Fu-han spoke first. “King Arrok is a warrior king, but with a keen mind. He wants things to change, but is not in a place to change them. Most of all, he wants to protect his people from the sort of thing that is happening to the weaker, less numerous, Maedo. There are only about four or five thousand Maedo left, where there used to be twice that many. Queen Liita of Thanarra is a warrior queen, with a bad temper, not as intelligent as her lord, but she is more compassionate in some ways. They have two children: Prince Shondar, who is fourteen and very headstrong, and Princess Iiden, twelve, who everyone dotes on, especially her parents.”
Lijuan took over. “The king and queen secretly despise Emperor Vauk of the Vaedo, a vulgar, ruthless bully, but the Vaedo are currently in the strongest position of all the city states. There is mistrust between King Arrok and Haikoda, the Sea King. Haikoda trusts no one and will only meet with others on his ships. It is said that he will never set foot on land until there is peace. The sea people number about fifteen thousand, and control the bay with their warships. Everyone needs them to some degree. Queen Aijarri of the Maedo warrior women was betrayed by the Vaedo, and has suffered several crushing defeats in the past two years. The Maedo are in a bad way. If not for their mountain fortresses, they would have been wiped out by now.”
Lord Tholsen returned to them at that very moment.
“Good Sisters and Brothers,” Tholsen said. “Their Majesties will see you now.”
14
The throne room was filled with guards and nobles of the Thanarran court, milling about on either side of a long, dusty purple carpet, leading up to the two thrones. The vaulted stone ceiling, about fifteen meters up, was decorated with woven tapestries, just like the walls. Guttering torches of pitch and candle lanterns provided light in the large, drafty room.
To Naero’s nose, all of the Thanarrans smelled bad. The constant odor was difficult to overcome or ignore. She could smell the king and queen–and the queen’s nasty perfume–even as she approached the thrones.
She stopped at a safe distance, about ten meters, leaned on her staff, and bowed her head as she dipped one knee. The Thanarrans did not require people to actually kneel before them.
“Well met, holy sister,” the King said. “I am King Arrok, ruler of Thanarra, with my beloved Queen Liita by my side. You are the mediator the priests sent to help us?”
Naero looked up at them, cast back her hood, and smiled. “I am. My name is Naero, and I am your mediator.”
The queen became livid. The king burst out laughing.
“Why, you’re nothing but a child,” the queen protested. “The holy ones sent us a little girl to mediate for us? Outrageous. Emperor Vauk will dip her in sauce and devour her for breakfast, like one of his dainties.”
“Verily,” the king said, still chuckling. “Is this some jest? Please, tell us, child.”
Naero shrugged. She took the king’s eye and held it with force of will. “Forgive me, Majesties. I am older, wiser, and much tougher than I look. Please do not judge me by appearances. I will do my best for you.”
The king pondered for a moment, rubbing his beard. “The gods must have sent you to us for a reason, perhaps one we do not yet understand. The situation remains impossible, and in any case–I like what I see in your eyes, Sister Naero. We have nothing to lose here. Perhaps the others will underestimate you as well. You have our permission to act in our names, for the good of all.”
Naero dipped her knee again and bowed her head. “Thank you, Your Majesties.”
The Queen clapped her hands twice. “These holy ones will dine with us at our table tonight, in honor.”
They were given leave to explore the palace, the gardens, and the palace grounds–as well as a chamber to rest in until dinner was served that evening. After dinner, they would return to the Mystic caves in the mountains. Naero studied the layout of the palace.
They arrived early for dinner. Naero felt her sense of warning spike, as they approached the dining hall. One of their cloaked spyfixers sounded a quiet alarm through a com dot in their ears.
Om. What is going on?
The cloaked spyfixers have scanned the food and the table setting for infection or disease. It appears that the actual cups and dishes for the royal family have been coated with an invisible glaze of a strong poisonous substance. Any food or drink served in those cups and dishes will become lethal if consumed.
Naero whispered the situation to the other adepts.
“The rest of you stay here and watch everything. The Changs and I are going to speak with Their Majesties. Don’t let anyone touch or put anything on these dishes.”
They went looking for Lord Tholsen, but could not find him.
A page put them in contact with the House Master, Gavan, who took them to the Captain of the Guard. They sent word to the royals, and went to the head cook and the royal taster. The king’s loremaster, doctor, and apothecary were all sent for.
A full investigation began. Naero and the Changs each went with one of the three fact-finding teams, who began to question anyone involved with washing and storing the dishes and setting the table.
They came back to one of the meeting rooms in half an hour and disclosed their findings.
“So,” Naero said. “Three people handled the place settings for the royals. A dishwasher, a serving girl who brought them out to the table, and the table-setter.”
Turvar, Captain of the Palace Guard jumped in. “We are questioning the dishwasher and the setter and we have searched their quarters and work areas. Nothing points to them.”
Naero and the Changs and their fixers had confirmed that. No trace of the poison yet.
“Where is the serving girl?” Fu-han asked.
