Chapter 34

“What the hell just happened?” Naomi said. Tavik lay sprawled on the floor. She wheeled around looking for Agatha. The black cat crept out from under the bed

“I didn’t do it,” she said.

“I did,” a small, squeaky voice said.

“Mr. Squibbles!”

“That's me.” The familiar poked out from a rumpled napkin on the table. Naomi's eyes darted to the corpse on the floor.

“Then who--“

“A stupid field mouse who insisted on following me. I told him to stay away, that he didn’t want to be here, but he was so stupid he wouldn’t listen to me. Serves him right.”

Agatha leapt up onto the table and licked the mouse’s head. “Oh, Mr. Squibbles, you make me so proud. A witch could not ask for a better, smarter, cleverer familiar.”

“And I will remind you of that repeatedly.”

“You poisoned him?” Naomi asked.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t kill him. I just gave him enough to stay asleep for a very long time.”

“Now what do we do?” Naomi asked as she stared at the prone body. He was just as big unconscious.

Agatha chanted some sort of spell. A fog appeared to obscure her form, and she changed back to human. She was even wearing her clothes from before. The old woman nudged the body with her shoe. “We’ll have to drag him through the secret passage.”

“But he’s heavy,” Naomi complained. She really could not help fussing over such a trivial thing, but if she did not fuss, she felt she might start going into hysterics or something.

“We could use some help,” Agatha said.

A light bulb went off over Naomi’s head. She knew who she could ask, and no matter the answer, she would feel better for asking.

She crept out of Tavik’s room and scurried to Yula’s quarters. She tapped softly on the door and waited anxiously for it to open. Yula finally cracked the door to see who it was. Her hair was braided, and she had a nightgown on.

“Lady Naomi, what is the matter?” she asked, opening the door wider.

Naomi slipped inside and closed the door softly behind her. “How would you like to do something really crazy and stupid?”

Yula arched an eyebrow. “What?”

“I’m kidnapping Tavik and sneaking out of the castle. I need help carrying him through a secret passage. Agatha is going to help, but another pair of hands would come in really handy so to speak.”

Yula’s eyebrow arched higher. “Agatha, the witch that Lord Tavik hates? The one he suspected you of conspiring with? You are conspiring with her? Naomi.” She sounded disappointed in her.

Naomi hunched her shoulders as guilt crept over her. “I didn’t plan to conspire with her.”

“You swore to Lord Tavik that you weren’t in collusion with her.”

Naomi straightened her shoulders. She couldn’t back down now. It was impossible. “And I wasn’t when I swore. Look, we’re getting out of here. Agatha’s going to help me get a unicorn.”

“How did you conspire with her anyway? I never saw anything.”

“She was the cat.”

“Kitty?”

“Yeah, I know it seems impossible, but she’s witch. They can do that sort of stuff.”

Yula began patting Naomi’s head. “Did you fall out of bed? Did you eat something rotten?”

Naomi swatted her hands away. “This is for real. Will you help? I know I'm asking a lot of you, and I’ll understand if you say no, but I need to know your answer quickly.”

Yula turned away and hugged herself. “You will surely get into trouble.”

“I surely will, but I don’t care. I have to do this. It's the only chance I have of reuniting with my family. If you had the chance to see either of your boys again, wouldn’t you take it?”

Yula whirled around to face Naomi. “I would die just for a chance to see my boys.”

“I know, and I know that I really have no right to ask you to come with me, but I didn’t want to leave you behind without at least giving you the choice.”

Yula turned away again. She walked over to a chest and swung it open. She began picking clothes out of it. She changed without further word. When she was ready, she reached down and picked up one last thing from her chest. It was a rabbit rag doll. It was old and discolored with long floppy ears and a smile stitched on its face. She tucked the toy under her arm. “No woman should be separated from her family. If I can help you reunite with yours, maybe there will be hope for me.”

Naomi led the way back. Agatha had magicked the door to the secret passage open. Tavik had been turned over to his back and lay with his arms crossed over his stomach on the floor.

“Dear Calax, his face!” Yula shielded her eyes with her hands.

Naomi noted her reaction with concern. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Yula steeled herself and lowered her hands to peek at Tavik. She blew a long breath out through her nose and nodded.

Agatha motioned for them over to the body. She put her hands under his arms. “Grab his legs,” she ordered.

