Chapter Two -- Caught!

“Well?” the voice said. Kayla looked up to find herself staring down the blade of a short sword—too long to be a dagger—beyond which a stern, black haired woman was glaring, waiting to be answered. Kayla swallowed, unable to remember what question she was supposed to be answering. Had the woman asked anything else? She couldn’t remember much of anything besides the steel glinting in the very faint moonlight in front of her face. The woman looked impatient, though, so Kayla took a chance.

“Um…” That was it! Kayla remembered what it was she was supposed to be answering. She started to smile, and then it sank in. Who’s there? Kayla couldn’t answer that! She had to keep her name a secret. It was too risky, someone might know it, or might repeat it in the wrong company. She didn’t even want to tell her given name, never mind tacking her father’s onto the end of it! The sword in her face jerked a tiny amount; the woman was growing impatient.

“Um, what?” the woman scoffed. “You going to tell me who you are, or do I have to run you through?” Kayla backed away from the sword point that had been thrust for emphasis. She most certainly did not want to be run through…

“Rhianne? What have you got there?” This voice belonged to a man. It was smooth and light and musical… and the man approaching looked anything but. In the darkness of the woods he was all angles, and his dark hair and sharp goatee looked sinister in the extreme. He spotted her, cowering on the ground where she had fallen. She cringed, waiting for an order to kill her or worse.

“Trespasser,” the woman responded offhandedly. Trespasser? Kayla thought. What was she trespassing on? Surely no one owned land out here in the woods!

“Rhianne…” the man said, exasperated. “No, we’ll go over that another time. What I want to know is why this poor frightened child constitutes a dangerous trespasser. Care to enlighten me?” The voice was as light as ever, but carried an undertone of mockery.

“She’s one of them,” the woman snapped back. One of who? Kayla wondered. There was no mark on her to indicate where she had come from, was there? Had she not been scared stiff she would have looked about her person to make sure no such indication existed. As it was, she just stayed where she was, not wanting to call any more attention to herself than necessary. This man seemed, somehow, to be the one interested in showing her mercy.

Unfortunately, the man seemed to know better than Kayla did what the woman was talking about; he backed away ever so slightly, and leaned over to inspect Kayla more thoroughly. “Are you sure?” he asked, some of the lightness gone. After a moment, he laughed, loudly and unexpectedly.

“Oh, Rhianne, even if she were, can’t you see how young she is? Look at her! She’s scared out of her poor little mind!” All this came between guffaws of laughter. Kayla found herself resenting this man a little, even though she knew he had likely just saved her life. Was she really that pathetic? She tried to move to stand, only to discover that she had twisted her ankle, probably about the time the woman’s voice scared the wits out of her and she tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. She couldn’t help it, she cried out.

“Ow!” Both man and woman turned swiftly towards Kayla, the man’s laughter gone as if it had never been. The woman had her sword trained at Kayla’s throat again, but the man’s eyes held concern.

“Are you okay?” he asked, sounding a bit uncomfortable. Kayla tried again to stand, confirming that her ankle was definitely hurt.

“I think I twisted my ankle,” she said, feeling a little strange about doing so. The woman still had her sword pointed at Kayla, though not with as much conviction as before. The man followed her gaze, and glared at his companion.

“Oh, put that thing away. Not only is she young, harmless, and injured, but you’re scaring her, too!” There was something odd about the man's voice, Kayla thought. It had an oddly resonant quality to it, and sounded strangely familiar.

“Cut the dramatics, Jojo,” the woman said, lowering her sword. “Just because she looks harmless doesn't mean she is.” That comment sounded like one not meant to be heard, Kayla thought.

“So we take her to the Maestro,” the man said. She couldn't tell in the darkness, but she thought he was glaring at her. “Not simply kill her off hand.”

For some reason, the thought of going before the Maestro was more intimidating than the woman with the sword still in her hand. What kind of man would be master to these two? Kayla had horrible visions of being taken into a camp of thieves and brigands. What would such people do with her? Just kill her, as the woman wanted to do, or worse? She shuddered. It might have been better to get caught by a Mage and dragged back home in disgrace.

