by Guy Antibes
“Now we will head to a friend’s house,” Jorey said.
He took them across the city. At the end of one of the streets, stood the Prime Temple of Eldora, as Corina called it. Jack stared at it for a moment. His time to enter would come, but not today.
The city didn’t have the same sense of impending doom that Yellowbird had, but that didn’t mean it would have been easy to enter through a gate. Jack focused his attention on the architecture, which was a little more like the city of Rugiz in Lajia, but it still didn’t match the breeziness of that city.
Jorey turned a corner and stopped. Their destination was a burned hulk, the timbers still smoking. Getting Lark’s faction going might take a little longer than everyone hoped.
“I leave one charred residence for another,” Corina said with half a smile on her face.
Chapter Twenty-Five
~
T he grand wizard was not without resources, however, and they soon entered a townhouse in another part of the city. It was dusty and grimy, but beneath the neglect, Jack thought, was a very nice place to stay.
Jorey took the main floor suite. Lark, Corina, and Ralinn took bedrooms on the second floor with Helen and Tanner sleeping in two third floor bedrooms. Jack could share with Tanner, or straighten up a storage room. He elected the storage room.
Jack took half an hour making the place home. The bed was covered with old furniture, but soon half the room was habitable, which was fine with him. He padded downstairs and waited in the sitting room. Ralinn was the first one down.
“We finally made it to Gameton,” she said, sitting down close to him. “I hope we can get some time together before you leave.” She put her hand on his. “I am afraid of what is happening. My brothers have already been buried.” She sniffed and blinked a few tears out of her eyes. “I never expected Lark to be the next in line. Neither did he.”
“Does that make you second in line?”
She nodded. “It has been a while since Tesoria had a queen. It only happens when all the sons have gone.” Ralinn shivered. “I don’t want it to happen, and I have no desire to rule. Actually, I abhor the thought. I’d probably abdicate if given a chance.”
“Who else is next in line?”
“Whelham never married, so it goes to a cousin of my father’s. He has five sons, so the Waterford line is safe.”
“No one is safe until this crisis is over. Your father isn’t gone yet.”
Ralinn sighed. “I can only hope he is intact. Perhaps you can save him from himself if he has been converted. Lark and I are both much stronger wizards than he.”
Jack had a faint hope that they would be able to talk for a bit longer, but Jorey walked in.
“Time to find out what is happening in Gameton. It is riddled with factions,” he said. He looked at Jack. “Let’s take a walk in Gameton and see what we can see. We have a few places to go to. Tanner, Helen, and Corina can walk around, veiled of course, but Aralinn and Larkin should stay here. Perhaps they can clean and tidy up the place,” he said with half a smile.
“You don’t think I can clean a house?” Ralinn said. “I lived without servants in Wilton. I’m not so sure about my brother, but we will leave the door locked.”
Jorey nodded. “You might want to do some talking about your brothers without the rest of us around. I’ve always thought sharing grief was a private thing.”
Ralinn gave him a sad smile. “We will do that.”
Tanner walked in.
Jorey grinned at the mercenary. “And perhaps Corina, Helen, and you can buy some food. I would guess we might be here for two weeks or more.”
“That long?” Jack asked. “I’m going to be late getting back to Raker Falls again.”
“But Fasher knows you have completed your errand. I wouldn’t worry. He understands that when someone is called by a goddess, it is worth a delay.”
Jack didn’t know if that was the case. It certainly wouldn’t make any difference to Penny Ephram.
“Shall we be off?” Jack said.
Jorey grinned and put on a veil. They walked into the central district where the castle sat above everything on an artificial mound. Everything else in the city was mostly flat. Jack looked up at the spire of the Eldoran temple. It was as big as the Alderachean cathedral in Dorkansee. Somewhere in that massive pile of stone was the Sanctuary of the Wild River.
