by Blink, Bob
“You would help us? After being locked away and after what happened to your friend?”
“It would depend on what we can learn about you,” Rigo replied honestly. “If Sedfair is no threat to our homeland, then we would consider doing so.”
“What about the Baldari?” the Queen asked.
Rigo’s look conveyed his lack of understanding. The Queen explained about the small race of fighters that periodically invaded the southern parts of Sedfair. Rigo admitted having never encountered them. The discussion lasted another glass before the Queen was satisfied.
“You have given me much to think about. I apologize for what has been done to you, and will see to making you more comfortable soon. I can do nothing about your friend who was killed. I knew nothing about that. I will question those responsible, but it cannot be undone.”
She turned toward her Advisors and Consort who had asked almost no questions during the long session.
“Do any of you have anything else?”
Lady Alani who had watched Rigo closely through most of the session spoke up. “How old are you?” she asked.
Rigo thought it an odd question given the circumstances, but could see no harm in answering, so he told her. The King asked several questions about the size of his homeland and the numbers of wizards, which Rigo sidestepped. Certain things he wasn’t about to reveal even though he was relatively certain they had no way of getting home to the Three Kingdoms.
“You can’t believe she’ll help us,” Lorl protested loudly after Rigo was returned to the cell and he explained to them what had happened. “We can’t trust any of them. They’re just trying to get you to reveal what you’ve been holding back. Don’t forget what they did to Orna.”
Rigo knew that was a possibility, but he didn’t believe it was really the case. Emotions had been too strong, and the animosity between the Queen as the two Casters was real in his opinion.
Ash’urn was of a different opinion. “Maybe we can play the two groups against one another. We have to be careful what we reveal, but maybe we can gain some freedom, even if it turns out they are working together. If we can just get those bands off of you two, they will have trouble cornering you a second time. I suggest we play along, see what is the truth, and look for an opportunity. It’s either that, or settle into these wonderful accommodations for the rest of our lives.”
Rigo was inclined to agree with Ash’urn. He wanted to believe the Queen. She seemed sincere and interested in his tale. Could he have been tricked? He decided he’d have to see how matters developed to know for certain.
Chapter 51
Queen Rosul smiled as she watched that outsider named Rigo being led out of the room by her guards and followed by the two women Casters. Her smile was driven as much by what she thought she might have learned as by the obvious discomfort of one of Carif’s key people, who’d been placed in a situation she could not control. Specialist Kimm was not one to keep her emotions hidden, and more than once Rosul had noted the woman’s discomfort with what was being discussed. That made her all the more sure what the outsider had told her was true. The other one, Suline she recalled, was supposedly the Caster who had captured the first two of the outsiders in the small village of Slipi. It was interesting that she had been brought to Nals, and that she had showed no particular emotion regarding the material discussed. She was either better at hiding her feelings, or she wasn’t as concerned with keeping matters secret. It would be interesting to know which.
“Come,” she said simply, after everyone else had departed. They wouldn’t discuss the meeting here. That was better done in one of the special rooms that she was certain weren’t monitored.
The four of them walked silently out the small door at the rear of the large chamber in which they had held the meeting. Each of them was reviewing the matters they had listened to, trying to decide where the truth might be, and what action should result from it. They followed Rosul into the smaller, and more private room. She nodded to her guards and closed the door. No one would disturb them unnecessarily.
“What do you think?” she asked, the question open and not directed at anyone in particular.
“He seems sincere,” Kalli volunteered. “If they are indeed trapped here as he said, it would explain a lot.”
“He could be lying,” Kall warned. “We don’t know much about them, and have no idea how skillful at deception they might be.”
“I don’t think so,” Alani said. “Did you see his face when he talked of this Three Kingdoms? There was a sense of loss there I don’t think could be faked easily. I believe that whatever happened out there in the Wastelands, they have found themselves stranded here in Sedfair.”
“He wasn’t open to revealing much about his homeland,” Kall objected. “If he wishes our help, you would think he would be more forthcoming.”
“Would you be?” Rosul asked softly. “He doesn’t know us either, other than the treatment he has seen at the hands of Carif. We could be probing to know about his home. We could have the ability to make our way there and have been concealing it from him. I would wager you would react very much as he has if you were in his place.”
“This might be a chance at what you have always wished for,” Kalli said. “Another land. Another people. If they could be made allies, think of the possibilities.”
“He as much as offered to help with the Chulls,” Kall agreed. “I wonder what he knows and how they deal with them where he comes from.”
“Don’t forget their magic,” Rosul said pointedly. “They appear to be what we hoped our small group might become. They wield their power without the usual trappings that our Casters require. If he could be encouraged to share that ability with those we have hidden, think what it might mean.”
“What do you think Carif was up to, keeping this concealed from you?” Kalli asked. “Does she suspect, do you think?”
