Page 35 of Tashama
After he laid Tashama in the bed, he turned his attention to the man. “Do not disturb the lady’s sleep. Advise the prince’s guards that the lady was taken against her will. She did not desire to join us.”
“He’s a clockmaker,” one of the men said and pocketed the clock.
The six men slipped out of the room like shadows in the dark. The door clicked behind them, and the clockmaker twisted his shoulders as he grunted, “Eh, eh.”
Tashama smiled as she squirmed to get comfortable on the goose-down-filled pillows. Soon she was running along the gray beaches at Galveston Island, breathing in the fishy fragrance as the gulf spray touched her cheeks.I am free! Free!
Within the hour,warning bells rang throughout the palace. Aleron woke from his slumber, and a guard rushed into his chambers. “Sire.” He bowed low.
The prince frowned at the interruption of his dreams and rubbed his bare chest as he glowered at the guard. “What is the trouble that you barge into my chambers like this without invitation?”
“The prisoners in the tower have escaped, my liege.”
Aleron scratched his head for a moment, then turned to his manservant. “Get my clothes!” Turning to the guard, he asked, “What has happened?”
The servant helped the prince with his tunic, and the guard said, “They escaped by climbing down a rope and dropping into a window three stories below their own.”
“The woman couldn’t have made such a climb.”
“She did, sire. She’s gone as well.”
“And the room where they entered? What of the occupants?”
“They were bound and gagged, sire, with their own bed sheets. We assume the thieves entered the sewers and have already made their escape.”
The servant helped the prince on with his sandals as Carissian appeared at the prince’s chambers.
“Sire.” He bowed low. “The lady and the rest of the prisoners have made a successful escape, I’m obliged to inform you.”
“She couldn’t walk. You said so yourself, Carissian.”
“The occupants of the room where the men first alighted said the woman was carried over the leader’s shoulder.”
The servant buckled the prince’s belt, and the prince said, “We’ve lost her then.”
“Yes, sire.”
“She couldn’t have helped the men escape. How did they do such a thing?” The prince paced across the floor.
“The tower guard tied the men to keep her safe from harm. Apparently, they found a way to untie the rope, though he was at a loss as to how they could have done such a thing. He assumed they took the woman against her will.”
The prince stormed out of his room, and the guard and Carissian followed him. “I want her brought back here at once!” He turned to Carissian. “Did the healer drug her?”
“Yes, sire, because of her injuries.”
“Did he not know how dangerous it could have been for the lady when she was drugged like that…to be left alone with the prisoners…defenseless?”
“The tower guard tied the men together to ensure they couldn’t reach her.”
The prince shook his head. “And they used the rope to escape and got to her anyway.”
“The men are searching the sewers as we speak, sire,” the guard said.
The prince stormed to the tower, and Carissian said, “The men would have taken her to their mountain hideaways by now. We won’t find her, sire.”
“Whose side are you on, Carissian?” The prince jogged up the stairs. “You say she’ll do injury to me.”
Carissian cleared his throat.
