by Guy Antibes
“Ralinn couldn’t do much better,” Jack said. “It also took her a few weeks to learn. You did it in a day with the aid of the knife. I wouldn’t have expected it.”
“That is a compliment, from you?”
Jack nodded. “It deserves a compliment. Now you have two objects of power: a wizard bolt thrower and a knife that keeps you invisible.”
She frowned. “I hope I don’t have to use the wizard bolts, but the invisibility is wonderful.” Penny said.
“Don’t practice too much,” Jack said. “You’ll draw too much power from the knife, and then I’ll have to recharge the magic.”
“Same with the wand?”
Jack nodded. “I am Fasher’s recharger, remember?”
Penny’s face dropped. “We have to keep our focus on retrieving the feather.”
Helen knocked on the door. “Are you two lovebirds ready to fly?”
Jack opened the door. “Penny has something to show you.”
After Penny’s demonstration, they left the inn. At Helen’s request, Ferrio went to the hawk-sect church to report while they sought out the cousin.
After asking for directions a few times, they stood in front of a leather goods shop. Jack checked the address and let the two women enter before him. He looked around, and before entering, he spotted Ferrio’s head poking out from an alleyway.
Jack nodded toward the priest before he went in. His first thought was of the smell of leather. It permeated the entire shop, and he liked it. Penny, on the other hand, had a pinched face that likely indicated she didn’t like the odor.
“Don’t you like the smell of leather?” Jack asked, using their telepathic link.
“A little goes a long way. It is suffocating in here,” Penny thought. “Don’t talk to me,” she said out loud.
Jack just smiled and examined the goods offered for sale. Horse-related goods, including a handsome saddle, took up half the shop, and the other was made up of household goods like belts and coin purses.
An older woman poked her head into the shop from the back. “Can I help you?” She stepped inside. Her hands were stained, likely from applying leather treatment.
“I’m looking for,” Jack looked down at the paper, “Sammo Torito.”
The woman sighed. “He is at the tannery with his brother and sister.”
“He lives here?” Helen asked.
“Among the other places he chooses to lay his head at night. Why are you seeking him?”
“We met his cousin, the patroller, in the jumbles. We have business at the Ullori monastery, and Sammo was referred to as a guide.”
The woman shook her head ruefully. “He is as good as anyone. Be prepared for anything. Sammo is my youngest and a character.”
“Great. People have called me a character, too, so we should get along.” Jack smiled and scratched his head.
“Those bracers. They are unique. You didn’t get those in Passoran, did you?”
“Tesoria. A mountain clan made them for me.”
“Very nice. I recognize excellent work when I see it.”
Jack looked around the place. “All I see is excellent work,” he said, and he meant it, but Jack knew his eye wasn’t the most discerning.
“I agree,” Helen said. “Can you give us directions to the tannery?”
The woman complied. Penny bought a coin purse she especially liked before they left. Ferrio stood across the street, leaning against a square pillar.
“This way,” Jack said, calling from his side of the street. “We will let you meet our guides.”
Ferrio grinned and joined them. The tannery was at the edge of Maltina, but it was on the same side of town as the shop. They walked for a while. Jack could smell the tannery before Penny. If she didn’t like the shop, she definitely wouldn’t enjoy walking around the tannery.
“This stinks,” Penny said.
“It does at that,” Helen said, rubbing her nose. “We won’t be here long. If you want to stay outside with Ferrio, that would be wonderful.”
“Outside?” Ferrio asked.
“Yes,” Helen said, putting her arm through Jack’s as they walked into the leather-making yard.
A young man a bit older than Jack stopped them. “Do you have business with the Toritos? If you do, our shop is in town.”
“We are looking for Sammo.”
The man broke into a smile and bowed deeply to them, putting his splayed hand to his chest as he did so. His longish hair covered his face as he straightened up. He tossed it aside in a practiced fashion. Jack involuntarily ran his hand through his shortish hair.
“And why would you seek me out?”
“Your cousin, the jumble guard, suggested that you might be able to help us get to the Ullori monastery.”
“I can if properly motivated.” The man rubbed his fingers together. “At least a night in the tavern in Maltina. Cover my bill and my brother and sister, and I am yours.”
Jack looked at Helen, who nodded. “I suppose we can struggle to accept that,” Jack said. “We are staying in the smaller of the two inns facing the central square.”
“Perfect. The owner knows us. We will be there tonight to finalize the transaction if you are acceptable to my siblings. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some work to do before the fun tonight.” He grinned and winked at Helen before he strutted off.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be able to handle him,” Helen said. She looked back into the yard as they approached Ferrio and Penny. “The mother was correct. Sammo is a character.” Helen turned back to the rest. “We meet in the common room tonight to drink a bit.”
Jack noticed she didn’t mention the kind of drinking Sammo expected, an evening of fun. Jack knew what that meant.
They returned to the inn. Penny went upstairs with Helen to work on figuring out what to do with the invisibility spell. Jack secured an empty rocking chair and did some people watching. He grabbed his knife and cleaned underneath his fingernails while trying to pump power into the blade. He had the same invisibility spell in his knife that Penny had, but Jack knew what to do with the spell well enough that he didn’t have to play with it like Penny did.
