The Warded Box

by Guy Antibes

  Jack thought of the shredded shirt he still wore. He wished they didn’t have to leave as soon as his business with Pakara Jimaroon was completed. Jack would have liked to spend a few days seeing what Yellowbird had to offer. Maybe the farmers brewed some unique ale. He wasn’t as repelled by market towns as Ralinn. Her aversion to the place confirmed that she was from Gameton, which made her comment about her schooling confirm her noble birth even more.

  “How am I going to find Pakara Jimaroon?” Jack said.

  “Is that her name? You’ve kept it secret.”

  He shrugged. “Eldora only said she lives in Yellowbird and I have no idea how to find her.”

  “If Eldora mentioned her by name, she is likely a priestess, so I would start at the temple,” Ralinn said.

  “You can go with me?” Jack said.

  Her eyes crinkled. “I can do that. I’m sure there…” She stopped her comment. “Of course.”

  Jack didn’t know what she was going to say, but he wished he knew. “We will go first thing tomorrow.”

  “Temples don’t open up until after midday,” Ralinn said.

  “Then second or third thing tomorrow,” Jack said. He was gratified to hear her laugh.

  Tanner stopped four people, and two of them recommended the same inn, so that was where they would go. They rode into the stable yard. The boys were busy with people leaving, it seemed to Jack.

  “There will be rooms?” Tanner asked the man who supervised the boys.

  “You might be able to take your pick. The town is emptying out, but there may be others taking their places.”

  “What others?”

  “Most folks think a siege is in the offing.”

  “Panderites, about a thousand of them, have set up a camp a few hours from the city,” Tanner said. “They said they are positioned to keep evacuees out of their territory.”

  The stableman shook his head. “You believed them?”

  “I am telling you what they told me. I wouldn’t think a thousand men would be needed to turn back Yellowbird citizens,” Tanner said.

  “They had supply wagons?” the man said.

  “Wagons and wizards, about a hundred of them, all uniformed,” Jack said.

  The man shivered. “I won’t leave Yellowbird. All of my family lives here. Most of us are staying.”

  The boys had finished with the departees. Jack dismounted along with the others and took his things into the inn. It looked nice enough on the inside.

  Tanner gave much the same information to the innkeeper, who seemed more interested in the number of troops and wizards.

  “I hope that doesn’t mean they will be fighting the Black Finger Society,” the innkeeper said.

  “Are there Black Fingers in Yellowbird?” Jack asked.

  “Everyone is in Yellowbird. There are plenty of Panderites living in the city too. That is what free cities are, open to everyone, but it looks like the free part is at risk of disappearing,” the innkeeper said. “How long will you be staying?”

  “We have to meet up with someone before moving on. Maybe two nights, but if our contact is found tomorrow, we will likely leave tomorrow.”

  The innkeeper looked at the five of them. “Pay for two nights, and I’ll refund your money if you leave early. Otherwise, I might have to sell your rooms tomorrow. The smart people are leaving today, and the dumb people who want to fight for their factions will be arriving tomorrow if what I hear is correct.”

  “No one will be coming from the west,” Tanner said.

  “People always find a way,” the innkeeper said.

  ~

  Helen, Lark, and Ralinn went off to buy the wizard new shoes at a shop the innkeeper suggested. That left Jack and Tanner heading to one of the big markets in the city.

  Jack didn’t mind market clothes, and Tanner was after something nicer to wear in Gameton. Tanner kept telling people about the Panderite encampment and continued to do that to get more information about what the residents thought would happen. They all thought there would be fighting in the streets. None expected a siege.

  “So Yellowbird is a lost cause?” Jack asked as he tried on a heavy tunic that he could wear over his cuirass. “How do I look?”

  “With your eyes, boy,” Tanner said. “I may buy one of those myself, but if I do, I’ll need another set of saddlebags. You might, as well.”

  They continued to talk and walk through the market. Jack found a nice shirt and breeches with long stockings.

  “Court clothes,” Tanner said, buying a different color and style of both.

