A Perjury of Owls

by Michael Angel

  “How do you figure that?” I asked.

  “Why else did they keep the name of the kingdom the same as the name of their entire world? I guess it’s simpler just to call everything ‘Andeluvia’.” She considered. “Then again, more than a few of my folks think everyplace from Canada to Argentina is just ‘America’, so maybe it’s just laziness.”

  “I always thought it was just lack of creativity,” I said with a laugh. “After all, the city around Fitzwilliam’s palace is simply called ‘the Capitol’.”

  “Well, from what Miss Thea says, I think you ought to take the Forensic Examiner’s job that Fitzwilliam has dangling out there before he pulls it back.”

  I coughed at that. “Actually, Thea’s successor refused to release Fitzwilliam’s budget over that, so the King decided to make me a Dame.”

  The Albess gasped at the news. She spread her wings and bowed as deeply as she was able to while stuffed with not-enough-mouse Swedish meatballs. “That is a kingly deed, in truth. Dame Chrissie, we are honored by your presence.”

  Shelly’s jaw dropped. I tried to wave her off, but she got up and dropped a surprisingly feminine curtsey. “Well, I’ll be…” she breathed.

  “Please, it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be,” I begged off, urging my friends to sit back down or refrain from further bowing. “The only advantage we’re going to get from my promotion is the ability to call in an escort to make it to the throne room.”

  Shelly went quiet and serious at that. “What do you mean, Dayna?”

  “I take it the Albess has explained what is going on between her and Raisah, the current ‘Anointed’ who is running the Noctua, and through them, the Hoohan?” Shelly nodded, so I went on. “Albess, are you aware of what happened to Xandra’s son? Of what he was?”

  I got a sage nod in reply. “That owlet had shown so much promise. He showed the Marks of the Anointed at an early age. If I hadn’t been so ill, so consumed with my own demons, I would have helped him understand his place in life.”

  “What would that be?” Shelly asked.

  “To ascend to the position of Albess, of course.” Thea shook her head sadly. “But no. Raisah showed me the owlet’s feathers. The little one had seen no more than a handful of summers, but he passed away from the same infirmities that plague all the Anointed.”

  “He had infirmities, Albess,” I said, hating to give out dreadful new information. “But that is not why he died.”

  Thea let out an angry-sounding ‘hoo!’. “I wish to know more. Is this truth?”

  “I received confirmation from my chemical analysis laboratory this afternoon,” I sighed. “They confirmed my worst suspicions. Perrin’s feathers contained a ridiculously high level of a poison called ‘thisulfinate’. It was more than enough to overwhelm his fragile system.”

  The Albess fluttered from her perch down to the kitchen floor. Her talons made skrak-krak sounds on the linoleum as she paced back and forth.

  “I saw a snake, and failed to strike at its head.” She grew more agitated as she paced. “Raisah has always wanted to supplant me. I did not think she would go so far, but I should have known better. She sent a dragon after me, then corrupted my bodyguard and poisoned an innocent owlet in her quest for power.”

  “So Raisah sent a dragon?” I asked. “Only afterwards did your bodyguards turn on you?”

  “Nix and Nox are repugnant creatures, true, but they did their duty. They drove off the dragon that attacked me as I stopped to drink at a forest pool. I was stunned by a blow of the beast’s tail. Only afterwards, when I awoke, did I discover that I was a captive in the Sepulcher of the Eight Talons. And that they were my new jailors.”

  “Poisoning youngsters to get power,” Shelly shook her head. “This Raisah and her people are nasty pieces of work.”

  “One is dead already, thanks to Dayna,” Thea fumed. Her beak clacked in frustration. “The other two must perish as well. If I have to rouse the loyal Hoohan in civil war against the usurper, so be it! I will have revenge on those who wronged my kind and my kin!”

  I’d never seen the Albess angry before. It was startling to watch. I swallowed, and did my best to keep my voice even-toned.

  “In my world, there’s a saying. That revenge is a dish which is best served cold.”

  The Albess stopped her pacing. “Revenge is a dish best served cold. That is a marvelous phrase, but what exactly does it mean, Dame Chrissie?”