He pulled out a few pages of his wizardry notes and began to read. Jack had convinced himself that practicing everything that the manual talked about could be dangerous, but when Fasher prohibited him from taking his objects of power, he decided he might be able to pick some additional protection out of the manual. That was his thinking anyway. After he did the transcriptions, he could hardly remember what he wrote, but now he had some spare minutes to look more closely at the meaning of each section. He had to since the words were harder to read.
Jack struggled through the pages and found a section on repairing unexpected spells. He started at the beginning of the chapter, but the repairing part was more about perfecting technique. He closed the book, closed his eyes, and leaned back. If he couldn’t get Penny out of his head before Fasher returned, he would have to humble himself and seek out Fasher’s help.
Someone kicked his foot. Jack opened his eyes and sat up, looking at Sammo and two others. He stood. “Your brother and sister?” Jack asked.
“Yep,” Sammo said grinning. “We are here for a good time.”
Jack looked at the sun, still shining on the roofs and coverings of the market. “Isn’t it a little early?”
“That just gives us more time to have fun,” the other brother said. He rubbed his hands. “Let’s get started.”
Jack stood taller than the Torito siblings. “Then let’s get going.” He followed the three into the common room.
“How many of you?” Sammo asked.
“Four. Two women and a Passoranian. We are from Corand. Perhaps we can tell you our story before the night begins,” Jack said with a smile.
They picked a trestle table large enough for the party. The Toritos sat and basically ignored Jack after they ordered, so he padded upstairs to collect the group.
He knocked on the door to th
e room he shared with Ferrio and walked in.
“Our guests are downstairs.”
“I will eat my dinner in the room,” Ferrio said. “I don’t want to get into an argument with three people from the eagle sect.”
“How do you know they aren’t hawks?”
Ferrio glared at Jack. “The true church, if you don’t mind.”
“Whatever,” Jack said shrugging. “I’ll tell them you decided to remain in your room. I suppose you don’t want me to tell them you are a priest?”
“Don’t tell them. Just say you met me in Virora.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “I guess I can do that.”
He left Ferrio and fetched Helen and Penny, who looked a little haggard.
“Been hard at it?” Jack asked.
Penny grunted. “He doesn’t know how hard it is.”
“Yes, I do,” Jack said. “I’ve had instances where I’ve used up most of my power.” He didn’t tell her about how depleted he felt when he teleported from Lajia.
“You teleported all the way? I thought you took a ship before Tanner and Helen,” Penny said.
“You heard my thoughts?”
She nodded, giving Jack an astonished look.
“It was the orb. That is how it lost all its power,” Jack said.
“Oh. Fasher punished you for that.”
“He did. Let’s go to the common room.”
The Torito siblings already had two tankards apiece littering the table.
“One didn’t make it?” Sammo said.
Jack nodded. “Why don’t we make some introductions? I’m Jack Winder. This is Penny Ephram, Fasher Tempest’s apprentice, and this is Helen Rafter, a woman-at-arms.”
“Nice arms,” the older brother said. “I’m Carlo, this is Barria, my sister, and you already know Sammo.”
“Before you are too far gone, how can you help us find the Ullori monastery?” Helen asked.
“We will take you, all three of us. Father has apprentices who will work while we are gone. Sometimes a person needs a little adventure,” Sammo said.
“Adventure?” Helen asked. “All you have to do is tell us the way.”
“No.” Sammo waved a partially inebriated finger at them. “Getting to Ullori isn’t easy, coming or going. That is why the priestesses put their special cases in the monastery. Most people won’t make the trip. Are you sure you want to go?”
Helen nodded. “It is a matter of life or death.”
Carlo smiled and blinked slowly. “Getting there is the same. We are willing to risk it because we are Toritos.” He looked at Barria and Sammo. “Are we not?”
They all raised tankards and tried to take a drink, but their mugs were empty.
Jack surmised that most of what Sammo said was boasting, but he’d let them have their fun if they joined them.
“Barmaid!” Barria said raising her tankard.
Jack guessed that the sister was more like Helen than anyone else. She had the same self-assured posture.
The Toritos had another set of mugs in front of them, but Penny, Helen, and Jack ordered food along with ale for Helen and Jack and fruit juice for Penny. She remained leery of the spicy Passoranian food.
After that round, Jack didn’t expect to get anything coherent from the siblings, but Helen kept pressing them. She finally asked if they had any good stories about their trips to the monastery.
Carlo took Helen’s bait.
“A Corandian merchant who had successfully sold robes to priests in towns and villages in western Passoran heard about Ullori. He figured that if it were a prison of sorts, the monks and captive priests would be going through robes at a pretty good rate, so he showed up here and asked around. He had robes in his wagon, but he didn’t have enough belts, so he found our leather shop by asking around and mentioned that he was headed to Ullori. Mother pointed him my way, so I guided him all the way to the monastery. It wasn’t easy. I wish I would have had Barria and Sammo at my side. Right?”
Barria and Sammo both nodded. Sammo belched. “I wish I was there—”
“Don’t you go spoiling my story,” Carlo said.
