Shadow Leader by Tara K Harper

Author:Tara K Harper [Harper, Tara K]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-01-07T07:28:29+00:00

Chapter 12

Tease the ears with dulcet tones And thwart the eyes with light; Obligate the senses And hide your tracks of flight.

"What about those two?" Rhom nudged Aranur and pointed with his chin at the guard who patrolled the dark corner of the prison walls and the one who stood motionless inside the recessed guard box there.

"Maybe." Aranur squinted. "The lights are still too bright at the main gates. Even with uniforms, we can't go in as guards without a diversion."

"Fire?"

Aranur nodded slowly. "The guard should change within the half hour. We'll have to do it before then. But if we could get in uniform and set the fire before we're relieved, we'll be able to slip through the gate in the commotion without being recognized."

"You want the fire inside or outside the walls?"

"Inside. There are a couple buildings with thatched roofs. We'll use coal arrows so that the tips don't ignite before they hit the thatch. That way, they'll never see it coming."

Rhom glanced at the two guards. "Which one do you want?"

"Give me the one in motion. You take the one in the box. Ready?"

Aranur slung his arm around Rhom's shoulders and the two men staggered around the comer, leaning drunkenly on each other and wheezing like air bags.

"But Riva wuz hot fer my handful of copperz,'' Aranur sang out of tune, slurring the last few words into another wheezing cough.

Rhom belched.

"An' I wuz jus' lookin' fer somewhere to turn," the song went on as they staggered up the sidewalk.

The guard walking toward them barely spared them a glance. "Bunch of bottle-sucking maggots," he muttered.

Aranur grinned sloppily at him as they came abreast and Rhom burped grandly again.

"Hey, sodjer man," Aranur said as he held up a half-empty bottle. "Wanna shot of thiz? Guaranteed tuh warm the cocklez of yer heart—"

"Go on home before I throw you in jail for disturbing the peace."

"Throw us in jail? Us? Fer offerin' you a drink like the gentlemen we are?" Aranur looked at Rhom in disbelief and shoved him away so that Rhom stumbled against the wall, close to the guard box. Aranur swayed in front of the guard. "You know, my cousin Upodi's a sodjer man like you."

He swung, and the first guard, caught unawares, staggered back. Rhom dodged into the guard box and slammed the pommel of his knife into the startled man's stomach, bringing his other fist across to the man's temple and then laying him out carefully on the floor. Outside, as the other soldier sagged against the stone, Aranur caught him and dragged him into the shadow. "The uniforms, quickly."

Rhom was already tugging off the sashes and belts from which hung various weapons, logbooks, and whistles. He tossed them in the corner and stripped the jacket off the guard, then the pants, while Aranur kept watch. He could hear Rhom struggling into the clothes, then a loud ripping sound. He flattened himself against the wall.

"What was that?" he breathed.

"Runt's got small shoulders," Rhom whispered, reappearing outside the guard box.

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