Grishel's Feather

by Guy Antibes

  They walked to their inn. Helen sauntered over to the innkeeper and gave him some advice about keeping his mouth shut if he wanted to continue to live. Jack preferred not to listen in.

  “I want to check on my horse,” Penny said. “Will you go with me?”

  That was a surprising request Jack thought, but Helen was still providing the innkeeper a piece of her mind when they left.

  “How much do you really know about my uncle?” Penny said.

  Jack shrugged. “I think he is much more powerful than he lets on.” But then so was Jack. “He sends me on these errands, and they become more complicated as I travel. I suspect this will be the same. We have yet to find Myra Pulini, and we don’t know if she will agree to come along with us.” The situation reminded him a bit of when he sought out Corina Bell, Fasher’s new wife.

  “You mean we don’t know if we will find her?” she said.

  “Fasher expects us to discover a way.”

  Penny shivered. “Do you feel that he has used you?”

  Jack had to think to respond. “So far, I have gotten too many experiences from the errands to feel used. I have acquired objects of power that few wizards even get the opportunity to touch. I’ve been to three capitals, and this might be my fourth. I’ve seen a prince I know coronated king, and now we are headed to the capital of Passoran. What village boy ever gets the opportunity to do that?”

  Penny snorted. “I’d rather be in Raker Falls right now.”

  “Not me,” Jack said, surprised that the words popped out of his mouth. “I mean, it is an adventure, and we need to succeed to save Corina, Fasher, and Tanner. We are looking for another object of power, although I can’t use any of mine.”

  “I was surprised at that,” Penny said. “Do you feel weaker since you don’t have them?”

  Jack shook his head. “I’d like to have Eldora’s warded box since it quickly restores any magical power that is used up, but I can duplicate what the others offer.”

  Penny’s eyebrows shot up. “You are joking again. It isn’t nice to joke about holy objects.”

  “I’ve joked with Eldora. I don’t think she would mind.”

  “I didn’t believe you.” She narrowed her eyes at Jack. “I still don’t. You are pulling my leg.”

  Jack examined his hands. “I am not.” He showed her his palms. “No leg here.”

  “Fool!” Penny said and stalked back into the inn.

  Jack watched her go. Maybe the girl just lacked any vestige of a sense of humor. As he followed her back into the building, he guessed that it was just as well that she didn’t believe anything he had said since it was all true.

  Chapter Four

  ~

  T he trio spent the afternoon back in the market collecting the names of Passoranians in Bartonsee. There were more than Jack would have imagined. They began to go down the list of fifty-five names.

  The first Passoranian they contacted was a consul in Passoranian Consulate of Bartonsee. The woman met them at the front desk of the modest building.

  “You are the ones the duke is trying to help?” the woman said. She dressed in a bright-yellow dress, reminding Jack of Harida Maltwill, the noblewoman loyal to Lark in the Tesorian uprising.

  “We are,” Helen said. “Has the duke already inquired about Myra Pulini?”

  “He has. We know of her. Most Passoranians who live for any length of time in Bartonsee visit us and register, so we can forward mail and packages from the home country.

  “And Myra Pulini?”

  The woman shrugged. “I’m afraid the wizardess disappeared some time in the last few months. That doesn’t mean the woman is no longer in Bartonsee, but she hasn’t had anything to do with us. You understand, I hope. The duke does, of course. We lose and regain contact with citizens in Bartonsee all the time.”

  “We understand,” Helen said. “I’ve done some disappearing myself.” She flashed the consul a quick grin. “Let us know if someone reports,” Helen said. She wrote down the name of the inn on a piece of paper and handed it to the consul.

  The woman smiled. “I like that place. I will let you know.”

  The three of them walked out of the consulate and talked in the street.

  “Will this Pulini woman tell us anything?” Penny asked.

  “Good for you,” Helen said. “It is important to question what anyone says or does or promises when on a mission. Jack has found that out.”

  “Some things I question, and some things I don’t,” Jack said.

