We approached the gate guard and I handed him the forged documents. Being the only person in the group that was not pretending to be male, my job was to do the talking. Luckily the gate guard seemed to not be too interested and, after scanning the document, waved us through.
We entered the grounds and I turned to Natalie. “Where did you hide it?”
“In the back,” she answered, changing our direction. “There was a well, so I threw it into the bucket and let it drop down. I jammed the crank so nobody would be able to pull it back up.”
Cathy chuckled. “They couldn’t just pull on the rope?”
“It’s a small well,” Natalie explained. “Probably not used by too many people anymore.”
“What happened that day?” I asked.
“Took you long enough to ask that,” Natalie joked. “It was going well until fate decided to play a game with me. I had made it back outside when a guard had come around the back to...uh...water the tree.”
I tried to cover my laughter. “The Great Natalie caught because someone had to go tinkle.”
She chuckled. “Happens to the best of us sometimes.”
“What happened next?” Cathy asked.
“I killed him but not before he called out in alarm,” Natalie answered. “The only way in and out of this place is the front gate. I was screwed and did the only thing I could. I hid the evidence and waited to be arrested. Figured I would just get arrested for trespassing, but Lord Michaels is a crafty old man. I’ll give him that.”
“How’d you get into the castle in the first place?” I asked.
She chuckled. “I was undercover as a new cleaning servant. My friend has a contact in the castle that set everything up and snuck in my gear.”
We were closing in on the back of the castle and we stopped to free Natalie of her bonds. She kept her hands hidden behind her back still just in case fate and the call of nature decided to intervene again. When we continued, we discovered the only people behind the building were wearing bright yellow with black masks.
We immediately caught their attention and they walked towards us weapons drawn. “Well, well, well,” the leader said. “What do we have here?”
“Prisoner transfer,” I said, counting out the eight mercs. “What are mercenaries doing here?”
“A prisoner escaped from Thurlborn Peak,” the leader answered in an amused tone. “We’re here to kill him.”
“How’d you beat us here?” Natalie asked in her ‘Nathan’ voice.
“The Yellow Jackets are everywhere,” the leader said. “We received word from Lord Michaels’ private courier a day ago. Gave us plenty of time to look for the ledger. That’s a great job you did with the well; had us fooled. Now, where is the ledger?”
“What do you mean?” Natalie asked intrigued.
“Where is the ledger?” the leader demanded saying each word slowly.
“You’re not going to believe me if I tell you,” Natalie answered, bringing her arm forward with the blade ready.
“Take the prisoner alive,” the leader told his men. “Kill the ‘guards’.”
Cathy immediately unsheathed her sword and charged into battle. I pulled out the axe and it felt awkward in my hand. A merc approached me with his shield ready and I swung the axe at him slowly. The axe bounced off the shield and out of my hand. I didn’t need to see the merc’s face to know he was laughing. He bashed his shield into me and I fell onto my back.
He charged, ready to drive his sword into my chest and I raised my hands and launched a Pulse at him. The gauntlets hindered the power of the spell and the merc was only thrown backwards a couple of steps. It was enough time for me to rip off my right gauntlet and launch a proper Pulse at him. He fell back and I jumped back onto my feet and ripped the other gauntlet off.
Two other mercs saw my display of power and turned their attention to me. The first merc to attack me was back on his feet and I sent a small Lightning Bolt at him, turning him into an electrical conduit. I used a Pulse to launch him into the two mercs. One dodged the flying lightning rod and charged at me, shield raised. I dodged him, but because of the blasted armour, the manoeuvre was anything but graceful and I landed on my butt.
I rushed to my feet as the merc spun around, ready to chop me up like a tomato with his sword. I rushed power to both my hands and solid ice formed around them. I raised them up into the ready position and stepped towards my assailant.
He swung his sword at me and I blocked it with my left hand, sending my right into his face. His head snapped back and he staggered a couple of steps. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that his two friends had finished the electrically induced breakdancing session and had returned for some more. I focused more power into my Ice Hands and the ice started to form into a point at my knuckles, giving me two very Natalie-like weapons.
The three mercs charged me at once and I focused on deflecting their blows while finding a chance to strike. A deflection here and there and an opening presented itself. I stabbed into a merc’s chest and turned to slash another across the neck. The third merc slashed me across the back and pain exploded through my body. Without Cathy to block my pain I needed to ignore it myself and react quickly. I turned in time to block the merc from trying to jam his sword through me. I was too slow to block another slash, this time across my chest, and I fell to the ground.
My ice hands melted and I raised both at the merc and unleashed a Fireball that covered him from head to toe. I followed with a Pulse to knock him onto his back and he screamed, trying to put out the fire. I stood up and launched an Ice Bolt into his chest to end his suffering.
I felt the warm blood running down my body from both wounds, but the armour had done its job. I was still in one piece. I’ll take a little pain over trying to glue my legs back on any day.
I turned my attention to my friends and saw they were doing well. Two mercs remained and I summoned my power into the nearby tree. The trees branches grabbed the mercs sword arms and Cathy and Natalie finished them off.
“I see you haven’t lost a step,” Natalie joked in her normal voice.
