The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis by Sharon Ledwith

Author:Sharon Ledwith [Ledwith, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Published: 2012-05-18T07:00:00+00:00

12. The Wandering Jongleur

“No, no, wait, you can’t do this!” Treena screamed. “I plead the fifth! I want a lawyer!”

The guard snorted like a hog and pulled Treena off the bench. Her high-heeled sandals dug into the floor, but it was no use. She stumbled and was dragged to the opposite side of the cave. Amanda struggled to peer around Drake’s legs. A row of iron chains hung against the wall. Shredded clothing and clumps of hair on the floor made Amanda feel like she was holed up in a serial killer’s basement. Her throat tightened as she attempted to control her breathing.

“Let me go, you—you bully in chain mail!” Drake yelled as he was yanked off the bench.

The guard who’d brought the branding iron dropped it into a bucket of hot coals. Amanda heard a sizzle, pop, hiss as the coals merged with the metal. She found the courage to open her mouth, take a deep breath, and—inhaling the stench of rancid straw and rat poop—she sneezed, and sneezed again.

The struggling stopped. She heard clomping head toward her and the bench was wrenched away from the wall. Amanda stared at a pair of leather boots and dingy stockings. She tried to wiggle her way back in the hole, but the guard grabbed both her hands and plucked her out as if she was a rabbit in a magician’s hat.

“Look what we hath,” the guard sneered, his grip acting like a pair of medieval handcuffs.

“Aye, ’tis a hunchback whose luck hath run dry,” the guard added as he chained Drake.

“Amanda!” Treena yelled.

Drake laughed. “Now you two lame-brains will be sorry you messed with Timekeepers! Call in the cavalry, Amanda!”

The guard holding Amanda guffawed. Half his teeth were missing, the other half were blackened. A conical helmet covered his bulging head, while metallic fish netting draped his gray tunic. He applied pressure to her wrists. She winced.

“A-A-About that, Drake, you see—”

“Unhand the hunchback, rogue!”

Amanda looked around the guard’s stout body. There, in the entranceway to another room, stood Miriam, pointing an arrow at the guard. Her hood was up to cover her face.

“Put down yon bow, and ’twill be easy on thee, rogue!” the guard growled.

“I think not, knotty-pated simpkin!” Miriam let her arrow fly.

The guard wailed as Miriam’s arrow pierced his behind. “Arrgh, me arse!”

He released his hold on Amanda, and she swiftly jumped up and pulled the top of his helmet down to cover his eyes. Then she spun him around like a top and pushed him into the wall, head first. He smashed into it, wobbled, and fell back into a pile of foul smelling straw. A black rat the size of a house cat squealed and scampered out of the heap. Miriam took another arrow from her belt, placed it in her bow, and aimed it at the second guard.

He chortled wickedly, grabbed Treena by the hair, and pulled her over as far as the chains would allow. He stepped behind her and drew out his sword. “Drop thy bow, or I slit the wench’s throat!”

Treena whimpered.

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