  Helen reached up to pat Jack on the head. “He’s still learning.”

  ~

  They found five more Passoranians home out of about twenty places they checked and got nowhere with their questioning. Dejected, they returned to their inn for a late dinner.

  The innkeeper walked up to their table. “The duke’s men left a message. The person you seek has been found. This is her address.”

  Helen grabbed the message and handed it Jack after looking disgusted. Jack looked at the address. They had talked to a person at the same house that afternoon. The mercenary got up. “We will visit Myra Pulini right now.”

  Penny groaned. “No dinner?”

  “After we talk to our quarry.”

  Jack smiled. That was mercenary talk.

  They returned to the house, and Helen pounded on the door. The same man who talked to them earlier in the day answered.

  “The duke tells us that Myra Pulini lives here. Is that true or am I going to have to disappoint the duke of Bartonsee?”

  “Who was it again you seek?”

  “Myra Pulini,” Penny said.

  “Oh, I thought you said Myron Puhini!” The man laughed. “A common mistake. I will get her. Follow me in.”

  The man deposited them in a sitting room. Three other individuals were occupying it. From the colors of the clothes, Jack guessed they were in a Passoranian boarding house.

  In a few moments, a disheveled-looking woman somewhat older than Helen walked in wearing a pink robe. She had a scowl on her face. The woman was just a bit taller than Penny and six inches shorter than Helen.

  “You are looking for me?”

  “Myron Puhini?” Jack asked.

  The woman looked at him with quizzical eyes. “Myra Pulini is my name. Is the duke looking for someone else?”

  Helen gave the woman a lopsided grin. “He has his own sense of humor.”

  Jack noticed Penny nodding in agreement.

  “We are looking for you,” Helen said. “Fasher Tempest said you might help us.”

  The woman snorted. “I’m glad he said ‘might’ because I don’t want to.”

  Helen’s amiable expression turned dark. “I don’t think you have the option, dearest.”

  Myra stepped back.

  “No wizardry,” Jack said. “Penny and I can fight back.”

  The woman looked trapped.

  “We won’t ask you to come along for free,” Jack said. “What might you want?”

  Myra looked at Jack out of the corner of her eye. “Who is the boy?” She asked Helen.

  “Fasher’s helper.”

  “A real helper?’

  Helen nodded.

  Myra examined Jack more closely. “Let’s go somewhere more private.” She led them out the front and down an alley to a small garden in the back of the house. The garden was surprisingly well kept. It reminded Jack of the Wilton inn where he had stayed with Ralinn and Lark Waterford.

  “What do you need me for?”

  “We need to find Grishel’s Feather,” Helen said. “Do you know where it is?”

  “No, but I know what it does. It is purported to be Grishel’s healing object.”

  “Who is Grishel?” Penny asked.

  “Passoran’s Alderach,” Myra said. “He is the Passoranian god. Is someone ill?”

  “Fasher Tempest and Helen’s closest friend.”

  Helen squinted at Jack. “Tanner is not my closest friend.”

  “Helen�
�s close friend, then,” Jack said.

  “I will accept that,” Helen said. “Fasher and Tanner Simple are ill through magical means, and Fasher says he needs Grishel’s Feather to be healed.”

  Myra bit her lower lip. “I have met Fasher Tempest before under embarrassing circumstances. He helped me when I really needed help.” She eyed Jack for some reason. “I would have never thought he would get sick by any means.”

  “His new wife is ill too,” Penny said.

  The wizardess nodded her head. “What will you pay me?”

  “What do you want?” Helen said.

  “Two hundred crowns.”

  Helen stared at the woman. “I will arrange for that once we have obtained the feather. Is that acceptable?”

  Myra continued to work on her lower lip. “It is. You will pay for my trip?”

  “Of course.”

  She looked at Jack again. “You really are a helper?”

  Jack nodded. “Do you need proof?” He extended his hand and pushed a trickle of power into the woman.

  Myra took it. Her eyes widened. “You are a helper. I will do it. When do we leave?”

