Gags left her as the guard summoned a carriage to take them to the inn. Gags thanked the guard and strolled into the inn. All his friends sat in the common room, sipping a pink drink.

  “No alcohol served until lunchtime,” Eno said. “They said you wouldn’t be returning. Their champion had never lost.”

  “Does the name Darlia Westmount ring a bell?” Gags said to Lucian.

  “Atto? She was a scout with us, right?”

  “She was the High Chamberlain’s champion. A loss in a boring bout was enough to get her replaced. She’ll be joining us in getting exiled into Castlewhit,” Gags said.

  “It’s happening, then?” Otto asked.

  Gags nodded. “Dimple has its quirks, and a complaint by Count Browning was all it took. The elite nobles in the fief are few, and fewer showed up to see us fight in the mud.”

  “You don’t look muddy except for your boots,” Ann said.

  “It was part of the boring match. Darlia knows more about Castlewhit than we do. She will be here tomorrow by dawn, and we will go to our doom tomorrow as a party of six,” Gags said.

  “Join us in this delicious pink punch,” Lucian said sarcastically.

  Ann bumped Lucian in the ribs. “I like it.”

  “I’d trade you if you had any alcohol in your drink,” Lucian said, “but since you don’t, I will endeavor to raise my miserableness now that Gags has returned to us.”

  “Later, you can do a little healing,” Gags said.

  “Oh,” Lucian said breezily. “I thought you had spilled an excessive amount of the pink punch on you, but I realized you have just arrived.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ~

  D arlia arrived at dawn, and the six soon-to-be exiles sat in the common room eating breakfast. She had taken her armor, but it was packed on her horse, leaving her wearing riding clothes.

  “You look every part the warrior,” Ann said.

  “If looks could only kill,” Darlia said. “I was hired as a bodyguard for a woman who had once lived in Dimple. We had already left Sheerport when I learned she was a smuggler. When we reached Dimple, I learned all about the infamous list at the border posts. Her name had been on it for years, and she ended up being my first victim. From then on, it was kill or be killed. Gags saved me from eventually facing someone who would win.”

  “How much do you know about Castlewhit or Amering?” Otto asked.

  “Nothing good, I assure you,” Darlia said. “The Castlewhit rulers are only concerned about how much they can put into Perian bank accounts. They are paranoid about visitors telling their people that things are different on the outside.”

  “So, they restrict entry. You can’t get in without a pass,” Ann said.

  “We have one for two people,” Gags said. “Ann and a servant. The queen of Goldworthy issued it.”

  “They are allies,” Darlia said. “All the allies in this region shake with one hand while the other is holding a sword, but the pass from Goldworthy, if genuine, should get you anywhere in Castlewhit.”

  “And Amering?” Gags asked.

  “More of the same. The local lord is as tyrannical as the rest and doesn’t allow visitors to spend more than two nights in a row in his domain,” Darlia said.

  “Do you have a suggestion on how we can penetrate Castlewhit?” Otto asked.

  “Why are you so focused on Castlewhit?” Darlia said.

  “Miria is there,” Gags said.

  “Miria?” Darlia asked. Gags didn’t fight with her until after Pilan.

  “The soldier that was turned into a unicorn?” Lucian said. “You remember her?”

  “That is Miria? Are you on a mission to save a unicorn? I thought it was a tale.”

  Lucian snorted a laugh. “Miria and Gags were close friends before she was transformed.”

  “Oh,” Darlia said.

  “We have the means to transform her back,” Gags said.

  “About those ingredients,” Lucian said. “There are a few I wasn’t able to find.”

  “How many is a few?” Gags asked.

  “One in particular. It’s the flower called Sea Tears,” Lucian said. “No one I talked to knew what it was.”

  Gags knew about the flower in the recipe, but there wasn’t a description of it, and now, being so close to getting Miria, he might have to wait to transform her after they traveled to Peria. He didn’t like the situation, but freeing Miria was the most important task right now.

  “I’d feel better if Darlia escorted Ann into Castlewhit,” Lucian said.

