Free Spook's: The Dark Army (The Starblade Chronicles) by Joseph Delaney Page B

echoing along a passageway, but I could see nothing and I suddenly realized that there was something wrong with my eyes. After a while the air grew colder and there was a breeze on my face and I knew that we were outside.
    I could hear voices in the distance that grew louder as we approached – along with whinnies and snorts.
    The person carrying me came to a halt and spoke. ‘Take good care of her. I’ll see you in two days.’
    It was the voice of Grimalkin.

TOM WARD
    I WAS UP well before dawn, and dressed quickly. I feared that the prince might try to prevent us leaving if he spotted us. The main meal in the castle was a five-course supper with lots of ale, so few wanted breakfast. Down in the kitchens, the cooks and their assistants were still sleeping, so I helped myself to food and packed our saddlebags with provisions. We’d have to buy more on the journey, but I had coin enough for that.
    I waited for Jenny, but the sky was already beginning to lighten to the east and there was still no sign of her. I began to pace up and down impatiently. I didn’t want to be spotted riding away. Finally I went up to her room. She’d been tired the previous night. Perhaps she’d overslept . . .
    I rapped on the door impatiently and called her name, but it was the voice of Grimalkin that bade me enter. I opened the door and went in. I expected her to try to talk me out of leaving, but I was determined to stay firm.
    Grimalkin was sitting cross-legged on her bed in exactly the same position as when I’d left the night before. There was no sign of Jenny.
    ‘Where’s Jenny?’ I asked. ‘She’s not at the stables.’
    ‘She’s gone north in the care of Prince Kaylar.’
    I stared blankly at Grimalkin, attempting to make some sense of what she’d just said. ‘Why would she do that?’
    ‘I placed her in his care,’ the witch assassin told me. ‘He has ridden out towards the kulad with a small patrol to assess its defences and monitor the movement of Kobalos forces in the region.’
    ‘She wouldn’t have gone willingly!’ I said angrily. ‘Why have you done this? What has she done to deserve being placed in danger like this?’
    ‘You are right – she did not go willingly. I used a narcotic and a little magic, but nothing that will cause her permanent harm. I did it to force you into riding with us. I know that you will not go home and abandon your apprentice. We ride immediately. The best way for you to ensure her safety is to lead us as I planned. Is that not so?’
    ‘Are there no lengths you won’t go to?’ I asked, angered by Grimalkin’s deceit. She must already have been planning this when she spoke to me last night.
    She shrugged and gave a little smile. ‘I simply do what must be done. Within a week we will be back here. Then you may ride home with your apprentice.’
    I hoped that Jenny was all right. It was my duty to ride after her and ensure her safety as far as I could – after all, it was my fault for bringing her to this place – but I liked the girl and would have gone anyway. I would ride out with the army – I had no choice now – but I was seething inside and worried about Jenny. Grimalkin could be ruthless and had displayed that quality now. Being taken towards the kulad would put Jenny in danger of death and if the Kobalos caught her, she’d end up a slave, tortured every day to teach her obedience.
    Grimalkin had beaten me and now she controlled me once more. I wished I had never listened to her. I should have stayed in the County.
    We left the castle and rode north; after two hours, we crossed the Shanna River, using the same ford where I’d fought the Shaiksa assassin, Kauspetnd. I remembered how I’d struck his head from his body; how it had rolled across the stones and into the shallow water, the blood swirling away with the current.
    His sabre had pierced my guts simultaneously, but I hadn’t felt any pain. I recalled how I’d looked down at the hilt in astonishment,