Chapter 43
Ironically, the thing that most worried and confused Esben at that moment was the fact that he was still alive. Of course he hoped to remain that way as long as possible, which would hopefully be a very long time, but with growing concern he tried to sort out the reasons the Wanderers of the Woes wanted him alive. It wasn’t all that hard to imagine.
Other than that he was mostly extremely annoyed because he had somehow managed to almost get himself killed or kidnapped at least three times in the last three months. Four times, if you counted right then.
And the only thing he could think to do about his situation was to buy some time, Which wasn’t extremely difficult, since he had already slipped on the wet ground at least three times. It was an incredibly annoying ordeal with his hands tied behind his back. Each time it had ended with someone pulling him back to his feet, which hurt, and him kicking them in the shins or at least bumping into them with his shoulder. He could get up by himself. Which would take longer, but that was also what he wanted.
Besides that, they seemed slightly reluctant to hurt him at the moment, which was a temporary relief, but it brought the fear and concern back to his mind again.
The fourth time though, someone hit him back hard enough to make him dizzy again, and snapped at him to stop falling. It was an extreme temptation to try to kick the person again but he was outnumbered eleven to one, and even though he had wounded a few of those eleven that were left they weren’t exactly favorable odds.
“Then how about you untie me so I can at least catch myself?’ Esben retorted. His request was ignored.
He was walking slower than he usually did, and he kept going slow despite getting pushed and told to hurry up several times. He wasn’t buying much time at all, but he hoped it was enough for Artham to realize he was gone.
Because unless something happened or someone showed up soon, things were looking really bad.
He caught Aro watching him several times, but Esben tried not to look at him because seeing that traitor made him angry, and he wanted to keep a clear head so he could think. He lost track of time. It seemed only minutes ago he had been on his way to Oak Hill, and then just a few minutes of walking seemed to stretch for hours.
Maker help me, he prayed through the storm of thoughts and fears inside him.
He wondered how long it had been since he had left the Keep. Artham had been the only person who knew he had left.
Let me fix this my way. I got into this mess pretending to be a normal person. I’m going to get out of it like one. Just for once, forget you’re my Throne Warden, okay?
The last thing he had said to Artham was sharp and clear in his mind among all the chaos and confusion. And Artham had no idea what was happening to him right now.
A chill of fear ran through him as the thought came to Esben that maybe Artham wouldn’t come at all.
*
Artham jumped over the gate that encircled the Keep and immediately started down the path through the forest, almost at a run. He was able to make out the outline of Esben’s footprints in the snowmelt mud, and when he went up a slight hill and the ground was still hard and frozen, he saw the places Esben had scuffed angrily at the dead leaves.
The lights of the Keep soon disappeared behind him, leaving only dim, cold moonlight.
I should have brought a lantern… he thought to himself, but by now nothing could have made him turn back. Connolin had felt the seriousness of Artham’s mood and he was already sniffing at the ground when Artham told him in dogspeak to track Esben.
For what seemed an agonizingly long time, they continued in silence on the path that led to Chimney Hill.
This should have calmed him some, since there was absolutely no sign of trouble, and he tried to calm himself down, to tell himself that he was being paranoid, but something inside him refused to listen to any form of ‘reason’ until he could see with his own eyes that his brother was safe.
He didn’t realize until Connolin barked at him that he had gone on without his dog.
Connolin whined at him urgently, and Artham stepped toward him.
“What’s wrong, boy?” He asked in a whisper as he reached the place Connolin was at. His heart leapt to his throat when he looked around. Tree branches were broken and the mat of leaves on the ground had been scattered and there were places where there were long rugged furrows in the ground, of someone falling down hard or trying to break away in a run or staggering backwards.
Artham’s heart pounded as he tried to understand the frantic movements that had marked the ground.
There had definitely been more than just one person here. Connolin whined at him again and stood off the trail, a little into the forest. Artham turned to follow him, fear rushing through him, but as he turned something caught his eye.
A smear of something dark and shiny and wet, almost black in the moonlight. The blood on the leaves caused panic to explode in Artham’s chest and he turned, running into the woods after Connolin, his sword drawn. The thought that pushed through his fear as he ran blindly through the woods was a desperate begging to the Maker that he would find his brother alive.
*
Esben had been able to orient himself enough to tell they weren’t headed towards the Watercraw, which was a small relief.
The darkness also did at least something to his advantage, because no one saw him slowly working at the coarse ropes around his wrists, twisting and stretching to try to reach the tight knot.
He didn’t know what he planned to do if he managed to get his hands free, but at least it was something he could do.
If he had turned around and looked back, he would’ve seen that Aro had his eyes on the ground,only glancing up to look at Esben. He would have even that though his face was still expressionless and cold, he slowly fell behind one person and then another. He would have seen it when Aro stopped completely, then turned and ran.
Suddenly the space behind Esben erupted into sound. A rough scrambling followed by a crashing slam and a stifled cry of fear, followed by several sounds of rough impact and an angry shout.
He jerked around to look, which wasn’t that hard since the two guarding him had turned to look too, and he saw Aro pinned against a tree, and he had turned just in time to see a furious Aro jerk his knee up into the stomach of the man who had slammed him into the tree. The man stepped back, gasping for air, but before Aro could regain his footing and run again, Ryith swept past Esben and grabbed a fistful of Aro’s shirt, shoving him back up against the tree.
