The erdette sensed that something was not as it should be and looked down in dismay. It tried to lurch forward, but couldn’t. Lucy continued to focus. She stretched the erdette’s torso and arms. The erdette tried to draw more magic from Lucy. Lucy let it, but turned the focus of the magic to its arms as they split and grew longer. Its claws changed into leaves. The erdette echoed one last snarl before a silver leaf maple stood before them instead.
“Cool,” said Taran with a smile.
“Is that a temporary spell?” asked Gavin. “Like the ones you used on the students?”
“No, it should last forever,” said Lucy.
“What will prevent it from feeding off magic and turning back into an erdette?” asked Maya academically.
“The tree itself. It doesn’t have a brain. The tree may be able to pull magic from around it, and it might grow but it will not be able to change into something else. I haven’t trapped the erdette in the form of a tree, I changed it into one. It will be able to act like a tree, but not direct, think or plan. I altered the leaves. They might be able to pull in magic as well as carbon dioxide and sunlight, but they will give off oxygen. I changed the erdette at a metabolic level. In order to function and live, it can only be a tree,” Lucy tried to explain.
No one looked like her entire explanation made sense. Luckily before Lucy had to try to explain further, they were interrupted.
“Excuse me, magic user,” said a voice to Lucy’s left.
She turned and saw a small pixie sitting on the new tree. He was old, with a white beard and long white hair. He was wearing well-made brown pants and a light green shirt, with holes tailored in back for his wings. He was barefoot.
“Yes?” Lucy inquired respectfully.
“That was some strong magic you performed. We felt it. We think it will be forever as well. Thank you.”
“Thank you?” wondered Lucy, confused.
The pixie smiled, “Yes, miss, we give off magic too. It might take a bit to catch one of us and it might take many of us to make a good meal, but we can be easy pickings to an erdette compared to something bigger and more dangerous. We are safer now too.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We have a large clan and were thinking about dividing. Some of our clan will move to this tree. We will remember what has been done. Every morning we will work to strengthen your spell so it will never get free again. That much we can do. You have taken something dangerous and made it beautiful. We would like to keep it as it is.”
“In that case, it is my turn to thank you,” said Lucy with a smile.
A group of 20 pixies appeared around them, smiled in thanks, started at the base of the tree and flew around it circling higher and higher until they were out of sight.
“That was odd,” said Gavin.
He looked at the others, shrugged, and mounted his horse. The others took his lead. Tree or not, there was still daylight left and miles to travel. Everyone was quiet as they rode, lost in their own thoughts. Gavin felt sad about being deprived a good fight and wasn’t sure what to think about the pixies. Maya was glad they hadn’t had to fight and thought it was cool to see. She liked that Lucy had used her magic successfully in a fight. Hopefully, in a way that would not give her nightmares. Taran thought it was fun to watch Lucy come into her own a little. She might be powerful enough to attract an erdette, but she was also powerful enough to deal with one. He wondered how many she could change into trees at one time. Justin was proud of her. He hadn’t tried anything like that before. He could do many things, but there were still many things he hadn’t tried, or hadn’t wanted to try. Lucy was happy and feeling confident. Besides, how bad could nightmares about trees be if her subconscious had a problem with anything later?
They didn’t encounter any more trouble on their way. A day’s ride from Lerramorre, they came across a small band of ten mounted soldiers.
“Greetings,” said Neville with a smile. “My lord hoped you would come. We’ve been patrolling this area for about three days, waiting for you to come.”
“Good to see you too,” said Gavin also smiling and clapping Neville on the shoulder.
Last time they were here, Gavin made friends with all ten of the soldiers. Obviously, the King had carefully selected a group to put them at ease rather than arouse their anger. Lucy could tell Neville was glad to see them again. Lucy was glad they were being greeted cordially rather than being made prisoners. She also noticed that she received many tentative smiles as well. She returned them. She had brushed off Gavin’s earlier comments about the soldiers liking her. Perhaps he was right. Having armed guards on your side is never a bad thing; so, Lucy did her best to appear friendly.
“If you are up for it, I suggest we ride hard for the city. The sooner we get there the better. You and your horses will get a much deserved rest when we arrive,” suggested Neville.
They all agreed and spoke little the remainder of the day. They rode hard, stopping for quick breaks to eat, stretch, and water the horses. The weather was beautiful and they reached Lerramorre as the sun was setting. They were welcomed by the guards at the gate. Two stable boys took their horses and they were led into the castle.
Chapter 29
After a hard day’s ride Lucy was anything but clean. Using a quick spell to make the dirt fall off of her didn’t seem right because all the dirt would fall on the floor and someone else would have to clean it up. Even that spell wouldn’t take care of the definite feeling of griminess. She wasn’t familiar with the castle, having slept through most of her last visit, but she was sure their rooms were not on the ground floor. She was worried they were being led to King Temarr. He was an intimidating man and they had snuck off last time in such a way that she was sure he was not happy with them. If they were being taken to him, she would have preferred a chance to clean up first.
Luckily, they were taken to a smaller meeting room adjacent to the throne room. Only Joss was there. He smiled his bright, winning smile at all of them, shook hands with the guys, hugged Lucy, and kissed Maya’s hand. His joy and relief at their arrival was apparent.
