Paladin's Oath

by M. H. Johnson

  “Enough!” Arthur de Calenbry snapped. “Jessica, by what basis do you make these assertions?”

  Jess took a deep breath. “Kitty had a bad feeling while we were getting ready for the gala, and thought I should look into it.”

  Kipu gazed at Jessica incredulously. “Your cat had a bad feeling? And it told you? So you decided to stalk me and kill me?”

  Verona cringed. It did sound rather absurd.

  Kipu laughed sharply. “You are mad, do you realize that? Completely, utterly mad!”

  In a flash that left Verona breathless, Jessica was holding a suddenly panic-stricken Kipu by the throat, the suddenly unsheathed blade in her other hand pressing against his entrails. In what seemed the space of a blink, Jess had shifted from attending her father's side to confronting her enemy, several feet away. The speed was… inhuman. No wonder she had taken out the guards so efficiently.

  Verona felt an icy chill wash through her even as she took a deep shuddering breath.

  Morlekai was chuckling. “Brilliant speed, my dear Jessica. I do so look forward to our sparring, one day soon.”

  Jessica was snarling, her furious crimson gaze locked upon an increasingly panicked looking Kipu, and slowly, effortlessly, she lifted him up by his neck, first to the tips of his toes, then higher still, fazed not the least by his mad squirming and desperate kicking. Her voice was guttural. “It would be so easy. So easy for me to crush your throat and watch you kick and spasm like the mad dog you are. How dare you enter my garden and threaten my family, and think I wouldn't know?" Her smile was hot and fierce, and for a single horrifying instant, Verona thought she saw fangs.

  A dangling Kipu gurgled desperately as Jessica slowly, deliberately tightened her grip.

  Appolonia started screaming.

  "Jessica de Calenbry, cease and desist! That is an order!" her father roared, and Jess shuddered, dropping a gasping Kipu to the ground.

  “Come to my side!” Her father’s eyes were snapping with ire.

  "Yes, Father." Head down, Jess slunk to her father's side.

  He held out his hand. “Sword, Jessica.”

  "But Father…"

  “Now!”

  Sighing, Jessica handed her father the resheathed blade.

  “I am disappointed in you, Jessica. That was an unacceptable breach of discipline. You do not react to the baiting of an unarmed man clearly under your power, especially not when giving a report!”

  Jessica bowed her head in shame. “I’m sorry, Father.”

  Her father nodded coolly. “Now finish your report. From the beginning.”

  Jess nodded, taking a deep breath. “Father, may I speak to you at distance from… it?” Jess’s eyes blazed with hatred, which Kipu responded to, screaming inchoate curses in his terror and fury.

  "That creature is mad!" A still coughing and gasping Kipu gazed intently at Verona. "I plead before this Agent of the Crown, may she serve as formal witness! I claim innocence! I was here under guest rights, and have just witnessed all of my men brutally savaged and slain before my eyes! I swear to you that I am no threat to this House, and furthermore hope never to lay my eyes upon a single member of this clan, ever again!"

  Appolonia shuddered at that and held her mother tight. Kipu's gaze of contempt was no less for her than for the source of his terror, before focusing once again on Verona. "Please, my lady. I am innocent. Assure my safe conduct out of this… madhouse. I will give my word not to leave Trolos lands until such time as Court convenes, should they wish to put me under review, though this madwoman is the one who should be on trial!"

  Verona grimaced. In point of fact, even if his guards had aggressed Jessica, Lord Kipu was well within his rights as a lord to ask for just such treatment. Verona noted the calculated look passing between the Baron and his wife, and felt a sudden chill. She knew well what the stakes were for this family, should things blow out of control in the eyes of the Court. Indeed, if driven to desperation, they might find it most prudent to eliminate both the agent and the lord in question. The angels alone knew how they would explain the bodies, assuming they ever turned up at all. Or perhaps they would arrange it so as to look like Kipu had killed her, and the family guards had come to her defense too late.

  The fearful speculation raced through her, as unlikely as she thought it was. Nonetheless, simple prudence dictated she proceed cautiously. When in the den of a lion, it is always best to let it know you are a friend.

