The abrupt change in conversation told Clint that the talk was over and that the emperor expected him to leave for Olansk right away.
“No,” replied Clint. “I think it is time to rejoin my men. I will leave Despair in the morning.”
“I wish you a safe journey.” Colonel Taerin rose and saluted before walking away.
General Forshire sat and gazed out at the Sea of Tears until the sun began its descent. Answering the call of his grumbling stomach, he entered the palace and made his way to the private dining room that he shared with General Fabio and General Garibaldi. Both men were already seated, and General Forshire could not suppress a smile as he took his seat.
“I do not think I have ever been the first one to sit down at this table,” he chuckled. “You gentlemen are getting spoiled by the food served here.”
“It is hard work making those misfits into an army,” laughed General Fabio. “I do not understand why you bothered. I am ready to send mine back to prison.”
“I will take your men,” General Garibaldi said with a mouthful of food.
“You should keep them,” General Forshire said to General Fabio with a broad grin. “It will give you something to do besides eating. One more meal like this, and I am ready to get back to trail rations. I always feel sluggish after such a heavy meal.”
General Garibaldi spilled hot gravy on his lap and leaped to his feet, his hands moving quickly to remove the gravy from his pants. The motion only caused the hot gravy to stick to his hands, and the Vinaforan general frantically clawed at the cloth towel on the table. He wiped his hands and pants and then stared down with irritation. He threw the towel on his chair in disgust and stormed out of the room, curses tumbling from his lips.
“Quite a reaction for such a small incident,” mused General Forshire.
“He only has two uniforms,” chuckled General Fabio, “and he put on his best for the reception tonight. Now he will have to wear a dirty uniform in front of the emperor.”
“Reception?” questioned General Forshire.
“Where do you spend your days, Forshire?” asked General Fabio. “Emperor Jaar is throwing a party this evening. The three of us were invited.”
“Ah,” Clint sighed with a nod. “I do remember something being slid under my door the other night. I had forgotten completely about it. I fear that I will not be able to attend. Give my regards to the emperor for me.”
“Not attend?” frowned General Fabio. “That would be an insult.”
“No insult is intended. I am leaving Despair in the morning, and there are some things I need to pick up in the city before I go. I just will not have the time for a party.”
General Fabio nodded and gazed at General Forshire questioningly. For several moments, he watched Clint eat in silence, but something was clearly on his mind.
“You seemed awful eager that I keep my soldiers,” he eventually said. “Why?”
“I think a general should be in command of troops,” shrugged General Forshire.
“I think it was more than that,” challenged the Karaminian general. “You didn’t want Garibaldi to get them, did you?”
General Forshire lifted the towel from the table and wiped his mouth in silence. He folded the towel neatly and placed it next to his empty plate. Only then did he meet the gaze of the general across the table from him.
“I have heard things about V Corps that do not bode well for the future,” General Forshire said conspiratorially. “Garibaldi’s men are untrained and uncultured, but worse than that, I think he will do something stupid with them, and that will jeopardize our own positions here. There is certainly no need to give him more men.”
“What have you heard?” asked General Fabio.
“I am not a spreader of gossip,” answered General Forshire, “but I think you know Garibaldi well enough to know that he will do something stupid to draw attention to himself. You would be wise to keep a certain distance between him and yourself. If his acts threaten the emperor, there will be a severe price to pay for anyone associated with Garibaldi.”
General Fabio frowned as he stared at Garibaldi’s empty chair. General Forshire rose and nodded a farewell before leaving the room. Clint moved towards his suite, but he detoured before he reached it. Following the twisting path that Colonel Taerin had taken him down the last time, he made his way to the emperor’s chamber. There were two guards outside the door, but Clint did not have to ask for admittance. One of the guards slipped inside the room and promptly returned. He held the door open for General Forshire, and Clint walked through it. The emperor was alone in the room, and he beckoned for General Forshire to approach.
“What have you learned so far?” asked Emperor Jaar.
“I am ill-suited to this task,” opened General Forshire. “The leader of the expedition was Captain Kent of the city guards, but I cannot find out who authorized him. My asking questions only arouses suspicions about me.”
“I can understand that,” nodded the emperor. “You are a new face in this palace, and people should be rightfully suspicious of you asking too many questions, yet you do seem to be making progress.”
“Perhaps,” sighed General Forshire. “Captain Kent has been recently transferred to Olansk. As my army is currently heading in that direction, I intend to go there and question him.”
“A wise plan. Do you have any suspicions as to who is behind the invasion of Elfwoods?”
“It certainly has to be someone high enough in power to dictate orders to a captain in the guard,” declared General Forshire, “and high enough to arrange his transfer so he can’t talk about it.”
“So you think the transfer is no coincidence?”
“Certainly not a coincidence,” stated General Forshire. “Olansk is considered a backwater city to the Federation. Soldiers are posted there when officers want them out of the way. Someone is afraid of what Captain Kent might say.”
