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They caht of the clusters of houses, farms mostly, just to the north of Palmaris, and were heartened indeed to see that many of the folk had come out of the walled city and returned to their ho to nor astride his horse, riding next to Pony, who along with Bel-li&039;er walked in front, flanking Brother Youseff, whose hands were bound tightly behind his back "We will know peace again, and soon," Connor promised, and that seemed a likely notion to all the others, for they had seen no monsters all the way to this point
"Caer Tinella and Landsdown ion," the ranger reasoned "What few rearrison" The ranger stopped then, taking Sy the horse to a halt He looked up at his two friends, and both Pony and Juraviel understood
"We do not dare enter the city," Elbryan said to Connor "Nor even get close enough that those folk in the farht see us" He looked at Brother Youseff as he finished the thought "Even knowing of us seenize that you are rightly branded as out-laws," Brother Youseff retorted sharply "Do you believe that the Church will cease its hunt for you?" He laughed wickedly, see not at all the prisoner here
"Itprob-lems when the truth of your actions at St Precious beco Greystone up between the er
"And you have proof of these absurd accusations?" Brother Youseff was quick to reply
"We shall see," Connor answered, and turned back to Elbryan and the two on Syer and I will deliver him to my uncle," he explained "We will use the secular channels of power before trying to decide howand hisa small war," Pony reasoned, for it ell- known that the Church was nearly as powerful as the state - and soical powers of St-Mere-Abelle considered the Church even more powerful
"If such a war is to begin, then it was started by those who murdered Abbot Dobrinion, not by me or my uncle," Connor replied with conviction "I a the proper course in response to that heinous act, and in defense of my own life"
"We ait for word," Elbryan put in, not wanting to belabor this point any longer
"Roger and I will return to you as soon as possible," Connor agreed "I know that you are anxious to be on your way" He was careful to end the thought there, for he did not want the dangerous htaway to St-Mere-Abelle Given the wonders he had seen of stone er openly declared to Youseff that they would be going after their captured friends The less precise inforerous man held, the better for all of them
Connor er walking beside hiet back out to you, then farewell, Nightbird," the nobleman said in all sincerity
Elbryan followed the nobleaze back to Pony
"I would be a liar if I did not admit that I was envious of you," Connor went on "I, too, loved her; who could not, after witnessing her beauty?"
Elbryan had no practical response, and so he said nothing
"But it is obvious where lies Jill&039;sPony&039;s heart," Connor added after a long and unco the ranger in the eye
"You do not intend to return to us," Elbryan suddenly under-stood "You will deliver the ed noncommittally "It is painful to see her," he admitted "Painful and wonderful all at once I have not yet de-cided which is the more prominent emotion"
"Farewell," Elbryan replied
"And to you," said Connor He looked again to Pony "May I say ood- byes to her privately?" he asked
Elbryan offered a consenting smile - not that he considered this in any way his decision If Pony wanted to speak privately with Connor, then she would do so, whatever he, Elbryan,so back to Pony and delivering thefor Juraviel to slip down froed the horse out to join the man
"I may not return," Connor explained
Pony nodded, still unsure why Connor had coain," he went on, understanding her un-spoken question "I had to know that you ell I had to" He paused and sighed deeply
"What do you need from me?" Pony asked bluntly "What can we say that has not been said?"