  “We need to move decisively, but coolly. Pushing your people into armed conflict serves no one but the Creatures of the Dark.”

  “You seem so sure of that,” Thea muttered, but she motioned with a wing for me to go on.

  “We need to present you in front of Fitzwilliam’s court tomorrow morning. Your presence will prove once and for all that Raisah lied under oath. If we call the representatives of Parliament there as well, it should discredit Raisah in the eyes of your people, as well as the owl’s most important client state.”

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” Shelly objected. “Thea, I know you’re feelin’ better, but you’re still not what I’d call in tip-top shape. If this Raisah is willing to kill kids, you don’t think that she’ll respond violently?”

  “It’s a risk, but one we have to take, Shelly. Both Fitzwilliam’s kingdom and the realm of the Hoohan will shatter into anarchy or civil war if we don’t act quickly.”

  “The Noctua are great warriors, but not invulnerable,” Thea asserted. “In a closed space, with armed knights and the court wizard as opposition? I think that we shall have a decided advantage.”

  She sounds confident, I thought. I just don’t know if it’s going to be that easy.

  Chapter Forty

  Dawn came warm and sunny to Los Angeles.

  A cool orange line of light burned itself under the bottom crack of the garage door. After I’d donned my Andeluvian outfit, I busied myself by digging into the gun case I’d secured inside the trunk of my car. Wyeth had made me toss my original firearm away, but I wasn’t about to return to Andeluvia without some kind of weapon.

  Back when I’d first met Galen, Shaw, and Liam, I’d qualified on a 9mm pistol as per LAPD regulations so that I could go to both secured and unsecured crime scenes in the field. But I still hadn’t purchased a firearm. That changed when Esteban all but forced me to take his spare Glock. It turned out that having a firearm saved my life more than once in the past. So, I’d filled out the requisite transfer forms to switch ownership of that handgun to my keeping. But since I liked the ‘feel’ of other weapons, I’d purchased a different handgun and kept this one as a spare.

  Little did I know how handy that bit of forethought would turn out.

  I took a moment to re-familiarize myself with the slightly different trigger and safety configuration of the Glock. Making sure it was loaded, I placed it and a spare magazine into my shoulder holster. Then I went back inside, fingering my transport medallion as I did so.

  Shelly had all but forced a steaming-hot bowl of pea soup and the remaining meatballs on me and Thea for breakfast. My stomach hadn’t woken up yet, but my friend was right. The Albess and I needed refueling, especially if it looked like conflict was ahead, so I dug in and cleaned my plate without argument.

  “Shelly, I’m going to be worried about you all day,” I admitted, as I made the last adjustments to my holster. The extra magazine tended to make the entire package bulge under my cloak. “Are you sure you want to return to the public eye?”

  She let out a snort. “You’re worried about me? You’re the one who’s about to jump into a war zone, after all.”

  “Should conflict break out, the Hoohan and the forces of Andeluvia shall prevail handily,” the Albess said offhandedly. “I am also not worried about your return, Shelly of Richard’s Son. You are as hale and healthy as ever, sound in body as well as mind.”

  “Well, Miss Thea, I see Dayna’s point. It ain’t about my health, it’s about the ruckus I’ve kicked up by being gone. But I’
ve got it covered. I’m familiar with the psych center over at First Samaritan, so I’ll check myself in and let them ‘evaluate’ me while I let my friends and family know I’m alive. They’ll keep me under observation for forty-eight hours to make sure I’m not a threat to myself or anyone else before I can go back home.”

  “Do you think the OME will let this one slide?” I asked, concerned. “They treated me pretty rough. I don’t want you to run into bigger problems.”

  “Horsefeathers, Dayna. I’ll kowtow to the bigwigs at the OME and let ‘em know I had a mental lapse, and that I took unannounced leave until I heard that you and Detective Esteban were looking for me. I can deal with probation and suspension, big deal. There just ain’t that many people around with my qualifications, so they’re not going to up and fire me.”

  I gave my friend’s arm a last squeeze. “If you’re sure, then I’ll stop worrying.”

