Chapter III

  Darius froze, his body tensed and ready for action as the shadow crept into the room and silently stole over to where the guard sat slumped in his chair. The figure seemed to be searching for something -- or someone. A rustling of cloth and a scrape of metal could be heard as the body of the unconscious guard was searched. Slowly, the figure turned towards the dungeon’s block of cells.

  In the dim light let in through the wall slits, Darius couldn’t see much of the shadowy form. Along with the sword in its hand, Darius’ own sword was slung over one shoulder of the figure in the dark hooded cloak.

  The silence was shattered by the clattering of metal on stone, followed by a string of muttered curses as the shadow stumbled over the goblet dropped by the guard. The figure stopped its approach.

  “Where is that blasted fire-stone.... ahhh, there it is.” a spark flickered in the darkness, briefly chasing away the darkness as the candle was re-lit. Darius visibly relaxed as the flickering candlelight illuminated Halla’s worried face.

  She hurried over to the cell door, the guard’s ring of keys clasped in her hand. As she tried to find the right key for the door, she caught Darius up on the events of the day.

  “Count Lotch has convinced a portion of the Royal Council that you and Aria were paid by Malthorm to assassinate King Tasraan.”, she told him in a hushed whisper. “The evidence is in his favor, and the Council is undecided about how to proceed. There are rumors that the Count may not wait for the trial before declaring you guilty of treason, and pronouncing sentence.”

  Aria was awake by now and joined them, asking: “What are you planning to do?”

  “Me?” Halla chuckled mirthlessly, “I’m just an old woman from a small village far away. In a few days, I’ll be back where I came from.... You on the other hand, need to get as far away from the palace, and probably need to leave Trideria for a while as well, until everything calms down. Your uncle seems intent on starting a civil war while he tries to grab as much power as possible. The only way I can think of to stop it is for you to go into exile, until the truth can be revealed.”

  Aria looked like she was about to protest when Darius said quietly, “She’s right Aria. A civil war would tear the kingdom apart right now. Your uncle, as commander of the military, has the upper hand for the moment.”

  The lock to the cell clicked as Halla finally found the right key. Swinging the door open, Halla handed Darius his sword and a small pack. “Whew, your things are heavy. I don’t know how you can travel so long with all that stuff. Aria, I have a sword for you, but you may want to grab the blankets off of the cot and anything else you might need for the journey. Hurry, though, I don’t know how long the guard will be asleep.”

  Aria scurried around gathering the few items that their jailers had allowed them to keep. Finally, they were ready to leave.

  “How are we going to get out of here?” Aria asked. “The castle grounds are patrolled by guards, the only way in or out is through the portcullis, which has been closed for the night and is always under heavy guard.”

  Halla gave another one of her mysterious smiles, and said, “There’s another way out. I walked these halls long before your father was born. There are areas of the castle that even he never knew about.”

  Darius slung their belongings over his shoulder, keeping his sword free of its scabbard as they headed for the door. Halla led them halfway up the flight of stairs before turning toward a section of the wall that was covered by a mural of the Great War. In rapid succession, she pressed several pieces of the mural before pushing gently on a blank portion of the wall beside the mural. The wall pivoted soundlessly on concealed hinges revealing a dark corridor beyond.

  “Who are you, and how do you know about these things?” Aria gasped with wide eyes.

  “Not right now.” Halla whispered. Farther up the stairs, they could hear voices coming in their direction. Halla shoved them into the passageway following closely behind. The stone wall pivoted into place behind them just as Count Lotch came down the stairs, followed by a contingent of troops. Through the stones, they could hear the muffled conversation.

  “...don’t care what it takes, I want this trial wrapped up immediately. It’s too dangerous for Aria to be locked up down here. Too many of the palace guards are still loyal to her, even if they are outnumbered. As long as my niece is still around, she’s a rallying point for those loyal to the Royal Family. Also, I don’t trust that Darius. He’s too well liked by the people and has managed to pull himself out of too many situations to be underestimated....”

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  A creak could be heard as they entered the dungeon, followed by the sound of running feet, and Lotch shouting orders.

  “...How did they get past your guards?!? Seal off the grounds! They can’t have gotten far! Also, place the Ruling Knights under house arrest until the fugitives are found. They couldn’t have done this on their own. Someone had to have helped them. Find out who did, and dispose of them! What are you standing around for? You have your orders – move! You there – find Morsteck and have him meet me in the Council chambers. Tell him I have another job for him.”

  They waited in the darkness while the sounds died away as troops rushed to follow their orders. Finally Halla took down a pair of torches from the ancient holders along the walls, and lit them. The light casting shadows on a long corridor that ran under the main halls of the castle.

