by Des Pensable
Wolfram nodded and yelled for the apprentice, Bertram, to come and mind the shop.
‘Come upstairs we can talk in private there and I’ll get us a hot drink.’ offered Bettina with a worried look on her face.
When they were all seated, Aquitain introduced Chantalot and himself as residents of Twin Towers and said
‘Why don’t I tell you what has happened to Garret and then maybe you can fill us in on what happened before Garret left.’
After telling the tale Bettina was terribly shocked as it hit home that her Googy didn’t know her. She excused herself and went off to their bedroom and sobbed. Wolfram was a bit cautious about saying what had happened prior to Garret leaving but Garret was less patient.
‘Tell them Wolfram. They want to get the bloody sceptre back. I need to know what foolishness I got up to as well, if I’m going to fix this situation with Bettina.’
‘Well there’s not that much to tell. Two men of Elendari appearance came into the shop two days ago and asked to speak to you. You spoke to them and after a while came to me and told me they wanted to find that fancy sceptre granddaddy made years ago and you had agreed to help them for a generous fee.’
‘They seemed to know roughly where it was but needed help to locate it as it had been misplaced. You left with them and didn’t return until now. Bettina and I were terribly worried when you didn’t return yesterday.’
‘Do you know who the last owner of the sceptre was?’ asked Aquitain.
‘I seem to remember daddy saying that the Queen of the Elendari had it but that was a long time ago.’
Just then they heard the bell on the shop door ring announcing a customer, shortly thereafter there was some shouting. Wolfram jumped up and started across the room to the top of the stairwell and then stopped as he saw two Elendari men escorting his apprentice, Bertram, up the stairs.
‘What is it?’ asked Garret.
‘Trouble I’m afraid,’ replied his brother.
Chantalot turned invisible, pulled out his short sword and quietly went to the wall near the top of the stairwell so that he would be behind the Elendari when they entered the room.
Aquitain wasn’t too surprised he had expected something to happen if this was a plan to help him find Alpha. So he just sat there beside Garret sipping his hot drink waiting to see what was going to happen.
The trio reached the top of the stairs and looked around. The two newcomers looked vaguely Newman but had green eyes, wore their hair strangely and had a distinctly different body language about them. They wore black leather, had short swords at their sides and were covered by hooded cloaks, which seemed to be trying to change colour and pattern to match the walls.
‘Which one of you is Master Garret?’ asked one of the Elendari in a heavily accented voice.
‘I am Master Garret. Would you please release my apprentice from that charm and tell me what you want?’
Bertram suddenly appeared to wake up.
‘What happened?’ he asked looking quite embarrassed.
‘You were affected by a harmless charm, now go down and look after the shop. We’ll be alright.’
Bertram slipped past the two Elendari men and went downstairs.
‘We are agents for Queen Aurora of Moonmist. She wishes to invite you to her court as a guest for discussions. We have orders to escort you to ensure you arrive safely.’ and the agent presented Garret with a royal warrant.
Garret viewed the invitation and then asked the obvious. ‘Why does she wish to see me?’
‘The Queen did not tell us why she wished to see you. Will you come willingly?’ and as if to emphasize the willing part he placed his hand on the hilt of his short sword.
Aquitain spoke to Garret using mindspeak suggesting that he go willingly.
‘I will go with you as your assistant. She might be able to help you get your memory back.’
He then told the others of his plan. Wolfram was quite surprised when a voice suddenly appeared in his mind from nowhere but he said nothing. Garret paused as if thinking about it for a few seconds.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I will consent to go with you to see Queen Aurora, but I wish to take my gnome assistant, change my clothes and have a word with my wife to say goodbye. I haven’t seen her for some time and I don’t know when I’ll be back.’
The two Elendari men nodded in agreement.
Garret called for Bettina, she came out of the room with tears in her eyes and hugged him stiffly. He whispered in her ear and she looked directly at Aquitain and he looked into her eyes and he knew who she was. It was Jaztrix. She whispered into Garret’s ear and turned away sobbing.