  “You’d desert me?” Ann asked.

  “I wouldn’t leave you to go with anyone. Darlia was a good fighter in Atto,” Lucian said. “If I can’t use my magic, I can’t protect you like she can. We’d have to separate at night, and then you are defenseless.”

  “Do you really want to do that?” Gags asked.

  “No, of course not, but we have to be practical. If the rest of us are arrested and have to go to prison, Darlia would be more exposed than we’d be.”

  “Lucian has a point,” Otto said. “Ann?”

  “I am torn. I’d much rather have Lucian at my side, but a female servant would simplify things.” Ann took Lucian’s hand. “Are we doing the right thing by letting Darlia take your spot?”

  “It wasn’t my spot in the first place,” Lucian said.

  Gags sighed. The rescue wasn’t working out like he had hoped. “I’ll give you the communication dagger,” Gags said. It hurt him to give it up, but Ann and Darlia had a better chance to see Miria than he did.

  Gags still ate as much as he could before they loaded everything and headed to the border. They had until sunset to leave Dimple, and Gags thought it highly likely for the Dimplians to attack them along the way if nothing else than delay their arrival at the border.

  They trotted through Greystone and exited the eastern gate, heading on the main road to Castlewhit.

  “What would Pophius do?” Gags thought. They didn’t have a plan other than to have Ann proceed to Amering and verify that Miria was in the principal town of that fief. Gags had to admit that their entire trip East had been one improvisation after another. Otto’s experience in the different countries was better than nothing, but even circumventing all the towns and villages in Whistlane didn’t save them from an assassination attempt.

  An hour later, they stopped to rest the horses at a turnoff. They had made good time.

  Otto spoke up. “We can expect an attack before we reach the border, so be prepared.”

  “Why don’t the ladies proceed on their way, and then we can take a circuitous route to the border,” Eno said.

  “I did purchase a map in case we decided to deviate from the main road. There are no hills to speak of, and it’s mostly farmland and pasture,” Otto said. “If we head north, we will intersect with a smaller road that meanders it’s way to Castlewhit.”

  “Then let’s do that,” Darlia said. “Pursuers won’t be looking for two female riders.”

  “But they will be looking for us,” Lucian said. “I agree. Gags?”

  “I’d be more inclined to follow a different path, only if it is still a clear road to Castlewhit,” Gags said.

  He pulled the communication dagger from his saddlebag and offered it to Darlia. “Take this and talk to Miria.”

  The ex-soldier shook her head. “You keep it. If you hide it well, you can use it as a reminder of your goal,” Darlia said. “I always had a token of home when I was in Atto. It worked for me, and it can work for you.”

  “We will find a way to communicate,” Ann said. “She can hear, can’t she?”

  Eno nodded his head. “She can hear.”

  Lucian hugged Ann. “Stay safe. We will get to Amering.”

  They moved bags between the packhorses. The valuables would go with Ann, and most of the food with Gags’s group. Gags kept his dagger, but the potion ingredients went with Ann. As they left the main road, Lucian seemed subdued, and Ann and Darlia were soon out of sight. They continued for less than half an hour and encountered a crossroads. They took the eastern lane and sped up as they entered the road.

  An hour later, they entered a dense wood.

  “Ambush country,” Gags said. “Don’t hesitate to use magic. If we don’t get out in time, we may end up back at the challenge field in Greystone, fighting each other to the death.”

  Everyone checked their weapons except Eno, who only had to check the dirt under his fingernails. A few minutes later, an arrow plunged into Otto’s thigh.

  “Split up!” Lucian yelled.

  Gags left the packhorse in the middle of the lane while he turned right and barreled into the woods. Eno followed him.

  “Lucian said split up,” Gags said.

  “I don’t know how to behave in a fight like this,” Eno said. “I’ll watch your back or something.”

  Gags picked his way through the wood and spotted two assassins watching. Gags took a bolt and let it fly. It hit one of the men, who looked around until he spotted Gags and Eno.