  Shelly returned the squeeze. “You got enough on your plate as-is.” Thea fluttered to my side, perching on the arm of the couch. Shelly extended a hand palm up to her. “Thank you…for everything, Miss Thea. I hope we get a chance to meet again.”

  “I echo your wishes, my friend,” the Albess replied, resting an outstretched wing on Shelly’s palm for a moment. “The divine power that fuels the universe has many ends, and we can only see so many of them.”

  “Ready?” I asked Thea. She nodded, so I squeezed the medallion, concentrating on an image of my tower office.

  A flash-bang of white, and we arrived in front of the room’s hearth. Thea spread her wings and flew unsteadily to perch on one of the rafters that held up the dunce-cap roof. I reeled, but managed to steady myself against the large slate blackboard Galen had brought over a couple of days ago. As I tucked the medallion away, the red glow it emitted told me that the magic powering it had been totally depleted.

  The wizard who could recharge it stepped away from where he had been fixing something only a few paces from the door. Looking back over his shoulder, Galen’s hooves made a loud clatter on the stone floor as he did a double take.

  “Albess!” he cried out. “I am positively ecstatic to see you again!”

  Thea let out a gentle chuckle. “Give thanks to my rescuer, Dame Chrissie.”

  Galen made as if to bow to me, but I waved him off. “Formalities later. Do we have any news about our friends? Liam and Shaw had to decoy away the Noctua. Xandra and her fellow owls went up against Wyeth, and I have no idea how that turned out.”

  “Rest assured that all are safe, but out of reach for the moment,” Galen informed me. “Shaw was pursued all the way back to the borders of the aerie. Liam, for almost as long. Raisah and her companions only turned back when he crossed into the Grove of the Willows.”

  That startled me more than I cared to admit. These owls had kept on tracking their quarry for hours – in Shaw’s case, several hours. It all smacked too much of zealotry to me.

  “Finally, I received a message by courier from the Roost of the Star Child, just before dawn,” the centaur added. “Xandra and her people managed to drive off Wyeth with no loss to themselves. But they are fearful of retribution from the Noctua. As we speak, they have evacuated all but those too old or young to be moved from the Roost and are seeking refuge further up in the mountains.”

  “This has gone far enough!” Thea fumed. “We must proclaim my return and end this!”

  “Then I would suggest that we call for an armed escort,” Galen cautioned. “Several brawls erupted during the night, resulting in more than a few deaths. At least one group has been eager to call for Dame Chrissie to be stripped of her titles and sent into exile.”

  “Some people still think that Raisah is holding back on signing Fitzwilliam’s budget due to my investiture,” I explained to Thea. “But it’s not my resignation she wants, it’s this growing chaos. I just don’t know how we’ll get help here in time.”

  “For once, I am ahead of events,” Galen announced.

  With the sweep of an arm, the wizard indicated what he’d been working on prior to our arrival. A length of bright purple rope hung from a hole cut into the ceiling. The wizard tugged on the rope, and a delicate two-tone chime pealed out from a hidden bell.

  “That’s nice, I guess,” I said, perplexed. “But what–”

  There was a knock at the door. The centaur opened it to reveal a pair of blue-clad pages.

  “My lord?” one asked.

  “This is unquestionably urgent,” Galen stated, in his deep bass voice. “The fate of the kingdom rests upon you two completing your tasks with alacrity.”

  Both pages glanced uncertainly at him, then me.

  “He’s not joking,” I added. “It really is.”

  The one who spoke before straightened up proudly. “Command us, wizard.”

  Galen pointed to him. “I wish you to go to the Commander of the Palace Guard. Tell him that Dame Chrissie and the Court Wizard have located the Albess. Tell him that we need as many armed knights as he can spare to escort her from Dame Chrissie’s demesne to the throne room.” To the other, he added, “And I wish you to go to Parliament. Tell them that the Head of Parliament is alive and wishes to have them present at King Fitzwilliam’s court as she re-takes her rightful place among the Hoohan.”

  The two pages set off at a run. I turned to Galen. “Maybe I’m being paranoid, but who else can we bring to this party? Can you transport back Shaw, or Liam?”

