Saboteur: A Novel Read Online Free Page B

convincing,” the woman
said throwing on her clothing hurriedly, “my dreams have been full of great
terror these last few nights, as if the whole of the heavens is screaming out a
warning, but what man listens to a woman?”
    The woman sped down the hallway
with Apollon following rapidly behind. He shouted instructions to their
messengers, who then scattered with great haste.
    “Apollon, you must tell me
everything you saw.”
    “Yes, I observed through the causeway,
madam, because there was something suspicious about the early hour of this
appointment and that…that other man wouldn’t let his face be seen, not
completely. Though, of course his nephew being family, I could not protest out
of respect. He sent me for drinks after greeting them, but I delayed so as to
see for myself what they wanted. They talked for only five minutes, no more.
They seemed in good humors and your husband laughed several times, therefore I
felt it safe to do as he asked. But when I returned they had vanished, leaving
only this.”
    It was a piece of very old looking
parchment.
    “I hope I have not failed him,
madam. I pray.”
    “You have always served him well,
Apollon, always.”
    The woman held the paper in her
hands and they began to shake uncontrollably.
    “But this is his own writing” she
gasped.
    “Yes, madam, it is most strange.”
    She handed it back to Apollon. The
words written clearly:

 
    Your murder
is planned this very day by those closest to you. I beg you to depart with us
immediately. You are safe nowhere else.

 
    A.

 
    “Is it a
forgery?”
    Apollon stared at it intently.
    “The ink has been on this parchment
for some time. It must be very old. But why bring it now if it is to be a
warning? If it is a warning, it is a very old one.”
    “We won’t know until we find him.”
    “I’m right behind you, madam.”
    “Tell every guard to stand at the
ready. I fear they will be needed before the day is done.”
    ***

 
    The man stood over the edge of the
bridge and vomit poured from him until only the bile from his stomach was left.
He continued to heave nevertheless.
      “I told you I should not take off my
hood,” said the man in the cloak to the boy. “You can’t imagine what a shock it
is for him to see my face.”
    The man collapsed now onto his
knees, too weak to stand. He could vomit no more.
    “We can’t stay out here for very
long, I’m afraid. I need you to get back inside, both of you,” said the man in
the cloak.
    In a weakened voice, the man
muttered in response, “I cannot.”
    They lifted him to his feet and put
him back under the cover of the carriage.
    “Ey’e but you will. We will need
some time in the country. The fresh air will serve you well my friend. Time is
no enemy to us, but being seen even on the city’s edge is very dangerous to our
cause.”
    “This is some trick of the gods,
the black arts,” groaned the man as he heaved yet again.
    The boy suddenly spoke, though his
voice quivered.
    “I’m sorry, sir, but this is the
only way to save you. You won’t understand any of this for some time, but later
it will be a tremendous relief, I assure you. You know that I love you as my
own true father, sir. You must trust me and trust the gods.”
    “You deceive me, boy, with some
sorcery,” he replied, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “I’ll have your
head on a pi--.”
    The man’s eyes fluttered like loose
marbles in their sockets and then he lost consciousness yet again.
    “It’s much better this way,” the
man in the cloak said consoling the young boy. “He may sleep for days now. The
shock is tremendous. Many die from it alone, or never fully recover their wits.
He will though. Trust me, trust me,” the man said laughing. “Now put him in the
back quickly,” he demanded of the boy.
    There was much noise in the city behind them, more than
usual, but nothing but empty countryside ahead. Above them the last vestiges of
the storm clouds that had been