by Guy Antibes
“I like this boy,” Lin said to Fasher. “You have trained him well.”
Fasher chuckled. “Jack has trained himself. I merely sent him to school in a manner of speaking.” Fasher gave Jack a warm glance. “He hasn’t disappointed.”
“I must get going,” Lin said, rising from her chair. “Forgive me for intruding.”
Jack recognized the actress had emerged again.
“We look forward to working with you,” Fasher said, “as I am sure Jack and Penny do.”
“As do I.” Corina showed Lin to the door.
“What a woman!” Corina said as she sat back down. “She tutored you in behavior?”
Penny laughed. “I don’t know what she was about. She is generally much more discreet. I had to keep my face straight.”
“It was a prank?” Jack asked.
“In a way,” Fasher said. “I think it was a test for her. She is putting her life on the line every bit as much as you two are. She is smart enough to take the measure of Jack. I’m sure she knows Penny well enough, even with her enhanced wizard status. From what I can tell, you passed, Jack, but I will guess she will be spending some time smoothing your rough edges. A demonstration may be considered too much in an encounter with nobles. I suggest you listen to her about deportment, but I think she will consider your opinions seriously. I believe she is as good as anyone at reading people.”
“Should I be afraid?” Jack asked.
“Why? What can she do to you?” Fasher asked. “Learn from her, and she will learn from you, just don’t look like a love-struck puppy the next time she enters a room.”
Penny and Corina burst out laughing.
“Was it that apparent?” Jack asked.
“Like the Dorkansee harbor beacon,” Corina said.
Chapter Three
~
C orina stayed behind while Jack, Penny, and Fasher walked through the Dorkansee police headquarters door leading down to Willet Barton’s office. Jack carried Penny’s sword as they walked down the stairs to the basement offices.
Willet sat in his office and introduced Sera Waters and Gary Green to Fasher and Jack as soon as Fasher’s group showed up at the door. “I have arranged to have the training hall for today,” Willet said, rising from behind his desk. “We can go there now. Lin should have already arrived.”
“Penny!” Sera said, hugging her friend. “You are back to normal?”
Penny shook her head. “I’m afraid I will never be normal again.” She pulled at her white hair. “This is permanent.”
Sera blinked. “How?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Penny said, following the men out the door.
Jack looked back to see Sera continue to talk to Penny as they walked back up the stairs and followed Willet to the training hall. He sized up Gary as a fit man, and he looked smart enough to Jack.
Kanlinn Marker was already stretching on the hardwood floor of the hall. Jack looked around. It was as big as King Eduardo’s throne room and nearly as plain. His eyes went to Kanlinn’s moves. She wasn’t as striking because she hadn’t worn cosmetics, but he could see the woman was as fit as Gary Green. He could see why Penny was intimidated by the woman. Jack had to admit he was intimidated, too, but differently.
“Let’s get the rumors of Penny’s sword prowess out of the way,” Gary Green said. He took a practice sword from a rack.
Penny took her sword from Jack and warmed up at normal speed along with Gary.
“I don’t see anything different,” Gary said as he stopped and watched Penny for a moment. “Are you ready, Penny?”
She nodded and held up her sword to her forehead and swept it down. Jack thought she did that rather well. He could tell the moment she touched the void. Penny let Gary make the first move, and it was an interesting moment, looking at the confused look on her swordmaster, as Penny fended off every move Gary made. He finally held up his hand.
“Can you teach me that?” he said.
“Jack taught me. Ask him,” Penny said.
Jack could feel Lin’s eyes on him as he nodded. “You are ultimately limited on how much magic you can apply. The greater the magic, the greater the speed, but I have found that even people who don’t think they can do much with their magic can increase their speed.
“Even me?” Gary said.
Jack nodded. “Sera, Lady Kanlinn—“
“Lin. Here you call me Lin, Jack Winder.”
Jack grinned. “If you call me Jack, I’ll call you Lin.” That was better than being overcome with the woman’s presence when he first met her.
