by Henry Vogel
“What’s Martin’s part in all of this?” I asked.
“The same as it was when the trogs took the city of Faroon,” Callan responded. “I need a fleet for the search and involving the navy would tip our hand to Windslow. Besides, I’ll need to be directly involved if this plan is going to work, and the navy would insist on keeping me out of harm’s way.”
“I want to keep you out of harm’s way, too!”
“I know, David. But I won’t have to argue with you like I would the admiralty.” She tilted her head and batted her eyelashes.
I sighed. “Which bodies do you want to leave in our room?”
Callan and I spent the next several minutes setting the scene in our room.
“My but you two have been busy!” Martin said as he and Milo slipped into the room. Martin winked. “And you’ve killed five assassins, too!”
Callan didn’t even crack a smile. “I need you to gather a fleet for me again, Martin.”
“Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t we in the palace? Don’t you have a whole navy at your command?”
“Did Milo fill you in on the situation?” Callan asked. At Martin’s nod, she continued, “What do you think will happen if I go to the Royal Navy with this?”
Martin grimaced, “Hours wasted while the naval brass debate and dither and make plans. You’d be placed under heavy guard and end up trying to command a search of the north country from the palace.”
“Right. Windslow would see the navy coming from miles away. He’d cut his losses, kill my parents, and disappear.” Callan’s voice flattened. “I won’t let either one of those things happen!”
“If you want it kept quiet, I’ll need hard currency to hire the ships. Money buys silence—credit, not so much.” Martin glanced around the room. “Have you got much money in here?”
“I don’t have any money,” Callan replied. “That’s what the exchequer is for.”
“I’ll have to remember to get an exchequer of my own when this is all over.” Martin smiled without humor. “But that’s going to make it a lot tougher to hire ships quietly.”
I shook my head. “No it won’t.”
“Care to enlighten a poor Scout Second Class, Rice?” Martin growled.
“It should be obvious to a former raider like you.” I turned to Milo. “Are you interested in robbing the Mordanian treasury, kid?”
Chapter 6
Milo’s eyes went wide, a grin split his face, and his head began nodding so fast I was afraid it might come loose!
“David, that’s brilliant!” Callan beamed at me.
“Yeah, brilliant,” Martin groused, “until Milo gets caught breaking into the treasury. He’s a talented pickpocket, David, but you’re asking him to break into one of the most secure rooms in the country!”
“He won’t need to break in, Martin.” Callan sat at her desk and began writing. “This note will get him inside.”
Martin read the note over Callan’s shoulder. “I’ve seen your tiara, Callan. It’s a lovely antique but it doesn’t have enough gems to cover the ships we’ll need.”
“The tiara is just Milo’s excuse to get into the treasury.” Callan folded the note and sealed it with her signet ring. “Once he’s inside, Milo gets to prove to us just how good a thief he is! There are plenty of jewels to choose from, Milo. We’ll have to trust your professional judgement.”
Milo took the note from Callan. “Are there cut gems in the treasury?”
Martin clapped Milo on the shoulder. “Smart thinking, lad.” Seeing our confusion, he said to Callan and me, “Jewels are distinctive, which makes them harder to sell and worth less money. Gems are easier to carry, easier to sell, easier all around.”
Callan nodded her understanding. “I always wondered why the spymaster kept all those loose gems down there. How much will we need to hire the ships?”
“Err on the side of excess, Milo,” Martin advised. “A big fistful would be perfect.”
“Speak to Nist and Tristan before you rob my treasury,” Callan said to him. “If he can, I’d like Nist to fly the Pauline to my balcony in two hours. I don’t want to risk anyone catching sight of us as we leave the palace. I want Tristan along in case my parents need medical attention after we rescue them.”
Milo nodded and slipped out the door.
Martin moved to follow him. “I’d best get started hiring ships. I’ll come back on the Pauline to pick up the gems.”
The waiting chafed on both of us. We ended up staring at a two hundred year-old framed map of Mordan hanging on the wall of our room, trying to remember where modern cities stood and guess where to concentrate the search. It was almost a relief when someone knocked on our door.
Almost.
Motioning Callan out of sight, I drew my sword and opened the door a few inches. Outside stood Captain Hunter, the man in charge of the royal guard. One of his big hands gripped Milo by the neck.
“Captain Rice,” Hunter said, “I must speak with Her Highness. I’m afraid I’ve caught a thief!”
Chapter 7
“You may leave the boy with me, Captain Hunter,” I said. “I’ll see that he’s suitably punished. What was he stealing?”
“Gemstones.” Hunter craned his neck, trying to see past me into the room. “Where is Her Highness?”
“Indisposed. We were sleeping when you knocked.”
“You sleep with lanterns lit? And where is your guard?” Suspicion clouded Hunter’s face. “I must insist upon seeing Her Highness. Now.”
“You’d best let him in, David,” Callan said, stepping next to me. “But before you enter, Captain, I must request and require that you remain quiet and do nothing until I have a chance to explain what you will see.”
Hunter’s eyes widened, but he never hesitated. “I accept and accede, Your Highness!”
