Return of the Stormcriers

CHAPTER 17 - AN OFFER

"Pick up your pace, we should rejoin your friends before they enter the war room," Reyna prodded, pulling Matt along the well kept path that led down the mountainside into the valley below. The finely crushed gravel slid under their feet as they stepped, but they steadied each other as they went. Matt got the feeling that their journey down the mountain would have been much smoother if they had walked slower, but Reyna was insistent that they maintain their breakneck pace in order to catch the Zachary fellow before he reached the outer gardens of the manor.

The man in the lead of the other group, who Matt assumed was Zachary, held up a hand to stop his men and Matt's friends at the noise of the rocks clattering down the mountainside. He was a tall man, with short black hair and the serious features of a much older and world weary man. He appeared to be in his mid twenties, perhaps a handful of years older than Reyna, perhaps around the same age as Prince Alexander. He raised a quizzical eyebrow at the sight of Reyna and Matt stumbling down the trail, momentarily revealing a more playful disposition than his face had shown at first observation.

  "What is the rush, Reyna?" Zachary asked, stepping forward to meet them at the foot of the mountain. Matt ignored the playful banter between his two captors and seized the opportunity to study his friends. Their hands, like his, remained bound, but their blindfolds had not yet been removed. They had turned to face him and Reyna, the clamor having caught their attention, but they were painfully unaware of his presence despite the fact that he stood only a few feet away. He longed to shout to them that he was alright, and tell them of everything that Reyna had explained him, but he resisted the urge. He did not want to draw the wrath of their captors when they were so close to getting an audience with the leadership of the resistance.

"Why have you removed his blindfold?" he overheard Zachary ask Reyna quietly beside him. He kept his eyes trained ahead of him, feigning obliviousness to the conversation taking place mere inches away from him. Glancing at Matt before answering, clearly unwilling to talk openly in front of her prisoner, she motioned subtly to Zachary to step away from Matt before she began to speak animatedly to her companion. Matt did not even attempt to hide his interest in their conversation, straining his ears to pick up every piece of information he could hear. From the little he could overhear she was filling Zachary in on Isaac's murder and their incorrect assumption of Isaac's family's allegiance to the High King.

Zachary swore explosively at Reyna's words, loud enough to cause Matt's blindfolded companions to start in surprise, but he lowered his voice for the remainder of his sentence after Reyna placed a calming hand on his arm. She said something to him in a softer voice that caused him to smile for just a moment before he shook his head in frustration, stalking back to the group with a soured expression.

Without a word he gently untied all three of the blindfolds, causing Matt's friends to squint uncomfortably in the midday light, instinctively turning their faces toward the ground. Zachary stood back and motioned for his men to give them room as their vision adjusted. Edric and his fellows appeared understandably confused at the sudden change in the treatment of their captives but they kept their opinions to themselves.

  "You! You're Duke Clerice's son," Anthony's voice, filled with surprise and anger, rang out through the valley as his eyes found Zachary. He scanned his newfound surroundings, quickly taking in all he could of his new location. His vision locked on Reyna.

  "I knew I recognized your voice," his face paled somewhat as the implication hit him. "You're the resistance aren't you?"

  "We are deeply sorry for your recent loss, your father was a good man," Reyna bowed her head in obvious sadness, ignoring Anthony's accusation. "We were not aware of his death at the time we seized you."