I tried to make that adjustment in my head, it was hard to do because Jareth really pushed my buttons, while we walked over to a crowd of paladins and minor functionaries of the castle. Cynthia bulled her way through the thick crowd and I followed her until we stood before an older paladin. He had gray hair, but his brown eyes were sharp and he looked as tough as old leather. According to the symbol on his chest, he was a paladin of Ondarr, the god of military. He also had a small book and a writing instrument in his hands
Cynthia said loudly, “Jason, this is Katrina, a new paladin of Arella. Katrina, this is Jason. He’s mostly retired, and handles the betting, among a number of other shady things.”
Jason groused good-naturedly, “Now, don’t be giving away all my secrets.”
He looked me over, “The odds are even with those two. How much and who?”
I smiled, “A silver on Gerard.”
He raised an eyebrow, “I hold all the bets, and hand them out to the winners. Avoids misunderstandings and foolishness, like idiots betting what they don’t have on a sure thing.”
I shrugged, and flipped him the coin, which he snatched out of the air and glanced at briefly before dropping it inside a pouch. Then he wrote in the little book.
I nodded in farewell, as others were still trying to get to him, and as we walked off I asked Cynthia, “So what other things?”
Cynthia blushed, “He umm, how do I put this. Some of the unattached paladins need to release some steam on occasion, he has special deals with some of the service and gambling establishments in the city. He also has some contacts for certain items only available in other kingdoms we don’t have an official trade relationship with.”
So… black market, gambling, and whores? I tried not to judge, but I’ll admit it wasn’t easy. Maybe I was naïve, but suddenly I wasn’t all that sure about getting down in the dirt with the rest of them. Gambling on a somewhat friendly sparring match was relatively harmless, and even fun. I sighed, suddenly feeling alone and cut off.
I wondered for a moment if Gerard ever used one of those services, but on balance decided I didn’t want to know. He was mine now, and if I was sure of anything it was that Gerard would be faithful, otherwise he’d have never turned me down that first time.
“What kind of items Cyn,” I asked curiously. I wasn’t nearly as disturbed by a black market or even gambling. That would be hypocritical wouldn’t it, after I’d just placed a bet?
Cynthia replied, “Oh, dwarves make the best forged weapons, so there’s more than a few of those around here. From Jendas there are spices that don’t grow well down here in the south, plus they have a distilled alcohol that’s very popular in certain quarters. The elves have some magical plants the mages go nuts over, but nothing we would need as paladins.”
I frowned, “I thought there was no contact between the other races.”
I was naïve, I felt totally betrayed by the history books on my bookshelf.
Cynthia nodded, “No official contact, the king turns a blind eye and pretends ignorance, and I imagine their leaders do the same. But there are some elven and dwarven scouts that have a side business or two when they patrol the border, but it’s very limited and costs a lot of coin to get the stuff. I don’t know how it works, or where they meet, but if you’re curious Jason has the contacts to get it done, and takes a flat ten percent fee.”
I might have been tempted, if I’d fought like most paladins with a sword and armor. Some of the excitement came back to me from the crowd’s emotions as my illusions died, and I hoped Gerard won, and not just because I’d bet on him. I smiled as I laid my eyes on him, I might have been disillusioned about some things, but I was sure of him.
We were as close to the ring as considered safe, the crowd was in a large semi-circle about twenty feet away from it. It seemed like a lot of time had passed, but they stood there patiently while trying to psyche each other out, no doubt until all the bets were made. We didn’t have to wait much longer.
The excitement surged as one of the other paladins stepped forward and raised his hand, which quieted the voices if not the emotions of the crowd.
“You two know the rules. Fight until one is knocked out of the ring, submits, or is knocked out cold. Keep it clean. Fight,” he yelled the last word as he dropped his hand and melted back into the crowd.
Gerard and Jareth started to circle each other, both holding their swords seemingly negligently, but I knew first-hand what a false impression that was. They both stared each other down while circling, no doubt looking for a lapse of concentration in their opposite, or some other prompting. I wasn’t sure what did it, or even who attacked who first, but they both lunged forward virtually simultaneously and exchanged a fierce flurry of blows, blocks, and parries.
The rush of emotions from the crowd, and my own emotions, had my heart racing. It was a friendly, or somewhat friendly bout and test of arms, but there was some danger to it as well. Accidents happened, especially with sharp steel. They circled each other again, and then lunged back in for another furious flurry of attacks, and then Gerard kicked out and sent Jareth backwards.
Jareth recovered nicely though, immediately rolling back and up on his feet to meet Gerard’s sword before he could get a strike. Another flurry of blows, and then Jareth surged forward too close, and I cringed as his pommel nailed Gerard in the head, and sent him staggering back. Gerard recovered quickly as well though, and they started to circle again.
My eyes were glued to them both, and I couldn’t imagine anything that would make me look away, until I felt a discordant note in the emotions of the crowd. Anticipation like the rest, but with a darker connotation to it. Not the excitement of watching a match and betting on it, but the excitement of one about to commit violence. I whipped my head around, but the crowd was thick, and the people’s screams and cheers which I’d been caught up in a moment ago, suddenly seemed to be just a distraction.
