by Guy Antibes
They arrived at Ferrio’s house. Jack walked up and knocked.
“Is Ferrio home?”
The older woman looked at the three of them. “You are his companions?”
Jack was surprised to be called Ferrio’s companion, but he nodded nevertheless.
“He has gone to the cathedral.”
The hawk cathedral was not a place where Jack wanted to go at that moment. “Tell him we have gone to Ullori. If he wants to meet us on the road, that is fine. If he doesn’t, then wish him well for us,” Jack said.
“He isn’t home,” Jack said to Penny and Helen, still sitting astride their mounts.
Before Jack was seated properly, Ferrio ran down the steps leading to the pavement. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” He disappeared back inside.
“Trust?” Jack said to Penny. “He even got his mother to lie for him.”
“He wanted to sample more of her cooking,” the apprentice said.
Helen even chuckled at that comment. She wasn’t chuckling while she was under a romantic spell of Lark Handercraft, thought Jack, but Helen was always quiet about it. Penny’s fecklessness was right out in front.
“Over here!” Ferrio said, riding out of an alley. “Why do we have to leave now?” he asked.
“Myra is on her way to Ullori.”
“Myra?”
“The former eagle priestess,” Jack said. “She and her friends did something naughty at the mother church, and she was sent to Ullori monastery.”
Ferrio looked confused.
“It is a prison of sorts,” Helen said. “Priests and priestesses who need a bit of attitude adjustment are sent there to contemplate their standing with Grishel, or so we were told.”
Ferrio still didn’t look as if he understood.
Jack sighed. “There are three feathers, Ferrio. One is in the mother church, sealed away all nice and tight. The other two are to the south. One is in Ullori, and the other is in the hands of the Black Finger Society. If we can’t get a feather from one, we will get it from the other, even if we have to steal it.”
“But your promise?”
“Is not operational at present. You haven’t proven to be much help. One question in Fassira would have given us directions to the easiest building to find in the capital,” Jack said. “If you want your promotion, you are going to have to do more than tag along.”
Ferrio furrowed his brow. “Then I will continue to follow you like a puppy until I have the opportunity to earn your trust.”
Helen smiled. “That a boy.”
“I trust you well enough if it is any encouragement,” Penny said.
Ferrio brightened. “Lead on. At least I had a good solid lunch and was able to see my mother again.”
Good for him, thought Jack. His stomach was complaining before they returned to the river gate and headed south on the road leading to the southwest. As they passed the south end of the city on the other side of the bank, Jack realized he barely noticed what the capital was like. They rode through markets and streets, but Jack’s only thought was heading south.
He touched his Lajian sword, wrapped up with the matching knife. Only the hilt of the knife poked out of the black cloth circling his weapons tied to the back of his saddle. That was the best outcome in Fassira. He had his objects of power again. He checked each attribute, finding the power reservoir in his knife was about gone. Jack clutched the exposed end of the handle and willed power into the hilt bit by bit. When they stopped, perhaps he would have time to peruse his wizardry notes.
Chapter Thirteen
~
“I ’ll have two sausages and a small loaf,” Jack said to the roadside vendor, part of a cluster of outdoor merchants at a crossroads. His map didn’t show a village or town of any size close. “What do you have to drink?”
The vendor pointed a crooked finger to a stand across the road. “Wine or ale. She has pots of both to take with you.”
Jack followed her finger to see Ferrio already stuffing little ceramic pots with wax tops into his saddlebags. Jack would have to do the same.
In minutes they were back on the road. Another two or three hours and they would be at a market town. Ferrio was useless, of course, now that they were no longer on the road between Virora and Fassira. Helen traveled next to Jack while Ferrio and Penny talked amiably, as far as Jack could tell, up ahead.
“A little jealous?” Helen said.
“A lot less than Tanner was in Tesoria,” Jack said. He regretted blurting out such a thing before the last word left his mouth.
Helen’s face clouded for a moment. “And what about you mooning about with an archpriestess?”
“A mistake, easily made, as it turns out. I hadn’t expected our errand to end so abruptly.”
“Abruptly is an understatement,” Helen said. “Lark taught me some perspective. I have no idea what Ralinn taught you.”
“Not how to kiss,” Jack said, although the memory of her lips on his sometimes blossomed in his memory. “I suppose I learned a lot of things in Tesoria. I didn’t feel betrayed by her trust, just disappointed.”
“Disappointed in a major way,” Helen said. “I’d rather you not bring it up in front of Tanner, ever. I’m not too thrilled to be reminded of Lark.”
Jack nodded. He hadn’t intended on bringing it up then, but Helen caught him off guard. He would have to do better about that. His gaze turned back to the front and the pair talking as they rode.
“Ferrio might be wheedling his way into our confidence by the weakest link,” Helen said.
Jack’s jaw dropped open. “Really? Penny is the weakest link?” he said in mock amazement.
“And I suppose you weren’t on our first errand to Dorkansee?”
Jack laughed loudly enough to cause the pair ahead to turn around. “Weaker than a noodle. How am I doing this time around?”
“Other than insulting your bodyguard and your associate, you are meeting my low expectations of you.”
