CarlysleCoupLeavingTheHotelReturning to the doorway, Decuma looked in the direction of the stable, waiting for one of the Lagoran's men to give the all-clear. A few minutes later he saw his lookout start to signal ... then cut off the gesture as if he'd changed his mind. At the same time he saw the Anderons -- Giulian and his mother and sisters -- come through the door opposite him and start down the passage toward the door to the outside. Elissa was with them. Edmund looked from the passage back to his companion. "Those were the Anderons, right?" he asked Decuma. Decuma stiffened as he saw his cousins and Jules' girlfriend exiting from the side service door. There wasn't time to wait. They could be walking into danger. Stepping outside, Elissa was careful to look around the entire area. She moved her wrap carefully around her arms in case she had to fight and stayed closed to Giulian's sister. "Jules!" Decuma called out, just loud enough that he was sure his cousin would hear him. Without waiting to see if Edmund was following, Decuma hurried out into the courtyard to join his cousins and Elissa. "What are you doing?" Once he was out in the courtyard, Decuma could see that two carriages were pulled up there and waiting: Giulian's curricle and the Anderon town coach. Two men in Anderon livery were just descending from the drivers' seats of the vehicles. Giulian turned at his cousin's hail. "I'm getting Mother and the girls out of here," he told Decuma. The distance in the courtyard between the doorways and the vehicles was uncovered and Decuma found himself glancing up at the rooftops. "Your drivers should have brought the coaches closer," Decuma chided. "Please, wait just a moment longer. I have men checking out the surrounding area to make sure all is clear." He included his aunt and cousins in his plea. "For your own safety." Giulian's gaze automatically followed Decuma's. His mouth tightened briefly; then he said, "All right." He didn't bother pointing out the too obvious fact that the curricle was an open carriage. A moving target would still be harder to hit. Decuma felt better with the Anderons waiting under the covered area near the exit to the kitchens. He looked back toward the stable but no longer saw the man he had sent in there, who had begun to wave him in a moment before they saw the Anderons. Well, obviously the Anderons weren't anyone to worry about, so Decuma decided to go out to the stable to make sure his own carriage was readied for the Regent. His step-father Lagoran had always been suspicious, and for once Decuma was glad that he had insisted on Decuma taking an unmarked carriage. Since Edmund seemed involved in the conversation in the kitchen with Lord Maxim, he'd also check with the Bahlmis driver to move their rig out as well. Meanwhile, as Decuma began to move toward the stables, Giulian motioned to the Anderon drivers to bring the carriages in closer so that he and his family would be under cover as they climbed in. Once they had done so, following his earlier instructions, the two drivers climbed down from their seats. Martin handed the Anderon ladies into the larger, closed carriage while Giulian consulted with his mother in an undertone about where they were going. Then, once Bea and the girls were safely inside the carriage, Giulian made his way over to his own curricle and climbed into the driver's seat, stowing his crutches and taking up the long driving whip. Once Giulian had the reins in hand and had given him the necessary directions, Danton took Martin's place on the box of the coach, leaving Martin to wait for Delan. Decuma entered the stable and looked around for his man. He was about to call out and felt a prickling of the hairs on the back of his neck. He could hear horses stamping and snorting, but not the usual banter of drivers and grooms. He tightened the grip of the hilt of his sword. He walked slowly down the center aisle glancing from side to side as he passed each stall. It was as he came to the third set that he realized that the horse gate was not fastened. He paused in mid-stride. With a cry a man leapt out, timing his attack to the footfalls he had been hearing, but missing by a fraction. His slice was met by a blade instead of soft skin. The clash of metal on metal shattered the peace of the stables. Decuma backed away, measured step by measured step, drawing his opponent into the open courtyard where he could better maneuver. Giulian was already looking in the direction of the stables, hoping to see Decuma return and give the all-clear, when he heard the clash of blades. Alarmed, he started his horses into motion, signing Danton to do the same. "Trouble!" he snapped. "Move!" A moment later he saw what the trouble was as the combatants started to emerge into the courtyard. He acted almost without having to think about it. "Go on!" he shouted to Danton. "I'll catch you up!" Then, as the heavy coach rumbled out onto the street, he guided his lighter vehicle and perfectly trained team around in a tight curve that only a skilled driver could make. Giulian had never learned the sword, rarely even handled one. Crippled as he was, there was no point. But with the carriage whip in his hand he could take a fly off a horse's ear without touching the horse. Indeed, his team almost never felt the lash touch their hides, its sound being enough to guide them. But now, as the curricle swept toward the dueling men, Giulian's hand snapped up and forward. The whiplash snaked out and struck the would-be assassin in the face, cutting his cheek to the bone. Still standing in the street, having gone off to search around and make sure they weren't followed, Elissa raced back towards the courtyard and stables. She slid to a stop as she stared at the combatants and Giulian racing his team, his whip flying through the air. "Giulian..." she called out in a half whisper and in shock at seeing him like that. She watched the carriage with Giulian's family race away and looked back at Giulian, all the sudden unsure of what