Catherine

  I exited the Carok Travelers Inn and smiled. I missed it here. Not even Elizabeth's sour attitude could ruin my mood.

  "I want to go home, Catherine. We have been on the road forever," She complained as soon as I exited the inn.

  I sighed. "I haven't seen John in forever, and I want to tell him the incredible news. It's not like it was too much longer, and we will leave soon."

  "An extra week of traveling with miserable weather is a long time. And as I have said before, he probably has already heard about Amos."

  "I still want to see him. We have more details than he does, and it will be satisfying to tell him I have more about something than he does. Look, I just paid for the inn. Why don't you go to the room and relax? It will give you and Aramis some alone time. I will go see John, and maybe we can get a decent meal."

  "We could have been having decent meals all along if we had stuck to the Kimton road. Instead, you wanted to take the scenic route on the back roads of the duchy."

  "I know you want to get home to show your father the cloth. But just give me a couple of days here, and we will leave straight for home."

  She sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry, it's just…"

  I gave her a hug. "Thanks, Liz. I will hurry."

  I made my way down to the docks. John ran the warehouses down there for his father. It was going to be so nice to surprise him. I walked into the first of their warehouses, but it took me until the third before I found him. He was at the counter speaking with a worker. When I walked in, our eyes met, and I smiled. He, however, just stood there with his mouth agape. Then, the color drained from his face, and he became white as a sheet.

  I was about to ask him something when he unfroze and said to the worker. "Excuse me, I must deal with this customer." Turning back to me, he smiled and said. "Dear Peggy, it has been a while. Let us go to my office."

  I was so dumbstruck that I didn't even resist when he led me by the arm to a small office. It was just large enough for a table and a few chairs. He did not sit down, though, nor did he offer me a seat.

  "How are you alive Catherine, and why did you come here of all places? Do you realize what you have done?" He said angrily.

  "What are you talking about? I came to visit you. I thought you would be happy," I said in an annoyed tone. He had never treated me this way.

  "How did you escape?" He demanded.

  "Escape what? I have been traveling. I just came up from Kimton via the Metsum Caravan route."

  "Which probably saved your life," he said thoughtfully. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You need to leave now. You were never here."

  "What is going on, John? I demand you tell me."

  "You really don't know? You can no longer demand anything of me. Your family has been caught."

  "Stop talking nonsense! Caught doing what? This better not be one of your pranks."

  "Your father is part of the rebellion. How could you not know?"

  "What rebellion?" I asked.

  He looked at me in shock. "How can you be so ignorant? What rebellion? Those who oppose the king, of course. Your whole family is dead."

  "No! You're lying! My father would never-"

  "Believe it. Not only did your father get himself killed, but my whole family almost died. We had Royal Investigators crawling over every inch of our property, looking for evidence that we had been helping him. It nearly sank our business, and we have already had to shut down two warehouses. All of our credibility is gone because your family was a traitor to the crown."

  I fell to my knees, and the world began to spin.

  I awoke slowly, looking at the rafters of a building.

  I looked around and found John sitting in a chair. Everything came back to me. "John, please, please tell me I was only dreaming. My family, they aren't…" I said weakly, not able to finish the sentence.

  "I'm sorry, Catherine. It was no dream, " he said with a sad expression. "I have been sitting here struggling with the idea of whether or not to turn you in. It would solve a lot of my family's problems. It would restore some of our credibility. It is also the lawful thing to do."

  I could feel the color drain from my face. And I began to cry.

  "Curse you, Catherine, I'm not going to turn you in. No matter how badly I want to. You will crawl out this window and flee. Take these letters to the docks. There is a ship called the Flounder. Say that you heard they are leaving for Vaspar and would like passage. There are three guards who are also passengers, traveling to a barony near there. You will accompany them. That first letter is to the guards requesting they escort you, and the second is to the ruler of the land they are traveling to. You are to tell no one of your true identity. You are now the daughter of a merchant fleeing an abusive husband. I have no doubt the ruler will take you in. I will not give you any more information than that on him in case you get caught. You must leave with the tide in two hours. You are not to mention my name ever again. Forget that you were ever Catherine Manticole. Here is some money for your travels. Buy new clothes, the clothes your current travel clothes are too nice. You are a commoner now. "

  This was too much. I couldn't handle this. "John, I-"

  "Go now. In two hours, I will tell the guards I have captured you and locked you in this room. I will post one of my own men here as if we were making sure you didn't escape. I have to do this in case you have already been recognized by someone. I am taking a huge risk here. Go before I change my mind." He said as he opened the shutters leading to a back alley.

