The Black Robe (The Sword and the Spell), page 26
Vorgret was strong, stronger than any man she had ever fought, but there was no way she was going to allow this brute to rape her, even if it meant her life. She had to get his hand from around her throat so she stopped struggling as if she had given in. Vorgret released his grip and heaved himself up ready to drive into her. It was all the freedom Tarraquin needed. She twisted sideways and snapped her knee up into Vorgret’s groin with all the force she could muster.
The shriek that Vorgret gave was pure animal as he rolled off the table and onto the floor, clutching himself and crying with agony. Tarraquin rolled off the other side and ran for the door but she was too late. The two huge guards were already entering the room, alerted to the danger to their king by his shrieks. They grabbed her arms and swung her around to face Vorgret who was still on his knees, his breath coming in short, painful gasps.
“You’re not a queen, you’re just a bloody whore and don’t think I don’t know it! You were promised to me, but I wasn’t good enough for you, so you promised yourself to Borman and let him fuck you. Then when he wasn’t good enough you whored yourself to Newn and let him fuck you too. Well I’m going to have my share, the share you promised me.” He groaned and wiped the blood from his broken nose onto the back of his hand. “Guards, take her back and lock her in her room. When she’s gone hungry and thirsty for a seven day she’ll be happy to open her legs for me or anyone else I want to whore the bitch to.”
Vorgret waved the guards away in dismissal and they turned and marched the lady away, closing the door quietly behind them.
*
Plantagenet dropped the wards on the door of the tower and stepped inside, relieved to be safely back in his home again. He hated all this cloak and dagger stuff. It wasn’t something that a magician of his age and stature should be involved in; it made him feel odd as if he had web spinners scurrying over his body. Gratefully he closed the door, rebuilt the wards and turned around in time to see Animus hurrying towards him. It wasn’t doing him any good either; he was off his food, losing weight and his perpetual cheerfulness had turned into a timid anxiety. If Animus looked that bad the Goddess knows what he must have looked like.
When Animus had come back from the market without the supplies that he needed for his latest experiment, but full of rumours, he should have ignored them. What happened in the palace was none of their business. They were retired. But Animus was right; the Lady Tarraquin had been their friend since she had been a little girl, and if it truly was Tarraquin who was being held as Vorgret’s prisoner, then they had to do something about it.
That’s what he’d been doing for most of the day. He had to be the one who did it of course. Animus would have given the game away with his first question but he didn’t like being devious. It wasn’t in his nature and he was no good at it.
“Was it her?” Animus asked anxiously, wringing his hands and shaking slightly.
“I believe it must be. The Housecharge hasn’t seen her, but the steward described her to him and it sounds just like Tarraquin.
“Could he be mistaken? There are lots of girls with long, brown hair.”
“He could but I went to the stables on the pretence of wanting a horseshoe for one of your experiments and managed to get close to the horse she had ridden.” He placed the heavy iron shoe on the table next to him. “I sensed her presence so I think there can be no doubt, Vorgret’s prisoner is the Lady Tarraquin.”
Animus slumped down into one of the old armchairs as if all the air had suddenly been let out of him. “Oh dear, what are we going to do?”
“There’s only one thing we can do. We have to rescue her.”
“But Plantagenet, we don’t know anything about rescuing people and we dare not go into the palace. You heard what Sadrin said, if we’re caught there we’re going to be in serious trouble.”
“Yes, I know.” Plantagenet took off his damp cloak and dropped it over the back of the chair to dry before going to the pot over the fire and pouring himself some herb tea. He took one sip of the bitter, over-brewed liquid and wished he hadn’t bothered. Putting the mug on the shelf above the hearth he turned back to Animus and tried to be as positive as he could. “That’s why I have recruited some help from someone who does know about these sorts of things.”
Animus opened his eyes wide with surprise. He didn’t know that they knew anyone who was good at rescuing people. “Who?”
“Swordmaster Barrin.”
“But that’s impossible. I thought Barrin was taking Rosera back to her father in Shipside?”
“I thought so too but apparently not. I bumped into him in the Southside market where he was having an altercation with one of Vorgret’s guards. I was fortunate enough to be able to provide some assistance.”
Animus looked horrified. “What did you do?”
“I tripped the guard up. Nothing fancy, just a small spell to undo his laces whilst Barrin escaped. He found me later to thank me so I told him of our problem and he said as soon as it was safe he would come here and talk to us about it.” Plantagenet looked up as the air around him vibrated sending chills down his spine. “That must be him now. Someone has disturbed the wards at the rear door.”
Plantagenet hurried to the small hidden door and let Barrin in. It had only been a few days since he’d last stood in the room, but he looked quite different. He had changed his guard’s uniform for the rough clothes of a labourer, his hair was greasy and spiky and dark stubble covered his lower face. Animus wouldn’t have recognised him if he hadn’t grinned. He bowed briefly to the two magicians and then turned to the fire to warm himself.
“I’m sorry to have taken so long to get here, but I needed to take a detour after what happened in the Southside market.” He gave an amused laugh. “I’ve never seen anyone looked as surprised as that guard did when his breeches suddenly dropped around his ankles and he fell flat on his face with his arse in the air.”
