“My stomach’s a little upset. I’d like a cup of ginger tea but I’m out of ginger. I’m sure Miranda has some though.”
“Hope you’re not getting sick. Why don’t I send a note to Theresa and ask her to check you out?”
Laryn shook her head. “It’s probably something I ate. I feel fine otherwise. If it gets worse, I’ll see one of the sisters.
After Laryn got some ginger and Chris poured two cups of coffee, they headed their separate ways. By the time Chris made it back upstairs, Kevin and Nikki were back.
“Marshall’s not in yet,” Kevin said. “Does he ever take a day off? I think he’s kept Nikki every day since she’s come here.”
“I mentioned it to him once, but he said if he had a day off, he’d want to spend it with Watson and Nikki, so what was the point? I told him if he ever found something he wanted to do, or someplace he’d like to go for a day, we’d make arrangements for Nikki, not to let that stop him. He said he’ll let me know, but I doubt he will.”
“Maybe I should get Neiven to talk to him about it. Everyone needs a day off.”
“Yeah,” Chris said. “That’ll be real convincing. Neiven hasn’t taken a day off since we got here.”
Kevin shrugged. “Maybe Marshall needs some friends, some kids his own age to do things with.”
“He’s not like the other kids,” Chris said. “But if you offered to let him spend his days off with Kyle, I bet he’d go for it.”
“Maybe that’s what we should do. Remind me to go see Kyle and see what he thinks. At least it would give him a change of scenery.”
“And what would you do with Nikki on those days?”
“She can go with him.” Kevin finished his coffee. “Ready to go downstairs? I’m hungry.”
~ ~ ~ ~
While Kevin was working in his office after breakfast, Joan knocked on the door. “Got a minute?”
Kevin nodded, finished writing the message he was working on, and then looked up. “What’s up?”
“It’s about the slaves Gwendolyn gave Bianca,” Joan began as she sat down. “Karl wants to write Gov. Cranson and set up a transfer, but he’s not sure the governor knows anything about it. She didn’t contact us through the usual means.”
“No, she didn’t, and I’m not sure we should go through her assistant either. Myler might not have any idea what’s going on,” Kevin said. “Tell Karl one of us will find a way to speak with her today and see how she wants to handle it.”
Joan nodded and stood up to go. “You do realize this is the anniversary of your first council meeting, don’t you?”
Kevin laughed as he stood up, too. “Can you believe it’s been a whole year?” he asked as the two of them walked out of his office.
“I think the better question is can you believe it’s only been one year? An awful lot has happened in that time.”
As Kevin started to answer Joan, the door to the main office opened and Rhianna walked in. He glanced towards Rhianna and nodded. “True.”
“Well, good luck today, and don’t come back with any more challenges,” Joan said as she started to leave. “I don’t think any of us are ready for you to be involved in another duel.”
Rhianna’s eyes widened as she stared at Kevin. “What?! You killed another sorcerer? Can’t you find some other way to deal with your sorcerers?!”
Elin’s face turned red, her eyes grew stormy, and her hands fisted on her hips. “Don’t you yell at him,” she blurted out. “Don’t you dare yell at him!”
Isak’s eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped at Elin’s outburst. He stood up and looked around the room, searching for Ariel, but it was Ariel’s day off. Isak was the senior page. It was up to him to defuse the situation, but he didn’t have a clue what to do.
Elin clenched her teeth and her fists tightened as she raged, “That woman came in here and grabbed me and Chris! She was going to let Rolan hurt me to make Chris tell him where to find Landis!” Tears flowed down her cheeks. “I’m so glad she’s dead!”
Petri was working in Joan’s office when he heard Rhianna raise her voice. When he heard Elin, he ran across the hall. As soon as he cleared the doorway of the reception area, he hissed, “Elin!” When she looked at him, he frowned and shook his head.
Elin looked into Petri’s eyes and took a deep breath. She unclenched her fists, dropped her arms to her side, and said, “I’m sorry,” without taking her eyes off Petri. Then she ran past him into the hall.
Petri caught Joan’s eye and mouthed, “I’ve got it,” as he turned and followed Elin out of the room.
For a moment, no one moved. Then Isak slowly sank into his chair.
Rhianna took a long, slow breath and looked at Joan. “I didn’t know. Is that why you’ve been teaching her how to use a dagger?”
Joan nodded. “She was snatched, right here in this office, and tossed in a dungeon. It destroyed her sense of security. She’s trying to find it again by learning to defend herself.”
Rhianna nodded. “I know I’m the last person she wants to talk to right now, but when you think she’s ready, I’d like to talk to her, maybe offer to help her train when you can’t.”
“I think she’d like that, but you’re right, not right now,” Joan said with a weak smile. “I’ll go see how she’s doing.”
As Joan turned to leave, Rhianna looked at Kevin. “You should have told me.”
Kevin motioned towards his office. After he and Rhianna were both inside, he shut the door. “To be honest, I try not to think about it. But you’re right, I should have told you.”
“Well, I came by to remind you to set something up with Judith.”
“I know,” Kevin answered. “I thought I’d tell her I need to speak with her on a private matter.”
