Luckily, Catherine didn't have to try to use the sword on Daniel again. Not right then, anyway. A member of the audience, a man with a potbelly, made a run at Daniel, screaming something in a language she couldn't understand.
Normally she would have run. Normally. But now she had things to see to, the fifteen or so girls in the dungeon, for one thing. She wasn't going to leave them to be sold into slavery. And, seeing as how she knew what it was like to be broken, she didn't want them to be broken as well.
So I guess it's truly do or die, she thought with a small grin. The fighting had spread once someone had shouted something about light. She saw the men on the other side of the room fighting as well. They weren't only holding their own; they were pressing forward, toward her and Daniel.
Grinning, she noticed that the people at the tables on either side of Daniel had left and were running, scared out of their wits, from the room, leaving their papers behind. She quickly gathered them up and shoved her way through the crowd, holding the papers to her chest. The people lining the walls had started fights of their own, settling their own personal disputes. She dodged their blows to each other until she reached her goal.
"Follow me," she said. Without waiting, she led the way.
They all tensed as they heard someone shout "Down with the Light!" Too fast for the eye to see, Excalibur jumped into Arthur's hand, and Bran wasn't far behind with Eirias. Simon looked at Gumerry, nervous. "Gumerry," he said, about to point out that he and Barney had no weapons.
Merriman nodded, intent on a man in merchants' garb who was approaching warily. "Behind me," he ordered. Simon and Barney agreed and ducked behind him, just in time to see someone close the door they had come through. The air seemed to shimmer around it for a second and then solidified, making the door look as imposing as a wall of sudden stone.
Barney shivered. "He is of the Dark," he said.
"So he is," Bran agreed, watching blue light race through Eirias out of the corner of his eye. And then someone attacked, leading the rest. After that, everything was a flurry of blocking blows and attacking. No one had to say to search for another exit- they all knew they needed one. And then, the girl, the one they'd seen standing before Daniel, had made it through to them.
"Follow me," she ordered. She promptly turned and started walking away.
Bran looked to his father and shrugged. The girl hadn't seemed to be a friend of Daniel's. And she probably knew a way out better than they. Bran followed.
She led them to the entrance of a small hallway, hidden in the upper left-hand corner of the hall. The girl held it open while they backed up, still fighting the people who were attacking. Bran was the first through, then Will. Merriman gave Barney and Simon a slight push through before coming in himself. Arthur, the last, locked the door. Merriman added a bit of magic to keep it up.
"Now what?" Barney asked as people on the other side pounded on the door and shouted.
The girl grinned. She was hugging papers to her chest. "This way. We need to make a stop, and then we can find a way out."
"You don't know a way out?" Bran asked.
"Did I say that?"
"You just did."
"I did no such thing." She ran, forcing the others to run behind her. She stopped suddenly at a large door. "No guards," she muttered. "Is that a good sign, or a bad one?"
She tried to shove open the door. It didn't budge, and she was unfamiliar with the lock. They were better with locks than she'd suspected. She knew from experience that it wasn't so heavy that she couldn't open it. She turned around and leaned against the door. "I don't suppose one of you could help me?" she asked.
"Why?" Bran asked.
"This is where Daniel kept the other girls," Catherine explained. She studied their faces, all of which were impassive. "Look, I know. They'll slow us down. Most of them are nearly completely broken anyway. But I can't just leave them here. They didn't ask for this." Still no change. "Please?" she asked again. "If you help me get them out, I'll take care of them. All of them. You can leave without us all, if you like. I don't care. But I at least need to give them a chance. Please?"
With a sigh, Arthur passed her worked at the lock.
"You know how to pick locks?" Bran asked in disbelief.
"Doesn't everybody?" Arthur retorted.
The door open, Catherine shoved through. "They're all chained again, I think," she called back as she went down the stairs. "Could you guys give me some help?"
"Again?" Bran asked quietly so she couldn't hear, exasperated. He called to the girl, "What if it's a trap?" He was more than surprised when Barney darted through the door and down the stairs first.
"Gumerry," Simon said quickly as he followed quickly.
Following them down the stairs, Arthur said softly to Bran, "You need to learn to tell when people are telling the truth."
Bran made a face but said, "Yes, sir."
They quickly released all the girls, and Arthur, Merriman, Will, and Barney gave them pep talks to get them moving. Simon listened to what they were doing and tried to help when he could. Bran and Catherine were left to talk.
"Why aren't you helping?" Catherine demanded.
"Because," Bran said simply.
"Because what?"
"I don't really know how to do stuff like that," Bran said angrily, glaring at her. "Why aren't you helping, if you're so, 'We must help them' and all?"
"Because I don't know stuff like that either!" Catherine retorted.
Merriman silenced them with a look, and they looked away from each other.
"Name's Catherine," she finally whispered.
"Bran."
"Real pleasure to meet you, Bran. Under the circumstances. You a friend of Daniel's?"
"No. You?"
"No. So I guess, in a way, we're allies, right?"
