by D. R. Rosier
Gabby didn’t look happy, since it was likely she’d be the one left behind.
He needed the princess to actually get the scepter, and they needed Erin because she’d die before she was separated from Katy, and they needed him to pick the locks.
Gabby looked mutinous, “But what if you need me? At the very least I should come along for the switch out, if the cook can’t be trusted we’ll have to replace him too.”
The other disturbing thing was the cook was male, as were two out of three of the assistants, which meant all of them except one woman would be wearing male illusions. He just couldn’t picture either Erin or the princess walking in a convincing male way.
He nodded, “That’s a good point, but if it goes to plan, you’ll have to wait outside. It might actually be better this way.”
She frowned at him.
He shrugged, “Sorry, but have you considered if you help us pull this off, that it would be almost impossible to be discreet? You wouldn’t be a very effective spy anymore if you were a heroine in plain view.”
She glared, “That’s what illusion is for, they wouldn’t see the real me at all.”
He felt like an ass, she’d be a help, but she wasn’t exactly required, the rest of them were. Still, he tried one more time.
He added, “Plus it’s good to have a wild card. If we’re caught you’ll have to work with Aria on getting us out before we get hanged.”
She snickered, “Nice try and thanks for the sentiment, but I’m not buying. Still, I understand. I don’t like it one bit, but if the cook is sympathetic, I’ll sit it out.”
Katy said softly, “Thank you, I’d feel better with you at our back, but if we show up with an extra person we’ll draw more scrutiny.”
They made their last minute adjustments, packed up, and headed toward the market…
The plan had worked well, almost too well. He smiled as he peeled the potatoes.
When they’d come upon the cook, the man’s eyes had widened, apparently having no trouble recognizing Katy at all even in her commoner dress and changed hair. He’d actually bowed low and there were tears in his eyes. It was apparent to all of them the man would do anything for Katy before they’d even discussed it.
What Daniel found funny was the cook wouldn’t give any work to Katy as all, even under an illusion as his regular woman kitchen helper, the cook would stand a little straighter and his throat would lock up at the thought of giving his queen a command.
It got so bad even the others in the kitchen started to notice, so Daniel had told the man to stop trying and just ignore her. At first he and Erin were doing everything, but it didn’t take long before Erin started to give the princess commands. Currently her highness was peeling carrots and the cook looked absolutely scandalized, but kept his mouth shut.
The good thing was the cook had assured them back at the market that the regent always took his meal in his suites. Katy couldn’t block her aura, but between the distance and a judicious spell from the death sphere her magical aura was dimmed slightly and given a slightly different feel to it.
It was a long day, and he found out quickly that kitchen work was hard when preparing for so many people. If he wasn’t peeling, chopping, or dicing, he was scrubbing, mopping, or fetching. They also had to be careful not to let anyone touch them, as their illusions didn’t actually match what was really there, such as his sword, and Erin’s armor.
Eventually though, the day ended and they turned in. There was a small barracks off the kitchen where the cooks and assistants bedded down. The cook even managed to be subtle and guided them to the right ones with his eyes. He quietly stared at the ceiling and went over their remaining plans, looking for flaws. He didn’t see any, but Murphy still hadn’t shown up yet, and he knew no job went perfectly to plan.
Katy stood up and her illusion dropped. She was in a long flowing light blue dress and looked every inch the princess, he couldn’t help but stare for a minute. She quirked a smile at him.
“I used a little nature magic, they won’t wake up unless we’re really loud.”
He nodded and rolled off the small bunk, letting his illusion fall. He smiled at Erin and removed her illusion as well, she looked so much better as a woman, and they went back into the kitchen. He’d figured out that the secret passage from his memories of the book must be behind a cabinet full of crockery, but he hadn’t found the latch yet.
He searched and found it inside the top shelf of the cabinet, there was a light click and the cabinet swung out. He held it and opened it slowly to make sure the crockery didn’t shift. There was a guard post right outside the kitchen in the hallway.
