Maggie of the Mist by Madeleine M. (best ebook reader for ubuntu txt) 📕

Carefully Maggie moved out of the hay and peered out the cracks in the stall door. She quickly located the other two. Angus was in another stall across the room, while Vika lay motionless in the wooden rafters above. Both were waiting for her to move first. She had to think fast. They wouldn’t have a very big window for escape. These men were armed and almost all of their weapons were still with the horses. Then an idea came to her and she tried to imagine the saddest thing she could. When she felt confident the tears rolling down her cheeks would stay, she began to whimper softly.

“Hey, Marco?” Jay spoke stiffly, alerted. “Did you hear that?”

“What, boy?” Marco’s response was sleepy.

“Like someone crying. It came from…” Maggie heard Jay trying to be stealthy as he approached her stall. She hoped she would look weak and afraid. She pulled her knees in close and began to shake as she tried not to laugh. A few moments later Jay’s head poked over the top of the door. “There you are!”

“Please,” Maggie hoped she sounded childish, letting more tears stream down her dusty face. The straw in her hair hopefully added to the affect. “Please, don’t hurt me.” She pleaded as the man grabbed her arm and roughly yanked her to her feet and out into the open.

Marco shot to his feet and knocked over the barrel he was sitting on. “Here now, what’s all this, then?” He marched over to them, confusion written plainly on his face. His lips twisted into a dark smile when he saw Maggie. “Ah, well hello there, princess. It’s a pleasure.”

“You speak treason, sir,” Maggie shook her head and tried to back up but Jay had a tight grip on her arm. “I am no princess. May I go now?”

“Maybe if you answer a few questions,” Marco spoke to her sweetly as he grabbed a chair and placed it in front of her. “Sit,” he ordered as Jay threw her onto it. She scrambled to sit up straight. “Why did you leave the pub so quickly?”

Maggie quickly fabricated a story. “My mam told me I was to play only a few songs and then come home.”

“Did you leave because you saw us come in?” he barked.

Maggie pretended to start and shift uncomfortably as she wiped salty water from her face. “My dad told me to stay away from people like you.” She hoped it was convincing. Her back was to the stall Angus was hiding in, so she made discreet gestures with her hands as she answered the man. In her peripheral vision, she caught Vika slowly shift into an upright position.  Just a little longer, she thought.

“Enough!” Jay snapped. He grabbed Maggie by the shoulders. She sucked in a sharp breath as he dug his fingers in. “Listen to me, girl, and listen well. We know who you are. You are trapped, with no escape. Playing games will only make it worse for you,” He jerked her closer to him. He whispered menacingly in her ear, “Don’t make this so hard on yourself, princess.” He shoved her back in the chair.

“This is getting tiring.” Maggie mumbled to herself. They were going to run out of time sooner or later. She gave Angus the signal for ‘be ready’.

“What did you say, girl?” Marco glared at her. Maggie simply smiled and didn’t say a word. “Why you—” She let out a high pitched whistle and both men leaped at her. Their swords flashed faintly.

She dove to the ground, rolling out of the way of their feet. They crashed into the empty chair but were quick to turn and rush at her again. Angus burst out of the stall and took on Marco, while Vika fell on top of Jay. Both men were taken by surprise and fell to the ground, their swords clattering away. Maggie was quick to get them out of reach and tossed them into an empty stall.

Marco tried to fend off Angus. They were a flurry of fists. Jay had no chance. He was face down on the floor with his hands held behind his back and Vika’s elbow putting pressure on the back of his neck. Soon he was motionless. Maggie tossed the girl some rope hanging from a nail and jumped in to help Angus. There was no way she would miss out on fighting. The three of them grappled for a while. Maggie received a few good hits, but managed to deal out more of her share. She got clipped by the man’s elbow before Angus got the older man pinned to the ground. The boy had his knee between the man’s shoulder blades and his arms in a tight grip.

“It was nice to meet you and all, but we really must be going,” Maggie looked Marco in the eye and wiped blood from her forehead as Vika helped Angus tie him up. “It was a pleasure.” With that, Maggie struck the weak spot of his neck and rendered him unconscious. They dragged both men into separate stalls and locked the doors.

“That was so much fun!” Angus panted as he wiped sweat off his forehead with his shirt sleeve. “But maybe next time, I’ll get to jump from the rafters.” Maggie smiled and shook her head. Angus could get a little excited sometimes.

“What happened to our horses, Vika?” she asked as they all walked out into the early night. A slight breeze caught the sweat on Maggie’s clothes and exposed skin, making her shiver. It could not have been more than a few hours after sun down.

