Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  The chubby floor boy was dressed in brown and had his golden sash on, but looked tired, and smothered a yawn as they rounded the corner to his little alcove. The walls on either side were made of stone, but only an inch thick. On either side of a meter thick stone wall behind him? That was telling. An inch of stone would even seem solid, if you tapped on it. On the upper levels the interior walls were made of wood however, making it lighter. That meant that testing things there would be a good first step.

  Though she could possibly just ask the Guardians, but that was less interesting. Finding out for herself would present a bit of a challenge, if she had the time.

  "Hey, Robest, I need a message sent to High Judge Sims. We have a trial at ten, if she'll preside over it? In the Guardians' offices. Two High Councilors fighting in the hallway. A real dustup too, not just shouting." She said the words a bit lazily, but the boy looked at the Guardians with her with wide eyes. Probably afraid that his cake thieving ways were about to be punished.

  Which was just stupid. She'd have brought a Judge for that. Not that he wasn't going to be seeing one in a bit, which wasn't lost on him, if the tense expression on his face was any indication.

  "Let me write that down. I'll take it over directly."

  As soon as that was scratched out, in a hand that lacked artistry at all, and looked merely functional, with a few misspelled words, Tuvin stepped forward. Actually, he did it in a way that made it seem like he just appeared as the boy looked up. Pran saw the move, and what was done, which involved using Clark as cover, then waiting until the boy was engaged in his work before doing anything. It got a rewarding jump from the floor boy however, who gasped, as if seeing magic.

  "I need two meals for High Guardian Saran and I. That can be delivered to her office, when it's ready." Then he left, not even waiting for the boy to make a note of it, which he didn't.

  He just nodded at them, and stood, coming around his little desk on the right, a bit clumsily.

  "Gentles, I should get to this, if there isn't anything else? Do you need food as well? Or more wood for your fires?"

  Pran winked at him then, "yes, but we'll bug the floor boy upstairs about that. Thanks Robest."

  He seemed pleased to hear a kind word, which was probably a bit rare in his day. People that did the lowest tasks didn't get high honors a lot, did they? No one wrote plays in their honor very often, just assuming that the little people were boring and leaving it at that. There were a lot of things about kings and heroes, but not about stable boys or bakers.

  It reminded her of Apprentice Roy, for some reason. More to the point, that she could use the story of him climbing a mountain to fight a plague for Doctor Soros's needs. There had been a lot of washing involved, she just had to point that out without being annoying about it. Bury that inside a song about heroism.

  She started humming as she walked away, the chubby boy scurrying as the two remaining Guardians followed along. When they hit the stairs Mara nudged her.

  "A new song? Is it all about how incredible I am?" It was meant as a joke, but Pran winked back.

  "After a fashion. It's about how the heroic Apprentice Roy and two unnamed Guardians climbed a mountain and saved a village from death fleas, by washing everything really well. If I write a play about it, I'll be sure to use your name. Guardian Maria." She grinned, but her poor bit of joking just got a long sigh from the woman, as Clark cleared his throat.

  Brushing at her short dark hair, Mara seemed a bit distressed.

  "That's the way of it. We aren't allowed personal accolades. That's meant to keep us humble and free of vanity. I suppose that Guardians Maria and Gerald will be part of the backdrop to the tale then? With the sturdy Apprentice Shipman Royce carrying half the load himself?"

  She shrugged, having not really thought about it. That wasn't too believable however. Everyone knew that Guardians were pretty much all inhumanly fit.

  "Nooo... I think that Guardian Gerald there will have to do that, as poor Roy suffers in silence, his hands blistering on the frozen metal handle and limbs feeling like they were about to fall off. It will make it seem more heroic when he has to keep berating the villagers into washing for days on end. If he's strong enough to carry half the load himself, then the rest of it won't seem like as big of a trial."

  There was no mention of her in the story, but that was fine. Writing about herself was, she knew, going to sound like bragging. Neither person with her suggested otherwise either, as they all climbed the stairs together. They moved as one, their steps in time. It was strange, considering that two of them were trained to be chaotic by nature.

