James Eglamore was afraid.
He wouldn't admit it to anyone, and certainly not to his companions. Annie and Kat would need him to be strong enough to protect them, and while he would have once trusted Reynardine with the knowledge of his fear, that time had passed long ago. Perhaps he could trust the fox now, but he wasn't willing to take that chance. It still felt like too much of a gamble to trust him with Annie's safety.
But he would have to trust. They needed four, and Reynardine was the best stand-in for the woman with many names, given how many skins he had taken in the past several years. He was the warrior with no name, of course, and Annie had to be the Raven King, leaving Kat as her companion. It had taken only half a night of thought to work out who would be who and what that could mean. He didn't know enough about this mission, and he needed to know as much as he could to protect the girls. He would do everything in his power to get them into the forest and back to the court safely, as the warrior surely would have done for John Uskglass.
The other half of the night was spent wondering whether any of them would survive the journey.
He had already decided that they ought to leave as early in the morning as possible, and once he had everything gathered, he worked his way through the court to the girls' room. He wasn't used to walking through the parts where the students lived, and the few times he had been there, it had been filled with people laughing and chattering. It was eerie for it to be so silent and almost deserted, and his skin crawled at the thought of it being nothing more than a tomb holding his companions. But he wouldn't show his fear, he reminded himself. He would be strong, for all their sakes.
He had to knock on the door twice before someone answered. Kat stood in the doorway, yawning and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, as though she had only managed a few hours of sleep. It wasn't her weariness that worried him, though, but the bruises around her neck. "Time to leave?" she asked, and he couldn't tell if her voice was raspy from sleep or from having been nearly strangled. It couldn't have been Annie, he told himself, but he couldn't think of anyone who would want to hurt Kat.
"If you're both ready," he said, and Annie appeared behind Kat. She looked stronger than before, which was a relief, and in her arms she held Reynardine, who looked still asleep.
"Sure," Annie said, and she gently guided Kat out of the room. When she looked at her friend, there was a protective harshness in her eyes, and Eglamore decided that it certainly couldn't have been her. He'd had good reason for doubting, though.
"I gathered enough supplies for a few days," he said, passing around the packs. Kat shrugged into hers, and Annie pulled Reynardine's over one shoulder and hers over the other. "Once those run out, we'll have to hunt and gather, but between me and Reynardine, we should do all right."
Kat made a face. "Does that mean I'll have to skin things?"
Eglamore grinned and led them through the passages, away from their room. "You'll learn," he said. "It's surprisingly easy to stop thinking things are disgusting when you need them to survive."
Kat mumbled something sleepily, and Eglamore did his best not to glance back, because he knew he would see those bruises more easily than he saw her. She was still a child, and she was likely one of the kindest people in the court. He never would have believed anyone would have hurt her, and certainly not so savagely.
After about half an hour, he heard Annie speak behind him. "Well, it's about time you're awake. Eglamore made you a pack, and you can carry it yourself." Something rustled, like a pack sliding off a shoulder and being wrapped around a wolf's body. "Why were you so hard to wake up, anyway? Did you stay up late with Kat, or something?"
"I had trouble sleeping," Reynardine said, and that was that.
But the gates had been opened to conversation, and Eglamore decided that now was as good a time as any to find out what had happened. He slowed a little until he walked beside Kat, who was still yawning, though the walking had woken her up a bit. She looked more alert than before, and she walked quickly enough that he didn't feel like he was wasting time by keeping pace with her. Just as he had thought, he saw the bruises more easily than anything else about her. His eyes were drawn to them, and he had to force himself to look up, at the way they had to walk. "Are you all right?" he asked, keeping his voice low.
"Yeah," she said, and blinked a few times as though surprised to see him there. "I'm just a little tired. Why?"
"Your neck."
She had raised her hand to cover another yawn, but now she touched one of the bruises and winced a little. "I'm fine," she said. "It doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday."
"Who did this to you?" he asked, and though he knew his voice was rising, he didn't care. They hadn't even left the court, and already one of their number had been injured, and he hadn't been there to protect her.
Kat shifted her pack on her shoulders and looked down at her shoes. "Zimmy," she murmured.
Any answer would have dumbfounded Eglamore, and as they walked on, he found that he couldn't think of anything to say. What was there to say? Zimmy had attacked Kat, had throttled her hard enough to leave bruises a day later, and Kat was acting as though everything was all right. Well, perhaps not all right, but she certainly didn't seem to think it was as troublesome as he knew it was. "Tell me what happened."
