by Frank Morin
Rory remained standing. “Both you and Ivor have stacks of paperwork to attend.”
Ivor groaned. “That’s one aspect of leadership no one ever talks about.”
Rory grunted. “We do have one item that requires our immediate attention. Craigroy has escaped.”
Connor had been debating whether to accept a breadstick that Hamish had produced from one of his many pockets. It looked less mangled than most of the food he offered. Rory’s pronouncement killed his appetite. Memories of that sly Craigroy trying to destroy him and his friends flashed through his mind. The man could not be allowed to run free.
Shona demanded, “How?”
“We’ve determined that Lord Torcal arranged his escape three days ago.”
“You only discovered it today?” Ivor asked.
Rory nodded, looking disgusted. “Torcal somehow arranged to switch the guards. It seems hefty bribes were involved, and both he and Craigroy are nowhere to be found.”
Shona muttered, “I knew we should have disposed of him. Craigroy is too clever by half.”
Probably a couple more halves than that, Connor bet. Not only had he tried enslaving Connor with porphyry, he’d orchestrated a revolt during the battle of Merkland and opened the Army gate. It was in the brutal fight to hold that gate that Jean had been so badly injured by Captain Aonghus.
Thinking about it made Connor feel really angry. “We need to find him.”
Rory said, “We don’t know yet how they escaped the city, but Anton is scanning the countryside. We also have a Spitter checking the river. Striders have been dispatched to Lord Torcal’s mansion to see if they fled there.”
Shona shook her head. “They’d never go there. Torcal’s not stupid enough to think he could hide from us in his own home.”
Ivor said, “Torcal always seemed rather unimpressive to me. I’m surprised he had the courage and cunning to orchestrate such an escape.”
Shona said, “Torcal would never do it. Craigroy, however, is clever enough to come up with the plan and to convince Torcal it was a good idea.”
Rory said, “He was always the one local lord least supportive of the revolution, but I had thought him content with staying on the sidelines until this was resolved.”
General Wolfram said, “Apparently he is no longer content.”
Lady Briet asked, “How does this affect our defensive plans?”
Rory looked like he had been considering that already because he did not hesitate. “Not as much as you may fear. Torcal was never in our inner circle.”
Ivor said, “If Craigroy could orchestrate an escape like this, at a time when we’re expecting an imminent attack, I wonder if he has other informants we don’t know about.”
That was a disturbing thought. They’d found spies all the way north in New Schwinkendorf. Student Eighteen felt confident she’d found them all, but Rory did not have access to her assistance in Merkland. Until now.
As if reading his thoughts Aifric said, “When we’re done here, I’ll see what I can find.”
“I appreciate that,” Shona said. She looked as grim as Connor felt. No one liked a spy. Except for the spies that worked for them, of course.
General Wolfram said, “We must assume that more of our plans are known to Craigroy then we would like.”
Lady Briet added, “It’s good in a way that he fled now rather than a week from now since we are here to finalize arrangements for reinforcements. He may not know they’re on the way, and he would definitely not know how we plan to allocate them.”
Rory nodded. “In the interim, we’ve tightened security on all the gates and we will limit access to information to only those who need to know.”
Shona asked, “Is that why Lord Nevan has not joined us yet?”
Rory nodded. “I like Nevan, and I want to trust him, but we have to be careful. I underestimated him before the battle of Merkland, and I won’t do that again.”
Shona gave him an apologetic smile. “His loyalty to me and to my father has always remained unwavering. He betrayed you on our orders, but since I joined the revolution I’m confident that he supports us one hundred percent.”
Lady Briet asked softly, “Are you willing to risk all of our lives on that faith?”
Shona actually hesitated. That was enough. They already faced long odds to successfully defend Merkland. They could not afford throwing away any advantage by letting the enemy know what they were planning.
Instead of answering directly Shona said, “One thing is clear, Torcal has committed treason against me in my realm. As a result, I will issue a formal proclamation stripping him of rank and title and property. All he possesses is now property of the realm.”
Usually Connor hated the idea of lords and ladies of Obrion having the right to seize what they wanted when they wanted it. Lady Isobel in Alasdair had proven endlessly frustrating with her petty ways, culminating in her blatant theft of the heatstone oven that Ailsa had gifted to Connor’s family and which they had decided to share with the entire town.
However, in this case Shona’s actions seemed appropriate. Of course, she had now adroitly assumed ownership of one of the richest holdings in her realm. Torcal’s city of Curadh managed a very important quarry, and as a result Torcal possessed vast wealth. Now all of that belonged to Shona.
Hopefully she would live long enough to enjoy it.
General Wolfram said, “I propose we get to work. We need to begin hammering out final plans for distribution of our forces and defensive measures.”
Ivor said, “Then we should move to the conference room directly below us. I’ll order in some breakfast.”
Verena said, “While you get started, Hamish and I are going to search for Lady Kirstin’s Builder defenses that Evander suggested might still exist. Given the situation and the fact that Craigroy may be compromising some of our intelligence, we could really use that advantage.”
