It was the one that had belonged to Flier’s family. It was being used by the military as a headquarters and perhaps a prison. We pushed past the ship’s officers, anxious to get ashore and look for Princess Elizabeth, and as we reached the quarterdeck, we noticed the ten soldiers who had been lounging on the pier were now on their feet and massed at the bottom of the gangplank.
The officer with them smiled wickedly, knowing we were mice in a trap.
“Swim?” Flier asked.
“Not this time,” I said while drawing my sword with a flourish they’d all notice. From the corner of my eye, the captain was ordering his men to back me. His ship had been violated, and his anger was as great as mine. However, the gangplank was wide enough for only one person. In a louder voice, I called, “Stand well behind me. Don’t crowd., I’ll need room to move.”
To be sure my magic was intact, I swirled a small whirlwind and watched the water form a miniature waterspout—then ventured onto the gangplank a slow step at a time, watching for their reaction. A soldier charged up the ramp. I met him halfway.
My blade slashed twice, once left-to-right across his chest, then a return swing right-to-left across his neck. He fell at my feet, and I retreated two steps. In order to reach me, the next would have to climb over the first, and through all the slippery blood.
The second also charged at the urging of his officer, who stood safely on the pier. A little magic caused one foot to fly out from under him, and he tripped and fell forward, to meet a single slash of my sword. Now there were two bodies for them to climb over. I waited.
The third ignored his officer’s shouts to attack and came slower. I still waited, almost motionless. He raised his sword, ready to take the final step, but a blast of magic air struck his face. His eyes reflexively closed, a fatal mistake as my sword chose that moment to slash across his stomach. His moans carried to those still on the pier.
My fury had risen, and instead of waiting for the next to charge the ramp, I leaped over the three on the gangplank, then the side railing to land on the pier, and slew the two nearest before my feet fully landed on the pier. When they did, another soldier was in reach of my blade, his arms raised high to protect himself, and my blade slid across his middle, too.
As I’d been taught, I slashed, never stabbed. An opponent with a deep slice across his body seldom wished to continue fighting. My intention was to slash and move ahead until none wished to fight.
There were only four more of them and the officer. Flier leaped over the railing of the ramp and landed at my side, then moved quickly two steps away from me where our blades wouldn’t foul each other when swinging. I heard the feet of the ship’s officers pounding down the ramp. We charged. Two of them spun and ran after the other two, and the officer lay dying or dead.
Sailors from the ship joined us. They’d tried to help, but the battle was that short. The captain had the three bodies on the gangplank rolled off, and they splashed into the water of the bay. The captain said, “Take as many of my men with you as you need.”
“Thanks, but we’re better as a team,” I told him as I nodded in the direction of Flier. “Besides, you need to get your ship free of the pier and out to sea. There will be a whole army coming this way soon.”
He said, “There are other trade routes.”
“Meaning you won’t be returning here?” I asked.
“Vin has violated a basic law of the sea. Word of their transgression will spread. With this, no ships will make port here.” The captain turned, walked back up to the quarterdeck of his ship, and turned to salute to Flier and me. Then the purser began shouting orders to the deckhands. The ropes securing the ship to the pier were released, two sails raised, and the gangway retracted. As we watched, the ship pulled away, moving slowly to the center of the bay.
When we reached Kendra and the girls who were waiting in the alley, she said, “I knew we should have brought bows with us. I could have put an arrow in each of those that escaped.”
Flier said, “No matter, word would have spread. They’ll be after us, soon. We need to go this way.”
He trotted off at an angle, taking us up one street and down another. Finally, after ten or twelve blocks, he reached a two-story building that looked like all the others. He ushered us into the barn built on the first floor and placed a bar of iron across the entry door.
I expected to climb the stairs, but Flier took us to a stall filled with old hay and horse-droppings. He kicked some of it aside and found an iron ring. “Down.”
We found a set of steep stairs and were all huddled at the bottom when he closed the door above. A spark flared, and a candle with a thin wick ignited and spread a weak yellow light. He placed an amber glass globe over it, and we had enough light to see—barely.
We were in a tunnel. Flier took the lead, and we walked for hundreds of steps, him holding the candle high to cast light back on the rest of us. We paused every few steps to wipe away spider webs, but overall, the tunnel was clear, dry, and safe. We arrived at another set of stairs, and he handed me the candle.
“Wait here.”
He reached up and slid a latch to one side. Another hatch flew open, this time by someone other than Flier. Light flooded inside. It was so bright we couldn’t see.
As my eyes adjusted and found four men, all with bows. Their arrows pointed right at us.
“It’s me,” Flier growled. “Where’s my father?”
A man stepped into view. “He’s safely at the coast. We thought you dead.”
We were all helped into a tack-room of a work-shed, then up a flight of stairs to an ordinary home. The man who lived there worked for Flier’s family and maintaining the escape tunnel was part of their deal.
Flier introduced the older man as Chambers and his four eldest sons who had greeted us at the tunnel. Mary, his wife, fed us while Chambers and Flier talked, huddled in a corner. Chambers confirmed the family had believed Flier dead, and when he found we’d killed the soldiers at the ship, he became concerned for the safety of his wife and sons.
Flier explained we were trying to rescue a missing princess. Chambers reacted by tossing a look to the five of us, which included my sister and the girls. He held his tongue and listened as Flier told him of her abduction from the ship.
Chambers turned to his sons. “This woman is important. All four of you need to go out into the streets and talk to friends who may have seen or heard anything. You know better than to ask direct questions, but you should be able to say you heard a woman was taken from a ship. Do not mention she is a princess.”
They left hurriedly. Kendra said, “We don’t want them to get into trouble asking questions.”
Chambers laughed. “These days, everyone asks questions, but only of those they trust. The story of a woman being taken from a ship is probably on the lips of half of Vin right now.”
We watched the street below from behind the edge of curtains. Flier talked to Chambers, catching up on the demise of the city, as well as news of his family. I quit listening until I heard him ask, “How did you know we were in the tunnel?”
“Traps and alarms. But the hatch at this end is balanced carefully with nothing sitting on it but a few small bells. When you closed the door at the other end, the compressed air in the tunnel made this door rise and fall enough to ring the bells. There are a few others alarms, too.”
*I like him,* Anna said.
*Me too.*
*Can we talk? Just you and me?*
* We're doing that now, aren’t we?*
In my mind, I saw a fleeting red image of her scowl. *Alone.*
*Is it important?*
*Yes.*
I stood and said to the room at large. “I want to go back to that barn at the end of the tunnel and see if we were followed. Does anyone live upstairs there?”