Could this man have been an informant, telling them who to arrest? Maybe, he thought with a thin ray of hope, the Swords rely on snitches to make their arrests, giving the impression of "omniscience" to enhance their authority.
The man who ran Kai through fled when he saw me. He was long gone by the time I found the harp. If there were no witnesses to the Bardic Spell, then just mayb If he stayed in the stable much longer he'd freeze to death. Any warmth to be had in the place was down there, with the beasts. And their owner would likely appear at dawn to tend to them, if not sooner.
A door creaked open at the other end of the stable, and Alaire held his breath. His heart was beating so fast he was afraid it would give him away.
He saw nothing of the level below him, but who- ever came in didn't stop at the animals. The ladder began to rattle as someone climbed it. Alaire reached for his sword and stood ready with it.
Kai's head popped up over the edge, and he froze, with the tip of Alaire's sword at his throat.
The boy stared at him, then the blade, then ba Alaire before saying, softly, "I see you're up. How do you feel?"
Alaire let his breath out, and withdrew the blade.
"Better. Come on up here."
Kai did so, with two canvas sacks slung over his shoulder, "I brought breakfast. And clothes. We can't go around looking like we're highborn anymore."
Kai seemed grim, but alert and sober. "So," Alaire said, dropping his voice in response to the obvious need for quiet. "The Swords are looking for us?"
"Everybody's looking for us," the Prince whispered urgently, dropping one of the sacks between them.
Although dried blood covered his clothes, his recovery seemed to be total. If he had any pain from the wound, he didn't show it. "The Swords of the Associa- tion, the Constables, the Royal Guard. You should be asking, who isn't looking for us!" He fixed Alaire with an angry look. "You have a lot to answer for!"
"Huh?" Alaire replied, completely confused. "I only -- "
"Why didn't you tell me you were a Bard?" Kai demanded. He opened one canvas bag, presenting a banquet of food. Sausages, cheeses, bread. Even a flask of wine. The sight of it all made Alaire's stomach clench with hunger. Gods, I'm starving! he thought, forgetting Kai's wrath.
They started eating, using Alaire's knife to carve up the food. Once Alaire got some of the food in him, his stomach quieted, and he felt much better prepared to face whatever came.
"As I was saying," Kai said sternly, gesturing with a sausage. "Why did you have to use magic, of all things?
We had those toughs beaten! Now we've got everyone in the kingdom looking for us. There's a reward for us, too. Ten thousand crowns!"
"Dead, or alive?" Alaire asked, carving another hunk of sharp cheese off the enormous round.
"I'm not joking," Kai protested, filling his mouth with bread and sausage.
Alaire regarded him askance. Then, it fell into place. He doesn't remember anything from the time the assassins attacked us to when the spell healed him.
Either from drinking, or from the magic. I still can't believe I putted that off. He looked at die harp, sitting behind Kai, and wondered with awe, am I a Bard now?
Kai continued to seethe at him, plainly thinking Alaire had taken a stupid and cowardly way out of the fight.
"For one thing," Alaire said, patiently, "I'm Bard. I am only studying to be one, and I've not achieved that status yet. We didn't mention that before, because we were under instructions fro King, my father, remember, to keep that to ourselves.
Would you have allowed us into your kingdom had you known? No," he said, answering for Kai. "Anyway, the question is moot. I tried the spell that I thought would work, because if I hadn't you wouldn't be talk- ing to me right now. You'd be dead. You suffered a fatal wound. Remember?"
Kai's look made it clear the Prince didn't believe him. "What are you talking about?" he asked irritably.