‘What is going on?’ thought Aquitain. She had purposefully revealed who she was. He tried to force a mindlink with her but she blocked it expertly. He was now even more puzzled. Was it really Jaz and if so why had she revealed herself but was not willing to talk to him? Maybe she didn’t want him to see her spirit aura.
I wish to change my clothes now and pack a small bag.’ Stated Garret and he disappeared into his bedroom followed by one of the Elendari agents. Bettina sat down next to Aquitain and sobbing gently took his hands in hers and said.
‘Look after him please Aquitain. We’ve only been married a few weeks and I couldn’t bear losing him.’
Garret dropped something heavy on the floor and swore loudly. Everyone including the Elendari in the room with them turned their attention towards Garret’s bedroom wondering what had happened. Bettina leaned forwards and whispered to Aquitain.
‘Zephira and Alpha are in Moonmist. We’re not sure where. Allen Amber is trying to find them.’
The Elendari glanced over at Bettina and Aquitain suspiciously but said nothing. A couple of minutes later Garret returned wearing fresh traveling clothes and a small shoulder pack containing some personal grooming items.
One of the Elendari walked over and said ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to search you. We don’t want any little surprises on the way do we?’
After searching him and finding nothing unusual, he asked if they were ready to go.
Aquitain sent a mindspeak message to Chantalot asking him to tell Miranda not to worry he would get back to her as soon as he could.
One of the agents instructed Garret and Aquitain to hold his arm, the other did the same and they teleported from the room.
Chantalot became visible and Garret’s brother said.
‘I hope they know what they’re doing. This could be quite dangerous, but then again I don’t suppose there was any other way of solving the problem without violence. From what I hear you wouldn’t want to go wandering around this Moonmist place without a guide or escort. They should be safe enough with the Queen’s men.’
Chantalot agreed and as they walked down the stairs to the shop front door Wolfram said.
‘That was a fine bit of quick thinking. I’ve never had someone talking directly into my mind before. I take it your friend is a gnome wizard.’
‘Yes he was Wizard Captain employed by the High Wizard himself. Now he works privately.’ replied Chantalot.
‘You’re joking?’ said Wolfram. ‘He looks so harmless.’
‘Yes he does but your brother should be as safe with him as anyone in Mudrun. Here’s a card with my name and address on it. Send a message to me if you hear anything.’ and with that Chantalot teleported back to Twin Towers.
Wolfram walked back up the stairs to Bettina.
‘That was a stroke of luck. Aquitain should get to Moonmist without too much trouble now. His gnome shape is really quite impressive. Did you get the message to him?’
‘Yes but I’m worried. We haven’t heard from AG for days and Aquitain was never supposed to be separated from his memcrystal. He’s too vulnerable without it. There’s just too much happening too quickly. Allen thinks that with all the trouble on Moonmist at the moment that there’s a true Agent of Chaos there. If they collide who knows what will happen.’
‘We can only do our par
t, Jaz. You better get going. I’ll carry on as usual.’
‘I know but I rather like him. He’s so honest and he saved my life. I feel guilty deceiving him.’ replied Jaztrix.
‘You’re not deceiving him, you’re helping him. You’re pointing him in the right direction.’ said Wolfram.
‘I guess so. I better get moving so that I can be at the next checkpoint. It’s all so complex. I just hope that we’re doing the right thing.’
‘It’s not our place to question, Jaz. We just follow our orders.’
Chapter 13 Friends and Relatives
Allalanllea teleported to a discrete teleport marker in a copse of wood located just below the top of a ridge about a thousand paces from the Southern Gateway. She had placed the marker there many years ago as it gave her a ready view overlooking the gateway. She turned herself invisible and walked quickly to the spot which gave her the best view.