Aro struggled for a brief second but then he froze, his eyes, wide with fear, locked on Ryith’s face. Ryith began to speak, and it took a second for Esben to realize that he was talking in a different language. And despite the anger in his eyes and the way he kept Aro pressed roughly against the tree, his voice was icy and controlled. Dangerous.
Aro’s terrified gaze darted frantically between Ryith and the woods behind him, and he breathed in gasps, his chest heaving.
Ryith stepped close to him, hissing one last thing, then turned and strode back to the front of the small group, speaking an order that sent the people back in motion, the two beside Esben jerking him back around and pushing him forward.
Behind Esben, someone else did the same to Aro.
Esben wasn’t exactly sure what he had just seen, or what it meant, or what had been said.
But Aro had betrayed them, fought Esben and disarmed him, which probably counted as trying to kill him since that seemed to be the leader’s plan. And now for some reason he seemed to be just as much a prisoner as Esben was.
*
Artham practically flew through the forest, following Connolin. At times he was able to go more surely, because in places there was a trail of broken twigs and disturbed ground. He tried to go as fast as he could while still remaining silent and watching for signs of danger. Every breath he took as he ran was a silent plea to the maker.
Please keep my brother safe. Please let him be alive. Please let me find him.
He didn’t know how much time had passed as he ran, but gradually he realized that he was on the overgrown remains of an old trail. He slowed down slightly, trying to figure out where he was. He felt the space around him widen and saw that he was in a small, moonlit clearing, and on the edge of it was a tiny cabin, maybe an abandoned Durgan outpost, and there was light inside and faint noises coming from it.
He adjusted his grip on his sword and slowly, silently went forward. By the time he had reached the cabin his heart was pounding again.
After a minute he found a wide crack between the logs of the wall. He stepped closer, putting his hand to the wall and looking in. It was dim inside, except for the flickering lamp set on the floor. The room was full of people, all dressed in black, all with weapons either in their hands or slung across their backs or to their belts. (At least those he could see. This was definitely not the greatest vantage point.)
It also looked like quite a few of them were hurt, one or two quite badly. He changed position and saw Esben sitting on the ground in the corner, and it looked like his hands were tied behind his back.
A wave of relief washed over Artham when he saw Esben. From what he could see he had some bad bruises and a few cuts, but thank the Maker it didn’t look much worse than that.
“We’ve waited long enough,” someone muttered to someone else Artham couldn’t see. “No one is supposed to know about this place, and no one is supposed to know he left,” the someone continued, noddin at Esben.
“If we can trust the information, of course.” The person Artham couldn’t see responded.
“And if we wait too long someone will find us, or we’ll run out of time. You said we can’t move by daylight.”
Esben watched the two talking, and it was obvious to his brother that he was trying not to look worried.
The person Artham couldn’t see thought for a moment before speaking.
“All right then. If we’re going to leave now, we need to go quickly.”
Artham’s heart pounded harder. He was running out of time to figure out what to do.
Connolin had been standing beside Artham, sniffing at the door. Now Artham crouched over, putting his face near Connolin’s, quickly whispering something in dogspeak.
Before Artham had even stood up, Connolin was already bounding back through the woods.
Artham stood back up and put his face to the crack again. Someone had stepped over to Esben and was standing over him.
“Get up, we’re leaving,” he said, nudging Esben with the toe of his boot.
“Where are you going to take me?” Esben demanded. “You should know that if you have your own safety in mind this is a really, really terrible idea. Some of your warriors are already dead and when my brother finds out what you did he’ll probably have a literal army after you and-”
“You aren’t in a position to threaten anyone, king,” the man replied, kicking him in the side to silence him, then grabbing one of his arms and yanking him to his feet.
Artham’s blood had already been boiling as he listened to this, but Esben’s small, sharp hiss of pain caused fury to explode inside him.
He was far from a ‘literal army,’ but he would have to do. And besides, any thought of strategy had disappeared and now the only thing that Artham could think was that he had to get to his brother. Now.
He moved and slammed his shoulder into the door. It swung open, crashing hard against the head of the warrior who had been standing right behind it.
Artham swung his sword around in a bright flash of steel and the guard on the other side of the door was already on the ground by the time every other Warrior in the room turned and saw him.
Artham against eleven men! Go Artham!!! Or maybe Esben managed to free his hands? If that's the case, Artham and Esben against eleven men! Go Wingfeather boys!!!
Did Esben kill any of the men while they captured him? I remember him striking out with his dagger at whatever was there - did he hit somebody?
And who is Connolin going to get? Artham's friends or the Durgans? Or everybody?
Ooh. And this just after they finally renew the alliance with the Green Hollows. And alliance that almost wasn't renewed because Nibbick tried to convince everyone that Anniera having such a young king - and that king having several attempts made on his life - made the country look weak. And then the king is actually captured because he made dumb choices and lied about who he was to a pretty girl. That... actually does make him look kind of weak. 😬 Good thing the alliance was already renewed!
Ryith spoke to Aro in another language - what did he say? But then when Artham overheard Ryith and his men talking, they were speaking a language Artham could understand instead of their own. Why? And why did they stop at that cabin instead of hurrying to wherever they were intending to go??? What were they waiting for???
This chapter was absolutely amazing! Thank you for giving it to us!!! 😍😍😍 I eagerly await the next!!!