by Guy Antibes
Lorna, with clothes changed and after a small bite to eat in her room, walked down the stairs. Corilla came to her, “You look refreshed. I hope the room is adequate?”
Lorna nodded. “Thank you for the tray, the food helped energize me as much as anything else. Our journey couldn’thave been more exhausting. Imagine ten days from Pent to Gerell. I remember coming by regular coach with my father when I was younger—it took nearly twenty.” Although the episode at the Pent Embassy disturbed her greatly, Lorna tried hard to be nice and Corilla made it easy. Lorna could tell she had a great deal of inner strength and that there would be much to learn from her.
The pair walked into a small parlor off of a corridor. A shortish man with graying hair and a large mustache sat reading a book.
“Moshin,” Corilla said. “This is Lorna Baltac.”
The man put the book down and grinned. He walked over and took Lorna’s hand. “My pleasure. I am Moshin Twent of the Morven Magical Academy.”
“You are Panix’s mentor.” Lorna’s eyes brightened as she remembered Panix mentioning this man, calling him more than an instructor. He vaguely reminded her of Sovad Mustak, but she couldn’t figure out why.
“Well mentor isn’t quite the term I’d use, but perhaps a good friend might be more appropriate,” Moshin said. She liked his smile.
“Have a seat, Lorna,” Corilla said, as Moshin returned to his chair and Corilla sat at one end of a sofa, with Lorna sitting on the other. Lorna looked about the room. It wasn’t as formal as she thought such a room would be in an embassy. They sat in a suite of overstuffed chairs with simply carved wood frames. The walls were painted pale yellow with paintings on the walls with not a tapestry in sight. Drapes of a lavender hue with a fine white net hanging behind covered the windows. Corilla decorated it in the same style as her bedroom so she felt right at home.
“The Marquessa has told you I am part of the KII. Moshin is a recently re-activated KII operative and, as you know, we’ve recently recruited Panix Gavid. Although it may not seem so, the Murgontian Secret Service has instigated this entire Pentish situation. We are working to prevent its success, and you are part of our efforts.”
“I am here with Baston Blox, representing Pent. We will be able to handle the Pent matters,” Lorna said.
“No, you won’t. Baston will confer with Trell. Both of them will sit on their hands at their little embassy and if they make any contribution to solving this crisis, it will be by sheerest accident,” Corilla said. “The Marquessa sent you to us, so you can be her eyes and ears.”
“But what if Baston had me staying at the Pent embassy?”
“Wouldn’t happen,” Corilla said. “Blox is very predictable and there is no way he’d want you poking around the embassy. We knew you’d end up here with us.”
“Tell us your version of the events in South Pent,” Moshin said. “I’d like to compare them with what Panix told me.”
“You’ve seen Panix?” Lorna wasn’t quite sure why she asked. “How is he… his head wound still bothered him.”
“He went to a healer. She did a nice job.” Moshin smiled. Some inside joke between Panix and Moshin?
Lorna began to recount her story. Moshin would guide her in expanding her narrative at certain points. She felt exhausted when she finished.
“Let me say, you did remarkably well in remembering all of the details, except for the time spent that first night at the inn.”
Lorna felt a flush rise up from her neck and looked away, scratching her neck. “I was… distracted that night.”
Moshin winked at Lorna. He knew. She wanted to forget all about her first night with Panix.
Corilla put down a pad of paper and a pencil. Lorna hadn’t noticed her writing, but the pages were full of notes. “Tell us about Sovad Mustak. We’ve run into him before, but no one has gotten this close to him for such a length of time.”
“He is a monster. Killing animals in cold blood like that. He threatened to kill us too. He waited too long. Panix recovered enough to get us out of the cave. Sovad’s male ego did him in,” Lorna said. She noticed that Moshin pursed his lips and smiled. “It cost Murgontia their campaign. We defeated them just by knowing he was there and that Murgontia ran the operation.”
