by Guy Antibes
Pub left the door open and returned along the corridor to Ricky’s rooms.
“There are clothes for you, too,” Pub said as he opened a closet door. “This is the bell pull should you need anything. I will leave you. A servant will retrieve you for breakfast. The duke eats early.”
“So do I,” Ricky said. Pira occasionally did, but he left that comment unvoiced.
The servant closed the door behind him. Ricky’s guest apartment actually reminded him of the rooms that Mara and Siria had shared at the Applia Juvenile Home. That had once been a ducal castle before the great war. The palace certainly had a presence. It was probably about as old as Doubli Academy, but larger and much more elegant.
He walked to the window and looked down at the Lady’s Garden. He wondered if Pira would like to take a walk in the garden later. It was too formal for Ricky’s taste. Even though Samira’s gardens were neglected, Ricky liked the more casual design of the castle’s grounds.
The full closet had clothing arranged by size. Ricky found something not too dressy. He washed up first and entered the library. Pira hadn’t yet arrived.
The book collection astounded him. Shelves stuck out from the walls underneath an overhang that was the floor for a shelf-lined walkway that circled the level above. The two-story library seemed larger than the one at Doubli Academy. Had people written so many books, he wondered? He started at the top, taking the circular stairway to the second level.
He walked around the perimeter walkway and looked for an hour, seeking out worn covers, but didn’t find any.
“What are you doing up there?” Pira said, looking up at him.
Ricky was stunned at how Pira looked. He had never seen her with her hair up and wearing a gown. It was always a plain dress or pants. The last time he saw Pira in such an outfit in Dimani, she was a spindly fifteen-year-old.
“You look like a princess,” Ricky said.
“Pub sent two maids to help.” She twirled and giggled. “It feels good to wear proper princess clothes, again. What are you looking for?”
“Old books. I can’t see any up here.”
Pira took a book from a shelf. “Duke Noacci has an outstanding collection,” she said. “I’ll help.”
She was about to begin when two servants entered bearing the luncheon Pub had offered. They set it on one of the tables in the middle of the room.
Ricky rushed down the stairs, nearly stumbling in his haste to stop one of the servants.
“Is there another collection? Duke Noacci said he had some old books that might interest me.”
The man nodded and walked to a bookcase close to the doors. “This book, second from the end. You just tilt it like this.” He put his hand on the top of the spine and pulled. The bookshelf jerked forward. “There are other books through here.”
“Thank you,” Ricky said.
Pira shrugged her shoulders together. “Secret passages!”
“First, a little food,” Ricky said.
Despite his words, he pulled the hidden door open and looked at a single level of books with a sliver of windows at the end. Canted mirrors in the ceiling reflected light deeper to where Ricky stood. Ricky expected dust and cobwebs, but the hidden library was as spotless as the main room.
“Eat first?” Pira said, sitting down. She adjusted her dress.
Ricky observed her acting naturally like the princess that she was. He sat across from her, and they looked at the feast Pub had called luncheon.
Pira grinned. “Just like home. The servants over-deliver, so they can gorge themselves when they clear up what we haven’t eaten.”
Ricky laughed. “Do you blame them?”
Pira shook her head, smiling. “They especially deserve it if they have to wait on a noble full of himself or herself.”
“Not you?”
She shook her head again and giggled. “Not me.”
“Then enjoy your luncheon, so we don’t have to keep them waiting too long,” Ricky said.
“That is the best thing you’ve said to me…today.”
They ate in companionable silence. Pira watched Ricky eat, and it unnerved him. He was tempted to link to her to pick up her emotions but decided it wouldn’t be polite, and it might be unsettling.
“Are you done?” Ricky asked.
“With our luncheon?” she responded coyly.
“Yes,” Ricky said. She nodded. He continued, “I’ll take the trays outside the room. I’d rather not be distracted while I look at the books in the other room.”
“They aren’t a secret if a servant showed you the trick of the door.”
Ricky shrugged. “It’s more fun if I think of the room as a secret room.”
“You’re right,” Pira said. She put her plate and utensils on the tray and took hers out with Ricky scrambling to follow.
They closed the library doors and entered the annex as Ricky remembered the duke describing it. Not all the books were old.
“These are the ducal treasures,” Pira said. “My guardian, my former guardian, kept some of these same titles under lock and key.”
Ricky found two bookcases with the old books. “The Applian library wasn’t the only one to escape destruction,” he said.
“Really?”
Ricky nodded as he puzzled out the titles. “I’ve read a few of these before.” He couldn’t help but smile. They had a chance to find the counterspell to the cacophony spell. But then he thought, if such a thing existed, his parents might have known how to use it. Feeling deflated, he still looked for a likely title that might at least contain the song that would duplicate the effect that Ricky felt. He felt comfortable against any sorcerer fighting with conventional weapons. Still, he couldn’t let that thought deter him.
Ricky pulled out three volumes to start. Pira sat down with one of the titles that King Leon had secured in his own library. They read quietly in the main library. Ricky found paper, pen, and ink on the desk that stood next to the window overlooking the park and began to take notes. It took him some time to remember how he had extracted Old Parantian, but he finally got the hang of translating again.