I approached them slowly as I let my healing magic work on the wounds. “Not that good,” I said. “I got lucky at the end there.”
“And that’s all that matters in a fight,” Natalie said. “Now let’s figure out what the Void they were talking about.”
She headed for the well and Cathy walked over to me, checking out the damaged armour. “I can’t turn my back on you for one second can I?” she asked.
“You missed Ice Hands,” I said, removing my helmet to cool down.
“How could you do them without me?” she said shocked.
“I made them pointy so they were like Natalie’s blade gauntlet,” I smirked.
Cathy scoffed. “I leave and you get all the fun.”
“What about him?” I said, pointing to a merc who had been cut in half at the waist. “You can’t say that wasn’t fun.”
“That Red Headed Toilet Scrubber!” Natalie exclaimed.
“Oh look, something positive is about to happen,” Cathy said sarcastically.
Natalie stomped back over to us holding up a piece of crumpled up paper that read ‘JKS’.
“Jokes?” I asked. “What does it mean?”
“It means I owe my friend a swift kick in the butt,” she fumed.
“Well then, let’s get out of here before more Yellow Jackets show up,” I said. “What are we doing about the guards?”
“If they didn’t show up after this battle, they aren’t coming,” Cathy answered. “The Yellow Jacket paid someone off. Just stick to the plan and let’s walk right out the front door like nothing happened.”
“Alright,” I said, putting on my helmet. “Stay close, Natalie, and no more odd obscenities.”
“When you see him, you’ll realise it was more an accurate description,” Natalie grumbled.
Chapter 15
When a man with bright red curly hair answered the door, I
understood Natalie a little bit better. The man really did look like a toilet scrubber. He was even thin and pasty as if it was his goal to look that way.
“You’re getting rusty, love,” he smirked to Natalie.
She shoved past him. “I can’t believe I have to deal with you twice in one day.”
“Yes, lucky me,” he said, sarcastically. He turned to us. “Please, come in.”
Natalie’s friend’s house was a small bungalow not far from the castle. When we left the castle grounds, the gate guard gave us one look before doing his best to ignore the situation. I didn’t blame him. We looked like a mess after the battle and I would have just waved us through as well. Cathy had been right. They had been paid off to ignore the situation. Sneaking Natalie out of the grounds had been easy and she led us straight to Mr. Toilet Brush.
“Don’t be getting any blood on my furniture,” he continued.
“What furniture?” Cathy asked me quietly.
The house was a mess with various items scattered over everything that could have been furniture at one point. Once again I was glad to be wearing armour because I had the feeling that if I accidentally brushed up against something, I would probably end up with multiple diseases.
Cathy and I stood in a safe corner as Natalie shoved the note from the well into her friend’s face. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Just a little love note for you,” he answered, his smirk still plastered on his face.
“What does it mean?” Cathy asked curiously. “What is JKS?”
“My name,” he answered. “Julian King Salvador, King Salvador to the common rabble or ‘Jokes’ to my friends, Master Thief and Forger at your service.” He bowed with a flourish.
“You really like that sound of your own voice, don’t you?” Cathy asked.
“How could I not?” he asked. “It’s simply...breathtaking.”
“Vomit inducing is how I’ve always described it,” Natalie said. “Now, Julie, what is the meaning of you sending me in there if you already had the ledger?”
“As long as the Yellow Jackets are in town, everyone is in trouble,” Jokes answered. “They were here for you and you are capable enough to handle them. Void, you are travelling with two armed guards after all. It was simple mathematics, love. You eliminate the mercs and I protect the ledger from them until you return.”
He crossed the room to a desk with a stack of books on it. He removed a thin book from the middle of the stack and handed it to Natalie.
“You still could have warned me of the danger,” Natalie said, still trying to be angry at him.
“You work better when you are on your toes,” Jokes countered.
“No, I work better when I have a plan,’ Natalie corrected.
“Silly me,” he chuckled, brushing it off. “Maybe I was just getting you back for leaving Mongoose without me.”
“I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands,” Natalie countered. “I had to move when I did.”
“Yes, but you know how Mongoose is with deserters and FRIENDS of deserters,” Jokes said seriously. “Now we are even, my old friend. Was there anything else you needed from me?”
“We’re hunting down two knights that may have come through here,” I said. “Ser Scott and Ser Paul.”
“The names don’t ring a bell, but try Stitches,” Jokes responded. “If two knights have come through, the blacksmith is the best bet.”
“Not Stitches,” Natalie groaned. “He’s such a weasel.”
“Yeah, but he’s reliable,” Jokes responded. “He’s the reason I was able to get to the ledger before the Yellow Jackets. The guy hears everything.”
“Fine,” Natalie said. “Will he be at the pub tonight?”
“Fat chance,” Jokes said. “He’s been laying low the past couple of nights. You’ll find him at work in the morning. Meaning you get to stay the night here.”
“Pass,” Cathy said.
“Agreed,” I said.
“I wasn’t talking to you two,” Jokes said, turning to Natalie. “I miss you keeping my bed warm.”
“That was a long time ago, Julie,” Natalie said, heading for us. “Thanks for your help. As payment, I won’t slice your head off.”
