by Sandra Elsa
She awoke feeling strange. Conall was with her as he never had been before.
“The shield is in place,” she heard Johann say, and it vibrated through her mind as though she were hearing everything twice. Opening her eyes, she saw Trace kneeling on one side of her and Captain Torel on the other. Johann stood looking down at her.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I think so,” she answered him, “Oh Gods, it feels like he’s physically inside my head.”
“Captain,” Johann said, “Might I please have a moment with my granddaughter?”
“Certainly,” with a concerned look, Torel left them alone.
“Bella,” Johann said, “You’ve got to fix this, I can’t. Concentrate on turning that rope into a string, from the strength of your connection a line of spider web is likely all you need. Build a shield around the connection and squeeze it down until you can function.”
She did as he instructed and the flood of sensation shrank. When color started returning to her face, he said, “Don’t worry, you’ll only have to shield when you’re in this room. Building a shield around a link intensifies it. I didn’t realize the link had become that strong or I would have warned you.”
“Gods, I have a headache. It felt like he was right here with me, occupying the same body. It was overwhelming.”
“Likewise,” she heard a rather groggy mental voice. “Bellana, who did you think of just before we passed out? He seemed familiar.”
“I thought he came from your mind. I agree he looked familiar.”
Johann went to the door and opened it. He called Captain Torel back in.
“Is she all right?” Torel asked as he walked through the door.
“She’ll be fine. Shouldn’t be anymore than a headache,” Johann told him.
Bella gave him a wan smile.
“Will you be able to sit through this briefing? I need your complete attention.”
“Do you mind if I take ten minutes to go get some willow bark tea.”
“No, go right ahead.”
She walked to the stable. She didn’t search through the belongings they had left in front of the stalls; she went instead to see Angel. This headache was magical in nature, she hoped he could help.
She went in the airy box stall and stood beside him. He understood the problem immediately. His soft muzzle touched her forehead and the pain was gone. In its place the image of the dark haired man was stronger and clearer.
Captain Torel looked up, not at all surprised when she returned full of energy. Gray eyes contemplated her as she walked in the office. His square jaw clenched, then relaxed. “That’s some fast acting tea,” was his only comment.
Johann smiled knowingly. “You’re all set now,” he said to Captain Torel. “I’ll take my leave then.”
“Thank you, Johann.”
No sooner was Johann out the door than Captain Torel turned to Bella and said, “Now, since we’re all here, I’ve got to admit, you seem to be something of an enigma to me. Trace, seems to be fairly straightforward. Bella, I don’t know what to think of you. Somehow I know you're the right one for the job, but you present so many unknowns.”
His shoulders heaved, looking like he was trying to shift some heavy weight. “I wish I could just accept as truth that your instructor is not a danger. But after watching you pass out, I’m not sure I believe that.”
“That was not his fault, he passed out too,” she defended Conall. “The problem was an underestimation of the link. It’s been handled.”
“Then there’s that. How was it handled? Johann said you had to maintain the link. Seems to me that’s magic, and how did you damp it down? I’d guess a shield. I’m not ignorant of magic. Oh, and nobody can possibly brew willow bark tea and come back looking that vibrant in less than ten minutes, even if you had it brewed and waiting, it doesn’t even work that fast. Care to comment on any of this? Keeping in mind you promised me the truth.”
She wanted to. He already knew she had magic. He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone except Baltor, the blue robed wizard, so she had to assume he had reasons of his own. The truth would make life so much easier. But where to start?
“May I tell him about you?” she asked Conall.
“I suppose you might as well,” came the reply. “He is persistent.”
“Very well then,” she said, startling Trace and Torel. “Conall says to get it over with.”
Torel looked at her expectantly. Perhaps with a bit of suspicion about the easy capitulation.
“As I said, I met him on the same day I met Dylan.
“Dylan’s son had been grievously injured and Sergeant Marner was taking him to see a Healer. The boy would not have made it. By coincidence the Healer he was taking him to had just finished training me.”
Torel raised an eyebrow, “ HEALER or healer? Magic or herbs?”
Bella looked at him with annoyance. She saw no reason to pretend any longer that she had no magic or that he didn’t already know about it. Flippantly she said, “As if you didn’t already know.”
His jaw hung open.
She looked at him with second-sight and was surprised to find a strong sapphire blue energy emanating from him. “Honestly Captain, are you telling me that you can’t feel me search you?” When he didn’t respond, she said, “I can. I felt you search me. Why do you think you ran into my shields? So I guess we each know a bit more about the other now. I also know that you did not go running directly to the Wizard Corps with your knowledge, so I’m guessing you need me as I am. As to your question… Let’s just say the boys brain was bruised and swelling, his arm was broken and his chest crushed, by the next day he was riding home without a care in the world.”
Torel just nodded.
“That morning, as I sat watch, Angel alerted to an intruder, something or somebody was approaching. I heard a voice in my head asking if the boy had died.” She smiled, “He was quite disappointed that I saved him.”
