Part Six

Eight days had passed without Betia finding the Willimites. Eight days, sixteen of her friends had been murdered. She was frustrated at not being able to locate the men she had seen at the clearing. As she passed through villages, she checked as secretly as possible for the horse she had touched with her mind. The peasants did not have many horses, for most of the horses were used as farm animals and those were not fit for riding. Edulf would have been a great help, but he was one of the fifty hostages taken by Imre's soldiers.

She had no idea how far she traveled. She had yet to reach Grecotha, her supposed destination. The main roads yielded few results of the whereabouts of the Willimites. The villagers were also being quiet about the Willimites as well. Rarely had she ventured off the main road for clues and when she did it had been even harder than if she was in the villages. The peasants who lived away from the villages knew even less. She preferred to stay with the main roads.

Word of the five dead soldiers traveled faster than she did. She walked into a village the same time the news of the their demise. The story had a different twist than she had originally seen, but no one else had seen the murder, so she knew the story had been created to fit the scene. Betia was visiting the local inn in hopes of finding a bed for the night. A group of three men burst into the common room as she was about to ask about the room.

"Have ye heard about the king's soldiers, Walby?" one of the men asked as he sat down at a table.

Betia looked up with interest at the question. She remained quiet as the innkeeper poured the men a round of ale. He said nothing.

"I suppose ye haenot heard! Five o' the king's men were found killed just south o' here," another man said with excitement.

Betia turned her face from staring at the men to just listen. She knew what had happened, but was curious to see what story had been concocted to explain their deaths. The men's voices quieted as they told the tale.

"Someone found the soldiers about three days ago in a clearing just off the road. I do not remember who, but they had been killed in some great battle. They all died from a sword fight." The first man took a drink from the tankard the innkeeper had deposited on his table before he continued. "No one really knows what happened though, I suppose the Willimites had something to do with it, or someone like Rannulf."

"Those Deryni are a wicked lot," Walby said returning to his casket of ale.

"Why do ye think they killed the soldiers? Imre is a Deryni king. I suppose he has all the Deryni in court that he can get."

"Deryni are trouble no matter where ye find them," Walby commented with a pinched look on his face. "Ye cannot trust them."

"I agree," the other man said. "What do ye suppose the king's men were doin'?"

"It was probably a patrol of some kind and they ran into trouble with someone."

"Wha' do ye think they were lookin' for?"

"The Willimites, I'm sure."

"Now there's a lot as well. They are just as bad as the Deryni or worse," Walby suggested as brought more tankards of ale.

"I dinnae care for them."

"Harwyn, ye care for nothing," Walby said as he sat with the three men. "What about ye, James."

"As long they keep t' themselves and nae bother me, I will give them no mind."

"These soldiers had their swords stolen as well, Walby." the first man took another drink from the tankard.

"Do ye expect them to stay put Renshaw?"

"I suppose not, but what do ye think happened to them?"

"The soldiers or their swords?" Walby asked then taking a long drink.

"Does it matter?" Renshaw challenged.

"I suppose not. If I was to venture a guess, I think the soldiers came upon a large group of Willimites they could not handle an' the soldiers met their deaths."

Betia listened for a moment longer. The men were not too far from the truth, but far enough away that she did not fear they would stumble on the truth accidentally. She took small sips from her own tankard as she thought about what she should do next. These people had not seen the Willimites or else they would have mentioned them at some point in their conversation. All she needed now was a room for the night.

"Excuse me, kind sirs," Betia interrupted the conversation the men were having. "I was wanting a room for the night. Do you have one available?"

Walby looked up with one eye closed as if he was thinking about the request. "Aye, I have a room."

"Would ye be so kind as to point me to it, then," she asserted.

"Up the stairs, first door on the right," Walby said pointing in the direction of the stairs.

"Thank you," Betia said dropping a coin on the table for the room. Walby quickly snatched the coin to pocket it.

"Are ye traveling alone," Renshaw asked as she started to walk to her room.

"Aye," she turned and said before continuing.

"The road is not safe for a lone woman to be traveling these days," Renshaw said before she reached the stairs.

Again, she turned to face the men. "Thank you for your concern, but I have been traveling for over a week now without incident." Betia knew she had said to much.

"Where are ye headed?" Walby pried.

"I am on my way to Grecotha to visit with family for the winter."

"Safe travels t' ye then," Harwyn said with a wave of his hand.

"Thank you again, but I must rest before I begin my travels on the morrow."

They said nothing else as she left the common room for which she was thankful. She wondered if they were sincere for safety or if the comment was a veiled threat. Shrugging it off, she went to room. It was small but adequate. All she needed was a good night's rest before she traveling again. Her room had a window that faced the front of the inn that looked out on the road. The bed was lumpy but it was much better than sleeping on and in hay as she had the previous nights. This was her first opportunity to stay in an inn along the way.

The sun was setting and she was glad to be getting to bed early. She thought of the men below in the common room and wondered if they would attack her while she slept. Instead of fretting about it, she decided to ward the room and herself for the night. Reaching into her small pouch, she fished for the eight cubes that lay dormant in the bottom of the pouch. She placed her hand around them to feel their smooth sides and felt at ease. She did not need the Ward Cubes to place the ward around the room, but to work the magic would be a comfort to her.