Jokes chuckled. “Deal. Drop by again soon, love.”
“Let’s get the Void out of here,” Natalie said quietly to us.
*****
The night was short, but for the first time since Cathy and I had separated, I had a dream. I couldn’t remember the details when I woke up. All I could recall was standing under the distortion in the Archanion Field and it felt like I was going home. When my eyes opened to reveal Cathy lying on the bed beside me, the oddness of the dream was forgotten.
Cathy and I had to share a room after Natalie took a room and locked the door. We didn’t mind sharing, frankly I think we were both in favour of it, and collapsed onto the bed for a couple of hours sleep before the sun rose.
Cathy opened her eyes slowly. “What are you looking at, bitch?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I replied. “You’re just directly in front of me and I am too lazy to roll over.”
“Pretty convenient excuse,” she smiled.
“Tell it to the back of my head,” I said, rolling over.
She chuckled and the bed jiggled as she climbed out of it. I heard the sound of iron clanging together and groaned as I picked myself up off the mattress.
“I’m shocked Natalie hasn’t tried to wake us up yet,” Cathy said.
“Might still be too early for her,” I responded, standing up.
I grabbed the armour off the floor and started to assemble it. The process was almost automatic now and the thought of selling the armour to the blacksmith was crossing my mind.
“You ready to see the blacksmith again?” Cathy asked in good cheer.
I groaned.
I had met Stitches back when I had first come through Riverside with Aaron two cycles ago. I knew him as Burt back then and I stopped him from ripping Aaron off with his shoddy merchandise. Burt swore to never serve me again and I’ve avoided him in my travels just to makes things easier. The visit was going to be interesting.
“Well at least it will be fun for me,” Cathy responded.
Cathy left the room as I finished with the armour. I heard her knock on Natalie’s door and I left the room. Natalie exited the room dressed and we didn’t waste any time heading for the blacksmith.
When we opened the door, we were greeted by a large blast of heat hitting us in the face. The set up was exactly the same as I remembered it. Along the walls, leather and iron armour hung on display and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me because they actually looked decent. Maybe I had seen so many bad pieces that Burt’s were starting to look professional.
I shuddered at the thought.
At the counter, looking shorter, pudgier and refreshingly cleaner than I remembered was Burt. A taller, young man worked the forge behind him and didn’t look in our direction as we approached. The sword he was working on looked good and I started to suspect that it was his work I was seeing on the walls.
“What’s all this about then?” Burt asked. “Nat? Why are you travelling with Thurlborn guards and why in the blackest coals of the Void would you bring them to my shop?”
“Relax, old man, you’re going to have another heart attack,” Natalie replied. “These are just friends of mine. Jokes sent us to you because you are the one with the information...apparently.’
“I’m thinking Jokes is just playing you,” Burt said dismissively. “I just smith iron for him. I don’t play the information game.”
“More like your son smiths iron for him,” Natalie said, pointing to the young man. “When did you give it up?”
“He turned 16 and had been bugging me to put him to work,” Burt answered. “He’s a natural at the forge. Taught him everything I knew and he still wants to learn more.”
“Imagine that,” Cathy muttered sarcastically, covering her mouth by sc
ratching her cheek.
I bit my lip so I wouldn’t laugh.
“So you have a lot of free time on your hands to make deals and observations,” Natalie implied.
“Yes, but I’m not dealing with you no matter what Jokes says,” Burt responded. “Your reputation isn’t in your favour nor is the company you keep.” He turned to look at me. “You can’t hide behind the armour, Mage. I should gut you right here for your crimes against the people. The world is better off without magic.”
I stared him down, but kept quiet.
“Focus, Stitches,” Natalie demanded.
“I said to never call me that,” Burt snarled.
“Insult me or my friends again and it will be the least of your worries,” Natalie threatened. “All we came here for is to ask about a couple a knights that may have passed through Riverside.”
Burt tried to look tough, but failed. In his heart, he was a cowardly weasel who could never stand face to face with anyone that had a backbone. If he thought he could match up against Natalie, he was wrong. Judging by the look on his face, he knew this too. “We are a popular stop for knights heading up towards Davalin,” he said. “Do you have a name?”
Natalie turned to me and I cleared my throat. “Ser Scott and Squire Paul,” I said.
Burt smiled a disturbing looking smile. “So not just a knight, but a squire that happens to be a member of the royal family? A family that is supposed to have no remaining heirs to the throne.”
Natalie sighed. “What is your price?”
“More than you could ever hope to pay,” Burt answered. “I know that the Yellow Jackets are interested in the same information, as well as information on you. You see, you are not only paying for the information but for my silence as well.”
“Damn you, Stitches,” Natalie growled. “This is important business that will change the economics of Balendar. You would stand in the way for greed?”
“Oh, Natalie,” Burt smiled. “Are you doing this for charity or is there a fat pay check with your name on it?”
Natalie remained silent.
“My point exactly,” Burt said. “I have a family to protect and until a king sits on the throne, we are in danger from the Yellow Jackets. I am just looking for enough to close down the store and go on a vacation for a little while.”
The Vacant Throne: The Legend Of Kairu Vol 3 Page 12