  Aria looked around in wonder, almost forgetting the situation as Halla hurried them along. Thick dust from centuries of disuse covered the floor, disturbed only by a single pair of footprints that were obviously made by Halla on her way to rescue them. Halla led them down the dark passageway for a bit before saying, “As you can see, your only choice is to disappear for a while. It would probably be best if you leave Trideria for a while. Flee to Malthorm, or Feltharin - at least temporarily.”

  Aria considered this, before nodding in defeat. Halla gave her a motherly pat on the arm, and gestured down the corridor. “This tunnel continues on 2-3 miles straight on before emerging in the woods north of the castle. I've left some supplies and money at the exit. If you hurry, you can make it before they come looking for you. They won’t look outside the castle grounds until morning. From there, I’ll leave it up to you where to go. But, you must hurry.”

  Halla turned to leave, and Darius grabbed her arm. “What about you? Aren’t you coming with us?”

  “Darius, my boy, an old woman would just slow you down, and you need as much speed as you can get.” She gestured down a side corridor they hadn’t noticed until now, “Besides, I can return to my room and emerge with sleep blurred eyes when they come hammering on my door. How would an old woman who tells stories to children have been able to get past all of Lotch’s guards, free two dangerous criminals, and return unnoticed? Besides, I have to get back to let Nara Fitzgul know you two made it away safely. She’d worry if I didn’t.”

  Aria looked puzzled, “What’s Nara got to do with all of this?”

  Halla chuckled. “Who do you think drugged the guard? I guess the dear Count harassed her one too many times. As I said, you still have many allies in the palace.” Halla kissed them both on the cheek, and wished them well before vanishing into the blackness of the corridor....

  A slight tremor woke Darius from the dream. He sat up groggily, wondering if his sleeping mind had been playing tricks on him. A second tremor shook the campsite, milder than the first, aftershocks of a distant earthquake.

  Darius roused himself, gazing around. Sunrise wasn’t far off, and the darkness was already giving way to pale morning. The fire had died down to glowing embers, which Darius stirred to life, adding fresh wood until the fire blazed cheerily once more. Though time had dulled the pain of the events from three years ago, he was still troubled by the dreams.

  Like the tremors of the earthquake that had awakened him, the events surrounding King Tasraan’s murder had rippled through all portions of Aralistra. Following their escape from Altor Castle, Count Lotch had managed to have himself declared interim ruler of Trideria. Darius and Aria were branded traitors and a bounty was posted on their heads. Last year, Trideria had closed its borders to the other kingdoms, only allowing travel and trade by special permit. Recently, rumors had reached Darius that the Count was amassing a huge army.

  Fearing invasion from the south, Malthorm stepped up it’s war machine and cut off all relations with Trideria, recalling the Malthorm Ambassador from Altor Castle. Before he was able to return, however, the Malthorm Ambassador was arrested for spying and executed. Tensions had continued to mount ever since and border skirmishes were common.

  Feltharin in the interim, strove to remain neutral throughout the growing hostilities and continued to trade with the other kingdoms. Darius and Aria had spent the past three years working on-and-off as mercenaries, protecting trade convoys between Feltharin and Malthorm from the ever-increasing bands of bandits and marauders.

  The last convoy had been delivered to a village twenty miles from Darius’ home village of Feldon, and Aria had (somehow) managed to convince Darius that it was time to return home for a visit - a prospect that Darius had been dreading ever since agreeing to it.

  Glancing around, Darius realized that Aria was awake and watching him. “Were those tremors I felt?”, she asked with a yawn, stretching languidly as she sat up.

  “It was distant. Probably off in the Wastelands or the Barrier Mountains somewhere.”

  “I didn’t know that your village ever felt quakes.” she commented, noticing the troubled expression on his face.

  “They don’t.", he said distractedly. "Something’s wrong. I don’t know what yet, but something's felt off ever since we arrived in this area.”

  Aria hid her smile as she busied herself preparing breakfast. She knew that Darius didn’t want to return home, but it had been over ten years since he had left, and she felt that it would do him some good. Darius had been falling into ever-darker moods lately, and she knew that the dreams kept troubling him. Aria was hoping that a visit with his sister would snap him out of it.

  Concerned as she was about Darius, Aria also wanted to find out more about Halla. She still had many questions that she wanted to ask the mysterious woman, but in the past three years, Aria had been unable to track the storyteller down.

  They ate breakfast hurriedly, both of them wanting to be on their way, both for different reasons. The journey to Feldon took the better part of the morning, and the sun was close to its mid-day zenith by the time they arrived at the outer walls of the village.