  What it really meant, she didn't know. Probably that they were a team, or something.

  Chapter eight

  Pran stopped to find the floor boy on two, his little alcove occupied this time. It was indeed the same one that had stood in front of her, to protect her fragile body from harm, earlier. That was kind of heroic, she thought, since going up against someone with High in their title probably induced fear in most people. She would have felt it and had, though like always that part got blocked out in hindsight. She grinned at the idea, being true enough, and waved at the boy, not knowing his name off the top of her head.

  "Hello! Our two buddies from earlier are going on trial at ten. Could you get everyone that saw it happen down to the Guardians office then? That means you too, so try to make sure you have your shift covered. Even if it's not, you still have to show up. It's the law, you know." Not that it really was. At least no one had ever told her that, personally. It just seemed right, and both Guardians behind her nodded somberly, so she'd either gotten that one correct to their way of thinking, or there actually was a rule that basically said that.

  The boy looked ready to soil himself at the idea.

  "I... Yes, miss. I mean, ma'am. Sorry. I'm still a bit flustered by what happened earlier. It's more violence than I'm used to seeing. Are you well? You went down kind of hard there." He didn't elaborate, but of course the Guardians hadn't been there. Not that either of them seemed too concerned. She wasn't hurt and they could see that. A few bruises weren't going to slow her down, as long as they weren't on her hands or face.

  She could hide anything visible under makeup, but bruising to her eyes or hands would make playing difficult.

  "I'm fine. Not even a scratch. Say, what's your name?"

  "Tims, ma'am." He still seemed too nervous, so she looked around and leaned in, conspiratorially.

  "Well, don't worry about the Judge, Tims. She won't ask about anything other than the case, so as long as you just answer her honestly, it won't be a problem. Just don't add anything to make her curious."

  Mara cleared her throat, but didn't add anything, just smiling at whatever assumed crimes a fifteen year old boy might have gotten up to. Probably with a bit of stolen liquor, or one of the other floor boys. None of them were girls, but as far as she'd ever heard, boys weren't that picky, if no one else was available.

  He nodded, but didn't acknowledge her very good advice, which showed prudence, given who was directly behind her.

  "I'll pass the word."

  They left him there, with Clark looking at her strangely, and Mara acting like she'd caught her with her pants down. Literally, it seemed, since she mentioned it, on the way up the stairs.

  "A new friend already, Pran? Roy will be jealous." It was teasing and meant to be friendly, but her time with Roy had been cut short, due to the fact that he had a lot of female friends on The Lament, and as it turned out, in several of the ports they'd gone to as well.

  "Nothing that adventurous yet. Believe it or not, I actually worked most of the day, yesterday. Besides, for a good time, I hear that you need to go to our floor boy. Tims here actually seems to be too busy for that, by the look of things. No, we definitively need Walden." Who wasn't in his cubby at the moment, which meant going to the Bard office, where a rather run down man stood anxiously, just outside the door. He was dressed in bright colors, and had a lute ca
se with him, that was dinged with marks that looked fresh. His face was lean and had a beard on it, and his clothing looked a bit haphazard. Like it had been new no more than a week ago, but now had patches on it, for no good reason. Some of very poor quality and not decorative in the slightest. In short, he looked like a rich man pretending to be poor, for some unknown reason.

  Looking at her, and then the Guardians behind her, he bowed, going low.

  "Gentles. I am the Great Bard Marin Lester, known the breadth and depth of this grand land of ours. I come to humbly seek assistance, gaining introductions to the wealthy so that I may fleece..." He went wide eyed and held it, faking shock at his own word choice. "I mean, entertain them all, and spread joy and love through this entire city."

  Pran didn't know if that was a normal thing or not, but also couldn't help him much.