“I am impressed, General Forshire,” said the emperor. “While you have not determined who authorized the invasion, you have already found out more than my own investigators could. No one in the palace seems to know anything about any soldiers entering the Elfwoods.”
“Soldiers certainly did go there,” declared General Forshire. “I have no doubts about that, and I know who was in charge of the expedition. My fear is that Captain Kent might not have long to live. If the violator of the Elfwoods knows that an investigation is underway, Captain Kent will be seen as an unfortunate liability.”
Emperor Jaar sighed and nodded. “It is almost impossible to ask questions without alerting your opponent. I think it is safe to say that whoever is responsible is well aware that people are looking into the incident. When will you leave?”
“I leave in the morning,” answered General Forshire. “I was recently reminded of your reception this evening. I must apologize in advance for my lack of attendance, but I have things to gather before I leave, and time is getting short.”
The emperor nodded as he scribbled on a piece of paper. He handed the paper to General Forshire. “That authorizes you to take temporary command of Olansk while you are there. I do not want some backwater officer to give you any trouble with locating and interrogating Captain Kent. Get there quickly, General. I want the name of the person who authorized that raid into Elfwoods.”
General Forshire took the paper and bowed to the emperor. He left the room and used the twisting corridors to reach the area of his suite, but instead of entering it, he turned and used the main corridors to exit the palace. Within a few minutes, he was inside a room in the Emporium. He changed into a long black cloak and pulled the hood around his face. He moved quickly, but quietly, up the stairs to a room on the top floor. He hung a red cloth from the balcony and sat down to await the arrival of Scorpion.
An hour later, there was a soft knock on the door. Clint rose and moved to the door. He held a knife in his hand as he eased the door open. A short man entered with a hooded cloak, and Clint closed the door.
<
br /> “We were not due to meet until tomorrow,” Scorpion stated. “What is the matter?”
“I am leaving the city for a while,” answered Clint, “but I will be back before the appointed day. How is the planning coming along?”
“It is taking a fair bit of work from my people,” answered Scorpion, “but we have worked out an underground path that will get you within a block of the northern gates.”
“Do any of them suspect what is going on?”
“A few trusted men know what I am trying to accomplish,” answered the head thief of Despair, “but most of them are being kept in the dark.”
“What will the transit time be?”
“About a half hour.”
Clint frowned, but the thief could not detect it. “Can you shorten it? A half hour will give the soldiers a fair amount of time to react.”
“That will be difficult.”
“Then we are going to need a diversion in another part of the city.”
“Diversions will be expensive,” frowned the thief. “A diversion is only good if it engages the soldiers. Many of my people will be wounded or captured.”
Clint noticed that the thief did not mention those who might be killed. For those unfortunate souls, no compensation would be needed.
“Make the plans for a diversion,” stated Clint. “We will discuss it when I return.”
* * * *
Morro was sitting in Karicon’s chamber when a loud knock reverberated through the room. He immediately snatched the hourglass from his pouch and placed his finger near the trigger. He eased the door open just a crack and peered through it. He saw Garth Shado standing in the corridor outside the room. He quickly depressed the trigger and threw the door wide open. He tried to race past the Knight of Alcea, but he ran headlong into an invisible wall. The elf bounced off the invisible wall and fell to the floor. Morro picked himself up and glanced through the open door. Garth stood with his hand raised to knock on the door, and Kalina stood behind him with a thin smile on her lips. Morro reached out and tested the space before him. His hand felt a smooth surface that his eyes could not detect. Desperately, the elf moved his hand higher and lower, seeking a way through the invisible barrier, but there was none. Sighing in defeat, the elf returned to the low table and sat on it. He watched the sands drop with acceptance. When the sands ran out, Garth and Kalina entered the room.
“You have been avoiding me,” Garth said accusingly.
“Guilty,” sighed Morro. “I am sorry, Garth. I now know that what I did was wrong, but that does not mean that I look forward to being berated about it. All I can say is, I won’t do it again.”
“You will do it again,” Garth replied.
“No, I won’t,” vowed the elf. “I really won’t. You have my word on it.”
Kalina giggled and Morro looked at her in confusion. Garth smiled and placed a hand on Morro’s shoulder in a fatherly manner.
“I like initiative and courage,” Garth said, “but I also understand the importance of teamwork. I do not fault you for what you did. The only thing I hold against you is your refusal to let me know about it. If you had to make such a choice and it was impossible to reach me, that would be different, but you intentionally held your plans from me. That can lead to dire circumstances. Do you understand the difference?”
“I know the difference,” countered the elf, “but you would have refused to let me go. Am I wrong?”
“Yes and no,” answered Garth. “Had I known about the hourglass, I would have encouraged you to go. If I remained ignorant of your abilities, then you are correct. I would have forbidden it. I do not make such decisions to take the challenge out of your life. There is great danger in revealing what we know about the valley and the Doors. If the Federation had any idea that we knew about the portals, they would immediately attack the horse countries. They would not even have to see you in the valley for that to occur. Had you given that any thought?”
Morro frowned and shook his head. “I don’t understand. How could they know that we learned about the Doors if they never detected me?”
