by C. Litka
04
I looked about the large, noisy common room of the cave as the Kandivarians filled their plates and found their tables with their mates. Neither MossRose nor TreyMor were to be seen. Hissi and her card-playing pals had their filled plates before them at one of the low tables - having reluctantly set aside their cards and coin purses to eat. I collected my food and joined my companions.
'Any word of Tey Pot?' I asked.
'A messenger, I believe, but we haven't heard what news she brings,' replied Py.
'Certain advocate skills might be called for, brother, if Teacher Tey Pot has failed,' said Naylea thoughtfully, with a glance to Py.
Py paused with a fini lizard leg half raised. He thought for a moment, and then smiled broadly, 'I believe you may be right, sister.'
Trin and I shared a glance. We were both a bit less enthusiastic about that prospect.
The meal drew to its conclusion without MossRose and TreyMor making an appearance. The Kandivarians drifted out, and down to saddle their dragons, as they had after every mid-round meal since we arrived.
'Off to rob some travelers? Or is it brides you're kidnapping this round?' I asked the colorfully dressed and fragrant PisDore as he came out of his quarters on his way to his dragon.
'Neither, I'm afraid,' he laughed. 'If we demand our toll too often, no one would travel the road. And as for brides, trust me, you do that only once, no matter how the affair ends.' He sighed, but then went on, 'Not that I can complain. I picked a gem. No, we're merely off to find a new pasture for our dragons to graze on. It is how we spend most of our lives - watching our dragons eat. The meadow below is grazed to the roots, so we must take our beasts down to the edge of the forest to graze. They eat slowly, so our lives are very dull - we tell each other all our stories again and again, play cards, or nap. Who can blame us for a little banditry every once and a while?
'Luckily my dragon, Ninboba loves to fly, as do I, so we soar far and wide before she finds a meadow to dine on. Then I doze in the saddle while she eats. It is a simple life we lead - very much in harmony with Tey Pot's way. Whether we like it or not.'
MossRose's eyes were red from crying. Crying with both hurt and anger. The messenger brought unofficial word that her father had insisted to Tey Pot that he would not pay a copper coin for her return. And he had, as MossRoss feared, confined his old friend to an apartment in the palace-fortress, with a lock on the outside of the door. The messenger was an unofficial one, a highly placed servant, one of the many citizens of Zandival Province who had Kandivar relatives, and were on good terms with them. I gathered that TreyMor and his father were far from the only Kandivarians who carried off Dajarain brides. It had been common practice since time forgotten. As a result, Kandivar had a lot of relatives living on the Zandival plains, and many working in the palace.
TreyMor had tried to comfort her, but she was too angry, too ashamed to be comforted.
'And now Uncle Tey Pot is in a soft prison for who knows how long! All because of me!'
'Perhaps we can be of help in that matter,' said Naylea slowly, with a glance to Py.
MossRose stopped her pacing and looked to her. 'You have an idea that might free him?'
Naylea nodded. 'Brother LinPy and I are advocates in our home islands?' she began, and then briefly explained their roles and the last resort solution of kidnapping the uncooperative oppressor. '...So you see, we have some experience in spiriting people away from palaces and fortresses. We'd need clothes that would go unremarked in the palace and I, a broad-feathered wig. Then, with a map of the palace, and suggestions from your agent as to how to reach Tey Pot and then make off with him, I am confident that LinPy and I can free Tey Pot.'
MossRose stared at Naylea for several moments, her face brightening with hope. She clapped her hands and exclaimed, 'Clothes and a wig will be no problem. As for aid and a map, I will accompany you myself. I know the palace as well as I know my face in a glass. Moreover, I know not only all the rarely used passages in the lower palace, but the secret passages between the chambers that are used for spying and escape. No doubt one of those leads directly to Tey Pot's quarters. With me along - suitably disguised - we could free Tey Pot and slip out during the sleep watch without any risk at all!'
She stopped and then laughed. 'But we shall do more than that! We shall kidnap my father as well and bring him here! There is a secret escape passage from his sleep chamber that we can use to reach him undetected. It would be no more dangerous than freeing Uncle Tey Pot. Once we have Father here, we shall give him a choice - my 2,000 gold coins, or a life on the steppes of Kandivar, where he'll never touch a gold coin again! Let me think for a moment,' She exclaimed, and paused to examine the implications more soberly.
'I see no flaw,' she said, after only a minute of thought. 'I know the ways of the palace and how to avoid detection. I have moved at will about the palace undetected since I was a young girl. Father, of course, would be unwilling to go with us, but if you can subdue and silence him - without hurting him too much - then I see no problems, and little risk. Will you do that for me? For my honor? Why with my dowry, Tey Pot can marry us here on the Dajara side and then, my dear,' she added turning to TreyMor with a bright smile, 'You can bring your stolen bride home and we can be married again in Kandivar!'
'You'll not go to Zandival,' he replied. 'The Laezans can, if they wish, free Tey Pot. He is one of them. Our agents in the palace will do all they can to aid their effort. They do not need you along. And I've no need for the cursed gold. I have you and that's enough.'
'You won't have me, until you have my cursed gold,' she laughed, undaunted. 'And I won't have my gold unless we bring my miserly father here. I'm certain that faced with the loss of all his coins, he must relent and release mine! And only I know the secret passages that will make his kidnapping easy. If I'm to be the a Kandivar Chieftain's wife, should I not begin my new life with a kidnapping? If you want me, you'll have to let me go. Not that you can forbid me from going. I believe we have settled that already.'
He gave her a long, measuring look. She may've flashed that glint of steel in her eyes. He shrugged, and said, 'Yes, my dear.' And then turning to Naylea and Py, he added. 'Keep her from doing anything foolish - keep her safe.'