  "Sorry, this is only my second day here, so I don't have anyone to introduce you to, yet. If I can get your name and a location to send a message to, I'll tell the High Bard about you? If we hear of any work, we can send that along to you? The holidays are coming, if you don't mind working them? What do you normally do, act wise?" She glanced at the lute, still standing in the hallway, since the Great Bard Marin Lester was in her way.

  He didn't seem too displeased by her words or anything.

  "Oh, why thank you..."

  She was supposed to give her name, she knew, but Clark did it for her, his face quirking a bit.

  "This is Bard Pran. The assistant to the High Bard, Clarice. I don't want to hurt your chances here, but we have a lot to get to, since there's a trial in about two hours. Leave a note and location, and we'll see it gets to the right person." It could have sounded mean, but instead it was just a bit dismissive. Mara rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything about it.

  "I see. Yes, yes. I understand, such important people must be busy at all times, aren't they?" That got him to shift enough that Pran moved through the door, which had the man practically leaping out of the way to avoid contact with the Guardians. That was a more normal reaction she thought. The man was important enough to not fear them, but smart enough not to give them a reason to think he was attacking.

  Getting his information only took a few moments, and when he left, she followed him to the hall and waited for him to get to the stairs before pulling the little bell that should, she hoped, summon their floor boy.

  Walden came at a trot, his face fresh and alert looking. A little flirty too, when he saw who was there.

  "Bard Pran? Do you need something?"

  She nodded, her face feeling a bit warm under his gaze. There was a lot of direct eye contact there, and the boy clearly understood the effect his looks had on people. That made him dangerous, to her way of thinking.

  "Yes, if it's no trouble? We could use some food. For three. The High Bard's new Guardian detail has come. We have a trial to see about at ten, so..." She really sort of wanted to eat before then, but didn't know how long it would take to have anything ready for them. Dried fruit and oatmeal sounded good, but she didn't ask, since they'd get whatever was being served, she didn't doubt.

  "I'll have that in about ten minutes for you then, Bard Pran." Clearly meaning to be true to his word, he trotted off, heading toward the stairs. She watched him leave, his brown slacks tight enough in the back that it made for a nice enough view.

  Inside the office, Clark and Mara both stood, waiting for her. Mara pointed at the closed door to the work room.

  "Is it all right if we check in there?" It was part of the job, so Pran just jogged over herself and let them in. It looked the same as the day before.

  Almost. Someone had moved things around a bit. It was a subtle thing, but there were pots out of order on the large work table in the center of the room. The double line of various sized things, had been straight when she left the day before, but now three of them had been pulled toward the edge by several inches.

  Other things felt wrong, but she couldn't really tell what was out of order. It could have been that Bard Lester had come in and helped himself to some things or at least a nice snooping session, but unless he was an actual spy, that would be crazy to even try. Pran pointed at it, then moved over and corrected what was wrong.

  "Clarice didn't do that. Me either. Someone has been here. It may mean nothing." Looking around, she noticed that near the back an easel had been moved to the side. Right in front of a set of shelves, made of wood that touched the wall there. It was an outside one too, but didn't have any windows, which meant...

  Walking over she took the shelf by the side and tried to pull. It didn't swing out, but did wiggle back and forth in a way that wasn't natural at all. She examined it while Clark and Mara both stopped and stared at her, neither calling out helpful hints. There was a locking mechanism of some kind. She could feel it. It was near the bottom of the thing too, because the top moved back and forth more than it did down there. She didn't find it at first, until she reached all the way to the back of the bottom wooden plank, and ran her finger along the back. It was a bit away from the wall, and sure enough, inside it was a little lever that made the mechanism click rewardingly.

  Then the thing pulled out quietly, having little wheels on the bottom, hidden pretty well from view. The space inside the wall was a lot more substantial than she'd thought at first, being most of a two thirds of a meter, not half. At least here, on the upper floor. The inside of it was very clean however.

  Part of her wanted to go in and explore the whole thing, but there was food coming. After a moment she closed it and put the easel back into place, so it would fall over if anyone opened it from the other side. It wasn't her job to make things too simple for everyone else, after all.