Animus raised his eyebrows and looked questioningly at Plantagenet who only shrugged. “They were the wrong laces but the effect was the same.” He turned back to Barrin. “What did you do in the square to have half the king’s guard after you?”
The smile left Barrin’s face. “Quim had been to the market and had taxed the vendors of all their days’ takings, so my friends and I decided we would take it back. Unfortunately the guard you saw could run faster than I could, but the others got away safely. It’s what we do now; whenever we can we make the lives of the invaders a misery. It’s not much I know, but people are starting to join us and one day, when we are strong enough, we’ll kick Vorgret and his thugs out of Vinmore and send them packing back to Essenland where they belong.” Plantagenet looked disturbed but didn’t say anything. “Now tell me about this lady.”
So they did, including how long they had known Tarraquin and how she had once saved Jonderill’s life. When they had finished, Barrin just stood and rubbed his forehead, frowning as he thought through the possibilities. In the end he just shook his head. “It’s not possible. The palace is teeming with guards and the place where she is likely to be held is guarded by Vorgret’s own men. Believe me you don’t want to go messing with them. I’m sorry, my friends, there is nothing which can be done for the lady. The only way you could get to her and get away again in one piece would be if everyone was asleep but even at night the corridors are guarded.”
Animus looked at Plantagenet and acknowledged his slight nod with a rapid blink. “Um, if we brought the lady out of the palace would you be able to help us leave Alewinder for somewhere safer?”
Barrin thought about it for a moment. “We still have the wagon which we used to move the Queen so it should be possible to get you out of the city but all hellden would break loose once she was missed. You would have to hide somewhere nearby where you couldn’t be found and wait for the ruckus to die down before moving as far away from Alewinder as you could get. I don’t think Vorgret will give up easily and then there’s that magician of his. He will be difficult to throw off the trail.”
Plantagenet nodded in understanding. “You’re right of course. Sadrin is powerful and if he senses our magic the first place he will look is here; and this time I don’t think he will miss the top most room where we hid Rosera.” He looked searchingly at Animus. “If we do this it will mean that we’ll have to leave our tower and probably never return.”
Animus nodded stoically. “We’ve been here since we retired living off Vinmore’s kindness, so perhaps it’s time we repaid that debt, although I wish I could have finished some of my experiments first.”
Plantagenet nodded but hid his smile. “We have a place in the forest which Sadrin won’t be able to find where some friends of ours are staying. Would you be able to get us there tonight if we could get Tarraquin out of the palace?”
Barrin looked from one magician to the other seeing the sadness on their faces. “Are you sure you want to do this? It will be dangerous and there can be no certainty that Sadrin will not be able to find you.” Plantagenet looked at Animus and they both nodded. “In that case I will meet you at the armsman’s gate at second bell past midnight and I wish you luck, my friends.”
*
It was difficult to decide what to take and what to leave behind so they piled everything they wanted to take onto their beds and then argued the case with each other over the usefulness of what the other had chosen, discarding the rejected items into a heap on the floor. Finally, just before they came to blows, they settled upon Plantagenet’s journal and Animus’s record of his experiments, a small bag of gold coins and a larger bag of food. They changed their slippers for their winter boots and chose their heavy winter cloaks even though the cool season was still some time away.
The biggest problem was the spell. The last time Animus had used it he had put the entire city to sleep, himself and Plantagenet included, and they would have still been asleep if Jonderill hadn’t rescued them. This time they needed something much more subtle but Animus wasn’t very good at producing delicate spells. Plantagenet on the other hand had never tried the spell before and was uncertain how much power he would have to use in order for it to be effective and not catastrophic. In the end they decided that Animus should cast the spell and Plantagenet would be ready to dampen the spell down if it got out of hand.
If they hadn’t been so worried about all the things which could go wrong with their plan they would have been sad at leaving their home, but as it was they stepped out into the darkness, closed the door behind them and didn’t look back. They hurried along the pathway that ran around the inside of the palace wall and almost made it to the kitchen entrance before they were stopped by two guards coming the other way. If they had been the queen’s royal guards or the palace guards, they would have known something was amiss as the two old magicians never ventured out at night. However, these two were strangers and the mention of Sadrin’s name was enough to make the guards step back and let them carry on with their nocturnal journey.
Having never been out after dark for longer than either could remember they weren’t sure who would be in the kitchen at that time of night. When they slipped through the door and into the kitchen’s warmth there were only two people still about. The hearth boy, who tended the fires at night and had the ovens hot for the first baking of the morning, was asleep under the table. The other person was the Housecharge. He sat in the chair close to the hearth looking miserable but looked up in surprise when the two magicians entered. They had never been friends and the Housecharge had always resented them from the day they had taken Jonderill from his kitchens to be their apprentice but at least they weren’t the enemy. He stood and tried to glower at them for invading his domain but his heart wasn’t in it so he sat back down and waited for the magicians to hurry over.
“It’s not often we see you in the palace at night,” began the Housecharge.
“No, we usually have no reason to be here but tonight we have come to see someone.”
