The Lost Star's Sea

by C. Litka

  03

  He had paused in the doorway, perhaps to issue one last order, and being a man of some importance, having issued it, turned abruptly, and stepped out right in front of MossRose, who had to pull up sharply. He was a big, tall man, dressed in a dark blue jacket with rows of shining buttons and trimmed in gold and lace. He glared down at MossRose for her impudence of being in his way - and recognized her.

  He quickly hid his surprise, and standing a little stiffer, gave her a little bow, 'Lady MossRose. This is a wonderful surprise.'

  It wasn't. I thought it best to look like I wasn't part of her party, and so I dodged around the girls, the great man, and the military officer in a white uniform who had followed him out. Py followed me. We didn't go far, settling against the opposite wall beyond the doorway - close enough for Naylea to give me one of her "It's your fault" looks.

  'Lord Chancellor,' MossRose nodded. 'Colonel Crim.'

  'You've escaped! I'm delighted to see you safe and sound. We were all very concerned about you. Does the Governor know? I've just come from him and he said nothing of this to me.'

  'I was never a captive, as I'm sure you know, so, no, I have not escaped. Nor have I seen Father - yet. I was on my way to see him before you got in my way.'

  'I beg your pardon, my lady. It was careless of me,' the Chancellor said with a faint smile and another little bow. 'May I escort you up to your quarters?'

  'Thank you, but I can still find my way.'

  'I'm certain he'll be as delighted to see you safely home, as I am.'

  'Since it didn't cost him even one copper coin.'

  'You do him an injustice, my Lady. I assure you he was quite upset by your abduction and worried about you constantly.'

  'But not upset and worried enough to spare even a copper coin.'

  'That, My Lady, was for your protection. Paying the kidnappers ransom would not necessarily buy your freedom. You can't trust Kandivarians. And even if they did release you, once it became known that the Governor would pay 2,000 gold coins for your safe return? Well, knowing the Governor, I doubt that he would let you go anywhere without an escort of armed guards to protect you. And knowing you, I doubt you would care for that.'

  'And you also know perfectly well, sir, that the Kandivarians were not demanding a ransom. I was demanding my dowry. And that being the case, whatever protection I might require wouldn't be my father's responsibility. It would be my husband's. But I'll take that up with father as soon as I can get around you.'

  I didn't need to see the Chancellor's face to know that this exchange was not idle chatter. You could almost hear the gears spinning. The Chancellor's cordiality was only on the surface. MossRose's unheralded arrival - apparently with unknown friends - had to be be ringing alarm bells in the Chancellor's and the Colonel's heads. Neither looked to be a fool. I know we hadn't fooled Colonel Crim - he had given us a measured glance as we passed and noted that we settled against the wall. Py, of course, looked completely harmless, and I, well, I suppose I looked as wary as I felt, even with my trusty little sissy in hand. Both Naylea and Trin had assumed an air of dangerous competence that was hard to miss. The Chancellor looked to have several more members of his staff waiting inside the office as well as several armed guardsmen, so that he wasn't outnumbered. While we were apparently unarmed, that may've suggested that we didn't need to be armed. So the question of what to do hung so heavy in the air that the Colonel could have cut it with his sword. I'd a strong feeling that putting darts in these fellows my be our best course of action, but doing so in the crowded passageway would make a bit of fuss. Still? I glanced at Naylea. She shook her head and nodded to MossRose. We'd follow her lead.

  The Chancellor could not know for certain what MossRose's intentions were, nor the purpose of her apparent escort. We had to be along for some reason, and, well, he had to consider that he might end up dead if he acted hastily.

  'I'm sure you're eager to see your father, so I won't keep you. I am glad you are home safe and sound,' said the Chancellor with another little bow and retreating into the doorway to let her pass, apparently deciding that what needed doing could be done as soon as MossRose and her party were out of sight.

  MossRose did not know about our darters. The plan relied entirely on stealth rather than force, so she accepted his retreat.

  'Yes. Thank you. I am eager to surprise my father,' she replied, and with a nod to the Colonel, started off again.

  Py and I let the girls pass and hung back a while longer. Indecision on how to deal with us held the Chancellor and the Colonel in place for half a minute until we pushed off the wall and started after the girls who had disappeared around the curve of the passageway.

  They were waiting for us against the wall at the foot of the next steep up ramp.

  'If we are to free Tey Pot and abduct my father, we must do so now, without delay,' hissed MossRose urgently, as we arrived. 'The Chancellor knows I've not come crawling back to Father. I'm sure he'll alert my father and his guards. He may well order Colonel Crim to turn out the Palace Guards as well. So we need to reach Father first. We should be able to outrun any warning if we hurry. Father will be preparing for dinner - I know exactly where to find him. Getting him out will be more difficult now, but I think it can be done - if we act now, with speed. What do you say?'

  'Let's go,' said Naylea, without hesitation. 'Now's our best chance. Turning out the guards in force will create much confusion in the palace. We may be able to use that in our escape.'

  'Just so,' added Py.

  MossRose looked to Trin, who nodded, then to me, who shrugged. Our original plan had just gone up in smoke, so I had to trust the experts. And I had my sissy in my pocket, as did Naylea.

  'Excellent,' she said, with a nod, and a brief smile. She turned and led us up the ramp at a run, pushing between the groups of slower pedestrians. We followed her, deaf to the occasional angry comment.