I swung the door open and Captain Hunter stepped into our room. If his eyes had widened before, they fairly bulged out at the sight of the blood and the bodies.
“I must alert the guard!” Hunter exclaimed. “I must—”
“Do nothing until you hear my explanation—as you swore just seconds ago!” Callan’s voice was a whip crack.
Hunter straightened to attention, “My apologies, Your Highness! It’s just...” He waved his hand around the room.
“I understand your reaction, Captain, but I cannot allow you to follow your first impulse,” Callan said. “My parents’ lives may depend upon you doing the exact opposite.”
It took but a moment for Callan to bring the captain up to speed.
“My apologies for suspecting you, Captain Rice,” Hunter said.
“Never apologize for making Callan’s safety your priority,” I replied.
Hunter nodded once. “But I am not sure about this plan, Your Highness. It seems very risky.”
“That’s because it is very risky, Captain,” Callan said. “But I believe it’s the best chance we have to save my parents!”
“And what does your husband think of your involvement?” Hunter asked.
“My husband hopes to convince me to stay at my uncle’s fief,” Callan replied.
I hadn’t said any such thing, but Callan’s assumption was correct.
“Am I going to succeed?” I asked.
“It’s doubtful.”
“You know I’ll have to try anyway.”
“Yes, darling. I’d be hurt if you didn’t.”
“Best of luck with that, Captain Rice,” Hunter interjected. “But, Your Highness, you indicated I had a part to play in this plot of yours. What did you have in mind?”
“I’d like you to be the one to raise the alarm, Captain Hunter,” Callan replied. “Having the captain of the Royal Guard discover my supposed kidnapping will add just the right touch of veracity to our deception. Though you must wait until we’re long gone from the palace before doing so.”
“If you think that’s best, Highness, I shall do just that.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Calla
n said. “Return to your normal duties. Give us two and a half hours, then come ‘discover’ our disappearance.”
Captain Hunter saluted, started for the door, then paused. Fishing a small bag from his pocket, he handed it to Callan. “I suppose you’ll be needing these gems the lad was...I suppose stealing isn’t the right word here.”
After Hunter was gone, I looked at Milo. “What happened? How did Hunter catch you?”
“It wasn’t easy.” Milo pulled a second small bag from his pocket. “I had to be really blatant before he finally realized what I was doing!”
“Wait, you got caught on purpose?” I asked. “Why?”
“Because we needed Captain Hunter to do exactly what Callan told him to do,” Milo replied. “Like Callan said, it’ll be more believable—especially to Windslow and his goons.”
“Why didn’t you mention that earlier? I could have added it to my note,” Callan said.
“I didn’t think about it until I was in the treasury. Captain Hunter is too duty-minded to leave his post at my request—even in your name, Callan—and I couldn’t just explain the situation to Captain Hunter because he’d have raised the alarm.”
“So you gave him a reason to come up here,” Callan said. “Very clever, Milo!”
Milo was still basking in Callan’s praise when the Pauline drifted up to our balcony. Martin and I loaded three of the assassins’ bodies onto the airship—we planned to dump them overboard once we were well away from the city—and we boarded the little airship.
Callan looked at each of us. “Let’s go find my parents!”
Chapter 8
Two hours had passed since our rendezvous with Martin Bane’s mercenary fleet. Martin, Callan, and I had devised search patterns for each of the airships involved in our hunt for Callan’s parents. Each airship’s captain had been paid in advance for his assistance in the search.
“I have to wait here for one more ship,” Martin said as the airships left to begin the search. “It’ll be here soon, but there’s no reason you two should stay.”
“Good,” Callan said. “I need to warn my uncle about Windslow and send him back to the palace. After that we’ll join in the search.”
Callan’s uncle, Lord Garrett, was the kingdom’s designated regent should anything happen to Their Majesties before Callan’s twenty-first birthday. He’d been spending more and more time in his fief as Callan’s birthday drew closer. But that was before Their Majesties were taken by Windslow.
“Once Uncle Garrett is on his way to the palace to establish his regency, I’ll be able to concentrate fully on my parents,” Callan added.
“Did you check with your usual information sources before we left?” I asked Martin.
“Yes, David,” Martin said. “I’ve done this before—former raider, remember? No one had heard anything about Windslow.”
“What about news out of Tarteg?” I asked. “Is Raoul’s mother getting back into the family business, maybe?”
“No. It’s been over a month since anyone heard anything from either of them. The last news had Raoul living and traveling among the city states to the south. His mother is living quietly in a convent.”
We settled a few more details, boarded the Pauline—fast becoming known as the princess’s unofficial airship—and set course for Pingor, home to Lord Garrett. Four hours later, the dim lights of Pingor came into view. Callan answered the challenge from the airship on patrol and we were escorted directly to Garrett’s palace.
As we landed, Garrett’s wife, a pale and delicate-looking woman, hurried from the palace and wrapped Callan in a hug.
“Callie, what are you doing here?” she said.
“Aunt Michelle,” Callan said, “my parents have been kidnapped!”
Michelle grew even more pale, “Kidnapped?”
“Where is Uncle Garrett?” Callan asked. “I must speak with him immediately.”