“That’s right, Lorna. Intelligence work is often like that. Most people don’t know all that goes on between countries, but tiny wars are fought, secretly and constantly, in little ways between enemies… and sometimes between friends.” Moshin got up from his chair and stretched his back. “Think of them as skirmishes. Enough skirmishes add up to the equivalent of battles. There aren’t as many deaths, but those deaths are important.”
“I think Sovad is very intelligent. Panix has a great deal of respect for him, most of that comes when Sovad worked for my father. I thought he would want to kill Sovad, but he never mentioned getting revenge against the man after we escaped. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Panix doesn’t want to be caught again.”
“Panix saw more in the man than many would, including me. Sovad is a complicated individual, but remains a ruthless killer.” Moshin lit up a pipe and blew out a puff of smoke. “His unpredictability makes him very dangerous. If you ever see him again, walk away as quickly as you can.”
“Moshin is right, Lorna., but we will have more conversations while you are with us. It’s time to show you something.” Corilla stood and went to a wall panel. This corner of the picture just needs to be pressed in.” The corner moved an inch towards the wall. A doorway appeared that Lorna didn’t notice.
“This is a secret pathway. Servants know about these passageways.” Corilla pushed the corner of the painting again, and the door closed. She walked to the opposite side of the room by the fireplace and pressed a carved apple on the mantel. Another door opened. “This is the private pathway. Only my husband and I know of these private passages, and now Moshin and you do too.”
Moshin looked in the passageway. “The private passages are close to the fireplaces in every room?”
“Those with this apple carved into the mantel. This particular button is magically powered. The doors to the other pathwayts aren’t.”
Lorna started but kept quiet.
Corilla looked at her. “You don’t need magic to use them. I go through every two weeks and recharge them. We know about your lack of magical ability and want you to be comfortable.”
“And why are you interested in helping me?” Lorna was beginning to feel prickly. It came anytime magic was mentioned. She couldn’t help it even though she had gotten more used to it on her adventures with Panix.
“The Marquessa wants someone she can trust to do more than push paper in the foreign ministry. That’s all I’ll say about the matter.”
That revelation quickly cooled Lorna down. She was afraid she would have to try that Panix centering trick again.
“One more word about the passages, and then it’s time to get a little rest before dinner. We don’t underestimate Murgontia’s willingness to solve their problem in Gerellia with blood. Boidan Tisano, the foreign minister for King Tomlano, has already left his current house and is more or less in hiding for a week or so. We might have a nighttime visitor ourselves because of our influence on the King. If someone is at your door or if you hear voices raised in alarm, don’t hesitate. Go immediately to the private passage in your room and stay in the passage.”
Lorna was shocked. These people are thorough and serious. She could tell Corilla was concerned. Would someone actually enter the embassy and attempt murder?
~
The healer let Panix into her back room. A few of the local townspeople sat in her waiting room.
“I was wondering if you could help me with something,” Panix said, fidgeting with a button on his shirt.
“Something you’re uncomfortable with?” Sorah said.
“Something I don’t know if you can teach me.”
“Teach you? You’re the master magician.” The woman laughed softly and sat down.
“I want to know if there is a way I could make people sick. I’m heading into some danger and I need a way to incapacitate a person without causing them harm or letting them know I’m doing it.”
“A funny thing to ask a healer, but I think I can help.” She paused and looked at the spines of her healing books. Sorah pulled one out. “Read the last few chapters. I think you will find your answer there.”
Panix read the last three chapters as soon as he returned to his cabin. He took a sausage out of his pantry and laid it down on his kitchen table. As he looked at it, the tube began to ripple, then it started to constrict. The constriction stayed. He concentrated again and the tube returned to normal.
Panix sat back and read the chapters again. The technique wouldn’t last for more than a few days. But it would work. He wanted to be prepared. It might mean his life and Harlan’s.
The next morning a message sat on top of his messaging coin.