  “Once the duke has been informed. Tanner Simple is his half brother.”

  “I knew there would have to be a connection for the duke of Bartonsee to find me,” Myra sucked in her lower lip this time. “I will want a new wardrobe. Mine is in tatters since I haven’t made much as a wizard.”

  “Can you heal?” Penny asked.

  Myra shook her head. “No, and I don’t know that many spells. My magical education is a bit lacking.”

  Jack wondered why she said that since she recognized a helper. He doubted if Myra was telling the truth, but in Jack’s eyes, she had more capability than Penny. If he didn’t trust her, then he doubted he could ask her to teach him anything, if she actually decided to join them on their journey. The woman didn’t seem very enthusiastic, but two hundred crowns was a very handsome fee. Myra Pulini probably thought the price of her assistance would be too high.

  “Do you know where I could buy a wizardry manual in Bartonsee?” Jack asked.

  Myra shrugged. “There are a few places where you can pick up such things. How advanced?”

  Jack didn’t quite know how to describe his need, but he’d give it a try. “Something that goes into the Fourth or Fifth Manipulation level.”

  The wizardess grimaced. “Something that high, eh? When we go out to buy my new wardrobe tomorrow, I’ll have a place or two to look. There is one competent wizard living in the same boarding house.”

  “Passoranian?” Helen asked.

  “Of course,” Myra said. “I will need a gentle horse to ride and something to carry my bags.”

  “Tomorrow morning we will buy your clothes and find a stable where you can choose a horse. Jack can help pick one out, since I don’t trust my judgment,” Helen said.

  Jack nearly laughed. He suspected Helen would end up choosing a horse just the opposite of what Myra wanted.

  “That is good enough. Be here two hours after dawn. The best market for Passoranian clothing is within walking distance.”

  She led them back to the street and slipped back inside the boarding house without saying another word.

  “Greedy little twit,” Helen said. “Already I can’t stand her.”

  “You don’t even know her?” Penny said.

  Jack winced inside. Helen was as good a judge of character as he had met, except for her falling for the present king of Tesoria, who dumped her as soon as he reached the throne.

  “I don’t have to, dearie,” Helen said. “She makes us pay her way. She makes us buy her clothes, and we have to purchase a horse.”

  “Don’t forget the packhorse,” Jack said.

  “Why can’t we just put more on our own?” Penny said.

  “Do you think she would accept that?” Helen asked.

  “Do you want to bet?” Penny said. “You can’t go around thinking ill of everyone.”

  “I thought you were a bit more cynical than that.” Helen mounted and waited for Penny to do the same.

  “I am cynical for a person in my position.”

  Jack laughed. “And what position do you hold?”

  “A higher one than you, Jack Winder!” Penny said.

  Helen gave Jack a knowing look and strode down the street, leaving it up to Jack and Penny to follow.

  Chapter Five

  ~

  I n the morning they packed up.

  “Do you have a ring or a necklace?” Jack asked of both women.

  “Why? Have you been thinking of starting a collection of women’s jewelry?” Penny asked.

  “Not at all. I want to imbue something you can wear all the time with an anti-coercion spell. I don’t want Myra to decide she wants all our possessions and make us give her all we have. I am sure she knows a lot more magic than she lets on.”

  During breakfast and just after, Jack worked on the small silver earrings that Penny always wore. Jack hadn’t even noticed them before. Helen gave her a ring he had seen on the mercenary all the time.

  “There. I have a similar spell on my knife. We are protected.”

  “You shouldn’t know how to do that,” Penny said. “Fasher won’t be pleased.” Nevertheless, she wore her earrings.

  Helen just chuckled.

  They arrived at Myra Pulini’s boarding house at precisely two hours after dawn and knocked on the door.

  An unfamiliar man answered the door. “Yes?”

  “We are here to pick up Myra Pulini,” Jack said.

  “Someone beat you to it,” the man said. “It would be my guess the woman is currently in the duke of Bartonsee’s custody.” He fished a note from his pocket. “Here.” Jack took the note as the man withdrew and shut the door in their faces.