"You can forgive me," Connor blurted, and then tried desper-ately to explain "I was hurt my pride I did not want to send you away, but could not stand to see you, to know that you did not love me"
Pony&039;s s for ive," she replied quietly "I find what hap-pened between us to be tragic, for both of us We had a special friendship, and I shall always treasure that"
"But what I did, on our wedding night" Connor protested
"It is what you did not do that allowed me to place no blame," said Pony "You could have taken iven you - indeed, I ic to cut you down on the field when first I saw you again!" She knew that to be a lie as soon as she heard the words cos toward Connor, she could not use the geeful way
"I am sorry," Connor said sincerely
"As am I," Pony replied She leaned over and kissed the h," she said "You see the eneht well" And she turned her horse about and walked back to Elbryan
Soon after, Pony, Elbryan, and Juraviel were heading back to the north, full of hope, but ht be as dark as their trip to Aida to face the demon dactyl They hoped Connor&039;s , and the sensible and godly members of the Abellican Order, if there were any left, would turn against this wicked Father Abbot who had so wrongly imprisoned Bradwarden and the Chilichunks They hoped, too, to find their friends healthy and free before they ever entered St-Mere-Abelle
But practicality told theht take months, even years Bradwarden and the Chilichunks could not wait, did not deserve to wait, and so the three planned to set off for the abbey on All Saints Bay as soon as Roger, and per-haps Connor, returned to theer and Connor strode toward Palreat faith in his uncle Rochefort Ever since he was a child, Connor had looked up to the reat man who shaped life in the city All the otten himself into trouble, his uncle Rochefort had taken care of things quietly and effectively
Brother Youseff recognized that confidence in the man, both from his boasts of what his uncle would now acco manner in which he sat in his saddle
"You should understand, Master Bildeborough, the raue with those two," theyou," Connor promised
"But the embarrassment to your uncle!" Youseff pressed "What fun it shall be when the King learns that Baron Bildeborough&039;s nephew is traveling with outlaws"
"I a down at the man "Now"
Brother Youseff was not amused "Your accusation is ridiculous, of course," he said "And your uncle will recognize that fact and apologize profusely to the Church - and perchance the Church could be persuaded to accept the apology and not excommunicate him"
Connor scoffed openly, not really ierous hts, though, for himself and for his uncle He tried to hold fast to his confidence in the great man, the Baron of Palmaris, but reminded himself repeatedly not to underestimate the power of the Church
"Perhaps even you two could be forgiven," Youseff went on slyly
"Forgiven for defending ourselves?" Roger quipped
"Neither of you was involved," Youseff replied "Only the girl and the other one And perhaps the elf - no such creature was known to us, and thus his fate is yet to be deterain Connor scoffed For this man who had stalked him at the Way, who had tried to catch him to kill him, to insist that he wasn&039;t involved was purely ridiculous
"Ah yes, the girl," Brother Youseff went on, changing his tone, looking up out of the corner of his eye to measure Connor&039;s re-sponse "Hoeet that capture will prove," he said lewdly "Per-haps I ht find time to take pleasure with her before I present her to- indeed he had invited it! - and he didn&039;t waver now, but let Connor smack him across the back of his head It wasn&039;t a hard blow, but one that Youseff could con-vincingly use as he dove down to the ground, slah the blow He heard the pop-ping sound as the bone dislocated, felt the waves of pain washing over hily froht his arle of the bindings
"We are aler scolded "Why did you hit hi?" Connor replied, and Roger had no answer Roger went for the fallendown from Greystone
The security of Youseff&039;s ties depended on not being able to bring his arms farther back behind him, but noith the shoulder popped out of place, that was no longer true He got his left hand free in ether, ignoring the nuer was beside hi to put his arms around the erous of the pair
Then Connor was there, helping Roger hoist the monk back to his feet
Faster than either of them could realize, Brother Youseff tucked his feet under hiht arid C position That deadly hook drove right into Connor&039;s throat, stunning the ht through so that Youseff held Connor&039;s windpipe in his hand
He looked the noble, then tore out Connor&039;s throat
Connor Bildeborough fell away, clutching at hisfutilely to stem the explosion of blood that rose about him in a cri lungs
Youseff spun and struck, knocking stunned Roger to the ground
The youngfor Connor and little against the powerful round, and while Youseff turned back to taunt the dying Connor, Roger o and kill your uncle next," Youseff said with an evil grin
Connor heard hi, he felt, slipping deeper and deeper into a blackness, deeper within hi to nothing-ness His vision narrowed, becaht and warreat comfort, one place of hope: he had one now, except the light, the warer held on dearly to one stirrup as Connor&039;s frightened horse bolted, dragging hi hard; Youseff had taken up the chase
Growling against the pain, Roger pulled hithened his grasp on the saddle, then reached back and slapped Greystone hard, spurring the horse on Hefast, closing ground
Using all of his agility, every ounce of his strength, Roger pulled hiround, and with the drag gone, the horse put soer didn&039;t even try to gain a proper seat, but just pulled hi with each painful jolt
The fine horse left the monk behind
A frustrated Brother Youseff kicked hard at the ground He glanced up and down the road, both ways, wondering which course he should take He could go back to Palmaris - with Connor dead, there would likely be no accusations raised against hiues in the north would not be suf-ficient to bring such charges against the Abellican Church
But while he didn&039;t fear the Baron of Pal back to Father Abbot Markith news of the disaster made the hairs on the back of Youseff&039;s neck stand up Dandelion was dead, but so was the troublesoone, to the north He had to get to hier could rendezvous with the others, had to ensure co back upon the woo back after her, and her two companions They had only beaten hi, but now
Then he could report back to the Father Abbot
Brother Youseff started to run, legs puer was riding easily, but quickly The iven up, he suspected, for they both knew that Roger et back to Elbryan and Pony, which Youseff could not allow Still, Roger was not too worried, for with the horse he could keep ahead
But barely, he sahen he cli back down the road to see the !
