by Tina Hunter
Oh great. A meet and greet. Lynn quickly came up with a cover story and waited at the back of the room while Uncle Ben and the other two men from the front spread out around the room. Line-ups quickly formed and Lynn stood at the back of the line for the Glasses Man. She watched Gunman introduced his companions to her uncle, and after a few moments, the three of them left the room. The three dangerous-looking men had gone up together to the other military man and left just a quickly. She tried to listen in on the conversations ahead of her. Several seemed to know each other from Wellspring, and one was a discharge from the military. Two things to avoid in her story lest someone discredit her. Finally, the last man in front of her had gone, and it was her turn.
“And who do we have here?” Glasses asked. He had a small book open and was taking notes inside it.
“Name’s Edward Baker.” She held out her hand but Glasses only looked at it, then made a note in his book. She dropped her hand quickly.
“And where are you staying while in town, Mister Baker?”
“The Corrupt Harpy,” she said, trying desperately to hold on to the confident bring-on-the-world attitude of Edward Baker. The proximity to her uncle and this whole Blade-thing was making it difficult.
“And where are you from?” he asked, not looking up from his notebook
“Iridan city.”
Glasses glanced up with a skeptical look on his face. “We don’t have a campaign in Iridan yet.”
Dragon Shit. Think Lynn. “You asked where I was from, not where I heard about you guys.” Glasses opened his mouth and Lynn interrupted before he could say anything, “I heard about you in Wellspring, but just don’t ask what I was doing there.” She leaned in and whispered, “It’s better if you don’t know.” She gave him a wink, hoping to get any kind of facial response. Instead, he just looked back down at his notebook and made another note.
“And your stance on the use of magic?” This time he asked while studying her face. She made a confused look.
“Uh. I thought that was a given considering I’m here.”
Glasses brought out a small red crystal that blinked the closer he brought it towards her. A prospecting crystal, Earth Magic. It was a clever way to find out if anyone had Vollonite on them.
“Seriously? That’s a bit like cheating, isn’t it?” Lynn pulled up her sleeve and showed him her contract bracelet. As long as he didn’t have a Scrying crystal on him there’d be no way for him to compel her to tell him what the contract was for.
“Is there an issue here?” Uncle Benjamin’s voice was a wave of ice washing over her, freezing her to her core as he came to stand right beside her. She wanted to scream at him and also to give him a big hug. He was the only person left from her mother’s family. Why was he doing this? Why was he here?
“Looks like someone has a pre-existing contract,” Glasses said, making yet another note in his book. Uncle Benjamin grabbed the book out of Glasses’ hands and looked it over. Then he gave her an intense stare. There was no way he knew it was her. He hadn’t seen her since she was ten. Still, his stare didn’t waver, and Lynn felt her grip on the Edward character slipping. Even he would lose confidence under her uncle’s stare.
“That bracelet wouldn’t interfere with any of our plans would it?” he asked voice dripping danger.
Lynn shook her head. “No sir,” her voice wavered much more than she wanted it to. What was going on with her? She tried pulling on her character again, but it just didn’t want to come back. Lynn was stuck as her scared self.
Suddenly, Uncle Benjamin smiled a friendly smile and patted Lynn on the shoulder. “Good Lad.” He handed the book back to Glasses and left his hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you come by again tomorrow so we can chat?” His face and tone were friendly but his eyes were not. This wasn’t an invitation, it was an order.
“Of course, sir,” she said, trying to straighten her back. “I look forward to helping out.”
“Good.” Uncle Benjamin patted her shoulder again and walked away leaving her alone with Glasses again. Lynn looked at him and he made another note in his book.