“I don’t think the time is right for your task from Eldora. In fact, the archpriestess is sister to the head of the Merchants Guild, Vole Fanstrong. He isn’t a supporter of King Kaleen, even in the best of times, and from what I understand, his sister Wessa agrees with him. I’m not sure she will let you into the depths of that building. It is a task for later.” Jorey pointed to a building next to Eldora’s temple. “If we run into trouble, we can retreat into that building. Let’s go there first. It is the Corandian embassy.”
“I might need new papers,” Jack said with a smile, “if you need an excuse.”
They walked into the building. “Is the ambassador in?” Jorey asked.
“And you are?” asked the woman at the counter.
Jorey removed his veil. “I am the grand wizard of Tesoria. I have one of your citizens with me, Jack Winder of Raker Falls.”
“Tanner has my papers,” Jack said quietly to Jorey.
“He needs new papers. I will vouch for him.” Jorey pulled his own from within his shirt. It was protected in a fancy leather pouch.
“I see, Grand Wizard Balcon.” She looked at Jack. “We don’t wear veils in Corand.”
“I know that,” Jack said. He pulled down the veil. The woman gasped. “Are those what I think they are?”
“My bruises?” Jack said. “I’m afraid they might be depending on what you are thinking.”
Jorey chuckled behind him. Jack gave his address in Raker Falls and his physical description.
“I wouldn’t deny papers to one who is Eldora’s own.”
Jack wouldn’t consider that a description of himself, but if it got him an extra set of papers, he was all for it.
A well-dressed, well-fed man walked into the lobby. “Jorey. I didn’t expect to see you in Gameton. I heard you were confined to Wilton.”
“Don’t believe all you hear, Ambassador,” Jorey said. “Would you mind giving us a few minutes? I have a Corandian subject with me.”
“Oh, indeed. You are young to be so far from home.”
“Eighteen,” Jack said. “I work for a wizard in Raker Falls. I brought a message to the grand wizard.”
“We would like your ideas on what is going on in Gameton. My enforced absence has put me a little behind the latest developments.”
“Come into my office.”
They walked down a long hallway to an office with large diamond-paned windows looking out on a pleasant garden.
“You heard about the assassinations of Kaleen’s sons? No one knows where the last one is.”
“I have an idea. I am certain he is still alive,” Jorey said. “What is the faction situation?”
“I don’t know the latest, but I know who the players currently are. Black Fingers, Panderites, Jakalans—”
“Who are they?” Jack asked.
“The former dynasty,” the ambassador said. “They are old-blood nobles predating the rise of the Waterfords over five hundred years ago. Your nobles have long, long memories. Sparrows, an aggressive western faction, have just moved into the city. Those are the outsiders. The insiders are the usual cast of characters. There is Norris Everlight of the underground. Vole Fanstrong is rumored to be sympathetic to the Kadellians, who have smuggled soldiers into Gameton and are allied with the Black Fingers. The Loyalists still look to Harida Maltwill, the sister of the late queen.And we end with her brother, Ran, who is Kaleen’s chancellor.”
“Is the chancellor close to the king?” Jack asked.
“That is a good question, lad. The answer is not really. He runs the bureaucracy from the Chancellery, a building outside the castle.
Kaleen trusts him, since he is the late queen’s brother. There are rumors there has been a shift, but there are all kinds of rumors in Gameton.”
“What happened in Yellowbird?” Jack asked.
“Other than a few nights of rioting between the factions, everything is back to what it was, I understand. Currently, all the action has moved to Gameton, except for smaller factions.”
“And Baron Overvale?” Jack asked.
“You are asking very good questions. Did you have a run in with the Baron on your way to Gameton? He is stopping everyone coming south from Yellowbird. He is rumored to have Black Finger wizards with him.”
Jack nodded. “I was in Yellowbird the first night and day of the rioting, as you call it. Our inn was burned, so we left and journeyed to Wilton first. On the way, Overvale’s men captured us, but we were able to escape. Their eyes had to be directed elsewhere.”