  The higher we went, the fewer people we encountered. The palace-fortress of Zandival may've been a smallish fallen rock, but even so, we raced up a dozen more ramps to reach the level just below the restricted residential levels where the elites of Zandival Province lived.

  MossRose turned down a dim-lit passage - natural hollows in the rock, linked by short tunnels. Light from the outside seeping in from its far end was its only illumination. Halfway down, she turned off into one of the natural caves and followed it a few paces to the black hollow, halting before an even blacker doorway.

  MossRose drew a key from her jacket pocket, and hurriedly whispered, 'That last passage opens out onto a flanking wall. Natta, Wilitang, that's the way you must go to escape with Tey Pot. Follow it out and onto the wall. Then follow the terraces down and around the palace as fast as you can without attracting attention. There will be palace staff about, but no one should pay attention to you. You shouldn't encounter any guards until the last wall at the bottom. The Palace Guard barracks are just beyond it. There's a sunken courtyard, but unless the guards have been given orders not to let you pass, you should be able to continue on along the walkway on top of the outer wall. That will take you around to the hospital grounds. There are vines growing on the wall there, and trees to hide you from the guards on the turret. Climb down to the hospital terrace and from there you can make your way to the park and to the lopemounts.

  'Don't wait for us. Our task may take more time than yours. We may not be able to get away for hours, if not rounds. I can find places to hide in the palace. Tell PisDore to keep a contingent waiting, unless the Guard is out and about. But don't worry about us, we'll be fine.'

  Unlocking the door, she pushed it open. Inside was another short passageway, as black as a deep drift, but there were lanterns hung just beyond the door and with flash of a fire-stick, she lit the thick candle in one, and then another, handing the second lantern to Trin. We followed her into a large natural cave filled with vague shadows, 'One last word of advice. If it appears that you cannot reach the hospital terrace, if the odd
s against you look too great, the lake is deep and not wide. If you can swim, you can jump for it as soon as you think it's safe and make your way across the park.'

  Trin nodded. 'Don't worry about us. We can deal with any contingency.'

  I seem to have rather unnervingly optimistic friends and companions, but I said nothing.

  In the feeble, flickering light of the lanterns, the vague shapes resolved themselves into a tumbled collection of discarded chairs, tables and wardrobes. Holding her lantern high, MossRose picked her way through this maze to the far wall, and shoving a tall wardrobe aside, found the keyhole and, with Py's help, pulled open a heavy, stone-faced door. She turned, held her finger to her lips, and plunged into the narrow passage. We followed single file, Py and Naylea, Trin and me.

  The passageway was cool and pitch black an arm's length ahead and behind - the extent of the meager light from our lanterns. Our shoulders brushed the stone sides at times, and the ceiling was so low that we had to stoop in places when we moved from one small natural cavern to the next. It was unpleasant, at best, claustrophobic at worst. The caves and passage led to a shaft leading upwards in a series of ladders and landings. MossRose scampered up the ladders one handed and we followed - easy enough in the light gravity. Each level had marks carved into the stone to identify the matching floor, After passing six such landings, we stopped at the seventh, and started down another narrow, branching tunnel. MossRose held the lantern high and silently pointed to characters carved into the stone at every opening and door we passed. I could not read them, and I wasn't certain Trin could either - we were in Dajara now and though the spoken language was the same, that didn't mean the written one was. I tried to keep track of turns and levels in my head and hoped Trin was too.

  Luckily there were only two turns before we reached the passage that led to Tey Pot's quarters, as reported by Kandivar's palace spies.

  'The third door,' MossRose whispered. 'There is a spy hole in it. Look before you enter. If you don't see him? Well, you can search the adjacent rooms, but don't linger too long. Good luck.'

  'Good luck,' Trin and I whispered back, as they turned back to continue on their way up to the top of the palace and the Governor's quarters.

  Before we set out down the narrow passage I touched Trin's shoulder and showing her my trusty sissy in the feeble light, and whispered, 'I still have a working darter, so leave any guards for me to deal with. No point taking chances.'

  She flashed me a brief and very rare, smile, and drew out a compact darter of her own from her pocket. 'A parting gift from Captain Roynay. He had a bad feeling about how things would lift when they turned me and my crew off the Raven. He said I might need it. It did come in handy, early on.'

  'Good old Tenry,' I sighed, 'I hope things worked out right for them?' Somehow. Still, with Trin and the second darter, the blackness of the cave seemed to lighten up a bit. I continued, 'Just to make it clear, Captain Trin, you're in charge of this operation. This is your line of work, not mine. I'll take my orders from you.'

  'It's Sub-captain, Captain.'

  'It's Wil, and I think you've earned a promotion, if only because you're the highest ranking Cimmadarian officer on Windvera. It's Captain Trin now.'

  She shook her head, but didn't argue further.

  'Oh, and if you have non-lethal darts, I think it's best that we use them if we must use any at all.'

  'Yes, sir, Captain,' she replied, with a sarcastic edge.

  I laughed softly. 'I meant that merely as a suggestion - from a diplomatic point of view. I don't think we want to leave a trail of dead bodies if we can help it. MossRose will need to be reconciled with her father sooner or later.'

  'Yes, sir.'

  'Oh, just lead on.'

  'Yes, sir.'

  It's a good thing I appreciate sarcasm.