The Caravan Road

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “Crooked to the left or the right?” Alec asked.

  “To, the, left,” each word came out with a pause. “There was a mole on his right cheekbone, and he had a strong chin, and a wide smile but thin lips. And his ears were small, and very fine,” she completed the inventory and opened her eyes.

  “How did I do?” she asked.

  “Very well done,” Alec said gently. “Spoken with love, I can tell.”

  “Tonight, my plan is that the ghost of your husband shall appear to Trayma, and begin to haunt him. Trayma will go crazy with fear, and will weaken the support he has in the city among the court and the army by saying foolish things.”

  “Tell me, I know this is going to be hard, but tell me, do I look like your husband?” Alec asked, as he covered his face with his hands and adjusted his Healer energy to change his face, making the easy changes to his hair color and his eyebrows, then spending more minutes as they rod,e focusing the power more delicately to adjust his nose and widen his mouth. He removed his hands and looked at Salem’s face, as she starred at him.

  “Oh Coden,” she moaned the words. “I miss him so much,” she said softly. “The eyebrows are not quite right, but probably no one will notice that besides me.”

  “Salem, who are Trayma’s strongest allies? Who does he rely on among the nobles?” Alec asked.

  She looked at him oddly.

  “I plan to sow dissension and mistrust; I would hope that he and his supporters will quarrel and fight among themselves, so that your path to restoration is simpler. Tell me who we need to split Trayma from,” he explained.

  “The Keeper of the Gardens is Lord Quisel. His title comes from Exbury, but his estates are within Woven,” she said. “He disliked Coden’s ruling on taxes on his land, and so he supported Trayma. And Bened is the head of the Palace Guard, and he turned against Coden. I never knew why.”

  “Here,” Alec halted his horse, and climbed out of the saddle. “Tell me how to find the palace,” he asked Salem.

  “If you can find your way back to where we had lunch,” she began, and Alec nodded, “go on to the great circle, and go right, up a hill. The Palace will be ahead of you, impossible to miss.”

  “And where would Trayma sleep?” he asked.

  “The residences are on the third floor, mainly on the south side of the building,” she told him.

  “Take my horse. I’ll be back in the morning to see you again,” Alec told her. “Take good care.” He turned to Alfred. “Tell Stacha to exercise her sewing muscles; we’re about to put her in business!” he smiled at them both, then began walking back towards town.

  Salem sat atop her horse, motionless, watching Alec’s back as he walked away, while she pictured in her mind the face he had adopted. Alfred twice tried to gently call her attention to her horse, but at last took her reins as well as the reins for Alec’s horse, and guided them towards the estate they were staying at. Moments later Salem shook herself back to awareness, shot a silent glance of appreciation at Alfred, and resumed directing her horse on her own.

  Alec in the meantime continued to walk on his own course, headed back to the city to become the ghost who would haunt Trayma off of the throne. He used his Light energy to make himself invisible once he entered the city, and wended his way towards the palace, leaving puzzled passersby who felt the occasional jostling or bump as he left them in his wake, though they saw nothing to explain their experience.

  Before sunset he was standing in front of the palace gates, observing the flow of traffic and the patterns of the guards. When a pause in the number of people entering the palace provided an easy opportunity, Alec slipped invisibly within the gates, and then stood unmolested before the entry to the main building in the palace grounds. He slipped around to the side of the building until he found an unattended door that he could open unobserved. He walked about inside, listening to voices and conversations, and wandered towards the rooms where official activity was carried out.

  He quickly noted a room with closed doors and guards stationed outside the door. He walked close to the door and listened to the indistinct voices inside; many men were speaking to one another in a meeting of some sort. Alec retreated down the hall to a distance of twenty feet from the guards, where a decorative chest stood against the wall. He pulled a drawer out of the chest forcefully, letting it fly and drop to the polished marble floor, before it slid all the way to the opposite wall of the hallway.