Her pack shifted again. "Look, it really isn't that –"
"Donlan!" he snapped, and she froze, looking up at him. "Tell me what happened. I want to know everything."
She sighed. "I was looking for Paz so I could say good-bye, and I went into the library. Zimmy was there, and she started asking if I'd seen something. I didn't know what she was talking about, and then she grabbed me. I started seeing things, but they didn't make any sense." She frowned and bit her lip as though trying to remember. "They didn't all speak English. There were two women who spoke… Norwegian, maybe? And a man who spoke French. They all tried to warn me about something, and one of them told me that I had to live. Then I was back in the library, and Zimmy started talking about the ring. She said it had touched her, and that it had touched me, too, which was why I could see those thing, I guess. She said it had been hers, but then it went away. She wasn't the one to put it in my lab, and she didn't give it to the robots, either. She told me to give it back to her, and when I told her it was going to be destroyed, she…" Kat's voice broke off, and she pressed a hand against her neck, wincing again.
"And then she attacked you," Eglamore said.
Kat nodded. "I saw things, too, while she had her hands around my throat. It kept switching between those things and the library, and then Annie showed up. She burned Zimmy, and then Zimmy ran off, and Annie brought me back to our room. I fell asleep after that, and then…" She shook her head, as though reminding herself not to say what she had been about to talk about. "That's it. That's all that happened."
It wasn't all, but Eglamore was sure there were some questions Kat wouldn't want him to ask, at least not with Annie around. He wasn't about to give up completely on understanding, though. "Why didn't Gamma try to stop Zimmy?" he asked. "I don't think she'd just stand around and let her attack you."
"Gamma wasn't there," Annie said. "I don't know where she was, but it was just Zimmy in the library."
Kat nodded. "I didn't see her at all, and Zimmy said she hadn't seen her. She also said that she didn't need her then, but I don't know what she meant."
Eglamore wasn't sure he would like knowing what Zimmy had meant, but he just pulled his pack up more against his back. "Don't worry," he said. "Once we're out of the court, you won't have to worry about Zimmy attacking you, and I won't let her touch you if she finds us here." He wouldn't hurt Zimmy – not badly, anyway – but he would make sure that she didn't lay a hand on Kat.
"I already protected Kat," Annie said. "I burned her in the library, and I don't think she'll try anything again."
Reynardine slipped up beside Kat and nosed her elbow gently. "We will all protect her," he said, and Eglamore couldn't be sure whether the wolf was talking to him, to Annie, or trying to reassure Kat. "She is ours to keep safe."
Kat smiled a little and rubbed Reynardine's head with a smile. "Thanks," she said. "I wish I weren't so useless. And don't tell me I'm not," she added, looking around at everyone fiercely enough that Eglamore decided she would certainly be all right, at least as long as she got some sleep. "I know I can't fight as well as any of you, and I don't think we'll run into any computers or robots that I can work with, but I'll do whatever I can to help. I'll even skin rabbits if I have to." She sounded a bit less sure on that point, and wrinkled her nose.
"I'll teach you what you need to know," Eglamore said. "I'll even help you learn how to fight." He doubted she would be able to pick up much on the road, but she might learn enough to take care of herself. If she was able to defend herself, that was all he could ask.
"You don't have to be useful to be important," Annie said, coming up behind Kat and draping an arm over her shoulders. She was smiling brightly, and it felt natural to see the two of them walking so close together. Kat was almost smiling as well, and Eglamore let himself feel a little hopeful. Maybe things would work out for the better. Maybe they would even all come back alive.
"She's right," he said, and explained his theory about each of them standing in for one of the people. Annie looked curious and Reynardine was inscrutable as ever, but Kat looked a bit nervous. "Is something wrong?" Eglamore asked.
"No," Kat said.
"You can tell us, you know," Annie said. She looked almost energetic, and Eglamore wondered what could have changed during the night, but before he could ask, she went on, "It only makes sense that Kat would be my companion, though. John Uskglass was human with a fairy, and I'm a fire elemental with a human. It's like a mirror." She frowned a little. "But why would you be the one without a name? I would have thought you'd be the knight."
