The Hidden Mask (Wizard's Helper Book 6)

by Guy Antibes

  “And if Yvessa decides she wants to back the WWS?” Jack asked.

  “Her options are very limited in the world of men. That doesn’t mean she has no tools, but she has rules like we have laws. Yvessa can make things difficult for her enemies, but the commoners aren’t her enemies.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Jack said as they walked southeast. “She won’t want her mask discovered.”

  Ari smiled. “There is little she can do once it is yours, Jack.”

  Little for a god wasn’t little for a human. Jack knew that for sure. “We can worry about that later. It is past lunchtime. Do you know a good place to eat?”

  “I do. The place I have in mind isn’t all that far from the city center.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~

  J ack ended up teleporting to his room. He held his stomach. Jack had never had a lunch that tasted so good. The lamb was succulent, and they served crispy slivers of potatoes that had been coated with a local cooking oil and baked. Jack also discovered that wine sauces were sometimes better than the wine itself.

  He laid back on his bed and contacted Fasher. His master didn’t seem too surprised by all the developments. He actually laughed as Jack told him they discovered listening post after listening post inside the house. Fasher also told Jack that the entrance to the lower arcades would probably be accessible from noble living spaces.

  Jack thanked him for the suggestion and closed his eyes. He had overeaten, and a nap might be just the thing to let everything settle down. Now that Fasher had been brought current, he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone bothering him.

  He heard giggling in his room.

  “I thought you were back,” Penny said.

  “How did you get in here?”

  The girl frowned. “You aren’t the only one who can teleport. With all these levels, I get to practice until the servants start tomorrow.”

  Jack sat up and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t need to, but maybe she would take pity on a drowsy friend and politely leave. He managed a yawn.

  He smiled when Penny yawned too. She sat down, slumping in a chair.

  “I thought you were past slouching,” Jack said.

  Penny nodded, but she didn’t straighten up. “I can slouch among friends, can’t I?”

  “I suppose so. Jack figured she was going to stay for a bit, so he sat up.

  “I don’t smell alcohol, so you didn’t drink your lunch.”

  “Actually, Ari took me to a local restaurant. It is a manageable walk from here. I had lamb and potatoes in a wine sauce. I didn’t think they made wine in Antibeaux, but they do closer to Chancey.”

  “You will take Sera and me there?” Penny asked.

  “Maybe just you,” Jack said.

  “We can go more than once.”

  “I intend to if I can keep from being sick. I ate too much,” Jack said.

  Penny looked across the room at him with a faint smile on her face.

  “Do you mean to make me uncomfortable?” Jack asked.

  “Not at all.”

  Jack suddenly recognized the look. “We shouldn’t be too familiar while we are in Antibeaux.”

  “My stare worked,” she said. She giggled and walked over to sit next to him. “One kiss and I’ll let you be alone with your stomach. It appears that is whom you prefer at the moment.”

  “Only at the moment,” Jack said. “One kiss.”

  She put her arms around him and kissed him.

  Jack burped. Penny made a face and laughed.

  “It looks like your stomach won.” She straightened out her dress and disappeared.

  Jack thought that a person should knock before teleporting into a closed room until he burped again. His stomach felt better for the moment, but he laid down for a nap anyway.

  Later, feeling better, Jack sought out Lin and Lorton. They all filed to the main floor sitting room where Jack related the second half of his morning.

  “Another entrance?” Oscar said. “I agree with Fasher Tempest. If this house has a formal entrance to the subterranean pathways, it will open into our living space and not the ground floor or the basement where the furnace is.”

  They split up and began a search. Jack tried to think of a way to find the formal entryway. Penny slipped just ahead of him.

  “Someone spilled some water,” she said.

  “The servants aren’t here yet, clumsy,” Jack said, looking at the slip marks on the floor. “That’s it. We look for worn flooring.” It took all of a few more minutes when Jack popped open the hidden double doors revealing a carpeted staircase leading downwards. He examined the doors. They had a lever that held the doors closed until a person pushed on them, releasing the latch with a little spring. It was right under the main stairway leading up.

  “Shall we?” Jack said, giving his arm to Penny.

  They descended to a landing with benches and hooks on the wall for coats, Jack assumed before another flight took them down at least as far as the furnace room. He couldn’t detect any hidden doors along the way, but he would return with the Battlebone to inspect it more closely.

  They reached a set of double doors in a foyer dressed in white stone and unlatched the doors. He pulled one of them inward, feeling a rush of cool air.

  He bowed to Penny. “Welcome to the secret Bristone.”

  “I don’t think it is much of a secret.” She looked across the wide walkway that stretched in both directions. Magic torches lit the space, but Jack could see other spots for more torches. The place was probably quite festive when the shops were open.

  They stepped out into the paved floor. There were closed shops on either side of them.

  “Shopping right outside our door!” Penny said.

  “We can explore later. This place isn’t really open for business yet,” Jack said, pulling Penny into the foyer and closing the door and then securing the lock.

  They teleported to the top of the stairs. “We found it; we found it!” Penny shouted out.