Raising a hand, Bella forestalled any questions as she went on to tell how Conall had waited for them at Dylan’s, then joined them when they once again started traveling. She told Torel of the curse and everything they had so far, figured out about him.
“He has lost himself to time and loneliness, when he taught me swordsmanship he did not know the skills he taught me were those used by the King's Guard. When he lost me the other day in the shielded room he panicked thinking himself alone again,” she finished.
Torel was nodding his head, “As impossible as that tale sounds, from everything I’ve seen and learned in the past couple of days I don’t have much choice but to believe you. I guess one question I have to ask is, why didn't you enlist as a witch? It’s your choice, and I won‘t tell anyone, because frankly you’re right, you do me much more good, directly within my ranks, but why?”
“That was Johann’s advice, and it was sound. I don’t want to be ordered to use my magic to take life. I don’t think I’d do well under the rules of the Wizards’ Corps.”
Again he was nodding his head. “And that would be why you didn’t use your magic to Heal the prisoner we have in the dungeon?”
“It is the reason I did not finish the job with magic. Simply keeping him away from Karnac’s realm nearly killed me, the day before I stitched up his side.”
Torel looked thoughtful, “If he was close to death, that would explain his madness.”
“I'm sorry, I could not save his mind. He seemed fine, when we left.”
Fingers drummed the heavy oak desk. “As loath as I am to hear that, everything you have told me thus far has felt like the truth. I'm even more convinced, if anybody can accomplish this mission it is you. But you must realize the Guard has a very strict code of discipline, and you will be expected to fall into that routine of discipline while you are here within the palace compound.”
When she nodded her acceptance of that fact, he continued, spelling out exactly what her future would be. “I plan to send you into the Court of Te
lgar. It would hardly be plausible that an unattached female, as young as you are, would show up unescorted. You’ll be the third daughter of a small landholder, from the northwestern part of the country, sent to the Court by your father to find a husband. He cannot support all his children so he hopes you’ll be able to find a match at Court, since there are few eligible men in your region.”
Torel stood and began pacing as he talked. “The northwest is sparsely populated so this should be accepted without too many questions. We have people here who will coach you in the customs of Telgar, and others to teach you Court manners and etiquette.”
He looked at Trace with a smile, “You’ll be undergoing the same training. Who better to escort a fair young virtuous lady to Court, than her gallant older brother. You two already have some experience with the role of brother and sister. Having done the math and added it all up, I don’t believe for a second, that you even met each other more than a week ago, but you nearly had us fooled.”
Bella and Trace had the decency to blush
“You do both know Johann, and on that common ground we will build your doting father’s character.”
Smiling at their discomfiture, he launched back into the cover story. “Your father wants only the best for his children. His beloved youngest son and daughter will have a chance at a much better life than they would have on the family holding with two older sisters and three older brothers. Your family raises horses and crops. We will build more on that in the future. You Bella, will be a disappointment to your brother because you become interested in one of the guards instead of a highborn noble’s son. You’ll have to select the guard once you’re at Court.”
Torel stopped to make sure there were no questions. Grey eyes glancing between the two soldiers standing in front of him. “You want to get close to one of King Thale’s personal guards, somebody who’s important enough to know where Lorun is being held.” He raised a hand, silencing the questions she was about to ask. “Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. Remember your brother will be there for your protection. At a minimum, we need to find out if Lorun is still there and alive after all this time. We obviously can’t plan out every step of this mission. There are too many variables involved, and plans tend to last only until you're on enemy soil.”
He sat down at his desk, shuffled through some papers and pulled two of them out. He read over them and handed one to each of them. They were orders confining them to the inner circle of Relante. They were not to go beyond the first gate, and public parts of the palace were off limits as well.
“You will spend the winter here, preparing. It has already been two years and as Trace knows, I’m sure, it is already winter in Telgar. You will need to come in from the northwest in keeping with your story so you will spend the next three months here, learning all you need to know. If you leave in the springtime here, it will be thawing by the time you go through the mountains up north.”
Bella would not be put off this time. Her voice quavered as she asked, “Up north? The Rortags? You want us to ride through the Rortags? You don’t mean for us to go around them on the eastern end, do you?” Her voice took on a note of hysteria as she remembered the tales of the drunken miner in Trell, and Neeran’s close brush with the Earth Shaker.
“Unless you have a better plan to come into the capital of Telgar from the direction of the unpopulated northwest, yes Corporal, that is exactly what I'm talking about.”
“But…”
“Corporal.” Torel’s tone was warning. He would not accept argument.
She snapped her jaw shut. Her mind sought Conall’s. He offered her comfort. “I have lived there for two hundred years. I know of the Earth Shaker. I'm skilled at avoiding it.”
“And what of the other monsters they claimed lived there.”
