The Rambling Spy

by Mackenzie Morgan

After Rolan left, Alastar opened his door and motioned for Franco to join him. Then Alastar told him what Rolan had said as close to word for word as he could.

  Franco waited until Alastar was done and then asked, “Did he actually use the word poison?”

  Alastar nodded. “What are you thinking?”

  “That Myron needs to be careful about what he eats or drinks.”

  “You don’t believe it’s their blood?”

  Franco shook his head. “If that were true, your mother would have said something.”

  “Why? We don’t have elves in Landoryn.”

  “Not as a warning, as one more reason Myron shouldn’t be Master Sorcerer. She claimed to hate him and his father because of their elven blood and if that meant they would die after languishing in a coma, she’d have used that in her crusade against them. Personally, I don’t think she cared one bit that they were part elf. ”

  “Then why was she so dead set against them?”

  “I think it was about slavery. She loved having slaves to order around, give away, sell, even kill if she wanted to, and she liked the money the slaving business brought in. But Badec was opposed to slavery and tried to get people to stop using them, and Myron’s more determined to wipe it out than his father was. I think that’s why she wanted to get rid of them. The elven blood just gave her a good excuse.”

  Alastar thought it over. “Makes sense.” After a moment, he asked, “Do you think Rolan’s going to try to poison Myron?”

  Franco shrugged. “It wouldn’t surprise me. It would explain that nonsense about mixing magics. As long as everyone thinks bad blood caused Badec’s coma, no one will question it if Myron falls into one.”

  Alastar raised his eyebrows. “You think Badec was poisoned?

  “No way to know, but if I were Myron, I’d take a close look at everything Badec ate around that time, and I’d take a good look at whoever fixed it for him.”

  “You know what scares me the most?”

  “What?”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “Good. Then you’ll understand when I say don’t make an enemy out of that man. I do not want to get poisoned because I drank a cup of tea that was intended for you.”

  Chapter 61

  More News from Kitridge

  Two weeks later, Kevin was in his office when Sister Agnes brought the latest letter from Zara. After Chris read it and jotted down the names of the towns they’d been through, he said, “I’d like for Myron to read this one.”

  “All right. When do you think he’ll be back?”

  “He’s in his office.” Chris got up. “Come on.”

  After they were seated in Kevin’s office, Sister Agnes handed him the letter. “I may be wrong, but it looks to me like things might come to an end before long.” Then she sighed. “And I hate that. I’ve enjoyed her letters.”

  While Kevin read, Chris said, “Maybe she’ll keep writing you. From what they said, she usually travels with her husband. Wouldn’t be a bad idea for someone to have an idea where they are.”

  Sister Agnes smiled. “That would be nice.”

  When Kevin finished reading the letter, he handed it back to Sister Agnes. “I think you may be right.”

  She put the letter in her pocket. “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”

  After Sister Agnes left, Chris shut the door and looked at the map on Kevin’s wall. He put his finger on the town they’d sent the letter from. “If they’re right and Mikos and Devron do head south, they’ll be in Florida. Still a lot of territory, but not as much room to go back and forth. Kitridge should be able to close the gap.”

  “I hope so. We’ve been looking for the person who sicced Gwendolyn on Marcus for two years now.”

  “If they do catch up to them, what are you going to do? As in, do you have a plan?”

  “Sort of. I want them here, in our jail, until I can figure out how involved they were in those raids.”

  “How do you plan to find out?”

  “I imagine King Merdin and Dani will be involved.”

  Chris nodded. “So how are you going to get them in our jail?”

  “That I’m not sure about.” Kevin leaned back in his chair. “Kitridge said they make camp sometimes, didn’t he?”

  Chris nodded.

  “That’s probably when I’ll go get them, when they’re off by themselves.”

  “How? I mean how will you know where they are?”

  “Kitridge said he’d let us know when he was about a day behind them.”

  Chris nodded again.

