The Unknown Thief

Part 14

Chapter 14

Nathaniel’s eyes widen as the stone came tumbling down upon him. Right before it slammed into his face, it stopped moving.  Letting out a deep breath, he turned to Aubrey, ready to ask the many questions on his mind.  Before he could though, her hand snapped over his mouth.  Her other was off to her right, and Nathaniel had a feeling that she was covering another’s mouth too.  He had to admit though; the thought did not bother him as much as he thought it would.  Her having her hand on Alin’s mouth did not bother him the slightest.

Footsteps walked across their shelter, and Nathaniel could hear the mumble words.  “Where did she go?” one hissed.

Another voice, strong and distinctly feminine answered, “Obviously in hiding. Who would have thought the chit was intelligent enough to mask her magic.”

“She always hides her tracks, my lady.  It is the other who does not do have enough control.”

“Yes,” the voice purred.  “If it were not for our new little magic maker we would never be able to find her.”

“What would you like me to do, Mistress?”

Nathaniel heard the tapping of her foot above them.  Letting out a sigh, she answered, “We will have to travel ahead and hope to encounter them later.”

“They have the soothsayer with them, Madam.”

The tapping stopped.  “She has him with her?”

The woman’s voice was deathly quiet, and Nathaniel could feel the chill roll down his spine at her tone.  “Y-yes,” the man stuttered.  “The gypsy man is with her.”

“Do you know what this means?” the woman yelled.   “She has another strong magic user with her, another to help her hide from me!  What will I do once she reaches her destination?”

The man cleared his throat.  “I thought that our job was to see to it that she never arrives to her destination.”

“It is, you fool.  That does not mean we can allow our guard to drop.  She has the soothsayer with her.  The man may not know it, but his voice holds power over everyone, not just animals.  If he were to prefect his gift, he would be able to work on humans also.”

“Non-magical ones.”

“No,” she hissed.  “Anything.  If he tries, he can use his voice on anything.”

“Does Princess Aubrey know of th-Ouch!”

“Do not speak her name!” the woman yelled with obvious fury.  “You know that allows her to hear our words.  Do not speak another word.  Get onto your horse and ride away.  I think it is time we left this place before she finds out exactly what our plans are?”

“What are our plans?”

The mysterious woman groaned, but did not say another word.  Nathaniel kept his arm firmly around Aubrey as the sound of horses trotting faded away.  She turned her face into his neck as the stone around them fell. 

“You knew they were coming because they said your name?”

Aubrey nodded into his neck, but did not push far enough away to look him in the eyes.  Nathaniel glanced over at the only other person at their camp.  Alin laid there with Daisy cuddled into his side as if she were a common house creature instead of the scary beast that spit fire.

“Do you understand what has just happened?” Nathaniel asked.

Alin nodded.  “She heard them whisper her name into the night.  The only thing she could think to do was hide us in the earth.”

“Where did the stone come from?”

“I have not a single idea,” Alin admitted while looking at the sandy ground beneath them.

“Why did we not hear them as they arrived?”

Again, the man shrugged.  “I do not know.”

Aubrey mumbled something into his neck that he could not understand.  Reluctantly pushing her away from him, he looked down on her with a large smile.  “What is it, love?”

“She had a cloaking spell, and the stone was beneath us all along.”

“How did you know it was there?”

She sent him a tiny smile.  “I did not.  I called to the earth; I had expected sand to cover us, not the stone.”

“We would not have been able to breath.”

“We would have been dead either way then, because we are not strong enough to fight.”

He opened his mouth to protest before closing it once more.  It was true; they were not in shape to fight any magic people.  Aubrey had a wound that should be inflicted on him.  Nathaniel still felt weak from the throw even though his wound was healed.

“We cannot stay here,” Aubrey mumbled while pushing away from him.  “We need to leave quickly before she realizes where we were and travels back.”

“She would have no way of knowing,” he told her, wishing that his words were true, but knowing that they were not.

He watched as she stood to her feet.  They wobbled underneath her.  Her once vibrant eyes were glassy, and Nathaniel knew she was in pain.  He turned towards Daisy, ready to tell the dragon to help her master, but she was already in her large form, waiting for him to hand over their precious cargo.

He lifted her, despite her protests, and placed her upon Daisy.  The dragon snorted, shifted, before finally letting out what sounded like a sigh.  Nathaniel just shook his head at the two.  Daisy may hate him, but she would do anything for her master.  It was the only reason why Nathaniel allowed Aubrey to sit on her back as they began walking.  Where they were walking, he had no idea.  All he knew was that once he got there, it had better be fantastic.

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