By the time he’d picked his way back to the outpost, it was dark. Everyone would be inside, asleep. Good. He and Eclipse could get a few hours of sleep in the barn and slip away in the morning unnoticed. Where to, he didn’t know.
Dully he remembered that the whole reason they’d come was to free a band of Elikwai from the nearby village. There. That was it, then. He would free them by himself. And if in doing so, he was captured, so be it. Maybe it would give him the opportunity to assassinate Kaydor. Or, if he was killed…so be it.
He dismounted outside the barn and led Eclipse in.
It was already occupied.
Jaylee was grooming her celith, though the mare looked perfectly clean. She looked up as he entered. Her usual smile and energy, but also a softness in her countenance that somehow made him relax. “I was hoping you’d come back.”
“Thought I wouldn’t?” He took Eclipse into the stall next to hers and began removing his tack.
She gave him a meaningful look, “Are you planning to stay?”
Finished with Eclipse, he closed the stall and sank onto a hay bale. “I don’t know.”
She sat down next to him. He didn’t have it in him to care that she was closer than he usually would like. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
With a nod, she didn’t say anything else. They just sat. He felt empty, unable to think, unable to feel anything distinguishable. Just weary. His body begging for sleep, his mind dimly telling him it was useless, what was the point? It was only a temporary escape. After awhile Jaylee lay down, and he did the same, his tired body overruling his mind’s resistance. What was the point of resisting? Asleep, awake, it didn’t matter. Nothing did. With any luck, he wouldn’t wake up.
It was one of the last thoughts he had before sinking quickly into sleep.
He woke with a start. There was a blanket over him that hadn’t been there when he’d fallen asleep, and another on Jaylee, sleeping beside him. Light came from the window overhead.
He inwardly swore at himself as he got up. Not only had he slept later than he’d meant to, he’d let himself fall asleep on a hay bale with Jay. It was entirely inappropriate. And, it meant he couldn’t get Eclipse out of the barn without waking her—hooves on a wooden floor made too much noise. She would never let him go to the town to free the Elikwai by himself.
She looked peaceful, breathing steadily, a piece of straw poking out of her hair. Impulsively, he pulled the blanket up over her shoulders gingerly. She shifted a little but didn’t wake.
After checking Eclipse’s legs and confirming that there was no strain, Yhkon resigned himself to going to the town on foot. Depending on how it went, he could come back for Eclipse and then leave for good.
Outside, it was cold and overcast. The yard of the outpost was completely quiet, completely still. Empty…except for a lone figure hunched over, sitting on the porch. Yhkon didn’t even take the time to see who it was, he just ran. He already knew it was Grrake. He ran as quickly and quietly as possible, hoping for his departure to go unnoticed. If Grrake saw him leave, it wouldn’t take him long to figure out where Yhkon was going and why. His eyes stung. He told himself it was because of the wind.
Once out of earshot he slowed to a jog that he could maintain for the rest of the trip. It was almost four miles to the village. Distance running had never agreed with him. But he’d been forced to do it and build up stamina for years…by none other than Grrake. Almost everything he knew, every skill he possessed, all his training, it had been under Grrake’s tutelage.
He balled his fists and ran harder.
Half an hour later, he was there. Most of the adult villagers were at their jobs. Most of the children, at school. The village was tranquil. Good. He’d rather not have spectators.
It was large for a village, no doubt owned by an exceptionally wealthy lord. The only place he was familiar with was the tavern he’d gone to the previous day, but it wasn’t hard to pick out the building that served as the headquarters for the Kaydorians, and as a prison. That was where the Elikwai would be. The one that had escaped to find help had said there were about thirty Kaydorian soldiers currently stationed in the village.
If those thirty were mostly drafted infantry, with nothing but a sword and a month’s training, the task would be fairly easy. If those thirty had a few brains among them, or a captain with experience, it could be a suicide mission.
He was confident that he could get the Elikwai the chance they needed to escape, and that was good enough for him. What happened after that was of little concern. What was a concern was the possibility that this day would play out much as a similar night had, four years ago. That night he’d been up against far greater odds. The only reason he’d survived was because Grrake and a team of volunteers had rescued him.
The last thing he wanted was for the same scenario today. He would either get the job done and not require any rescuing, or he would make sure they killed or captured him quickly, before the Wardens could stop them. It was time to go.
~♦~
Jaylee woke gradually, stretching a little and curling deeper into the bed. Until something poked her nose. She opened her eyes and crossed them to see a piece of golden straw. Hay bale. Yhkon. Blanket? She sat up, contemplating the blanket that covered her. It hadn’t been there when she fell asleep. Yhkon, who had been there, no longer was, another blanket crumpled in his place. He certainly would not have woken up, gotten them blankets, and returned to the hay bale. If he’d woken up he would have been mortified and left.
Grrake.
Yawning and rubbing bleary eyes, she stood. Eclipse was still in his stall. Where had Yhkon gone? She left the barn, rubbing her arms against the chill. It was morning, probably seven o’clock. She surveyed the yard, and saw Grrake sitting on the porch, head in his hands. Sympathy twinged in her stomach as she approached.
When he looked up, he was more haggard and bedraggled than she’d ever seen him. Usually, he looked less than his fifty years. Today, he looked far more. Anxiety lit his previously dull eyes. “Where’s Yhkon?”
“I don’t know.” She sat down next to him. “He was gone when I woke up.”
At first, there was no reaction, as if he hadn’t even grasped what she’d said. Then he jumped to his feet, expression taut with fear. “He went to the village. To free those Elikwai…by himself…” He started pacing, grabbing handfuls of his hair and gripping it with white knuckles. “Not again…”
Her waking mind caught up. Four years ago, after Tessa died, he’d snuck out of Calcaria and tried to infiltrate Aydimor by himself, she assumed to assassinate Kaydor. Now he was going to take on thirty knights by himself. Under the right circumstances, she knew he could win…but who was to say if the circumstances would be right?
Grrake was already running toward the barn. “Wait!” She caught up, making him stop. “Wait. He’ll be furious if you show up to help him. Really he’ll be furious if any of us do, but less so if it’s me. I’ll go.”
He must have known that she was right. Still, he looked frantic. “But—”
She put her hand on his arm. “Trust me. If we’re not back in two hours, send a couple of the men.”
Swallowing, Grrake finally nodded. Giving him a reassuring smile, she continued to the barn to get her celith. Without knowing when Yhkon had left, she had no idea if she could even get there in time to help him.