“I’m glad they took us to you,” said Lucy, “I was worried they were taking us to the King. We didn’t leave under the best circumstances last time.”
“Officially you are all considered out of the King’s favor,” Joss said smiling. “Policy dictates that you must officially ask the pardon of the King and hope he is in a merciful mood.”
“Good thing it was Neville that found us and not someone else,” said Gavin. “When do we apologize? We should probably get that out of the way first so we can get down to business.”
Joss blushed a bit, looked down, and mumbled something. They looked back and forth at each other to see if any of them had caught what he had said. There was a knock at the door and a footman stepped in.
“Your Majesty, we have food ready for your guests. Should we bring it in now?”
Joss nodded. Men and women entered the room with plates of food and jugs of wine. Lucy looked at Maya who was standing there with her mouth open staring at Joss. Then, Lucy caught what the footman had said and turned to stare at Joss, too. When the footman left, Lucy spoke first.
“Majesty? So they did bring us to the King. You’re the King. I’m sorry,” she sputtered.
“Joss, I’m so sorry,” said Maya. “What happened to your father and brothers? What has been going on here and, more importantly, how can we help?”
“How bad are things?” asked Taran.
“Well, I’m King. I think that sums up how bad things are. I’d be tempted to say, downright horrible. Unless, of course, you have aspirations of becoming a queen?” Joss addressed this last remark to Maya hopefully.
“That still doesn’t qualify as a proposal and no, I don’t,” she replied.
“If you’d prefer a qualified proposal I can arrange one in about 15 minutes.”
“Don’t bother.”
“It’s no bother. There are always musicians wi
thin calling distance. I can send a boy to pick some flowers. I even have a speech writer at my beck and call. I’d love to see what he composes for a qualifying proposal in 15 minutes,” his grin widened.
“Well, if it’s so easy and amusing, by all means bother. I have no problems turning down a proposal in front of a filled audience chamber and I haven’t succumbed to the temptation to become queen in the last 3 minutes.”
“Pity. Then, yes, I think things are downright horrible,” Joss’s face fell but his eyes still twinkled.
Maya rolled her eyes and looked ready to reply, but he changed directions before she could.
“Please, sit and eat. I’m sure Gavin, at least, is hungry. We can talk about what’s going on while you are eating. First though, Justin, if you don’t mind, could you check everything for poison? My father died that way and having you do a quick scan is easier than calling a food taster. The last thing I want to do is kill you, now that I have you here to help.”
Justin closed his eyes and concentrated on the food.
“Everything looks clean,” he announced.
Everyone looked relieved and sat down to eat.
“What has been going on around here?” asked Justin. As much as he enjoyed good natured witty repartee, he wanted some answers.
“What hasn’t is probably the better question. Even though we won the battle, nothing has been going our way. We are not openly at war with Fredamonn at the moment, but only because I haven’t let my advisors have their way. I don’t want to be seen as the aggressor and we can’t actually prove anything against them. Everything seems an accident or bad luck. One brother came down with a fever and died for no reason that we can find. Another brother drowned in his bathtub even though the guard at the door swears no one was in or out. My father was poisoned. The last three ambassadors I’ve sent to Fredamonn have disappeared. There is no evidence that points towards anyone as the culprit or group of culprits. The worst bit is now I’m King. I’m trying to be a good King, but that takes hard work and lots of boring meetings. The finance minister has a voice that drones. I have to schedule all of our meetings in the morning. If they were after lunch, I’d fall asleep. Why me?”
“To enhance your persecution complex experience,” joked Taran.
“Sorry, I did sound a little pathetic at the end didn’t I?”
“Just a bit.”
“Is there a plot going on here? There? Or involving both kingdoms?” asked Justin.
“I have no idea,” replied Joss. “As you predicted, King Lionel’s new advisor married his daughter. She’s pregnant. I’m sure soon after she gives birth to a healthy heir, the King will die. The advisor’s most certainly involved, but I don’t think he’s behind all this. Also, I don’t think that’s his end goal. It doesn’t explain all the accidents here. I can’t seem to find any spies. It doesn’t make sense unless he wants to weaken us with grief thinking we will be easier to conquer if he does.”
“Who becomes King if you die?” asked Maya.
“Do you think they have someone who can use magic who is causing all this?” asked Justin at the same time.
“I thought they would have used a magic user in battle if they had one. Unless they wanted to keep him hidden,” said Joss.
“Or he was busy healing, like Justin was,” said Lucy.
“Or, the magic user might not possess a lot of raw power,” suggested Taran. “Maya would be able to create potions that could poison, cause fevers, cause a man to fall asleep while bathing and drown, make a person susceptible to suggestions like marry his daughter to an advisor, or help a woman get pregnant within the first month of marriage.”
“I thought of that, but how are potions being administered? That makes me wonder if there is something going on here too. A whole section of the city didn’t come down with fevers, only my brother. An entire dinner party wasn’t poisoned, only my father. These can all be called accidents, but they look too specific and directed to be accidents.”