“You stole two Doors,” answered Kalina. “While the soldiers might not notice them missing, someone eventually will.”
“As soon as they do,” added Garth, “they will reconsider the option of attacking Korocca and Zarocca. We think the only reason that they have not done so is because they are afraid to alert us to their capabilities.”
“So I truly messed up,” sighed the elf. “I was only trying to grant Kalina’s wish. What do we do now? We can’t just put the Doors back.”
“That is what we must do,” declared Kalina. “There is too much riding on them not noticing that the Doors are missing.”
“But you finally have a Door open to Alcea. I can’t believe that you would forfeit that.”
“We have no intention of forfeiting anything,” grinned Kalina. “Garth has two tasks for you. Are you prepared to rejoin us?”
“I have never left you,” replied the elven thief. “I have only avoided you to prevent your anger. I was hoping after a few days that it might die down. What are the two jobs?”
“We need you to go to Olansk,” answered Garth. “You need to break into the carpentry shop and steal some records for us.”
“That will be easy. What records do you want?”
“The emperor recently ordered some more doors from Orkare and Son,” answered Kalina. “The doors have already been picked up, but we want no trace of the transaction left behind. We could have Cracker’s people do it, but we don’t want them to know, either.”
“These are the replacement doors for the ones I stole?”
“Sort of,” grinned Garth. “The doors are identical to the ones ordered the last time, but they have not been blessed by any demons. Your second task is to get them into the valley.”
“Another easy task,” stated Morro. “With a unicorn to get me to Olansk and Sparky to help me in the valley, I can do both tasks tonight.”
“Your unicorn is still in the valley outside the mine,” stated Garth, “and you shall have as many fairies as you need, but do not rush this task. It will take you all night to get to Olansk and back. Tomorrow night you can enter the valley.”
“I only need Sparky in the valley,” stated Morro. “It is not that big a job.”
“I think you underestimate what we want you to do,” chuckled Garth. “You are not just going to put two fake Doors on the top of the stack.”
“What else will I be doing?” asked Morro.
“You will be replacing all of the Doors in the stack,” replied Kalina. “We have twelve doors in the Great Chamber. Each is properly numbered to duplicate one of the Doors in the stack. We want to recreate the stack with the fake Doors.”
“And what about the real Doors?” asked Morro.
“We want them brought into Tarashin,” answered Garth.
“We are going to steal all of their spare Doors?” gasped the thief. “What if they ever try to use one?”
“They will be identical in all respects,” answered Kalina. “Their only defect will be in the spells put upon them. They will not notice anything until they try to use them, and even then they will not understand why they don’t work. They might think the magic has failed for some reason, but they will never suspect that someone snuck into their impregnable valley, stole the original Doors, and replaced them with exact duplicates. Such a thought would be preposterous.”
“Clever,” smiled Morro, “deviously clever.”
“We still have a plan to work out,” said Garth. “A lot hinges on the timing that the hourglass provides. That is why I mentioned multiple fairies. That is a lot of Doors to move.”
“Multiple fairies will be of no use,” frowned Morro. “Whoever triggers the hourglass, he will be the only one capable of moving.”
“You will still have a lot of Doors to move,” stated Garth. “The fairies can help do that while the hourglass is not in use. Have you timed the hourglass?”<
br />
“Not exactly,” answered Morro, ”but I have a good feel for it.”
“I will show you how the Alcea Rangers count numbers in their head,” offered Garth. “We use the technique to coordinate activities. It is an excellent way of keeping the pace of time. With some practice, it will become second nature to you.”
Chapter 26
Teamwork
Sergeant Lamar was a broad man with thick arms and a thick neck. His hair was cut short so he wouldn’t have to care for it, and his face resembled a bulldog more than a human. Citizens of Olansk usually stepped out of his way when he approached because he had a reputation for roughness whenever he needed to break up a fight. Sergeant Lamar seldom asked fighters who started the altercation, or who was at fault. He merely beat both of them into submission and hauled them off to jail. He was quite happy to let Captain Takir decide who was right and who was wrong. Sergeant Lamar just did not care about such things.
The sergeant’s relationship with Captain Takir had started off on the wrong foot when the captain had been newly-assigned to Olansk. Sergeant Lamar and his friends had pretty much had free reign in the small city, and the captain tried to change that. It did not take long before Sergeant Lamar tried to beat some sense into the new officer. The lesson had not gone as well as the sergeant had thought it would. While Captain Takir’s strength could never approach that of the sergeant, the captain was an intelligent man and a shrewd fighter. Captain Takir soon had the sergeant face down on the ground with one of his arms bent behind him. Their relationship improved greatly after that day. The sergeant grew to respect the young captain, and Takir in turn made the sergeant one of his favored men. It was a relationship that both of the men were comfortable with, and neither of them wished it to change. So, when Sergeant Lamar saw another captain ride into the city, his first task was to inform Captain Takir.
“We’ve got trouble,” Sergeant Lamar said after he closed the door to the captain’s office. “A captain just rode into the city.”
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