“You can’t,” Michelle said. “Garrett is being held hostage in the mine!”
Chapter 9
Callan pulled Michelle back into a hug. “What are you doing to get Uncle Garrett back?”
“Whatever Garrett’s advisors suggest, which seems to be little more than waiting and hoping.” Michelle shook her head. “I wish Rob were here. He’d know what to do!”
Callan’s face clouded for a moment as the pain of Rob’s loss returned in full force.
“Oh, Callie, I’m so sorry! That was thoughtless of me.” She took Callan by the hand and drew her toward the palace. “Come inside and tell me what’s going on.”
Callan told the tale in a cheery sitting room. Michelle’s eyes flashed when she heard of the attempt to kidnap Callan and slay me.
“I hoped to send Garrett to Morda to establish a regency while I led the search for my parents,” Callan concluded.
“If Windslow has your parents and tried to kidnap you, he’s probably behind Garrett’s capture as well,” Michelle said.
“The timing is too convenient for it to be anything else,” Callan said.
A young girl’s voice came from behind a tapestry, “See? I told you Callie would bring David to rescue Daddy!”
“Ann, come out here this minute!” Michelle said. “Ellen and Brolan, that goes for the both of you, too!”
Three children came out. Ann, who was four, carried a teddy bear under one arm, wore a big smile and ran to Callan. Ellen, eight, looked as if she wanted to do the same thing but was trying to act grownup. Brolan, all of eleven, was somber, as if he was trying on the mantle of man of the house and found it heavier than expected.
“That’s why you’re here, right Callie?” Ann turned big eyes on me. “To rescue Daddy?”
“That wasn’t why I came,” Callan said, “but of course we’re going to help now that we’re here.”
Taking a knee beside Callan, I said, “Lady Ann, you have my oath to do all in my power to rescue your father.”
“I should be rescuing Da- Father!” Brolan’s voice broke, ruining his pronouncement.
Michelle sighed. “David, could you talk some sense into my son?”
“Brolan doesn’t suffer from a lack of sense, Lady Michelle, merely from a lack of experience.” I turned to the boy. “A wise ruler delegates important missions to the person best suited for the task.”
Brolan crossed his arms and looked me in the eye. “Then why are you and Callan trying to rescue the king and queen? Isn’t the Royal Navy better prepared for that?”
“Yes, the Royal Navy is well equipped for search and rescue operations,” Callan responded. “But there’s more to consider than airships and men.”
Brolan didn’t back down. “Like what?”
“Brolan, how dare you take that tone of voice with Callan!” Michelle scolded.
“He’s right to question me, Aunt Michelle,” Callan said. “All right, Brolan, what would the Royal Navy do if I had gone to them?”
Brolan looked thoughtful for a moment. “They’d have gathered airships and made plans for the search. They’d have sent a squadron here to check on us. And they’d have put you under heavy guard.”
“Very good,” Callan agreed. “And what would Windslow have done when he heard about that?”
Brolan’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”
The two girls looked confused but Callan and Michelle gave the boy an approving nod.
“Now that we’ve settled that,” Callan said, squeezing my hand, “promise me you’ll be careful, David!”
“Careful? Doing what?” Michelle asked.
“Careful in the mine,” I said. “Time is a luxury we don’t have right now, so I’m going down to fetch Lord Garrett!”
Chapter 10
Michelle gaped at me, “Don’t be foolish, David! There are ten men holding Garrett. Callie, talk some sense into your husband!”
“A few minutes ago, you wished Rob were here to offer advice. What would your response have been if Rob had said that?” Callan asked.
“I’d have asked what he need
ed,” Michelle sighed. She turned an inquiring gaze on me. “So, what do you need, David?”
“To start with, I’ll need maps of the mine and an explanation of how Lord Garrett was captured,” I said.
Michelle sent for maps, then gave the explanation.
“The day before yesterday, a group of former military engineers arrived in an airship and requested an audience with Garrett. They said they’d come to demonstrate a new steam drill. Callie, you know how your uncle is when he has a new mining toy to play with!”
Callan nodded and rolled her eyes.
Michelle flashed a smile which never reached her eyes. “Of course, he insisted on seeing the drill in action as soon as possible. The engineers told Garrett they were sorry, but they had to wait for their mechanic to join them because they didn’t know enough about assembling steam engines. They gave some story about the mechanic having to pick up some tools in another city, insisting the mechanic should catch up with them in three or four days.
“A new drill and a steam engine to assemble? It was like dangling raw meat before a starving dog! ‘I know all about steam engines!’ Garrett assured them. ‘I can assemble it for you.’ Whoever planned this was very clever. It took fifteen minutes before they agreed to let Garrett handle the assembly.
“Garrett worked all night putting that infernal engine together. When it was finally ready, the engineers asked everyone to leave the mine. It was all for safety, they said. They’d do a test run and then call everyone back to view the results. Garrett ordered the mine cleared but insisted on staying down there himself, just in case they had trouble with the steam engine. Once Garrett’s guards were clear, they took Garrett hostage. They claim to have an armed man with Garrett at all times. If we storm the mine or try to sneak in, they swear they’ll know and will kill Garrett.”