  “If I’m lucky, he’ll set up another meet at that point. If he does, I’m thinking about sending Rigel to join them. He can travel with them until they’re close enough to spot their camp. Then he can come get me.”

  Chris didn’t say anything for a moment. “That might work, but I think you need to send Doreen with him. Two couples traveling together will generate fewer questions than two men and one woman, especially when one of the men is built like Rigel. If he’s seen as Doreen’s husband, he’s just a muscular man. If he’s by himself, someone’s going to wonder why Kitridge and Zara need a bodyguard.”

  Kevin thought for a moment. “Think she’d do it?”

  “Do I think she’d want to help grab the man who carried her to Landoryn?”

  Kevin laughed. “Do you think Rigel will go along with it?”

  “If it’s your idea, yes.”

  “Okay. When we hear they’re a day behind, we’ll send Rigel and Doreen down there.” Then he asked, “Think I should talk to them about it now? Or wait until we hear something?”

  “I’d wait. Less time for Rigel to worry about Doreen getting hurt, and less time for her to come up with a plan to get even with them.”

  ~~~~

  Kevin might have been willing to wait to talk to Rigel and Doreen, but he wanted to talk to King Merdin as soon as he could. But Kevin’s schedule was too full for him to count on getting back to his room before midnight for the next week. He couldn’t count on three free evenings in a row until the last weekend of February. He waited until that Friday morning to hang the chimes.

  As soon as Kevin opened his bedroom door Sunday evening, Nikki ran straight to the couch, put her front paws on the seat and started licking. Kevin heard the chuckling before he saw the gnome. King Merdin was trying to pet Nikki and avoid her tongue at the same time.

  “If you figure out how to do that, let me know,” Kevin said as he walked towards the couch. “Did you come by yourself, or is Dani with you?”

  “I’m by myself this time.” King Merdin ruffled Nikki’s fur. “You need some more sneaking done?”

  Kevin laughed. “What would you say if I just wanted to say hello?”

  “If you’re that bored, I’d say it’s time you got your elf back.” King Merdin leaned back. “Now, why did you need to see me?”

  “Remember the slave raids?”

  “The ones Gwendolyn was behind a couple of years ago?”

  Kevin nodded. “You know a key was involved, right?”

  “Gwendolyn’s second key. The one she wanted in exchange for Chris.”

  “Right. We’re on the trail of the man we think had that key, and if so, he’s the one who took all those captives to Landoryn.”

  “Where is he?”

  “If we’re after the right man, he’s in southern Camden.”

  “What’s he doing here?”

  “The only reason I can come up with is Gwendolyn brought him here and told him to find her key. But once he found out where it was, she was done with him and left him here.”

  “And without the key, he couldn’t go back home.”

  “Right.”

  “What makes you think he’s your guy?”

  “The man we’re looking for, Mikos, first showed up in Bridgeport a couple of weeks after the raid. He and another man had a boat and claimed to be haulers working the West River. No one thought anything about it then, but one of the
men from town remembers telling them about the raid and about Marcus. Shortly after that, Gwendolyn showed up here. No one connected them to her until six months later. One of the people who had seen the man with the key on the night of the raid saw Mikos in town and recognized him. Unfortunately by the time I heard about it three months later, they’d sold their boat and left the area.”

  “Want us to try to find him?”

  Kevin shook his head. “I’ve had someone following him for a year now, from Grainger to southern Swynston.”

  “That’s quite a distance. Where’s he headed?”

  “We don’t think he’s heading anywhere. He and the man he’s working with bought a wagon and they’re buying stuff in one place and selling it in others, constantly moving. They’re here, there, all over the place.”

  “What do you know about the second man?”

  “Not much, but from what I’ve been able to piece together, I think they came to Camden together, but I could be wrong.”

  “Lots of questions.”

  “Hence the chimes.”

  King Merdin smiled. “You want Dani there when you question them.”