  "Well, that's one trick of this place down. Since I know that no one is back there, I think I should let you know that the floor boy on two might be a download. That's still a guess, but so far my secret technique seems to be working, and he failed the test. Or passed it, depending on which way we want to look at things. So did Doctor Richard Soros, who's staying with Bard Clarice and her husband, Bard Kabrin. That one is a lot more certain, however. It wasn't just one thing, but about six. Oh... I also think we need to look at Lyse, back in Pumpkin Hollow. I missed it before, but there's something wrong there."

  Clark blinked, pretending not to understand her totally, and Mara grimaced.

  "Dang. I liked her too. A bit simple, but she reminded me of a puppy. Harmless and sweet. Which is probably the point. We'll set up a watch for the floor boy. Can you get us in to Bard Clarice's house to investigate?"

  Pran nodded, since she really could. Honestly, they didn't need her, if they played it right.

  "She's your protection detail, that's reason enough. Even if people don't normally get protection on that level, it's probably needed right now. Or... I don't know, a status symbol? We should go wait for the food. I need to get in to see Jacques and Twyla too. If I can, before things get too busy. Clarice said that she only works about six hours a day, a few days a week. She only expects that of me too. Can you believe that?" Pran grinned, but Mara and Clark both nodded, and the woman moved over and patted her on the arm.

  "We can. Most of the High Council only works a bit more than that and Bards, frankly, barely have anything to do here. It's better to keep busy, though. I think I smell something good." She turned and walked to the outer office then, which meant Pran followed in time to see Walden coming in with a large wooden tray. It didn't have oatmeal on it however, but eggs and fried meat slices. There was also a small dish of preserves and some toasted thick bread slices on each plate.

  She moved to take it and then set it on Clarice's desk, in the one clear spot that was large enough for it.

  "Thanks, Walden. Oh! These are Guardians Clark and Mara. If you see or hear anything strange, come tell them about it? They'll get bored otherwise, and pester me to play for them when I'm supposed to be doing other things." Like sculpting Judge Brown, who wasn't there yet. Hopefully he hadn't felt too in
sulted by her fake flirting the day before. If so... Well, too bad, he had his orders and still had to show up and do his job, didn't he?

  The boy laughed, since the idea of Guardians doing that was outrageous, but after asking if they needed anything else, he left. That meant she got to spend whole minutes eating the delicate and well spiced food. It was savory and sweet, at the same time, and when she finished, a piece of toasted bread that was still soft in the middle, she sighed.

  "The food here is really good. At Bard Clarice's too. I'm going to get fat, I bet." She didn't bother looking down at her middle, since she knew that you could still count all of her ribs, probably through her heavy black shirt. That was another thing that would have to go soon. She needed new clothing. That or to embrace her dark and moody look totally. Wear matching makeup, or something like that.

  Clark stood, and looked around, forgetting his act for a few seconds. It was clear that he'd dropped into a deep trance state, while they'd eaten.

  "We should see about doing some of those things you mentioned. We need to be a bit early for the trial, in case the Judge needs us to control the crowd. I doubt that will happen here, but I've seen it be needed before. We all have."

  Which was true, but not something he'd have known, if he were a download. Not that anyone seemed to be buying that at all, except for Tuvin. Why that was, she didn't truly understand. It was probably down to the fact that the boy wasn't in on all of the secrets, and that meant he was jumping to the wrong conclusion. That they might also be doing the same thing to her came to mind, as well. You didn't keep secrets by telling people, after all. Both sides were a bit poor in that regard. Unless everyone had been lying to her.

  Now, she tried to tell the truth, herself, most of the time, since lying could get a girl in trouble when it was found out. That was about self protection, and getting everyone to underestimate her. Whatever happened in the end, however, she needed to be able to seem like she was with whoever won and always had been. So far that should work, well enough, as long as the people from the past didn't decide that she was just too big of a threat to their plans.