“No,” replied Maya. “I don’t think anyone is ready to act yet. I’d say we have about 9 months. Everyone accepts the rule of the King even though they know he is Neston’s puppet. We know Neston married the princess Lauralie to gain the throne. A lot depends on the birth of the child and Neston’s next move. If the King meets a nasty accident, many will rise up, especially if Lauralie’s child is a girl. If Lauralie has a boy, she gains power as a potential regent if something happens to her father. She will rule for her son until he is of age. Either way, I think some are planning a nasty accident for Neston. It will be interesting to see what Lauralie does in any case.”
“How successful do you think an accident will be against Neston?” asked Lucy.
“Not very,” replied Maya.
“Why do you say that?” asked Gavin. “He is well guarded, but there are ways around that.”
“There are times I sense things from him. Or, more accurately, through him. I can’t tell if he is a magic user or if a magic user is using him. I don’t know enough. I wish Justin were here for that. I’d like to get your impressions, Lucy, but I don’t want you that close to him.”
“He is definitely creepy,” agreed Lucy. “Right now, I don’t interest him in the slightest and I’d like to keep it that way. Besides, I’m not sure what I would learn or if I would know the significance of what I’d learn. You’re right, I wish Justin were here for that too. I simply don’t have enough knowledge,” Lucy shrugged, looking helpless.
“Don’t worry,” said Maya. “It might be something that not even Justin is familiar with.”
“I don’t know if that’s comforting or not,” said Lucy with a smile.
“I admit I like a challenge,” said Gavin, “but I’m not sure how I feel about taking on something Justin might be clueless about.
They all laughed at that thought.
“Any idea about whether or not the cat is Skelt?” asked Lucy.
“I honestly can’t tell. I don’t know if I think it’s creepy because it is Skelt or because it reminds me of our experiences with Skelt. Sometimes, I think the eyes look human and intelligent and the next minute it’s licking a paw and acting like a cat. I can’t tell if it’s Skelt or if I’m paranoid,” sighed Maya.
“I’ll see what I can sense, but I don’t want to direct magic at any of them,” said Lucy.
“I don’t want you to either,” replied Maya. “I’m not making much progress as an ambassador so I think our time here may be wearing thin.”
They all nodded in agreement and went to bed. Ready to tackle more of the same the next day. They were getting information, but it wasn’t the kind they needed. Lucy hoped tonight Justin would visit her in her dreams. Maybe she wasn’t sleeping well enough for it to work. Maybe he decided it was too risky to try. Maybe she’d misinterpreted what he meant when he said that. She had no idea how to reach him that way. She could always try, but that could be too risky. Lucy was frustrated.
Chapter 33
Meanwhile, back in Lerramorre, Joss, Justin, and Taran were eating dinner together and recapping their progress thus far.
“One of the pieces of food on my plate is poisoned?” Joss asked Justin.
“Yes,” Justin affirmed.
“Which piece?”
“I’m not going to tell you. Practice what we’ve been working on.”
“Taran?”
“I agree with Justin on this one. You need to learn how to check your food for poison. You are certainly talented enough to figure it out.”
Joss sighed disconsolately, and stared at his food. He studied each piece of food on his plate. It was hard work. He had some natural ability with magic, but no training. He had picked up small spells and tricks he found useful while he traveled. He knew how to set small wards, use magic to track prey, start a fire in any weather conditions, and sense if there were stronger magic users in the area. His skills were specified towards survival. Before becoming King, using magic to sense poison in his food, had never been necessary.
Joss looked at the spiced potatoes. An obvious item to add poison to as it might blend in with the spice. They seemed like normal spiced potatoes. He moved on to the meat. The venison also seemed untainted. The candied carrots appeared normal. Joss studied the sweet, rye dinner roll. Perhaps that was the poisoned item. There did seem to be something off about it. He couldn’t tell what, exactly, but something was not right.
“The dinner roll,” he announced triumphantly.