  I crawled through the window and began to wander out into the main street. I was in a daze; I wasn't even sure where I was going. I looked down at the meager amount of silver John had given me. I couldn't live off of this. It wouldn't even last until I got to wherever John was sending me. I needed my gold. I could borrow Elizabeth's travel clothes as well. They were very fine, and I couldn't spend time having a quality set tailored for me.

  I found myself wandering into the inn in a daze. I went first to my room and grabbed my two puses of money from my trunk. I needed to go to Liz's room and ask her to borrow her cloths. I walked back down to the commoners' floor and knocked on Liz's door.

  She opened the door. She looked flushed but decent still.

  "What is wrong, Cathy? You look terrible," Liz said.

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  I was supposed to just ask for her travel clothes and leave, but when I saw the look of concern in her eyes, I flung myself into her arms and began to sob. She held me until I calmed down and could finally speak.

  "Liz, I have to go. They- they say my father is a traitor. They killed my family, Liz. I need to go. Please let me have your travel clothes. I need a disguise."

  She stood there shocked for a moment before finally springing into action.

  "Oh my gosh, we have to get you out of here. I'm not letting you go alone," I was so out of it I didn't even argue. She went to the trunk at the end of her bed and started pulling out some clothes.

  There was a loud thunk behind us, and when I turned to look, Aramis had just locked the door. "I'm sorry, ladies, but neither of you is going anywhere. You see, it isn't just Catherine's father who betrayed our king but also yours, Elizabeth."

  "What! No, Aramis. What are you talking about?"

  "I wanted to turn you two in at the capitol, but it looks like I will have to do it here," he said in a flat tone.

  A tear rolled down Elizabeth's cheek. "Aramis, I, we…"

  "You thought we were going to get married. I admit I enjoyed your company the last few years, but you were a means to an end. I needed to get close to the Baron. The third son of a knight couldn't catch the eye of a wealthy Baron's Daughter, but her best friend, who had been spurned by society, was much easier. How fortunate it was when I found out the merchant was the intermediary for information passed to the baron. When I turn you two in, I will finally earn my knighthood, and I can be done with this farce. And when I share all the other possible contacts we met in Kimton, I may even get a hereditary title," he said this all in his usual solemn tone.

  Liz fell to her knees and began to sob. I was furious. I should have been furious about him turning in my family. I probably was, but all I could think about now was that my best friend was sobbing on the floor. A farce. He had spent the last couple of years with Liz, and he called it a farce. I charged straight at him, raising my hand to hit him.

  He caught my wrist easily and squeezed. Pain shot up my arm, and I cried out in pain. He flung me across the room, and I landed on the bed. I tried to get up, but he struck me across the face, and my vision began to blur.

  "Get off her!" Liz shouted as she lunged at him. He flung her to the side as easily as a child would throw a doll. I looked over to see her crumpled body on the floor.

  He pulled out a knife. "Don't move, Elizabeth, or I will kill you. Catherine is the only one I need alive." Then he shoved the knife close to my face. "I only need you alive. If you give me trouble, I will cut you up."

  His knife looked much larger, with it so close to my face. Suddenly, his back arched, and Aramis screamed in pain. He twisted around, and I heard an odd tearing sound. Blood sprayed all over my clothes as his body collapsed to the floor.

  I looked up to see Elizabeth screaming incoherently at Aramis as a large quantity of blood was pooling around him on the floor. She continued to shout as she began to kick the barely moving body. When I came to my senses, I got up and dragged Liz back.

  "Stop screaming. We have to go. People will come soon." I stripped off my clothes and got into the outfit Liz had put out for me. When I was done, I turned to find Liz looking down at Aramis's body in shock. I took the money John had given me, as well as any money left in the room, and grabbing Liz by the hand, I dragged her to the door.

  Putting up my hood, we made our way quickly towards the docks. I did not want to ask anyone where the ship was lest the guards found out what ship we had left on. Fortunately, it was not hard to find the Flounder as the name was on the side of the ship. Running up to the side of the ship, we saw a man next to it shouting at some sailors.

  “Excuse me,” I said.

  The man turned and looked both Liz and me up and down. “What do you want?” He practically growled. The man's tone took me aback. I was not used to commoners speaking to me in such a way. If we were not in such a desperate situation I would have demanded an apology for the insult.

  “I understand you are departing for Vaspar. We seek passage,” I said.

  He glared at me. “No, we ain't got room and you two look like trouble.”

  I began to panic, but Liz took over. “There are three soldiers among your passengers who promised to take us to Vaspar. How much would it cost to make room?”

  “We ain't got no accommodations for the likes of you.”

