“So, more like Nandelia than Brendolanth?”
Fenway nodded. “Nothing like Brendolanth, thank goodness.”
Gildan smiled. “Think I’ll take a walk before dinner. Thanks for the pastries and conversation.”
~~~~
Gildan stopped by his room when he left the tavern. He wanted to write down where everyone lived before he forgot any of it. He couldn’t believe his luck. He hadn’t been in town much more than an hour and he already had enough information to start his search. He pulled the small journal out of his pack and added where they lived to the notes he already had on each of the brothers and sisters. Then he buried it under the dirty clothes in the bottom of his bag. He doubted anyone would go through his stuff, but his dirty leggings would put them off their search if they did.
All he needed now was a map, but he didn’t want to buy one in Milhaven. He didn’t see any way he could get connected to anything Rolan had planned, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He’d pick one up somewhere else. In the meantime, Agrenon Bay was to the south, so that gave him a direction to head when he left Milhaven.
Gildan wanted to get an early start the next morning, so while he was out, he stopped by the dry goods store for some provisions. Since the clerk was busy with someone else, he had time to study the map on the wall. By the time she was ready for him, he’d found Ardmore, his first destination.
Meanwhile, the crew at the castle had called it a day and headed off to wash up for dinner. While everyone was either rounding up children or washing up, Laryn dropped by Cryslyn’s office and asked her to send a note to Fenway. Steve and her brothers would be down later and she wanted to treat them, so she wanted Fenway to keep their mugs full and send the bill to her.
It was after dark when Gildan made it back to the tavern. He figured they’d stopped serving dinner, but he hoped he could get some bread and cheese. All of the tables were full when Gildan walked in, but while he was looking for Fenway, a couple seated at a table near the back corner got up to leave. Gildan waited while they made their way through the crowded tavern, and as they walked out, he headed for their vacated table.
As soon as he sat down, Ainsley brought him a mug of scog. “Can I get you something to eat?”
“You’re still serving?” he asked.
Ainsley nodded. “All the fish pie’s gone, but we have some stew if you’d like a bowl. And there’s plenty of bread and cheese. I might even be able to scrounge up some apple pie for dessert.”
A big smile spread across Gildan’s face. “Sounds great. Thanks.”
Ainsley gave him a quick nod and left to fill his order. While she was gone, Fenway walked over with a mug of scog and sat down across from him. “Glad you made it back. I was beginning to wonder.”
“I wanted to pick up some provisions, and then I wandered around town for a bit. You’ve got a nice little town here.”
“We like it.” Fenway picked up his mug and took a swallow. Then he tilted his head back a bit. “See that table near the kitchen door? The one with six men sitting around it?”
Gildan nodded.
“I didn’t realize they were in town, but they’re Myron’s uncles. Come to find out, they were at the castle today building a nursery on Laryn’s house. We’d have done it if she’d asked, but it’s just like her not to make a fuss. She was six months along before she let anyone know she was pregnant, but by that point it had to be the worst kept secret in town.”
“When’s the baby due?”
“In about a month. I’m sure there’ll be a big party up at the castle then. If you don’t have anywhere you need to be, you should stick around. Everyone’ll be invited.”
“It’s tempting, but I need to find a place to settle for a while, get some work.”
“You might be able to find some around here if you’re interested.”
Gildan paused as if he was considering the idea and then shook his head. “I’m not ready to light anywhere yet.”
Fenway nodded. “Suit yourself.”
“So who’s who over there?”
Fenway slid his chair around so he’d have a clear view. “All right. First, see the man in the green tunic? The one with a bit of gray in his hair?”
Gildan nodded.
“That’s Steve, Laryn’s husband.” Then Fenway went around the table explaining who each of the men were. When he was done, he stood up and stretched. “Here comes Ainsley with your dinner. I’ll get out of the way and let you eat in peace. Let us know if there’s anything else you need.”
After Fenway walked off, Gildan ate his dinner with one eye on his food and one on the men across the room. By the time he left the tavern, he’d committed details about each man’s face, hair, eyes, and general build to memory. As soon as he was in his room, he took out his journal and jotted the details down.
When he was done, he leaned back against the headboard and grinned. Fate was definitely smiling on him this trip. With all the information he’d lucked up on today, he could probably have a report ready for Rolan before the end of the summer, but if he did, Rolan might decide the task was too easy and refuse to pay him the full amount. No, he’d take his time traveling around Camden. If everyone here was as friendly as the ones he’d run into so far, he might find a nice spot and settle down, but not until after he collected Rolan’s box of coins.
~~~~
Kitra was unusually quiet when they left the tavern that evening. After they’d walked halfway home in silence, Sean asked, “Is something bothering you?”
“I’m not sure,” Kitra said slowly.
“You’re not sure if something’s bothering you?” Sean asked with a grin.
Kitra shook her head. “No, I’m not sure he’s the same man.”
Sean waited a moment for her to explain. When she didn’t, he prompted, “I need a little more than that.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking out loud.” After another moment of perplexed silence, Kitra shrugged. “I could have sworn the man we passed as we were leaving Fenway’s was one of the castle guards.”