Justin nodded. Joss smiled in relief. He stood up, picked up the dinner roll, and participated in the most ancient of sports, defenestration. Taran laughed with Joss, but gave Justin a look of concern. Justin responded with a minute shake of his head. Joss smirked as he sat down.
“Bet you didn’t think I was going to find it,” he said to Justin.
“I have absolute faith in your abilities. I keep trying to convince you of that,” replied Justin.
Joss toasted Justin with his glass of wine and raised it to his lips. Before he could take a sip, Taran threw his knife across the table which shattered the wine glass, and finished its journey embedded in the thick wooden door behind Joss.
“What was that about?” shouted Joss, wiping wine off his face, neck, and shirt with his napkin.
“I said I trusted your abilities. Now, we need to work on your thoroughness in finishing a task,” explained Justin dryly.
“The wine was also poisoned,” Taran added at Joss’s confused look.
“You were going to let me drink poisoned wine!” Joss accused Justin.
Justin shrugged, “I was going to stop you, but Taran beat me to it.”
“Some friend you are,” said Joss in an injured tone.
“Perhaps,” replied Justin still nonchalant. “I bet you won’t drink a glass of wine without checking it for poison first. My first priority is teaching you to stay alive. Then, we can male bond over ale and a sporting event.”
“I was thinking of holding some horse races in a few days. That sounds like fun,” Joss brightened considerably at the idea.
“Or, we could hold meetings with the finance minister, the trade council, the city guild leaders, the generals, and the visiting ambassadors,” said Taran.
“Or, we could do that,” said Joss with a sigh, looking miserable again. He eyed the wine decanter speculatively. “Was the poison only in my glass or is there more?”
“Only in your glass. Don’t be an idiot,” chided Taran.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to be so disconsolate, but this King business is about as fun as I thought it would be.”
“Good,” said Justin.
“Good?”
“At least it’s not worse than you thought it would be. Every good profession should start there,” affirmed Justin.
Joss laughed. “Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s get down to business. Step one: How do I get Maya to marry me?”
“I would suggest asking,” replied Taran.
“Step one,” amended Justin, “Who’s next in line for the throne? Taran?”
“I’ve searched for any trace of Joss’s great uncle’s daughter, and any descendants. I can’t find anything. She’s disappeared. If she, or any of her descendants are involved, I can’t figure out how. At this point, the Bathrralma would inherit, and there are plenty of them alive to keep the throne in the family for the next 4 generations at least. Probably longer than that,” said Taran.
“Can any of what’s been happening be traced back to the Bathrralmas?” asked Joss.
“Not that I’ve been able to find so far. I’ll keep digging, researching, asking, spying, and otherwise being sneaky.”
“Asking? Isn’t that dangerous?” asked Joss.
“Not the way I do it,” explained Taran. “I don’t walk up to Lord Bathrralma and ask if he’s plotting to take the throne. I talk to a groom about horses. I comment on them, their health, their coats, and when they were last ridden. To the groom, he’s talking about the horse
, not the movements of Lord Bathrralma’s oldest son. Rixton, by the way, bears watching.
“I flirt with the seamstress Lady Bathrralma uses. I find out what’s in fashion, pretending to want something as a gift for my grandmother. Finding out Lady Bathrralma ordered ermine on the collar of her latest cloak is interesting. Ermine is reserved for royalty only, isn’t it?” Joss nodded and Taran continued. “The seamstress is merely talking fashion. Perhaps gossiping about a Lady putting on airs. To us, it smells like a plot.
“The gardener doesn’t understand why he’s ordered to grow foxglove. The Lady thinks it’s pretty. He thinks, pretty or not, no one should grow poisons. The gardener is just following the whims of his employer. He doesn’t think talking to me about plants is suspicious.”
“I like the way you ask questions,” said Joss admirably.
“It’s time consuming, but sometimes the information forms patterns. Sometimes, the patterns form theories. Sometimes, the theories pay off,” Taran shrugged. “Unfortunately, right now, despite all the information, I have no proof of anything.”
“Keep it up,” affirmed Joss. “On to step two: what’s the best way to ask Maya to marry me?”