  One guard jumped in surprise, and both of them stared at the drawer suspiciously, until one of them went to it, inspected it, then pushed it back into place in the chest. Alec waited until he was back in his position, then tugged on a second drawer and caused it to mimic the first. Both guards left the doorway to examine the mystery of the animate drawers, and Alec took advantage of the opportunity to open the unattended doors, pulling both door handles at once; he knew he would not be able to open the doors unnoticed, so he created a gust of wind to blow about the room as he stepped inside, unseen by anyone inside or out. He slunk aside and placed his back against a wall as the guards outside the room scrambled back to their station to shut the doors hurriedly, sealing Alec within the room he wished to observe.

  He looked at the oval table around which seven men sat, while three guards stood in the room, providing security for Trayma as he sat at the head of the table listening to a report on the crystallizing process. It was the very topic the usurper had used to justify taking the throne, Alec remembered, by creating a glittering city of crystals.

  “The latest supply of crystals is growing in size, now up to a half inch in diameter,” one man was reporting, holding his head low.

  “A half inch!” Trayma thundered. “We need crystals a foot or two feet, a yard long! A half inch is laughable. And we need crystals that don’t dissolve in the rain. Has that worthless wizard figured that out?” the ruler lashed out.

  “Why isn’t he here to report these things in person? He’s a coward – that’s why!” Trayma added. “This meeting is over. Tell the magician to come make the report in person, and to make it favorably. I want what I was promised. That’s what I need if I’m going to keep this deal going; otherwise the magician may just disappear under magical circumstances,” he threatened.

  The others at the table scurried up and away, leaving the room with hasty relief, and Trayma sat at the table alone momentarily. The guards watched the others file out of the door, walking forward to escort them and secure the entrance until Trayma was ready to leave. Alec took advantage of the opportunity to bound over to the table, directly across from the usurper. Checking that the guards had their backs turned, Alec, appearing as Coden, released his shield of invisibility, suddenly appearing to Trayma across the table. The man gasped audibly, his eyes widened, and Alec raised his arm silently to point directly at Coden, then wrapped himself in invisibility again, disappearing from view and stepping quickly aside, away from the table.

  “Guards! Guards! A ghost!” Trayma practically squealed, his voice emitting at a high pitch as he called the attention of the guards. They turned immediately at the tone of panic they heard in the ruler’s voice.

  All three came thundering towards the table, swords drawn. “What is it, my liege?” one guard asked as he stood at Trayma’s shoulder.

  “Did you see it? Did you see him?” Trayma asked. “Right here, at the table, just now, in this room,” he sputtered the disconnected phrases, looking up at the guards, then around the room.

  The three guards exchanged glances and shrugs. “We saw nothing,” their leader said flatly.

  “You didn’t see Coden? You didn’t see his ghost, standing right here?” Trayma asked, standing now and looking at all their faces.

  “No, my lord,” all three said simultaneously.

  Trayma pushed rudely through them and walked around the table to stand in the precise spot Alec had stood in when visible. The usurper looked around the room again, seeing nothing amiss, then looked at the guards, realizing belatedly tha
t his story was unconvincing. “Forget this,” he said in a too-careless tone. “Let’s get on with the day. I need to see the finance minister.

  “Escort me to the throne room, and send for Coompance.” He directed, then headed towards the door as his men fell into position. He passed as the doors were held open for him and glanced back at the room one more time, then shook his head and left the room behind, escorted by his guards and by the invisible Alec.

  The guards led the way down a hall and downstairs to the throne room, a massive chamber with ornate draperies and candlelit chandeliers. The room was empty upon their entry, and Trayma marched up to the throne, turned and began to sit down, then hesitated momentarily, before he lowered himself into the chair. Alec stood directly in front of the chair, and as the guards maneuvered into position, Alec flickered into view of Trayma for just a second, then disappeared.

  “There! Here! Right here!” Trayma shrieked again as Alec backpedaled away from the throne.

  Both guards that were with him, neither of them more than ten feet away, drew their swords again and looked around the room.

