Natalia drove her horse up to the thick wall’s entrance tunnel. To her surprise, the gates to the city stood wide open. The only defense appeared to be the small group of watchmen standing with their backs against the tunnel walls, attempting to stay dry and out of the rain. Natalia slowed the horse to a halt just outside the gate. She waited for the guards to come to her, but the men waved her in, not wanting to step out in the drizzling rain.
“Here we go,” she whispered to Maylox, letting her know that they were about to be stopped by the city watch.
As the cart rolled fully into the entrance, one of the men came to stand in front of the horse, bringing it to a stop in the dry space. The others took their time looking at one another to see who would conduct the search while Natalia waited patiently, listening to the rain drip steadily off the castle wall. Finally, two men pushed off the wall and approached her, one moving to inspect the cargo, while the other stopped at the step ladder up to the driver’s seat. The three other watchmen returned to their conversation, their backs against the wall, not paying attention to the search. Natalia was surprised how little these watchmen cared about their jobs. The city was going to be attacked in a matter of hours and they couldn’t be bothered to close the gates or step out into the rain.
The watchman at her side held out his hand expectantly. Natalia stared at it for a moment wondering if this gentleman was offering her a hand so she could climb down. She almost reached out to grab it when he said in a monotone, “Papers.”
Natalia looked to either side but didn’t see any papers on the seat. Just as she was about to tell the man she didn’t have them, she noticed a leather satchel tucked under her seat on the floor. Reaching down, she grabbed and opened it. The only contents were three pieces of parchment. Pulling them out, she handed them over to the man whose hand remained held out expectantly. She watched him carefully as he chewed at something in his teeth while looking over the papers. Natalia saw him nod to the man at the cart’s rear and heard the tarp move. She turned sharply in her seat to see the watchman examining the back end of the contents. Barrels only, no Maylox.
Covering the cart almost as quickly as he’d opened it, the man walked lazily toward the others to join in their conversation. Just as the watchman at her side was handing her the papers, she heard a man shout from outside the wall.
“Wait!” the voice called. She heard the splashing of footsteps running up to the entrance.
Natalia’s heart skipped a beat as she saw the chatting watchmen suddenly take interest in what was happening. Natalia moved her hand to her side, but her sword wasn’t there. She’d taken it off on their short ride and placed it under the tarp behind the barrels. Stupid, she thought; now she might need it.
“Wait,” the voice came again. Something about it sounded oddly familiar. She turned to see Solomon jogging through the rain dripping off the tunnel’s entrance. The short, bearded man slowed to a walk as he shook the wet from his wool jacket.
“What’s this about?” the watchman who’d held her papers asked, looking at Solomon, then to Natalia.
Natalia stared in disbelief at the old wise man as he tried to catch his breath, resting his hand on the side of the cart and bending slightly. That stupid old man is going to get us all killed, Natalia thought as she watched the other four men surround the cart and bring their hands to their swords.
Through heavy breaths, Natalia heard Solomon speak, “I’m so sorry for the inconvenience, but I’m afraid my partner and I had a bit of falling out back there,” he paused looking expectantly at them, then added, “Falling out. It’s a pun because I literally fell out of the cart. Or pushed rather, but that’s neither here nor there.”
The watchman holding the parchment said, “Get on with it, old man.”
“Sorry, if you check the papers, there are two people on this delivery,” he said, pointing to the papers in the man’s hand.
Natalia waited silently as the three men behind the cart relaxed their stance and moved back to their post against the wall. Apparently, all it took to fool them was an out-of-breath old man and a not–so-convincing lie. She could’ve taken them all out on her own, but that would have drawn too much attention to the gate, and there wasn’t a need for such a radical move, yet.
The man still standing next to the cart looked over the papers again, this time with greater interest. Natalia swore under her breath that she was going to kill him, along with the watchmen, if he blew this opportunity for her.
Nodding, the man handed Natalia the papers and said, “You take these directly to the inns. No more funny business until you’ve made your rounds and left.”
Natalia took the papers, stuffing them back into the leather satchel as Solomon stepped toward the ladder and said to the watchman, “My deepest apologies for the confusion, my good man. We’ll direct our attention to the business at hand and be gone by midday, I assure you.”
The man nodded, waving them through.
Solomon climbed onto the cart, taking a seat next to Natalia. She looked forward afraid if she looked directly at the old man, she might start shouting at him. Flicking the reins, she urged the horse to pull them through the tunnel and back out into the rain inside the castle grounds. Keeping her eyes fixed on the streets in front of them she waited until she was out of sight of the entrance before turning to Solomon and punching him firmly in the shoulder.
“Ouch!” Solomon winced, rubbing his shoulder.
“What the hell was that all about?” she said, striking him a second time. His reaction caused Maylox to peek out from under the tarp, Natalia catching a glimpse of her as she glared at Solomon.
“Okay, okay, stop hitting me! I’m sorry! I told you I wanted to come with you today, but you left without a word. How do you think I felt when I went to your room and found that you had already gone?” Solomon asked.
Natalia shook her head. She so wanted to punch the old man again, but thought twice was probably good enough. “I told you to stay back. We’re a large enough group as it is.” She saw Solomon look around quizzically. To address his confusion she said, “Maylox, say hello.”
Maylox lifted the tarp up and said, “Hey Sol.”
Solomon twisted in his seat, smiled at her and looked to Natalia again, asking, “What about Inama?”
Natalia nodded toward the wall rising above the rooftops, “I’m to send her a rope and she’ll climb over with her royal guard. After seeing the lazy protection at the gates, I wish we’d planned to have them walk through like you did.”
Solomon scoffed, “You’re telling me that you invited a group of Lumbapi to raid the city with you, but the addition of one old man is too cumbersome?”
“It’s not like that,” Natalia said. “Inama and her group are backup, in case the mission goes terribly wrong. She and her soldiers will be watching, making sure their princess doesn’t get herself into too much danger. They’ll only make themselves known if we get into trouble.”
“Typical. Once her father caught wind of the plan, he had to make sure she was protected. You didn’t see anyone doing that for her back in Ryedale,” Solomon commented.
Natalia steered the cart into a narrow alley between brick buildings and pulled the horse to a stop. “You’d better stay with them once we bring them over the wall,” Natalia said.
“But,” Solomon protested.
“This is a very dangerous mission, Sol, I’m not kidding. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” she said.
“You can’t be serious,” Solomon said, stepping down from the cart.
Natalia took her sword as Maylox handed it to her, then hoisted the dwarf from the cart, setting her down on the cobblestone street. “I am serious,” she said.
“Who are you to tell me what to do? Do you know who I am?” Solomon asked.
“I didn’t want you here in the first place,” Natalia said angrily. She buckled the sword belt around her waist and started down the alley.
“I can help you navigate the city,” Solomon said, chasing after her.
Natalia hurried along the alley and stopped at the open street at the opposite end. She looked for the rising wall marking the city’s edge, but the tall, multi-storied buildings blocked it from view. She had been so distracted by Solomon on the way into the city that she hadn’t paid attention to where they were going. Letting Maylox and Solomon catch her, she hesitated while considering which way to turn. Making a left, she walked out into the street. Maylox and Solomon hurried to keep up.
“Natalia, listen to me. Let me help you. I know my way around this city well. You’ve never been here before and neither has Maylox,” Solomon pleaded.