“Fair enough,” she said.
Jack explained to all—even Fasher was interested—how to increase their speed. “It takes practice to quickly touch the void, as I call it, and finding the right trigger word or image does affect how well you can increase your speed.”
He spent the next half hour, helping them all with their technique. Willet did remarkably well, Jack thought. Fasher had the technique down before anyone else, but Jack had expected that.
“My style is not to use a sword,” Fasher said, “but this can be applied to any number of circumstances, even in healing.”
“When time is of the essence,” Jack said.
In another half hour, everyone had been able to touch the void to some extent, though Jack made it clear it took much more practice to maximize the speed and to instantly invoke the void.
“We took a day or two in Masukai, but they didn’t discuss the mechanics of magic in as much detail as I just did,” Jack said.
“Can I have another go, Penny?” Gary asked.
Penny nodded, and she still was able to move faster than Gary, but he made the sparring much tougher.
When he was done, he put the sword back on the table. “You won’t have to worry about being overmatched in Bristone,” he said. “Let’s move on to demonstrating everyone’s capability.” He looked at Willet. “That is what you wanted?”
“It is. Lorton should be here any minute. He is not without talent,” Willet said.
“Do you throw knives?” Gary asked Jack.
“I use these,” Jack said, pulling out a handful of throwing stars. “They use throwing stars in the place of knives in Masukai. Penny knows how to use them too.”
“I didn’t have access to knives,” Penny said, shrugging at Gary.
Jack put on a demonstration using the void and using his magic at normal speed.
“There is nothing I can teach him,” Gary admitted to Willet and Fasher standing together. “You can do the same with arrows?”
“I haven’t really practiced. Helen Rafter was our archer. She was good enough without using magic.”
“I can vouch for that,” Penny said. “I mentioned her to you.”
“You did,” Gary said. He turned back to Jack. “Magical weapons?”
“He can throw a wizard bolt the length of this hall,” Penny said.
“Penny can nearly do that,” Jack said, smiling.
“Are you boasting?” Fasher asked Jack.
Jack shook his head. “I want Gary to know what we can do.”
“He can do more than what he has shown,” Fasher said. “You haven’t seen him levitate or teleport. He can also speak over far distances. He kept Penny apprised of his status when he was in Masukai.”
Lin stared at Penny. “You can use telepathy? You didn’t tell me.”
Penny shrugged. “It wasn’t relative to being a lady or to exercising weaponless combat.”
Lin took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. “You have other secrets?”
“Not secrets. I would have told you if you had asked, but you never did. I’m not going to volunteer such things,” Penny said.
“She is a strong wizard, after all,” Sera said. “I feel humbled by Jack and Penny’s talent. Perhaps I shouldn’t go.”
“I want you to come with us,” Penny said.
“Penny doesn’t have the investigative experience,” Willet said.
&nbs
p; A policeman between Tanner and Fasher’s age walked in. He walked as if he had a staff bound to his back and stopped at Willet’s side.
“This is Lorton Reedbrook. He taught Penny how to throw knives.” Willet made the introductions.
Lorton eyed Jack as if he were a rival, Jack thought. “You must be the wizard who went to Masukai. I noticed the strange sword at your hip.”
“I did,” Jack said with a smile. If he was to work with this man, they needed to be friendly, or at least friendlier. Lorton’s gaze could freeze just as well as Jack’s ice-creating wrist guard.
Lorton turned to Fasher, and Jack could see the exact moment he recognized his mentor. “Fasher Tempest. I didn’t think I would see you again in the present circumstances.”
“I didn’t think so either, Lorton,” Fasher said. “But I am not going with you. I am the one sending my people on the errand. Willet has agreed to help me flesh out my team.” Fasher turned to Penny and Jack. “Lorton and I worked together in the Corandian-Kadellian war. He was there when I decided I could serve Corand better as a healer than a battle wizard.”
