The Rambling Spy

by Mackenzie Morgan

  The innkeeper looked at the too large tunic, filthy leggings, dusty boots, and frowned. The only thing Gildan was carrying was an old blanket and a bag tied up with rope. “How many nights are you paying for?”

  “Two for now.” Gildan tossed some coins on the desk. “And meals.”

  The innkeeper swept the coins up. “Anything else I can get for you?”

  Gildan nodded. “Where can I buy a horse? And does your dry goods store carry tunics or do I need to find a seamstress?”

  “They only have material, but my wife’s a seamstress. I’ll get her for you.” As the innkeeper turned to fetch his wife, he said, “If anyone around here is interested in selling a horse, the blacksmith will know. He’s the last building heading north.”

  Gildan thanked him. “I’ll put my stuff in the room and meet your wife back here in a minute.”

  Gildan spent the afternoon taking care of fresh clothes, a horse, and tack. Then he got a bath and a shave. By dinner he felt in control again.

  When he sat down to eat, the innkeeper brought him a mug of scog and sat down with him. “Getting settled all right?”

  Gildan nodded. “And thank you for introducing me to your wife. She’s agreed to make a couple of tunics for me before I leave and I really appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. Any luck finding a horse?”

  Gildan smiled. “Found a nice mare. And she came with her own tack, so we’re all set. The blacksmith’s putting new shoes on her and boarding her until I’m ready to go.”

  “Good.” The innkeeper leaned back. “Anything else we can do for you?”

  Gildan started to shake his head and then paused. “I need to get a letter to someone in Camden. Any idea how I can do that?”

  “Not from here, but there’s a sister in Blackwater. I’d talk to her. When I first moved here, my wife stayed home while I found a place and got settled. I took my letters down to Blackwater and Sister Candra sent them through the Sisterhood. Took a while for them to get there, but they made it, each and every one.”

  Gildan frowned. “I don’t know who the local sister is in Milhaven.”

  “You don’t need to. Sister Candra won’t either, but that won’t matter. She’ll send your letter to one of the sisters she knows, who’ll send it to another sister, who’ll send it on to another one, and so on until it gets there. Might take a month, maybe two, but it’ll get there.”

  Gildan nodded. “Where’s Blackwater?”

  “South of here. Just stay on the road and you can’t miss it.”

  Chapter 68

  First Weekend of July

  The first Saturday of July was a dreary day in Trendon, but Rolan’s mood was sunny as he prepared to go to the July meeting of the Council of Sorcerers. He could hardly wait to see Myron sitting on the Master Sorcerer’s chair for what would hopefully be one of the last times.

  He wished he could make this one the last, but that would be too quick. He needed to space the poisonings out a bit or someone might get suspicious. Not that anything could be done about it. Sleeping Angel had no cure, so once they drank the poison their fates were sealed. And best of all, there was no way it could be traced back to him.

  Malcolm was already there when Rolan got to Chamber Island. It didn’t take him long to realize Rolan was in a good mood. “What are you planning?” Malcolm asked as they stood outside.

  “I don’t have anything planned,” Rolan answered in a breezy tone.

  Malcolm studied him for a moment. “Yes, you do, but if you want to keep it to yourself, fine with me.” Then he looked around. Most of the other sorcerers had already gone inside. “Guess we’d better take our seats.”

  All through the meeting, Rolan watched Myron, picturing the day when someone else would be sitting on that chair, when the key to that other world would be in someone else’s hands and Landis would be stranded, unable to get back to Terah, unable to kill him. It was all he could do to keep from grinning.

  After Rolan got back to Trendon, he told Cpt. Yardner he was taking the rest of the weekend off, that if anything came up, the captain was to handle it. Then he went to his room and told his guard he was not to be disturbed.

