Rebels and Fools (The Renegade Chronicles Book 1) by David Michael Williams

in
person, Leslie, at least allow me to assemble a proper entourage.”
    “There’s
no time,” Leslie said. “You and Scout will have to be enough, not that I can’t
protect myself.”
    “Hold
on!” Klye shouted as he stood up. “Did you say the pirates were staying at Oars
and Omens?”
    Leslie
blinked, as though noticing Klye for the first time. “Oh. Yeah. Why?”
    Now
it was Klye’s turn to swear. “That’s where my Renegades are staying.”
    “Looks
like you’ll be coming along then,” Scout said, and Klye wanted nothing more
than to slap the man’s silly grin right off his face.
    “Bad
news.”
    Klye,
Leslie, Scout, and Maeve all turned at the sound of a new voice. Elezar stood
in the doorway, his face as white as his robe.
    “City
guardsmen have positioned themselves around the Cathedral,” he said. “They’re
not doing anything yet, but I’m certain they were sent to watch the church.”
    “So
we’re stuck here?” Scout asked.
    “No,”
Klye and Leslie replied in unison.
    The
room grew silent as the five of them stared at one another, trying to come up
with a plan.
    “I
got it,” Scout said with a snap of his fingers. “We’ll take the sewers. There
has to be a way into them from down here.”
    “Yes,”
Elezar replied after a moment of thought. There’s a grate behind the stairs, if
I’m not mistaken. I don’t know where it leads though…”
    “I’ve
been in Port Town’s sewers before. I’ll figure it out,” Scout promised. “Come
on, let’s get going.”
    The
hooded Renegade pushed past Maeve and Elezar into the hallway.
    “I
must return to the upper levels lest anyone grow suspicious.” Elezar gave them
an apologetic look before disappearing back down the hall.
    “I
have an idea.” Leslie grabbed a gray cloak from somewhere under her desk and
shoved the letter she had been writing into a drawer. Covering herself with the
coat, she said, “Maeve, I want you to try to sneak out of the Cathedral’s
ground level without being seen. If you are followed, try to lose your tail and
head for Oars and Omens. If we don’t make it to the inn, it’s up to you to get
the pirates out of there.”
    Giving
Leslie a steely look, Maeve hesitated only a second before agreeing. “Don’t do
anything foolish!” she called over her shoulder as she ran down the hall. She
took the stairs two at a time and was gone. Klye didn’t know if she had
directed her warning at Leslie or Scout, whom she had passed in the corridor.
    They
found Scout crouched near a circular drain behind the stairs. He put his
fingers through the holes and pulled upward with all his might. The grate
didn’t budge. The hooded Renegade then used his knife to trace all around the
grating, hoping to disrupt whatever grime had bonded the steel to the stone
floor around it.
    His
next attempt moved the grate a fraction of an inch. With Klye’s help, the third
try yielded success. Setting the drain cover to the side, Scout immediately
lowered himself down into the dark, reeking hole. Leslie hesitated.
    One
hand on his stomach and other outstretched before him, Klye bowed and said,
“Ladies first.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Passage VIII

 
 
    When
the men in red-and-white uniforms began filing in through the inn’s main
entrance as well as from the kitchen, all sound ceased in the common room.
Plake’s first thought was that they were here for him and the other Renegades.
    Klye
must have gotten caught and spilled the beans, the rancher concluded with a
frown.
    Plake
was already considering the best place to hide when one of the guards—a
familiar-looking man who wore a triangular hat and yellow tassels on his
shoulders—drew his sword and announced, “I am Roland DeGrange, Captain of the
Three Guards. The inn is surrounded. Your ships have abandoned you. There is no
hope of escape. Surrender is your only option.”
    At
first Plake was relieved. They were not here for him. But one look at his new
drinking