Chapter 34 - Escape on Horseback

Andres hastily donned the armor that had been laid out for him. As he did so, he turned toward Legs and asked, “Hey, what in the world was the deal with that strange question that the girl asked you?”

Leg replied, “That, my friend, was simply an example of a sign and a countersign. You see, I was looking for a person that had been set aside to contact us. The signal that I’d met the right person would be that the person would approach and ask me that question. When I heard the question, I knew we’d met our contact. However, she didn’t know that she’d necessarily met the right people, so she had to wait for the right answer. When she heard it, she took us to this designated spot.”

Andres kicked himself for not figuring this out earlier. After shaking his head a couple of times, he asked a second question. “But what kind of question is that--’What is greater than max?’ It’s the oddest question I’d ever heard.”

Legs laughed softly, then replied, “You see, it had to be an obscure kind of question. Think about it--what if the secret question was, ‘Are you the guys that want to crush Dor-ko?’ If she met the wrong people, what would happen? She’d give away that she was loyal to the king, and she’d be in big trouble. She had to ask a question that would sound kind of silly to the wrong people, but would make sense to the right people. Besides all that, recite the question and answer to yourself. ‘What is greater than max? A million...’ If you say it fast, the whole thing becomes one big question: ‘What is greater than Maximilian?’ That is the question that we who are loyal to the king have been asking ourselves for years. What is greater than Maximilian as ruler over all of the realm of Aberdeen? What would be greater than the complete defeat of Slumbutter and Dor-ko, with Maximilian reigning over these western wastelands, just as he reigns over the rest of his domain?”

Once again, Andres winced at his own inability to figure this out. Still, he was relieved to have found people loyal to his father, even in the midst of this dark and dreary castle, this stronghold of rebellion. He’d hardly imagined that it was possible. Still, he had other nagging questions that were bothering him. “That’s all well and good, but tell me this--was it really necessary to whip the girl back there?” he asked. “I mean, while she was helping us and risking her life, there you are, making her scream. What was the deal with that?”

“Oh...I’d almost forgotten about that,” replied Legs. “You see, girls and women are pretty well despised by the forces of Dor-ko. Since we were surrounded by Black Knights, we had to act like them. We had to treat the girl the same way that they would have. The last thing we need to do is stand out any more than we already do. Beside, I never actually struck her. I just kind of snapped the whip in the air, and she screamed.”

“So the whole thing was an act?”

“Yep. She’s a pretty impressive actress, isn’t she?”

Andres had to admit that he was quite impressed with their new companion. He wanted to tell her how brave she had been. He wanted to thank her for risking her life to enable them to escape. But Andres was a very masculine young man who, at age 14, was still not terribly refined at the art of communicating with the female gender. So instead, he just turned turned to her and blurted out, “So...what is your name, anyway?”

“My name is Kaelanna,” she replied. “I am the daughter of Fred the jailkeeper. The cruel Dor-ko came to my home, kidnapped me, and made me a prisoner nearly four years ago. Then he told my father that he would kill me unless my father came and served him. We’ve lived in the same castle all this time, yet we’ve never seen each other.” Kaelanna fought back tears and her voice cracked slightly as she said, “Please...get out of here and bring the king back. I just want to see my daddy again...”

Legs, who had finished putting on his battle attire, stepped toward Kaelanna and put his arm around her. “We’ll do everything we can,” he replied. “We serve a great king, and if I know him at all, I know that he wants to help your family get back together again. But let me ask you this...would you like to come with us?”

Kaelanna looked up at Legs and said, “You’ve been a prisoner, sir. Surely you must know how badly I want to get out of here. But I’m afraid I can’t. What would Dor-ko do to my father if I were to escape? I’m afraid he would hurt him, and maybe even kill him. I can’t do anything that would hurt my father...so probably I should just say.”

Legs replied, “Think of it a different way, Kaelanna. Look--if you are gone, then there is nothing left to keep your father here! He will be free to escape without fear of what could happen to you! Maybe this escape is just what he needs to give him the courage to flee from this horrible place.”

“But how would he know that I’m free?” Kaelanna asked. “I’m afraid that Dor-ko would find out that I’d escaped, blame it on my father, and then throw him in prison. I just can’t do that to my father!”

Legs replied in a calm, soothing drawl. “Look--you are not doing anything to your father. If any harm comes to him, it’s because of the wickedness of Dor-ko and Slumbutter, not because of anything you’ve done wrong. But think of it like this: the life of your father right now rests in the hands of the king. Oh, I know...Slumbutter is the lord of this wretched castle. But King Maximilian rules over all the land, and he is coming. I just know it--he’s coming! You, little girl, need to entrust the life of your father to the king. In the meantime, the door to freedom is open to you. Will you take it?”