“Commander Burkely will expect you here before lunch. You may go,” Glasses said before walking away from her. So, her uncle was using an alias too? She wondered if the military was after him, then. Had he deserted? Lynn took in the scene behind her. The room was empty except for her uncle and his two friends. It was time she left too. She was closer to the second door, not the one she came in but the other one. She left through it and found an empty sitting room that led into the back alleyway. A great way for people to gather without seeming to go into a brothel. Lynn quickly scanned the alley then ran for the inn. She told herself that she wanted to check on Dorothy, but in reality, she wanted to get as far away from her uncle as she could. He was no longer the man who ran with her on his shoulders. Or brought her toys he’d gotten from the Prymese front line. No, this was another man. And he scared her.
Seven
~Wednesday Afternoon In The Corrupt Harpy ~
“I TOLD YOU he was here,” Dorjee sank into the mattress willing it to swallow her whole. He swore he would find her, but how could he have tracked her all the way here so quickly?
“But he’s not here for you,” Lynn said, laying down beside her on the bed. “There is a group of anti-magic folk here. They are planning something big, and he is here to help them.”
Dorjee sat up onto her elbows to look at Lynn. “So, he doesn’t know I’m here?” Dorjee asked hopefully.
“No. And I plan to keep it that way. So, you will be Douglas Baker, my little brother, every time you leave this room.” Lynn stared at the ceiling. She seemed worried about something. there was probably more about that group she wasn’t saying.
“Is everything ok?” she asked tentatively.
Lynn turned her head and smiled. “Of course. I’m just trying to figure out how to use this group’s agenda to our advantage.” Dorjee nodded in relief and then sat up. Now that she knew she was safe, for the moment at least, her thoughts went back to where they had been all day. Brutus.
“I’ve been watching the guards,” she said, pointing out the window. “They haven’t moved from the shoreline. That’s a good thing, right?”
Lynn got up and went to the window, and Dorjee joined her. You had to strain to look toward the river and then you could only see a small section of the Fort on the other side. The guards were just where they were this morning. Lynn nodded, “Looks like they haven’t caught anyone yet, so yes, that is a good thing for Brutus.”
Dorjee felt a wave of relief, but the worry crept back in when she saw Lynn’s face scrunch up like she’d eaten something sour.
“We need to pay off the front desk, in case we need to hide Brutus here. The soldiers will come around soon to ask questions.” Suddenly Lynn grinned. “Let’s see if we can plant some seeds for them to find.”
Dorjee smiled too. Despite the danger, it was exciting to be doing something like this. At least she knew Lynn would watch out for her.
Dressed as the Baker brothers, Dorjee and Lynn went downstairs. Lynn talked to the front desk and Dorjee got more food from the kitchen. They had really good sausages.
When they finally made it outside, there was a commotion over by town square, and Lynn led them toward it. Dorjee followed, trying to act the part of a boy following his brother and not the scared little girl she felt like.
“Gollum Spit,” Lynn swore under her breath. Dorjee almost didn’t hear it but cranked her head around the older girl’s body to see what had caused it. Through the crowd in front of them, she saw Simon in the stocks. Looking quite miserable, too, with some kind of fruit juice running down his head. Someone to their left threw something at Simon and it splattered all over his face. The crowd cheered and laughed. Simon sputtered and cursed and tried to flick his head from side to side to remove the juice from his eyes.
“What are they throwing at him?” Dorjee asked Lynn.
“Whatever they have
on hand. Mostly fruits that have gone bad or near enough that people don’t feel bad getting rid of them this way,” Lynn whispered. Someone else threw something at Simon but missed and there was a collective groan of disappointment from the crowd. Lynn put her hand on Dorjee’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, the soldiers won’t let the crowd get too bad. This is meant as a mild punishment, not a violent one.”
Sure enough, within a few moments, two soldiers came into the crowd and sent people on their way. Back to their homes or work. Lynn and Dorjee left with them.