  “He’s here, right here in this room. I just saw him!” Trayma shouted in fear and fury. “He appeared for half a second! Are you blind?” he practically spit the words out at the guards as other guards from the doorway looked inside the room.

  “We saw nothing my lord, and we’re right here with you,” one guard hesitantly answered.

  “You’re right here and you’re good for nothing,” Trayma muttered, then carefully lowered himself back into the throne, looking watchfully in all directions.

  Moments later the doors opened and a man carrying a large, leather-bound book entered the room. “Coompance, what good news can you give me? I need to hear something positive,” Trayma practically shouted at the finance minister.

  The new entrant to the room gave a heavy sigh. “My lord, we continue to spend extravagant amounts of money on the magician’s project, and we have spent heavily to maintain the extra guards you’ve brought into the palace’s service. Our cash reserves are continuing to dwindle rapidly,” the accountant told Trayma. “If you cut off the magician, we should be able to afford the additional guards for another six months before your creditors are going to start to cut off further lending.”

  “The creditors are not the issue,” Trayma replied. “Your accounting is the issue, and the incompetent magician is the issue. You must have my permission from now on before you grant any further funds to him. Now go and re-examine the treasury and only bring me positive news,” Trayma commanded the downtrodden financier, who obediently bowed and left the room.

  Trayma’s reign was clearly troubled, Alec was glad to learn. The marquis sudden rose to his feet. “I need to leave this gloomy place. Find my steward, and tell him to cancel my dinner with the nobles from Stanless tonight. I’ll have dinner served in my chambers, and tell the steward to arrange for a companion as well.” Trayma’s face was hardened as he made his demands and watched one of his guards obediently leave to carry the message.

  Alec moved towards the front of the room again, and grabbed a small pebble from the floor as he did. He tossed the pebble towards the right side of the guard, who turned at the distraction, giving Alec time to expose his presence once again to Trayma, only five feet away this time, as Alec stared at him with Coden’s eyes squinted in a hateful gaze at the usurper. After two seconds he disappeared, before Trayma had even opened his mouth in shock once again. “He’s here! He’s here. In the name of your mother, tell me that you saw Coden’s ghost just now, right here,” Trayma grabbed the guard’s shoulder, as Alec stepped back.

  “I may have seen something,” the guard attempted to equivocate. Trayma virtually whimpered in dismay, then suddenly grabbed the man’s sword and swung it wildly in the air in front of him, missing the unseen Alec as he tried to intercept the vengeful spirit that haunted him.

  “This won’t do. How do I protect myself?” Trayma asked aloud.

  “You’ve not been harmed yet, my lord,” the guard attempted to sooth his commander.

  “Not been harmed yet?” Trayma shrieked mockingly, as the two guards outside the door opened it to see the ruckus inside, and watched their ruler melt down. “That ghost is going to get me! No one can see him but me! The ghost is going to kill me – he wants revenge!” Trayma stopped suddenly, realizing that he was over the line. “Take me to my chambers, immediately,” he ordered, and stepped towards the door at a hasty pace.

  Alec fell into place behind the swiftly moving quartet of ruler and three guards as they mounted two sets of stairs to the private quarters, where a separate set of guards awaited and took responsibility for Trayma’s safety, allowing the three from downstairs to separate themselves from their rule. “Thank the stars!” Alec heard a low voice say as the guards went downstairs. “Did you hear him cry like a girl?” the voice said before they moved out of ear range.

  The guards accompanied Trayma along an opulent hallway, one with thickly carpeted floors, then the lead guard held a particular door open and Trayma bolted inside, making Alec sprint to get into the room before the door closed. He nearly failed, as he felt the door bump the back of his heel when it closed on him.

  He stopped and stood inside the doorway to look around at the chambers. Trayma was passing directly through the large sitting room to another door, the bedroom, Alec saw as he followed, then into a third room, the bath chambers it turned out. Trayma went to a counter and stood there with his hands propping him up, looking into a mirror, Alec realized.

