The Inner Seas Kingdoms: 03 - Road of Shadows

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “This can’t be good,” Lucretia said softly as the room emptied out.

  “I’m going to head on to Graylee,” Kestrel began.

  “And you want me to go with you?” Lucretia finished the question for him.

  “No,” Kestrel managed to deflate her. “I want you to go back to Center Trunk, and carry a message for me. I’m going to recommend that you be appointed as the King’s ambassador to Hydrotaz.”

  “Kestrel! You can’t be serious,” Lucretia practically screeched. “You think I want to live here in this human city among them?”

  “I don’t think that you want to, but I think it would be best for the elves and the humans to have you here. You speak the language, and you’ve been here and fought for them, so they’ll trust you. And you’ve fought for the elves, plus I’ll vouch for you, so I think Silvan and Miskel and the king will accept the notion too,” he explained.

  “You could bring some other elves with you, since you’d have to have an embassy staff,” Kestrel added.

  “I’d be honored to serve as your security chief,” Giardell spoke up.

  Both the others looked at him in surprise. “I’d consider that,” Lucretia said after a moment’s pause. “That would work; Kestrel, if Giardell can come back here with me, I’ll do it.”

  “I’ll write the note,” Kestrel said, relieved to have gained Lucretia’s agreement, and doubly-pleased to know that Giardell would also have a future assignment. He hadn’t known what to plan for Giardell’s future; he’d been pleased to bring his friend along and give him a useful role on the expedition to Hydrotaz, but he hadn’t seen a next step he could offer for Giardell’s rehabilitation.

  Chapter 23 – Departures

  By the next day, Kestrel was the only elf in Hydrotaz once again. He had accepted Yulia’s invitation to move into the palace, and he resided there as he thought about what he would do in Graylee. He knew that despite his brave talk about wearing his elven ears and not hiding his identity, he would be at a disadvantage as he traveled the countryside. He could choose to travel along the alternative route, via the assistance of the imps, and he knew after only brief consideration that he would do so.

  He would take advantage of the imps who were assigned to him, and had faithfully remained alongside him; they had joined him to be able to help him in just such a manner. He would need to contact Dewberry, so that the sprite would relay to his imp companions the locations in Graylee that he wished to visit. Kestrel didn’t understand how the imps and sprites knew how or where to travel, but he knew they could direct one another, provided one of them had personal experience of traveling to a location. It was only late spring, and the imps would be able to help him for several months, until the winter solstice curtailed their travels; by then, Kestrel thought, perhaps he wouldn’t need any further assistance from the imps to travel.

  Perhaps by the start of winter, this long war, that had in many ways become his personal war, would be over. He wouldn’t need imps to help him travel from battlefield to battlefield; he wouldn’t have to try to arrange peace among neighboring nations; he wouldn’t have to worry any longer about Viathins and souls under evil control. By the start of this coming winter, Kestrel might be able to focus on himself – finding out who he might be able to court as his mate – whether it was Margo or the mysterious Moorin, who seemed to be a shadow looming over his life, but one that was growing closer and closer to him, he sensed, if he survived the next stage of the war.

  Coming in “A Foreign Heart”, Book Four of the Inner Seas Kingdoms series, Kestrel’s adventures continue …

  “I’m here to see Cosima, and you, and Arlen,” he answered. “My friends the imps are learning all the places I may need to come to in the next phase of the war, and this is some place I wanted to come back to anyway.

  “How is Ranor?” he asked about her husband.

  “He is splendid, absolutely splendid,” Belinda said gently, as she placed her hand on Kestrel’s arm. “He’s on his way to Estone right now, resuming his trading practices. He promised me he’ll never go to Green Water again, so I don’t worry about him suffering from an attack there again. It’s been so wonderful having him back Kestrel; we owe you so much.”

  They chatted comfortably for several minutes, as Kestrel talked about his visit with the gnomes and Belinda talked about her husband’s return to a healthy life.

  “I better go find the commander. I assume he’s at the armory?” Kestrel finally asked.

