by Billy Wong
"I imagine it must be fun living here," Kath said. "So many different things to see and do."
Zack shrugged. "You get used to it. Don't you come from a city too? You didn't seem too impressed by those two ports we went to."
"Yeah, but those are just cities. This is a city."
They rode through the gigantic double-sided gate. The entrance area didn't seem as "busy" as that in Genbald, perhaps because business was more spread out. Zack took over the reins now and drove them through winding streets. They passed buildings of a design unfamiliar to Kath, much longer and wider than they were tall with dozens of closely packed windows on every side. "What are those?"
"They can be all kinds of things. See, that one's a tenement, that one's a school, and I think... that one's an indoor market. Establishments over here need a lot of space, hence the big buildings."
"I see... this city must really be at forefront of progress like people say."
"Don't be so starry-eyed, Kath," Marty said. "It's unbecoming of a would-be legendary warrior."
She giggled. "Heh, I may aspire to reach her level, but I hardly need to be as jaded and aloof as Deidre."
"She seems alright to me."
"When you get to know her, sure. I meant the way she might come off to others, you know like the stunt she pulled with Lucia."
"It was funny," Zack said.
"Not for Anna. It did remind me of something Leroy might do, which is probably why you liked it." They entered a section of town full of large, well maintained houses, and people stared disapprovingly at their cheap horse and cart. Probably at their filthy, ragged clothes and dirty faces too. "I guess this must be the noble quarter, then?"
"Home sweet home." His gaze dropped. "I imagine my father will be disappointed seeing me back, though."
"I'm sure he'll understand after you explain things to him."
"I don't know about that. I haven't done the most to make my family proud, and to see me disappoint again..."
Marty patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you too."
"I'm not exactly a top student. Even you might not be able to help me get taken back."
"But I might be able to..."
The rest of the short ride to his manor was spent in glum silence. Zack got down from the wagon and banged the doorring. A woman in a maid's dress opened the portal. "Young master! We were so worried about you. I'm grateful you're safe, as I'm sure your parents will be."
Kath caught the attempt at reassurance in her tone, and the skepticism in his reply. "Yeah, sure. But I thank you for your concern. By the way, these are my friends Kath and Marty."
The maid looked over Kath. "A girl? Is she your lady friend?"
"I'm no lady," she said, touching her sword.
Marty started. "But you're a noblewoman!"
"It was a joke because you guys keep calling me a man and stuff."
"Is Father home?" Zack asked.
"Yes, he is in his study."
The maid's answer didn't seem to please him. He led Kath and Marty to an elegantly furnished guest room, the cabinets polished to an unnatural shine, the bed having a canopy and silken curtains like it was the master's own. "Wait here while I talk to him."
Marty asked, "Are you sure? It might help if we're there to back up your story."
"I doubt it, seeing a couple of troublemakers who supported me deserting will likely raise his ire further. The best thing you can do for me is wish me luck."
They halfheartedly did so with what little enthusiasm they could muster, his gloomy attitude contagious. Kath laid back on the bed, clutching her stomach. "Well, at least he should be safe now, or safer. A parent that demanding should be similarly resolute about protecting the family, at least."
"I hope you're right."
Over an hour later, Zack returned with a neutral expression holding three cloth bags. He handed the smallest to Marty. "Here you go. This is to pay you back the money you spent helping me." Then he gave Kath and Marty one of the larger bags each. "And here's fifty gold each for your troubles."
Marty tried to hand the bags back. "What are you giving me money for? I'm richer than you."
Zack refused to take them. "My father predicted you would do this. For the sake of our family's honor, he insists."
"Fine, your loss."
After a moment of awkward quiet, Zack said, "You guys are free to go now, back to school or whatever."
"Aren't you going back too," Kath asked, "once you get things sorted out? We need to sort them out too, so maybe it would just be better for us to stay together for now."
"I'm not going back anytime soon, if at all. Father says I'm under house arrest indefinitely."
Marty glowered. "What, that's not fair! You're the victim of an attempted crime and you get punished?"
"He says I should have stayed put and let the proper authorities deal with it. He gave me pretty much the same speech about the man in the office not necessarily being the mastermind you did, Kath."
"Well, is he at least going to get to the bottom of who tried to have you kidnapped?"
"It doesn't seem so. Whatever the official investigation turns up, he says he can't do much more. I guess we'll just wait to see if there's another attempt and deal with it then."
She slapped her forehead. "What, that's ridiculous! Your son almost gets kidnapped and you won't even put an extra effort to find out who's responsible?"
"To be fair," Marty pointed out, "they might not really have the resources to do much more than the authorities. They're not as powerful as my family, remember."
"Okay, but I mean... how can you not try to do something?" They stood there in silence for a bit. Kath tried to think of something they could do. At last, she got an idea. She said to Zack, "Maybe you could leave here and keep going with us while we head towards my home or Marty's, whichever we decide. Then when the kidnappers show up again, we can catch them and find out who they're working for."
"No!" His shoulders slumped. "My father will kill me if I defy his punishment."
"Oh come on, you're just going to sit around and not take action to decide your own fate?"
