Kara is in prison, the throne taken from her by Anarth and Canar, but most egregiously of all by Ravesfel. She is totally alone, or is she? [And the cover art for book 2 comes from this chapter]
The enormity of her peril now fully manifested in Kara’s mind. The treachery was complete, and she was stuck, helpless in a cell while events swirled around her. Her brother was marching to his death, Anarth was about to feel the true power of a guardian, Ravesfel was surely turning into another Evil One, and Kara was being tossed back to her little fishing village. Once again she lowered her head and wept for a long time.
Then she paused, sniffled a little, and her eyes grew wider. “I won’t go back to my village!” An idea had come to her. Her brother was out of reach, Ravesfel was worse than no help at all, and she didn’t know whom she might trust among the palace staff. By now, they probably all thought she was an impostor, and it would suit Ravesfel to have them think that. To whom could she turn, she had wondered. This new thought gave her hope. She glanced up at the window of her cell as she wiped her tears. Moving the pile of moldy straw directly under the window, she found that she reached eye level with it when she stood on the straw. Thinking carefully of how to communicate, she began to call softly:
“Creatures of the sky, creatures of the sky, it is a friend calling you. Come to me, noble creatures of the wind.”
She listened for a response, but heard only the wind blowing. She began again, calling louder in the language of birds. A listener would have heard only the sound of a bird crying out, little suspecting the source to be a person. Kara was skilled in animal speech, and she repeatedly called out to the birds of the sky.
Finally, a sparrow landed on the windowsill and looked at this person with curiosity.
“Call me? Call me? What want? What want?” it said quickly, its head bobbing back and forth with its singsong speech.
“Know you Alessa, child of elves?” Kara asked the sparrow.
“Don’t know. Don’t know,” came the answer as the sparrow hopped back and forth, delighted to be speaking with one of the large creatures. What a story it would have to bring back to his family!
“Then bring friends to me, please,” came Kara’s plea. “Dove friends, crow friends, hawk friends, robin friends.”
“No hawk! Bad hawk!” cried the sparrow in alarm.
“No hawk,” agreed Kara. “Sorry. Bring other friends. Please. Go now, bring friends.”
The sparrow flew off and Kara wondered if it had understood the message. A few minutes later, however, the sparrow returned, and with it was a pigeon.
“Ah, noble pigeon,” cried Kara in relief, “thank you for coming.”
The pigeon cooed happily in response and bobbed her head up and down a couple of times.
“Please, know you of Alessa, princess of elves?” Kara asked anxiously.
“Alessa I know,” cooed the pigeon. “Friend to all dwellers of the woods.”
“Wonderful!” cried Kara. “Alessa is returning here from the Golden Lakes region. Do you know this region?”
“Lakes of fire when the sun sets, yes I know this region,” responded the pigeon.
“Please, I am in great trouble,” said Kara. “I have been taken prisoner – I am in this cage against my will. Bad people have done this to me. Please, you must spread the word among your brethren and find Alessa, elf princess. Tell her what has happened to me, and ask her to rescue me.”
“Spread the word, find Alessa, rescue you from your cage, yes,” cooed the pigeon. “Sorry you are in cage.”
“Me too, noble pigeon. But you can help me get free. Find Alessa, tell her trust no one in the palace. Tell her to rescue me. Show her which cage I am in.”
“Spread the word, I go,” responded the pigeon. “Fear not, soon you will be free to fly.”
The pigeon flapped her wings and flew off to the east. Kara sat down on the floor again, and felt better. She may be stuck in this cell, but at least she had set in motion a plan that might get her free. If only it could be done in time to warn Felanar, she thought glumly. If only it could be done in time. Please fly swiftly, little pigeon, she thought.
The afternoon dragged on endlessly. Little by little the sky changed color as it turned darker. It was sunset when she next heard a noise outside her cell. The lock was turned and as the door swung open partly a tray of food was pushed along the floor. The door then slammed shut again and footsteps echoed off into the distance. Kara glumly examined her dinner, unable to resist comparing it with her lunch a few hours previously.
Not long after her evening meal, the cell became dark. Outside the window, a single star was visible in the evening sky, poking through a break in the clouds. For a reason Kara hardly understood, the sight of that star made her very thoughtful. She stared at the sky and thought long about what she had to do, and how difficult things had become in just one day, and how frustrated she felt by being imprisoned when there was so much to do. She turned away from the window and lay down on the straw. Exhausted from the day’s ordeal, she drifted into sleep.
In her dream, Kara saw a small girl, dressed in rags, begging on the streets of a city. Kara’s heart went out to this child; she wanted to help, but something prevented her movement. Struggling to reach the poor urchin, Kara felt frustrated. What was holding her back? Why couldn’t she help this girl in need? The dream faded into blackness and Kara slept on.
In the middle of the night a sound woke Kara. She sleepily glanced up at the window and saw that it was still completely black outside. She wondered what hour of the night it was, and what woke her. Then she heard the door to her cell being unlocked. Kara sat upright and backed against the wall. She could think of few visits in the middle of the night that would be honorable ones. She braced herself as the door swung open. In that moment, as her eyes, which had become accustomed to the dark, suddenly saw the lit torches of the hallway, she involuntarily looked away. A brief glimpse had been enough, however, and she looked again to confirm what she thought she saw. It was true – Alessa!
“You found me!” cried Kara, trying to keep her voice down as her excitement rose.
Alessa rushed over to Kara and hugged her tight.
“Are you injured? Can you travel?” she asked Kara.
“I’m not injured,” responded Kara.
“We have no time for discussion,” said Alessa urgently, “but there is one thing I must know. The pigeon said that no one in the palace is to be trusted. Is this true?”