to do. Giulian's manuever would have allowed Decuma to move in for the kill. Only, he didn't. He wanted this man alive. Decuma wanted whatever information this man might have -- such as who had sent him and why! He pressed the attack, hoping that Giulian would be able to snare the man with the whip. His blade work flashed swiftly and the would-be assassin was hard pressed just to block the strokes, each one just inches from taking his life. For a few moments Giulian himself was preoccupied with controlling his team, who did not at all like the clashing of swords so nearby. He reined them in with difficulty, but they continued to dance nervously in their traces. An anxious glance spared for Decuma and his opponent told him that his cousin had not finished the man off, as Giulian had expected. Another few moments' cogitation told him why. With the horses so restive, he probably couldn't risk using the whip more than once more. It would have to count. The lash snaked out again. The supple, braided leather whipped two or three coils around the unknown assassin's ankle. Giulian gave it a hard yank, hoping to pull the man off balance. The man did lose his footing; he stumbled, falling, but with that, managed to break free of the whip. His sword, however, had flown from his grasp and landed a few feet away. He tried to crawl back toward the stables when shouting behind him made him hesitate. Decuma threw himself forward, landing on the man, who had begun to rise, and whose hesitation gave him the perfect opportunity. They wrestled on the ground, first one having the advantage and then the other, until a knife blade flashed. Whose hand was it in? Pulling something from her purse, Elissa dropped her cloak and bag and raced towards the two men. With a flick of her wrist, a long stable pole unfolded to full length. Spinning in the ground, she turned and thrust out the end towards the men. With a cry, she managed to shove her pole under the knife and move it towards the one who attacked Giulian's cousin. She flicked her pole again and the man's sword flew up in the air and she grasped it. Soon, both the end of the pole and the sword were at the man's neck, held strong in Elissa's hands. She glanced over at Decuma. "I take it you are all right, milord," she said. Decuma slowly pulled himself off the man who was effectively pinned by the staff and the sword that Elissa wielded. He leveled his own sword at the man, his eyes hard as nails. Yet, his voice answered Elissa's query quite calmly, "Yes, I'm quite all right, thanks to you and Jules." Giulian in the meantime had succeeded in calming his team, now that the flailing and clashing of weapons had stopped. He sat poised with the reins in his hand, watching and listening as Decuma and Elissa dealt with the would-be assassin. "I'm sure you could have taken him!" Edgar exclaimed. Decuma chuckled dryly. "Kill him, yes. But you see I wanted him alive..." "And so you have him!" Edgar came forward with the rope in hand. "Holly found some rope. Maybe we can tie him up?" "And then let me talk to him," said a fresh voice grimly. It was Talaren Bahlmis; having seen there were sufficient people in the stable he had moved swiftly through to check the immediate vicinity, and was now back inside. "We need to know if there are any more of these assassins around." "If there are... wouldn't that indicate a conspiracy, milord?" Gianina asked quietly. "And if that is the case... he will have powerful reasons not to speak..." Decuma retrieved the rope from Edgar and swiftly made short work of securing the man with whom he had been fighting. Hearing Miles mention the dead man, Decuma knew what had happened to the man he had sent into the stable. He twisted the rope tighter as he secured the final knot. "Elissa," Giulian called, "if Decuma's all right, we need to go." Now that Talaren was on the scene, he was confident this assassin could be dealt with; the prospect of others lurking in the city made him all the more anxious to follow the coach that carried his mother and sisters. Decuma nodded to Elissa and Giulian. "Yes, I'm fine, you should go." Twisting the pole in her hand, Elissa folded the weapon up once more to an innocent looking item. She secured it with the leather flap and placed it back in her bag. She looked around at the chaos, but controlled by the appearance of the older gentleman, and nodded. She walked to the Giulian's team and gently placed her hands on the horses' soft velvet noses. Castor and Pollux whickered gently and nudged at her hands. "Good boys... Yes, you were such good boys," she whispered to them in a calm, clear manner, her eyes looking past them to meet Giulian's with a smile. Giulian returned her smile, though his eyes were still anxious. "Yes, they performed admirably," he agreed. "I hope they'll be equal to whatever else I have to put them through tonight. Here, give them this." He dug into his pocket for a couple of lumps of sugar and tossed them to Elissa. Elissa caught the lumps of sugar with ease and smiled. She whispered to the horses again and held the lumps up for them to take. She petted their noses again. Decuma came up to Giulian with concern. "Go after your mother and sisters, but keep your heads down and go swiftly." He clasped Giulian's hand, "God speed." "Speed is what it's all about," Giulian responded with the barest flicker of a smile, returning Decuma's handclasp strongly. His expression sobered as he added in an undertone, "Take care, Lupo. "Come on, Elissa," he called as he gathered up the reins. Nodding, Elissa walked over and climbed up with ease. She settled next to Giulian on the seat and smiled to Decuma with a nod. "Take care," she said as well. "Stand clear," Giulian called once Elissa was seated beside him. He cracked the long carriage whip over the horses' heads, and the chestnuts started obediently forward. By the time the curricle swept out of the courtyard onto the street, they were already moving at a brisk trot. (Continued in Carlysle Coup: To Anderon House) |