“Impressive,” the ambassador said. “Overvale kept the riffraff factions from traveling south to Gameton or the city would be more chaotic than it is. At least the markets and the shops haven’t been affected yet, but that can change. Perhaps that is why Vole Fanstrong is allying with outsiders.” He turned to Jorey Balcon. “Where will you go next?”
“I know Harida best of all. I will visit her, but I intend to talk to them all.”
“Won’t that be a little dangerous?”
“I can see all but the Black Fingers,” Jorey said.
“I wouldn’t chance the Sparrows or the Kadellians either,” the ambassador said. “I can only offer you sanctuary should you need it. Corand must remain officially neutral in all this, you understand.”
“The offer of sanctuary is more than sufficient,” Jorey said as he stood. “I have another visit to make this afternoon.”
~
Jack and Jorey stood at the gate of a mansion close to the castle. “Harida is a bit larger than life, in my opinion,” Jorey said. “Don’t let her fool you. To my way of thinking, she is shrewder than her brother. She will be a supporter of Lark and probably the friendliest person we are likely to meet.”
They were ushered into an all-white sitting room festooned with yellow flowers. They sat for a long time before a tall, robust (if Jack was polite) woman walked in. Her dress was white with no shortage of yellow ribbons. She sat in a white upholstered chair. The white-haired woman became part of the room’s decor.
The woman giggled. She was older, taller, and likely weighed much more than Jorey. Jack had to repress a smile.
“I thought you were sequestering yourself in Wilton,” she said.
“A condition recently solved. It is nice to see you, Harida.”
“As it is you. What brings you to my humble home.”
Jack looked around. Humble wasn’t the term Jack would use.
“And who did you bring to me? I’ll bet he is a handsome young man beneath that veil.” She looked at Jack. “Can I see your smile?”
“It is polite to remove your veil when asked inside a residence, Jack,” Jorey said.
“Jack?” She made a little pouty mouth. “That is a common name.”
“He is anything but common.”
Jack pulled down his veil. He smiled for the woman. “Is that good enough, Lady?”
“Bruises. Those are strange. My eyesight isn’t what it once was. But no matter, you have an accent.”
“I am from a village in Corand,” Jack said. He was relieved the woman couldn’t see the kiss marks in any detail. “I traveled to Wilton to present a message to Grand Wizard Balcon, and then the both of us came here.”
“You’ve come all the way from Corand alone?”
“I had traveling companions, Lady,” Jack said.
Harida looked intently at Jorey. “It must be important for you to visit me without your robes on. Actually, both of you are dressed rather shabbily.”
“We had to leave Wilton rather hastily. As you probably know, I was confined by the Black Finger Society,” Jorey said.
The woman shivered. “That must have been harrowing,” she said.
“It was. Jack was instrumental in my release.”
“I appreciate your coming to my house to tell me this, but why are you really here?” Harida said.
“I brought Prince Larkin to Gameton along with your niece.”
Harida sat up and leaned forward. “My nephew is alive? I thought he perished along with his brothers.”
“That might have happened, but Jack saved him from Baron Overvale and his Black Finger wizards.”
“He has been converted?”
“No,” Jorey said, as he looked at Jack. “How he was saved was not something I thought to ask. Aralinn is with us as well.”
“She is pledged to Eldora anyway. She would never accept the throne.”
That was news to Jack. How was someone pledged? He did know she had an aversion to ruling.
“It is too soon for Larkin to appear in public. Let the rumors fly, I say. There is too much pot stirring going on by all the factions,” Harida said.
“What about Ran?”
Harida sighed. “You know Ran. He is a bureaucrat through and through. He may have a title, but his love is rules, regulations, and the power that gives him. He won’t commit one way or another until he has to, and that will likely be when a winner emerges. I’ll talk to him in a discreet way. His domain is riddled with spies anyway.” She smiled at Jack. “Only a few are his own.”
“What about the Loyalists?” Jorey asked.