They slipped into the passage and he pulled the cabinet closed behind them, there was a light snick as the catch engaged, and he breathed out a silent sigh. He created a light. The passageway was thin and dusty, it obviously hadn’t been used in a long time. They walked about fifty yards in single file down to the end, and then to the left where there was a small lever.
He pulled it and carefully stepped into the dark room. The room was unused, it was one of the rooms where the next generation of royalty would stay, and there wasn’t one right now. Her uncle and Katy were it until she and Daniel started a family.
He opened the door slightly and peered out the crack. They were in the back right corner as he’d expected, straight ahead about twenty yards away, he saw the two soldiers guarding the way down to the treasury. They’d find out really soon if the guards were to be trusted. To his left down the hallway there should be two more guards about thirty yards away where it met another corridor, but he couldn’t see them from his angle of view.
He stood there and waited patiently, there were moving guards on rounds as well. It was a few minutes later when he saw them coming up the hallway and he pushed the door closed while holding the latch so it didn’t click. After a slow count to thirty, he opened the door and they were gone. According to Aria they’d have maybe ten minutes before they showed again, which was more than enough time.
He gritted his teeth and nodded back at Erin and Katy, and then he dropped an illusion that would cover them from the guards on the left. The corridor wasn’t very bright, and there was less of a chance of them noticing the hallway just lost five feet, than there was of missing three people walking out of a room that was supposed to be empty.
He dropped the illusion as soon as they were in the back hallway, the guards by the treasury access didn’t even notice them until they were halfway there. His gut was tight, but apparently his mistrust of people failed again, as the guards looked down the central corridor, and then waved them into the stairwell without a word.
They got to the bottom of the stairs and he pulled out his lock picks.
He muttered in a low tone, “This is too easy.”
Nothing had gone wrong yet and his stomach got a little tighter.
He started to work the lock, it wasn’t exactly easy and it took him a few minutes before he heard the click of success. They were good locks for a medieval society, but nothing close to the best the Earth had to offer. He walked into the treasury and took a look around. The room was huge, and although not quite full, not even close, there was a great deal of silver, gold, and platinum coins.
No doubt he was getting the better of the deal marrying Katy, but there was a small part of him that wanted to fill up a satchel anyway. That was the deal right? He shook his head amused at his own thoughts and walked toward the door in the back. There was another lock there that had no keyhole in it, at least not until Katy caught up with them, and then the metal where a keyhole would be turned to liquid, and rushed to the side which revealed the keyhole.
He bent down and got to work on it, when he heard the loud noise of footsteps behind him. They all turned and stared toward the door. A middle aged woman in armor walked in the room. She looked like hell, her left eye was swollen, her right arm was held protectively against her body and looked broken. She had a number of cuts on her arms and face,
and had tears in her eyes.
Aria looked frantic, “He knows you’re here. I don’t know how he figured it out. He caught me last night, was watching me. He… forced me to contact you this morning using magic, I couldn’t stop myself. He was torturing me while he laughed about how he’d allow you a last day as a kitchen drudge before taking your life.”
She started coughing uncontrollably and spitting up blood.
“He has a woman to execute in your place, but he plans to kill you tonight and claim your kidnappers must have done it. Then he could hang the imposter later, after he took the crown. The damn scepter isn’t even down here, he has it right now. I escaped my torturers and came here as fast as I could, he will be here any minute.”
Well there it was… good old Murphy. He’d expected a wrinkle in the plan though, not this.
Katy walked over and started to heal Aria.
She turned her head, “Open the door.”
He didn’t see the point if the scepter wasn’t in there, but he turned and got back to work. He realized if they got into the royal vault before her uncle showed, that would be just as much proof she was part of the royal family as holding the scepter would. He wasn’t optimistic they could beat him, but it would mean they wouldn’t have to face the soldiers too, or Lianeth would risk them changing sides.
Click!