  "I fear, Lord Kipu, that too many questions are left unanswered for me to insist upon safe passage for anyone at present. But your safety is, of course, of paramount concern. Perhaps the baron could assign several guards for your safety, while we separate you and Lady Jessica from close proximity?"

  Del Morlekai flashed Verona a bemused smile, as if approving of her move.

  Arthur de Calenbry paused as if considering, but only for a moment. "Very well. Johnathan, please take your men and… escort young Lord Kipu to the apple shed over yonder. Such will assure he is safe and secure. Also, be so kind as to have one of the guardsmen see to refreshments for our guest."

  Kipu gazed at the baron with panicked disbelief. “You are imprisoning me in a fruit shed? Are you all mad? That violates my rights as a visiting lord! You know the protocol. Banish me from your lands as you will, but allow me permission to retreat to my own estates!”

  The baron's eyes flashed. "I still have questions for you, young sir, involving your guards. Why were there four, twice the number originally agreed to, and what possible reason could they have had for baring live steel at my daughter, no matter how vituperative her words, with naught but a dirk and dancing gown to defender herself with?"

  “My lord!” Kipu protested. “But look at the bodies around you. Your daughter did this, with naught but a dress and dirk, as you say, when the battle ensued, but post events prove the validity of their discretion in drawing their steel! Jess still managed to kill them. All of them! Had they not drawn steel when they had, had I only two by my side, I would be dead right now!"

  "Enough!" the baron snapped. "This is a conversation you and I will have after I speak with my daughter."

  He then turned his gaze to Johnathan, voice far calmer and modulated. "If you will see to the care of the young lord? Assure your own safety, of course, but do nothing that any guest would find… untoward."

  "Of course, my lord." Johnathan bowed. "We will see to his comfort, while keeping a close eye on his… well-being."

  "Excellent." The baron nodded his approval as Johnathan and his fellow armsmen gently led a still protesting Kipu off to a storage shed, far from the lively party still going on at the manor some half mile away.

  Appolonia sobbed and raced to her father, pleading desperately. “Father! You’re not going to have him killed, are you? Please, Father. He’s done nothing! Nothing except say that he cares for me. And Jess, oh gods, she went mad, killing all these people!” She then broke down into fresh sobs, her father gazing at her with solemn eyes and gently stroking her hair before her mother gathered Appolonia up into her arms once more.

  Arthur sighed. “Fear not, daughter. It is not my intent to end things in such a final way. Right now I just want to get to the bottom of this.” He then turned to Jessica once more, pinning her with his piercing gaze. “I expect a report, Jessica. Why are you hesitating?”

  Jess abruptly nodded. “Yes, Father. As I had alluded to, Twilight sensed a storm was coming, though he knew not the shape or form that it would take.”

  “A storm, what bloody storm?” Appolonia cried, glaring daggers at her sister. “You are crazy, Jessica. You had no right to attack Kipu! He didn’t do anything to you or to me!”

  “Appolonia,” her mother gently reproved. “Please, my love. Let's just get to the bottom of this.”

  Jess turned to Appolonia, looking far less fey and strange than she had but seconds ago. “I know you hate me right now, and even though it breaks my heart, I have to accept that, though I hope one day you can forgiv
e me. And Apple? Twilight sensed something was amiss at the Turnsby’s too, don’t forget. He just didn’t know what form it would take, and neither did I.” Jess sighed, turning back to her father. “In any case, Twilight knew a storm was coming, but that’s as far as his understanding of the Chords of Fate goes, probably as much as any being can sense, mortal or otherwise.”

  “Forgive me,” Verona quietly interjected. “But I fear I’m missing something. Who, or what, is Twilight?”

  Jess favored her with an enigmatic gaze, her crimson eyes seeming to radiate a sense of power that left Verona breathless. Jess shrugged. “My familiar. He’s a cat. But you can’t see him, because he’s invisible.”

  Verona blinked. “So you are saying that your invisible cat told you?”

  Jess nodded. “Exactly.”

  Verona nodded slowly. “I see.”

  “Jessica,” her father warned.

  "Yes, Father. In any case, Twilight sensed trouble brewing, a distance down the stream of time upon which we all flow. We just had no idea what form it would take. We knew we had to be cautious of a Crown Agent appearing in our midst, so I thought that might be the source of the threat." Jess flashed a look at Verona, and for some reason she felt her cheeks redden.