  He couldn’t afford to make any mistakes handling the poison, so he wanted to be well-rested when he went to Glenco. Years ago, when Taelor had been his manservant, he’d had him make up a sleeping draught. He’d kept some for special occasions, times when he really needed sleep, and today definitely qualified. He removed the ward he kept on the locked box in the bottom of his closet, took out one of the little bottles, and drank the potion. Then he closed the drapes, changed clothes, stretched out on the bed, and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  ~~~~

  When Kevin and Chris returned from the council meeting, they walked into the chaos of last minute preparations for the ministers’ conference. It was well after lunch before they had a chance to discuss the council meeting. After they went over Chris’s notes and added comments here and there, Chris leaned back in his chair. “Did you notice Rolan this morning?”

  “You mean the cat who swallowed the canary looks he was giving me?”

  Chris nodded. “What’s he up to?”

  “No idea, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “What we always do. Watch and wait. He’ll trip up somewhere.”

  Chris nodded, but before he could say anything else, there was a knock on Kevin’s door. When Kevin called out for whoever it was to come in, Petri stepped in with a stack of papers in his hand. “Do you have a minute?”

  Kevin looked at Chris. “Do we have a minute?”

  “What do you need?” Chris asked Petri.

  “These are the pickup lists. I’d like to review them with you before we make it final.”

  “Do you need me for this?” Kevin asked.

  Chris shook his head and stood up. “Come on, Petri. Let’s take it outside so Kevin can get back to work.”

  ~~~~

  Rolan slept a good eight hours and woke up hungry. After he ordered dinner, he dressed in dark but old clothes, the type that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.

  After he ate, he ran through his plan again, step by step, including all the steps involved in the preparation of the poison. Then, shortly before midnight, he told his guard he was retiring for the night and was not to be disturbed.

  He took one glowstone off its stand, put it in a pouch, and dropped it in his pocket so he could find the mushrooms in the chapel workroom. Then he closed the rest of the glowstones, sat down on his couch to let his eyes adjust to the dark, and dreamed about the day when the House of Nordin would be gone. An hour later, he pictured the chapel in Glenco, took out his key, and turned it.

  A few moments later, he was standing in front of the chapel in Glenco under a moonless sky. He made his way around back and searched the shadows for the little shed they used as a workroom. When he spotted it, he picked his way across the yard carefully, watching each step. He didn’t know anything about the sister who’d taken over after Gerry, but if she was a sister, she had a dragon’s flame pendant, and he didn’t want to wake her.

  Once he reached the shed, he peeked in the window, but he couldn’t make out anything. He’d planned to use his key to get inside, but without being able to see where things were, that was too risky. He’d have to use the door.

  Inch by inch, Rolan eased the door open and stepped inside. He knew Gerry grew the mushrooms in troughs, so he exposed just enough of the glowstone to get a narrow beam of light so he could look for them. He shined the beam around the bottom edge of the shed. No troughs. He checked under the tables, on top of the tables, in the cabinets, on the shelves, everywhere. As he searched, his frustration intensified, and the beam of light grew. By the time he’d searched every inch of the workroom, the glowstone was completely uncovered and the little shed was full of light. No mushrooms anywhere.

  Rolan spun around, sweeping mortars and pestles off the tab
les. He raked potted herbs onto the floor and knocked bottles off the shelves in a fit of anger. He slammed out of the door, and in an explosion of temper, let loose with one energy bolt after another until nothing was left of the shed but a pile of debris covered in ashes. It had taken only a few seconds, but by the time he was done, light was pouring out of several chapel windows. With a low growl, he turned his key.

  He was too angry to go home, so he went back to his killing field and demolished half a dozen more bushes. He threw energy bolts until he didn’t have enough energy left to make another. He stomped on debris and screamed into the night until his throat was raw.

  Then, after his temper had played itself out, he went back to his room, collapsed on his bed, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

  Chapter 69

  Meanwhile in Glenco

  The first crash woke Sister Rochelle up. At the second, she jumped out of bed, grabbed her robe, and ran for the back door. She was pulling her robe on when she plowed into Dora. “Sorry,” Sister Rochelle said, tying her robe’s sash around her. “Didn’t see you.”

  Dora reached for the glowstone torches they kept by the back door. “What was it?”

  “I’m not sure,” Sister Rochelle said as she opened the door. “Sounded like lightning strikes.”

  The two women stepped out on the porch and looked around. The shadows were so deep they couldn’t see anything.

  Dora wrinkled her nose. “I smell smoke.”

  Sister Rochelle nodded as she sniffed the air. “But I don’t see any flames.”

  “The animals!” Dora ran down the steps and headed for the barn, Sister Rochelle right behind her. She jerked the door open, ran inside, and stopped. The animals were agitated, but everything in the barn was fine.

  Sister Rochelle glanced around and said, “Try to get them settled down while I check the sheds.”

  “Be careful,” Dora said, stroking one of the horses. “And yell if you need me.”

  “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Sister Rochelle eased her way out of the barn and began searching through the yard in ever widening arcs. The first small shed, the one they kept their gardening tools in, was fine, but their workroom had been reduced to a pile of smoldering debris.

  Sister Rochelle was staring at the mess when Dora walked up beside her and asked, “What happened?”

  Sister Rochelle shook her head and looked up at the stars. “Well, it wasn’t lightning. The sky’s clear. Did we have anything in there that might have exploded?”

  “Like what?!”

  Again Sister Rochelle shook her head. “I have no idea, but something must have.”

  The two women gazed at the debris for several minutes before Sister Rochelle asked, “Are the animals all right?”

  “They’re still a little spooked, but they’ll be fine as long as it stays quiet.”

  Sister Rochelle nodded without looking away from the mess. “There’s no flame that I can see, but I’m going to stay out here for a while to make sure. Why don’t you go back inside and get some sleep?”

  Dora shook her head. “I’m wide awake now, but I will go make us some coffee. I’ll be back in a few minutes and we can watch it together.”