  “That’s a surprise,” Eno said. “I didn’t see you toss those things so far when we fought in Baxter.” He pointed his finger, and a thin, twirling spear of fire hit the second man. Eno’s target burst into flame.

  “Now we have to put out that fire,” Gags said. “It’s a distraction in a fight. Lightning is better.”

  “I can’t throw a lightning bolt as far. We all have our specialties,” Eno said.

  They continued west, back along their path, eliminating assassins until they had gone far enough. They kept within the woods, but Lucian popped out into the lane.

  “I think we got everyone. I need to stop to patch up Otto,” Lucian said.

  Gags returned to the smoking section of the forest and spelled water to make sure the fire was thoroughly extinguished. He returned, and Otto was changing his pants in the lane. He worked quickly as three carts were converging on them.

  They mounted and continued on their way. None remarked that they had just taken care of a twelve-man squad of assassins. Counter to Gags’s general practice, the bodies were left to rot in the forest.

  Eno broke into a rollicking song in a language no one knew. “Ancient Attoan,” Eno said, beaming. “It’s a warrior song, and our fight has given me a new perspective on life.”

  “Are you going to join an army?” Lucian asked, almost teasing the wizard.

  “Perhaps. The exercise was invigorating.”

  Gags laughed. “Other than attempting to burn a forest to the ground.”

  “Such things happen in battle,” Eno said.

  “You’ve never fought with Captain Pophius,” Lucian said. “Other than a dwelling or two, we always tried to put things back the way they were after we fought.”

  “Perhaps more than a dwelling or two,” Gags said. “Maybe we can pick up the pace if Otto is up to it.”

  “He is,” Lucian said.

  They stopped for a meal an hour later and consulted the map.

  “We have two hours to freedom,” Otto said.

  “Freedom might not be the best term,” Lucian said.

  “But Otto has a point. Is there anything we can plan?” Gags asked.

  “Give up without a fight?” Otto asked.

  “If we are going to a work camp or something, the less resistance we show perhaps will result in some trust. We’ll have to break any confidence they have with us at some point, but we can come up with a plan based on a few facts rather than wild guesses,” Gags said.

  “Gags is right,” Lucian said.

  Eno scowled. “I can cook them all or do something more benign like putting them to sleep.”

  “And then more guards will be after us. In places like Castlewhit, I hear there are lots and lots of guards,” Otto said.

  “Then we will be as gentle as lambs,” Lucian said. “Majority rules.”

  “Not among wizards,” Eno said, “but I’m not stupid.”

  ~

  The lane was widened, and soon they approached a border crossing. Everything was painted white with diagonal red stripes, even the poles.

  A guard emerged from a guard post. Gags could see three men stationed around them, pointing crossbows.

  “State your business,” the guard said.

  Gags pulled out the expulsion document from Castlewhit and gave it to the guard.

  “You are lucky, men. Cross the border first. The Dimple guards will be here in moments to drag you back to Greystone.”

  The border pole was raised, and they rode a few paces into Castlewhit before it lowered.

  “Now, let’s see who we’ve got here,” the guard said. “Otto Long?”

  Otto nodded.

  “Eno Banban. You don’t look like you belong with this group.”

  Eno puffed up his chest. “I don’t, but I’m stuck with them for a while.”

  “Of your own accord?”

  Eno sighed. “Yes.”

  “Vingus Gags?”

  “You’re a big one. They’ll be happy to see Otto and you.”

  “Where are we going?” Gags asked.

  “You’ll have to wait a moment,” the guard said.

  “Lucian Rapper? It’s got to be you since you are the last.”

  “I suppose you know that you are in Castlewhit illegally,” the guard said.

  “Yes,” Gags said. “There is someone I have to visit.”

  “You’ll have to exercise a great deal of patience or do something very, very good. From this post, we send our unwelcome visitors to Sow’s Mines. “It isn’t a bad place as mines go. You will serve a year in the mines in exchange for two weeks in Castlewhit. If you go to Amring fief to visit Lord Carl, you get two days and two days to leave Amring.”

