by Guy Antibes
“Vole Fanstrong,” Jorey said. “Wessa’s brother and the head of the Merchant’s Guild.”
“The one who runs the banks? They were standing in front of the one by the central market.”
Jorey shook his head. “That is where his office is. Wessa wouldn’t go into a bank, since sisters aren’t supposed to deal with money.”
“Where did you hear that?” Ralinn said. “That isn’t true.”
The grand wizard shrugged. “I guess I am wrong, and that only makes it more significant. We won’t get any help from the Merchants Guild, not that I expected any. It is distressing to see that the religious leadership has been compromised by the Black Fingers too.”
“Impossible,” Ralinn said.
“Possible. I will agree sisters can handle money if you agree Wessa Fanstrong is in league with your uncle,” Jorey said.
Ralinn folded her arms tighter. “I guess I must.”
“So where does that leave your alliance?” Tanner asked Lark.
Lark looked at the grand wizard and said. “It doesn’t change it, other than the fact that your mysterious errand in the temple might not happen. How can she let you inside? You or Aralinn?”
“I agree,” Lark said. “It doesn’t feel like the right time to come out into the open anyway.”
They heard a knock on the door.
“I’ll answer it,” Jack said.
He put on the buckler that held his sword and shoved his knife into his belt before he opened the door.
A tallish man with blond hair like his own turning white at the temples held an odd-looking hat. “I would like an invitation to enter,” he said staring at Jack’s hands.
“And you are?” Jack asked.
“My name is Norris Everlight, and I have come to see if Tesoria’s pretender really exists in this house.”
“Ah. Norris Everlight. Come in here, and I will get the others.” Jack showed him into the sitting room.
Dinner was abruptly over. Tanner and Helen didn’t seem to mind. Jack sure didn’t. They assembled in the sitting room for the second time in a day.
“Do you have papers proving who you are?” Jorey asked.
“If I am who I am, I can have papers proving anything I wish, can’t I?” Everlight said, setting his hat on a side table.
“You meet the description given me a few years ago,” Lark said.
“Ah, the pretender. What have you been doing for the past two months?”
“Staying alive, it seems,” Lark said. “This is my sister, Princess Aralinn.”
“I have seen you both before, from afar, of course,” Everlight said. “I received a report that you were receiving visitors, finally, so I decided to pay a cordial visit.”
“You already knew we were here?”
“I know most of what transpires in Gameton. It is to my great advantage to do so. I saw the bracers the boy has on, and that confirmed my suspicions. The Morakans are associates. I distribute their leather goods in the market, and that is their style. I haven’t seen any with colored bands on them before.”
“An embellishment that came after I received them,” Jack said.
“That is right. You greatly impressed Amee when you drove off the wolves. She wrote I should be on the lookout for you and mentioned the bracers.” Everlight slapped his hands on his knees making Lark, Ralinn, and Jorey flinch. “Now. Let us discuss where our interests intersect. I think I have a good idea where they do not.”
Jorey cleared his throat. He was obviously intimidated by the criminal. Jack simply didn’t know what to make of him.
“We both abhor the Black Finger Society, am I correct?” the grand wizard said.
Everlight grinned. “You are. I would prefer only one criminal organization in Gameton. Right now there are two: the Black Finger Society and mine. Perhaps our motives differ, but our intent is aligned.”
“We don’t like the instability of the city and of the nation,” Lark said.
“At other times a little instability is good for business, but right now?” Everlight shook his head. “The duties the king has put into place have raised prices in the market and squeezed certain percentages that I normally receive. For now, we are also aligned on that. I see that as a temporary state, but it is the current state. There is one other organization that is emerging as we speak, the influence of the Sparrow faction in Gameton. They are very aggressive, and my people tell me that they have their eyes on my enterprise. There is talk that the king may put them in the thieving business to displace me.”
“My father wouldn’t do such a thing.”
Everlight turned eerily calm eyes on Lark. “Your father is a Black Finger. His mentor, and he has a mentor, don’t you know, is a man named Bachan Darkwaist, a Kadellian.”
Jorey asked to be excused while Everlight continued. “He showed up just before the new duty system was started.”
“But I was here then.”
“You were mostly in Wilton, as I recall. Your father never did include you in his decisions like he did your brothers. I would imagine they got in Darkwaist’s way and…” he made a cutting motion at his neck.
Lark was about to jump from his seat, but Ralinn restrained him.
“Do you know how many Sparrow troops there are in Gameton?” Tanner asked.
“One hundred seventy-eight Sparrow troops, three hundred seven Panderite troops, and nine hundred thirty-four Kadellian troops at last count. Your friends the Panderites have about twenty-four hundred of their men a half-day away. I can’t get close enough to count. We keep track of potential enemies.”
“And royal troops in Gameton?”
“Less than a thousand, and I would guess three hundred of those are loyal to the king rather than to Harida Maltwill or her brother. Inside the gates, the forces are even enough. Outside the gates, there are three thousand troops that Baron Overvale has assembled, and that includes Kadellian reinforcements. The royal army, I would consider being under Harida’s control, numbers ten thousand and would be a deciding factor, so since they are on their way to Gameton, the whole thing is going to go up in flames within the week. I don’t want to be burned, and I assume you don’t either. My people can turn the tide inside the city, but I won’t tell you how many I command.”