34
Second Place Is Just Not Acceptable Sometimes
While most of the group headed downstairs to the conference room, Verena lingered near Rory’s fire with Hamish and Connor. She hated to do it but could think of no other option but to turn to Shona and ask, “Shona, could we have a moment?”
Shona smiled graciously, no doubt savoring the moment. Verena couldn’t blame her. She savored each of the rare moments when Shona had to ask her for a favor.
“You seek information about Lady Kirstin, don’t you?” Shona asked.
Verena nodded and Hamish said, “This is your home. Where do you think she might’ve hidden a top-secret Builder defense mechanical?”
Shona paced over to the fire and extended her hands to its warmth. “I’ve been wondering that same thing ever since Evander brought it up. I had not even known this was Kirstin’s home. She couldn’t have concealed it anywhere in the main palace because my great grandfather heavily renovated the previous palace over a hundred years ago. He’s the one who constructed the palace as we know it today.”
Verena hadn’t known that much. She had originally been thinking it would be best to start in whatever apartments Kirstin might have lived in.
Connor stepped up beside Verena and said, “So either she never concealed it here in the palace, or it might have been destroyed accidentally by workers doing the renovation who would not know what it was.”
Verena shuddered. That would be such a tragically stupid way to lose vital Builder secrets. So much had been lost since that great age of discovery. Verena and her teams, with the assistance of Hamish, Jean, and all the resources of Faulenrost and New Schwinkendorf, were struggling to accomplish a fraction of what Kirstin had done.
Many of their most amazing breakthroughs had come only because they had discovered ancient mechanicals still functioning after centuries, and had learned higher aspects of Builder powers that might have taken them years or decades to rediscover on their own.
“Where else would a Builder conceal an important defensive mechanical? She must have feared for
her safety to spend so much effort reinforcing Merkland,” Verena said.
Connor said, “We’ll have to ask Kilian about that again. I always got the sense that the kingdom was pretty stable until that day when the king went crazy and had to be put down. It sounds like the queen murdered Kirstin pretty soon after that. She would have had to build the mechanical before all that happened.”
That was a good point. Verena had asked Kilian about the event more than once, but maybe now they knew better questions to help focus his memories.
Hamish was slowly chewing on a couple of smashpacked cakes that he had pulled from a pocket. He offered Verena one, but she refused out of habit. He then offered Shona one. She looked at the little cube askance for a second, then glanced at Verena. She took the cube.
“Thank you, Hamish. I don’t get to eat these nearly often enough,” Shona said graciously, making a show of chewing and savoring the food. Then her eyes widened and she added in a more honest tone, “Wow. That’s a lot of flavor.”
“Wait ‘till you try the pot roast,” Hamish said with a grin and started rummaging around in his pouch for one.
“Perhaps later,” Shona said, glancing again at Verena with that smug look she couldn’t seem to help adopting whenever they spent much time together.
“Okay,” Hamish said with a shrug, totally oblivious to the silent exchange happening under his nose. He popped another cube into his mouth.
“I’ll take one,” Connor offered, and squeezed Verena’s hand as he stepped past to accept the cube. He understood Shona’s childish ploy and supported Verena. She loved him so much.
Shona switched back to the main topic as if she hadn’t interrupted it in the first place. “There might’ve been other dangers Kirstin would have worried about. Even though her parents had conquered the entire continent, there might’ve been hotbeds of revolution back then, just like today. Merkland is far enough from Donleavy that it would’ve taken a while for help to come.”
“You mean Stornoway. That’s where her parents lived,” Connor corrected.
Hamish said, “Either way, she had a couple of kids to take care of, right?”
“A couple of crazy kids. Evander and Tallan himself,” Verena said.
Shona grimaced. “I can’t imagine Evander as a child.”
Verena hated agreeing with Shona too often, but she was right. When Verena tried, she could only picture a miniature version of Evander, sliding around on the earth, spouting ridiculous Sentry speak when his mother said it was time for bed.
Hamish chuckled and added, “So she probably spent a lot of time in the kitchens.”
Verena rolled her eyes. “We’re not stopping in the kitchens so you can grab another breakfast.”
“If Evander and Tallan were anything like normal boys, they would’ve been hungry all the time. So if she wanted to spend time with them, it only makes sense she would have to spend time in the kitchens. Maybe she hid the defensive mechanical there,” Hamish insisted.
Shona shook her head. “The kitchens were also heavily renovated. If she hid anything down there, it would be gone now.”
Verena started to pace, trying to place herself in ancient Merkland. No doubt the city would’ve been smaller then, but still impressive. It was an area that had not been heavily settled until later, from what she understood, which would explain the great wall of Merkland. That alone was an impressive defensive construct. That Kirstin could look beyond that and build additional layers of defense spoke highly of her mind, and Verena wished she had known the woman.
She glanced up and asked, “Kirstin built the wall. Why wasn’t that enough?”
Shona said, “It always has been. Merkland has been attacked on several occasions during the height of the Tallan wars. No one ever breached the walls.”
“But she wouldn’t have known that. She died before the Tallan wars,” Connor pointed out.
“But she had already built the wall,” Hamish reminded him.