  In a few minutes, Jack was back at the lower passage, with the rest marveling at the ingenuity of the Bristonian citizens.

  ~

  Lin declared the third-floor sitting room would be their conference room. This one looked out over the back garden on one side. Another window looked out over the ballroom. She had the servants bring a large table from the attic and had it placed in the center of the room.

  “We will keep this place as our thinking room,” Lin said. “We will need a map, like the commoners Jack visited, and at least four easels to keep track of members of the four factions.”

  “If the commoners know where the mask is, why do we have to go through all this?” Sera asked.

  “They don’t know exactly where it is. It is between here and Niemeaux,” Jack said.

  “How can we find the mask if we don’t really know what it looks like?” Sera asked.

  “And what if they don’t know where the mask really is?” Lorton said. “I’d rather have more solid information. What the commoners want is the same information that we are assembling on our own anyway. We won’t have any need for it once we have the mask and are headed out of Antibeaux.”

  “I understand,” Sera said. “I can report that none of the servants are using the listening rooms. I have shown them most of the rooms, as you suggested, Lin. Some of them laughed about all the gossip the owners must have discovered.”

  “And the owners might still be in Bristone,” Penny said. “With all their disguises, they could even be our servants.”

  “Not a chance,” Lin said. “Oscar and I would have been able to spot them.”

  “I am still doing the checking,” Sera said. “I have to do something now that you have elevated one of the maids to my position this morning.”

  Lin smiled. “That is so you can become Penny’s companion all winter. We will have to buy you some better clothes, but I think you will enjoy your new role better. I think it is wise for you to continue to monitor the pass
ages.”

  “With pleasure,” Sera said, taking Penny’s hand and squeezing it. “It will be more fun than the institute.”

  “I think I had a better time than you did,” Penny said, but she smiled and gave Sera a hug. “I won’t have to drag Jack with me so often now.”

  “Fine with me,” Jack said.

  ~

  “A royal ball!” Sera said. “And now I get to go!”

  Penny looked just as excited. Jack was less thrilled, but he looked at the ordeal as a way to get more connections, although he wasn’t the best connection-getter. He felt more comfortable earning them with good deeds.

  Lin waved the formal invitation in the air. “At least the ambassador is good for something,” she said.

  “Lorton will be my escort, and Jack will accompany Penny and Sera. That will give us greater flexibility than standing in a cluster like we did at Boxwood,” Lin said.

  “Do we have a goal while we are there?” Jack asked. “We can be more focused on accomplishing something if we have one.”

  “Good boy!” Lin said. “What does everyone think?”

  “Connections, obviously,” Lorton said.

  “Can we be more specific?” Lin asked the group.

  “I’d like to know who attends. Will the queen invite people from all four factions?” Jack asked. “I don’t think passing a Double P woman on the street is enough to determine if what we are told about them are true.”

  “Do you mean we’ve been lied to?” Sera asked.

  “We don’t know if we’ve been lied to. Everyone has their own biases. We need some perspective to make sure we aren’t taking anything we hear for granted,” Jack said.

  Penny nodded. “We’ve been fooled before. I’m thinking of Myra Pulini.”

  “And there were others on that errand,” Jack said. “Of course, that doesn’t mean we have the wrong impression of the factions, especially the Double P; it is just that we don’t know for sure.”

  Lin smiled. “What you also need to realize is that most people are not all bad or all good.”

  “Yes, they are,” Lorton said.

  Even Jack knew that was wrong. “We might find out a few things tonight, but I’m not so sure you get a lot of good information during a ball.”

  “You are right, Jack. But if Penny or I can get invited to more casual social events, we might find out.”

  “If anyone but the Royalists will invite us,” Penny said.

  “They will if we make a big enough splash,” Lin said.

  “How will we do that?” Jack asked.

  “Be prepared for anything,” Lin said enigmatically.

  Chapter Seventeen

  ~

  J ack had told Ari about the meeting in the townhouse as they walked through the streets of Bristone on another mysterious errand with Ari.

  “Does Lady Kanlinn know more than what she is saying?” Ari said. “Does she have other people in the city?”

  “If she does, we know nothing about it,” Jack said. “Maybe I should ask Lorton.”

  “Or Oscar,” Ari said. “If Lin is playing her own game, then her trusted man would know. I’m sure she remains focused on retrieving the Hidden Mask, but the woman is very independent.”

  Ari didn’t have to tell him that. Jack had already been exposed to companions playing their own games, and he never liked it. He would have to be watchful and be prepared for anything, just like Lin had warned.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Back to the craftsmen quarter. I found an armorer who was intrigued by your little plaything. He told me to visit him right about now. I’m sure he would like a demonstration.”

  “Have you used weapons very much?” Jack asked.

  “Me?” Ari shook his head. “I guess I’m like most wizards, and unlike you, I don’t feel the need to mess about with edged weapons. A well-placed wizard bolt suits most wizards. I’m sure Fasher Tempest feels the same way.”

  “As far as I know, he does,” Jack said. “He does possess a sword, but I’ve never seen him use it. I’m comfortable either way.”