“What is it you want for your cooperation?” Jorey said, returning to the room.
“It would be nice if I said a more stable Tesoria, but I’m not nice. What I want is no aggressive programs to eradicate my businesses,” Everlight said. “If my people are caught, that is their problem.”
Tanner smirked. “So petty crime is free game, but any of your big, larcenous activities are to be given a blind eye?”
“Not quite. I just don’t want my people rounded up without cause.”
“I can agree to that,” Lark said. “What is different than what my father was doing before the Black Fingers influenced him?”
“Nothing. But if the Sparrows take over, I can assure you we will be rounded up. I don’t trust them any more than they should trust me.”
“Agreed,” Lark said. “I don’t want the Sparrows or the Kadellians in Gameton. In fact, if I were to prevail, I’d rather my father recover from whatever spell the Black Fingers have made, so I wouldn’t have to take the throne.”
“I don’t trust anything in writing, you understand, of course,” Everlight said. “If you break your promise, both our lives will get messy, and I wouldn’t want that.”
“Then we are agreed?” Lark put out his hand.
Everlight shook it. “Agreed. I don’t trust anyone, but if I were a trusting man, I’d trust you and the grand wizard.” He put out a hand to the grand wizard, as well, who shook it.
Jack sat back and pulled down his veil, relieved that Everlight was on their side.
“I’d best be off.” He got up and glanced at Jack and stopped. “Are those real?”
“What?” Jack put his hands to his cheeks. “Is what real?”
“Eldora’s kiss. You h
ave two!”
Jack smiled. “I do. I have a little task to perform in Gameton before I leave.”
“The goddess is involved?”
“She isn’t on the Black Fingers’ side if that is what you mean.”
“I would not have been…” Everlight shook his head and turned to Lark. “We have made our deal. I am pledged to hold up my side. Let me know when I can hit the Sparrows. They are Alderacheans, after all.”
“So am I,” Jack said.
Everlight patted Jack’s face. “Not really.” He showed himself out after donning his hat.
“If I read the man right, he is a devout believer in Eldora,” Tanner said.
“Either that, or he likes his liquor, and Eldora has no restrictions on that.” Helen playfully hit Tanner in the head.
~
“You still don’t trust me outside the house?” Ralinn asked Jorey. “I am going a bit crazy in here with my brother all day long.”
“We don’t have a squad of soldiers to protect you.”
“All I need is Jack. He has plenty of tools to keep me safe,” Ralinn said.
“Then go. Don’t wear anything that will expose you and don’t stay out for more than three hours.”
“Yes, Father,” Ralinn said, smiling.
Jack overheard the exchange and walked into the sitting room. “Does the princess need an escort?” he asked.
“She does. Protect her with your life.”
Jack laughed. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it won’t be the first time.” He grabbed his papers and put on all his weapons and the two objects of power around his neck. He took the blue veil he had bought at the market and put it on and descended the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he found that Ralinn had also put on a blue veil.”
“Even better,” Jorey said with a smile on his face and looked at Jack. “You do know what same colored veils mean when a young man and woman walk the streets together.”
“They like each other.”
Ralinn giggled. “Our disguise will be a betrothed couple, or shall I change?”
Jack shook his head. “I can handle that kind of disguise.”
They walked outside. “We might have to hold hands to make the disguise work,” Ralinn said.
“I can handle that.”
Jack took her hand, the hand of a princess. She was far, far above him in status, yet he knew she still liked him. It was probably because they were both young and thrown together on the journey.
“Where do you want to go?”
“The temple,” she said. “We can go inside and look around.”
“Someone said you were pledged to Eldora. What does that mean?”
“It doesn’t mean anything today,” Ralinn said, squeezing Jack’s hand tighter. “In a way, we are both pledged to Eldora until this is over.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Jack was heartened by the squeeze. He thought he had already lost her when he found out she was a princess. Any time with such a beautiful woman was all plus for him. He would make the best of it, hopefully without behaving like a boor.
The market was in full swing in the square where the temple was. Jack had always gone to the one closest to their house in Gameton, but this one had much better merchandise.
“Do you mind if we have something to eat?”
Ralinn’s eyes crinkled. “One of my reasons for wanting to go out. I don’t know how any of you can stand royal cooking.”
“We smile and bow to honor the Waterford hands that prepared it.”
“Is that why Helen won’t allow us to cook breakfast?”
“And lunch.”
“We help with lunch,” Ralinn said.
Jack could hear the cute little pout in her voice. They continued to stroll through the stalls. He paused at a leather stall and spotted purses made in the same style as the ones Amee had given them.
“Morakan leather goods. Norris Everlight must have a hand in the running of this stall,” Jack said.
Ralinn picked one up and examined it. “High quality. It is the same,” she said. “You don’t have to buy me one, at least.”
“How much?” Jack asked the woman tending the stall. She quoted a very high price. “Perhaps another time,” he said.
“If you ever need some money, you can sell your pouch,” Jack said to Ralinn.