Sean frowned. “I didn’t know you’d met any of them.”
“Not Myron’s. Rolan’s.”
Sean stopped in his tracks. “You think one of Rolan’s guards is here? In Milhaven?”
Kitra shrugged again. “It sure looked like him.”
Sean took a deep breath. “All right. Tell me everything you know about him.”
“If he’s the man I think he is, his name is Gildan. He came to Trendon shortly after you left. I doubt I would have met him if I hadn’t volunteered to help out in the tavern when Clarissa broke her arm. Anyway, after she came back, I kept working there several times a week. It was fun, and I needed something to think about other than how much I missed you.”
“I missed you, too, but back to that man.”
Kitra nodded. “Sometime last fall he said he was leaving, going on a mission for Rolan, and asked if I wanted to make his last night in Trendon special.”
“He what?!”
Kitra rolled her eyes. “He was playing. He said stuff like that all the time. No one ever took him seriously. And besides he knew it was safe to flirt with me. I was betrothed.”
“Did he know who to?
“No, just that I wasn’t interested in anyone else.”
The corner of Sean’s mouth tipped up in a slight grin. “Do you know where he went?”
“All he said was he’d see me when he got back.”
“Was that the last time you saw him?”
Kitra shook her head. “He got back about a month or so before you got there. As far as I know he went back to work at the castle.”
“If it’s the same man, wonder what he’s doing in Milhaven,” Sean said, more to himself than to his wife.
“Do you think he’s looking for us?”
Sean shook his head. “Rolan might be looking for Cpt. Garen, but he has no reason to be looking for either of us. But maybe you need to stay away from town until we find out
if he’s the man you knew in Trendon, and if he is, why he’s here.”
~~~~
After Gildan went upstairs, Ainsley cornered Fenway in the kitchen. “What were you and that man talking about?”
Fenway shrugged. “Nothing much. Why?”
“The way you both kept looking at Laryn’s family, it looked like you were talking about them.”
“We were.”
“Why? What did he want to know?”
“Nothing much.” With a sigh, Fenway leaned back against the wall. He had no idea where his daughter was headed, but he knew she wouldn’t let it go until her curiosity was satisfied. “This afternoon, after he put his stuff in his room, he came in for some scog. I sat down with him for a while and that’s when he said he was new to Camden and asked about the seated sorcerer’s family. He said all the provinces he’d been in were different and told me how Damien’s family helps him out in Nandelia, and that Rolan kicked his family out of Trendon. He wanted to know what the House of Nordin was like, did they get along, did they help Myron, things like that. So I told him where they lived and what they did, but that they’d all do anything they could to help Myron out. The closest I came to saying anything that’s not common knowledge all over Camden is Laryn’s pregnant, but that might be common knowledge by now. Anyway, since they were all here this evening when he came in, I pointed them out and told him which one was which. And that’s all there was to it. Why? What’s with all the questions?”
“I think you need to tell Myron, or at least tell Darrell.”
“Why? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m not saying you did, I just think you should let someone know that someone was in here asking questions about them.”
“But why? If you were moving to a new place, you’d want to know what type of place it was. Asking questions is the only way to find out. There was nothing wrong with his questions or with what I told him!”
“No, and it was probably nothing more than it seemed, but the men who attacked Rhianna had come in here for months, drinking scog and talking to whoever happened to be here. I’m sure we both waited on them.”
Fenway frowned. “How do you know those fellas had been in here?”
“Blair told me Rigel said they’d been around town for months. They bought supplies at Tolliver’s, went to the chapel when they needed to, and drank scog in here.”
Fenway’s frown deepened. “I still don’t think there was anything to it, but I’ll let someone from the castle know.”
~~~~
Kevin and Nikki didn’t get back to the castle until ten that evening. Since the office was dark, they headed upstairs. Chris was ensconced in Kevin’s room with a folder of papers on his lap.
“What’re you working on?” Kevin asked as he settled down in one of the chairs.
“Some letters that have come in recently.” Chris shut the folder. “Word of Laryn’s pregnancy has spread. Some of the ministers want to know what she needs so their wives can send a gift. I have no idea what to tell them.”
“Why don’t you give them to her?”
“I tried,” Chris said with a chuckle. “She growled at me.”
Kevin laughed. “Maybe ask Danyelle. She knows what a mother needs, or Cryslyn, or what about Mia?”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll send one of the pages to find Danyelle tomorrow, but I’ll wait and see Cryslyn and Mia after you take everyone home.”
“They’ll all be at Laryn’s tomorrow. Why don’t you go out there and see them all at once?”
“Because I’m not leaving your office until you take Dara home. She cornered Darrell in his office after lunch and questioned him for two hours. Then she insisted Alek join her for afternoon tea upstairs in her ‘sitting room’. He told her he was your bodyguard and had to be available, but she said as long as Ariel knew where he was, he was available. She tried to grab Rigel at the same time, but he told her he was having tea with Doreen and was already late.”
“Doreen serves afternoon tea?”