  Carefully Alec positioned himself behind Trayma, then made himself visibly reflected in the mirror as Trayma examined his own face carefully. At the appearance of Alec’s face the marquis’s eyes widened and his face grew pale, while he sharply inhaled between clenched lips. Trayma whirled around quickly, but Alec re-engaged his invisibility, preventing Trayma from seeing him directly.

  “Leave me! Leave me! Haunt me no longer! What is it you want?” Trayma’s voice began as a scream, and ended as a whimper.

  “I want revenge,” Alec said as he reappeared on Trayma’s left. “Quisel will be my weapon of revenge, just as he was your weapon. Your own followers will turn on you, as you turned on me.” He regained his invisibility and edged out of the bath chambers back into the bedroom.

  As he did, a pair of servants entered the room, one carrying a tray loaded with food, the other carrying a very inebriated young woman. Both were unloaded, the food tray gently on a table, the girl carelessly on the bed. Alec approached the girl, as he listened to Trayma still in the bathroom, talking to the invisible ghost he thought was still with him.

  Cautiously, Alec examined the girl with his Healer vision; she had been given some plant extract that made her comatose, relaxed and unresponsive, red hartsbane, he concluded. Alec lifted his invisibility cover, and focused his Healer power on treating the girl, improving her blood flow, strengthening her ability to cleanse the intoxicating agent from her blood. The girl raised her head and looked around, dazed. She was a very pretty girl, with long blond hair, Alec noted.

  “Where am I?” she asked, then spotted Alec and stared at him.

  “Ssshh,” Alec cautioned her. “You are in the palace of the marquis. Do you know how you came here?” he whispered.

  “I was eating at a café, and a man brought a pair of drinks to the table. We drank them, and he asked me if I wanted to do something. What was it?” she asked herself as she started to sit up.

  “Stop, stay down,” Alec quietly urged her. “You were drugged, and they brought you to the palace for the marquis’s pleasure,” he said. She looked at him without comprehension. “He plans to use you,” Alec obliquely clarified.

  There was a look of comprehension and horror on her face, and she started to rise.

  “No. Stay down. We can make this work. I can protect you if you pretend to still be drugged. Lie down,” Alec urged.

  “Now listen. The marquis is in the room next door. When he come
s in here, you need to play asleep, and he’ll probably eat some food first. When he approaches you and touches you, then you jump up and run over to the window there,” Alec pointed. “I will be there, but I will be invisible, so when you come to me I will be able to hide you as well.”

  “Invisible?” the girl asked skeptically.

  “Watch this,” Alec told her, and he made himself invisible momentarily.

  “How do you do that?” the girl asked in astonishment when Alec quickly reappeared.

  Alec heard movement in the bathroom.

  “What is your name?” he asked urgently.

  “Kate,” she told him.

  “Trust me Kate. I’ll be over by the window. I will not let him hurt you. Just play asleep until he touches you, then run to me,” Alec urged, and he stood, backed away from her, and resumed his cloak of invisibility, just moments before Trayma entered the room, a haggard look on his face.

  Kate looked at the blank spot where Alec had disappeared, then dropped her head and closed her eyes to mere slits, watching carefully as Trayma wandered into the room, still muttering. “Quisel. Quisel has betrayed me,” he said as he approached the tray of food. He picked up a piece of roast beef and took a bite, then dropped the food as he chewed. He sat on the corner of the table and removed his boots, ate another bite of meat, then removed his shirt, and ate a bite again. He stood and pulled his pants off, ate another bite of food, then approached the prone girl, placing his hand on her bottom, only to jerk it back in shock as the girl rose to her hands and feet and jumped away from him like a sprinter leaving the blocks in a race. The blond girl went ten feet towards the window, then abruptly disappeared from view.

  “Oh stars!” Trayma said, standing naked in the middle of his room. “The ghost took my girl!”

  The girl ran straight into Alec, hitting him with the full impact of her momentum, wrapping her arms around him and looking up at him. He clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from making a sound, and when he saw the comprehension in her eyes, he removed his hand. Gently, he shuffled his feet to the left, holding his arms around the girl to lead her with him away from the window.