  “He should be,” Belinda agreed. “He’s working with a couple of students who he thinks have great promise. Not up to your untouchable standards of course; he holds you up as an idol to them.”

  “Is one of them a girl named Wren?” Kestrel asked on a hunch.

  “Ah, yes. Have you met her already?” Belinda asked.

  “Just for a few moments,” Kestrel answered.

  “She’s a fighter. Casimo likes that about her. But she’s always angry; I don’t know why, but she doesn’t seem to me to have the personality to just fit in and avoid notice, the way a spy should,” Belinda observed.

  “Will you be staying here with us for long?” she asked as he stood.

  “Probably not, maybe just a couple of hours this time,” he answered.

  “Oh no! You have to come back soon; we shouldn’t have to wait so long to see our greatest hero come visit, or his platoon of friends,” she motioned to the quiet blue crowd that circled near the ceiling.

  “Come along, platoon of friends,” Kestrel said drily, then kissed Belinda on the cheek before leaving her office. He said farewell to Gion as he strode down the hall and back outdoors.

  “I’m not sure there was lust in their hearts,” Odare said to Dewberry as they floated above Kestrel’s head.

  “They may not have shown it that time, but this Kestrel-dog, he has a woman in every city,” Dewberry replied. “Remember how he has us translocate him here directly into a girl’s room.”

  “I thought it was his sister,” Canyon spoke up.

  “She did look like him,” Dewberry agreed. “That must be why he didn’t pounce on her.”

  “Stop it!” Kestrel spoke as they reached the entry to the armory, scandalized. “She may have been part-elf, part-human, but that doesn’t mean she looked like me. You all just don’t know how to tell us apart.”

  Inside the building the clatter of practice weapons instantly ceased at the sight of Kestrel and the imps. “Falling trees, would you look at that!” one of the dozen or so students exclaimed.

  “Kestrel!” the familiar voice of Arlen spoke out, and Kestrel located his former trainer, working with Wren, of all people, Kestrel noticed, on the sword-practice mat across the room. The two men met one another in the middle of the room and thumped each other on the back as part of a hearty embrace, while Casimo, strode over to see Kestrel, wearing a broad smile.

  “We’ve heard some stories, but none of them mentioned gnomes,” Arlen said as he looked at Kestrel.

  “He does have the purple, doesn’t he? And he has something even more unusual; look at the great beauty and grace he has brought to visit us,” Casimo said, looking up at the imps.

  “Someone here has proper manners at least, I notice,” Dewberry said to Odare, the only female among Kestrel’s assigned guards.

  “Everyone! Gather around! This is the great Kestrel, the elf who’s lived among the humans in many countries, and lived among the gnomes too, apparently! Welcome back Kestrel,” Casimo spoke loudly.

  “You’re going to make his head swell,” Wren spoke up defiantly. “He still pulls his pants on one leg at a time doesn’t he, or does he make his imp slaves do that for him too? I found him prowling around inside my room a little while ago; being a sneak doesn’t sound like my idea of a hero,” she said sourly.

  “Wren, you can go put your pads away. We’re done for the rest of the day,” Arlen spoke up before Kestrel or Casimo could. “Go blow off some steam and try to think about how you should be getting alo
ng with people instead of throwing insults at them,” the instructor said.

  “What brings you back to town?” Casimo asked. “Do you have time to go for a horseback ride, just the three of us?” he gestured towards Arlen.

  “Yes. Let’s do that,” Kestrel agreed, and he began to explain his mission as they rode their horses through the forest.

  “Silvan has remained upset about the affair ever since he was recalled to office, and have you considered that he can’t take it out on Alicia, so Giardell is the only one he can blame,” Casimo said at length, as Kestrel spoke about the frustration of his visit to Center Trunk. “I don’t know the entire story as well as you do, but that’s my impression from this distance.”

  “So how can we help you right now?” Arlen asked as they neared the stables on their return to the base.