“We’ll come back and talk to him later. Too many people around right now, and there are other things we need to do.” Lynn led them further into town, away from the docks, to one bar after another. She always asked the same thing. If anyone knew what the soldiers across the river were doing lining the shore? Sometimes a man or two would respond that they thought it was a preparation exercise since the princess was coming. Most of the time, no one had heard or seen anything. Then Lynn would mention the mysterious group meetings in town and how they were pretty interested in the stuff inside the Fort. Before long, the conversations at most bars had turned to speculation about how the group was trying to steal something from the fort. Or how the soldiers were preparing for a fight. Or how the group had infiltrated the soldiers across the river and stood that way to show that it was safe to attack. So many stories, Dorjee didn’t know how Lynn had managed it but soon everyone was talking openly about the mysterious group in town.
Walking back to the dock and the square they could hear people talking about it in hushed whispers around them. Lynn was smiling.
“I’m still not sure what we did, or why?” Dorjee confessed as they walked past the Corrupt Harpy. It was nearing dinner time and her stomach rumbled embarrassingly when she thought of the sausages in the kitchen.
“We simply helped people put two associations together. The change in the soldiers’ behavior on the other side of the river, and the anti-magic group in town. Now when the soldiers come looking for information, they’ll get lots. It just won’t be about Brutus or us.”
Dorjee was impressed. Lynn seemed so natural at all of this. They stopped on the outside of the square and Lynn leaned against the corner of a building watching Simon in the stocks. There wasn’t a crowd anymore but there was a soldier on guard nearby, giving anyone who lingered too long in front of Simon a look that made them scurry along.
“How are we going to talk to him?”
“Not us,” Lynn said with a small smile. “You. I’ll distract the guard and you go up and ask him what happened.”
“What? Me?” Dorjee knew how to be sneaky with her powers but to do something so close to a guard? It terrified her.
“You can do it,” Lynn said putting her hand on Dorjee’s shoulder and crouching down to look her in the eye. “It’s easy. I’ll go over to the guard and get his attention. You walk towards Simon as soon as he notices me. Don’t run, you’ll attract attention.” Dorjee felt her breath coming in short gasps and willed herself to hear every word. “Then just ask him what happened to send him to the stocks. And, this is important, ask him if anyone knows our plans.”
Start walking. Don’t run. What happened. Who knows plans. She could do this. She took deeper breaths and used Lynn’s gaze to calm her down. She could do this.
“Ok. Ready?” Lynn said with a squeeze of her shoulder. No, Dorjee wanted to scream, but she nodded instead and Lynn walked away without a backward glance. Dorjee waited like she was supposed to until the Guard had noticed Lynn. Then she walked toward Simon. The guard kept his eyes on Lynn until Dorjee crossed into the middle of the square, then his eyes turned to look at Dorjee. Now what? She hesitated for a moment, and then Lynn was upon him. Literally, she fell right into him and his full attention was on her. Dorjee hurried to Simon. Who knows how long Lynn would keep the soldier distracted. Simon’s head was hanging down like he was asleep.
“Simon?” she knelt down, wiped some yuck from his face, then wiped it off on her pants. He opened his eyes and squinted at her.
“Who...” Simon asked, but she didn’t have time.
“Lynn needs to know what happened and quickly,” she whispered. She glanced back at the soldier and saw him dealing with Lynn who was acting like a very drunk man.
“The Princess of Belalto. Her guards found me asking questions about her. They are the ones who threw me in here. ‘Til dawn tomorrow.” Simon’s voice wavered. He was scared. Dorjee felt sorry for him, maybe they could sneak a blanket out to him for overnight. It was cold in the mountains. “She arrives tonight and is picking up something special from the fort on Friday and leaving that night.”
“Ok. Second question. Does anyone know about the plan?”
Simon turned away from her. Guilt and fear racked his face. “They had a scrying crystal,” he mumbled. Dorjee didn’t know what that was or how that mattered.
“I don’t... Do they know?” she asked again.
Simon nodded. “Not everything, but enough to know I wasn’t after their princess.” Ok. Bad news but she got what she needed to know.
“I’m sorry you’re out here, Simon. Maybe I can bring you a blanket...”