Gavan the House Master paled. “That is a problem, I’m afraid. Jannil lives near the palace with her family; you can see her home from the west wall. She asked if she could go home today–to tend some family who had taken ill. I sent her home, right after she brought the place settings out. She’s always been a good girl, a very sweet child.”
“I know the girl,” Turvar said. “She comes from a good family, very loyal. I can’t believe she would have a hand in anything like this.”
“It is always someone you would least suspect,” Naero said. “Show me the girl’s family home on our way down. Captain, get your people to that house as fast as you can.”
On the west side of the palace, Turvar pointed down at the tidy house of the serving girl Jannil and her family.
“I have to get away by myself,” Naero told the Changs. “You two go with the Captain.”
“I’m going to stay here,” Naero announced. “Perhaps I can speak to Their Majesties at some point. Let me know what you find with the serving girl. Search her home well, and bring her back to the palace.”
After they left, Naero ducked into an empty chamber.
She cloaked and activated her psyonic wings.
Once unseen, it was nothing to leap off the west wall and float down to Jannil’s home. Naero landed toward the rear of the home and approached the back door and windows.
Immediately she heard tense voices within.
“I did as you asked,” a young girl’s voice sobbed. “Gods forgive me, it is done. Now keep your word, and let my family go free. Do whatever you wish with me. My life is forfeit, either way.”
An oily voice spoke calmly. “We must wait until we have news from the palace,” the man said. “Be at peace, little one. It will all be over, very soon.”
Naero slipped in through an open window.
Jannil faced down five large men, all of them heavily cloaked and hooded, yet they bristled with weapons, and all but the leader held long blackened daggers in their ready hands.
They only awaited orders.
“Tie her up. Gag her with the rest.”
The four thugs quickly overpowered Jannil. In seconds she was tossed in among the rest of her family in the meeting hall, crying and murmuring like them. Naero made out the girl’s parents, a younger
brother and a sister, even a small child of about three–all helpless.
One of the thugs glared at the captives and then spoke nervously. “Master, we should have heard something by now. Something may have gone wrong. We should flee.”
Their leader thought a moment. “I agree. Make sure of them all. Slash their throats open. Don’t get any of the blood on you. Then we slip out of the city.”
Naero had heard enough. She zapped all five thugs with partial stun bursts to weaken and disorient them.
The thugs staggered and nearly fell over.
“What is happening to us?”
“Witchcraft! I can barely stand.”
“All strength has left me!”
“Get out, you fools. We must get away from this place!”
They fell over each other to scramble out of the house.
The five thugs had barely staggered forty meters away, when Turvar and his guards fell on them and subdued them further, beating them senseless and tying them up.
Naero slipped back out the window, and up to the palace. In less than an hour, the assassins and Jannil and her family were all hauled up to the palace guard tower for questioning. Naero and the Changs were present for most of that.
It was clear that Jannil and her family were helpless pawns. The thugs were clearly trained professional assassins, and revealed nothing, even when the palace guards beat and tortured them.
The king and queen entered quietly, wearing cloaks of disguise so that they could listen in.
“We’re wasting our time,” Turvar said, spitting in the face of the smiling leader. “We’ve seen their kind before. They won’t tell us anything useful.”
“The gods shall reveal the truth,” Naero said. “Let me examine the leader.” She quickly formed a mindlink with him.
This man’s stench was even worse. He reeked of death.
“Who hired you, assassin?”
He tried to mock her. “Who else? The gods.”
It was a small matter to search his unshielded thoughts.
“You were hired by Haikoda, the Sea King. He paid you and your guild three hundred talents in silver.”
The leader paled. “Filthy witch. Unhand me! I did not say that. You couldn’t know that. Sorcery!”
“The Sea King paid for your services, but you actually work for Emperor Vauk of the Vaedo. He blackmailed Haikoda into doing so, by kidnapping the Sea King’s youngest brother, Jigan. But Jigan is already dead. You dipped the youth in whale blood and fed him to the sharks, feet first, while Emperor Vauk looked on, and laughed at the sight.”
The Master Assassin foamed at the mouth in rage. “Filthy, rutting, bloody witch!”
Turvar struck the wretch so hard with his heavy, gauntleted fist, that broken teeth and blood sprayed out.
“Murdering bastard,” Turvar shouted. “You and your vile kind are steeped in blood. The hangman’s noose is too kind for you!”
Naero sighed. “This entire scheme, was meant to bring the Thanes and the Kall to war–whether the royal family perished or not. Planted evidence would point to the Sea King. The poison is a lethal concoction made from the puffer fish. The assassins themselves have already boasted about how much Haikoda paid them for the deed.”
The Master Assassin went mad, seething and fuming at her through his broken face.
“The final goal is clear. Once Thanarra and Kallos weakened each other sufficiently through a senseless war, Vaedor would sweep in to conquer them both, and in the end, Emperor Vauk would rule all things.”
Naero stepped further back in disgust. “That is the truth of things, as the gods reveal them to me.”
The king and queen pulled their cowls down and revealed themselves. All present bowed to them.
“Stand with us, my good friends,” King Arrok said, “in the face of this naked treachery. Errant knaves, you who sought our lives and the lives of our blameless children.”
