by Guy Antibes
“Where did you learn all this? I didn’t think Paranty had such textbooks.”
Ricky smiled. “I found a few old texts in a very old library. Not in Sealio, by the way. It gave me some insights. One of those insights hangs around your neck.”
Tobia nodded. During their conversation, they both missed the last two acts.
One of Princess Pira’s bodyguards summoned Ricky. Tobia followed close behind.
The director narrowed his eyes at Ricky. “You shouldn’t be showing off.” His condescension had disappeared replaced by some emotion Ricky couldn’t recognize.
Princess Pira smiled, if a little wearily, when he walked up. “That will do, Lord Valian. I suppose you will brighten up your performance?”
“Of course. I only presented samples of my effects,” Ricky said.
“Samples?” the director said.
“For example, I could fly all around the hall, should I choose,” Ricky said. “I could blow up half the seats in the hall, should I choose.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Ricky looked at the man. “Why would I do that?”
Princess gave the director an inscrutable look. Ricky was out of his element in whatever game these two people played.
“I will provide you with my support requirements later today or early tomorrow,” Ricky said the director. “They will be modest, as you can see in my outline.” He bowed to both and began to move away.
The princess rose. “A word, Lord Valian,” she said. She took him to a corner of the hall and clutched her necklace. I have some bad news, my lord. Paranty has already launched a force of thirty ships scheduled to arrive in the North and seize the gold fields. Vorria is rumored to have already infiltrated the southern forests. My guardian’s most recent message tells me to enjoy my little performance, for one of his generals will make the announcement of the capitulation of King Courer as the finale for my show and the finale for Dimani, as we know it.
But if Paranty prevails, won’t that improve your wealth and position? Ricky asked.
I will be asked to wed the newly crowned King Ticco. My father said to prepare to remain in Dimani for the rest of my life.
Ricky saw fear in Pira’s eyes. Aren’t you the heir?
King Leon doesn’t plan on dying anytime soon. If I am Queen in Dimani, I can’t play my little games to ruin his plans time and again. Do you understand?
Ricky nodded and said, I do. You have my allegiance, my princess. I’ll try to think of something.
If only you could. Go prepare. At least I can give you the opportunity to become a richer man after the performance.
“The money means nothing,” Ricky said, not being entirely honest with the princess.
She laughed. “You are only fifteen, my lord. You will need funds another day. It is better to have resources when you need them than to waste precious time seeking them out.”
Ricky bowed and escorted the princess to her bodyguards and left the theater with Tobia. Once they were out of sight, Ricky leaned against the wall and sighed, putting his hands to his face.
“I am so stupid!”
“What did you say to the princess?”
“I only pledged her my allegiance and said the money means nothing.”
“Your allegiance?” Tobia shook his head. “That woman in a girl’s body is certainly adept at twirling impressionable young men around her finger.”
Ricky straightened up, and they walked in silence until they reached the flat. Minnie was gone, and the bedding had disappeared from all the beds. Ricky looked for dirty clothes, but someone had gone through his things and removed just about everything.
“Washing day,” Tobia said. “Fresh sheets for your friends when they return tonight and clean clothes for you and me. Your friends decided to use the extra bedroom. They didn’t want to displace Minnie and me.” Tobia gave Ricky a note of thanks from Minnie. “We had a wonderful reunion last night and as long as they remain in town and Lord Wamia stays in the South, we can do it again.”
Ricky told Tobia everything Princess Pira had.
“So that’s why Wamia headed south. Someone needs to tell King Courer what is happening.”
“That can’t be me,” Ricky said.
“Why not? Minnie can get you an audience. Rest up. Get a snack from the kitchen, and I’ll bring back something more substantial from Lord Wamia’s larder.”
The morning unsettled Ricky. He walked down to the main floor and strolled through the garden, trying to collect his wits. He decided he was too gallant. He risked his life for Warden Sarini, run into a shantyboat filled with thugs to rescue Mistress Merry, and now he did the same for Princess Pira. Maybe doing such stupid things was part of him. He shuddered. Ricky needed to grow up as quickly as his voice needed to change.