“I made the feather float,” Jack said, referring to the event in the mother church for the first time.
“Grishel made the feather float. Grishel made the eagle poop on Ferrio’s hand. I am concerned about Grishel having any other surprises. I am uncomfortable when wizards or gods start showing off.”
“To me, of course.”
“Especially you, Jack. A little humility goes a long way. Look at Fasher. He is vastly more powerful than you are, but he has decided on his own to help the people of Raker Falls.”
“How do you know it is on his own?” Jack said, wondering if he jammed his foot into his mouth again.
“I don’t, but you bring up a good point.” Helen didn’t immediately reject his question. “I’ve often thought about what changed Fasher’s mind so completely on the battlefield. Tanner and I thought we’d never hear from him again, but he had used us for fetching information, but not objects of power, before we met you. I don’t know what motivates him, but all I know is he keeps surprising us.”
“Are you together while waiting for him to call?”
Helen put a fist on her hip and stared at him. “Of course not. We don’t live far from each other, but we don’t have a romantic relationship.”
Not consciously, Jack thought, but he kept his mouth shut this time.
“You weren’t amazed when the feather floated?” Jack said, changing the subject.
Helen shook her head. “I try not to get amazed when you are around. Where Fasher is mysterious in his own way, you are exactly the opposite, young man. I know the clergy at the mother church wanted you out of their patch of ground as soon as they could. I think you frightened them more than impressed, but I’m not so sure they would have given us a pass without the floating feather.”
“Like I’m not supposed to have some kind of an omen happen since I’m not one of their clergy?” Jack asked.
“Look how impressed the sisters of Eldora were when you received two blessing marks on your cheeks. As soon as we had s
aved their precious little religion, we were summarily dismissed.”
“Worse than that, we were commanded to forget,” Jack said, somewhat happy that Helen’s temper took over. “However, Eldora didn’t forget.”
“What did you say?” Helen asked.
“I received another sending once we reached Raker Falls. At least the goddess remembered what we did. She was appreciative.”
“You never told me that.”
“You and Tanner had already left. Fasher and I were still at odds and probably still are, so I wouldn’t tell him anything, and he refuses to ask.” Jack looked ahead at Penny and Ferrio. “I’d never confide in Penny. Who knows what she would do with any secret I’d tell her.”
“If that is the case, why are you still around these people?”
“Because Fasher trusts Tanner and you and me barely enough to send me on this mission. As much abuse as I have to take from Penny, I’d rather work for the wizard than work in my father’s woodworking shop. Where else would I have gotten myself into a position to kiss a princess?”
“To kiss a king,” Helen blurted out a little wistfully. She covered her mouth. “You never heard me say that.”
“What?” Jack said with a smile. “The official Tesorian history is silent on the matter.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Helen said, clearing her throat. Her eyes turned to Penny. “Do you think anything will develop there?”
Jack noticed she was now changing the subject, and his relationship with a deity was buried in the past. “I hope not. Ferrio is scrambling to get his promotion. Maybe I can have a word with him.”
Helen laughed. “From a teenager? It is unlikely he would listen to a thing you say. I’ll do the warning.”
“Be my guest,” Jack said. “I didn’t want to pry anyway. A wrong word here or there and the wrath of Penny would be upon me.”
“As long as it isn’t the wrath of Grishel, Jack. You will tell me if the bird god visits you, won’t you?”
Jack moaned. She picked up about where he left off. “I will. Nothing has happened that you haven’t witnessed, including the pooping incident.”
That got Helen to chuckle. “If you want an ominous sign, I guess that is it if you are a hawk priest.”
~
Jack had to share a room with Ferrio at their next stop. After dinner and time spent asking Ferrio to explain some of the Passoranian conventions in the common room that were different from Corand, everyone went to their rooms.
As they closed and locked the door behind them, Ferrio declared, “That girl does not like you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. We haven’t hit it off ever since we first met. Even that was a fight.”
“To the death, so she says.”
Jack sighed. “Has she kept nothing secret from you?”
“All she talked about were your little games. All I could do was listen and say a few words here and there to let her know I was listening. Perhaps tomorrow I can ride with you.”
Jack laughed. “Don’t be surprised if Helen warns you off Penny.”
“Oh,” Ferrio said with a grin. “She thinks we were getting close in a romantic way? That won’t happen. I have a girlfriend in Virora, a priestess. We are close.”
“Your priesthood isn’t celibate? What about the monks?”
Ferrio pursed his lips. “If the eagles are like us, their monks aren’t celibate either, but relationships are restricted, nevertheless. If Ullori is the prison or forced retreat that you suspect, things might be different there.”
“What will you report back to Virora?”
“I could be called a spy, but I’m sure you knew that before you left the Virora cathedral.”
“Helen suspected. I hadn’t thought about it, but upon reflection, I agreed with her. You mean us, no ill?”
Ferrio laughed. “Of course not. If the eagles lose another feather, especially an eagle feather like the one Penny described, it will only help us out.”
Jack unwrapped his Lajian sword and matching knife.
“Those are what the eagle priestess stole from you?” Ferrio asked. “Those are magnificent.”
