by Pam Uphoff
"Then we can leave them to deal with all the people they've harmed. With no magic." Trill scowled. "I've managed to listen in when our moms talk about what it was like in the Temple. Nine months of fear, waiting to give birth to a monster, knowing they'll just be thrown out the door if they don't . . . and worse if they do. They keep the mothers of the little gods there to raise them."
Cactus shivered. "I remember what they had planned for me. Warric? The God of Jokes was . . . nothing that ought to be running around loose. We'll have to do something to restrain them, keep order inside the Temple."
"Order. Control." Warric's eyebrows pinched together, or would have if he'd had any. He picked up one of the potions they'd been analyzing. "We could use the control spell in this one to control guards, get them following our orders. But later, what would we do?"
Trill was curled up against his side, obviously enjoying not having to keep a safe distance. "Release them. They have served the Priests, just stood and watched while they did horrible things. So this Control is their punishment, and once we've stopped the priests they've paid the debt and can go."
Cactus snickered. "You should have been in some of the Ethics classes I had to take. They were always arguing about the existence of moral obligations and debts. The lawyers refused to admit to such a thing."
***
A package of illusions. Overall glow, sunspots, arches and flares, a wreath of horns. A spell for heat in case someone disbelieved the illusion and grabbed him.
A . . . barn, as most of the room was taken up by stalls. Formed from the sand of the beach, hidden in "a bubble." Calling it a transdimensional phenomenon didn't really explain anything. Nor any babble about adjusting the time dilation. Warric stared hard and saw nothing but a pair of wooden poles.
Marius and Trace were staring at that nothing in astonishment.
Kevi grinned. "You see? In the middle of a pursuit, if you can get out of sight for a minute, you hop inside and slam the sticks together from the inside."
He demonstrated. Laid the sticks on the ground and raised one of them. Teetered on his toes, arms raised. Speed stepped under the raised stick and over the lower one. Kevi followed. Ducked inside of the sandstone barn as he lowered the stick and . . . then there were two sticks lying on the ground.
Trill frowned. "How do we get him out of there? Just . . . raise one stick? What if they're upside down?"
Cactus snorted. "I move we leave him there. He's irritating."
Then one stick rose off the ground, and there he was. Speed was turning around, and followed the grinning Kevi back out.
"And, of course, we can sleep in there if it rains." A smug glance toward Cactus. "Speed and I don't generally bother. And I don't carry one with me, since I can make one anytime I need one."
Very irritating. And obviously attracted to Cactus . . . so . . . can we safely use him? Arbol knows we need all the help we can get!
Disguises. Both physical morphs and simple illusions. Even illusions for horses, so they could change their mount's appearances. Cactus and Trill got illusions to make them look like men. Trill's were weak and tentative. Lady Rustle brought her hair dye. Trill with black hair in an elegant hairstyle looked amazingly different.
I must keep her . . . as safe as she will allow. My scrappy little tomboy tagalong won't sit home and wait.
Warric looked over at Lady Rustle. "Now, about a gate . . . "
Chapter Twenty-four
A Summons to Paree
Lord Drew Menchuro read the exceedingly brief missive. Tried to look impressed, and not terrified by the signature.
The Exalted.
Oh dear Arbol! Let the children be all right! I've resigned myself to losing Warric, but not the others, please, please.
I should have said something, stopped them from getting anywhere near Warric.
It was an effort to ignore Juabe and Tras hovering in the shadows of the hallway behind the three-man delegation.
Dark red robes, three Seniors, I'm honored.
"I'll leave immediately. Shall I have my carriage . . . "
"No. You will come with us. We require a change of horses."
"Certainly." A respectful nod. Drew turned to the wide-eyed footman nearly plastered to the wall. "Tell Hurald to bring my blacks around."
The boy bolted in terror. Hopefully completing his task before someone grabbed him and demanded to know what was going on.
"May I offer you a quick repast while the horses are being hitched?" Drew bowed them in the direction of the most ornate dining room.
Please. I don't care if you kill me. Let the children be all right!
Chapter Twenty-five
Horse Thief
Kevi blew out an irritated breath. He wasn’t about to steal more horses from the God of War. Nor Nil. His mind skittered away in panic at the very thought. The Smuggler Sisters, on the other hand . . . Speed turned up School Lane. Everything was quiet, school was in, no kids in sight. Past the school, on the other side, a fenced paddock. The sisters' horses were, quite sensibly, rather unremarkable animals, at first glance. All geldings. Duns, chestnuts and bays, no markings.
Only on second glance did one start noticing the long, strong legs, the muscular hindquarters, the intelligent gleam in their alert eyes.
Walnut walked out the door and frowned at him. “Do I know you?”
“Kevi Freeson, Rip Crossing. I’m horse shopping, and noticed yours.”
“Not for sale. We buy them in Bleaker’s Knob, there’s some good stud farms there.”
“Huh. They look like God Horses.”
Walnut shrugged. “Nil’s been breeding horses forever, and there are plenty of horses, practically wild, roaming the hills around the Crossroads.”
“Crossroads. I hadn’t thought about the Tavern. Good idea.” Speed turned and they trotted away from the witch’s suspicious glance.