  Kevin nodded. “And I’d like to have you there, too.”

  “Have you decided where you want to do this?”

  “We may go back to that rock in the middle of the ocean that we used with Cpt. Garen, but I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Do you think either of them poses a danger to you?”

  “Probably not, but I can’t rule it out. It wouldn’t be the same type of threat that a soldier or guard would pose, but there’s no telling what they’ll do if they’re scared and feeling desperate, which is one reason I’m hesitant to use the island. I might decide to question them in less threatening surroundings.”

  “There’s nothing threatening on that island.” King Merdin shrugged. “There’s nothing on that island at all.”

  “And if you’re the one without a key, that in itself is threatening. Surrounded by water, nothing in any direction, no food, no fresh water… The threat isn’t overt, it’s implied.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it like that,” King Merdin said slowly, “probably because I know you wouldn’t leave them.”

  “But they don’t, and if they’re who we think they are, Gwendolyn did.”

  King Merdin nodded. “Do you want us to go with you when your tracker finds them?”

  Kevin shook his head. “I’m going to bring them back here and put them in the jail until I question them. What I do with them then depends on what we find out.”

  “If you put them in the same cell, they’ll talk. An eavesdropper might hear something interesting.”

  “Know of anyone who might be interested in listening?”

  King Merdin laughed. “Your tracker will let you know when he’s close, right?”

  Kevin nodded. “He said he’d let me know when he’s a few days behind.”

  “Hang the chimes when you hear from him.”

  “It’ll take me a little time to set it up to go get them.”

  “I know, but by that time, you’ll know how you’re going to do it. Always fun to hear that part, and you never know, you may decide you need us for that.” King Merdin took out his key. “Anything else?”

  “Not right now, but thank you.”

  “Anytime, and I do mean that.” Then King Merdin ruffled Nikki’s fur, said, “See you, girl,” turned his key, and vanished.

  A couple of minutes later, there was a light tap on the door from Chris’s room. When Kevin said, “All clear,” Chris walked in with two mugs of scog.

  “I didn’t know he was here until I heard him talking or I’d have brought him a mug, too.”

  “That’s all right.”

  “So, all set?”

  Kevin nodded as he sipped his scog. “At least as much as it can be at this point. But he did bring up an interesting idea. You know I’m planning to stash them in the jail until I question them.”

  Chris nodded.

  “King Merdin suggested putting them in the same cell so they can talk.”

  “With him listening outside the door.”

  Kevin nodded. “And Dani, for what’s not said.”

  “I like the way he thinks.”

  “So do I,” Kevin agreed. “So do I.”

  Chapter 62

  Winds of March

  By the beginning of March, things had gotten back to normal around Milhaven and requests for Kevin’s help had dropped to only four or five a week. And since he had a little more free time on his hands, he spent more time on the island.

  Around the middle of March, Kevin and Warren were standing on the edge of the cliff on the northern end of the island watching Landis fly over the water. “She’s doing well,” Kevin said.

  Warren nodded. “Earlier this week she nearly fell in the sea.”

  “Lose her concentration?”

  Warren shook his head. “Ran out of magic.”

  “Oh. That’s a problem I didn’t have, but a dangerous one.”

  “Especially for someone who’s planning to duel.”

  “What happened?”

  Warren shrugged. “I caught her and brought her back to shore, but I let her fall far enough to scare her.”

  “Good. Maybe she’ll be more careful from now on.”

  “One can hope,” Warren said as Landis turned and headed back in. “We need to talk, but not where she can hear us.”

  “Problem?”

  “Could become one,” Warren said quietly. “I’ll explain later.”

  “Want to take a quick trip to Rainbow Valley?”

  Warren nodded. “Do you have time to wait until lunch?”

  Kevin nodded.

  Two hours later, Kevin and Warren settled down in the sitting room at Rainbow Valley.

  “What’s going on?” Kevin asked.

  “I want you to take Darwyn back to Camden.”

  “Has something happened?”