Sammo clapped his hand to his mouth.
Carlo nodded and blinked hard a few times, clearing out some alcoholic cobwebs. “We get to the gate, and the prioress herself comes out. That doesn’t always happen, not when we show up or anyone other than the clergy. She beckons the merchant inside and closes the door on me.”
“That’s the story?” Penny asked.
Carlo shook his head. “I’ve been up there enough times in my life. I climbed the walls, which are old and craggy enough to make it easy to climb up. You can’t go over, or you’ll get zapped. Right, Sammo?”
“Right, brother,” Sammo said. “Once I nearly died from the monastery’s defense.”
Carlo nodded this time. “So I peek over to see what’s going on. The merchant and the prioress were haggling for the robes. They arrive at a price, and the merchant tosses a bale of robes from his wagon. One of the priests opens it up and guess what?”
Jack thought he knew and smiled.
“The robes were for hawk-sect priests!” Penny blurted out.
Jack turned to her. She had picked the very words from Jack’s brain. If Jack learned anything spending nights at the Raker Falls pub he frequented, one never finished another person’s story. He sighed.
“I’ve done something wrong?” Penny said, cheeks red.
Helen looked at Jack with raised eyebrows. Jack leaned over and took a sip of Penny’s fruit juice. It was mostly alcohol, and the apprentice was as inebriated as the Toritos.
Carlo looked frog-eyed at Penny.
Jack shook the man’s shoulder. “What happened? I won’t be able to sleep tonight without knowing.” He had to get him talking to save some face.
Carlo turned to Jack and smiled. “Good. The robes were, as the young lady said, purple. There were even a few white-feathered cloaks. I laughed so hard I fell off the wall and turned my ankle. The priests beat the merchant, but they offloaded the robes and kicked him out of the monastery. He wasn’t in any position to drive, and I wasn’t in any condition to walk, so I drove him back to the closest village, where the healer had to work on him for a few days. Luckily, the bandits that infest the mountains were out pillaging, murdering, and performing foul deeds elsewhere, and I made it back to tell the tale.”
“There is no tolerance of hawk-sect Grishelians?”
Sammo shook his head. “None at all. However, Carlo can tell you the rest of the story.”
“There is more?” Penny said.
Carlo winked at Penny and nodded. “Two months later the merchant returned with another load. He sold all he made to the prioress. He told me he had to do a bit more research to find out what those in the monastery wore. He had traveled all the way to Fassira to find out. He charged the prioress enough to make more on that load to make up his loss from before.”
“He still had to endure the beating,” Helen said, “but he was a merchant, so he probably counted it as a cost to figure out his profit.”
Carlo nodded his head vigorously.
“Preparation is the moral to the story,” Jack said.
“Moral? There is a moral to my story? I just thought it was funny,” Carlo said.
“Oh, it was,” Jack said. It was pretty boring, Jack thought.
“It wasn’t boring, Jack. I thought it was cute,” Penny said with a pronounced slur.
Helen got up. “You are talking nonsense, Penny,” she said as she helped Penny to her feet and up the stairs.
Barria stared at Jack. “If I didn’t know any better, she responded to what you were thinking.”
Jack laughed, feeling exposed inside. “She babbles on like that and makes it appear that she is talking to other people when she’s drunk.”
Barria looked up at the barmaid delivering another round. “I suppose so,” she said just before gulping more ale.
Chapter Sixteen
~
H elen and Jack looked at the drooping heads riding in front of them. Ferrio consented to ride next to Penny to make sure she didn’t fall off her horse.
“We need to prepare for our encounter with the prioress,” Jack said. “That merchant blundered in and was beaten for it, assuming of course, that the story wasn’t a complete lie.”
“If you want any chance to borrow their feather, I agree.”
“Even stealing it will involve knowing more than we do now. When the Toritos are fully awake, we will have to get more information out of them without telling them about the feather,” Jack said.
“They might want more than a good time getting fully soused at the inn. I’m not sure I trust them.”
“You know about me and trust.”
“I do, but you are learning.”
Penny stopped her horse and staggered behind a bush. The others stopped. The Toritos laughed as they heard her retching. Carlo’s eyes bulged, and he found another bush to join her. That made the other two laugh even harder.
When they resumed their journey, Penny didn’t look very perky at all, not that she ever looked perky, Jack thought.
“I can when I’m in the right mood!” she yelled to him and put her hand to her forehead immediately after.
Jack shook his head. He couldn’t go on for long like this. As they rode, he pulled out his wizardry notes, and frantically tried to find something on telepathic communication. He thought he wrote something about it, but there wasn’t much. He did find a spell that shielded the wizard who wielded it from being overheard.
Jack grinned. He wouldn’t tell Penny, at least not yet. It had been a while since he had pranked anyone and this would count, for him anyway, since his opportunities had been few. He concentrated on a metal helmet that didn’t allow thoughts to penetrate and said, “Shield.” This time he felt the spell slip into place.
He focused on Penny and said, “Are you feeling all right?”
There was no response. Jack released the spell. “Are you feeling all right?”
“What do you think?” Penny said, returning his thought. “Did you put the alcohol in my drinks?” she said accusingly.