"Well... there hasn't been another kidnapping attempt since we left the school. Who knows how long it'll be until there's another, if there even is? Maybe it was just a one time thing."
"But you said you heard that man talking to Lieutenant Harris."
"And you said it wasn't certain he was talking about me. Anyway, I can't go. Don't worry! You guys just do what you have to and I'm sure we'll see each other again." But Kath didn't like the defeated sound of his voice.
"I'm not feeling quite well enough to travel yet, though," she said. "Would you mind if we stayed a little longer to rest?"
His smile returned, as he no doubt enjoyed their company. "I'll have to clear it with my father, but considering how injured you are, I'm sure he will be reasonable."
After he left, Marty asked, "Why the sudden change in plans? One moment we're about to leave, and the next you're too hurt to travel?"
"You mean you can't figure it out?" She winked. "Thought you were more clever than that."
He did figure it out soon. "You want to stick around so we can catch the kidnappers in the act here!"
"Exactly. Of course Kath the Blade wouldn't be deterred from helping her friend by his stupid father."
He fist-nudged her chest in approval. "But what exactly is the plan?"
"I haven't completely figured that out yet. Hmm... first we need to learn where Zack's room is. Then figure out a way to keep watch over it unnoticed. If the kidnappers come for him there—which I'm thinking they will if he's confined to the house—then we take them and ask them some questions."
Learning the location of Zack's room wasn't hard. Finding a suitable long-term lookout spot was more of a problem. They would need to be able to see the window, as it seemed likely kidnappers might enter through there, but couldn't well stand outside all day in the noble quarter without at
tracting far too much attention. So they decided to visit the surrounding houses and see if anyone would lend them a room or roof...
A heavyset man in an expensive robe opened the first door they knocked on. Marty greeted him, "Hello, good afternoon. I'm the son of the Count of Ludo"—he showed off his necklace with the family emblem—"and we're investigating a potential kidnapping. If you don't mind, would-"
"Damn kids!" The man slammed the door in their faces.
"That worked well," Kath said.
Marty blinked. "Maybe it's the way we look? Perhaps we should cleanse ourselves and buy more expensive clothes."
"At least we have plenty of money for that now. Yeah, let's try that."
They headed back to Zack's house, bathed—Kath had to be careful around her wounds—and went to a nearby clothing shop. Zack seemed confused by them coming and going so much when Kath claimed to be in need of bedrest, but didn't say anything. Marty purchased a new blouse and shiny leather vest and pants; Kath wavered between similarly masculine clothes and a dress. She worried about impairing her movement, but it was tempting to look... In the end, she decided to go with the practical approach. Marty didn't miss the chance to call her a boy again, of course.
They visited another house neighboring Zack's. "Hello, good evening. I'm the son of the Count of Ludo and we're investigating a potential kidnapping. If you don't mind, would you have a room available from which we could watch that window? If not, the roof would be acceptable."
"Sorry," said the woman with hair in a tight bun who had answered the door, "other than legitimate authorities, we cannot allow strangers the use of our home."
"But I'm the son of a count," he mumbled as she shut the door.
"It's not like your father has authority here," Kath replied.
"Yeah, but... darn it."
They tried another house. "The masters are not home," a young maid told them, "and no one can come inside without their permission."
People at two more residences denied them entry, and they were out of places with a good view. "Now what?" Marty asked.
"Why don't we just climb up on a roof without permission? If we do it at night, probably nobody will notice or check."
"That's an okay idea, I guess. But what if the kidnappers come during the day? If we had permission, we could take turns watching the room full time, but without it, we can probably only do it at night..."
She bit her lip. "I'm quick enough to find a chance to climb up in daytime. How about you watch at night, and I'll watch by day. If you're the one who spots a kidnapper, just make a huge big ruckus and I'll come running probably with everyone else."
"Sounds like it might work, although it'll be extremely suspicious that you're out all day when 'bedridden.'"
"I'll sneak out our room window and we'll pretend I'm there."
"That'll do... unless Zack comes to visit you."
Kath thought about it. "Tell him I'm sleeping if he does. I'll make sure to socialize with him enough at nighttime so he doesn't miss me too much during the day. If anything you can also say I'm out shopping sometimes to vary it up so he doesn't get too suspicious."
Their course decided, they did as planned after she wrote her family another letter updating them on where she stayed for now. The many hours spent alone on roofs watching the room bored Kath almost to death, and she struggled to sleep during the nights when it was Marty's turn and she worried if he could handle any kidnappers until help arrived. Thankfully, it was during her watch that she spotted something suspicious days later. A delivery wagon stopped in front of another house next to Zack's, but instead of approaching the door the driver crept between the homes up to Zack's window. Kath rappelled down from the roof with the rope she had prepared as he opened the window and climbed in.
She peeked inside to see that Zack wasn't there, and the stubbly man stood by the door waiting for him to return. He wasn't exceptionally tall or heavy, but looked solidly muscled under his nondescript clothes. His face also bore a confident smirk. Well, let's see how confident he would be in a moment. She hopped up through the window after him and landed on her feet, but winced and grabbed her middle as he looked. Not the best entrance...