  Jack grabbed some sausages, and Tanner grabbed a sack of soft candy.

  “One can never be too sweet,” He said, showing his teeth in a humorless grin.

  Jack laughed. They bought their saddlebags and stuffed their purchases in them, returning to the inn. Jack put his purchases away and sat on his bed. It was still an hour before midday, so Jack grabbed his bracers, so he could turn them into objects of power. Tanner had gone downstairs to seek out a better map for the journey to Gameton and Wilton.

  He would put fire protection in one and an anti-coercion spell on the other. He wouldn’t need to do any pointing, so he sat holding the first one. He took a few deep breaths and gathered his power and his will and tried to imbue the bracer with the anti-coercion spell.

  He felt the familiar resistance and pushed to get past it, but something was keeping the spell from moving into the bracer. Suddenly there was burning at his chest. He gasped as he touched the blue box. He wrapped it in his hand, ready to rip it off the leather strap that held it next to the Serpent’s Orb, but the effort was too much, and he could feel a familiar blackness surround him.

  The dark dissipated, and Jack stood in front of Eldora again.

  “I didn’t expect to see you again,” Jack said.

  The goddess laughed. “You really aren’t one of my worshippers, are you? Anyone else would be groveling at my feet.”

  “Do you want me to grovel?” Jack asked.

  “Of course not. I could feel you try to imbue one of your possessions and stopped you from doing that.”

  “It is protection for me and those I travel with,” Jack said.

  “I will do the imbuing. The bracer with a red edge will be water. You can use ‘water’ for the trigger word. The other bracer will have a blue edge. You use the trigger word ‘ice,’ and the water you produce with the red bracer will freeze as soon as it hits something.”

  “Will the water create a flood?”

  “No,” Eldora said matter-of-factly. “It will flow like water coming out of one of your pumps.”

  “But I wanted protection.”

  “Your power is your protection. The bone ‘River’ and the orb will give you more than enough magic to protect yourself.”

  “Do you know where the orb came from?” Jack asked.

  Eldora smiled. “Not for you to know right now,” she said. “Perhaps you will learn on your own. Pakara is still in the city, but you must find her this afternoon and protect her. She will accompany you to Gameton.”

  “I can find her through your temple?”

  Eldora nodded. “If she dies, Tesoria will cease to exist as a country. There are angry forces tearing the country apart.”

  “I’ve seen it.”

  Eldora laughed, but it carried a tinge of sadness. “You have had a taste, but you will understand even better when you get to Gameton.” She walked closer to Jack and kissed him on the other cheek.

  Jack groaned. “Another bruise?”

  “They aren’t bruises. You have my interests at heart. I know it. Good luck. I can help you no more.”

  “Unless you need more of my help,” Jack said.

  She smiled. “Of course. I am a goddess, after all.”

  The blackness returned, and Jack woke, looking up at the ceiling. The bracers were at his feet. A dark red band was at the wrist of one, and a dark blue band circled the other. Jack blinked a bit, digesting what Eldora had sa
id. His eyebrows shot up, and he went to the washstand to look in the mirror. He lifted his veil, and there was a fresh pair of lip prints exactly on the other side of his face.

  He groaned as he dipped a cloth in water and began to wipe off the worst of the heavenly lip rouge. Now he had two bruises. How would he explain his disfigurement to the girls of Raker Falls, if he lived to return?

  Tanner walked in, so Jack jumped up, covering his face.

  “I’ve seen the mark before, so don’t get so sensitive,” Tanner said.

  Jack pulled the washcloth from his face, revealing his new bruise.

  “Another vision?”

  Jack nodded. “We have to find Pakara Jimaroon this afternoon, and then we have to protect her while we head south to Gameton.”

  “Another person?”

  Jack nodded.

  “I’ll find a horse. If she doesn’t come with us, we can put our saddlebags on it,” Tanner said. “Get that veil back on. The others have returned and are hungry.”

  “I lost my appetite,” Jack said.

  “Put up a good show. I’m sure you are up to it.”