In the steep sided rocky gulley below her wound a dusty dirt road that stopped outside a large semicircular grey rock keep set into the hillside. Outside the keep were several tents with a few people milling around near them. She couldn’t make out much more detail than that.
Inside the keep under a natural overhang, set into the stone wall was the Southern Gateway to Astaria, a small independent gateworld that existed in between Mudrun and Moonmist. Astaria was like Argenta where Snowbelle lived. These gateworlds acted as way stations between worlds with widely different physical or time characteristics. They had their own unique time and physical characteristics as dictated by their builder at their time of construction.
Some were small, connecting only two worlds, while others were considerably larger connecting between several worlds. They usually had a gatekeeper, whose job it is to control the flow between the worlds.
The gatekeepers were usually powerful sentient creatures who often had an alliance with some powerful group on one or more of the connecting worlds. They were considered absolute masters of their own small world like captains of a ship in a vast sea and were held answerable to nobody.
Many of the gateworlds had towns or villages within them that offered shelter, equipment and advice about traveling to the worlds that they connect to.
Astaria was a medium sized gateworld with a mysterious past. It was only open for travel to Moonmist for three to four days when there was a full moon over Mudrun. Traffic through it was rare and usually required a pass from both the Druid Council of Mudrun and Queen Aurora of the Elendari. The Mudrun end of the gateway was enclosed inside a stone keep staffed by offworlders employed by the Druid Council.
Allalanllea had passed through the gateway several times in the distant past before the keep was built at this end and before she had joined Snowbelle in Argenta. She knew a lot about Astaria as it was the same design as Argenta. She also knew the Astarian gatekeeper and that was part of the problem. A long time ago they were friends that had become enemies. She might have to fight her way through.
She sat down and watched for any activity in the area and thought about various tactics she might use to first get past the keep and then how she might approach the Astarian gatekeeper. Since the keep staff were offworlders they probably hated being here as it would be totally boring. They had probably done something that upset someone powerful and ended up here as a consequence. They would be corrupt hoping to save enough gold to get away from here. That might play to her advantage.
After a couple of hours watching in the increasingly hot sun she decided it was time to scout the area so set off down the ridge towards the road. She was still invisible. It would have been easier and quicker to fly or use a short range teleport power but she wanted to conserve her magic for when it was really necessary.
Strictly speaking she was powerful enough to be able to just walk up to the place and destroy anyone and everything that got in her path. But that wasn’t her way. She preferred to do things politely and with great subtlety and only resorted to power when absolutely necessary. Her many years as an ambassador for Snowbelle’s tiny kingdom had taught her patience and the artful use of bluff.
After half an hour struggling down the steep hillside she finally made it to the road and walked confidently along it until she was about two hundred paces from the keep. She noticed tents on opposite sides of the road leading to the keep entrance. One side contained Elendari soldiers wearing Queen Aurora’s tabards and the other Crin displaying Queen Snowbelle’s flag.
Several Elendari sat along a log dragged under a canvas awning watching the Crin while several more sat in one of the tents playing some sort of game. Twenty paces from them across the road stood twenty Crin warriors in a ragged line facing the Elendari. Behind the Crin warriors in the shade of a large open fronted tent stood a Crin Enforcer and a Crin Jobmaster. Outside the keep entrance stood four guards and a druid nervously watching both the Elendari and Crin.
Allalanllea checked the direction of the slight breeze. A Crin warrior could detect a creature by scent at a distance of 20 paces in still air and up to 100 paces or more upwind. She wanted to see if she knew the Enforcer or the Jobmaster so she ventured closer.
‘Allalanllea, I was wondering when you would show up.’ said a mindspeak voice in her head.
It was Sanson, Snowbelle’s Battlemaster. Allalanllea had been in many fights over the years always with Sanson at her side.’