  ~~~~

  Sister Rochelle and Dora stayed with the debris for a couple of hours before they deemed it safe to leave. Sunday morning dawned brisk and clear in Glenco, but neither of them saw daybreak. It was midmorning before Sister Rochelle got back up and went outside to inspect what was left of the workroom. Dora was already there.

  “Guess we need to get this cleaned up and see what we can salvage,” Sister Rochelle said.

  Dora chewed her lips for a moment. “I’m not sure we should, at least not until we check with Sister Brena.”

  “Why?” Sister Rochelle asked, surprised. “Why would she care about the explosion? No one was hurt.”

  “She might not, but remember those mushrooms? The ones Gerry was growing in there? The ones Sister Brena had Myron destroy?”

  “Sleeping Angels. But they’ve been gone a couple of years now. What would they have to do with that explosion?”

  “Probably nothing, but I have a feeling we need to let Sister Brena know and see what she says. We can always clean it up later. It’s not like we’ll be able to use any of that stuff. Everything was destroyed.”

  Sister Rochelle fingered her bottom lip and looked at the debris. “I really don’t think it matters, but all right. I’ll send her a letter. In the meantime, we need to set up another workroom. Where do you want to put it? I never did like having it behind the barn.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Sister Rochelle headed towards her office while Dora went to see Director Niklas about a new shed.

  ~~~~

  For Kevin, the first week of July was a necessary inconvenience. Now that other people handled the transportation, his role in the ministers’ conference was limited to hosting the opening and closing banquets, making an appearance for some of the other meals, and being available for one day of meetings. The rest of the time, he could either go about business as usual or make himself scarce.

  But the impact the conference had on everyone else in the castle was enormous. The guards had to move out of their quarters, the kitchen, housekeeping, and grounds staff had to pull unusually long shifts, and the pages were run ragged for eighteen hours a day. By the time the ministers were back home, everyone was dragging, so like every year since he’d arrived, Kevin tried to send everyone home for the weekend. And like usual, certain staff members refused to cooperate.

  Saturday morning when Kevin stopped by the kitchen after his morning workout, Miranda handed him a cup of coffee. “Chris’s already been down, so you don’t need to take him anything. You can help yourself to those pastries, but be careful. They just came out of the oven.”

  “You practically lived in this kitchen last week. You should be at home today, relaxing. We can take care of ourselves for one weekend,” Kevin argued.

  Miranda rolled her eyes. “Do we have to go through this again? I do not want you making a mess in my kitchen. Besides, this is relaxing for me. It’s what I do. Now go on with you.”

  On his way to his office, Kevin noticed the door to Cryslyn’s office was open. He stuck his head in to see why and found her sitting at her desk going through invoices.

  “Why aren’t you home?” Kevin asked from the doorway.

  “I want all the invoices from last week sorted before Monday. I hate starting one week with work from the previous one hanging over my head.”