With a harumph, Conall said, “The wolf would be me. He exaggerated of course. There are none larger, living in the Rortags. I remember your miner. I thought he might be the one to kill me. Three years ago I presented him with a perfect target and his arrow did hit me. It did not kill me. Nothing can.” The last was accompanied by a sigh. With a slightly more cheerful tone he thought, “Now that I’ve met you, perhaps that is a good thing. Other creatures do appear in the mountains occasionally, they disappear as rapidly as they appear and none has ever seemed particularly dangerous to me. Peculiar but not dangerous.”
Torel slammed a book down on his desk and was glaring at her when she brought her mind back to the business at hand. He pointed to the orders in their hands. “While you’re here, I want you both to stay as invisible as possible. Weapons’ practice will be held on the Guard’s indoor ranges. I will be in charge of your training, unless your friend can be convinced to come within the city limits, and workout with you. Your meals will be taken in the Guard mess hall.” His tone gentled again, now that he had her undivided attention. “I’ll select some young ladies from the Court to train you, Bella, in how to present yourself. I'll train Trace, myself. We know there are Telgarn spies within our Court, just as we have spies within their Court, it would be unfortunate if somebody recognized you while you were there.”
“If we have spies there already why not just use them?” Bella asked.
Torel turned a grim smile on Trace. “I’m sure your brother can tell you, we rarely get people in the circles that would give us any information such as we need now. As you can stay away from the sight of their spies by staying away from the public areas, most important information can also be hidden. Any attempt to intrude beyond what is allowed to the public would alert the Guards. Jasper got his information more by luck than skill. He happened to overhear two nobles talking at an inn. The information is sketchy at best.”
Bella‘s head turned as though she were seeing through the wall. She looked toward the hills where Conall waited.
“What now Corporal?” Torel asked. He sounded as though he may already be regretting his decision to enlist her.
“I cannot leave Conall in the woods by himself all winter long. Who will bring him food? And he longs for conversation. Just now I think I could talk to him from twenty miles away, but he is my friend and I can’t just leave him out there. Angel will need exercise as well.”
Looking from Bella‘s face to the point on the wall where she stared, Torel said, “Angel is the easy one. The Guard has an exclusive indoor riding area. Conall on the other hand, even if he would consent to come within the walls, I don’t know how we would get him here unseen.”
“I’ll come there, Bellana,” she heard in her mind.
“How?” she asked.
“In the dark I can move nearly unseen. Wait for me tonight, I'll find you. And have supper ready,” he ended laughingly.
Captain Torel was looking at her expectantly. She wondered what she’d missed this time.
When she said nothing, Torel asked, “What did he say? Come now, surely you didn’t think the Captain of the King’s Guard wouldn’t recognize the trance of mindspeech. And from this room there’s only one mind you could possibly reach. What did he say?”
“He said to have supper ready. I suppose I'll need private quarters.”
Looking unduly excited at the prospect, Torel said, “If I get to meet him you can have any quarters you want. How does he propose to get here? I’ll confess to more than just a little curiosity.”
“He just said he’d find me. He can be nearly invisible in the dark.”
“The gate guards will see him. The gates are kept well lit.” Without even a pause to consider the possibility that his change of orders would not be accepted by the regular army soldiers, he said, “I'll place my men on the gates tonight, with orders not to see him.”
A brief mind touch and she turned to Torel and said, “He said, thank you, and he would be pleased to meet you.”
A smile lit Torel’s face. He got to his feet and opened the door. “Sergeant,” he called, “get me the next four soldiers on the duty roster, have them report at once.”
/> “Yes sir!” the answer snapped back at them.
Faster than seemed logistically possible, two sergeants, and two corporals were standing in front of him.
“I want you men on the gates tonight. You will patrol, not just man the shack. I don’t want anybody loitering anywhere near the gates. I'm expecting a four-legged visitor tonight. You will neither see him, nor run in terror when he passes through the gate. Understood?”
“Understood, Sir!” Four voices sounded off in unison. No question touched their tone.
“Tell the desk to write up orders for you to relieve the regular guards. Dismissed.”
As one, the duty personnel turned and left.
Turning back to Bella and Trace, Torel asked, “Well, let’s see about getting you two some quarters. Would you like to be together or separate? After all you are brother and sister.”
They looked at each other uncertainly. With that lie exposed it didn’t seem right to sleep in the same room.
“Separate,” they said at the same time.
“Report to the barracks, Sergeant. Tell the CQ to find you a bunk.”
“Yes sir,” Trace saluted and left, turning smartly on his heel.
When Trace was gone, Bella asked, “CQ?”
“That is the duty person in Charge of Quarters. I guess there’s a lot we need to teach you. Come with me.”
He led her to a small cottage near the end of a row of identical buildings. “These Quarters are for higher ranking and married, enlisted personnel and our officers. The second one there is empty. Go get your gear and put it up. I’ll meet you back here in one hour.”
Chapter 30