  “And that makes you unique. If you lose your magic, then you are not defenseless, like me.”

  Jack laughed. “I’ve done that, temporarily. It isn’t pleasant to overdo it. I knew a burned-out magician, totally burned out. I sort of pitied him until he turned on us.”

  Ari nodded. “It can happen—lose one’s magic permanently. Somehow, I can’t see you in that situation.”

  Jack snorted. “Anyone can lose their magic. It was pounded into me all the time when I started with Fasher.”

  “That was then,” Ari said. “You have progressed since then.”

  “I suppose I had to,” Jack said. “I started from scratch, except for the simple spells everyone knows.”

  Ari laughed. Jack didn’t know why their conversation was that funny.

  “You are on a different level now. A significantly higher level.”

  Jack nodded. “I suppose so. Masukaian wizard theory is different than Corandian and that made more things possible, but I still stick with what I know.”

  “You keep thinking that way, Jack. Our destination is right around the corner.”

  Ari led him into a yard that looked similar to the swordmaker’s workshop in Underville, but larger. Pieces of armor littered the yard as well as swords, knives, and other weapons.

  A short, stocky man wearing a thick leather apron approached Ari.

  “You brought the boy?”

  “That isn’t a ghost you see beside me,” Ari said, with an impish smile.

  “Arno Gibbert. I make the throwing weapons and points in this shop.” He thrust out a dirty hand to Jack, who didn’t hesitate to shake it. “Good. I wanted to know if you weren’t afraid to get your hand dirty.” The man chuckled. “It’s a little test.”

  “Why do you feel the need for a test?” Jack asked.

  “Nobles, Double P, WWS members are too clean for the rest of us,” Arno said. “Come back into my forge.”

  Ari and Jack followed Arno past other craftsmen. The yard was even bigger than Jack thought. They walked into a building with a small forge. This was where smaller scale metalwork was done, their host told them.

  “I make a different kind of steel here. It is stronger and lighter, but not as malleable. My recipe isn’t as good for swords or armor.”

  “Perfect for knives and arrowheads. Points, you called them,” Jack said.

  “Right,” Tom said. “Let me show you what I’ve done to your throwing thing, and perhaps we can work together to optimize the design.”

  Jack hadn’t considered improving throwing stars. This was something new for him. He looked down at three different designs. There were five of each type, including the copies of the original. The Masukaian design was changed in two different ways. One was a bit larger, and the other had tiny serrations on wider biting edges.

  “I did some thinking. I can always duplicate this original. Ari said it was from Masukai?”

  “As is the sword I wear,” Jack said.

  “Can I see it?” Arno said.

  Jack drew the blade and presented it to the weapon maker.

  “Very interesting. Do you mind if I show this around?”

  “Be careful, it is very sharp.”

  Tom laughed. “Everything around here is sharp!”

  Ari looked at the man’s work. “Which one is better?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t tried them. Looking and throwing are two different things.”

  Jack picked up the Masukaian original and a copy. He threw each one at a target at the end of the shack.

  “They throw the same, but I can tell the copy is lighter.”

  Jack hefted the bigger one and smiled. “This actually fits better in my hand. The Masukaians are a smaller race than the Corandians.” Jack was going to say like “we are,” but it was clear that Ari wasn’t Corandian and probably wasn’t the same race with his features and skin.

&nb
sp; “See, the empty spaces are a bit larger, so the weight is the same as the original.”

  Jack threw it and could feel it move a touch slower, but it seemed to have better stability. He wondered if the width did that. Jack threw the remaining four, and without using his magic, he still was able to produce a tight grouping.

  “Now for this one,” Jack said. “I wonder what he's thinking for the serrations. Perhaps he thinks it will cut through leather better?” He shrugged and threw it.

  Jack could feel that the star was a tiny bit thicker. “It is more lethal than the other two.”

  The craftsman still hadn’t returned, so Jack made more throws. Each type had unique characteristics, but the maker had made them all throwable. Jack was at a loss to know if that was part of their host’s talent or any weapon maker could do the same thing.

  Arno Gibbert returned. “Everyone loves your sword. Our master craftsman sketched out the outline, but there is more to the sword than the design. It was crafted with more folds than we typically do. I would consider it a masterpiece.”

  “It is a masterpiece in Masukai. I went through a lot to earn it.”

  “Would you care to spar with our weapons tester?” the craftsman asked.

  “I can do that,” Jack said.

  “What do you think about the stars?”

  Jack went over the man’s thinking and concluded none was better than the others. They all had a place, but Jack held them in his hand and demonstrated how the pattern could be improved on them all, including the Masukaian original. Arno traced the patterns and made a few notations for modifications.

  “I can throw them all equally well, but the larger one will go farther.” Jack had an idea. “Do you have some rope?”

  Arno smiled broadly. “I do. Are you going to use the serrated star to see if you can cut it? I’d like to see you try. Without a blade around the entire star, you will have to be very precise or very lucky.”

  “This time, I will use a little magic,” Jack said.