Panix Gavid,
The Murgontians continue their advance to the north. Harlan Gannoc and you are to head south, intercept and observe sufficiently to gauge their strength and rate of march. You are not to engage. Then proceed directly to Gerell for further instructions.
Good Luck,
Corilla Westter
~
The ground began to swell as if a blister formed in the wet soil. Panix tossed a rock in the middle and heard a faint whoosh as the rock punctured the cover of a sinkhole. Harlan walked over to another muddy patch that looked identical and tossed a log. The log bounced and skidded along the patch as if it were an iced-over pond.
“The slick mud works really well, but you need to spread the dirt from the sinkhole out over a larger area when you make the pit. I don’t think an experienced commander would run anything over something with a hump like that,” Harlan said.
“Good point.” Panix raised another blister and then flattened it out moving the dirt beneath the surface out further. Harlan nodded in satisfaction. Now they had a few more tools for dealing with the Murgontian advance.
~~~
Chapter20
The rains had stopped for two days, but the sky still looked cloudy so Panix and Harlan filled their floaters with the last of their provisions, and headed west before another deluge. Panix resisted looking back as they left for eastern Gerellia.
Since they were close to the border, Panix thought they would run into the army in two weeks, but mud still deep from weeks of rain slowed their progress. Two days of drying were not enough for the saturated ground.
As they moved down through the foothills, Panix practiced the magic he would use to try to slow up the Murgontian advance. He started putting a random mix of sinkholes and slick-mud along the road. Magic only worked in a limited range, but he envisioned a squad of magicians as troop harassers in a future conflict, if this worked with the Murgontians.
Six days later, they had made it to the location both of them thought the Murgontians would have reached, but nothing had been through the vicinity. With the prospect of Murgontian war games in eastern Gerellia, people had left the area. This road once served as a route from Murgontia into Pent, but since relations ended one hundred years ago, the cobbles had sunk beneath the dust, dirt and vegetation of a century of seasons. Not one bit of pavement remained in sight.
Panix reached out with his senses for masses of individuals with magical capability, but he couldn’t find anyone in his range. Panix consulted his map and found a trail roughly parallel to the road that wound its way among the foothills.
The sodden summer facilitated a riot of growth. Grasses were higher and trees pushed out new branches full of leaves. The ground became more passable as they climbed into the foothills. Streams flooded over their banks in most of the foothill valleys.
They paused to water their horses. Harlan noticed the stream bubbling from a narrow jumble of rocks that looked like they’d fallen recently, creating a little dam. His gaze followed, as the stream descended and slowly washed out a section of the road the Murgontian army would travel.
“There is something I think I can do here,” Harlan said. For the next hour they lifted rocks and moved dirt to create a dam. Panix chided himself for putting all of his planning into magic and ignoring Harlan. The magic marauders he’d thought about could use some strong backs and an engineer or two to take advantage of whatever the terrain offered.
A week later, with five dams created up above the road and with them continually heading south, Panix felt the faint sense of a mass of men. Those with magic barely registered on his senses, but then these were Murgontians. They descended to the road and put spells to practical use on the road with more slick-mud and sinkholes.
~
Sovad poured himself some of Nirov’s wine. “Reporting as ordered, Nirov.” It was hard for him to work with this little pup for a number of reasons. His arrogance, his refusal to listen to reason, his lack of strategic competence—Sovad could go on, but it would be of no use.
Pokkan had originally scheduled Kevox Mirrok for Gerrel, but Sovad heard he was in Korvanna on something that the Council deemed as important as capturing Pent. He had to face the fact that he reported to Nirov and he would honor that as best he could.
“I didn’t offer you any wine.” Nirov said as he walked out of one of his back rooms.
“I’m sorry, Nirov. I just assumed you were a civil host, my mistake.” He lifted his glass and then spit it out. “Murgontian swill.” Sovad made a face. “You must acquire a taste for the fine wines of other countries, if you want to appear to be sophisticated, Nirov.”