"I'm more likely to not have a name than Reynardine is," Eglamore said.. He wondered if he ought to tell them sometime, or whether it would be best to keep his own secret. After a moment, he decided to wait until he was sure that they had to know. They were all entitled to their own pasts.
Reynardine growled a little, but it wasn't an unfriendly growl. It sounded almost pleasant, like a humorless chuckle. "This name, Reynard, is one given to me by others. My own name – my true name – is older than any of you would know. It is of the earth and the sky and the sea, and none of your tongues could even come close to pronouncing it." He looked up at them then and grinned. "Was that eerie enough to suit you, or should I find something else mystical to say?"
"I think the mysticism can wait," Eglamore said, and he found himself smiling as well. "It might be that we'll find more than enough cause for eeriness without your help."
"We've already found some," Kat said. She looked directly ahead as she spoke, and if it weren't for the fact that he could think of no one else to stand in for the fairy companion, Eglamore would have gladly had her stay at the court for her own safety. "I went to see the robots last night, and they told me that one of the makers of the ring is nearby. It's one of the women. They also said there wouldn't be any second chances. We have to get this right."
"I intend to," Eglamore said. "Was there anything else?"
Kat glanced down at Reynardine, who said, "They also said that one of us will die. I suppose I might as well be the one."
"No," Annie said sharply. "No one is going to die. I won't let that happen." She strode on ahead, and Eglamore sped up to keep pace with her, glancing back over his shoulder from time to time to make sure Kat and Reynardine could keep up. Kat still looked tired, but Reynardine stood close enough to support her. It would likely be a short day so Kat could get some sleep, but he would have to get them further the next day. As long as they made it out of the court before nightfall, though, he would be content no matter how far they went.
The silence now felt strange and seemed to weigh heavily on everyone. "So," Eglamore said, and Annie glanced up at him. He could almost feel Kat and Reynardine watching him as well, waiting for him to speak. "We know that one of the makers is close to the court, and that it's either the lady knight or the woman with many names. We don't know where she is or whether we'll be able to avoid her."
"Do we even want to avoid her?" Kat asked. "Maybe she'll be able to help." Everyone looked back at her, and she ducked her head, blushing. "Never mind," she mumbled.
"Kat's right," Reynardine said. "It could be that whoever this woman is might be willing to help us destroy the ring." Kat looked down at him, surprised, and Reynardine nosed at her elbow before speeding up a bit and drawing Kat after him.
"She won't be able to come with us, though," Eglamore said. "Not unless one of us leaves." Even then, it might work better with the four of them; they had a bond that the original four might have had, and sending one away might disrupt that and mean the spell wouldn't work. Taking on the woman would also mean either he or Reynardine would have to leave, and he doubted the wolf would be any more willing to abandon the girls than he was.
"I wouldn't ask either of you to leave," Annie said. "We can do this without any help."
"But a little help might be useful," Kat said. "I think we should find out what we can." She nodded once, as though she had just come to this decision and was still trying to convince herself that it was the right one. "What do you think?" She looked at Eglamore, and he supposed he shouldn't have been at all surprised that the choice would come to him. Aside from Reynardine, he was the oldest, and while Annie was the one with the ring, he was the one most likely to become the leader.
"I agree with Donlan," he said, "but we should be cautious. I don't want to start this off with danger." With more danger, rather; though he was getting used to seeing the bruises on Kat's throat and knew they would fade within a few days, he still had trouble believing anyone could hurt her that way, or even at all.
The court would begin to wake up soon, and Eglamore didn't care to have anyone see them leave. He didn't want to deal with questions or drawn-out good-byes. Even if Paz were to appear, he would hurry Kat along, though he might allow her a few words. But Kat wouldn't have to worry about saying something she wouldn't have the chance to say again. She would make it back alive and unharmed, even if he had to die to ensure that. One of them would die, after all, and it might as well be him. Reynardine could see the girls back as well as anyone else.
Secretly, he hoped that he would be able to walk out alive, with both Annie and Kat standing beside him. But he would never say that aloud, and he hardly dared to think it. Reynardine had been his friend, years ago, and perhaps he ought to be again.
They left the court at dawn and started down the bridge. The alarms were off, but they would be on again in less than an hour, so he had to move quickly. Something was at the far end of the bridge though, and as he drew closer, he saw that it was someone. His steps slowed, and Kat gasped behind him. Still, he kept walking, determined not to stop for anyone who happened to block his way, not even if that anyone was Jones, silent and impassive.