There were four dark black, obsidian-like cubes and four white marble cubes. Her parents had these stones when they moved from Culliecairn years ago and passed them along to her before they died. Touching the weathered, cube stones brought to mind her parents. Seeing their faces in her mind calmed her fears. They had taught her of the Wards Major using these cubes. They had tried to purchase a set for her, but decided against it knowing that it might settle undue suspicion on them.

Betia sat crossed-legged on the floor with the cubes before her. She put the white marble cubes in a square with each touching each other. Then she placed the obsidian cubes on the corners of the white cubes touching just at the corners. She took a deep breath before proceeding to name the cognomen. Starting with the top left cube she gently touched the cube with her forefinger.

"Prime," she said softly. The cube gave a faint white glow as she removed her finger.

"Seconde," she said proceeding to the cube beside the first she had just activated.

"Tierce."

"Quarte." All four of the white cubes gave a faint glow of light as she moved to the obsidian cubes.

"Quinte," she whispered touching the cube at the corner of the first white cube she had activated. Then following around the square she named the nomen of the rest of the black cubes.

"Sixte."

"Septime."

"Octave." She felt the negative balance of the last black cube underneath her the tip of her forefinger.

Now she had to harmonize the white and the black cubes. She took the first white cube she activated with her forefinger and thumb and placed it upon the first black cube. She could feel a slight tugging as she let go of the white cube. "Primus." The two cubes merged together as one taking on a silvery light.

Continuing, she placed the rest of the white cubes upon the black.

"Secundus."

"Tertius."

"Quartus."

The four glowing towers cast a dim light upon the floor. She placed the towers around the room in the corners of the room. When she finished, she bowed her head in reverence to what the towers represented. Her parents had taught her that they represented Archangels of the Quarters, others believed they represented the Elemental Lords and their Watchtowers. However, she felt their Presence with her she had not felt until now.

Pointing to the first set of cubes in the East she activated, she said, "Primus." She then proceeded to the South tower before moving to the North and then West naming each as she did. "Secondus, Tertius, et Quartus. Fiat lux!. A dome of silvery light extended from the cubes to a point above her head. Now she could rest easy from curious eyes and hands.

Almost instantly she was asleep. She could feel the dome of silvery light just beyond her resting body. For several hours she slept soundly with no dreams, but was awakened with a start sometime after midnight. Something from outside had awoken her. She moved to the window to see a group of men on horses. She immediately recognized the leader as he spoke to the men. She could not hear what he said.

The men were then quickly moving about searching through the village. She wondered if they were searching for her. But as soon as the thought entered her mind, a shout arose from down one of the streets. After a few moments, two men dragged a body in front of the leader. The man was not dead, but very afraid as she saw the look on his face. It was Renshaw, the leader of the men that been talking earlier in the common room. The Willimite leader spoke a few words to the man then left, leaving the man in the middle of the road.

Betia gathered that the man had just been warned to keep his mouth closed. She watched in silence as the Willimites rode away. Somehow the Willimite leader had heard of the words spoken earlier in the common room. Betia recalled in her mind the people that had been in the common room at the time. Walby, the innkeeper. Renshaw and his two cronies, James and Harwyn. Herself and a few others. It must have been one of the others that had passed on the information about the words against the Willimites. Or they could have planning to accost Renshaw despite his words. Actually, the more she thought about it, the innkeeper had said more than any of the others.

She laid back down on the bed thinking of the innkeeper. It could have been him that had talked in order to keep his friends from suspecting him as a Willimite collaborator. Sleep came again, but this time it took longer. Betia slept without any other interruptions.

Betia awoke with the dawn. She dismantled the ward with ease before she decided her course of action. Collecting her cubes, she surmised from the encounter last night in front of the inn that the Willimites were staying somewhere close by. One way to find out if they were was to interrogate the innkeeper. If he knew, she could get it out of him. She smoothed her hand over her attire to get rid of the wrinkles before she left the room for the common room.

This early in the morning, she hoped, no one but the innkeeper would be around. Descending the stairs, she cast out to see if any danger was imminent. She sensed no danger, but felt the presence of the innkeeper. He was in the kitchen just beyond the common room. She made her way carefully to the kitchen trying not to make any noise. The door to the kitchen stood open with the innkeeper's back to her. He was kneading dough to make a loaf of bread.

She crossed the short span to press her fingers to his neck. He fell as she quickly drove into his mind. She was right, he was the informer. Paying no heed to the man's position., Betia explored the man's memory hoping to find the place where the Willimites hid. She followed the man's footsteps as he left the inn after everyone had left the previous night before. Just on the outskirts of the village there was a hidden trail that lead deep into the forest. The man followed the trail until it appeared to disappear. Suddenly, men surrounded the innkeeper. They walked him through a series of checkpoints before reaching the Willimite camp.

The leader reminded him of his oath and then asked the reason for his visit. The innkeeper spoke of the conversation he had earlier with Renshaw as well as many other conversations they had had over the past few weeks. Renshaw was becoming a nuisance to the villagers about the lack of king's patrols around the village and the growing Willimite unease. Renshaw wanted the king to step up his investigation into searching for the Willimites with a greater fervor. It was possible Renshaw had sent word to the king already.

Betia took all of this in quickly because she knew anyone could walk in at any moment. Storing it inside of her mind, she could ponder over the information at any time, right now she had to leave. She erased the memory of her being there in his mind then withdrew. Betia hated to leave him like this, but urgency called her to another place, a clue she had to follow.