  "Anyway, Mother and I thought Verona must be the agent, because she seemed so out of place and not very comfortable, but Twilight thought it was too obvious. I mean, if I were an agent in disguise, I'd want to be incredibly charming and personable and put everyone at ease, but Verona just quietly observed us and didn't seem happy to be at the party at all. In which case, why come, unless it was your job?" Jess shrugged "So we weren't really sure. Verona seemed too obvious as an agent. One would think the king would have better actors, but maybe she was a feint, to distract us, while the real agent was lurking around, waiting to cause trouble."

  Jess turned to Verona and her smile was almost apologetic. "So Twilight checked your coach, Verona, and both your men were sound asleep after drinking too much. No one else's scent trail was apparent, save that of a male child we assume to be your son. So, in the end, we decided you weren't the agent." Jess shrugged. "But it turns out you are, so perhaps your awkward shyness was a good disguise, after all."

  Verona, however, felt her cheeks redden with fresh humiliation. That her pose had been so obvious that even this deluded girl could see through it, and thought it so bad it wasn’t even worth taking seriously. By the gods, she had been a fool to think she was up for this challenge at all.

  "Rest assured, this isn't my first assignment, and normally I am not so easily made," Verona sighed, even as it hit her that deluded or no, Jessica had deduced that she had no backup save the two henchmen playing drunk in her carriage, and how could Jessica possibly know of her son? She had done nothing to reveal that last fact, and there was no way this family could have known of her before this day.

  The baron just gave a measuring nod. “And what happened then, Jessica?”

  Jess shrugged. "Well then, to be honest, I was at a loss. I know you and Geoffrey were safe and able to take care of yourselves, and you would have let us know if we had enemies at Court we needed to be wary of at this juncture, and Mother hardly ever leaves the estate unescorted." She flashed her mother an apologetic look. "Sorry Mother, but it's true. Even attending outings with Apple within our own barony, you don't ever leave home without a complement of guardsmen."

  "Just finish your report, Jessica." Her mother's voice was icy, even as she comforted her still sobbing youngest.

  Jessica sighed and continued.

  "The only thing left was a threat to Apple or me, just by process of elimination." Jess flashed a savage grin. "And you know how well I handle threats, so I wasn't worried about myself. Besides, I didn't feel any sense of malice directed at me from anyone. So the only one left was Apple." Jess grimaced and shook her head. "In truth, I wasn't expecting anything. I certainly was hoping it was nothing but a warning that we all had to be cautious to avoid getting caught up in political upheavals or the like, that I had to act meek and docile, so no one would fear me and act against us." Jess fixed Verona with a look far older than her years. "Though now I fear I have managed to mess that up, as well."

  Verona felt all eyes upon her and was struck by a sudden unreasoning surge of panic. "That has yet to be determined, Lady Jessica," she assured. "Right now I, like your father, just want to get to the bottom of what has occurred here tonight."

  Jessica's father nodded curtly at that, and Verona breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Her talents aside, she had absolutely no doubt that if this family thought her an unmanageable threat, she very likely wouldn't survive to see the morning.

  Jessica nodded as well at Verona’s words, and Verona felt her breath hitch, feeling of a sudden as if she could fall into the enormous pools of crimson flame the child's eyes had become by some odd trick of the flickering torchlight.

  "Twilight can smell your fear, you know. But since I don't taste any malice from you, I don't think you're out for our blood, either. So don't worry. We're not going to do anything to you."

  Verona blinked in surprise, struck numb by the young woman’s gaze. She felt herself grow dizzy, as if she was lost in a nightmare.

  “Jessica de Calenbry, stop saying alarming things and finish your report.” Her mother’s tone was dry, even as she gently soothed her sobbing youngest, and Jess nodded. Verona herself felt ready to collapse, such an emotionally tumultuous evening it had been.