“Step two: who put the poison in your dinner roll and wine?” amended Justin. “Was it the same person or different people? How come nothing on my plate or Taran’s was poisonous?”
Joss groaned. Taran and Justin laughed. It was going to be a long night. Most nights had been long nights. At least they were making progress. Taran was finding all sorts of suspicious people. Joss was learning how to detect poison in food. Justin wasn’t sensing anyone using a larger than understandable amount of magic in the castle. However, it didn’t take much magic to make stairs slippery, or balcony stones loose, or sprinkle poison on a plate. On top of everything else going on, Justin also missed Lucy. He had tried to contact her through her dreams, but had not succeeded. He hoped Lucy was gathering the information they needed. Even more than that, he hoped she was safe.
Chapter 34
Lucy greeted the morning in less than high spirits. She missed Justin. She was tired of wearing dresses. She was tired of acting vapid and trying to use her dimples. She really hated embroidery. She sighed and rolled over. Maybe she could fall back asleep. It was no good. Having rooms overlooking a garden had its perks, but the loud birds chirping in the morning wasn’t one of them. Lucy gave up, got up, and looked to see what Maya had laid out for her to wear. At least today’s dress was green. She had glared at yesterday’s pink concoction for a long time before putting it on. She was tying a matching green ribbon to the end of her braid when Tishanna came in.
Lucy smiled in greeting. Tishanna smiled back and went about her business. Lucy hadn’t made as much progress with Tishanna as she had hoped. They smiled at each other, but said nothing. Lucy wasn’t sure how to voice her suspicions or if voicing them was even a good idea. Tishanna did not help by starting conversations. Lucy wasn’t sure how much more time they were spending here so she went on a hunch. Pretending to be dissatisfied with her braid, she undid it and brushed it out to re-braid. While she did this, she began to sing. Lucy wasn’t a good singer, nothing like Maya, but it didn’t matter. She was singing one of the Elven nursery rhymes Justin had taught her. She sang the chorus and two verses. When she got back to the chorus she noticed she was not singing alone. Lucy and Tishanna sang the third verse and final chorus together.
Allthea mayyl on a theila
Lea kylona ty la o
Bly fulla ona wyla deara
Allthea mayyl on a lo
When they finished, Lucy turned to look at her. Tishanna held her cap in her hands. Her pointed ears and eyebrows were visible now and there were tears in her eyes.
“How did you know?” asked Tishanna.
“I guessed,” said Lucy.
“You’re not Elvish. Not even half. Where did you learn an Elven nursery rhyme?”
Lucy decided to be honest, “Justin is teaching me to speak Elvish. He thought learning nursery rhymes would be a fun introduction. He thought it would be a pretty and easy way to get acquainted with how the language rolls off your tongue.”
“Justin? Is your Justin the same as mine I wonder,” mused Tishanna.
“How would I know that?” Lucy laughed, then figured why not? “My Justin is half Elf, but looks mostly human. He has shaggy, red hair and deep brown eyes. He’s not much taller than I am, and has an ironic sense of humor.”
“Is he also part of a troublesome duo whose other half goes by the name, Taran?” Tishanna laughed as Lucy nodded. “That’s my Justin.”
Lucy wasn’t sure how she felt about a beautiful red haired Elf calling Justin hers, but Lucy didn’t want to argue that point. She was making progress with Tishanna.
“Are you from the school?” asked Tishanna.
“Yes,” replied Lucy wondering how Tishanna knew about the school.
“Wonderful. How are Uncle Eric and Aunt Quinn’allia?”
“Good. You’re family?” asked Lucy with relief.
Tishanna nodded with a smile, “A cousin. You must be the girlfriend, if Justin is going through the effort of teaching you Elvish.”
It was Lucy’s turn to nod. “What is an Elf doing here?”
“The same thing you are doing here. Gathering information.”
“The Elves are interested in Fredamonn politics?”
“Not normally. Only since Neston came into power. Women go unnoticed here for the most part, especially servants. A male Elf would stand out too much so I volunteered,” replied Tishanna.