The first book had a few interesting spells that he would check out later, but he set it aside. The light began to dim and change color. Ricky looked up and noticed that Pira’s hairdo had come a bit undone as she slumbered, head on the table. He stretched and perused the notes from the first two books. These were at least as good as the volumes he had reclaimed from the Applia Juvenile Home, and they were in much better condition.
The door opened, and Duke Noacci walked in. He sat down at Ricky’s table, looking at the still-slumbering form of Princess Pira.
“How are you holding up?” Ricky asked.
“Mirano told me to go easy, and now I find, belatedly, why he gave me such advice. I shall retire immediately after dinner. It is nearly ready. I see you went right to our collection.”
“Your collection,” Ricky said.
Noacci shrugged. “Find anything interesting? You’ve been taking notes, I see.”
“Nothing applicable to our current situation, but I’ve only looked at two books. I hope you don’t mind Pira slobbering all over your valuable books.”
Pira sat up. “I wasn’t slobbering,” she said, pouting just a little.
Ricky didn’t think she would sleep through Noacci’s entrance. “I will go to my room to freshen up a bit. Where is the dining room?”
“We will dine in a private room in my quarters across the corridor from yours. Tomorrow, I will present you at a state dinner. The distinguished guests might not be so distinguished, since the loyalists to King Leon have left Firali, heading for Sealio. I will rest for a bit and have Pub get you. He, his wife, and Captain Arriana will join us.”
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Five
~
D uke Noacci looked a little more refreshed when they ate two hours later. Pub and his wife both dressed as nobles, with the captain of the duke’s guard in his dress uniform. Pir
a wore a different gown. Ricky thought she still looked very princess-like. Ricky found his confidence wavering around the princess when she looked so pretty, but then he thought of her sleeping, head on the table, and that made him smile.
“You are smiling,” Duke Noacci said.
Ricky blinked. “I was thinking about the library. It is so impressive.”
“I’m not so sure the princess agrees,” Duke Noacci said.
Pira blushed a little. “It is because I was overcome earlier by the majesty of all the books surrounding me.”
“Of course,” the duke said.
Ricky thought Pira looked pretty with a little ruddiness in her cheeks.
Arriana leaned forward to look at Ricky. “We will need to coordinate our defensive efforts between Cistia troops and what you have in Samira.”
“The duke mentioned that you have a few sorcerers in residence?” Ricky asked.
“We do,” Arriana said.
“Then we will create tokens that will allow them to link with Samira and link with Applia,” Ricky said. “I have two hundred battle sorcerers who can be stationed here. I imagine you have the room, Captain?”
“I do. You wish to deploy them here rather than Samira?”
“Perhaps. They are closer to Applia, Tossa, and Sealio. I am having them work with Nemo Mattia’s forces currently, so we establish working relationships,” Noacci said. “Ricky and I have discussed what Naparra can contribute to saving Paranty from the Botoyan sorcerers.”
Pub’s wife began to ask Pira questions, and that was fine with Ricky. He wanted to get back to the library. They would probably have these same conversations tomorrow, he thought.
The dinner ended when the Duke rose and looked at Pub. “I’m sorry, but I think I will rest most of the day tomorrow. Perhaps you can sift through what you wish me to review and then prioritize it. I will give you two hours before luncheon. I find that today’s activities were taxing, but I am encouraged that I am able to do what I did after nearly dying.” He nodded at them all and left the room.
Captain Arriana left next. Ricky rose, and Pira joined him.
“I have more library work to do tonight. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Ricky bowed to Pub’s wife.
“Breakfast is served in this room,” Pub said. “My wife will take you for a tour tomorrow since Dino has tasked me to do more work than I intended.”
“It is fine. I’d like to walk through the grounds tomorrow,” Pira said. “The garden below my window looks very inviting.” The princess looked at Ricky and smiled.
Ricky left Pira exchanging a few more words with the couple and returned to the library. His papers hadn’t been disturbed. He opened the third book and found it was part of a three-book set. He lit a sorcerous light in the dark room, and with some searching, found that the rest of the volumes had been put in different places in the bookcase. He realized that it was possible that no one could read Old Parantian and didn’t notice the similarities of the titles.
Pira walked in and put her book away in the secret library and found a novel to read.
“I love to read about knights and princesses. There aren’t knights anymore, but there are princesses.” She smiled and found a comfortable chair. She lit her own sorcerous light and began to read.
Pub showed up. “Ah, I was wondering why you hadn’t been looking for a servant. The duke doesn’t like candles in the library, only oil lamps.” He carried two lamps, already lit. “I will turn these up to give you a bit more light. Good night.”
Pira giggled after a while.
“Is the book that interesting?” Ricky asked.
“I’m going to dub you a knight. The knight of my dreams.”
“But I’m nearly a duke,” Ricky said.
“Knights are more romantic.”
“You should think about pretending to be one, sometime,” Ricky said.
“I’ve already tried. Old fashioned armor is too heavy for my delicate strength,” she said.
Ricky laughed. “You could always use deflection to help lighten the load.”
Pira’s eyes brightened. “Oh! That would be fun.”
Ricky turned back to his work.