“I had always thought you left the battlefield because of cowardice, but I’ve heard of all the help you have given King Jordan.”
“And others,” Fasher said. “Especially others. This is another such errand. Perhaps everyone can demonstrate their prowess in another session. I think it is time to have our first meeting as a team.”
~
Jack looked around the conference room. The chairs and table were worn from decades of meetings. He wished there were windows in the room, but that typically wasn’t a feature of basements in Corand and elsewhere.
Fasher and Willet stood together at the front. Lin and Penny sat together with Lorton and Sera on the other side. Jack faced them sitting on the opposite side of the table.
Fasher began the meeting by repeating what he had told Jack and Penny earlier, and he introduced Willet Barton’s introduction to their trip by stating that the political situation in Antibeaux was fluid.
“We don’t know where the mask is,” Willet said.
“I can try to find it with my object,” Jack said.
“Go ahead. Do you have it with you?” Fasher asked.
Jack nodded. He didn’t want to show off, so he put his hand in the sack, touched the Battlebone, and sought out the hidden mask. Nothing happened. Not even a glimmer of any mask that could foretell the future. “I can’t see it.”
“You won’t be able to, nor will Penny’s bone seer,” Fasher said. “It is protected by a spell invoked by Yvessa, herself,” Fasher said.
“We won’t be able to use wizardry?” Lorton asked.
“Not to locate the mask unless you are close. You will need to use wizardry to protect yourselves and to do the retrieval,” Willet said.
“Are we going all the way to Bristone to be thieves?” Lorton said.
“You can put it that way, or you can call it removing a tool the enemy will have no compunction using on Corand. How would you like to be on the battle line when your opponent can anticipate your every move?”
Lorton bit his lower lip and nodded. Jack could see he was still having a hard time.
“Your primary purpose is to protect Lady Kanlinn and help Jack and Penny when the time comes,” Fasher said.
“But I know more about working in the field than everyone else,” Lorton said.
“And you will advise as necessary. You are a team, and everyone has their own expertise. Let me talk more about your roles,” Willet said. “Lady Kanlinn will be going as Lady Kanlinn. Her role will be to penetrate Bristone noble society. You will need leads to find the mask. Hers will be to talk to the highest-ranking nobles in Antibeaux. Penny Ephram will be her traveling companion. Her role will be to cultivate some nobles, but generally those below the top level. Sera will assume the position of ladies maid to both Penny and Lin. She will work the servant side of the nobles. Lin is very, very experienced as well, so she will be of particular help while Sera goes about her duties. Lorton is ostensibly the bodyguard of Lady Kanlinn, but he will also help Jack where two wizards will work better than one.”
“Then, why do you need me?” Jack asked. “Lorton and Penny are powerful wizards. I think Lady Kanlinn is too. Sera has a vital role to play. What will I do?”
“You do whatever else needs to be done. Your role will be to fill in as Lin’s escort or Penny’s escort where needed. You may be called upon to serve along with Sera. People might get the impression that you are Lin’s pet, but we know better.”
Jack shook his head to clear his mind a bit. “That isn’t what I thought you had meant. I don’t think I will be particularly adept at being a lady’s pet.”
Sera, Penny, and Lin all giggled like schoolgirls. Jack could feel his face burn.
“I think you are well suited for the job,” Penny said. “I know a few ladies that look upon you as their pet, shall I name them?” She meaningfully twirled a lock of white hair around her finger.
“That’s different,” Jack said, knowing well Penny thought of his goddess experiences.
“I fail to see how it is.”
“I don’t either,” Fasher said. “You will do well enough, and it will give you any number of excuses to wander around Bristone on any kind of errand you can think up.”
Jack wasn’t so sure he was ready for this quest.
“You will lead the group in the actual acquisition of the mask. You are the most experienced in handling unknown situations and are best equipped to overcome any obstacles mundane or magical that confront the group,” Fasher said.