"Not really."
"We'd better be. Or else none of us are getting out of here."
"Meaning?"
"I think I know a way out," she said proudly.
"Where?"
"Not telling until they're all okay."
"Tell me now," Bran said.
"Nope."
"Now," Bran said coldly and with command.
Catherine looked at him. What was he, kidding? "I won't tell you at all if you use that tone with me," she said, raising her chin. "I don't take kindly to pompous jerk-off types."
Will's glare at her positively withered. She stared right back at him, refusing to be intimidated.
Once all the girls were gathered and at least able to walk and follow them, Arthur said to Catherine, "Do you really know a way out?"
"No."
"So you lied," Bran said.
"Yes. I figured you wouldn't believe me anyway."
"Are you lying now?" Arthur asked.
Catherine shook her head. "You I like. Him I don't."
Arthur nodded, amused, and took the lead. He led them down hallway after hallway, checking room after room, until Catherine had lost track of what was going on. She fell back to walk with Barney and Simon. "Thanks," she said to Barney. "I don't think they would have helped if you hadn't come down."
Barney grinned at her. "They would have. Just not fast enough. That's all."
"Thanks," Catherine said again.
Finally, Arthur opened a door and went inside. "Master bedroom," he explained as everyone came in after him. "All master bedrooms have a way out, a secret passageway or something. Split up and find it."
It was Will who found it, when he spotted a stone in the fireplace where the soot was smeared. He pressed it, and the large back wall of the fireplace swung open. "Found it," he said.
"Good job," Merriman said as he came up behind Will.
Catherine shook her head. "Just like Daniel. No imagination whatsoever."
"Be thankful," Arthur said. "It makes it easier to get out."
"I'm thankful he's stupid and all," Catherine admitted, "but I'm not thankful I know him."
Arthur and Merriman led the way through the passage, with the girls, so far nameless, behind them. Catherine stayed with them, urging them on, trying to encourage them, while Barney and Simon stayed behind them, doing the same (although doing a better job at it). Will and Bran brought up the rear.
They regrouped with the others once they got out, explaining what had happened. They decided to cross the pass at nightfall, when there was less chance of their getting caught.
Arthur and Merriman taught Will and Bran how to fight with swords, knives, and fists while instructing them in politics. Barney dragged Clara over to the edge of the clearing, where he tried to make her admit she had powers. Simon and Jane saw to the girls, all of whom had promptly fallen down on the ground as soon as it was safe. Catherine shot the girls a look of disgust, rolled over, and took a nap.
And so they waited.
The trip over the pass wasn't nearly as terrifying as Simon had expected. It was ten feet wide, and he and many others (there number was now around sixty-five) were careful not to walk too close. On the other side, after a curve in the mountain, they found an inn. Although Catherine protested, they arranged for all the girls to stay there. The Old Ones and the other members of the Circle continued for half the night until they found a suitable place for camping.
"Not much longer," Bran said, looking up at the top of the mountain. It was the highest mountain in Wales in this time, and there was no Grey King here.
"Careful what you say," Will said. "You never know what tomorrow may bring."
Bran nodded. "Right."
They settled down to sleep.
Catherine, however, was awake long after they'd fallen sleep, staring out the window. All the other girls were behind her- they'd all wanted to be in one room because they felt so much safer. Catherine turned to study them. They'd be all right, most of them. Some would need more time to become what they once were, but she'd already managed to pick fights with two of the older ones. Zara and Katrina were actually doing a lot better and taking charge a bit more. It hadn't taken them long to get out of it, and Catherine had spotted signs late in the evening in the others that they were also getting better.
Sighing, knowing she'd never get to sleep, she gathered up the papers she'd stolen, found a sack to shove them in, and went downstairs to study them. In the candlelight of what she referred to as "the lobby," she was disappointed. It took her longer than she would have liked to get used to the extravagant flourishes. All of the papers had been handwritten, and each writer had his own handwriting with its own flourishes.
The candle flickered.
She looked up and then looked to the door to glare at whoever had caused her light to waver. She and Daniel took in each other at the same time, but Catherine reacted faster. She had to admit, one factor in her quickness was fear, but at least she had enough sense to grab all the papers. She ran out the back door, hearing Daniel shouting orders to get her behind her.
They're after the papers, she thought as the ran out the back. I need to keep the papers away from them. She looked up and down the road. Down would be so much easier- for her as well as for them. She ran up the mountain path instead. She'd have to reach the others. They have swords, she reasoned. They've got swords, and they know this place better than I do.
As she ran, she shoved the papers in her sack and prayed Daniel and his minions were going in the opposite direction.
I need feedback- please. I woke up with the beginnings of a cold yesterday, and today, after three hours of sleep, my throat is burning as if someone poured down kerosene followed by a lit match. So please- gimme criticism so I have something to do tonight when I can't get to sleep. The only good thing about not being able to swallow very well is that I've written the next few chapter to this. Up in a few minutes, I think.
Thanks,
Dleet