Kaelanna took her eyes off Legs as she stared around the little room where the four of them were clustered. Andres saw her bite her lip, stare at the walls, and then breathe in deeply. She then turned back to Legs and said, “I’m done with this horrible place, sir. My life is in your hands, and my father’s life rests in the good hands of King Maximilian. Three horses await us in the stables. I say--let’s go.”

Legs gave her a quick hug, then reached for some rope that hung from the wall of the chamber. He bound her hands and feet with it. As he did so, he said, “I hope this isn’t too uncomfortable. But for now, you’ve got to look like a hostage. Please forgive us, but once we get out of this room, we may have to handle you a bit roughly. Just hang in there and remember--soon we shall be free.” Then, turning to Gregorex, he said, “Throw her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I’ll lead the way to the stables--just follow me and don’t say a word. All right...let’s roll.” On his command, the three disguised warriors, with Kaelanna draped over Gregorex’ shoulder, strode out of the room.

Legs guided them to the left as they departed the closet. The hallway was filling up with black knights, all of whom were armed for battle. Most of them were heading in the opposite direction, and Legs did everything he could to bump into as many of the black knights as possible. Most of the time, when he ran into someone, he knocked them to the ground. Andres figured that the best way to remain inconspicuous in Dor-ko’s castle was to appear as rude as possible.

Soon, Andres heard a voice shout out from behind them. “Hey, what are you guys doing?” someone bellowed through the dimly-lit hallway. Legs ignored the call and picked up his pace, knocking more unsuspecting black knights to the floor as he barreled down the hallway. But still, the voice from behind kept calling out, “Get back here! Where are you guys going?” Andres was sure they had been discovered. Once again, he muttered under his breath, “We’re doomed.”

Finally, an extremely fat man came running past them and planted himself in front of Legs. He was completely out of breath, but he was determined to not let Legs move another inch. As he panted, he looked Legs in the eyes and said, “Where...are...you...going? What are you doing...with this girl?”

“Why do you care?” retorted Legs.

“Just answer my question,” said the fat man. Andres was extremely agitated by the fact that they had been stopped. He thought he heard Kaelanna gasp as she heard the fat man’s voice.

But Legs was as calm as a summer pond at dawn. He replied, “Look, genius, as you can see, we’re running off to battle. We’re on our way to Cliffton to fight the forces of the wretched rebel king.” Legs paused, gagged and spit, and then continued. “Well, I don’t really feel like getting pierced through with an arrow. It’s bad for my health, as you might guess. Or maybe you wouldn’t guess, since it looks like you are simply a jailkeeper who doesn’t go out to battle. But anyway, this girl was giving me trouble today, so I figured she’d like to join us in the combat. She’ll ride with me, on my horse. We all know that the army of the wretched rebel king has archers that can shoot an arrow through a worm crawling on a tree leaf from two hundred yards away. But when those archers see the girl on my horse, they won’t shoot. For in their twisted minds, the life of a girl is a precious thing. So this girl is riding into battle be a sort of a human shield. Now get out of my way!”

The fat man didn’t budge. “It sounds to me like you, sir, are a coward.”

Legs shoved the fat man and bellowed, “Since when did the forces of Dor-ko start worrying about the lives of girls, or about such qualities as courage? You are out of place, and you are in my way. Get lost!”

The fat man pushed Legs out of the way and lunged toward Gregorex, who stood just behind. He knocked Gregorex to the floor. Gregorex twisted his body so that Kaelanna tumbled on top of him, rather than under him. The fat man reached out and said, “Let go of that girl!” Gregorex fought to keep hold of Kaelanna. But then the fat man stopped and stared at the girl whose face was now revealed to him. “Kaelanna!” he cried out.

This was when Andres realized why Kaelanna had gasped earlier. This fat man was her father, Fred the jailkeeper.

Legs immediately sprung into action. He grabbed Fred, yanked him to his feet, and pushed him against the wall. He grabbed Fred’s arms and held them behind his back. Then, yelling at the top of his voice, he cried out, “If you want to see your daughter again, you’d better get out of here NOW! Do you understand?” He then gave Fred one last hard shove.

Andres saw Fred collapse to the floor. He put his head into his hands and began to sob. Legs signaled to Gregorex and Andres to follow. Though the broad hallway was filled with other black knights going to and fro, none stopped to ask what had happened. Everyone went on as before--except for Fred. As Andres paced down the hallway, trying to keep up with Legs, he couldn’t help but look back one last time. Fred was still crying. And he could hear Kaelanna’s soft whimper as well as she dangled over Gregorex’ shoulder with a gag in her mouth.