  ~

  Jack rubbed his sweaty palms on the front of his new shirt. He wore his newly imbued bracers, objects of power made by a goddess. Jack now carried three divine objects of power, not including Takia’s Cup, but he shook his head. He would rather not have them and be back in Raker Falls engaged in simple errands for Fasher Tempest.

  Ralinn took a hand and looked at it. “Nervous?”

  Jack nodded. “I am, but let’s get this over with.”

  He looked up at the imposing structure of the largest temple of Eldora that he had seen.

  “Keep your veil on,” Ralinn said. “They might never let you go with the blue lip marks on your face.”

  “Especially now,” Jack said, He looked at Ralinn, “If she isn’t in the temple we will have to hurry and find her. Yellowbird is about to burn.”

  “Right,” Ralinn said.

  They walked in. A priestess immediately stopped them. “We won’t be holding services today or in the near future, you understand. Feel free to walk around, though.”

  Jack pulled on Ralinn’s hand as they walked through the temple. This was set up more like a cathedral to Alderach. A huge statue of Eldora stood at the end.

  “That isn’t accurate,” Jack said.

  “As if…” Ralinn looked at Jack. “You do know, don’t you?”

  Jack nodded, “but I don’t know if she has different aspects. Alderach can be a cow or a bull.”

  He realized he was way too intimate with two gods. He hadn’t met Takia, but he had one of her relics, and he had been called a Takia’s font rather than a wizard’s helper. He really wanted to be Jack Winder. That was good enough for him.

  Another priestess came up to them. “Do you have any questions? You look like you aren’t from Yellowbird.” She looked at Jack’s imbued bracers. “I am from Corand,” Jack said. “I was asked to find someone. She might be, or have been, a priestess here.”

  “Her name?”

  “Pakara Jimaroon,” Jack said.

  The woman turned pale. “Few know her by that name,” she said. “How did you come by it?”

  “I got it from a woman who knows her.”

  “I can’t break a confidence. We have all sworn to keep her existence a secret. I don’t know where you got the name.”

  Jack looked at the statue of Eldora. “You might not believe this, but…” He lifted the veil from his face. Ralinn gasped along with the priestess.

  “Eldora-kissed,” she said in a near whisper.

  “She gave me the name, herself,” Jack said. He covered his face.

  “He also has one of Eldora’s Bones, if you need further proof.”

  Jack unbuttoned his shirt and showed her the tiny bone box. He touched it, and it turned deep blue.

  “I didn’t, but I believe you now. The woman you seek is Corina Bell. She no longer serves after being Eldora-touched, herself. I never thought I would meet two in my lifetime. She lives on Horseapple Street. I don’t know exactly where.”

  They asked around and found that Horseapple Street was closer to their inn.

  “Horseapple Street,” Jack said with a grin. “What a crazy name.”

  “What is so crazy about it? I like Horse apples.”

  “Do you know what a horse apple is?” Jack asked.

  “It is a large apple grown in orchards close to Wilton. You might enjoy one when we arrive there.”

  “Really?” Jack said. “In Corand, a horse apple is something that horses produce.”

  “What?”

  “There are some there,” Jack pointed to a few littering the cobblestones.

  Ralinn laughed and leaned into Jack and gently pushed him. “A cultural difference,” she said.

  Jack was surprised by her contact. If a girl did that in Raker Falls, it would be called flirting. He wondered if he were experiencing cultural differences. She had held his hand in the temple, but he didn’t know if it meant anything. Jack’s opinion hadn’t changed. Ralinn still was a beautiful girl.

  They stood at the top of Horseapple Street. It wasn’t more than ten houses long on a side. He stopped a man walking out of the street.

  “I’m looking for Corina Bell.”

  “That house over there.” The man pointed to one of the ten on the west side. They looked alike to Jack.

  He took a deep breath and crossed the street. Ralinn took his hand again. Her eyes crinkled, so he imagined her smiling. She squeezed it as he knocked on the door.

