Yeah sorry guys This one is also pretty short
Chapter Fourteen. Hunting
"He hunts?" MacDonnell asked, voice curious, like he thought he'd misheard the punch line of a joke. Finn repeated what the knot code said. MacDonnell's face didn't change, but when he spoke again, his voice had gone dark. "Hunting. In my castle's gardens, where I alone am permitted to hunt." He pursed his lips. "They take advantage of my hospitality and break my law." "And they have Abeke!" Rollan added, irritated that MacDonnell seemed to find hunting more offensive than kidnapping.
"Is kidnapping even one of the laws?" Abeke asked "Cuz that should be higher up than hunting in a garden"
He turned to the others. "Why are we standing here? We've got to help her." "I'm certainly not allowing more people to break my law and hunt on my land," MacDonnell said, as if this should have been obvious. "My soldiers will stop them. Trunswick won't be allowed to leave Glengavin." "He has the wildcat," Finn said quietly. "Even if you manage to take him, it won't be without significant losses to your soldiers." He motioned to the soldiers, who were pretending not to eavesdrop, though they were doing a terrible job — in his distraction, one soldier had knitted his sleeve into the Highland cow's hair. MacDonnell, who had already lifted his hands to clap and Signal his soldiers, hesitated. "You wouldn't want to be down men, should you have to defend Glengavin from the Conquerors, sir," Conor said, then reached down to the chessboard. He put his fingertip on MacDonnell's king piece and slid it toward MacDonnell himself. MacDonnell took a deep breath, one that seemed to make his already broad shoulders even broader. "A wise move, Conor — Briggan is indeed making you a good leader, even if you aren't a good chess player. But what will my people think, if I allow you and your friends to break my law?" "What if we did you some sort of favor in return for permission to break the law? A — a boon?" Conor said. "Such as?" MacDonnell asked, and Conor furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "I have no need for your money —" "The hare," Meilin said, stepping forward.
"Ah" Lenori said "Nice one"
"What if we find your spirit animal?" "The hare for Devin Trunswick and Rumfuss?" MacDonnell's eyes widened. "Deal. But I warn you — he's not a friendly boar. Even if you find him, I doubt he will speak to you. You may arm yourselves from my stock, just in case." "We'll figure it out," Rollan said. He spun around. "Hey, can I borrow this?" he asked, diving toward the soldier knitted to the cow. He grabbed the soldier's sword; when the soldier moved to stop him, the cow mooed irritatedly and shuffled away, dragging the man with him. MacDonnell, who looked a bit overcome with the prospect of the hare returning to him, had a soldier lead them through the palace and down a wide staircase to the gardens. As they came into view, Rollan had to hide his surprise. When Rollan thought of gardens, he thought of little patches of grass with flowers. Maybe a fountain. Maybe even a tree, if it was a really fancy sort of garden. And what lay before him was exactly those things — except times a thousandfold. The gardens stretched out toward the horizon. The section farthest away was a swath of gray almost the same color as the late morning sky.
"The garden had to be big enough to be our battlefield" Meilin said
Somewhere was the wall that kept Rumfuss contained — but Rollan certainly couldn't see it among the thick trees, climbing vines, and flower beds so ruffled and colorful they looked like ladies' dresses cascading from their boxes. "All right, what's first?" Rollan asked. "The hare, Abeke, or Rumfuss?" "I had a dream about the hare," Conor said. "I think I know where he is. Finn, come with me, we'll go after the hare. Meilin and Rollan, you guys go find Abeke." After Conor and Finn had hurried into the garden in search of the hare, leaving Rollan and Meilin on the steps, the two began searching the perimeter of the castle for Abeke. Meilin was already clacking around with plans and possibilities. "There's no place to keep Abeke locked up in a garden, is there? She has to be inside somewhere." "Surely not in their rooms — even Devin Trunswick isn't that stupid,"
"I wish he was" Abeke said
Rollan said. Kunaya wrapped herself around Meilin's legs several times. Meilin looked down, clearly annoyed at the distraction. "Maybe a closet? Or another guest room? I wish every door in this castle wasn't closed — Kunaya, stop rubbing on me!" Kunaya bit Meilin on the leg,
Rollan laughed loudly until Meilin elbowed him hard. "That's not funny" she said
an action that made Meilin hiss and Rollan grin. "You ridiculous cat!" Meilin snapped. Suddenly Rollan felt a flash of intuition so strong that he knew Essix must be near. He said, "What if she's not just a ridiculous cat? Kunaya was the last one to see Abeke." "Follow a cat?" Meilin said.
"I may not be a falcon master, but I've got brains," Rollan said, smiling. "Yeah right" Meilin said
"That is the stupidest idea you've ever had."