  “I’ve been expending a great deal of power to complete the King’s project. I might be able to bring one of the two back, but this shall deplete my magic for the rest of the day.”

  I considered the situation for a moment while Galen reached over behind the slate board and retrieved his iron wizard’s staff. The problem was, even if we drained Galen’s talents to bring back one or the other, both Liam and Shaw would be near exhaustion from the hours spent on the run from the Noctua.

  “I think we’ll go this one alone,” I concluded. “We’ll no doubt need your spellcasting abilities, even if they’re minimal.”

  “I am ever at your service, Dayna.”

  Something still nagged at me. I was sure that whatever Raisah was up to, she’d have an ace in the hole somewhere. The fact that the owls had used a dragon against Thea at one point still worried me. Nix had even thrown me a big clue, one that my brain hadn’t figured out yet.

  The pounding of an armored fist against the door broke any more thoughts I might have had on the matter. Galen pulled the door aside and Commander Yervan, clad in his gold-trimmed plate armor, joined us in the tower room. With him were three other fully armed and plate armored knights.

  “I came as soon as I got your message. This better not be a false–” Yervan began testily. Then he spotted Thea upon her perch. He inhaled sharply, then bowed at the waist. “Albess, I see that Dame Chrissie and the Centaur Wizard speak true. Allow me to be your guide and your guard.”

  “It shall be my honor,” Thea acknowledged, with a pleased ‘hoo!’.

  “Hold on!” I butted in. “Three men? That’s all you brought?”

  “It is all I have left,” Yervan said resignedly. “Several sons-of-whelps left the Palace Guard yesterday when it appeared that we would no longer be paid. The others are spread throughout the palace, busy preventing fights or breaking them up. We lost six men last night when we caught a group of scoundrels attempting to tunnel into the basement, where they believed the King had a secret stash of gold coin.”

  “I recognize this trio of knights,” Galen added, as he saw my concern grow. “They are among the best and bravest that Commander Yervan has to offer.”

  “All right, then,” I said. I found that I had to wipe my hands on the side of my doublet to take off the sweat before I took my gun out and held it at my side. “Commander, I would recommend having your men draw their weapons and precede the Albess to the throne room. I and the Albess will follow, and Galen shall bring up the rear. If the owls try anything, it will be an attack from above, before
we get to the throne room.”

  Yervan nodded. “Men, draw swords!”

  The slithery sound of steel filled the room, followed by the jingle and creak of armor as the four men moved into position. Thea fluttered over to join me, and Galen followed the entire group out as we pushed through the tower doors and down the main hallway.

  It was almost funny. The last time I’d come down these passageways under Yervan’s escort, I’d been on my way to becoming Dame Chrissie. I’d had butterflies in my stomach from worrying about how others would see me.

  Now, I just hoped that we’d stay alive.

  The halls were deserted. The torches burned as always, the smells of slate and soot firm in my nose. Only once did I glimpse the tiniest hint of movement in the shadowed rafters above. No movement, but the sounds were disturbing.

  In the distance, I heard the clash of sword on sword, of men in battle, crying out in pain or rage. And as we drew up in the throne room’s antechamber, a new, ugly note crept in: the sounds of shouting and calls for order.

  Yervan and his men looked to me. I wished that I had something better to tell them.

  “There’s nothing left but to play this out,” I said firmly. “Let’s go in.”

  The Commander of the Palace Guard strode up and threw open the doors.

  We marched on through as a group. Instantly, the lords and knights at the tables around the throne stopped their arguments in mid-sentence. For a split second, I thought that this was a good sign. Maybe this would be as easy as Thea suspected.

  Then I got a better look at the inside of the throne room.

  One thought managed to make its way through my brain.

  Oh, crap!

  Then the doors swung shut behind us with a final, heart-stopping boom.

  Chapter Forty-One

  I entered the now-familiar throne room in the company of four elite knights and a centaur wizard to back me up. The knights were armored, the wizard ready to cast spells, and I had a 9mm firearm to boot. But my guts still went cold at what I saw.