  “No, not at all. I need him gone so someone else will have to take over, and it’s not going to be me unless someone’s life’s in danger. Landis needs to learn how to be a sorcerer.” Warren paused. “Until now, this has been a game to her, with the end goal of getting good enough to defeat Rolan. I’ve explained over and over that there’s more to being a sorcerer than that. You’ve told her. Ariel’s told her. But she doesn’t want to hear us. She’s totally focused on her magic, which is a good thing in a student, but not so good in someone who may be a seated sorcerer one day. She needs to be in a position where other people depend on her, where she’s responsible for them, and it needs to happen before she leaves here, before she challenges Rolan, before she becomes responsible for a whole province.”

  “You want her to start taking care of the people on the island.”

  Warren nodded. “She’s been around Cpt. Garen and his people for nearly two years, but other than eating with them, she’s kept them at a distance. They’ve tried to include her and get to know her on a personal basis, but she’s not interested so they stopped trying.” Warren shrugged. “Who can blame them? They’re hoping she’ll be the Seated Sorcerer of Brendolanth one day and they’ll be her guards. They’re professionals. They’ll leave it up to her to set the boundaries.”

  Kevin thought for a moment. “My guards have never asked about my life before I got to Milhaven, but they know everything that’s happened since the day I rode into town.” Then he laughed. “And they aren’t the least bit shy about telling me what they think.”

  Warren laughed. “From what I’ve seen, your bodyguards usually have the last word.”

  “They do, thanks to Chris.” Then he frowned. “Maybe someone needs to talk to the guards.”

  “That might not be a bad idea. Let them know it’s all right to speak up.”

  “The man who used to be Captain of the Guards, Darrell, now runs the training program. I could bring him out here for a while. Let him work with Cpt. Garen and his men, teach them how to be bodyguards. Fr
om what Cpt. Garen’s told me, they were castle guards, but none of them has worked as a bodyguard.”

  “So, back to my problem. Can you find some place for Darwyn back in Camden?”

  “I’m sure I can, but before I do, tell me your impression of the man.”

  “I’m not sure what you’re asking, but he’s a good sorcerer, reliable, quiet, and stays out of things. He’s friendly and outgoing, but he doesn’t presume or interfere. I think he’d be a good district sorcerer anywhere, but I know he’s not interested in being in any of the northern districts. Oh, and by the way, he and I have talked about the way Landis is with the other people here. He thinks she needs to start taking care of them too, so this won’t come as a surprise to him.”

  Kevin nodded. “Good. What did Landis say when you told her she’d have to take over?”

  Warren shook his head. “I haven’t told her. She’s your apprentice. You need to be the one to break that news to her.”

  “You’re thinking she’ll get upset.”

  Warren nodded. “But she won’t argue with you like she would with one of us, and besides, I’m the one who has to deal with her every day. You can leave.”

  “Okay. I’ll do it, but you owe me.”

  Warren laughed.

  Kevin sighed. “How soon do you want her to take over?”

  “As soon as possible. She needs to develop a relationship with her guard, one of interdependence. They need to know what she can do, what she can’t, and that they can rely on her to take care of them. And she needs to figure out what they can do to protect her, what they can’t, and she needs to learn to trust them. She and Cpt. Garen’s people need to be as solid as a family unit by the time she leaves here or she’s not going to survive.”

  ~~~~

  Chris was waiting in Kevin’s room when he and Nikki got back that evening. “Anything happen while I was gone?” Kevin asked as he sat down.

  “Rigel dropped by to see if you had time to help him tomorrow morning.”

  “Do I?”

  Chris nodded.

  “What will I be doing?”

  “Replacing a leaking roof. It’s not in danger of falling on anyone yet, but the family wants to replace it before spring rains hit. They asked Rigel and Doreen to help, but Rigel said it’ll be quicker if you’re there to handle, as you put it, the heavy lifting.”