  “Go home. You need to take some time off.”

  “If you’ll get out of here and let me get this done, I’ll get some. Besides, I don’t see you taking the day off.”

  Kevin held up his coffee and pastry. “Does this look like work?”

  Cryslyn grinned. “Looks like Miranda’s here, too.”

  “Yeah, she listens to me about as well as you do.” Kevin stepped back into the hall and went on towards the office.

  When he got there, Chris was bent over some papers at his desk while Petri was sorting messages at his. Kevin shook his head. “Petri, get out of here. Go work out with Darrell or take a walk in the woods. You’re off duty today!”

  “I will,” Petri argued. “As soon as I go through the mail and make sure there isn’t anything urgent in here.” Petri looked at the next message and put it in one of the smaller stacks, but when he picked up the next one, he held it out to Kevin. “This one’s from Timera Valley.”

  Kevin took the message and headed for his office with Chris following him.

  Kevin sat down, read the message, and shook his head.

  “What is it?”

  “Who knows? She’s as bad as my uncles. All she said is she needs to see me.”

  Chris laughed. “When are you going?”

  “After I finish my coffee. Want to come with me?”

  “Do I need to?”

  “I doubt it. But why not go? Do you have something else you n
eed to do?”

  “Actually, yes. I let several things slide last week and I want to get them taken care of before next week.”

  “Okay.” Kevin took a sip of his coffee. It had gone cold so he concentrated on the cup for a moment.

  As steam rose from the cup, Chris chuckled. “Better than a microwave.” Then he sighed. “Can you do popcorn? I’d love a batch of buttered popcorn.”

  Kevin shrugged. “I have no idea, but people used to make popcorn other ways before microwaves were invented.”

  Chris thought for a minute and then nodded. “Yeah, Mom used to make it on the stove. And they didn’t use microwaves at the movies. Wonder how they did it?”

  “No idea, and we can’t Google it either.”

  Chris sighed. “I don’t miss home much, but every once in a while, something little, like popcorn, comes along and I almost feel homesick.”

  Kevin laughed. “I know what you mean.”

  “Okay, I’m going to get out of here and let you finish your breakfast. Let me know when you get back.”

  Five minutes after Chris left, Kevin took out his key and left for Timera Valley.

  Verna opened the chapel door as soon as Kevin knocked. “Myron, nice to see you again. Come on in,” she said as she stepped back out of the way. “Brena’s in her office. Have a seat in the kitchen and I’ll get her.”

  Kevin had barely sat down when Brena breezed in. “Oh, good. You’re here. Can you take me to Glenco?”

  Kevin frowned. “Glenco? In Prosidian?”

  “Do you know of another Glenco?”

  Kevin shook his head and stood up. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

  “Their workroom exploded,” Brena said as she put her hand on his arm.

  “Exploded?”

  Brena nodded. “That’s what Sister Rochelle said. You remember her, don’t you? You met her once.”

  Kevin nodded. “What happened?”

  “That’s what I’m hoping to find out. We’ve never had a workroom explode before, at least not that I’ve heard of, and I need to find out what might have caused this so I can warn the other sisters before someone gets hurt. Now, can we go?”