“You are so direct today. Generally conversing with you is more fun,” Harida said. “The mundane ones are solid behind me and desiring that whatever ails Kaleen would go away. The magician contingent can’t be trusted. The Black Fingers have infiltrated Gameton to an extent I would have never imagined.”
“Most of that is Whelham’s doing. He was quite overt about it when he tried to turn me at my estate in Wilton.”
“He was a disgusting spider when I first met him when we were in diapers, and it appears that he hasn’t changed. If he were to drop dead, I would drop everything and dance where I stood.” Harida looked at Jack. “Whelham is King Kaleen’s brother, and he is a bad, bad man.”
“I already know,” Jack said. “He is a Black Finger too.”
“Something I already knew.”
“So what is going on in the city?” Jorey asked.
She giggled. “You will owe me for this information. I am not a paid spy, you know.” She smiled again at Jack.
“Overvale is a minor player offset by the Panderite troops stationed on the west side of the city. Kaleen’s army was sent to Pestersee, an order meant to keep them out of Yellowbird and Gameton, I’m sure. I received a message from the commanding general that they are on the march back, but I’m not certain when they will arrive. I’m afraid that whatever happens will occur before they return in a week or ten days. Gameton will burst into a madhouse by that time. If Larkin seizes the title of Crown Prince, they will come to his aid. I can guarantee that. The generals have no love for the Black Fingers.”
“The Sparrows?” Jorey asked.
“You weren’t so badly informed before you came.”
Jorey smiled. “I encountered the Corandian ambassador and learned his perspective.”
“Encountered him in his embassy, you mean. He hasn’t stepped foot out of the place since my two nephews were killed. That started this mess.”
“The Sparrows?”
“Ah, yes. They are irritants. No one likes them. I really think they are playing the kind of game where they actually think everyone else will kill themselves, and then they will take over the throne. All they want is a return to feudalism. Quite frankly, the factions have gone much too far in that direction already. Don’t you think?” She pulled at a stray tendril that fell from her white hair. Jack suspected it was a wig.
“I do,” Jorey said.
“You should find out what the Jakalans are doing. I can’t see them allied with any of these usurpers other than the
Sparrows, and they are too crude for my fellow noblemen and women. One person I can’t contact, but might be worthwhile to Larkin’s cause is Norris Everlight.” She held out her palm. “He may be a criminal, but he is a very pragmatic man and hates the Black Finger Society.”’
“That is the best idea of the lot, although I will have to contact some of them to lay the groundwork for Larkin’s return. I have a few other surprises, but,” he said, patting his chest, “I will keep them close to my heart for now.”
“Do you need funds, my dear?” Harida said.
“Ready funds? Mine require some exposure in places I would rather not visit.”
She laughed. “Is there any other kind? Wait, and I will bring you a purse or two.” She left the room.
“You can’t go into a bank?” Jack asked.
Jorey shook his head. “In Gameton, the banks are beholden to Vole Fanstrong. In the current situation, I would term him an adversary, if not an enemy.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
~
W ith more than enough money for their stay, Jorey and Jack returned to the house. Ralinn and Lark had actually straightened up the house, much to Jack’s surprise.
“It is still dirty in places, but the living areas are tolerable,” Lark said. “We were able to use a little magic to help push the dirt along, but Ralinn is the expert at that.”
“And we still had some time between us,” she said with a sigh.
Jack was sure their time wasn’t enough, but they deserved whatever they needed. Although he didn’t particularly care for his older siblings, Jack knew he would be very sad if they passed on. He ran up the stairs to do a little more work on his bedroom, being inspired by the royal pair, but he didn’t get very far when the front door opened, and Jack heard Tanner’s voice.
After they dumped the groceries in the kitchen, they all gathered in the sitting room for Jorey to report on their visit to the Corand embassy and to Harida Maltwill. After Jorey finished, Tanner leaned forward in his chair.
“As it turns out, we ran into an officer that has met us before.”