“You need to go there,” Rhianna said. “If she comes here, she’ll have time to do something to the woman before you get there.”
“I know.”
“Let me know how it goes.” Rhianna paused before opening the door. “Did Gwendolyn really come here, to your office, grab Chris and Elin, and throw them in her dungeon?”
“Not exactly. She grabbed Elin, but the reason she ended up with Chris was he was trying to break her grip on Elin when she turned the key, so he ended up going as well. But yes, she did throw them in her dungeon.”
“And she was going to give them to Rolan?”
“That’s what she told them, although there’s a bit more to the story. I’ll tell you about it sometime.”
“And you got them out of there?”
Kevin nodded.
“I’m looking forward to hearing it,” Rhianna said as she opened the door to go.
After Rhianna left, Chris came into Kevin’s office and shut the door. “Did you see what happened out there?”
Kevin just looked at him.
“I mean with Petri.”
Kevin frowned and sat down at his desk. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“I didn’t think you did. Rhianna was between you and him. I think we’ve got our next head page.”
“Petri?”
Chris nodded.
“But he’s not much older than Elin. He’s too young.”
Chris shook his head. “When he came in, he immediately sized up the situation, shut Elin down, and when she left, he told Joan he’d take care of it.”
Kevin leaned back in his chair. “Good instincts.”
“Very good instincts,” Chris agreed. “Meanwhile, Isak stood there with his mouth hanging open. Joan’ll hate us for it, but we need to start grooming Petri to take over in here. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to hang onto Ariel.”
“Do you know something I don’t?”
Chris shook his head. “Just a feeling.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Kevin and Chris were the first to arrive for the council meeting. A little while later, Bianca arrived, so Kevin asked if he could speak with her for a moment. She told Myler to go on inside and turned her att
ention to Kevin.
“I’d like to bring the women from Camden home before long,” Kevin began. “Have you given any thought as to how you want to handle this?”
“I guess I could bring them to you,” Bianca said hesitantly.
“You could, or we could let our governors handle it as a regular trade,” Kevin suggested. “But that means Gov. Cranson would have to know what’s going on.”
“He does,” Bianca said, relieved. “Should I have him contact your governor?”
“That would be fine, and we’ll let them work out all the details.”
“What’s your governor’s name?”
“Karl.”
“He’ll hear from Cranson next week.” Bianca glanced around as more sorcerers arrived. “Guess I’ll head inside.”
As Bianca turned to go, Kevin spotted Judith near the edge of the clearing, talking to Chris. After a few minutes, Judith nodded and the two of them headed towards the door.
After Judith went inside, Kevin turned to Chris and raised his eyebrows.
“Later.” Chris tilted his head towards the clearing behind Kevin.
Kevin stepped to the side so he could look back without being too obvious. Rolan and Malcolm were standing nearby, not moving, not talking, just standing there.
“Let’s go in,” Kevin said as he walked through the door.
After they sat down, Kevin leaned back in the hard seat and waited for the rest of the sorcerers to get settled. He wasn’t surprised to see Rolan and Malcolm flanking Alastar as the newest seated sorcerer made his way to his seat, but he wasn’t pleased either.
When Kevin asked if there was any old business, no one had any, but when he asked for new business, several sorcerers raised a finger.
Kevin nodded towards Regan, who grinned. “I’d like to announce the birth of a son, Ryder. He’s only three weeks old, so I don’t know if he’s my heir yet, but I’d like his name recorded in the official register.”
Chris nodded and made a note while the other sorcerers offered their congratulations.
After things settled back down, Kevin nodded to one of the others sorcerers who had raised a finger, and the trading session began. An hour later, after several deals had been struck, Kevin asked if there was any more new business. When no one had anything else to say, he adjourned the meeting.
While the sorcerers were getting ready to leave, Kevin watched Alastar and Franco. He couldn’t be sure, but the newcomers seemed to be trying to get out of there before anyone joined them. They didn’t make it. Malcolm was at Alastar’s elbow before he could stand up, and Rolan latched on to his other side. Once again, Alastar went through the door sandwiched between the two sorcerers. Franco followed with a frown on his face.
“Wonder what’s up,” Kevin said under his breath.
“Who knows?” Chris stood up and put his paper and pen in his pocket. “Hate to see him align himself with those two, but I guess it’s to be expected. After all, his mother was the glue in that group.”
“I was hoping he might be different,” Kevin said as he stood up.
“Time will tell.” Chris put his hand on Kevin’s arm. “Let’s go home. I’m hungry.”
Chapter 24
April 5
When Cpt. Yardner got to his office Saturday morning, there were several messages on his desk, including one from the assassins in Milhaven. As he’d expected, they had nothing to report, and Rolan was not going to be happy about it. With a shrug, he walked down the hall to the sorcerer’s office and asked the pages to let him know when Rolan returned from the council meeting.
An hour later one of the pages knocked on the captain’s open door. “Sir,” the page whispered. “He’s back.”
Before Cpt. Yardner could thank him, the page ran back to his post.
Cpt. Yardner waited a few minutes, then stood up and straightened his uniform. “Might as well get this over with,” he mumbled to himself as he headed out of his office.
