Chapter 41
Shorebirds pestered us, flying into the birds and striking, trying to drive them off and a sure sign that we were approaching land. The water changed color, becoming more turquoise than green and with longer wave patterns.
As we approached the coast, I began to see fishing boats and as soon as they saw us, we heard their shouts of alarm. Some even fired on us, not that their harpoons or rifles had enough range to reach the birds or us. Now, Blackfin took a more southerly route, away from the capital and towards Lake Caspia. I knew that the Emperor kept a summer palace there; my father had described the spectacular stables and the stallions standing at stud.
The birds made short work of the distance overland and we stayed mostly over the heavily wooded tracts that belonged to the Emperor. That way, we had less chance of being spotted by commoners.
The sun was nearly setting by the time I caught a glimpse of the glass windows of the castle. It was an imposing Gothic edifice and one of the most beautiful castles on the main land of Ehrenberg. There were over two hundred rooms, twenty-two turrets and towers, and a dungeon said to house a king’s fortune in wines, as the Emperor did not want tortured souls in his basement.
Those unfortunates were taken to the main palace in the capital and housed there. I had been one of those prisoners. I had seen the prison cells of the Emperor’s Warlord close-up and personal.
Blackfin set the bird down on the forest road, just a few miles from the castle. Once on the ground, he dismounted and stretched. “We’ll be met by a Captain of the Guards with horses,” he said. “He’ll take the birds and release them so they fly home.”
“Shall I unsaddle them, Master?” I asked stepping down onto solid ground and grateful for it.
“No. The Klese will take care of that on the other end.” He started walking on the path towards the general direction of the castle, which was overgrown with grass and blackberry bushes that caught on my jacket. I removed it because the temperature was balmy, almost hot and the furs stifling. He said to leave it, as I would have no further need of a winter coat.
“I am not going back to the city under the ice?” I asked and reared backwards when he slashed at my face with his reins in a fit of temper.
“Keep your mouth shut unless I tell you to open it, damn you, Tobias!” I winced as the leathers stung and raised welts on my skin; he had just missed my eyes. I stayed far enough behind him that he couldn’t easily reach me again.
We hadn’t gone farther than a few hundred yards when I caught the scent of horses and it brought a pang of anguish to me. I remembered Beau and Diomed, and it was like a dream not real memories. I felt further and further away from that young boy every minute I spent with the wizard.
We turned the corner and there was an Imperial captain dressed in the fancy glittering Navy uniform of the elite Mounted Troops. Navy blue fitted jacket with gold buttons and frogs, white buttons and epaulettes, the cap perched cockily on his short dark curls. He had bright blue eyes and a large mustache; he greeted the wizard by name – Lord Blake. He had three horses with him.
“Crispin,” Blackfin and was surprised. “You joined the Mounted?”
“Excitement, honor, gallantry and all that, you know,” the captain shrugged. “So boring back home. I wanted a berth on a warship headed to the Borderlands but Granperé put a flea in your father’s ear so I was assigned stable duty. Almost as boring as home.” The young man studied me frankly. “Who’s this, Blakely? Is he one of your pets? Pretty enough, care to share him?”
“Master?” I said worriedly and bit my tongue as the words slipped out.
“Master? He calls you master? You dog, do you make him wear the collar and leash, too?” He gaped as he saw the black ring around my neck. “Blake, you learned how to cast spells to enslave?”
“Crispin, shut up,” Blackfin said and took the reins of both free horses. He mounted the bay gelding. All three horses were skittish at the sight and smell of the condorlas. The wizard uttered a sharp phrase and both birds jerked from my grasp and took off in flight. In seconds, they were gone from sight heading due west. Towards the Great Sea and the Borderlands.
He kicked his gelding and trotted off leaving me to follow on foot. I broke into a lope and kept up although my feet were tired and my legs rubbery from the long flight. They reached the castle about twenty minutes later and I not much beyond that. The grassy lane had changed to rough gravel, bordered by graceful willows making it a cool tunnel of waving branches that blocked most of the sun. It changed to paved cobblestones as we entered the castle’s bailey and made the footing treacherous. Immediately, voices of armed guards challenged us backing down as they recognized the Captain and Blackfin who was informed that his father, the Emperor was not in attendance but holding court in his palace in the mountains where it was cooler. For that, I was grateful, as I had no wish to confront the Emperor or take on that task yet.
At the main gate, which was of course the de regier locked portcullis, waited a smartly turned out officer of the day who bowed to the pair and opened the stout steel bars. I eyed it. Last, I’d heard they had been made of iron and poor quality iron at that.
Idly, I wondered what other old world technology had replaced the new. Would the castle have flush toilets and modern heat and plumbing? Electricity instead of gas lighting and candles? But I wasn’t to know.
Blackfin spoke to the officer in a quiet voice yet my hearing was so acute that I heard him. I thinned my lips as the officer nodded, called out and a pair of guards in camouflage uniform snapped out of the hallway beyond the gates to double-team to our side.
“Take the boy to the cells and lock him in,” he ordered. “Don’t touch him and wear your earplugs, he is to be cuffed to the chain that is in cell number 7. No one is allowed to see him, talk to him or feed him.”
“Sir, yes sir,” they saluted and gestured for me to move away from the pair.
“Master,” I protested. “Why do you not trust me? I have given you my bond!”
The wizard laughed. “Do you think your bond means anything? You gave it to Connacher, and Lyr Averon. Go or I will collar you!” I went unwillingly but I obeyed his orders.