  “I don’t have any immediate need,” Kestrel replied. “But I will soon. Depending on how Graylee is reacting to the defeat of the Prince’s invasion of Hydrotaz, it may be possible to contribute to the creation of a new order there. I’ll need to spend a lot of time just administering this,” he patted the skin of water he had carried with him, the soul-curing water given to him by Decimindion, the god of the land of the far-distant Parstoles.

  “Well if we can’t do anything for you, would you do something for us?” Arlen asked. “As a favor?”

  “What favor can I possibly do for the two of you?” Kestrel asked curiously.

  “Take Wren with you,” Arlen answered.

  Kestrel looked from one to the other.

  “She would be a disaster. She dislikes me, and she’s full of anger. This is going to be a journey that will require stealth and tact from time to time,” Kestrel answered.

  “She speaks the human language perfectly; she was raised as a human, you know. And when she covers her ears with her hair, she hardly looks elven at all. She’ll be a perfect spy in that respect,” Casimo assured him.

  “She’s good with the human weapons, and she has a good heart. She’s on some personal mission; I don’t know what it is, but I know she could be a good helper for you,” Arlen pressed.

  “She’s too much for you to deal with, is that it?” Kestrel asked shrewdly.

  “There’s not much we can do with her,” Casimo admitted. “She should be the second best student we’ve had – after you – but until she learns to control her temper, she’s going to be untrustworthy in the field.”

  “And that’s why you want me to take her into a dangerous, unpredictable situation, because she’s untrustworthy?” Kestrel let a note of sarcasm enter his voice as they started to remove the saddles from their horses.

  “I think she’ll listen to you,” Arlen said. “I think that when it’s the real world, she’ll want to earn your respect.

  “You’ll be doing her a great favor, and us a favor. Otherwise we’re just about ready to dismiss her from the service,” Casimo said earnestly.

  Make her your companion, Kestrel heard Kere’s voice speak softly in the recess of his mind.

  Truly, my goddess? Is that wise? he asked silently, looking upward.

  Take her, Kestrel, the voice repeated, and then he knew that the goddess’s presence was gone.

  “Alright,” Kestrel said aloud regretfully.

  “Really? You’ll really take her?” Arlen spoke in a shocked tone.

  “If we do this right away, and if she even agrees,” Kestrel answered, hopeful that somehow the intransigence of the girl might manage to circumvent the will of a goddess. He didn’t think it was likely, but he held onto a faint thread of hope. He had no faith that a strange girl who seemed to have an instant antipathy towards him would be a useful addition to his actions in the delicate efforts that were looming on the horizon.

  “Let’s go round her up,” Arlen said, “before you change your mind.”

  “Observe how our Kestrel-friend has managed to make it look like he’s doing others a favor by bringing one of his new paramours along with him,” Dewberry spoke to the other imps.

  “But he tried to argue against the girl joining us,” Stillwater argued.

  “There you go, you men trying to stick with one another,” Dewberry rebutted. “He arranged this somehow, be sure.”

  Kestrel shook his head as they walked back to the armory, and then the three of them, accompanied by the imps, walked together to the student housing, where they all trooped up the stairs to Wren’s room.

  “What disturbing delegation is this?” she asked as she opened the door upon their approach. “I heard the sound of heavy steps climbing up here.”

  “You’ve been assigned for your first sortie,” Casimo said.

  “Really?” her eyes opened wide and she looked at the three men with interest.

  “You’re going to go with Kestrel to,” Casimo paused, “where are you going?” he turned to Kestrel.

  “We’re going to go to Graylee City,” Kestrel replied.

  “You? I’m supposed to go on a mission with you? Is this some kind of a sad joke?” Wren shouted so loudly the imps grew agitated, and started circling the confrontation at an increasing speed.

  “It’s not my idea,” Kestrel said hotly. “I’m trying to do Arlen a favor so that you don’t flunk out of the program.”

  “That’s not true!” Wren shouted so loudly that the imps and Dewberry disappeared.