  “Why is Amring so special?” Gags asked.

  “There are some interesting things to see in Amring.”

  “Hey, you four, come back to Dimple,” a rough voice called from behind.

  “We have them now,” the guard said. “Be on your way.”

  “At least give us Vingus Gags. He killed our guards earlier today.”

  “You mean the highwaymen who tried to kill us?” Eno said in a boastful voice. “Do you want a taste of what they got?”

  Gags leaned toward Eno. “Keep quiet. We don’t want a scene,” Gags said.

  Eno stuck his tongue out at the Dimple guards before he turned around.

  “We can take them all,” Eno said with a snort.

  The guards lined up along the pole. Five Dimple guards and four Castlewhit guards faced each other as the curses began to fly between them. Curses turned into fighting, and the pole was raised.

  Gags waded into the fighting and began to put the Dimple guards to sleep.

  “I’m a magician,” Gags said to the guard, “but I don’t practice my magic unless I have to.”

  “The rest of you?”

  Otto put out his hand and shook it. “Not me. I’m from Baxter.”

  “I’m not a magician,” Eno said.

  Lucian spoke over Eno. “He has some magic, as do most Attoans.”

  Eno looked displeased, but he didn’t try to correct the guard.

  “I will admit, I am a magician, too. A healer, by the way,” Lucian said, now that Gags had admitted to something none of them wanted to reveal. “If anyone has a cut, I can help them. I can’t do anything for bruises, but common healers can’t do anything either.”

  One of the guards had a gash on his arm. Lucian helped him before slipping back across the Dimple border and used a little magic healing on the Dimple guards.

  The lead guard was amazed. “You helped them even though they would have dragged you off to their capital?”

  “Do you think we’d let them do that? We killed twelve of their friends in an ambush,” Gags said. “We don’t want to have to cross the border twice.”

  “I’ll put a note in your files. We keep track of good deeds. I truly thought we’d have a dangerous fight on our hands,” the lead guard said.

  “Not in our interests,” Lucian said.

  “We will need your weapons,” the lead guard said, scratching the back of his neck. “Maybe not. You are magicians and probably don’t need weapons, do you?”

  Gags shook his head. “We promise to surrender them at the mines,” Gags said.

  “I’ll make a note of that,” the guard said.

  Soon, one of the guards led them east into Castlewhit and then north. The land began to rise and fall until they were in a hilly region. They reached the mine before dusk.

  “Stay on your horses and don’t move, or you’ll be chased down,” the guard said.

  Gags didn’t hear real conviction in the man’s voice. They were left by themselves.

  “I expected fifty guards, snarling and poking us along the way,” Otto said. “Could it be that Castlewhit is more bark than bite?”

  Lucian shook his head. “I think the bite is still there, but Castlewhit is a rulebound country. If we follow the rules and do good deeds, we might be able to save ourselves.”

  “And what gives you that idea?” Eno said, almost snarling.

  “Did we have to fight at the border? Did angry troops escort us? No one seems that angry. This part of the mine doesn’t look like I thought it would.” Lucian said, pointing to flowers planted around the main building.

  “We will see,” Eno said.

  “We don’t have a choice,” Gags said.

  Their escort from the border nodded to them before he mounted and returned to the border post. Another guard dressed in a different-colored uniform walked out with four wooden plaques.

  “I am Warden Fleahouse. Each of you will get one of these plaques. Don’t lose them,” the warden said. “You must show these when you go down into the mines and leave. You’ll need it at the dining hall and when you enter the dormitory.”

  “The border guard said you would surrender your weapons. Our policy is to do a strip search. Do you know what that is?”

  Everyone but Eno nodded.

  “Strip?” Eno asked.

  “As in strip naked,” Lucian said.

  “I’m not going to take off my clothes for a guard,” Eno said.

  “Yes, you are,” Gags said. “You were a naked unicorn for five years.”

  “Six,” Eno said.

 

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