“I’ll ask again,” said Maya. “Who becomes King if something happens to you?”
“I’m not really sure. I’ve been so worried about being King I haven’t looked into what happens if something happens to me. I thought I was low enough down the line of succession that I didn’t have to worry about becoming King, much less worry about who would be after me. I’m sure there are family trees and lines of succession somewhere.”
“I think we should start with that. Do any of your brothers have children somewhere that could be used to claim the throne? Does the throne pass into martial law in lieu of an heir? Do you have any distant uncles or cousins?”
“I feel better already knowing I have people I can trust helping out. You’re right Maya, I should have looked into that when things started looking suspicious, long before I even became King. You’d make an excellent queen you know,” he said with a grin.
“Yes, I would, but I don’t want to be. We also need to keep someone with you that can counteract magic potions, poisons, or accidents. Taran, Justin, or Lucy could do that.”
“So could you, right? You’re so good with potions, I though you could do that.”
“I could, but I can’t heal a broken neck if you fall from a horse. They can. Besides, I think we are going to have to split up.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Taran.
“I finally got you all here and you want to split up?” asked Joss.
“You need to get an ambassador over there that won’t disappear in a day. I think it should be me. I’m qualified for the job. I can get close to the daughter to see if she knows anything and I should be able to find out things simply by paying attention,” said Maya.
“You may be qualified to be an ambassador, but how do you think you are going to avoid disappearing in a day?”
“I’ll be taking Gavin and Lucy with me,” she said with a smile.
“What?!?” said Joss, Lucy, and Justin.
“If you send a female ambassador to a masculine kingdom, a big strong body guard makes sense,” said Taran. Gavin smiled.
“Why Lucy?” asked Justin.
“I can pass her off as a sister, cousin, or lady’s maid and no one will look twice at her. She can observe without being noticed. She’s strong enough to keep Gavin and me from being poisoned, and she can counteract any spells cast against us. Also, she will be able to sense if anything magical is going on.”
“And find a way to report it back here rather than trying to face it herself,” added Taran. “This is a recon mission.”
“So was our adventure with the Skelt,” said Justin dryly.
“Justin and I will stay here with Joss and make sure he doesn’t get himself killed. I’m an old friend; so a visit from me and my brother won’t attract too much attention. Also, Joss has some small magical ability. Justin should be able to train him to detect poisons in his own food and to create a shield against magical attacks. The shield might not work for long, but unless we are facing down Lucy, it might last long enough”
“I don’t like it,” said Joss and Justin simultaneously and everyone grinned.
“No one said you have to like it. It’s a good plan,” said Taran.
“I’m King. I should have to approve all plans, and I don’t approve plans I don’t like.”
“You suggested in your own letter that I be an ambassador,” declared Maya.
“That was before I was King. I thought I could go with you. Besides, even then, to be honest, I didn’t mean it. I never meant to let you go into danger. I wrote that because I thought it might make you interested enough to come.”
“You have until morning to think up a better plan,” said Maya. “Otherwise, I expect a signed ambassador letter in my hands mid-morning.”
“Why so soon?”
“The sooner we start, the sooner we have answers and I think we all want some answers,” replied Maya.
“I’m not trying to be a bother,” said Lucy, “but I’m not sure I have the appropriate
attire.”
“I’ve already packed for you,” said Maya with a smile.
Justin and Joss both sighed. Neither of them liked the plan, but they had to agree that parts of it made sense. It seemed like Maya had put some thought into this, and unless they could think up an alternative quickly, it was the best plan they had. By this point, they had finished their meal. Gavin was pleasantly full. Joss summoned footmen to clear the table. Joss walked with them to show them to their rooms.
They were given rooms in the royal wing. That way, they were close to each other and Joss. He asked if Justin could put some minor wards on the doors to try to keep them all safe. Justin nodded and set wards that would let him know if anyone else entered any of the rooms. It might be annoying if the maids were already instructed to bring breakfast in the morning, but it would alert Justin to check the food, so that was okay. Joss showed Justin and Lucy to a sumptuous double room and winked at Justin.
Their packs were already sitting in front of wardrobes and two steaming baths were waiting. The service appeared to be excellent when staying with the King in his own wing. They stripped down and enjoyed the warm water. They talked about little things, unimportant things. Justin was doing his best to think up another plan, but talking about the current one wouldn’t lead them anywhere productive. They cuddled up in the large bed and slept well.
Chapter 30
There were no major disturbances that night. Everyone slept well and woke up bright and refreshed the next morning. They ate breakfast together in one of Joss’s many rooms after Justin checked to make sure none of it was poisoned. Neither Joss nor Justin was in a particularly good mood. Neither of them had been able to come up with a better plan and neither of them was fond of the current plan. After breakfast, Joss went to arrange the appropriate paper work. Gavin went with Joss. It never hurt to have a body guard you could trust and Gavin made Joss laugh. Taran went to the royal library. There was bound to be a family tree there somewhere as well as books on laws of succession. Hopefully, he would be able to draw up a list of suspects, or at the very least come up with some plausible theory for a plot against the royal family.
Sorcery, Schemes and Skelt: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol II Page 21