“Yes, Alessa, I’m afraid I have no way of knowing who is against me in this conspiracy.”
“Then perhaps my actions will have been justified,” Alessa said as she led Kara outside the cell and into the hallway. As Kara looked around the hall, lit by torches in the walls, she understood what Alessa was referring to. Two guards lay on the floor, small elven arrows sticking out of the calves of their legs.
“I hope there is no need to kill any more of the guards,” Kara whispered. “I do not view them responsible.”
“Then be glad in knowing that not even these men are dead, but merely sleeping off an herbal potion in which I dipped these special arrows,” Alessa responded. “I knew not who here deserved death.”
Kara nodded in assent. Despite the way they had treated her, she felt sorry for the palace guards. They were, after all, probably even more confused about her standing than she was. It was not their fault she was imprisoned.
“Come, lead the way out of the palace,” said Alessa quietly but urgently. “I have horses awaiting us in the city below. Here, take this.”
She handed Kara a sword. Even in the rush, Kara noticed it was elven in design. She led Alessa up the stairs two levels above. They walked stealthily across a storage room, Kara trying her best to match Alessa’s silent steps. They crossed another large room and then stopped. There in the distance stood two guards in front of a door. Alessa held up her hand and motioned for Kara to wait. Then she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and aimed for the first guard. She let the arrow fly and it quickly whistled through the air and into the guard’s arm. He jumped in alarm and pain as he grabbed his injured arm. The second guard reached for his sword and jumped to the side. It was too late, however, as Alessa’s second arrow found its mark. The first guard had now slumped over from the effect of the elven potion, and soon the second guard succumbed as well.
They ran through the now unguarded doorway and out into the night air. They had passed through one of the side entrances used by servants. No one was present outside the door. Alessa motioned for Kara to follow her as she led her down the hill and into the city. The houses were dark at this time of night, and they passed no one on their way. Soon they wound their way through the third and second walls and came to a stable. There Alessa pointed to two horses.
“I paid for these horses before I went up to the palace. It seemed they would be needed for escape, and I guessed we should have them in place to make our escape quickly. The stable master seemed upset to be asked to make a sale in the middle of the night, but I paid him handsomely and he felt better and went back to sleep. Here, you take this horse, and you can wear some of my spare clothes.”
Kara felt exhilarated, thinking that she had picked the best person in the world to aid her. She changed into the more practical clothes, mounted the horse as Alessa did hers, and they softly trotted toward the main wall gate. As they approached the guards, Alessa handed Kara a hood to wear to disguise her features. She told Kara to let her do the talking.
The guards stopped them before the gate and demanded to know the meaning of two horseback riders in the middle of the night.
“We are travelers from Elaria, elves are we, and mean thee no harm,” said Alessa, affecting the accent and speech of the old-fashioned elves. “We stayed late with friends of ours in thy city, and now wish to return to our home.”
The guards looked them up and down, thought that two female elves were of no concern to them, especially if they were leaving the city, and let them pass through the gates. In a few moments they were free of Tranith Argan, and Kara breathed easier as she lowered her hood. The horses trotted up the long sloping hill above the city, as Kara expressed her profuse thanks.
“I can’t believe you found me so quickly!” she said.
“Not far was I from your city when the bird found me. I would have been in your presence tomorrow had I traveled at my leisure. It was fortuitous.”
“You don’t know how fortuitous your timing was,” responded Kara, who then filled in the rest of Ravesfel’s news. When she was done, Alessa spoke with sadness in her heart.
“Evil tidings these are, Kara, for Ravesfel has taken a false step. Felanar is in now danger as a result. Are we to go to him, then?” Alessa looked at Kara anxiously.
“That is my plan,” Kara said with determination. “Will you accompany me?”
“Nothing under the sky will prevent me this time, Kara,” Alessa returned forcefully. “We must travel quickly, for the armies have a day’s lead on us. If we can reach the coast in time, we may yet find a ship to carry us across quickly.”
Turning to the horses, Alessa now addressed them in their language.
“Faithful beasts of travel,” she said, “you have many times been asked to perform important duties, or have transported noble persons. I tell you in your own language, never before have you carried persons of such worth, or in the service of deeds of such import. Many lives depend on your speed, and I implore you as a friend to carry us with as much swiftness as your legs can manage.”
She reached into her pack and pulled out a handful of leaves. Reaching forward, she fed some to each of the horses.
“Eat this, for it will give you strength beyond your abilities. Use this in our service, and you will be given a rewarding life for the rest of your days. Now fly, good horses, fly to the coast as if your lives depended on it!”
With that, the horses whinnied and set off down the slope of the mountainside. Soon they were galloping faster than Kara had ever ridden, and she hung on tightly as the wind whistled past her face and her hair flew behind her. League after league melted past in their haste, and soon they were on the plain before the mountain.
Kara found herself growing sleepy, despite the heavy galloping of the horses and the excitement of the night. Every time she felt herself nodding off, however, her steed bucked gently and woke her up. Having been spoken to in his own language by a person for the first time in his life, the horse was determined to help these insightful riders any way he could. Even as he raced forward through the night, he was attentive to each movement of his rider. Sensing the sleepiness of Kara, the horse ensured Kara would not fall off by waking her whenever she seemed in danger of dropping off to sleep. Realizing this, Kara woke up in wonder and patted the neck of her horse in thanks. She spoke to her horse and thanked him for his diligence and hard work. The horse neighed in response and galloped even harder into the night.
After several hours of travel, the distant line of Larmoth Bay along the coast could be made out. Dawn was approaching and the deep blue sky had streaks of pink streaming from the east. The village of Lookout Point, the sailing point for the allied armies, and the place where they desperately hoped to find a ship for themselves, drew ever closer with each stride.
Yay!