Jack had to agree. Penny was still learning about her powers, but she had followed Jack’s instructions. Jack had done more leading for the last two errands than anyone else, although there were a lot of group decisions, and he didn’t see that changing with this team.
“There might be another member if he is available,” Fasher said. “His name is Ari Gasheaux, and he lives in Chancey, a town on your way to Bristone. He is a wizard who looks as old as Grigar and has lived in Antibeaux long enough to have adopted a proper Antibeaux name. I have his address.
“You trust this Gasheaux character?” Willet said.
“He won’t betray Jack, of that I am sure. He is more likely to just leave if he doesn’t like what is going on.”
“He won’t be like Myra Pulini?” Penny asked.
I guarantee Ari won’t turn into an enemy. Will that suffice? You will have to trust me on that,” Fasher said.
“That is good enough,” Jack said. “You didn’t vouch for Myra, and she did know enough about Passoran to get us started on our journey.”
“What happened in Passoran?” Lorton asked.
“That is up to Jack or Penny to say.” Fasher looked Lorton in the eye. “If you can’t handle the ambiguity of this mission, say so now.”
A shiver went up Jack’s spine. He had never heard Fasher express himself in such a cold way, even when Jack returned the Serpent’s Orb devoid of any power. Fasher’s question took the policeman aback, and the tension that Lorton was instigating became worse.
“I, uh,” he stammered a little more before he said, “I can handle the mission. Don’t worry about me.”
Jack worried about him, but perhaps once they were on their way, Jack could share some of his adventures and loosen the man up a bit. Jack needed a male to talk to while they traveled. Helen had almost fit that role in Passoran, but not like Grigar and Tanner did in Masukai.
“Are you fine with that, Jack?”
“Me?” Jack said. “I will make it work, Fasher.”
“The boy is so full of ambiguity, it doesn’t matter what he faces,” Fasher said. The room was silent. “It is a joke, everyone,” Fasher said, chuckling.
Penny giggled, and the tension in the room began to loosen.
“I think that is enough for now,” Jack said. “I think we need to have some lunch together in a more relaxed setting. Is there any such place in the Firs
t Ring?”
“I know of one,” Lorton said. He actually smiled. “I think you are right, Winder.”
~
Jack looked up at the pub’s sign. It read Pelican’s Rest.
“I hope the ale is good,” Jack said to Fasher.
“After one or two, you won’t care, will you?” Fasher replied.
“I guess not.” Jack smiled with anticipation. The place wasn’t very rowdy, but it had a good common feel.
“Lots of policemen frequent this pub,” Lorton said, “but there are a lot of private rooms. Right, Willet?”
“Lorton is absolutely correct. The food is highly digestible, highly digestible,” Willet said.
Jack took that for a compliment, and soon they sat in a room sized for twelve. After a decent enough lunch, Jack related some of his experiences in Masukai. For once, he didn’t leave out his interactions with Akkora, Zukori, and Borigore.
“You really think that the Antibeaux goddess will appear to you?” Lorton asked.
Jack shrugged. “I can’t say if she will or not. If she does, I will certainly ask her where the mask is. A deity can only do so much in our world, at least that has been my experience. Even Borigore must possess a person to really do something specific.”
“They can’t call down thunder and lightning?” Lin asked. “I’m a bit disappointed.”
“I don’t know what they can or can’t do. I can only point out what I have observed. Gods do have power when they appear, for I have felt it.”
“So have I,” Penny added.
“I agree with what Jack has said,” Fasher said. “From my research, gods are restricted in their interactions with humans. That does not mean they aren’t dangerous. They can also influence men and women without appearing to them.”
Willet cleared his throat. “Aren’t we far afield?”
“No, uncle,” Sera said. “Penny and Jack have special powers, and that could attract attention from Yvessa.” She looked at Penny. “Do others find out about what you can do?”
Penny shook her head. “As far as I know, they can only know what we are capable of by observing what we do.”