  Jack didn’t know what to expect, but an attractive woman older than all of them looked from the door.

  “Pakara Jimaroon?”

  Corina looked both ways down the street and ushered them into her house. She looked at Jack and at Ralinn.

  “Which of you were given that name?”

  “Me,” Jack said.

  “A man?” She looked surprised. “Who gave it to you?”

  Jack raised the veil.

  Corina bit on a knuckle. “Eldora’s kiss. You are a man, and you have two.”

  “She appeared to me twice. The first time she gave me your name—”

  “It isn’t my name, but a code for me to know that whoever used it is her messenger.”

  “You aren’t going to be Eldora’s messenger,” Jack said. “You are to be my guide.” He looked at Ralinn and took a deep breath. “I have to do something in the Sanctuary of the Wild River.”

  Corina shook her head. “Can’t be done. It is too dangerous. You don’t have what it takes to do anything in the sanctuary.”

  Jack pulled the box out of his pocket. “I have the River bone.”

  Corina couldn’t help but smile. “Really? Show me.”

  Jack offered the box to her, but she lifted open hands into the air. “I cannot touch it,” she said, “but you can. You are Eldora’s.”

  “That remains to be seen,” Jack said. “I am her tool, it seems.” He lifted the lid on the tiny box and showed the bone. He snapped it shut and put it back into his pocket. He would attach it to the orb when he returned to the inn.

  “I am to dip the bone in the sanctuary, so I assume it has a pool or something in it.”

  “Rumor has it that the sanctuary is surrounded by a room of fire,” Corina said. “I was shown most of the way there when I stayed a year at Eldora’s temple in Gameton, but I don’t know how you can get through the traps.”

  “Leave that to me,” Jack said. He wanted to gulp. This was no easy task, he thought. “I have a few tools to use. Eldora told me that you would have to come with us.”

  “Impossible,” Corina said. “My house is here in Yellowbird.”

  “Then it will be here when you get back,” Jack said. “She was insistent that you come with us. How soon can you leave?”

  “I will need two days to arrange my affairs. I just can’t leave immediately.”

  “The city is about to erupt with violence
,” Ralinn said.

  “I know,” Corina said, “but I have responsibilities to my faction.”

  “Faction? Aren’t you a sister?” Jack asked.

  “Former sister. I am affiliated with the Eastern Ridge insurgency. I grew up in that region. The eruption, as you call it, will start tomorrow morning. I have things I must do before I leave my people behind.”

  “But Eldora…” Ralinn said.

  “She visited me just before I left the temple and told me I would have to obey whoever came to me with the name of Pakara Jimaroon.” She lifted her arm and twisted her wrist pulling back the sleeve of her dress revealing a blue bruise.

  “Eldora’s kiss,” Jack said. “But you said you had to obey me.”

  “I did, but I can determine when I will obey. Eldora didn’t give me any further instructions. I will obey you the day after tomorrow. Are we taking a carriage?”

  “Riding,” Ralinn said.

  Corina winced. “That will change my wardrobe.”

  “Do you have a horse?”

  “Heaven’s no! Make sure you have a packhorse. I’ll not travel lightly. Now, where are you staying?”

  Jack gave her the name of the inn. “If you need any assistance, let us know. We will be ready to ride day after tomorrow at dawn.” Jack had no idea why he slipped in the comment at dawn, but it sounded ominous, and he wanted ominous.

  “I will be there. Make sure you stay inside tomorrow. Yellowbird will not be safe all day long.”

  “You know about the Panderite army to the west?”

  “Panderites?” she asked. “No, but I’m sure my people do. How many?”

  “About a thousand troops including one hundred wizards,” Ralinn said.

  “That is good news. The Black Finger Society will be participating in the fighting along with everyone else,” Corina said. “If you wouldn’t mind showing yourselves out, I have much to do and little time to do it.”

  Once outside, Ralinn glared at the house. Jack grabbed her hand this time and headed toward the inn.

  “You didn’t like her?” Jack asked.

  “How could I? She left the sisterhood—”