“They should be not far from here, actually,” Vika responded as she dabbed a small bloody cut on her forehead. “If they listened, they hopefully will be waiting for us out in front of the pub.” They moved quietly back to the front of the building. Maggie gave a sigh of relief to see their horses leisurely grazing on a small patch of grass. Gregor raised his head and gave her a look that seemed to say, you look terrible. She just wearily shook her head and smoothly mounted her gelding.

“Your amazing, Vika!” Maggie tiredly told her as she replaced her hood.

“I know.”

The trio swiftly left the village. Maggie reached for the stone. It no longer glowed. It was the same temperature as the skin it rested on.  A steady thrum emanated from her strange stone. She pitied Marco and Jay, leaving them bound and locked in horse stalls, unconscious. Marco had said that he was being paid. That meant there were bounty hunters after her. She clutched the stone that hung on thin leather. One thought ran through her head again and again.

Camshron knows.

*****

Maggie spotted him before the others; the first and only life form that they had encountered since they left the village. With her, Vika, and Angus, all on horseback, it seemed strange that this traveler was without a ride. As he drew closer, she noticed he carried saddle bags on his back, as well as a bow. The cape of his cloak billowed in the wind behind him like a banner. His red hair blazed in the moonlight.

Maggie pulled up her hood, hiding her face. “That’s him!” she said quietly to her companions. Both gave her a questioning look. She gave a small gesture to Laila’s stranger who came towards them. Even though they were still a bit shaken from what just happened, they needed to be ready. They both exchanged glances and nodded. As they approached him, she could see clearly that he had to be around seventeen or eighteen.

“You there,” said the traveler, in a familiar voice. “Veils, I haven’t seen another soul all day! Now I have the pleasure of three. Where’re you all off to?” When he stepped closer to Maggie, she kept her head down so that she could see his face, without being seen herself. She had perfected this from years of experience.

“I was about to ask you the same,” said Angus, his unbroken voice sounded funny compared to the stranger’s. Maggie watched Vika slowly reaching down to her hip, where she had placed one of her daggers. The shy girl moved Gregor closer to her friend, and placed a hand on her arm to calm her down. Maggie wasn’t sure she could trust him yet, but the last thing they needed was another fight. “We’re going up north, to find family.” Angus replied. It wasn’t a lie. And they couldn’t risk the whole truth.

“Same,” cried the red head, “Except I’m going to meet up with my brother in Koal.” He pointed towards the village they had just come from. Before Maggie had moved, he didn’t even notice her – except counting her as one of the first people he had seen all day. But now he looked at her with interest. Vika noticed immediately, and stepped Dagger in between them.

“Then you’re lost,” she said, trying her best to sound polite, but failing. Looking at Maggie, Vika asked, “Which way would one go to get to the capital fastest?” Maggie thought for a moment, then raising her arm, she pointed in the direction that they were going. “See,” commented Vika, “You’re way off. You best turn around, unless you are taking a detour.” She put sarcastic emphasis on the last word. Probably to mock the dark haired boy from earlier in the evening. Seeing the look on his handsome face – a mixture of astonishment and embarrassment – Maggie smiled under her cloak.

Then she noticed the sword under his cloak. She waited for the stone to give her another burn or frost bite, but it only gave a comforting thrum as she lightly placed her hand on it.

“Well… I’m going to visit a friend who lives around here.” He didn’t seem quite sure of himself. His emerald green eyes wandered back in Maggie’s direction. She thought their eyes locked. Her heart almost jumped out of her rib cage. He couldn’t possibly see her face, could he? She felt a blush burning at the base of her throat, working its way up to the roots of her hair.

Vika cleared her throat and looked like she was going to throttle him.

“Pardon my rudeness,” He cleared his own throat and held out his hand towards Angus. “Thanks for the chat. Traveling alone gets boring.”

“Don’t mention it,” replied Angus as they shook hands, “Pleasure meeting you. We must get on our way, and you better too. Half the stars will be out soon.” Facing the girls he said, “Let’s go.”

“Thanks again, lad,” His voice carried through the night around them. Angus cringed, he hated being called that. He just waved his hand as a sign of farewell – Maggie knew that he didn’t have anything nice to say. The red head’s green gaze found Maggie again before he strolled off down the road. Her breath momentarily caught. Vika grumble about the stupidity of certain attractive travelers, and Angus didn’t seem too thrilled about the encounter either. They moved north again.

After looking behind them awhile later, Maggie took off her hood with a sigh of relief. That boy was going to be trouble. The fact that the stone hadn’t reacted at all gave her a feeling of unease. He had looked right at her and nothing had happened. Maggie retrieved the stone so she could hold it. I hope it won’t take too long to find these women, she thought tiredly, there is so much that I don’t understand about this thing.

They led their rides into the woods near the road, looking for water and a good place to set