  “It says that the duke is holding Myra for us to pick up. We can get her at the palace,” Jack said, giving the note over to Helen who read it and nodded.

  “We were taking care of this on our own,” she said.

  “Why did he arrest her?” Penny asked.

  Helen grunted. “The duke has a habit of taking people off the streets and holding them, right Jack?”

  “Helen’s right. That same thing happened to Tanner and her when we were in Bartonsee before. I think the duke is more impatient than I am.”

  “Is that possible?” Penny said.

  Jack took a deep breath and said, “Yes.”

  They bought two horses and headed to the palace. Myra would have to buy her wardrobe someplace else. The three of them wanted out of Bartonsee as soon as possible with the unpredictable duke thinking much too hard.

  The palace guard let them through the gate. “You are after the wizardess?”

  “Do we have to see the duke before we can leave the city?”

  The guards looked at each other and shrugged. “We have a little holding facility—”

  “I know where it is,” Helen said as she snapped the reins.

  Jack noticed the anger on her face. Sometimes she wasn’t as cool as she could be.

  Penny sat on her horse while Jack and Helen entered the jail that once held Tanner in a nice cell and Helen in one not so nice.

  They stood at the front desk while one of the two guards in the room went to fetch Myra. She returned with a shabby, bulging valise.

  “You’ll have to sign for her,” the guard at the desk said. “Duke’s orders.”

  “I can do that,” Helen said. She signed Tanner’s name and led Myra out to the horses. “Your wardrobe will have to come later.”

  Myra frowned. “This isn’t what I expected.” She looked up at the palace.

  “We will leave the city immediately before the duke gets other ideas,” Helen said. “There are plenty of villages and a few towns on the way to Passoran.”

  “There are,” Myra said with a sigh. She looked at Jack. “You won’t be getting a wizard’s book, young man.”

  “I’ll have to handle the disappointment. W
e have your packhorse for you to fill up. Give me your valise.”

  She handed her things to Jack, who tied it to the pannier on the horse’s back. Myra mounted her horse.

  “I hope she’s gentle,” the wizardess said as she scooted forward to get the horse to go.

  Helen grunted. “Gentle enough.” Helen was not a happy person.

  She grabbed Myra’s reins and led the woman out the palace gate. Jack quickly snatched the reins of the packhorse so he could catch up to the three women.

  The trip out of Bartonsee was silent. At that point, Jack rather enjoyed not having to talk to Penny or to an irate Helen. He hoped the mercenary’s anger would be tamped down after they exited the city.

  Penny began talking to Myra about wizardry as they approached the city’s eastern gate. Jack was leaving familiar territory yet again. Helen hadn’t said a word, but Penny and Myra had begun to chat up a storm. Jack rode forward and took up a position next to Helen. With the string of horses, Penny and Myra’s conversation was harder to hear with Jack riding in the front.

  “We won’t be wasting another day in Bartonsee,” Jack said.

  “I already figured that out. You don’t have to congratulate me,” Helen said. “Do you think the wizardess knows how to use a sword?”

  Jack twisted in the saddle to look back. Penny gave Jack a nasty smile, and Myra didn’t pay any attention to him. “No.”

  “I’ll make Penny resume her running, but it will be difficult with the packhorse.”

  “Then make Myra take care of it.”

  Helen barked out a laugh. “I am losing it. That should have been my first thought.”

  “I think we are all distracted.”

  “What is distracting you?” Helen asked. Her anger seemed to be dissipating.

  “No magic manual, why does Fasher need Grishel’s Feather, what does Fasher see in Myra to make her vital to our quest, when will Penny attempt another attack on me, physical or mental. Is that enough?”

  “More than enough. You didn’t mention Fasher’s illness.”

  “Fasher, Corina, Tanner. I’m worried about all three,” Jack said, “but there is little we can do about it.”

  “We are doing what we can. I suppose we can pick up the pace. Maybe no running until we get to Passoran.”