"You better surrender if you don't want to get hurt," she said anyway.
The kidnapper drew a broadsword nicked and pitted with long use and grinned. "And what, some extremely injured girl is going to stop me?" So he'd done his research at least. "I'll kill you and then take the boy."
"I could just scream and you won't be in any position to take him."
"Then why don't you? Are you too proud?"
She might actually kind of like him, if he wasn't a criminal out to harm her friend. "Yes and no. If I scream, you'll flee and I might not be able to stop you. But if I don't, I figure you're too proud not to try to kill me and still succeed in your task."
"You're right. But it hardly matters because I will kill you."
"We'll see."
Their flashing blades met in the center of the room. Kath wondered if someone might still hear the sound, though the door was relatively thick and they kept other noises to a minimum. "You're good," the kidnapper said after many exchanges that left sweat shining on both their faces. "You might even stand a chance if you weren't hurt." He kicked her in the belly. She gasped and stumbled back against the dresser. He thrust at her throat.
Kath pulled a drawer out of the dresser and raised it in front of the sword, trapping it as the tip punched through. She then kicked it sideways across the room, disarming the man when the blade went with it. Now that crash might get somebody's attention. She advanced slashing at him and he backpedaled. He drew a long dagger, but her heavier weapon knocked it too from his grasp after a few parries. She swung with the flat of her blade at his head. He ducked and tackled her, driving her back until she hit the edge of the bed and fell atop it. She rolled backwards, stood up on the linens and kicked him in the face. It spun him around, so she jumped off onto his shoulders bringing her hilt down on the top of his head. He fell beneath her, but when she turned towards him, he was trying to get up.
"Tough to not get knocked out by that," she said. The pain in her abdomen grew, and she touched it again.
The man stood, blood running down his face from his split scalp. She swung with the flat again, but he grabbed the blade though it cut his hand. He yanked her forward and threw her on the floor. Agony exploded through her torso, and she lost her grip on her hilt. As she stumbled up against a wall, he ran in and hammered a fist with everything he had into her stomach.
The pain was so immense, she opened her mouth, but could not even get a sound out. All the strength drained out of her, and she fell to her knees putting a hand forward to hold onto her opponent for support. He stepped aside, allowing her to collapse completely. She tumbled to her back with her arms at her sides, unable to move. He knelt and punched her repeatedly until she managed to raise a shaking left hand in front of her face. It looked unfortunately more like a gesture for mercy than one of defense, and he continued striking past it easily, crushing her head against the wood. She saw the back of her hand drift down towards her eyes, and the world darkened.
No! If she went unconscious, he would surely kill her. Just as she was blacking out, that thought brought her back. Her other arm came up in a long arc, smashing her fist into his ear. It rocked him momentarily, then she grabbed the same ear and yanked fiercely to the right, tossing him down with a yelp as she heard something rip. He rose with his ear hanging by a flap of skin and staggered away to get a weapon. She kicked his legs out from under him, dropping him on his face. But she still couldn't shake the pain and dizziness enough to get off her back.
"You're quite a scrapper," her foe said, looking at her. "A little sad I have to kill you.""
"You won't kill me."
"Yeah?" He walked over and raised a foot over her face. She caught it when he stomped down, twisted him off balance. As he fell, she locked both her legs around one of his. She wrenched vi
ciously at his knee joint, and he screamed as ligaments tore.
Kath released the hold and switched it to the other leg. "Now tell me who you work for, or I'll cripple you completely."
"I don't know! I was hired by a masked man who hid his identity."
Her head had cleared sufficiently now for her to move more. She rolled him over and mounted him, drew a dagger and pushed the point against his throat enough to draw blood. "You know something. If you don't tell, I'll kill you right now."
"No you won't."
She heard footsteps from the hall. She had to be quick. Gripping his hair, she slammed the back of his head repeatedly against the floor, then sliced across his face. "Tell! Last chance."
"All right, I don't know for sure, but I've heard a rumor that the person capturing gifted people was Lord Parr!"
"Now, that wasn't so hard. Don't tell anyone else, okay?" She clubbed his temple with the dagger hilt, rendering him limp.
Just then, the door burst open. "Kath?!" Zack asked with wide eyes, Marty and a maid behind him.
"I captured a would-be kidnapper. Sadly, he fainted before I could get the name of his boss."
#
Some time later when the prisoner had been taken away and they got a chance to speak privately in the guest room, Kath shared the truth with Marty and Zack. "So why didn't you tell us earlier that he revealed his employer?" Zack asked.
"I didn't want your father to know yet. With only the word of a criminal and no evidence to support it, I doubt we could get anything done legally against a lord, and if your father tried to get justice from him it would just tip him off to us being on to him. So, I figured it might be better to let Lord Parr think we're still ignorant while we find more evidence to bring his world crashing down."
"You're such a rogue, Kath," Zack said, shaking his head. "But that does make sense. Are you sure the rumor can be trusted, though?"
"No, but if it's wrong, we can at least say we gave it a shot. Anyway, do you know where this Lord Parr is?"
"Yes, he lives in one of the northernmost manors in this quarter. Scary to think the mastermind behind this might have been so close to home all along."