"I just saw Fend and two of the Vaix riding h.e.l.lhounds or something, so yes."

The horse was over its panic now, and he started off again.

"You won't catch them," Leshya yelled after him. "And you don't want to."

"Oh, yah, I do," he muttered.

Leshya was right, of course. The wairwulves were much faster than horses, and besides, his mount kept shying from their scent.

When he finally gave up, Leshya came trotting up alongside him.

"Why did you come, anyway?" he asked.

"I had a bad feeling," she said. "I get them sometimes, and when I do, I'm usually right. What were they doing, Fend and the Vaix?"

"They were looking for me."

"Good thing they didn't find you."

"Oh, they found me," he said. "Fend offered to escort us through the King's Forest. He thinks we'll need his help."

"His help with what?" Leshya asked, her tone larded with incredulity.

"I don't know," he replied. This time he wasn't sure the lie wasn't his own. It felt awfully natural.

"Really?" she asked, the tone deepening. "He was trying to kill kill you last time you saw him." you last time you saw him."

"That's true. I pointed that out to him."

"Well?"

"He said things had changed."

"What things?"

"It's just another of his tricks," Aspar said. "I'm not sure what he's up to, but it's nothing good."

"Well, he wants you alive for something, or you wouldn't be, right?"

"Werlic."

She shook her head. "Why would the Blood Knight want you alive?"

"He didn't really say."

"Curious."

How long was she there? he suddenly wondered. he suddenly wondered. Did she hear the whole conversation? Is she testing me? Did she hear the whole conversation? Is she testing me?

Or was she, after all, with Fend?

Either way, he should probably kill her. He reached for the feyknife casually, as if he were just going to take the reins.

CHAPTER FIVE.

AUSTRA.

"THAT'S LIKELY IT," Cazio breathed, gesturing with his nose toward the long coil of the Old King's Road they could see from the cobbled-together treehouse z'Acatto referred to as their "mansion." There, a carriage with an armed escort was making its way along the ruts. The driver, Cazio could make out, wore the gold, black, and green livery of the d.u.c.h.ess of Rovy, which was Anne's household t.i.tle. Cazio breathed, gesturing with his nose toward the long coil of the Old King's Road they could see from the cobbled-together treehouse z'Acatto referred to as their "mansion." There, a carriage with an armed escort was making its way along the ruts. The driver, Cazio could make out, wore the gold, black, and green livery of the d.u.c.h.ess of Rovy, which was Anne's household t.i.tle.

"So it'll be a fight," z'Acatto sighed.

Cazio was starting to ask what the old man meant when the scene suddenly shifted into finer focus.

The escort wore the orange and dark blue of the knights of Lord Gravio, one of the Church's military orders.

"She's already been captured," he murmured.

"There's no proof she's even in there," z'Acatto said. "It may be some fat sacritor or a half dozen soldiers."

"It might be," Cazio agreed, "but I only see see five. I'll worry about any in the carriage later." five. I'll worry about any in the carriage later."

"Five men in full armor mounted on war steeds," z'Acatto pointed out. "One or two would be plenty."

"Yes, I've learned my lesson there," Cazio said.

"I doubt that."

"No, I have. One doesn't fence such men; one hits them with something heavy, yes? So what do we have that's heavy?"

He searched for an answer to that. The mansion was nothing more than a sort of blind they had constructed where the branches of two large trees came together. It was about ten pareci off the ground. They had some empty wine carafes and a few sticks. That was about it. Given the distance, they still had a little time, but not more than a quarter of a bell.

Z'Acatto took another drink of their last bottle of Matir Mensir, and for a moment Cazio thought he was going to sleep. Instead, he sighed and wiped the back of his hand across his stubbled mouth.

"I have an idea," he said.

As Cazio stepped into the road in front of the small cavalcade, he was still not certain that z'Acatto's idea was a good one, but it was the only one they had.

"Halt there," he shouted.

The knights lifted their visors, and he could see their astonishment.

"What's the matter with you?" one of them, a fellow with a reddish mustache, asked.

"I heard knights of Lord Gravio were on this road," he said. "I said to myself, 'Has the knight of Gravio ever been born that I couldn't beat wearing nothing more than my skin and a sword?' And the answer, of course, was no. But then I wondered, 'What if there were two or three of them? I might break a sweat.' But I'm thinking four of you might have a chance."

"Get out of the road, you naked idiot," another of the knights said. "By that popinjay's sword you wield, you're no knight."

"Let me get this perfectly clear," Cazio said, leaning on Acredo. "You're afraid to fight a naked man. You understand I was saying you can all come at me at once, right?"