  “Great! Look what you’ve done,” Kestrel said.

  “It’s not true!” Wren repeated. “Tell him Arlen! I’m perfect at human language and weapons and culture.”

  “Tell him,” she repeated after an awkward silence. “This isn’t fair. This isn’t right!” she said.

  “Wren,” Arlen said a moment later, and in his tone Kestrel heard a fatherly concern and advice, “you refuse to listen to us talk about the soft side of spying, of working with people in ways that build long-term value. We hope that going with Kestrel, and listening to his instructions,” Arlen emphasized the words, “will allow you to break through and begin to soften your approach to be useful.”

  “You really mean to do this. You really want to send me with him,” she moaned.

  “I’ll go out and listen and learn, but I’d rather go with someone else,” she spoke up assertively, desperate to try to regain some control over her destiny.

  “He’s the one,” Arlen said. “You’ll learn from him if you’re going to learn from anyone. Now pack up what you want to take with you, and pile the rest in a corner. Belinda will have someone put it in storage for you.”

  “What if I don’t?” Wren almost cried.

  “Then you’re out of the service,” Casimo said with quiet authority.

  She stood there, wanting to defy them, but unwilling to give up her participation in the training to become a spy for the elves. “Alright,” she finally said.

  “We’ll be in Casimo’s office,” Arlen said, then signaled to the others and led them rapidly downstairs.

  “We need to let her have some time alone to digest this,” the instructor said as they walked back to the office to wait for the girl. They stopped once on the way, so that Kestrel could raid the canteen for a supply of food, enough to last Wren and him for two or three days if needed.

  “What do you hear from Castona?” Kestrel asked as they sat and waited.

  “We hear that the people of Estone think you play fast and loose with human women,” Casimo made Kestrel wince.

  “Do either of you know much about the northern elves?” he quickly switched topics.

  “Not much – not as much as we should,” Casimo answered. “Why do you ask?”

  “I thought I met a northern elf once, but it turned out to be an imposter,” Kestrel answered cautiously. “And she said they had good relations with their human neighbors, rode horses, and didn’t eat crickets.”

  “I believe they do get along with humans, better even than we get along with Estone,” Casimo answered. “I don’t know about the rest of the story.”

  Just then the door opene
d, and a forlorn Wren entered the room. “I’m not going to sleep with him,” she declared resolutely with the first words out of her mouth.

  “No, I’m sure you’re not,” Kestrel said drily.

  “Do you want to know why?” she asked him, ignoring the presence of the other two in the room.

  “Because I’m not going to sleep with you,” Kestrel answered flippantly. He had no desire to listen to the girl recite a list of his shortcomings.

  “I didn’t want to spend my life as a farm girl doing chores and having babies. I want something more adventuresome than that, and I’m good enough with weapons to earn that kind of life. But none of the boys back home would think for a moment about taking up with a girl with spirit,” Wren protested. “So now I’m here, and I’m looking for something better. And it shouldn’t involve just tagging along as your shadow.”

  Although his visit to Firheng had gone better than the visits to Center Trunk or Estone, the twist that had come at the end of the visit; being burdened with an uncooperative partner, had taken the luster off the success. “Now, let’s get ready to go.

  “Dewberry, Stillwater, we’d like to depart,” Kestrel called out.

  “In the future, when we need to depart or arrive, I’ll plan to use this room,” Kestrel advised, as the imps reappeared with Dewberry.

  “We are going to add a new member to out traveling party,” Kestrel told the group. “We’re going to take Wren with us, and before you say anything,” he looked at Dewberry, “let’s just go to the healing spring without comment, and we can talk there.”

  There was a tittering among the imps, eager to visit the water of the magical spring, where they could soak in the waters and enjoy the unusual properties the spring offered to the members of their race.

  “Since there are five of us here, if the two of you would stand together, we should be able to carry you in a single journey,” Stillwater proposed.

  Wren rolled her eyes, then came over and stood next to Kestrel. “What exactly are we going to do here?” she asked suspiciously.