When he knocked on Rolan’s door, the sorcerer bellowed, “Can’t I have a moment’s peace?”
Cpt. Yardner opened the door. “I can come back later if you’d prefer.”
Rolan was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. He shook his head but didn’t bother to look up. “You’re already here. What do you want?”
“We received a letter from your men in Milhaven.”
Rolan sat up and leaned back in his chair. “Do I want to know what they said?”
Cpt. Yardner hesitated. “Probably not. They didn’t have any news.”
“Why not? They’re right there in Milhaven. How could they not have any news? Doesn’t anyone in that town talk to anyone else? Don’t they ask questions about the sorcerer’s apprentice? Wonder where she is? Tell each other what they’ve heard? My staff gossips all the time. I know they do, I hear them. Doesn’t his staff gossip with the townspeople?”
“I really don’t know. I imagine they do, but maybe your sister isn’t the main topic of conversation.”
“She is not my sister! We have the same father. That’s all. Her mother was nothing but a slave. Don’t ever call her my sister again!”
“No, sir.”
“So where do we go from here?” Rolan asked. “Have you heard from the men in North Amden?”
“We’ve heard from a few of them. Since they’re traveling as they search for Landis, some of them may not have gotten my letter yet. We did get an interesting response from Gildan.”
“Gildan? Gildan? Why does that name sound familiar?”
“He used to guard your room. When you were looking for men to go to North Amden, he volunteered.”
“Does he know where she is?”
Cpt. Yardner shook his head. “No, but he did talk to Weldon, the chairman of the Council of Elders. When the council met recently, Weldon asked the members if they knew anything about her. None of them did.”
“Or none of them would tell him.”
“With the explanation Gildan gave for why he was looking for her, I think they would have said something if they’d known anything.”
“Why? What did he say?”
“He told Weldon the last time Landis was seen, she was in the company of a warrior elf, and that her family was afraid she’d been abducted. Gildan said all her family wanted was to know where she was and if she was safe.”
“Sounds good. I like that one. Tell the others to use it,” Rolan said. “Where’s Gildan now?”
“I’m not sure. He was staying in South Port while he waited for the council to meet, but after the meeting there wasn’t much reason to hang around any longer.”
“Any news from any of the others?”
“They listed where they’d been and what they’d been doing, but none of them have found a trace of her. They’re still searching though.”
“Tell them to keep at it. She has to be somewhere and someone’s bound to know where she is.”
After Cpt. Yardner left, Rolan started pacing. He was tired of hearing no one knew anything. He had three spies in Myron’s castle. Surely they’d heard something. Why hadn’t they reported what they’d heard to the assassins?
As Rolan paced, he decided the problem might not be the lack of information. It might be a case of not asking the right questions.
Rolan sat back down and thought about each of his spies. Which one would be most likely to have the information he needed? He decided to talk to Darius first, so he picked up a pen and wrote a quick letter to his contact person in that area to set up a meeting and get back to him with a date and time. Then he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a special seal, one that was not associated with the House of Gergin, one that he used on letters he wrote himself, on letters he never signed.
Chapter 25
Meanwhile at Doreen's
Blair had spent Friday evening at the chapel preparing enough food to last the sisters and aides until Sunday morning. When she got up at first light Saturday morning, she put on a fresh pot of coffee, pa
cked her few belongings, and went to Doreen’s.
Nan had moved in Friday evening after she closed up the store. She’d arranged to work the early shift on Saturday so she could help with party preparations after lunch. She was leaving for the store when Blair got there.
Blair only had time to put her few possessions away before the food Cryslyn had ordered arrived. Rhianna had offered to help so she spent the morning peeling, dicing, and chopping whatever Blair put in front of her. A couple of hours later the oven and stove top were full.
By mid-afternoon the bulk of the preparations were done. The kitchen table was full of platters of meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables. A few pots of stew simmered on the stove while cakes, pies, and cookies were cooling in the dining room. The only thing left to cook was the bread.
Doreen had spent the morning outside building tables and bench seats out of leftover lumber. Shortly after lunch, Rigel and Brandon helped her set them around the backyard. After they had everything set up, they left to pick up the scog from Fenway’s. From the moment the first guests arrived, the party took on a momentum of its own and all Doreen could do was hang on for the ride.
While the preparations were underway at Doreen’s house, preparations of a different kind were in progress at Joan’s. All morning long the sole topic of conversation around the castle was Doreen’s party, and during lunch, Joan overheard someone say it was a shame there weren’t any minstrels in town, that a show would top things off nicely.
After she got back to her office, Joan sent Petri out to round up all the Tellurians and tell them to meet at her house with their instruments. The only one he had trouble finding was Theresa. She was out on rounds, but after trailing behind her for half an hour, he finally caught up with her. She said she’d be there as soon as she could, but for Joan to count her in.
After a few false starts during rehearsal, things started to click, and by the time they went to the party, it was like they’d never stopped performing. After everyone finished eating, Karl and Darrell cleared a small section of the backyard so the Tellurians could get set up. When they were ready, Steve made the introductions, and the performance began.
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