I turned around again to avoid garnering attention, but instead of watching the fight I did my best to filter out those around me, and lock in on the slightly different discordant emotion that didn’t belong. It wasn’t easy, but empathy was one of the powers I’d mastered even before I arrived on this world. It was getting closer to me, but I managed to isolate it, and whipped around, my eyes locking on the man dressed as a common guard.
Just in time to see his lunge and take his dagger in my gut, instead of my kidneys which might have killed me quickly. I gasped, and my stomach felt like it was on fire as I grabbed his wrists.
He sneered, “For Jasper you bitch.”
In shock and pain or not, my mind struck out with a telekinetic punch before he could twist the blade, which deformed his chest and sent him flying backwards.
Cynthia finally noticed, and cursed loudly, before she pulled the dagger out and put her hand over the wound. There was blood all down my dress, and I felt dizzy. Damn, I was going to miss the end of the fight.
I think I might have laughed a little deliriously as my legs buckled and I fell on my ass, at least if I was going to get stabbed, in the middle of a group of paladins all with the heal spell was the right place to do it. I also got the idea that no matter how much I loved the way Gerard looked at me in them, I was going to have to stop wearing the damned dresses. If I’d been wearing the riding suit from mom, I’d have been fine.
Then I passed out.
Chapter Fifteen
I groaned as I came to, and looked up at Gerard’s worried face. I reached up and caressed his cheek, taking in enough other details to realize we were alone and in our suite. I was also naked, clean, and in bed beneath the covers.
“Did you win?”
He scowled at me, “That’s the first question you ask me?”
I nodded, “I had a silver bet on you.”
He snorted, “No, the match was cancelled. Jareth noticed the commotion, I was faced the other way, and we both ran to your side.”
I sighed, “So… is the assassin dead? I hit him p
retty hard by reflex.”
Gerard shook his head, “We healed him too, he would have died if we hadn’t, and the king’s guards are questioning him right now.”
I closed my eyes and tried to remember, “He said it was for Jasper, who the hell is Jasper?”
I hadn’t really expected an answer, it was just a confused muttering.
But Gerard replied, “The paladin who owned your sword before you. It was in the reports I’ve read on the fallout from our mission in Jendas.”
Shit, save the kingdom, get assassins sent after me. No good deed goes unpunished.
“So… they want me dead then?”
Gerard answered, “I don’t know, we’ll find out though. It may have been the king, or it could have just been one of Jasper’s buddies who decided to get revenge on his own. How do you feel?”
I felt a bit fragile, but I think that was just in my mind. Cynthia’s healing had returned me to full health, and I supposed my sleep had taken care of the rest.
I smiled, “I feel normal, mostly. Hungry. How long was I out?”
He snorted, and then kissed me tenderly, which made me sigh in his mouth and wrap my arms around him. It was giving me ideas, but my husband pulled away, and handed me a robe.
“There’s some food on the table. You were out for only a couple of hours. You’re healed, but you lost some blood, so you might feel a little weak for a day or so.”
That wasn’t true, super healing and a nice large meal, and I’d have all my blood back in an hour or two. I explained that to him, which seemed to make him relax a little bit.
I slipped into the robe as I got up, and followed him out of the bedroom to the outer room which had a small dining table. The scent of the food made my stomach gurgle, and I blushed as I sat down and started to fill my plate with meats and two ears of corn.
I said, “I’m going to have to stop wearing dresses, there is no off duty is there?”
He shook his head, “I’ve been wondering when you’d figure that out, I’d hoped it would be before you were stabbed though.”
I stuck my tongue out.
“You seemed to like them well enough.”
He nodded, and leered at me playfully, “I did. But you’d look good in a canvas sack, so I’ll get over it.”
I blushed, and he added, “Especially the riding outfit your mother made for you, it looks very good on you.”
That was true I thought, the other riding outfits weren’t cut to accentuate my body, the leather was too stiff for that. But the suit my mother gave me was another story. It wasn’t so tight it was scandalous by this world’s standards, but it was far more flattering of my figure than the others.
I asked, “You’ll tell me what they find out?”
I was worried that since I didn’t officially work for the king, I’d be cut out of the loop, again.
He nodded, “What I can anyway, at the very least you’ll know if the king put out a contract for your death or if it was just a grudge.”
I sighed, “Was keeping the sword the right thing? I mean how does that work, should I have given it back to his heir or family?”
Gerard shook his head, “That’s not how it works. He was dead, and his sword was recovered by you. It’s yours now. A person’s land and money is inherited, but his stuff which ended up in an evil castle owned by a necromancer is up for grabs by whoever takes it. No, the attack wasn’t about the sword, or not directly anyway. They believe you killed him.”
I nodded and started to eat, by my fourth helping I started to feel my strength return, but I was still shaken. The assassin had been just a normal man, no powers, no magic, just a man well trained in infiltration and assassination. Normally he wouldn’t have gotten that close before I located and prepared to deal with something like that, but the fight and crowd had been a perfect distraction. Almost perfect. I needed to be far more careful. After dinner, I took my husband back to bed, and took comfort in his arms.