“Ricky?” Tobia called from Ricky’s bedroom window. “You have a visitor.”
When Ricky entered the living room, Baron Mansali stood, along with Loria.
“I have bad news,” the Baron said.
What could go more wrong? Ricky thought.
“My daughter told me that Mara Torris has been abducted by Parantian soldiers and is on a carriage heading north to Otta’s Bay.”
“Why would Paranty do such a thing? Mara is an innocent in all this.”
“All this?”
Ricky told Baron Mansali what Princess Pira had told him. “So Mara was captured to prevent Jac from acting, I imagine,” Ricky said. “At Lord Griama’s or the Parantian’s suggestion?”
Loria nodded. “Do you blame them?” she said. “Ticco wants an unimpeded path to the throne. He can’t have a non-loyal brother hanging about, ready to pounce. He needs a hostage.”
“You sound like you approve,” Ricky said.
“Of course! I’m a Parantian, just like Father.”
Baron Mansali looked at his daughter and looked morosely at Ricky. “Forget I ever suggested I wanted you to be her friend.” His gaze turned to Loria. “Do you not see the big picture, Loria? King Leon intends on stealing gold from the Dimanians. Vorria is already plundering Dimani’s forests. Ticco isn’t fit to be the master of his own house, let alone husband to Princess Pira who, like it or not, is probably smarter than you and more fit to rule than her guardian, and you defend this?”
Loria looked confused. “Shouldn’t I?”
Mansali shook his head and sighed. “We have a lot to talk about while we travel back to Tossa, daughter.”
Ricky took a step back. Loria still didn’t seem to understand what her father said. How could she be so thick or so self-absorbed?
“Do you want a message sent to Saganet? He can have it by dinner tonight.”
Ricky nodded and ran into his room and wrote a letter outlining his experiences as quickly as he could and intimated that he was ready to serve. He didn’t say whom. Ricky did verify that Paranty and Vorria were ready to pounce, but didn’t go into details.
“Here. I’d appreciate it if you visited Saganet and Mistress Merry. You can fill in some of the blanks when you get to Tossa. ”
“You are playing a dangerous game, young Valian,” Mansali said. “It may be very easy to end up on the wrong side or the outside. Remember, you are always welcome in Duteria.”
“What ring did you attain?” Ricky asked.
“Doing research on Duteria? You have picked up a thing or two, young man. I reached the Third, where I learned what I wanted to know and left.”
“I might have some other tricks to show you when I get back to Tossa,” Ricky said, putting out his hand.
Mansali took it and nodded to Ricky as they shook hands. A link engaged. I meant it about my daughter. I am deeply disappointed. She is unworthy to be your friend, unfortunately. I wish you were one of my sons. Good luck. If you need to send another message, seek out the manager at my Dimani warehouse. “We have a ship to catch, Loria.”
Ricky walked out to the street with them. Tobia passed him, but no one spoke. Loria gave Ricky one last petulan
t glare and walked out of his life. Ricky hoped it was forever.
Thoughts of Mara filled his head as he went back up the stairs two at a time to see what Minnie might have arranged.
“He can fit you in right now if you hurry. You can understand that the King’s time will soon be swallowed up by the simultaneous invasions. Minnie said you have to hurry.”
Ricky put on a clean shirt and ran a brush through his hair. It would have to do. “Let’s go.”
~~~
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
~
“A ND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO ABOUT ANY OF THIS? You are just a boy,” an uncomfortable King Courer said.
“I’m the hero of the, uh, Applian Uprising,” Ricky said.
“A promotional stunt courtesy of Princess Pira,” King Courer said.
“No. If anything my role was understated. I killed the Duke of Applia myself,” Ricky said. “He was in the palace cupola up three stories, guarded by all his men. I flew up to fight with him. His swordsmanship wasn’t the best.”