“Neston gives us the creeps,” Lucy said. Tishanna nodded and both girls shivered.
“What’s your interest here? I understand the ambassador angle to a point.”
“We’ve become friends with Joss who accidently and suspiciously became King of Lerramorre. He asked for our help. We think a magic user here may be behind things. That was interesting enough that Eric and Quinn thought more information might be worth having. Have you learned anything decisive?”
“Not enough to leave here with, but it is getting dangerous to stay. You?”
“The same. Maya does not think Neston can use magic himself, but she thinks a magic user may be using him. Does that mean anything to you?” asked Lucy.
Tishanna frowned, “I hope it doesn’t mean what it might mean. You are a magic user. I can sense that. What do you think?”
“Maya doesn’t want me to get too close to Neston. Right now, I’ve escaped his notice. We’d like to keep it that way. I’m here to fight magic if I have to, not attract its attention. I know how to use magic, but I don’t know as much about other things that can use magic.”
“I agree with Maya,” said Tishanna still frowning.
“What are you afraid of?” asked Lucy.
“It is hard to work magic through other people. Anderi can do that, but you see the physical connection. The only things I know that can work magic through other people, live in the mists on the other side of the mountains. I’m not sure I want to know what we are dealing with if that is the case.”
“That sounds ominous,” said Lucy.
“It is,” confirmed Tishanna. “If things from the mists are getting involved here, that can’t mean anything good.”
“Speaking of things that are definitely not good, what do you know about the cat?” asked Lucy.
“What cat?” asked Tishanna.
“It’s always with the King or with Neston. We were wondering if it is Skelt.”
“Skelt? What would Skelt be doing here? I haven’t been much in the presence of either of them. I’m not sure what to make of that. If that’s true, it’s sounding like more is going on here than we thought.”
“I’ll have to tell Maya and Gavin about your suspicions tonight. It might be time to leave, regroup, and investigate.”
“I agree. I wish I had some kind of evidence to go with Maya’s suspicions. The Elves will want more than the suspicions of a human.”
“I wish we had evidence as well. If Neston is what you suspect, what are our odds of living through discovering absolute unrefuteable evidence?”
“Good point. I think we should agree to watch for one more day if we can and then both of us get out of here.”
Lucy nodded. “Do you know much about Andriss?”
“That depends on how you mean that question,” Tishanna laughed.
“He’s smart, observant, and likes men. Is he dangerous?”
“He can be dangerous, but he prefers to not be directly dangerous,” Tishanna answered carefully. “He would not confront you, but I would not trust him. Why?”
“He thinks I’m a magic user. Is he going to cause trouble for us? Will we be out of here before he thinks up the best way to use that information against us? Should I turn him into a mouse? Would using magic that way attract whatever is using Neston?”
“Wow, you are one for questions. He may. I hope so. Can you? I hope not, but probably,” replied Tishanna and both girls laughed.
“I don’t know if I can. If I can, I don’t know if I can change him back into a man.”
“Tonight perhaps, after dinner,” suggested Tishanna. “You should plan to try to leave tomorrow anyway. Change him into a mouse and take him with you. He might make a better mouse than a man. Hopefully between now and then, Neston, or whatever is using him, won’t have time to figure out it’s you. Andriss might have information that Joss or Justin can use. Most people here won’t be sorry if he disappears.”
Tishanna stood up, hugged Lucy, and moved to go. She turned at the door, “I’ll let you know if I hear anything between now and then.”
“Thanks,” said Lucy. They smiled at each other.
Lucy’s outlook on the day improved tremendously. She had made a friend. One she was sure to see again since she turned out to be Justin’s cousin. Things might look grim if Neston was what Tishanna feared, but with any luck this would be Lucy’s last day spent embroidering. At least pretending to do embroidery would give her time to think about turning Andriss into a mouse. Also, she would have some useful information to tell Gavin and Maya. Lucy grabbed her embroidery and even had a genuine smile on her face when she entered Lauralie’s salon.
Sorcery, Schemes and Skelt: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol II Page 24