"Actually there was that time when he wanted us to jump off the castle roof and land on his trampoline when we were running from Olvan" Conor said "That was the stupidest idea he's had." "Ehem" Olvan said, clearing his throat "Was it the time where you broke my favorite coffee mug?" "Um" Rollan said, fearfully "Yes?" "Olvan!" Lenori said "You chased them to Greenhaven's rooftop?" "No" Olvan said "The Greencloaks did. I asked them to chase them." "Still" Lenori said "That's not safe! And very irresponsible of you!" "Okay!" Abeke said "We are done talking about that, the past is past, so Rollan keep reading"
Rollan said, "Oh, trust me, it is not. Let's go." He started after Kunaya, and the little cat, looking pleased that they understood the game, bounded down the path ahead of them. They rounded the corner of the castle. The carriage house came into view, a small but tidy building with a thatched roof. Kunaya shot into the dim interior, where carriages were lined up. The cat wove around the wheels, a blur of motion, ever faster. Meilin and Rollan had to hurry to keep up with her. And then she stopped. With her tail crooked into a curl, she meowed smugly. "Kunaya?" a voice called out, sounding just a little tearful. Abeke! Rollan was stunned, even though the suggestion to follow the cat had been his.
"Of course" Meilin said "You weren't completely sure that Kunaya would lead us to Abeke"
He vowed to make sure that Kunaya got a cat banquet thrown for her when this was all over. He ran to one side of the carriage; Meilin ran to the other. Resting in the center of the carriage's floorboard was a massive wooden trunk with a heavy lock. Meilin leaned over the edge of the door. "Abeke! We're here to save you!" "Meilin?" Abeke's startled voice came from inside the trunk. "Is that you?" "And Rollan is here too," Rollan said indignantly. "I didn't think anyone would find me!" Abeke cried, her voice muffled. "I managed to knot my bracelet onto Kunaya, but I ran out of cord before I could spell out where —" "Great story," said Rollan.
"What if she was going to say something important" Conor said "Instead you interrupted her"
"Tell us later. After we get you out." He grabbed ahold of the lock on the trunk and gave it a tug. Frowning at Meilin, he shook his head. Meilin pursed her lips. "Perhaps there's a spare key? Or — I bet Jhi could crush this entire thing if she sat on it!"
"That's one way to kill someone" Abeke said
"Jhi is going to sit on me?" Abeke cried, voice panicked.
"That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard" Rollan mimicked
"Well, the trunk, not —" "Jhi isn't sitting on anyone," Rollan said calmly. Clambering up on the carriage back, he grabbed for the canopy. It ripped easily, and with it came the thin pieces of metal that gave the canopy its shape. In a heartbeat, Rollan had pulled one from the fabric. He jammed it into the trunk's lock and wiggled it around in a practiced way. Looking over his shoulder at Meilin, he grinned cheekily. "What?" she said, flushing. "What are you smiling at me for? The lock —" "What lock?" Rollan said. At that instant he twisted his makeshift pick a final time. The lock popped open and clattered to the ground. Never has a poorly spent childhood paid off so well, Rollan thought with satisfaction. Meilin laughed, a bright, honest sound that she swallowed as soon as she realized he had noticed it. "Let me guess," Meilin said. "Tutors?" Rollan grinned. In the carriage, the trunk's lid flew open. Abeke and Uraza leaped out in motions so identical they looked like two of the same animal rather than one human and one leopard. "How did you find me?" Abeke asked breathlessly. "Kunaya's not a spirit animal," Meilin answered, looking down at the cat, "but she's still a pretty great beast." Meilin tugged the bracelet off Kunaya's head and held it out to Abeke."Have Devin and Karmo found Rumfuss?" Abeke asked as she took the bracelet from Meilin and put it back on her wrist. "They've been looking for hours now!" "I don't think so," Rollan said. "We can still find him before they do. Although I don't have a clue where to look. What do boars like? Mud?
"A pig with horns coming out of its mouth" Meilin said
Meilin and Abeke exchanged a look of exasperation. "We could go ask MacDonnell?" Abeke suggested. "By the time we find him and then look for Rumfuss —" Meilin began. She was cut off by a sharp cry from the top of a nearby Carriage. Essix was perched on a driver's seat. When she caught Rollan's surprised look, she cocked her head as if to say, What? I showed up, didn't I? "What is she trying to say, Rollan?" Meilin asked. Rollan muttered, "Like I would know." But the falcon ruffled her feathers at him and cocked her head. He felt the familiar sensation of her intuition trickling into his own mind. if it was like this all the time, he thought, things would be a lot easier. Meilin and Abeke were waiting for his verdict. "Essix is the answer," he said. "She can guide us from above. Come on!
"My turn" Abeke said
Chapter Fifteen. The Hare