The woman leaned over. “You have visited our stall before?” she looked a little perplexed. “We have never sold wrist guards quite like that.”
“They were a gift. I don’t know the hands that made them,” Jack said.
Ralinn giggled and put her arm around his waist as they moved on. “You didn’t even lie. I was expecting a Jack Winder prevarication.”
“There is no such thing. I make jokes. It would have been a Jack Winder joke.” He put his arm around her shoulder. It might be the last time they walked like this. At least there was a first time for him to remember.
She looked up at him. “We are putting on a good act, aren’t we.”
“I wish it wasn’t an act.”
Ralinn looked away. “I wish it wasn’t either, but let's enjoy our time out.” She squeezed him. “Take my hand. It would be unseemly to approach the temple holding each other up.”
Jack let her hold his hand tightly as they exited the market and walked up to the steps of the temple. “We don’t have to take off our veils, do we?”
“No. Keep your comments to a minimum. You talk like a Corandian.”
“And you talk just like a princess.”
Ralinn put her finger to her veil where her lips would be and shushed him.
Two sisters bowed to them, as they did every supplicant entering the temple.
Jack stopped as soon as he walked in. “Everything is made out of gold!” he whispered in Ralinn’s ear.
“Of course, this is her temple.”
“And if someone wanted to loot it?”
“You aren’t serious!” she said a little loud.
Jack laughed as if he said a joke. Ralinn caught on and playfully hit him in the shoulder.
“Does Kadellia worship Eldora?” he said.
“No. Oh. They will want payment for helping with—”
“Yes,” Jack said, blowing in her ear.
“Not here, silly,” she said.
They continued on. This edifice put the others to shame. If Eldora deserved a beautiful temple, this was it, but Jack felt the goddess didn’t care as much as he did.
The statue at the end of the nave was huge and the best representation of Eldora he had yet seen. But then he hadn’t seen many. He expected to feel the goddess’s presence somehow, but he sensed nothing.
“This is wrong,” Ralinn said. “The feel of holiness that I have felt before is gone.”
Jack could see her eyes welling with tears. She leaned against him and sobbed once. “We must leave, she said.
They turned. A priestess stood behind them.
“Parena!” Ralinn said.
“I knew it was you. I hardly expected you to bring a boyfriend back with you,” the woman said.
“He is my bodyguard.”
“Obviously. It is dangerous for you to come here. There has been a big change in the last few weeks.”
“Eldora is gone.”
“She is,” Parena said. “Something is wrong with Wessa.”
Jack knew they were talking about Wessa Fanstrong, the archpriestess.
“We know what it is, but it is too dangerous to speak of it here,” Ralinn said.
“I will meet you outside in front of the Corandian embassy. Give me a few minutes to change.”
They bowed to Eldora as Jack had seen others do while they spoke to the priestess and took their time leaving the temple. He didn’t spot Wessa Fanstrong at all. Ralinn held Jack’s hand even tighter as they descended the steps.
“I don’t understand why the priestesses don’t demand her departure,” Ralinn said.
“Perhaps they can't do that,” Jack said. “What if
many priestesses have been converted already?”
Ralinn turned and put her hands on Jack’s cuirass. He instantly regretted wearing it to the market. “This is worse than my father shirking his duty as king. She will lose her soul. No wonder Eldora has diminished herself to step into the affairs of mortals.”
“I doubt it, but the destination of Wessa Fanstrong’s soul has probably changed.”
Ralinn’s eyes narrowed. “A joke to make me feel better?” She hit his chest. “It worked.”
“What will we do if the priestesses are enemies?” Jack asked.
“Parena isn’t an enemy. She was my mentor while I learned at the temple. She would be a strong wizardess if that were her calling.”
“Perhaps her strength has saved her,” Jack said.
He spotted a veiled woman he suspected to be the sister descending the steps to meet them at the fence that bounded the square.
“Let’s walk in the market,” she said. “I don’t want our conversation to be too obvious.”
They entered the market and strolled together with Ralinn tightly grasping his hand the whole time. Perhaps she needed his strength.
“Have you noticed changes in a lot of the sisters?”
“Have I! I don’t know what has caused such a change. I have been relieved of my position, with a sister with significantly less power taking my place,” the priestess said.
“My bodyguard thinks Wessa has become a Black Finger Society member.”
Parena stopped. “That would explain everything, including the withdrawal of Eldora’s grace.”
“Both Jack and I detected it,” Ralinn said.
Parena laughed softly. “A man wouldn’t feel such a thing.”
“He bears two of Eldora’s kisses.”
“A man?”
Ralinn nodded. “We traveled from the north together. I was nearby when he received them. He has a task to perform underneath the temple.”
Parena began walking again. “A task from the goddess?”
Ralinn nodded a little more curtly. “It has to do with the Sanctuary of the Wild River.”
“He knows that exists?” Parena said with disbelief in her eyes.
“Eldora told me,” Jack said. “I have a bone.” He pulled out his orb and box, showed it to the woman quickly, and put it back.
“Don’t tell me more. If you need help getting into the temple do you remember the prompt I taught you so we can communicate?”