Eventually, the group came to a footbridge that crossed over the castle’s moat. On the other side were the stables. Very few horses actually remained; most had been mounted and ridden out to the battle formation. Legs continued to lead, silently and briskly guiding them to their destination. He reached the far corner of the stable, where three horses were tied to a post. He then stopped and looked around. No one stood within twenty yards of them. He motioned to Gregorex to put the girl down. Legs then unbound Kaelanna himself. As he did so, he spoke softly. “Look, Kaelanna, I’m awfully sorry that you had to see that.”

Kaelanna wiped her eyes and looked down. Legs then continued. “I...I had no choice, sweetie. We were surrounded by bad guys. The only way we had any chance of getting out of that castle was to convince everyone that we were just as bad as they were. Well, we’re out now. And...I know this may not sound like much, but when I pulled his arms behind his back, I secretly tucked the map into his hands. If he takes the time to look at it, and if he musters up his courage, he’ll know a path of escape. So...so really, we can be thankful that he crossed our path. And I really hope that we’ll see him soon.”

Legs then motioned for Gregorex and Andres to mount up. Legs was the last to get on his horse. He positioned Kaelanna behind him and said, “When we’re around other people, you’ll need to keep your arms behind you, as though you are tied up. Just hold on with your knees. We’ve still got to convince everyone that you’re our prisoner. But when we’re away from people, feel free to put your arms around me. Okay?” Kaelanna nodded. She hadn’t spoken a word since seeing her father.

The trio of horses and their riders then pulled out of the stable. When they reached the open air, Andres looked around and saw hundreds of horses assembling in formation. It was still dark, though the moon was casting some light. Off to the east, Andres saw some faint light starting to puncture the night sky. He figured it had to be about 4 o’clock in the morning. As Andres looked eastward, he saw where a path had been carved through the dense forest. This was clearly the “eastern road” that Annala had secretly mentioned to him last night, when he’d first arrived at the castle. Somewhere out there was his sister. He was eager to find her and to inflict some pain on those who had captured her.

Gregorex was the next to speak. “Uh, Legs,” he said as quietly as he could while still being heard above the clip-clap of hooves. “Where do we go from here?”

“Just be prepared to follow me,” was Legs’ reply. He then brought his horse to a halt and looked around. While others were nearby, no one was looking in their direction. He then drew his bow and notched an arrow. Aiming it skyward, he let the arrow fly. While that arced through the air, he grabbed two more arrows and did the same thing. Soon a cry went out among the black knights, from the vicinity where the arrows had landed about a hundred yards away. In the confusion, while everyone’s eyes were directed toward the arrows, Legs turned to the right and motioned to the others. “Now!” he whispered. The three horses galloped away at full speed.

At first, Legs guided them toward the woodline. When they reached the edge of the woods, they turned to the left toward the eastern road. They stayed next to the woods until they reached a safe distance from the assembled black knights. Once they were out of sight, they shifted more to the middle of the road. The soft earth muted the sound of the hooves as they galloped through the darkness.

Within a couple of minutes, the group reached the crest of a hill. Just beyond the crest, Legs again brought them to a halt. After a brief pause, he softly whistled into the silence. Almost immediately, Andres heard two short whistles that seemed to come from the right, inside the woods. Legs again motioned for the others to follow. The horses headed into the forest, entering just to the left of an extremely tall oak tree. At first, thick undergrowth made the travel extremely slow. However, once the horses made their way through the first couple of rows of bushes, they came to a path. Someone had created a trail, hidden from the main road. Legs, Gregorex, and Andres slowly plodded along through the dark.

Soon a voice again penetrated the thick darkness and silence of the forest. “Excuse me,” said the voice. “But I have a question to ask.”

Andres moved his horse over to the right, so that he could see past Gregorex. He faintly saw what appeared to be an old man in a cloak, standing in the middle of the path. The man had a staff in his hand, but was otherwise unarmed.

Gregorex piped up and said, “Look, mister, it’s time for you to move on.” He grabbed his spear as he spoke.

The old man was unfazed. “Actually, mister, it’s time for you to be silent,” he replied. “Though you cannot see them, you should no that no less than ten men stand in the woodline with arrows notched and aimed at your heads.” The old man then clapped once. The clap was followed by an arrow that flew overhead, whizzing directly by Gregorex’ head.

Gregorex ducked and bellowed out, “All right, boss. You’ve got me. Go ahead.”

“Thank you,” the old man continued. “As I was saying, I have a question. What is greater than max?”

Andres couldn’t stay silent any longer. He finally figured out what was going on, and when Andres knew the answer to a question, he just couldn’t contain himself. “A million, sir!” he roared.

“You may pass,” said the old man as he stepped to the side. The three horsemen and Kaelanna continued their journey through the woods.