“Hey,” the soldier shouted and Dorjee saw him looking right at her.
Time to go. She knew she wasn’t supposed to run but her body wouldn’t listen to reason. She ran. As fast as her legs would carry her. She was almost to the Corrupt Harpy when she realized she probably shouldn’t go in there. It would lead the soldiers right to where Lynn and the others were staying. She turned down an alleyway and hid behind some rubbish bins. It worked last time.
Moments passed, long enough for her to catch her breath, then relax a bit, then become curious about what happened. What if they caught Lynn? Finally, the rumbling of her stomach and the growing cold of the coming night forced her from her hiding hole. She took as many side routes as she could before she made it back to the Corrupt Harpy. If Lynn was ok, she’d be here.
Inside she found Teodor and Lynn arguing in the corner of the hall by the fireplace. She’d never been so happy to see someone. She ran to her. Lynn looked up and saw her and her whole body relaxed. Lynn had been worried about her. She wrapped her arms around Lynn in a giant hug. At first, Lynn seemed surprised but then she relaxed and hugged Dorjee back. It was wonderful.
“Alright, little bug. Let’s sit down so you can tell me about your adventure.” Lynn pulled out a chair for Dorjee and then waved for a serving girl to bring them out another plate. Dorjee started talking as soon as she sat down and Teodor had to shush her. Apparently, she was talking too loudly. He gave her his cup, and she took a sip. It was bitter and hot but it warmed up her insides, and after a few minutes she could feel herself relaxing. Once the food came, and people had stopped paying attention to them, Lynn told her it was ok to talk now.
She told them what Simon had said and how and where she had hidden between bites of the yummy sausage dinner in front of her. Lynn looked upset by the end of the story. Teodor looked worried too.
“We’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to know for sure what they know,” Lynn said, looking down into her drink.
“I say we bail. Blowback from Darkan ain’t as bad as dyin’ or ending up in the pen,” said Teodor, leaning back in his chair.
“If you had your way, you wouldn’t do anything but spend the entire week with your ladybirds,” Lynn snarled.
“Tis the first time in ever that I ain’t needed to play fisticuffs every day. I’ll take me jam when I get’s it.”
Lynn glared at him and Dorjee felt herself shrinking down to make herself as small as possible. Lynn turned her attention on Dorjee but her eyes were soft and kind. “Dorothy, as much as I loathe to do it I need you to stay with Teodor for a while tonight.”
“What?” Teodor and Dorjee said in unison.
“You,” she said pointing to Teodor. “You need to do your share of the work and protecting her should be easy enough for even someone with your limited
mental abilities.” She turned back to Dorjee, “He will keep you safe and I need to get in touch with a few contacts. It’s dangerous enough out there.”
“But,” Dorjee started to protest but Lynn raised her hand to cut her off.
“Go relax. Take a nice warm bath and remember to do some practice. I’ll be back before you know it.” Lynn’s smile was reassuring, and even though she wanted to go with Lynn, she knew there would be no arguing with her.
“And what’s I ta do while the squeaker’s relaxing?” Teodor pouted. Lynn’s face grew cold and hard so quickly it scared Dorjee. At least it wasn’t directed at her.
“You,” Lynn said with a low and dangerous voice, “will ensure that nothing happens to her. And if I find one hair missing from her head, I will remove all the hairs on yours. With the scalp attached.”
Teodor’s face drained of color and Dorjee grinned. It was nice having someone looking out for her. Especially someone who could make a grown man look like that. Dorjee reached out and took Lynn’s hand, to thank her. Lynn squeezed it back with a wink.
Night had fallen by the time Lynn made it out of the Corrupt Harpy. The scattered oil lamps and occasional magic lights caused mixed and confusing shadows everywhere she went. It wouldn’t have taken long to get to Malack and Declan’s inn had she taken the main road, but there were many soldiers out. Walking, talking, looking. It was safer to take a circumspect route even if they weren’t looking for her.