The Housecharge raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You have, have you? Now who might that be?”
Animus stepped from behind Plantagenet to stand belligerently in front of the Housecharge. Their builds were similar except that the Housecharge towered over the small magician. “We’ve come to see the Lady Tarraquin.”
The Housecharge looked even more surprised and did his best not to laugh at the absurdity of the idea. Everyone knew that the two doddering magicians were ancient and inept and hadn’t left the tower and the palace precincts for an age. “And how do you intend to do that? She’s kept under lock and key and her room is guarded.”
Plantagenet didn’t like to be questioned. He pulled himself up to his full height and looked down his long nose at the man who seemed to be going out of his way to obstruct them. “How we are going to achieve that is magicians’ business and nothing to do with you. Now you can be helpful and tell us where the lady is being held or you can sit back in your chair and leave us in peace.”
The Housecharge squared his shoulders and put on his sternness face which usually had the palace staff scurrying out of his way. Animus gave a small squeak of alarm and stepped back. Even Plantagenet looked worried until the Housecharge gave a deep sigh and seemed to deflate a little.
“I don’t know why I am doing this. The palace is full of uncouth soldiers dragging dirt into my nice clean rooms and taking anything which isn’t nailed down, and their king is worse, groping the maids and treating the fine food we prepare as if it is swill for the grunters. It’s those I should be angry at, not you. The lady you seek is on the second floor of the royal apartments, third door down. You can’t miss it; there are always two of Vorgret’s barbarians standing outside. We’ve tried to get in to give the lady food and drink but no one is allowed passed, not even to empty the night pail. There are guards at the bottom of the stairs and at every corridor junction as well. It’s almost impossible to get to the second floor corridor without being seen and stopped.”
Plantagenet raised his eyebrows. “Almost impossible?”
The Housecharge smiled and took out a small key from the top pocket of his embroidered jerkin. “There are the servants’ stairs which open out onto the corridor as you know but half way up the stairs there’s another door, and behind that there are stairs that lead into the King’s dressing room.” He held up the key. “King Steppen wasn’t always as faithful as people supposed.” Plantagenet took the key. “You needn’t worry about waking Vorgret up as you go through his apartments. After three flagons of Vinmore’s best red he sleeps like a mountain growler in winter and snores like a grunter. If you can get passed the last two guards you can use that master key to get into the lady’s room.”
Plantagenet nodded. “Thank you, Housecharge, your help has made our task so much easier. I will give you your key back when we return with the Lady Tarraquin.”
The two magicians hurried away in the direction of the servants’ stairs. They had used the stone stairs hundreds of times before but like everyone else who came that way they had assumed that the inconspicuous door half way up was just a broom cupboard. Plantagenet unlocked the door and stepped inside the narrow space being careful not to knock over the half dozen brooms which were stacked inside. On the wall opposite the door, there was a small slot just big enough for three fingers to fit and when he pulled the wall slid back to reveal another flight of stairs thick with dust. He slipped through and Animus followed him into the cupboard making a loud clatter as he knocked the brooms over. Animus smiled an apology.
When they reached the top of the stairs there was another door and Plantagenet had to use the key again to open it so they could step out into a wardrobe full of clothes. They were clearly not Vorgret’s, as the magicians had to force their way through acres of fabric which crackled and crunched with every movement. By the time they had escaped the confines of the wardrobe they both looked dishevelled and Animus had gained a long train of bright yellow silk wrapped around his head and throat. Neither of them had been into the King’s private rooms before, but it was obvious where the sleeping room was by the snoring and grunting, so they went in the opposite direction until they found the door which led out onto the second floor corridor.
This was going to be the tricky bit. If the guards called the alarm before the spell hit them or if the spell failed to work, they were going to be in real trouble. Plantagenet opened the door just wide enough so he could peer down the corridor to where the two guards stood talking to each other. He could see why the Housecharge had referred to them as barbarians. When he leaned back in, Animus was ready, holding his wand tightly as if it was about to escape him and muttering under his breath. Plantagenet took out his own wand, ready to use it if the spell went wrong, and nodded at his friend.
Animus took a deep breath and began in a quiet voice.
“Come dark of night and silence deep
to take you both in its fold
there tonight in peaceful sleep
woken only by dawns brightest gold”
As he said the last words he stepped through the door and flicked his wand in the direction of the two guards. The sudden appearance of the rotund magician startled the two huge men and they both turned to stare at him before the taller of the two drew his sword and started to march quickly down the corridor towards him with the other guard only a few steps behind.
“Damn!” muttered Animus. “Not strong enough.”
Plantagenet stepped into the corridor, saw the guards marching towards them with their swords drawn and gave a quick flick of his wand over Animus’s shoulder. The first guard slowed, gave a huge yawn and then propped himself up against the wall letting his sword drop onto the carpeted floor. The second guard looked confused and was about to shout for help when his cry turned into a yawn and he joined the first guard against the wall with his eyes closed. Within moments they were both snoring gently. Plantagenet gave a sigh of relief and Animus put his wand away, shaking so much that it took two attempts to get it safely tucked into his belt.