“I don’t believe you,” King Courer said.
“You can ask General Farlotti when he marches Parantian troops through the gate to this castle,” Ricky said.
“You are a Parantian. Why don’t you kill me now and end all this?”
Ricky sighed. Was King Courer any a better a king than Ticco? He hadn’t seen this side of the king when he met him before. “I am not a supporter of King Leon’s greed. Can I love my country and not support a ruler who would bring ruin to Dimani and disgrace to his nation?”
“Very well. Now that you claim you aren’t a spy, what would you have me do?”
“Don’t abdicate. When Ticco demands your throne, denounce him as your heir and put Jac Griama in his place. Jac would make a much better ruler.”
“Jac?” King Courer looked confused. “He’s not much older than you.”
“A better candidate as the heir to a king who has the intention to rule for a long time. Ticco is a traitor. Lord Griama is either duped, desperate, or a traitor, too. They seek to bring ruin to your country.”
King Courer looked out the study window to a pleasant garden, bathed in the afternoon light. “And what other advice do you have?”
“Support Princess Pira’s performance. Send messages to Lord Wamia and to the Parantian forces in the north to give to General Farlotti that you want to talk terms. If you think you are defenseless, then talking is better than soldiers invading. Am I right?”
Courer nodded.
“Don’t let Ticco depose you, under any circumstances. It will mean your death,” Ricky said. A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Have you traveled north to visit the mines? Have you seen any of the ore?”
The king colored. “Of course not!”
“Then I’d try to get an independent assessment of the size and quality of the gold mines. The discovery might be a fabrication designed to bring you down.”
The king looked shocked. He evidently hadn’t thought about the gold discovery being a ruse. “I don’t need a teenager to point all this out to me. Where do you think Princess Pira is in all this?”
“She plays her own game, I think. Who can tell with her? I don’t believe she seeks out the destruction of Dimani, under any circumstances.” Ricky shrugged. “Speak to her directly.”
King Courer tapped his finger on his lips for a bit, probably trying to make sense of what the rash young Parantian had told him. Did the king think Ricky was the liar? Ricky didn’t know, but he had done what he could.
The king rose from his desk. “You’ve clarified a few things for me, young Valian. You may go.”
Ricky walked to the door.
“Wait,” the king said. “In whatever you do, you act independently of the Crown of Dimani. Do you understand?”
Ricky nodded.
“Since you understand, act. You must act.”
Ricky bowed and left King Courer’s presence, not quite understanding the last interchange.
“Did the king listen?” Tobia asked, as they walked through the castle to the courtyard.
Ricky looked up at the front of the building. “I think he did at the end. I told him what I needed to, and that’s all I can do here.”
He remembered King Courer’s last words, ‘You must act.’ Ricky sighed. “Find us the quickest coach to the North. I need to rescue a friend.”
“You’ll miss rehearsals.”
Ricky batted Tobia’s comment away. “I don’t need to rehearse. Our performance is going to change.”
~
You have deserted me! Princess Pira said via their link. How can you be on an express coach to Otta’s Bay by yourself?
Tobia’s with me, so I’m not by myself. Ricky filled her in on the information that Baron Mansali had given him and relayed his audience with King Courer.
Am I supposed to play the role of a diplomat? she said.
Even now Ricky could tell she was playing games with him. He shook his head and looked out at the countryside whizzing past the window. But you appointed me ambassador. Isn’t that correct? I am going to do two things: rescue my friend Mara, to give Jac room to make decisions, and verify if the gold deposits are real.
Real? Of course, they are…
Ricky could almost hear Pira’s brain work.
Prince Ticco might have concocted this scheme. Do it. Your princess commands you to find out.
Ricky laughed out loud. A brave command since I’m already on my way. He turned serious. You do know I’m committing what your guardian will consider a treasonous act. King Courer has already disavowed any actions I might take in Dimani’s behalf.