‘I have a hidden scout just off the road to your right who has detected you by scent. I have been expecting you. The Elendari also have a scout a little up the road hidden by an invisibility effect and possibly others as they were here before we came. Judging by their lax attitude they appear to be waiting for someone to return. They are probably an escort detail as they are not equipped for warfare. They are not happy that we are here. We could also feel much tension between them and keep guards when we first arrived.’
‘As you can guess I was sent here by the Queen to arrest you if you tried to pass through the Southern Gateway. However, Her Majesty knows as well as I do that we can do little to stop you if you were to resist arrest. I suspect that she is more interested in knowing whether you try to pass through the gate or not. You should know that she has asked the gatekeeper to deny you passage.’
‘You should also know that we observed an interesting event not long after dawn this morning. An Elendari hunter came down the road on foot leading a hooded and bound female prisoner tethered by a rope around her neck. There was blood down the front of her clothes and she was limping with an injured and bleeding leg. He talked with the officer who examined a scroll probably some type of pass and then entered the keep. Judging by her scent which I know well, the female prisoner was Princess Miranda.’
‘By The Lady! What has happened!’ she thought on the edge of panic. She repeated a calming mantra several times then carefully considered whether this was some type of trap. After half a minute she came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter she would have to accept it at face value and continue on.
She put a glamour on herself to make her look like a female druid. She had used this illusion several times before. She wore a homespun cloth gown in the fashion of the local druids with a belt made of coloured beads. Her hair was long and plaited and hanging half way down her back. She had the deeply tanned and wrinkled face of a senior druid.
She suddenly became visible as if she had just teleported in. She looked at both groups and walked confidently as if she owned the place to the Elendari camp.
‘Where is your officer?’ she asked in fluent Elendari. Battlemaster Sanson and Jobmaster Xentos of the Crin watched with interest. Both had seen her do this type of stunt before.
The Elendari troops all stood up resting their hands on their swords as if readying for action and one called for the officer who was in one of the closed tents.
He came out of the tent, saw the druid woman and his eyes glowed a golden colour. He stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at her then carefully placed his staff on the ground beside him and raised both hands
with his palms facing towards her in a gesture of peace.
‘I know you.’ he said then ordered the troops to stand down and went forward to meet her.
Allalanllea was quite surprised as she didn’t know the officer. She used the same magic and her eyes glowed golden. She saw immediately by his spirit aura that the officer was a Llanllean wizard.
‘May we talk more discretely?’ he asked and he walked twenty paces down the road followed by a curious Allalanllea.
‘You are Allalanllea of the Court of Queen Snowbelle. I have heard a lot about you from my family.’
‘Who are you?’ asked Allalanllea.
‘Oh I’m sorry. I am Llalacea, your nephew. I was very young when you left but I remember you and have heard many stories about you since aunty. The Queen’s wizard has taught some of us to identify people by their spirit aura. Yours is one of the ones I was to memorize in case you showed up in Moonmist.’
‘What are you doing here on Mudrun?’ asked Allalanllea.
‘We are here to escort a Newman guest to the Summer Palace.’
‘What is the Newman’s name?’ asked Allalanllea curiously.
‘It’s a Master Garret Axegrinder.’ replied Llalacea.
That name didn’t mean anything so she changed to subject.
‘What did you want to talk to me about?
‘I don’t know how much you know about what’s happening on Moonmist but our family is in danger. Strange things have been happening. Llanlleans have been disappearing and accused of attacking Elendari villages. The Queen has blamed us for causing all sorts of trouble and threatened us with retaliation. Some of our people guarding the Queen for twenty years have been put on other duties as if they are no longer trusted. Even the Royal Wizard is under suspicion.’
‘What do you expect me to do? asked Allalanllea wondering why Snowbelle had not told her about this.
‘I don’t know aunt. Perhaps you could try to find out what’s happening. I’m afraid for our family. The Queen’s been acting very erratically lately. Everyone in the court knows but they are all afraid to say or do anything. I have heard that even some of the Lords are concerned.’