  “I have five gold crowns,” I blurted out. By the look on Liz’s face, I knew I had made a mistake. I thought it was a good price, but maybe it was too little.

  What I said caused the man to pause. I didn't understand the look in his eyes, but he gave a gruesome smile and said, “Ok, lass, I guess I can squeeze you in. Don't complain if you ain't comfortable. Give me the money.”

  As we traveled up the plank, Liz whispered to me. “You can't spend our money like that. I could have gotten us passage for a couple silver crowns a piece.”

  I flushed. “I didn't know.”

  “Let me handle things. Also, you better pray that those soldiers are good men, or we are going to be robbed of everything we have and accidentally fall overboard.”

  I paled as I thought of how much I wasted. Five gold was what a decent dress would cost. I couldn't believe that passage on a ship was less than a dress. This is why I should have my servents with me. They would have taken care of this. We wandered around the deck and finally saw three men in peasant garb not running around helping.

  “Excuse me, are you perchance the three guards traveling to a barony in Vaspar,” I asked.

  They all three turned from their conversation and looked us up and down. Not a single one bowed, and before I could get offended, I remembered I was in merchan's traveling dress.

  One of them spoke up. “We are. How might we help you?”

  I handed him the letter, and he opened it. After scanning it, he handed it off to another one of the guards and said, “Looks like John wants us to escort these young ladies.”

  “We can pay,” I blurted out, worried they might not want to help.

  The man who seemed to be their leader just laughed. “Don't worry about it. We would have been stranded here if Chuck hadn't remembered that our lord's cousin lived here.”

  “Your lord is cousin to John?” Liz asked.

  “Yes, Baron, I mean Count Amos Bicman,” he said with pride in his voice.

  Johnathan

  “When she came to me pleading for help, I told her to wait here. I have locked her in my office,” I said to the guard as we walk to the small office. Bill, my foreman, was waiting outside the door. He stepped aside as I pulled out my key. Unlocking the door, I stepped inside and froze.

  The guard behind me shoved me to the side and entered. The shutter was now open and the table was pushed over near the window. The small box that contained my coins that I kept in the office was smashed open. I started to swear. "She took all my money! Quick, I think I know what hotel she would probably stay at. There is only one place near here that wench would be willing to stay at."

  I, of course, was the person who broke my favorite box, and I was actually praying that she hadn't booked a room at "The Sparrow." It was the only place a noble would stay in this area. I should have asked her before she left so I could have avoided it. If she booked closer to the center of the city, I could lead the guards on a wild goose chase. That girl was going to owe me big time.

  We entered The Sparrow, and I walked straight up to the counter. It was a nice inn with cloth on the tables in the eatery. The accommodations were more spacious than most. It was usually reserved for the merchants who came via ship. "We are looking to see if Catherine Manticole booked a room here."

  The young girl looked at a guest list for a moment.

  "Yes, she booked two rooms for her and her guests as well as rooms in the servants' quarters for her servants."

  I cursed inwardly at my luck. She should have booked something elsewhere. And of course, she has servants, but she didn't mention she was traveling with others.

  "Show us the rooms," the guard demanded.

  We went to her room first, and there were no signs of her having ever been there, but when we entered her guest's room, it smelled as if someone had used a chamber pot and was not bothered to clean it.

  The location of the smell became obvious as soon as we entered. A young man lay in a pool of his own blood, and it appeared that he had vacated his bowels upon death. The blood had poured from an artery in his neck. I grimaced as I looked at the bloody letter opener lying in the blood. I stood there in shock until the young girl who was escorting us screamed.

  I bent down and took a closer look at the corpse. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. Most likely, it was somebody I had seen down in Manticole. I had to improvise. "The blood is dry. That means she did this before she left to see me. I wonder if he is a lover of hers, or did he try and rape her? She never mentioned her companions. When she came to me saying she was in danger I thought she meant the fact that she was to be hung as a traitor. Did she mean this instead?" I said.

  I didn't think that was true. Most likely, my stupid cousin had told her companion that she was fleeing, and they tried to stop her. Idiot, she was supposed to go straight to the ship.

  "Is there anywhere else she would flee to," the guard said.

  "She hates ships. She gets violently seasick, but I will check the docks. I know what she looks like, and I can pass her description around. I will grab a few more guards on the way, and we will turn the dock area upside down."

  "I will check to see if she left her servants and grab some more guards. We will force the servants to help us if they don't want to hang alongside their mistress."

  "Alright, I will hurry. I must restore my family's honor."

  She has already caused enough trouble for me. She better not cause any trouble for Amos. And… Sorry, Amos. I really had nowhere else to send her.