by Laura R Cole
*
Jezebel fought hard not to jump in her seat as a wave of energy suddenly flowed into her. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, ordering her suddenly tense muscles to relax. She opened her eyes again, and glanced around the room to see if anyone had noticed her brief interruption in concentration. No one seemed to be paying her any attention at the moment, the Council members were all currently squabbling over a proposal by the King to increase taxes and, of course, no one could agree what type of tax it should be. She already had a perfect plan which she would present to the King personally later, proving to him that she was the smartest and most capable of the group - so she had little interest in their inferior ideas. Hers really was quite an ingenious plan too, the idea had just hit her the other day whilst she had been reading another of her father's boring letters.
She listened to their chatter for a moment, to be sure that they were properly engrossed in the subject at hand, and then turned her attention inward. The energy had to have come from somewhere, but where? She wracked her brain for possibilities when suddenly it dawned on her. That was a life-force from one of the hounds, she thought, unable to stop the sharp intake of breath. Death had ended the spell and the energies had been returned to her. What an interesting prospect. However, that particular line of thought was cut short when she realized that if one of them were killed, it meant that they had most likely caught up with their prey. Jezebel again had to fight to sit still in her seat, this time twitching with excitement. Perhaps the hounds had found them. Even if they had gotten the better of one of the hounds, it was no big loss, and was certainly worth it if the rest of the pack had indeed found what they were after. Jezebel concentrated and tried to follow the line of energy back to its source, but as with a ripple through water, it was losing its form and becoming too distorted for her to track. She could tell that it came from outside the city though, and to the south. It was a shame that she could not scry the two renegades, but every attempt she had made to do so had been thwarted. It had frustrated her so badly that she had thrown the bowl she had been using in her attempt across the room where it had shattered into hundreds of little pieces. She suppressed a sigh at the memory; it was one of my mother's too.
When the meeting was over, she immediately rang for Devon, just in case his network had heard anything. She was not disappointed.
“I have indeed received reports today, my lady, that could be the ones we're looking for. A hunting party came across a campground two days ago and the party was the only one from anywhere nearby that were out, so they figure it must be travelers passing through. The villagers then reported that they heard the howling of dogs that night, unlike any they had heard before. This of course fueled the rumors of the dark beasts returning and the village could gossip about little else afterwards.” He smiled grimly at her. “Funny how the common folk grasp at these things and run with them. Perhaps it makes their pathetic little lives seem more interesting and more worth living.”
Jezebel shrugged and moved down the hallway, impatient to get back to her suite. “Hmm. Come, walk with me. Anything else?”
He fell into step besides her. “Nothing for sure, my lady, but I have the operatives moving in on the travelers so that they can give us a confirmed kill once your little pets catch up to them.”
“Good,” she said curtly. She was somewhat disappointed that there was no real news yet, but at least she would get a detailed account of what happened when it did. The other Council members were still in debate over what to do about the traitors, and in their usual unorganized style, had come to no conclusion yet.
Every meeting that Jezebel attended made her more and more certain that something would have to be changed with the current order of things. Namely, this whole Council business will have to go and I should be the sole ruler. Having to have six people deciding on something and then having the King have the final say just isn't going to work for me. First of all, the six members can hardly agree on what type of tea service to have with the meeting, much less what taxes to implement. It will be so much easier when it is just me making these decisions.
She suddenly gasped, and fell up against the wall. She held out a hand to it to steady herself as first one wave of energy and then another hit her hard, knocking her off balance. Devon stepped forward quickly and raised a hand towards her, but she waved off the unspoken offer, taking a deep breath. They killed two more of the hounds! She took a few more steadying breaths, and ordered Devon to fetch her some wine while she took a seat in her suite, which she had luckily just reached. She relaxed her mind and concentrated hard, searching for the final hound, trying to get some glimpse of the fate of the others through it. Frustratingly, the answer remained just out of reach. At least one was still alive, though, and Jezebel kept a thin hope that perhaps this one would succeed in its mission.