Nirov bristled. “I’ll have you know, that is the finest wine Murgontia has to offer. It’s off of father’s estate.”
“I don’t doubt what you’ve just said is true, but Murgontia’s finest is far from the finest Dornna has to offer.”
“And you? Are you the finest assassin Murgontia has or the finest assassin in Dornna?”
“Ah. There you have me. I am one and the same. I am the best the Assassins Guild has ever produced. Don’t take my word, you may ask any of the Masters, for it would be impossible to question any of my assignments.”
Nirov scowled. Sovad knew the man in front of him couldn’t dispute his reputation. He had earned that reputation with decades of service to the Murgontian Council.
“I have a job for you.”
“You want Tomlano dispatched. Is that what you mean? He would be the only target worthwhile in Gerellia. Has he been resisting your silver tongue, Nirov?”
“That’s not for you to know. I’ll give you four days. The sooner the better. I know you’ve just arrived and will have planning to do. You may go now.”
Sovad picked up his cloak. “Farewell, Divvid my son,” he called as he walked towards the door. He looked towards the room Nirov had come out from and saw his son peeking through the open door. Sovad waved and walked out.
~
“Fool. I told you to stay back.” Nirov poured himself a goblet of his ‘finest’ wine and rolled the liquid in his mouth. Sovad didn’t know what he was talking about. Nirov needed more and drained the goblet.
“I was listening in on that old superannuated fool,” Divvid said.
“I wish I had half the capabilities he has, Divvid. He told the truth about the Assassin’s Guild.”
“I know. Training was a torture. I couldn’t come anywhere close to his accomplishments. I’m just glad Mother understood. Her support was the only thing that got me through.” Divvid still wore his muddy traveling clothes.
“Now, how is Bollet doing?” Nirov looked at his friend’s boots and saw the tracks leading from the door to his rooms to the back. So Mustak’s detection skills weren’t so brilliant, after all.
“The army is moving so slowly. Bollet first decreed that Crissor stay ten leagues behind him, but with the mud he made it three. Crissor is very angry, by the tone of his dispatches. The entire route is becoming a quagmire. The old road has sunk into the earth. Instead of fallin
g behind, Crissor keeps creeping up on Bollet’s flank pushing him forward. My unit’s morale is unbelievably low, the army is getting sick. It just goes on and on.”
“There’s nothing I can do, Divvid. They are following my orders. I’m not a General. Once they reach Pent, they are on their own and then they can do whatever they want. Both Crissor and Bollet know that and look forward to it. That should be sufficient motivation. Since I gave Bollet the lead, and you, your commission, I don’t know what else to do other than make sure Gerellia doesn’t interfere with our invasion.”
“I know. Here are messages from Bollet and Crissor.” Divvid laid a message bag on the table. I’ll return to the field first thing tomorrow, after a couple of hot meals and a warm, dry bed.”
~
Sovad turned into a butcher’s shop, not far from the palace. His meeting with Nirov disturbed him more than he let on. He knew Nirov would botch the job and that his chances for survival were slim. However, duty called. He didn’t think he could pick and choose his targets at this stage of his career, not after the two failures in Pent.
His son wouldn’t even come out and greet him. Not that he was much of a father to Divvid. That was the first time that they had been in the same room together since the boy entered Assassin Guild training eight years ago. Damned woman ruined the boy. But then again, he wasn’t around, nor did he want to be.
“Abnar.” Sovad bounced into the butchery and hugged the proprietor. The butcher’s wife rushed out from the back. The glass fronted store displayed cuts of meats. An awning helped keep the sun away. Sawdust cushioned the floor.
“Sovad, it’s been years,” Hera said.
He hugged her and she pulled him into her embrace.
“That’s enough, Hera. What brings you to Gerell? Or should I even ask?” Abnar said, sharpening a knife.
“Don’t ask. Is the back room available?” Sovad wanted to make sure he had a hideout in the city.
