UNSHEATHED

Chapter Four

They rode for several hours as the night sky turned from deep blue to ink black. When they came to a clearing in the forest by the roadside, the Captain called a halt. The sound of the fast flowing River Erallium filled the air, making quiet talk impossible.

Liran dismounted and pulled a skin of water out of his saddle bag. He drank slowly. Jaline had provided him with some food, but he couldn't eat, not while Joran was still in danger. He checked his horse and then tied it up to graze and joined the others.

His men were tense. Their concern showed in their movements and voices. He was worried too. His life had been turned upside down, and he had no idea how to right it.

The Queen's guardsmen, however, were composed. Their captain approached and sat down beside him. He looked away, feeling angry and frustrated, unable to rage at her when it was only the situation that troubled him. No, that wasn't right......he was angry that she was in control when he felt that he ought to be. It was his son who was in danger.

The Captain turned to him. "I need to understand how the fortress is positioned," she said, "in order to devise a plan.""

Liran clenched his fists. Why had his mother arranged things this way?

"Tell me where the entrances are and which places are they most likely to be holding Joran." she said.

He released his fists and his breath.

She handed him a stick and smoothed out a patch of dirt in front of them. "Please, will you sketch something here?"

He took the stick, suppressing his frustration as best he could. This would help Joran. He began laying out the land around the fortress. Having lived there all of his life, he knew the place so well he did so without thinking.

"The fortress was built on a spit of land that reaches out into the sea. It's right at the mouth of the River Erallium. It's positioned on an angle, so that three corners of the building are right on the edge of the water but the fourth corner faces towards the cliffs behind the beach." He scratched the curving line of the water, and then a parallel line of cliffs behind it. To one side he drew the river, the line of which came to meet the coast. There on the corner where the river met the sea, he drew a square to represent the fortress. He looked at the drawing of his home and wanted to weep. Joran was there, and Rainna held him captive. He had no idea what she wanted or what she might do. He forced himself to continue.

"On the corner facing the land, there is a draw bridge that opens out onto the beach to allow people with horses or carts to get up to the main floor where there is a large courtyard." He used his stick to indicate the spot on his sketch. ""There are also several doors on the sides of the building at ground level that lead inside below the courtyard level. The living quarters are located on the ocean side where a four storey, l-shaped structure rises up to overlook the water on one side and the interior courtyard on the other side. The best rooms are on the top floor. I believe that Rainna will be somewhere up there."

"Why do you think so?" the Captain asked.

"She always liked the view from there. You can see people coming from far away."

"You mentioned a secret passage before - the way they broke into the complex. Where is the entrance?" the Captain asked.

Liran hesitated. This was a close-kept secret he didn't want to divulge to a woman he had just met, especially to one he didn't really like. He looked at her and for a moment. She looked so young-too young to have the necessary experience for this task. There was too much at stake, and she was too sure of herself. A conceit of young people, Liran thought, to be so certain and naïve enough not to know when they are wrong. It had been a long time since he had been that young, for he was now over a hundred years old, but he could still remember.