“Wait.” Yula went and retrieved the mask. She put it over Tavik’s lolling head. Naomi and Agatha both directed scrunched eyebrows at her. She shrugged her shoulders. “He will feel better with it on, and I think once he wakes up, he will not feel very well at all.” Naomi shook her head. Yula still tended to Tavik’s best wishes. She supposed it was all right, but she did not think they would be able to coddle the war lord too much. The fact was he probably would not let them. Yula and Naomi each grabbed a leg and heaved. Tavik was no feather weight. All three women instantly began to pant as they scuttled out of the room with their burden.

They were a quarter of the way down the secret passage when Agatha called a rest break. She bent over at the waist and let her arms dangle down to the floor. She had been carrying the brunt of the burden. Naomi took pity on her and switched places. She picked Tavik up under his arms and began walking backwards while the two older women carried a leg each.

“May I ask why we are taking Lord Tavik with us? Is he to be ransomed?” Yula huffed.

“No, he's to be bait,” Agatha replied. She seemed very pleased with the way things were turning out. Naomi wondered what her beef was with Tavik. Mr. Squibbles had not shown any love for the war lord either.

“Bait for what?” Yula asked.

“The unicorn,” Naomi supplied.

Yula stopped dead in her tracks, and Tavik’s foot slipped from her hands. Naomi’s arm screamed as she staggered under the sudden extra burden. “What good is Tavik for a unicorn?”

“Seeing as he’s a virgin, he will come in very handy in attracting one for Naomi,” Agatha said.

“Yula, grab his leg,” Naomi wheezed. She could feel her knees starting to buckle as she continued to struggle with Tavik’s body.

“A virgin?” Yula laughed. She put her hands up and shook them. “That is ridiculous. I am sure Tavik is not a virgin.”

Agatha dropped her leg and turned to her. She put her hands on her hips. “Slept with him have you?” Naomi’s knees strained to keep her standing.

“Guys!” Naomi called.

Yula seemed offended by Agatha’s question. She crossed her arms and stared down her nose at the witch. “No, I have not, but Tavik is a strong, young man. Of course, he is not a virgin. Why Naomi is his bride. She could tell you he is no virgin.”

“Actually, all I could tell you is that he’s a good kisser, and I am about to drop him if you two don’t come back and help,” Naomi wheezed.

“But you two slept together,” Yula said.

“Yeah, we slept together as in we slept in a bed together and did not do any hanky panky. He kept to the deal. Do you two want me to drop him?”

“But this is unheard of,” Yula said still clearly befuddled by Tavik’s chastity.

“Guys!"

“It actually makes perfect sense,” Agatha said.

“How so?” Yula asked.

“Fine.” Fed up, Naomi dropped Tavik. His helm covered head clanged loudly when it hit the floor. Naomi lifted her arms and stretched.

“You saw the tattoo on his forehead. You know what it means.” Naomi’s ears perked up. She still didn’t know what it meant, and she had the feeling she should probably find out.

“It means nothing. No one would dare scrape their knee to him,” Yula grumbled and turned away.

“I know that tattoo, and it is his mark. Tavik has sworn himself to him.”

“Guys, shouldn’t we be moving along?” Naomi looked down the passage. They hadn’t gone far enough yet for the end to be even visible.

“But that is outrageous. No one in their right mind would worship Errilol. One’s fate would be doomed.”

“I know what that tattoo means, and it means Tavik has sworn allegiance to the Lord Destroyer.”

“Then we should get as far away from him as we can, not bring him with us!”

“Bring him. Leave him. Don’t we have to move to do either of those?” Naomi was still ignored.

“He is the only full grown virgin available to us. We have to use him to entice the unicorn.”

“Oh, this is rich. We are going to use a worshipper of Errilol to get ourselves a unicorn.”

“Hey, we can debate this as we haul heavy butt here.” Neither woman so much as looked at her. Their eyes were locked on each other. Jaws set, eyes narrowed, a spot of color high on each cheek. Naomi was basically invisible to the two arguing women. She kicked Tavik's side and then sat on his stomach.

“Well, it is the god’s own fault for demanding virginity of his acolytes. He had to know they would be useful in unicorn hunting.”

“Where is Mr. Squibbles anyway?” Naomi wondered aloud. She looked around. Was the mouse getting horses? She hoped he didn’t leave them when they didn’t appear by dawn.

“No, I think he thought no one would be crazy enough to kidnap a warrior imbued with the rage of Errilol for anything. In fact, the idea that any of them would ever be kidnapped probably made the Lord Destroyer guffaw.”

“Well, I wonder if he’s laughing now.”

Naomi didn’t feel like laughing. She felt like screaming.

Continue to Chapter 35.