“I believe I would have learned of it if she had,” Rosul replied. “I believe she is up to her usual tricks. Knowledge is power, and she hoped to learn what the outsiders knew and use it to the benefit of the Guild. That they have traveled into the Wastelands and found the means to do so freely is disturbing. That is something that might benefit our battle with the Baldari, yet she holds it private. I cannot allow this to go unnoticed.”
“How do we proceed?” Kall asked.
“More interaction with the outsiders is required. I want them moved. They can be located in one of the special cottages held for visiting nobles. There are none scheduled to visit here for a time, so they can be placed there, and Carif can guard the place without causing undue attention to be brought to bear.”
“You will allow her to continue to guard them?” Kalli objected.
“There is little choice,” Rosul reminded her. “They are gifted, and the law specifically gives the Guild the responsibility for overseeing any such who are being detained. While I think I believe the stranger can be trusted, it is only a feeling. I cannot risk the security of Sedfair on a belief from a single encounter. That means they will have to stay banded for now, and therefore are officially being detained. That gives Carif a certain authority.”
“What would you have done with them once they have been relocated?” Alani asked.
“Interact with them. Show them around. Give them a chance to see Nals and who we are. Engage them in conversation and comparison between here and where they came from. Hopefully a better judgement of who they are can be formed.”
“Who will watch over them?” Kalls asked.
“If they are within the castle, my personal guard will be responsible, just like today. Outside, and in the city, unfortunately, it will fall to the Guild to oversee them.”
Rosul looked at her consort. “Would you carry the message to the Guild that I expect the prisoners to be relocated today. I don’t want to entrust that to a messenger and give them the opportunity to misunderstand my intentions.”
“As you wish,” Kall said. “Are we done here?”
“For now,” Rosul said. “Think on the meeting, and if any thoughts come to you, please share them with me immediately.”
Kall was the first out of the room, heading off as requested to speak with the Guild. Kalli smiled, and hurried after him. It was obvious that Alani was lingering and waiting for the others to depart.
Rosul walked over and deliberately shut the door giving them privacy. “All right, Alani. What is it?”
Briefly Alani looked unsure of herself, something Rosul had seldom seen in the woman. Then she asked, “Do you know Lord Chaten?”
“I know the name,” Rosul replied. “I don’t think I ever met him. He’s a lesser noble, isn’t he? Not one of the Hundred Families.”
Alani nodded. “His family has never risen so high. He lives down the coast about three days ride.”
“What about him?” Rosul asked.
“I met him and his brother a number of years ago,” Alani explained. “His brother died some five years ago. A very curious thing happened to him many years ago.”
“Don’t make me pry it out of you.”
Alani sighed. “Okay, it’s probably nothing. But, he had a son who disappeared without a trace one day. The son wasn’t even ten years old. No trace of him was ever found. That was some twenty years ago.”
“Kidnappers?”
“No ransom was ever requested. I became interested when I learned of the story, because Lord Chaten’s brother described abilities that his son was displaying that were very intriguing. He was almost certainly one like Lyes.”
“Why is this important now if he disappeared so long ago?”
“Because Lord Chaten’s brother looked remarkably like this outsider. Had you introduced me to him under different conditions I would have asked if he were a relative. It’s that close.”
“You can’t think this Rigo is the missing son? That’s why you asked about his age.”
“I don’t know. It’s an interesting idea. The son disappears. This man looks remarkably like his father. He has abilities with magic which the son was starting to display, and mysteriously can speak our language, which he claims he had no previous exposure to. Might it not be interesting to have Lord Chaten come for a visit?”
Chapter 52
She realized that control of the situation was rapidly being lost. For the briefest of moments Carif wondered if she should have handled the entire situation much differently, informing the Queen immediately upon learning of the outsiders. Then there would have been none of this suspicion and awkward probing from Rosul, and more than likely the Queen would have tasked her to deal with the strangers. The thought didn’t reach its natural conclusion. That simply wouldn’t have worked. Rosul had long hoped for the discovery of another civilized society with which to interact, and would have been inordinately interested in the four strangers who had come out of the Wastelands.
They worried Carif immensely. For many seasons she had stared at the images in the ancient devices and pondered the implications. Who were the people there and what were they like? Once she had become aware of the magnitude of magic they controlled, she’d become even more concerned. Even if they were friendly and non-aggressive, they could well alter the status that existed between the Guild and the Crown. Slowly the Guild was assuming control, and she hoped within her lifetime, the Guild would openly be the dominant power in Sedfair. When the outsiders appeared out of the Wastelands, a territory that the people of Sedfair had never been able to penetrate, her immediate concern was how much power they must be capable of controlling to be able to accomplish the crossing. She’d also wondered if their appearance signaled the beginning of a large number of outsiders yet to come. She’d required answers, and to that end had pursued a course that she had hoped would reveal what she wanted to know.