'We haven't agreed to take her along,' said Naylea, carefully. 'She could be of some value, but only if she puts herself under our command. But, if she wants to act like the daughter of the Governor and the bride of the Chieftain of Kandivar, then she'd best stay here. LinPy and I know our trade. We may have use for a guide, but only a guide.' This last remark was directed at MossRose, and she may've flashed a little of the cold steel her eyes could display as well.
MossRose smiled sweetly and nodded. 'On my word of honor. You are the expert kidnappers, and I the expert guide to the secret ways of the Palace of Zandival. If each of us does our part, we cannot fail!'
'I would like to go as well,' said Trin with a glance to Py and then to MossRose. 'I have experience in similar missions during our efforts to save the loyal servants of the true Empress from the prisons of the usurper. If we're to bring off a prisoner, unconscious or otherwise, another agent would be useful - if only to guard the escape route.'
'We'll free Tey Pot first so we'd already be a team of four?' began Naylea, but changed course and said with a smile and a nod, 'Still, as you say, an extra agent might come in handy to guard our backs.'
I suspect that her change of course had to do with seeing brother Py partnered with Trin - giving her a chance to show her skills and courage and perhaps, to look after Py as well, rather than for any real need for an extra hand. The ever cheerful, boyish Py, I must admit, can easily be mistaken for a simple youth of no experience, someone who should not be allowed on a potentially dangerous mission unsupervised. It is easy to underestimate LinPy.
I will confess that I didn't like the way this discussion was lifting. I didn't like it at all, but I saw no choice. I had my pride. 'Then
we'll all go, except the dragons.'
'By the Black Dragon, no! You'll stay here and out of the way, Litang!' laughed Naylea. 'You are the last person I want along.'
'And, why, by the Black Dragon, should I not go as well?'
'Because your strange charisma, or karma, or luck, or whatever it is, always attracts trouble. No, we want you far, far away from our mission!'
Before I could reply, TreyMor said, 'It might be best if we kept at least one of you here, just to keep everyone honest. I'm trusting you with my beloved. I would like a guarantee that you will return with her.'
'You can have our word that we'll return. And the dragons,' I said and added, looking to Naylea, 'It's all or none of us. We're shipmates. We'll do this together or not at all.'
'It is your shipmate who doesn't want you along,' TreyMor pointed out.
'That's just her sense of humor?'
'Ha!' snorted Naylea.
'See. It amuses her to blame me whenever an unexpected event happens. For example, if a giant green snake crushes our boat in the floating jungle, it's somehow my fault. There is no logic in it, so you needn't pay any attention to her objections. Indeed, I think you might want me to be involved in the planning and execution of the mission. Look at them. You can see the eagerness in their faces. It's a game for them. A game to outwit the guards, and to play hide and seek in the palace. They're thinking it will be fun.
'Now neither you nor I see it that way. Its is a serious matter. A deadly game that must be planned and executed with great caution. If something goes wrong?'
'It will be your fault,' Naylea muttered.
'? Someone - or everyone - might get killed. You want someone like me to see that every precaution is taken, all avoidable risks are avoided, especially since MossRose's life is one of the lives at stake.'
'LinPy and I are trained advocates,' said Naylea. 'TrinNatta is an experienced soldier. Litang, on the other hand, is a trading ship captain. LinPy TrinNatta and myself, with MossRose as a guide can free Tey Pot and capture the Governor. That's all we need. Using more people than we need will only slow us down and make things more dangerous than they have to be.'
I watched Naylea, trying to read her eyes to find the true meaning of her objections. Did she doubt my courage - my ability to operate under stress? Or was she concerned for my safety? Her eyes told me nothing - she had learned to guard them, when she cared to. Or perhaps it was simply a matter of not knowing how she felt about me that clouded my eyes.
I looked back to TreyMor, who was regarding me thoughtfully. 'Naylea is merely concerned for my safety,' I said, if only to dare her to deny it. 'But neither she nor you need to be concerned about me. I don't wish to boast, but though a mere trader ship's captain I've outfought and outwitted many different enemies, including a very determined assassin?' this with a glance to Naylea, who smiled. 'I've held off and escaped from a dozen pirate ships, I've led a powerful, pursuing warship onto the rocks. I've destroyed three determined pirate ships in less than a minute. I've escaped a mutiny, and then recaptured the ship. We all go as a team, or none of us goes,' I added, what I hoped to be the final word, in my finest captain's - or was it chief engineer's? - arrogant voice.
'Oh, you can guard the lopemounts, Litang,' said Naylea, with a sigh. 'Far, far away.'
'That suits me just fine - as long as I'm included in the planning.'
And so it was settled.
'Why did you object to my coming along on the mission?' I asked Naylea, when we had a moment alone.
She sighed. 'Because you didn't want to come. And because I am a professional, just as you are. Your profession is running a ship, or an engine, or whatever. Mine is as a thief. If I'm to steal a Governor, I should be allowed to do so in a manner that best assures success. MossRose, a freed Tey Pot, and I could get the job done, but that would create ill feelings. I must presume Py is a professional despite his demeanor, and so I could not go without him. As for Natta, well, this is her chance to show her daring and bravery to Py - and to look after him, if need be. Besides, leaving someone behind to guard our escape route is useful. But there is no place in the mission for anyone else. Trust me. It is my profession.'
'You give way to Trin's concern, but not mine.'
'Your concern is unwarranted. We'll have to see about Natta's.'
'My concern for you, unwarranted or not, is real.'
She smiled, 'You're sweet. But you're a chump.'
Sweet. I'd settle for that. For now.
Chapter 43 The Palace of Zandival