Ricky waited far too long for a reply. When I am queen, you will be pardoned. That’s as good a promise as I can make, Ricky. He endured another pause. She had never called him Ricky. I can help you, but only in the shadows as I play my games.
I don’t expect anything else. Ricky told her that he would be changing his performance and then gave Princess Pira a role in his own game before he broke the link.
“Is she willing?” Tobia said.
“She knows it isn’t a game for me, and I think she understands that our personal stakes might be different. I have to find a way to protect the princess when all this comes out, if it comes out. We have a lot of work ahead of us, dangerous work.”
Tobia grinned. “Minnie and I are behind you.”
Ricky barked out a mirthless laugh. “It’s what’s in front of me that will get me killed.”
He was suddenly weary and closed his eyes. They had a full day of riding in the carriage before they reached Otta’s Bay. Mara was sure to have reached the Parantian ships by now.
Late the next day, the carriage arrived in a small Dimanian town that overlooked Otta’s Bay. Ricky walked to the end of the road and stared down into the water.
“It’s a big natural harbor,” he said to Tobia.
“Right, a port that is surrounded by five-hundred-foot cliffs. Count all the ships in the bay. It will take days to get the men and their equipment up the tiny path carved into the side over there.” Tobia pointed to a ship anchored close to the curtain of rock ten or fifteen miles away.
“So we need to go there,” Ricky said.
His eyes lingered on ships. He stopped counting at twenty. The bay was big enough that Ricky couldn’t see the north end that opened to the sea. “What’s that in the middle?”
Tobia shrugged.
The task to rescue Mara amidst all the men that came from these ships seemed daunting at that moment, but Ricky wasn’t about to turn back.
They spent the night at a ramshackle inn. The agriculture in the surrounding area was limited to sheep and goat herding. The innkeeper complained on and on about the poor soil and told them stories of whole herds running off the cliffs.
“Did I see an island in the middle of the lake?” Ricky asked.
The innkeeper gave them both a gap-toothed smile. For some reason, the sophistication of the capital hadn’t reache
d this far north. “It is Otta’s Isle, named for the discoverer of the bay. It is good for nothing. There is a jagged peak, but it’s only about fifty feet above sea level. Storms can come in and sweep everything off the island, and there’s no fresh water, so grazing doesn’t work. A more forlorn place you’ll never see.”
“Have you been there?”
“Every lad and many brave girls will spend a day sailing there and back. It’s right in the center of the bay. I did when I was foolish. I’ve not done things much more foolish,” the innkeeper said. “It’s just a pile of dirt with a few scattered weeds.”
Ricky wondered. “Is it flat enough for a camp?”
“Surely. Otta’s Isle is three miles long and a couple wide. Don’t think about going out there. Those are Parantian ships filled with soldiers. They haven’t bothered us in the town yet, but that’s a matter of time. Most of those ships arrived not more than two days ago. A lot of people are thinking about leaving the North for a while.”
Ricky thought a bit. “Before you pack up your knives and spoons, I have a few more questions to ask…”
~
“Don’t you think we should have hired a boat?” Tobia asked Ricky, as they rode around the edge of Otta’s Bay.
“That’s exactly what they expect. I’m not worried about me, but I am about flying with Mara. If she’s not there, I’ll return, and we can check the mines. I’m more concerned about that handwritten map the innkeeper drew for us. Why do the lords of Dimani prohibit their mines from being located?”
“Another thing to find out,” Tobia said, “but I doubt it is much of a mystery. Jealousy and greed.”
“Then why be so open about the gold?”
Tobia grinned. “It is curious, is it not?”
Their mounts had gone as far as the daylight lasted, and they began to flag. “Time for rest. Is that a pond through those trees?” Tobia said.
Ricky’s stomach had been complaining for a while. “Time for eating, too.”
The horses were tied up in a little copse of trees surrounding an outcropping of boulders, a common feature that ran around the bay. Ricky looked over the cliffs at a platform the Parantians were still building on a jumble of rocks that had fallen to expand a tiny beach.