to pass through a town at some point so I could get back on track if it went the wrong way, but it might very well turn back south, and it would take time to get back to where I was supposed to be. Time was something I didn’t have.
I bent to the ground now, studying, hoping for a sign that the Light Bearers had been through here, at least a sign I could identify. I scanned right to left, searching for an unevenness in the ground, and smiled when I reached the west path. I could identify at least a dozen hoof prints, and a set of wagon marks. I took off with a determined smile.
*
MARTIN DIDN’T KNOW how close they were, or even if they were on the right track, but everyone was following him. Alan and Florinda had sent Martin after Joan once they’d heard.
“I won’t keep you back either,” Florinda said. “Go after her, help her. In two days, I will no longer have any control over you anyway.”
“You know we would follow you,” Martin said.
“And we are honored,” Alan said. “But you shouldn’t stay for us, not when Joan needs you. Go. You can rescue my daughter if anyone can. Let us know if you do rescue them.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Then Martin bowed and hurried out.
Now they were four hours out with no sign of her. She would be on this road, and she would have traveled for hours, but surely they would have caught up to her by now.
“There’s another rotten potato,” Mark commented.
“Shut up about the potatoes already,” Captain Parkton growled. He looked like he would be permanently scowling for the rest of his life.
“Relax, Dave,” Simon said. “You don’t have to come.”
“I do,” Dave growled again. “And when I find her, I’m going to give her a piece of my mind.”
“Where are we?” Samson spoke up. He’d joined them at the stables.
“About a mile from Grapetown,” Captain Parkton said, still angry.
“We’ll spread out,” Martin ordered. “See if anyone’s seen her.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen her,” a man said ten minutes later. Mark had seen him hauling potatoes and mentioned that they should try him. A look of disbelief crossed the man’s face. “She caught a ride in our potato truck.”
“That would explain the rotten potatoes,” Mark murmured.
“She paid my father for the ride, then headed off that way.” The man pointed. “It was around five when we stopped here.”
They followed at a fast clip, knowing they were catching up now. When they arrived at a fork in the road, they stopped. “The Light Bearers went west,” Mark said instantly.
“Joan?” Martin asked.
Mark was already off his horse and inspecting the ground.
“He does something useful?” Parkton asked sourly. “Or is he over his potato fixation?”
“I notice things because I pay attention,” Mark said, intelligent brown eyes sweeping the ground for any recent signs of a person. “She was here. These are her shoe prints.” He swung himself back up on the horse. “West. Less than two hours ago.”
*