“I seriously doubt it, but it did the trick. Dara backed off. I’m more and more convinced Rhianna had it right. Dara’s a matchmaker, and frankly, no thank you. I plan to be unavailable until she’s gone. I’ve told the pages that if they tell her where I am or even open your office door while she’s around, I’ll make their lives miserable for the next six months.”
Kevin laughed. “And what are you going to do when she finds out what you said?”
“Deny it to my dying day.” Chris stood up and stretched. “I don’t suppose you need to send me somewhere tomorrow, like Elsewhere, or Rainbow Valley, or Crinsor Run, do you?”
“Sorry, no.”
“Okay. Well, I’m going to turn in unless there’s something you want me to do.”
“No, I’m going to bed myself in a few minutes. It’s been a long and tiring day.”
Fifteen minutes later, right before Kevin dropped off to sleep, a faint glow near the couch roused him. He got up and pulled his robe on. As his parents took form, he said, “I was hoping you’d drop by.”
Yvonne smiled as Badec said, “Wouldn’t have missed it. Nice to see Laryn the center of attention.”
“Not sure she’s all that comfortable with it though,” Kevin said. “She growled at Chris when he tried to show her some letters from people who want to know what she needs so they can send her something.”
Badec laughed. “That’s my sister!”
“Check with Danyelle,” Yvonne suggested. “She’ll know what’s needed.”
“He is. He’s also going to check with Cryslyn and Mia. I doubt you know Mia, but Cryslyn assigned her to Laryn as a housekeeper. She has a lot of experience with babies.”
“I can’t believe how Lysette’s growing!” Badec said. “She’s not quite a year old, right?”
Kevin laughed. “Right. She was born the week after Christmas last year.”
“And toddling around all over the place. Alli’s going to have her hands full keeping up with that one.”
“Kyle’s training a pup to help out with that. He wants to bring the pup down here for a few days to let her get used to people and chaos. She’s spent most of her life with him, so she’s fine with dogs and horses, but Kyle and Marshall are the only people she’s been around.”
“Will you be taking care of her?” Yvonne asked.
Kevin shook his head. “No, Marshall will.”
“Marshall,” Badec said. “Isn’t he the young man out at the stable? The one who looks after your dog?”
Kevin nodded.
“Speaking of your dog,” Yvonne said, “She barely looked up tonight when we came. Is she all right?”
Kevin laughed. “She’s fine, just worn out. Since we were working on Laryn’s house today, Marshall took her on a long run, well away from the castle, and then tonight, she and I spent the whole evening with Rhianna. The three of us usually walk for about an hour in the evening, but since I was avoiding the castle, we stayed down there almost four hours. When we weren’t walking, Nikki was playing with Shelley.”
“Shelley?” Yvonne asked. “Another dog?”
Kevin shook his head. “A little girl, about four I think, although I could be wrong about that.”
Yvonne nodded as Badec said, “Back up a minute. You said you were avoiding the castle. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Dara.” Then after a moment, he asked, “Do you know if she’s a matchmaker? She’s forever trying to hook me up with some woman, and whenever she’s here, she asks the single men all about their lives, their plans, everything.”
Badec shrugged. “I don’t know her that well. She seldom came down with Dayed, always had something or other to tend to back at home. Laryn dealt with her more than I did. Have you asked her?”
Kevin shook his head. “Didn’t think about it until a couple of months ago, and I didn’t want to bother her with it.”
“Why don’t you ask Dayed? I’m sure he’d tell you.”
“I don’t wa
nt to make him uncomfortable. I really like him. And the way he more or less lives in his workshop, I’m not sure he’d know. I’d hate to stir something up.”
“Introduce her to Rhianna,” Yvonne said. “All she’d have to do is see the two of you together to know something’s brewing there.”
“I tried that. It didn’t work out well. She wasn’t very pleased that Rhianna’s an elf.”
“Well, once you and Rhianna are married, she’ll have to accept it.”
“We’re not at that stage yet, Mother.”
“You will be.”
Kevin felt the warmth of a blush spread up his cheeks. “While you’re here, I need to ask you something.” Kevin described the vision he’d had with Landis and Rhianna talking in the meadow. “Landis is determined to challenge Rolan, and if she wins, she’ll be the Seated Sorcerer of Brendolanth, and she has no idea what that entails. She hasn’t said anything about it to me or Warren.”
“Has she talked to Rhianna about it?” Badec asked.
Kevin shook his head. “Rhianna would have mentioned it.”
Badec nodded.
“Was that a dream? Or a vision?” Kevin asked.
“Had you been thinking about her as a council member?” Yvonne asked.
Kevin shook his head. “I’ve been concerned with keeping her alive. I hadn’t thought past getting her out of Rolan’s reach.”
“Then I’d say it was a vision.”
“So what does it mean?”
“When you have a vision, it’s because you need to do something. When I had the vision of my death, there wasn’t anything I could do to prevent it because the end was already written. The reason it was revealed to me was I needed to make arrangements for you,” Yvonne answered. “When you had the vision of Landis fighting Rolan, the end wasn’t clear. That’s because the outcome depends on you. If she’s ready, she’ll survive. If not, she won’t.”
The Rambling Spy Page 23