“You could always wear the armor, and I could wear a white gown and one of those long cone caps with the sheer silk hanging down,” she said.
“I’m not sure that would have the startling effect you generally seek.”
“I suppose not,” she sighed and went back to her reading.
Girls could be distracting, Ricky thought. He continued to work until he heard Pira softly snoring in the chair. He let her continue and ignored the sound. His book had become very interesting. In a few pages, the anti-magic spell was mentioned.
It wasn’t easy to do. Ricky was glad for that. The harder to sing the spell, the fewer the sorcerers were who could attack Zaria’s group. The secret was memorizing the magic-killing sounds. The song provided the resonance that the will could use to project the effect, like shouting or yelling. The spell was originally used by war leaders to communicate maneuvers to the troops. When the cacophony effect was used by the commoners, a sorcerer realized that they could remove the magic from a sorcerer and not be affected.
Hemo was looking at the problem all wrong, but so had Ricky. They would be able to develop the spell and test it with the battle sorcerers to understand the spell and how long it would incapacitate one’s power.
Ricky continued to search for a counterspell, but none could be found. The defense for such a spell would have to come from some other spell. Ricky thought back to the simple approach Zaria and he had used to regain their abilities. A likely candidate would be some kind of spell that insulated sound. Ricky didn’t know if such a thing existed.
He linked with Hemo and told him of his discovery.
Is there a spell that can keep sounds from reaching a sorcerer’s ears? Perhaps a privacy spell? If we could reverse such a thing, that might work. There is no counterspell. Ricky said.
There is such a spell. The sorcerer imagines a sphere, a sound bubble if you will. No sounds escape. I’ve tried it once, but sounds could come in. Hemo said.
Maybe it is a matter of will, Ricky said. I will give it a go tomorrow. You can see what you come up with. Zaria would be a great partner.
I will, Hemo said. It is time for bed. You woke me up with all your excitement.
Sorry. I think it was worth it, don’t you?
It is, Hemo said. Good night. He broke the link.
Ricky could experiment by himself, so he looked through the three books for sound protection, but he failed to find anything useful. He heard a yawn behind him.
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep,” Pira said. “My neck hurts.” She yawned again and winced midway through. “Did you find anything?”
“Enough to do some experimenting here and in Samira. I linked with Hemo, and he will work on it tomorrow. I think we should retire for the night.”
They replaced their books, and Ricky gathered up his notes. Pira waited at the doorway to the corridor after she turned off the lamps. Wall sconces bathed the corridor in dim light. They walked together, stopping at Ricky’s door.
“I suppose you’ll be going to sleep,” Pira said with her hands held together behind her back.
She rocked on her feet. The princess obviously had more to say, so Ricky waited for her to say something.
“It is like we are alone again.” She smiled and looked up at him.
Pira looked enchanting in the dim corridor. Ricky bent down and kissed her lips. He could feel her respond. She put her arms around his neck, and Ricky held her tightly. They kissed again and again.
Ricky took a deep breath. His emotions wanted to take over, but it wasn’t the right time. He disengaged. “That was some goodnight kiss,” he said.
“Kisses,” Pira said. “Kisses and hugs, too.”
“Not a Princess Pira joke?” Ricky said.
Pira looked up languidly. “Want another?”
&
nbsp; “One more,” Ricky said. They kissed again, long and lovingly, thought Ricky. “I suppose we are a matched pair,” he said, as she still clung to him.
Pira blinked slowly. “Definitely matched and definitely a pair.” She looked into his eyes before she closed her own.
Ricky bent down and kissed her one more time. “We don’t need this distraction,” he said.
She pushed him away. “You and your distractions,” she said. She turned around and marched to her door and left the corridor.
Ricky knew what he had done wrong, but he didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t comfortably court Pira as a suitor until this war was resolved. He had always thought of Duteria as a refuge, but it looked like that wouldn’t be the case. Perhaps King Courer’s promise of a title and some modest lands was still in effect. If the war against Sealio didn’t go the way Ricky hoped, they could exile themselves to Dimani.
He stepped into his rooms and checked for intruders like he always did. He could sense something in the servant’s bedroom. Ricky found his wand in the dark and extended the blade with a whisper and confronted a figure in black creeping toward him. The intruder must have thought Ricky had gone to sleep.
The hiss of a sword leaving a scabbard sang in the air, not much different than a song sung for a spell. Ricky produced a bright sorcerous light and looked into the eyes of the assassin, Captain Arriana. The man struck before Ricky had a chance to sing a shield.
The captain was a master swordsman. Ricky couldn’t manage to sing the compulsion counterspell, fighting for his life.
“I had to wait most of the night for you to return to your room. I will take care of you, and another will execute Pira Dorgia.”
Ricky noticed the man used Pira’s actual last name. He still couldn’t manage a spell as he barely had time to parry the man’s attacks with his light blade. After surviving Arriana’s onslaught, Ricky separated himself enough to throw a line of flame towards Arriana and let it explode on the man’s chest. Ricky was thrown into a glass-fronted cabinet. He could feel glass slice his back, but he couldn’t stop to see what damage his spell had wrought on Arriana.