"Ier muttered, for they must have covered more than five reat as if he had just taken up the chase!
Roger climbed back on the horse and started away at a faster pace He could tell that the olden coat - but he couldn&039;t afford to let Greystone slon He glanced back , that theto the road,that the monk, incredible as the man was, could not ain soon after, confident that he had left his pursuer far behind, and plotting the best course to find his friends; they had arranged to meet at an abandoned farmhouse no er&039;s eyes hen he saw the glea now, having thrown a shoe
Roger was down to the ground in an instant, running to retrieve the shoe, then back to the horse to see what leg it had come from The ansas obvious before he even approached, for the horse was lier hooked his arm about that limb and bent it up at the knee
The hoof was in bad shape Roger didn&039;t know o on unless that shoe was replaced And there was no way he could do that
"Bloody powrie luck," the youngback ner-vously down the road It took all of Roger&039;s willpower to control hisfears, to force hih the probleht, sensing that the ot to Elbryan and the others He then wondered if any houses this far north were inhabited once ht find soain he understood that he had not the ti to hear the words as he continued to gaze back down the road He went to the saddlebags then, for he and Connor had collected- anything! - that eneral supplies for the road: ropes and a grapnel, a s and the like One iteh At the last stop, at the very farer had taken a co, a s bales, or even for pulling in stubborn bulls
Roger held the ite to find soes flashed in his mind, and he fo-cused at last on one in particular, one that utilized his abilities He couldn&039;t outfight the ht be able to outwit the er and the horse were gone, but the horseshoe reht in the middle of the road The lanced all about curiously He couldn&039;t i man had been so foolish as to leave the telltale item behind
Youseff searched ahead on the road and saw no fresh tracks be-yond a dozen or so feet To the side of the trail, he easily found signs of the lie, and on the other side, a spot of blood and a lighter set of tracks, the footprints of a light man Now it made sense to the monk The horse had thrown the shoe and had then thrown the young round, toward a copse of trees, in which, he suspected, he would find his second victirapnel, and co in hand, watched the monk&039;s confident approach Youseff slowed as he neared the trees, er lost sight of the ain he was aed at another point, quite far into the trees, for thethe thick underbrush Roger looked to his iteer he had purposely pricked to leave a blood trail, and won-dered if his ould be enough
It was too late to change his ht at the base of the tree now and had spotted the last drop of blood
The h the leafy shadows, his gaze at last settling on the dark shape high aht to the trunk
"If you coer doubted that, but still, he alotiation
"If youyou out, then know that your death will be ainst your Church!" Roger replied, playing the part of a frightened child, which at that moment did not seem to him to be too much of a stretch
"And thus I will spare your life," Youseff repeated "Now coer cried
"Coer didn&039;t reply, other than to whih for thea predictable course aed on one rope for the hundredth ti it One end was tied fast to the tree, the other secured to one end of the corapnel, was tied to the co&039;s other end
The knots were secure and the ropes were the right length, Roger reminded himself, but still, when he considered the enor- and more than a bit of luck, he nearly swooned