  “Yes, Mother. So, that was when I went to go look for Apple. I was hoping to keep her company more than anything else, to get out from underfoot. You know what I mean.” She clarified with too obvious a look at Verona. “But, when I couldn’t find Apple anywhere inside the house, I began to worry.” She took a deep breath. “I know where she likes to go to meet up with her paramours, so I headed there, but I just felt, I just felt like I needed a connection. I needed to be able to feel closer to her. So that if she were in danger, I could sense it, as if I myself were in danger.” She sighed. “So that’s when I did it, and it all started to come clear. Horrifically clear.” Her voice had fallen to a whisper as she gazed at the broken bodies just a short distance from them, as if only now realizing the gravity of what had transpired.

  "Jessica, what did you do?" Her father's voice was both firm and pleading, as only a father's could be. Jessica winced. As if his barely hidden distress pained her physically.

  "I performed a ritual, Father," Jess admitted softly. "I trusted my gut, my heart. I followed the same intuition that leads me when I Delve." She gently stroked her still bleeding cheek. "I cut my cheek, just as I would before battle in the realms of dream and nightmare."

  Jess shivered, as if even she was haunted by fragments of memory, of things best left forgotten, before shrugging it away. “Not that I remember any of that. But… I just knew. I knew what I had to say, what I had to do.”

  Morlekai gazed upon Jessica with apparent fascination, seemingly not at all perturbed by the scene of gore and death around them. If anything, Verona was sickly certain, he admired her savagery as a killer. “Was it bloodmagic you performed, dear Jessica?”

  Her father gazed at Morlekai coldly, as if wondering why the man, there only as a matter of chance and happenstance, didn't at least have the grace to be utterly obsequious before his betters. The bemused smile Morlekai flashed back at the baron told Verona that he was well aware of how the baron felt, and didn’t care in the least.

  Jessica shrugged. "It wasn't like the magic my shieldbrother can perform, at least in the Dreamrealms, but it did have to do with the cycle of life and rebirth. You see, it's like this: Appolonia and I are, in fact, the same if we step one generation back. We both come from our mother's blossoms, after all. So I tried to form a sympathetic connection to that truth, that most ancient truth of all, that all children stem from the roots of their parents, like branches off the same great tree growing endlessly through all the generations of life upon the face Dawn. By the laws of blood
and time, a threat to her was also a threat to me, since but one generation back, we are the same branch upon the great tree of life."

  Jess gazed imploringly at her parents, even as Verona saw Agda and Arthur exchange a solemn, pain-filled glance. And it was achingly obvious to Verona as well. Did Jess not realize that her youngest sister was the get of Lady Agda and the king himself? A fact never spoken allowed, not even by Sir Gray.

  Yet perhaps, Verona mused, herself having felt the raw power of Jessica's bloodmagic, perhaps the only link she had needed was that of the maternal line. For whatever working Jessica de Calenbry had raised, its potency had rocked through the ether in ways Verona doubted any living mage could fully understand.

  “It doesn't matter! It was enough!” Jessica's voice cracked, painfully, so much being said without being said at all. Jess shook herself, now avoiding her parent's pain filled gazes, taking a deep breath, and forcing herself to speak on. “And somehow, it worked. Or sort of. I suddenly felt… anxious. Like Apple was in danger, but it wasn’t exactly clear. I had to approach and understand the threat, to see and taste the truth for myself.”

  Jessica nodded grimly. “And that’s why I confronted him. Because only in seeing him, in feeling his Malice, in gazing at his eyes and sensing the dark fury hiding within his soul, did the horrible truth finally come to me in all its clarity.”

  Jessica gazed solemnly at her father. “Also, I’ll admit I was in a little bit of a trance. I had to finish the ritual to its inevitable conclusion, to understand how his monstrous past put Apple in danger in the present.”

  "You are mad, Jess, saying the craziest things!" Apple sobbed, turning to her mother. "She kept going on about how Kipu had a bad childhood, how his mother never loved him, how his father hated him, and that it made Kipu turn into a dark killer. It's total hogwash! I've talked to Kipu. Yes, his mother died, but his father and he get along fine. The man’s just very formal. And blaming poor Kipu for the tragic fate of Lady Elebry who had the bad sense to run off with a merchant’s son who had robbed his own father was utterly uncalled for! Jess kept going on and on, calling him a sadistic murderer. Oh Mother, I could feel Kipu shudder in my arms. I’d not be surprised if he hates me now, all because I have a mad sister!”