“I don’t think I want to try stealing from her. Nor Harry, with half of Magic Central dropping in for lunch. Let’s check out this Bleaker’s Knob.”
Speed nodded agreement, and they trotted through the corridor to Karista. Cut over to Commerce Street, and as he’d thought, there was a corridor labeled “Bleakers Knob.”
They trotted through and found themselves in a medium-sized town. Lots of new houses, what with people being able to corridor to a job in Karista. The corridor opened to a large paved area, and the most obvious road to the town proper led him past the livestock auction yard. Currently full of mooing unhappy cattle.
Speed gathered a lot of attention, first for her big black bulk, then for her lack of bridle, and a third when the pretty head and ideal legs registered. Kevi slid down and sauntered over to take a look at the nearest cows.
“Nice looking mare.” One of the men leaning on the fence commented. “Horse sales are Fridays, if you’re going to sell her.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Might look the stock over and buy, though.”
The old hands consulted with glances. “Those Haulers going to sell more this year?” One man asked.
“They’ve got a bunch of colts, two and three year olds. Benni said they were going to cut them, as soon as a cold front killed the flies. Probably sell them in a month or so.”
“Or you could ride out and take a look at them now.” The third man pointed with his chin. “’bout six miles that way.”
“Thanks. I’ll take a look.”
Six miles down the road he found a rambunctious collection of horses inside a high stout fence. A kaleidoscope of pintos and roans and every color horses came in.
:: Woohoo! ::
:: Hey! Big mare! Lookin' good! ::
:: Ooo Wee! I feel some fence jumping coming on! ::
Speed cocked an ear at them. :: Little boys don't interest me. ::
Kevi cleared his throat. "But if any of you want to have an adventure . . . hmm, are you guys actually broke to ride?"
A big dun pinto with half his face white snorted. :: I'm three years old. I carry
riders and I can pull a wagon. ::
The others crowded around asserting their extreme training and incredible abilities.
:: They know they're going to get gelded and sold. :: Speed eyed the suddenly silent herd.
:: Geldings are useful. :: The dun sounded a bit dubious. :: Everyone says so. ::
:: We'll get to go places and see all sorts of things. :: The black and white horse perked his ears.
:: You're just two. What do you know? :: The blue roan with the white splashes under his belly crowded up to the fence. Raised his head and rested his chin on the top rail.
"Ah. I think I see the problem."
The dun nodded. :: Even I can't jump it. ::
"Do they lock you up at night?"
:: Not tonight. The weather's nice. ::
"Right. Midnight. North corner. However many of you want an adventure."
Speed turned and trotted away.
Chapter Twenty-six
Amateurs at War
Warric led the way through the gate Lady Rustle had opened for them. They were well southeast of Paree, and off in inhospitable rocky mountainous terrain. The chances of a Priest accidentally stumbling across it seemed low. Kevi claimed to have stolen their horses, but as they were all smart horses, Warric had a suspicion that the God of Thieves had 'stolen' them by walking out into their pasture and asking if they wanted to come on an adventure.
Six people seemed both too many and too few to overthrow a corrupt regime. Too many because he'd rather have Trill and Cactus somewhere safe, and Kevi was such an unknown to have at his back. A Comet Fall God? Who knew what he was capable of? He'd left his two young horses at home, but brought his hounds. Large mottled things that looked a bit like Jabberwocky, now that he thought about it.
The stallion tossed his head. ::I do not look like a dog!::
"No, but the color is a bit close. Well, no red. You have more brains than all four of them put together, of course." Warric sighed as he realized he'd started holding conversations that other people couldn't hear half of.
Jabberwocky scrambled up and over boulders like a goat and leaped down a ten foot bank to a dirt road. The big animal was a dark dun with a pinto spots splashed around and a badly off center blaze covering one eye and side of his face.
The other four stallions were also splashed with white, over blue roan, black, chestnut, and bay background colors. Given Kevi’s solid black mare, they hadn’t been at all what he’d expected. He had illusions for them, so they’d be less noticeable once they approached the city.
We will sneak invisibly into the Temple and poison every bit of food and water we can get near. Then we sneak back out and go away.
It'll probably be a year before we know how many priests and gods we have neutralized. Warric hunched his shoulders a bit. Maybe we can restore some of the other gods, if we can figure out if they are sane.
I doubt they're all like me. I'd trained myself quite well, before I slipped up. I . . . had a hiding place, deep in my mind.
But most of them would have been discovered in their teens. Unprepared, unknowing. Thank Arbol they are chained. No more dangerous than any other men driven mad by torture and abuse.
***
Paree was just as he remembered.
The Imperial Palace was on the highest hill. Which wasn't actually very high; the land along the river was more rolling than truly hilly.
The Temple grounds sprawled over a broad high area, a bit further back from the river. Several square miles behind a wall that could—and in the distant past had—repelled armies. Including the Imperial Army. On paper, the King had won with a negotiated surrender. In fact, the Priests had appointed a figurehead to run the daily business of the kingdom for over three hundred years.
That is going to end. It must end.
Everyone feared the priests. From highest to lowest.