It was almost pitch black, the moon was hidden behind the clouds as I waited by the side of the road just two miles south of Castlehaven in Jendas. Gerard hadn’t been happy that I’d left, with me being stabbed just a few hours earlier, but it was time to pick up the three spies I’d dropped off three days ago and get them back to Magehaven. There was no way to contact them and change the time, and it was important. Plus, it was another fifteen gold in my pocket for ten minutes of work.
Not that I needed it, or that was the only reason, but it was a reason.
They were already a half an hour late, and all I felt out there in the darkness was the primitive emotions of small animals and birds nearby, though I was scanning out as far as I could ever thirty seconds or so, with telepathy, empathy, and telekinesis just in case there was someone shielded out there. I was carefully concealed in the tree line, and wearing a darker brown cloak over my light brown leather riding outfit.
I don’t think I was being overly paranoid, if they’d been caught it was possible they’d have given up our rendezvous location. Still, timekeeping wasn’t an exact science on this world, they used the sun, and at night the positions of the stars, which was hardly pico-second accurate like the atomic clocks back on my world.
I decided to be patient at least another thirty minutes, and settled in to wait. I pulled out my phone, and sent a text to Gerard to tell him that so far it was a no-show, and not to worry. It was kind of nice actually, and silent unlike a call would have been. He replied with an okay, and I slid it back into my pocket.
Two people came into range on my latest telepathic sweep, and just to be sure of them I peeked into their public minds, and verified it was two of the three spies I’d dropped off. I wondered what happened to the third guy, but based on the anxiety and worry coming off the two men I imagined it was nothing good, or maybe it was about whatever they’d discovered. Either way, I resisted the curiosity to take more than my initial peek to verify who they were.
I stepped out from behind the tree when they were close.
“What happened to the third guy?”
One of them said in a cold voice, “Dead.”
Well, no chance of rescuing a dead person. I doubted I could summon him anyway. I hadn’t tried to summon a human yet, but my guess would be that it would fail. A human constantly has cells dying and being replaced, which means their quantum identity is constantly changing and in flux. That part of my power probably couldn’t get to know a human body like it could know a coin, or a sword, which were unchanging.
I teleported us back to Magehaven, to an alley near a rather dingy looking tavern on the wrong side of town. Then I teleported alone to the temple, since I wasn’t supposed to ask questions there was no point in talking with the men further. I wanted to get back to Gerard, but it’d been over four days since I’d seen Arella. Her awe inducing but also calming and loving presence would help me think about and process all my recent decisions and discoveries over the last few hours, on top of all the stuff that’d already happened. Plus, she might have some advice.
I opened the door and walked in, and it wasn’t until I sat down on one of the pews that I felt that dizzy feeling, followed by being in the presence of my goddess.
I couldn’t help the smile on my face and just basked in her presence. It was a temporary thing, a break from reality, much like time in bed with my husband, just in a completely different way.
She chuckled, “Good to see you too Kat.”
I sighed, “I’m not nearly that lovable you know.”
Arella shook her head, “How do you feel about Gerard, Aleisia, Ayda, Edea, and even Cynthia who you’ve only spent a little time with, or Danielle and little Rebecca for that matter.”
I at least liked, and felt connected to all of them. A few I loved.
Arella smiled, “Exactly, and you grow close to these people so fast because of your powers. You have an advantage most do not, the ability to quickly and accurately judge people. To in a way, truly get a feeling of who they are inside. Yet, your po
wer is but a small shadow as to what I feel and know about those who worship and stand for me. I knew you as a kindred spirit from the moment you were in my presence, that’s how I can love you so quickly and surely.”
Fine.
She laughed, and I joined her.
She said, “It’s good that you want to be as they say, in the dirt with everyone else, but don’t forsake your power for a good notion.”
“What do you mean?”
Arella said, “Don’t feel like you need to connect to everyone, just to those that have hearts that beat with your own. Don’t judge the others, but that doesn’t mean not to use judgement.”
Oh, that was clear.
Arella smirked and said, “I just meant, don’t overcompensate for what you see as a failure in your past attitude and actions. Just be open to new people, but if your power prompts you away from some you should heed it.”
I changed the subject.
“You don’t mind that I helped my parents.”
Arella shook her head, “No. Just don’t help evil, right now your helping your parents to control and suppress evil. Only time will tell if it will be more stable in the long term, but change is inevitable in life. At the very least, I’m enjoying the consternation of the darker gods right now.”
I snickered.
“Any requests?”
Arella replied, “Oh, if only they were all like you. Mostly people ask me for things. No, you’ll be the first to know if that changes.”
I grinned, “Can you help me understand my new mind power?”
Arella gave me a mock sad look, but I was positive she knew I was just joking.
She said, “Actually, I can point you in the right direction, knowledge is the key to more conscious control and understanding of the power.”
I raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”
She frowned, “Why are you so good at the rest of it? Let’s get specific, cryo-kinesis, why can you control that so easily?”
Goblin Queen Page 9