Warrior Queen Liita gritted her teeth and drew the long gleaming sword she kept at her side. “Hang them. Hang them now, before I run them through, by my own hand. You meant to murder my children? You devils will harm no one, ever again!”
The killers were ushered out to their fate.
The king came forward and took Naero’s hands in wonder. “Forgive me for doubting you, holy sister. The gods have given you the gift to read men’s hearts and discern the truth?”
“At times, my king. When they see fit to grant me that power.”
He placed her hands on his face.
“Prove it to me. Something I have never told another, even my beloved. When I was a youth, I broke my arm. How did it really happen?”
Naero closed her eyes, and formed the mindlink.
“You told your parents it happened during sword practice, but earlier that morning, you rode you father’s warhorse in the fog and fell hard when it threw you.”
King Arrok gasped and turned away.
“Amazing. It is true then. Thank you, Sister Naero. Thank you for saving our lives, and the lives of our people. Whether anything happened to us or no–there would have been war, and Vaedor would have been the winner when all was done.”
The king left them all, deep in thought at all that had transpired.
Queen Liita sheathed her sword, and also came to Naero.
“My sweet child, I too doubted you. Can you ever forgive me?”
Naero bowed her head. “There is naught to forgive, Your Majesty.”
“You have saved my life, and those of my family. I can never repay you, You shall be welcome within our halls at any hour. You have but to name your wish, and if it is in our power, it shall be granted.”
“Nothing but your good will, my queen.”
“I am a woman, so I must ask. Did you truly read the heart of the king? Are you blessed which such power?”
“The king is a good man, and strong of heart and will, my queen. Yet as you know, he is beset with many troubles, and worries greatly about the future of his reign, his children, and his people.”
The queen sighed. “Verily, it is all too true. The threats we face are clearly very grave and many.”
Naero squeezed the queen’s hand. “You are a brave people, who face everything that comes with courage. You shall find a way. Your lord loves you, and your children, more than his own life. He would give his life for all of you–a thousand times over. Fortune favors the bold.”
“Thank you, holy sister. I am fortunate that I do not need the gods to tell me all of that, but it is nice to have it confirmed. I must confer with my lord now. We will need to contact the Sea King and inform him about all these things, and his poor brother. I weep for my my cousins.”
“Cousins?” Naero said.
Queen Liita laughed. “Did you not know? The gods do not reveal all? My grandmother was a Kall; I am of Kallos blood in part. Haikoda and I are cousins. He will not take the news well, I’m afraid.”
“I look forward to meeting with him.”
“He is a grim man, who trusts no one. And seemingly with good reason, these troubled days.”
“My queen, before you go. I must ask. What will happen to the young serving girl, Jannil?”
“Poor thing. Yet she did betray us. A trial will be held for her and her family to decide their fate.”
“May I request mercy for them?” Naero asked. “The gods would wish it so.”
“Yet we must live in the real world, not that of the gods, holy sister.”
“You did say I could ask for anything, my queen.”
“I did. They will be spared then, even the girl. But she must leave the city and join the holy ones. That shall be her punishment.”
Naero bowed again. “Your Majesty is just and merciful.”
The queen smirked. “Not when people try to kill my family. With all the uproar, my family and I will dine in private tonight, in just a short while. Will you and your brothers and sisters be kind enough to join us? I’m sure my lord and I will have many questions for you by then.”<
br />
Naero bowed her head. “You honor me, my queen. We shall be there, at the appointed time.”
15
Dinner with the royals went long into the night. Their Majesties did have many questions. They wanted to know exactly how Naero was going to mediate with the other city states.
That made it difficult to answer, and even though they were not satisfied by her cagey answers, they did see the wisdom in her waiting to make up her mind, and form a strategy, after she had met with all the parties involved.
They did warn her greatly about the other leaders–especially Emperor Vauk of the Vaedo, who sounded more and more like a real piece of work.
Naero and the other adepts were so exhausted, by the time they left the palace that night, they slipped into the darkness and transported straight to the Mystic stronghold, in the fastness of the mountain caves.
She was too tired to file a report to the High Masters, and made a note on her comunit to do so, first thing in the morning.
And yet again, morning would come all too soon.
*
Om woke her up even earlier than expected. No warnings going off for a change, but it was right after five bells.
Sheesh, Om. Is something wrong?
No, nothing that I know of.
Then what the crap do you have against me sleeping?
Because, I have good news for a change.
This better be good. I could have snoozed for another hour.
Hear me out. While you have been playing Mystic adept, I’m almost positive that I’ve figured out both Kexxian startapping, and biomancy replication.
Seriously? Both of them?
Yep. I can let you go over the basic process and the energies involved, and then we can start practicing.
That’s amazing, Om. Sure. Let me grab a mist shower, explain away, and then we can give them a go.
Om spoke to her very rapidly, in fluent, technical Kexxian. Both of their minds began racing back and forth, sharing data and information, faster than any normal mind could think.
By the time Naero sealed up her black togs, she had a good idea about what they were going to attempt. The dangers were increased also, so they meant to go slowly and start small at first.
Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury Page 12