They'd camped in sight of the city, the last day.
"So we're fresh when we arrive, early in the morning." Warric had said. Then retreated into the brush for a vomiting, bowel voiding, terrified half hour.
All of his friends and family had pretended to have not noticed, just talked quietly about this and that, and Trill had leaned on him all evening.
And now they were winding through side streets, the horses looking like ordinary bays and chestnuts, ridden by six men of unnotable appearance.
They cut over to the main road a block from the broad plaza outside the Temple gates. Warric sat and studied the walls, the open gateway, the guards on duty.
Marius rode up beside him and peered. "No one's alarmed. There's traffic going both in and out. Shall we try that invisible trick and just . . . "
Warric shook his head. A group of priests had walked out and were frowning around the plaza. Then a tall man . . . The man was huge. Muscular. Warric squinted. Pale. Three inch long blonde hair standing up on his head. Sparks jumped, massive static electricity. Miniature lightning.
The God of Storms.
The one that raped my mother.
The god swung around his attention focusing on their side of the plaza.
"He can sense us!" Marius backed his horse away.
Warric turned Jabberwocky and followed . . . Jabberwocky. Of course.
"The horses have no shields."
Kevi cursed and dived off Speed, pulling two long sticks out of nowhere. One on the ground, one held open. "In here, all horses. You too Speed, stop arguing."
Warric dived off Jabberwocky who trotted into the "barn," and the rest followed.
Kevi slammed the sticks together and they all walked away from the gawping crowd. One flash of power from Kevi, then they turned down an alley and ran.
"You threw a spell!"
"Forgetfulness. If the priests don't track us for twenty minutes or so, no one there will remember the disappearing horses." Kevi slowed, turned a corner and sauntered casually back toward the plaza.
"Shouldn't we go the other way?" Trill whispered.
Warric grinned. "Nope. If they spotted us specifically, they'll be looking for men on horses trying to get away from the Temple."
Marius nodded. "We ought to split up a little, too. Do something . . . " He frowned across the street. "Those wagons with vegetables? Where are they going? Why is that whole caravan turning off the main street?"
"Low commerce doesn't cross the plaza, it goes around . . . " Warric frowned. Who buys veggies by the wagon load, and a dozen sheep? "Unless they're detouring around to an entrance by the kitchens. Let's just wander along that direction."
To doors well down the south side of the tall wall. That swung open as the wagons approached. Two men in the subdued grey of the Temple servants blocked the double doors open. The wagons stopped alongside it and the dozen people riding in the wagons scrambled down to start unloading.
Lax security. One bored guard swiping an apple. The King ought to have cleaned up this vipers' nest decades ago . . . except he's their puppet and never would, and if anyone else tried, the Priests would just turn out with the gods and kill the attacking troops by the dozens.
"If you get lost, follow the smell of baking bread to the outside ovens." Warric breathed, and putting a wagon between them and the guard, hustled across the road.
It was not the heroic gallop up to the front gates and challenge the Exalted to a duel he'd seen in some really pathetic plays, but grabbing baskets of potatoes and joining the line unloading the wagons was almost as traditional. Of course they wound up unloading three and a half wagon loads before they had all found opportunities to slip away.
Warric kept his eyes open. In his two years here, he'd never seen the kitchens, the slaughterhouse, the scullery . . . but he'd seen the outside of the building from a distance, and seen the big beehive ovens outside the kitchen. He followed his nose, and the light of outdoors.
Trill slipped out of a side door, and Trace was right behind her. Marius, Kevi and Cactus were hovering in the shadows, eyeing the big outdoor ovens. And the lawns beyon
d.
Warric joined them, started pointing. "The business offices are to the left. The cathedral is there in the middle."
"Obviously." Marius sounded breathless.
"Beyond that, are the courts. The big doors you see across the courtyard there are the entrance to the biggest courtroom. The rest are out of sight behind the cathedral. Then the guards' station and barracks in the middle of the north wall, the women's quarters to the rear." Warric pointed diagonally across the lawns, then looked to the right. "On this side, the big mansion is the Exalted's residence. The next biggest are the senior priests with gods, then on down the line. The wall you see, way across there? That's the area where the Little Gods are raised."
"So . . . where do you think we'll find the Exalted? These priests with gods?"
"That's the main problem. They'll be scattered . . . " Warric watched a heavy carriage draw up in front of the main court, the ornate one where they held the major trials, the religious inquisitions.
Driver and a guard up front, two behind. Four red robes getting out, and two more guards bracketing an old man . . .
Looks familiar . . .
"That looks almost like they're about to hold a Questioning. If so, most of the Priests will assemble there." Warric grinned. "We just need to stay out of the way while they get themselves seated."
"Warric . . . " Marius learned forward and squinted as the old man was escorted to the court. "Warric, I think that's Dad."
Warric stared. He's gone all grey. Stiff, limping just a bit?
"What is he doing here? In Paree at all, let alone in the Temple?" Warric swallowed. "Other than being asked about us."
"He doesn't know anything, we didn't tell him about our plans." Marius bit his lip. "Except . . . the first time I saw you, I recognized you. He will have to tell them that. "