Verena snapped her fingers. “Yes, she did. What if she planned the additional defenses at the same time she was building the wall, just like we’ve been working multiple layers of defense around New Schwinkendorf?”
Shona nodded, looking excited by the thought, and Connor took up the idea. “So if she planned for additional defenses while she was building the wall, where would she expect to be standing in a time where she might have to trigger that defense?”
Verena and Hamish answered together. “On the wall!”
They all turned to face Shona, who looked lost in thought. They waited in breathless anticipation for several seconds until Shona’s eyes lit up. “On the wall. Of course, that’s it! The wall is all made of Alasdair White. However, in the watchtower above the Lord’s gate, where the speedcaravan enters the city through the wall, there’s an inscription. I haven’t thought about it in years.”
“It says, For family, for country, and for all we love.”
Verena said, “That’s beautiful but I don’t—”
“It’s inscribed in obsidian,” Shona declared triumphantly. “It’s the only obsidian engraving I know about. It always seemed strange, but not strange enough to think about except when I’m standing right there on the watchtower, looking out over the valley and the river.”
Verena exchanged excited glances with Hamish. Obsidian was the key to remotely activate other mechanicals. They’d learned the trick from Kirstin’s old mechanicals.
Hamish exclaimed, “That has to be it. Let’s go.”
Verena turned toward the door, but Connor held back. “I think it’s a good idea, but maybe we’re jumping to conclusions.”
Verena paused, halfway to the door. “What do you mean?”
Connor took her hand. She loved that he did that in front of Shona, and did not even look self-conscious about it. “You told me that when you access sculpted obsidian, it allows you to connect with other pieces of obsidian, wherever they might be, right?”
Verena nodded. “We can sense them like candles on a dark night.”
“So why didn’t you sense a huge piece of obsidian in the wall above Merkland while we were here during the battle? Didn’t you use remote activation quite a few times?”
Verena frowned. He was right.
“There has to be a reason,” Hamish insisted. He stood in the doorway, impatiently waving them on. “It’s too good of a clue not to go check out.”
Verena gripped Connor’s hand tighter. “Let’s go find out.”
Together they rushed down through the palace, and even Shona kept up with them, despite some odd looks from some of her subjects. Shona was a high lady and rarely did she sprint through her own palace unless something really bad was happening. She did not seem to care, but was caught up with the rest of them in the frenzy of discovery.
It was a little annoying that she could be so much like them sometimes. It was easier when Verena could just hate her. Shona might have told them about the obsidian, but Verena didn’t plan to let her reach it first and try to steal their discovery.
They rushed up onto the huge expanse of Merkland’s famous octagonal city wall, then jogged along the wide upper causeway. The top of the wall was more than a dozen feet wide, providing plenty of room for troops to move or to marshal for battle. A lot of soldiers were stationed on the wall, and they looked alert. The sight of their high lady and the Builders rushing along the wall triggered calls from officers asking if there was an alarm.
Shona assured them all was well, but they still picked up an escort of a score of heavily armed soldiers, led by an enthusiastic captain who insisted it was his duty to see his high lady safe. His high lady nearly threw him off the wall in annoyance, but eventually decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.
“If it’s unbecoming for you to run, you can take your time and catch up later,” Verena offered.
“Don’t worry about me,” Shona retorted and sped up. She was trying to reach the obsidian first. Verena sped up too, and was tempted to ask Hamish to pick h
er up and fly them there.
Clueless to the competition between the girls, Hamish ignited thrusters and rose into the air. “Why run when I can fly? See you there.”
He accelerated toward the tower. Verena and Shona exchanged glances and Verena read the same dismay in Shona’s eyes. Hamish was going to get there first. They both shouted at the same time, “Wait!”
Connor accelerated past them, clearly tapping basalt. “Come on slowpokes. Are you racing to see who reaches the inscription last?”
Verena was tempted to ask him to carry her, or to dig into her satchel for a piece of quartzite to use as a makeshift thruster, but resisted the urge. She would beat Shona without any enhancement.
She ran faster.
Shona matched her step for step, her expression determined. The captain looked surprised by their pace, and some of his men struggled to keep up, burdened as they were by armor. “My lady, is such a rush necessary?” he panted.
“For me it is.”
“Then it is for all of us,” the man replied grandly and called to his men for greater speed, to not dishonor their lady with weakness.
Verena felt bad for the puffing soldiers, but she refused to slow. Shona was in excellent condition, but so was Verena. She gritted her teeth and dug deep for more speed.
Shona kept pace. Although she was breathing heavier than Verena, she never slowed, never faltered. In anyone else, such determination would be inspiring. In Shona it was just annoying.
Together they reached the Lord’s gate at the far southern end of Merkland, overlooking the ruins of the speedcaravan track. She had completely forgotten that during the battle of Merkland, Harley had ripped up huge sections of track to use as clubs against Hamish and his Juggernaut mechanical.
The wreckage had been removed, but there had been no time or need to rebuild the graceful bridge that used to arc up from the plain to the gate. The speedcaravan no longer traveled all the way to Merkland, and Rory and Shona and Ivor had been too busy with more important needs.