The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

“Let’s go,” said Dorian as he beganwalking down the hall moving in the direction of the neareststairs. The others followed without argument.

Elise Thornbear wasleaning on one of the cooks as she watched her son carry the dyingmaid. Her heart was filled with a confusing welter of emotions,pride and despair warring within her for precedence.No matter what else, Gram, she thought, addressing her dead husband, our son has become a man to be proud of, just like hisfather.

“How’s he going to fight like that?”Gerold asked Evan in a whisper.

“Shut up,” said Evan.

Chapter 24

They reached the ground level withoutinterference. Evan, Alan, and Gerold had taken positions aroundAriadne, while the rest of the palace servants clusteredprotectively around Dorian and his burden. Though he respectedtheir sentiment, he knew realistically that when they encounteredmore enemy troops he would be forced to surrender his charge tosomeone else.

The main door leading into thecourtyard was guarded, but only four men held the position, andbefore he could give Nancy to someone else, the servants chargedthem. They were full of anger and a desperate need to find some wayto act. Another of them was killed in the short fight, and two morewere mildly wounded, but the rest overwhelmed the four men beforethey could ready themselves. More blood covered the tile floors ofthe palace.

It never ends,thought Dorian morbidly, and I am tied to the cycle by iron, blood, and hatred. Forcedto kill and kill again, until they finally put an end to me. Whatwill Mort think of me then? Will Rose weep for me? And what of myson, will he follow in his father’s footsteps, to find himselfcursed by violence as well?

“The courtyard is full of men!” saidAlan loudly as he peeked through the now unguardeddoors.

Dorian shifted the womanin his arms so that he could lean over enough to look through thecrack in the doors. She didn’t moan this time. Nancy appeared tohave fallen asleep. Then her head rolled back in a wholly unnaturalmanner. She’s dead, he realized.

Bending down, Dorian gently laidNancy’s body on the ground. His face was wet, though he didn’tremember when he had begun crying. Of all the violence he had seenthat day, for some reason it was Nancy’s that had finally undonehim. “Let me see,” he told Alan.

No one commented on histears.

“Tremont is out there,” he toldAriadne after a moment. “He must have taken them out to recaptureyou after we snuck back in. The gate’s open too. There’re at leastfive hundred men out there now.”

The princess’ jaw was agape now. “Howcould he have so many?”

“Your father and I spoke regardingthis just a few days ago. Lord Hightower had suspicions thatsomeone was sneaking men into the city, but none of us expectedsomething like this,” admitted the Knight of Stone.

“What in the name of the gods isthat?!” exclaimed Gerold who had taken Dorian’s place as soon as hemoved away from the doors.

“What?” Dorian shoved him quicklyaside to get another view. It took only a moment to spot the sourceof Gerold’s confusion. A large creature was entering the courtyard,having just passed from underneath the gatehouse. It stood nearlynine feet in height and walked on two legs, like a man, but theresemblance ended there. It had four arm-like appendages connectedto a slender trunk. The overall coloring was a deep brown, but itsskin looked thick and almost bark-like. The head was small, withouta mouth or any other features besides six eyes that circled it,providing vision in a three hundred and sixty degreearc.

A number of thoughtspercolated through his mind then as Dorian looked at the crowd ofpeople around him. His mother was barely conscious now, supportedby a man on either side. Ariadne was uninjured, but the rest ofthem sported a variety of wounds. There isno way for me to get these people out of here. His eyes met Ariadne’s, “You need to put that man’s clotheson and the armor as well.”

She glanced at the dead mercenary hewas indicating. Although he was one of the smaller ones, his armorwould still be too large for her. The only bright side she couldsee was that rather than chainmail he wore a simple leatherhauberk. It was heavily stained with blood. “You have a good reasonfor this I assume?”

He motioned her to step aside withhim, and speaking softly he outlined his plan. As she listened hereyes grew moist but she knew there were no other options. It was aday of damnation, and she was already covered in blood.

She returned to the others, andignoring their stares, she stripped herself out of the soiledremains of her dress and began donning the oversized clothes andarmor. She also directed the two men helping Elise to put one ofthe soldiers’ tabards over the lady’s dress, followed by a cloak.She used her own knife to cut Lady Thornbear’s skirts to kneelength so that they wouldn’t be readily apparent. She completed thehaphazard disguise with one of the men’s steel caps.

The two of them now looked, on casualinspection, to be just a couple more of Tremont’s mercenaries.Gerold, Evan, and Alan, moved closer—their larger frames would helpthe two women to blend in better.

The rest of the servants looked atDorian for an explanation. “What’s our part in this?” asked one ofthem.

His heart clenched as he answered, buthe kept his face confident, “Those of you who are willing, willcome with me. Those who are not can stay here. They may show mercyif you return to your places and pretend you weren’t part of ourgroup.”

“What will you do?”

“I’m going out there,” said Dorian. “Iwill create a distraction. I’ll make for the gate, try to sow asmuch confusion and discord as possible. The princess and hercompanions may be able to escape unnoticed during theturmoil.”

“How will we get out?” asked one ofthe women.

“The most probable outcome is that ifyou follow me out there, you’ll die. If you remain here, they maykeep you in your positions, or they might lock you all up,” Doriananswered honestly. “They might also kill you, or even torture youfor information.”

“Will we even do any good if