“It is what is inside that counts. These are objects of power that I made,” Jack said. “I need to make sure they have full measures of magic. I only had time for a quick examination in Fassira.”
“Bearing two objects is quite a feat,” Ferrio said.
“Actually, there are five different objects,” Jack explained what magic he had imbued in each weapon.
“No one can do such a thing in the church,” Ferrio said. “Some might even think it heretical.”
“There are wizards in Passoran, aren’t there?”
“Many of them have joined the Black Feather Society, especially the most powerful.”
Jack explained what the society had done in Lajia, Tesoria, and Kadellia. “In Corand, they are a nuisance, but they aren’t active in politics.”
“It is about the same in Passoran. The Black Finger Society is more of a social club than a den of rebellion,” Ferrio said. He smiled knowingly. “You don’t have to worry about them.”
Jack didn’t contradict Ferrio, but Jack thought the priest to be naive, not that Jack wasn’t generally naive, but he had first-hand experiences that had erased any naiveté about the Black Fingers. Perhaps the government of Passoran was driving wizards into the arms of the society.
“Does the king of Passoran not like wizards?” Jack asked.
“Not at all. He is a devout follower of Grishel, the true way. We tolerate wizards, you, for instance, but Grishel disdains those who work above the Third Manipulation.”
“And Grishel has told someone in the priesthood this?” Jack asked.
“He doesn’t have to. It is common sense that the god-given power in Passoran comes from the church.”
“And powerful wizards are heretics.” Jack was disappointed that Ferrio was painting such a nasty picture of his sect.
“Right. Present company excluded, of course. You have experienced a positive omen, and that counts for a lot in Virora.”
Ferrio tried to give Jack a reassuring smile, so Jack didn’t ask about Ferrio’s negative omen. In fact, it was way past the time Jack should have directed the conversation elsewhere.
“Does Penny think I am a heretic?” Jack asked.
“Those wouldn’t be the words she used,” Ferrio said. “She discounts all your powers saying that Fasher gave them to you when he resurrected her.”
“Why would Fasher do such a thing? He told me he needed someone else to supplement his power.”
“Not the way Penny describes it. He suffused you with power, and then you collapsed with an overload. That is the only reason you have more power than she does.”
That was news to Jack. “So I am Fasher Tempest’s object of power? He must have extraordinary powers.”
“Penny says he does. Great powers, and he always had had powers, even when he came to live with her mother’s parents.”
“She told you all this?”
“And more. It wasn’t a pleasant ride. Fasher Tempest must be fascinating, if…” Ferrio cut his description off. “You believe that you are an object of power?”
“I don’t know what I am in a magical sense. I have power that I can use. If I’m an object of power, I’m able to generate magic on my own. Maybe all helpers are objects of power. What do you think?”
“It is possible. Helpers are rare enough. Penny refuses to believe that you are one.”
“She knows and accepts what a true helper is?” Jack asked.
Ferrio shook his head sadly. “Not when it comes to you, Jack Winder.”
“I know. I’m an object of hate, and that clouds her mind.”
“I don’t think she exactly hates you. I think she is obsessed with you and that makes her resent everything you do. I think resent is a better word than dislike, even,” Ferrio said.
Obsessed. Jack felt a moment of pity for the girl. He would rathe
r have her hate him than be obsessed. Obsession was creepy, but Jack rubbed lots of people the wrong way, and they hated him. He had no idea what to do about obsession, if anything. It appeared that he would have to have another uncomfortable talk with Helen about Penny.
“I need to work on my weapons,” Jack said.
“Do you use a spell word?”
Jack grunted. “The fewer the spells, the better for me. I just will power into each object. It works well enough. It does require concentration, so I’m afraid our conversation will have to end for the evening.”
Chapter Fourteen
~
A s dawn began to brighten their room, Jack sneaked out and washed up before preparing his horse for travel. He was still uncomfortable with what Ferrio had said. After checking on everyone’s horses, he walked back into the inn. The three others were waiting for breakfast to be served. The common room had few fellow travelers joining them in breakfast.
“Ready for another day?” Helen said. “Is everything ready?”
“It is if you’ve asked the innkeeper about where to stop for food today. Where do we end up?”
“Maltina,” Helen said. “You still have the scrap of paper with the address of the guard’s cousin?”
“You don’t expect to actually hire an eagle for a guide?” Ferrio asked.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Helen said. “I think it is a great idea. We will have the perspectives of the two sects while we engage the Ullori monks.”
“One sect and the true religion,” Ferrio said.
“You can get us into the Ullori monastery?” Jack asked.
Ferrio turned red. “No—”
“So we visit the cousin, at the least,” Helen said. “It won’t do us any harm, will it?”
“I guess not,” Ferrio said, “unless they set up an attack.”
“Which those of your true religion could also do,” Penny said, chiming in for the first time.
Jack smiled at her comment. “Is it time for you to head back to Virora?”
“Is it?” Ferrio asked, a bit testily.
“You decide,” Helen said. “Think about what can we do if you betray us?”
Ferrio actually gulped when Helen said it. “I am just a priest, here to observe.”