Now her investigations were in jeopardy. Carif had been greatly upset when Kimm returned and informed her that the one called Rigo had revealed that members of the Guild had been exploring deep into the Wastelands. She had several reasons for hoping to keep that secret. Once revealed, there had been no chance that the Queen would allow it to pass, and within a day Carif had been forced to address the matter personally. Fortunately, the Queen’s wish that this new ability be used to track and discourage the Baldari was easily set aside. Carif explained the only places they had been able to go were locations the outsiders had visited. Finding these small patches where the Wastelands lost their control was a task that required some form of magical assistance they lacked, and the locations they had learned of from the Reading hadn’t encountered the Baldari. The Queen wasn’t satisfied, and Carif knew that if Rosul weren’t within weeks of resigning the throne, she would have found a way to insist on further exploration.
The whole matter of the woman who had died under examination had been another area they had clashed. The Queen had made her displeasure known – to her, the Saltique of the Guild. The very Guild that had many years ago elevated Rosul from an unknown to ruler of the land. The Queen had accused her of overstepping her authority and of placing the country at risk of attack. Should the inhabitants of the Three Kingdoms learn of the treatment of the woman, they might elect to consider it an act of war. Carif attempted to put aside the issue indicating the strangers had invaded Sedfair, but the Queen insisted on referring to them as emissaries.
Then the Queen had insisted on relocating the prisoners. They were to be taken out of the dungeon cell and boarded in one of the guest cottages located between the castle and the Guild. It would be easy enough to implement the same blocking inside the structure, and her guards would be able to control the coming and going from the structure, but now they would be exposed to more people. Their existence would become widely known, something that she’d hoped to prevent. The only thing worse would be for the Queen to publicly announce the existence of outsiders, something Carif wouldn’t be surprised to see. Carif knew the only reason the Queen hadn’t withdrawn Carif’s involvement over the outsiders completely was the standing law on how gifted prisoners were to be controlled.
In short, the only good thing that had come out of the past couple of days was the revelation that some kind of talisman had been required by the outsiders to overcome the barrier the Wastelands presented to the creation of effective Doorways. She was certain the talisman had been the two staffs they had found. The secret was in their hands, if only they could decipher it.
“What have you learned about the staff?” she asked the eight women who sat at the large table with her.
“Nothing,” Rynm replied. “The material is not wood as we suspected. It is something quite different. The material is some form of uncommonly hard material, finely inter-linked with quartz crystal powdered to a degree we have never seen before. I think the properties would have been quite interesting to observe in the active state, but since it has failed, we cannot tell what it was once like.”
“You have learned nothing about how it functioned?” Carif asked, her frustration showing.
“The staff was a repository of both energy and magic in a way we have attempted on a cruder level. It appears that upon failure, the staff was designed to release all contained energy in a manner that wiped all indications of what was stored from the crystals. There is no way we can recover what was once there.”
“You are telling me the staffs are useless,” Carif summarized what Rynm was saying.
“Unfortunately yes,” Rynm agreed. She hadn’t wanted to state the answer so bluntly. Carif was known to be difficult when she didn’t receive an answer she wanted.
“Then they must have another staff hidden somewhere,” Carif insisted.
“Unless they are truly trapped here as he told the Queen,” Kimm suggested.
Carif shot her an irritated glance. If Kimm were right, then there was no way they would learn the secret. Rosul would never allow Carif to question the outsiders in a way they would reveal their secrets, and from what Kimm had reported back, they claimed they had no idea how the staffs worked
. They were supposedly a relic from a time long past. Carif had to admit the possibility. The strangers had spoken of the plague. Sedfair had its own history with the plague, and magic from the distant past was known to have been stronger than what they could access today. She would very much like to know how many more of these staffs or like talisman existed in the homelands of the outsiders.
Carif frowned and considered how to proceed. They had learned nothing with regards to the other secret Rosul had revealed. She was somehow and for some reason aligned with rebel Casters. Could that activity be somehow linked to her interest in the outsiders? Had Carif underestimated the Queen in some important way? It was very fortunate that Rosul’s days in power were limited in number. She was becoming too aggressive and too involved in matters that conflicted with Carif’s own interests.
Thus far they had not discovered what had happened to Lyes. The family estates of the Queen had been carefully monitored, and all known friends of the young man had been investigated. He had simply disappeared. The likely answer was that he was being hidden somewhere in the castle. If that were the case, in a matter of weeks they would know. He would be unable to even make a Doorway out without being detected. They would grab him sooner or later. If there were other spies or informants within the Guild, they had thus far not discovered them either. Unfortunately, the word had gotten out that the Eight were seeking some kind of informant, so any who might exist now had ample warning and would be better able to mask their trail.
Carif didn’t see how she would be able to regain full control of the situation. She had no informants within the Queen’s inner circle. Both of her advisors and the men she chose for her personal guard had proven extremely loyal to the Queen. Add to that, the Queen had the strongest public approval of any monarch in recent history. She had the support of the people and would be able to manipulate events how she wished. A pox on the woman! Her removal couldn’t come soon enough.