"Knights of Gravio only battle knights, you slack-jawed pig sodomizer," the mustached man said. "All others have two simple choices: stand aside or be cut down like honorless dogs."

"I heard that about you brave, brave fellows," Cazio said. "Heard you mostly kill women because headless lovers can't complain of your impotence."

"Leave him be," one of the fellows in the back said. "He's clearly mad."

"There's only so much I can hear before I must act," Mustache gritted. "But I make allowances. Stand aside."

Cazio stepped a little closer. "If it's my words that are the problem, let me use a language more apt to you fellows."

He sent an arc of urine in their direction.

That did it. Mustache howled, and two of his fellows broke after him, all drawing broadswords.

Cazio turned and ran as fast as he could. That wasn't as fast as a horse could run, of course, but he could reach his top pace first.

As he dashed around the bend that took the road into the forest, he glanced back and saw they were gathering speed, their swords held low and c.o.c.ked, ready to decapitate him.

He ran another three pareci, hurtling around another curve, and then turned to get on his guard.

The three hors.e.m.e.n thundered around the bend. Mustache had on a fierce smirk and started to shout something, but at about that time, he and his brothers. .h.i.t the rope Cazio had strung between two trees. It caught Mustache right across the face and one of his companions at the gorget. The third had seen the trap and tried to bring his sword up to cut it, so he was caught by the forearm. All three went flipping backward off their mounts.

Only one of them got back up, and that was the man who had brought his arm up. Cazio didn't wait for him to find his feet but walked up to him quickly, opened the visor that had snapped shut when he fell, and smashed Acredo into his nose. As the man screeched, Cazio lifted the helm off completely and hit him again. He went sprawling back.

"I gave you cowards a chance to fight with honor," Cazio said. "It was more than you deserved, more than you offered me, and so here we are, with you forcing me to this."

Then he turned and sped back toward the carriage, where he found z'Acatto standing over the fourth knight, who was p.r.o.ne on the ground.

"Are they dead?" z'Acatto asked.

"One of them, maybe. I didn't stay to find out."

"We should finish them," the old man said.

Cazio shook his head. "I don't murder men who can't fight back. You know that. You taught me that."

"That's in a duel. In war there are times you do what you have to."

"I'm not at war," Cazio said. "I'm only trying to save my friends."

"You have to be practical."

"I've been plenty practical enough for today," Cazio said. "Let's just get on with it."

"Have it your way, then," z'Acatto said. "I'll just walk over and see if they have anything useful on them."

"Oh, let's do that together," Cazio replied.

"You don't trust me?"

"On the contrary, I trust you to be you. Anyway, what if there are are fifteen soldiers in the carriage? I'll need your help." fifteen soldiers in the carriage? I'll need your help."

Z'Acatto shrugged and wiped his sword on the dead knight's tabard. Then the two of them approached the carriage. The driver was gone, apparently having run off.

Each door had a little barred window, but Cazio didn't see anyone peering through it, and his heart sank. What if they already had done away with her?

He grasped the handle and pulled, but the door remained fast.

"There's no lock out here," z'Acatto observed. "But there is is someone in there." someone in there."

"Austra?" Cazio asked, rapping on the door. "It's me, Cazio."

There wasn't any answer. He rapped again, harder. Cursing now, he started to pound on the door.

"Step back," z'Acatto said.

Cazio did so and saw that the swordmaster had the dead knight's heavy blade.

"Careful," Cazio cautioned.

The first swing shattered the glossy varnish, the second sent splinters flying, and the next caved in the panel. Using the tip of the weapon, z'Acatto pushed the cracked wood aside so that they could see in.

Austra was there, pale, unmoving, and gagged. A fiftyish man with faded blond hair slumped next to her, eyes open but unfocused. His nose and mouth had drooled blood onto his chin.

"Austra!" Cazio shouted, reaching through the hole to locate the bolt on the inside. He found it, drew it, and yanked the door open.

He touched her face and found it warm. An angry red mark on her cheek and left eye told of a bruise to come in the next day or so. Her dark saffron gown was slashed and b.l.o.o.d.y, revealing red-smeared thighs.

"Austra!"

He put his ear to her heart and to his relief felt it beat.

"We need to go," z'Acatto said. "The Church is all over these roads. We'll take the carriage and hide someplace."

"Right," Cazio muttered, still trying to get some sort of response from Austra.

"Help me get the man out."

Reluctantly, Cazio reached over and opened the bolt on the other door. When z'Acatto started pulling, he began to shove.

The fellow coughed, and blood spewed from his nose.