“Alright, get her up then, I'm not carrying her,” the woman muttered. The man came closer and offered Kayla his hand. Wary but not sure she had any other option, she took it and tried to stand, keeping her weight off of the injured ankle as much as possible. The man slipped his arm around her waist to steady her; Kayla shuddered at the intimate contact, but again saw little choice but to endure it.

They walked slowly in deference to Kayla's injury, but all too soon the ambient light from the camp began to light the forest around them. Kayla wasn't sure what to expect... she had visions of horrible things, but she thought they were all terribly unlikely, even considering that she was probably being taken to a camp of brigands. The reality, though, took her completely by surprise.

“How did it go?” a young man asked as Adli came into the house, returning from his meeting with the Head of the Guild. Adli looked up. Another man might have given his apprentice an encouraging smile, but Adli was not the type to do so. Adli's apprentice for two years now, Julian was used to this, and did not expect anything of the sort.

“Terrible. He authorized Minh to spy.” Adli spat the word with unconcealed venom. Julian blinked, looking surprised.

“On the Warlocks?” he asked. Adli nodded. “He's more worried than we thought,” he added after a moment. Adli threw his cloak down to the floor in anger, and Julian promptly picked it up and hung it on a peg on the wall. Adli rolled his eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you, boy, you are not my servant,” the old Mage said with a weary sigh.

“It is expected of an apprentice,” Julian responded. They had this conversation daily, sometimes more than once.

“And that is a reason to do something? Because it is expected?” Julian just smiled. Adli was a cranky old man, but he was a good Mage to be apprenticed to. Julian had heard that some Mages treated their apprentices like slaves; with Adli, he was more of a partner. An extremely junior partner that didn't know his way around yet, but a partner nonetheless-- Adli shared things with Julian, and they worked on things together. Like this mess... but there was another reason for that, Julian knew.

“Do you think she was kidnapped?” Adli asked after a moment. Julian shook his head. This was another conversation they had been through many times.

“I almost wish she had been,” Julian said, “because running away is such a stupid thing to do. Much as I may not like it, though, it seems likely she did in fact run away. Where to, though, I haven't a clue. She never talked about anything like this.” That bothered Julian; Kayla had been his best friend for years. If she hadn't told him anything that hinted at this, what else had she not told him?

“I don't think she planned it,” Adli said. The slight softening of his voice was all the sympathy Julian was going to get; fortunately, the boy picked up on it and nodded in thanks.

“Neither do I, and that's why I'm worried about her. I mean... she could end up anywhere.” There wasn't much to be said to that, and Adli wasn't the sort of man to make empty remarks for reassurance, so they sat in silence for a long while, each lost in thought.

Abner Harfor, the Head of the Guild, did not rest well that night. He had been hoping some news of his daughter's whereabouts would be coming his way tonight. His Seer had told him there was good fortune for her today; he had assumed that meant that she would be found so she could be brought back home. It was still possible that it was true, but that the news had not reached him yet. Somehow, he couldn't make himself believe that.

But good fortune was still good fortune, and he would have to content himself with that. At least he knew she was alive to have good news. His seer had been unable to locate her, but he had expected that. He had placed a cloaking spell on her many years ago, and had refreshed it whenever it started to fade; it would fade, now, without his influence, and he would be able to locate her when it did. But that would be months from now, and he would worry for her until he could confirm she was safe and bring her home.

He knew that Adli was angry with him, and it troubled him. He respected Adli greatly; the other Mage was a very wise man, and had been so even when Abner himself was first raised to the Guild. But he could not see any other option but to do what he had done, no matter how much Adli might disapprove. He had to know if the Warlocks had her. Not only for his own peace of mind, either; she had lived in his house, who knows what she might tell them? The Warlocks were ruthless killers and would stop at nothing to eliminate the Guild, which they saw as competition. What would such vicious men do with his poor daughter, to get to him?

He did not sleep well that night, nor had he slept well since the night of the Festival, when she disappeared. He did not expect to sleep well again until she was home.