The door opened, and the four of them went through the royal treasury. It wasn’t quite as big as the common treasury, but it was the riches of just one family instead of a whole kingdom, which made it rather more impressive. The funny thing was it didn’t matter to him, since all he cared about was Katy. His mind spun as he got to work on the last lock, how would they defend against two grand sorcerers?
His ears picked up more footsteps, but the locks were too similar to each other, and it only took him six seconds this time.
Click!
They rushed into the vault. He watched as Katy ran over to the corner of the room, picked up a dagger and tossed it at him. He caught it and examined it, it felt… weird.
She also grabbed a couple of long swords and gave one to Erin and Aria.
He started to say, “Wha…”
She looked up and shook her head, it was too late for explanations as the two men he could only assume were Lianeth and Mal walked into the room. He wished she’d have had time to tell him what the plan was, obviously she had one, and this vault was full of magical artifacts. Why’d he get a dagger and not a longsword?
He felt an incredible surge of power, and a yellow field surrounded Katy.
Lianeth just looked amused, “Looking for this?” he asked, holding up the scepter.
Chapter 20
He felt Katy’s power flare again, and a green coruscating energy surrounded Lianeth, absorbing whatever she had done. He couldn’t believe the power coming off the man. He remembered though, Katy had told him the more he practiced, the more power he could channel, which meant Lianeth had been growing in power for twenty years longer than Katy had.
They were ignoring him for now, as if he was so beneath them he didn’t matter. Of course, they were right, he had nothing but illusion.
Katy growled, “Why Lianeth, your greed has brought the kingdom to the edge of ruin.”
Illusion… he dropped an illusion of himself, on himself, and then dropped to the floor. The dagger hummed with magic in his hand, and Katy had given it to him instead of one of those swords for a reason. The problem was, it wasn’t a throwing dagger, the weight was all wrong. The blade was long, thin and light. More like a poniard than a dagger. A thrusting knife.
Lianeth laughed while he created a second illusion over himself. He wasn’t invisible, but if someone looked his way they would just see the floor.
“Niece, all is well. I give you my word to kill the elves as soon as you’re body lies cold at my feet. But I’m afraid an easy death isn’t something you deserve so it may take a while. You’ve led me on quite a chase.”
Erin screamed in anger and charged him with the sword. He knew how she felt, it took all his willpower not to do the same, to simply shimmy forward along the floor at a snail’s pace. He needed to get around behind him.
He cringed when Lianeth merely looked at Erin and sent her flying backwards against the wall. There was a crunching sound that sickened him and Erin fell to the ground and was still. He wasn’t sure if she was still alive or not, and Katy looked upset but dared not go to her yet. If Erin was still alive the last thing Katy would want was to do is draw his attention to her once more.
He watched as he shimmied behind Lianeth and Mal without a sound, he wondered if he’d even needed to bother with the illusion of himself, Lianeth never even glanced that way. Lianeth raised his hand in a theatrical way and the golden dome around Katy started to spark. He felt her pull magic and fight back, but it was like a child trying to fight a warrior.
After what he saw her do in Highwater that was a terrifying proposition. But it wouldn’t stop him from trying. Her shield broke and he clenched his teeth when he heard her start to scream in pain. He wouldn’t give sound to his ire, his only chance was stealth and he was close enough now, he hoped.
He lunged up from the floor, the dagger leading. The green shield coruscated when the dagger hit, but didn’t slow down his strike a bit as he buried it into Lianeth’s back and wiggled it around until he found the bastard’s heart. He felt Lianeth pull more magic, he recognized it as life magic as the man desperately tried to repair his heart before his mind failed, but he put Lianeth in a choke hold and held the knife steady, there was no way to heal his heart if it had a dagger in it.
Lianeth’s stiffened body relaxed, and he reached down and grabbed the scepter and tossed it to Katy who was on the floor trying to recover. It didn’t disappear when he touched it because they were already in the treasure room.
Mal screamed in fear and anger, “No!” and raised his hand.
He seemed to be moving in quicksand as he pulled the knife out of Lianeth’s corpse and lunged for Mal, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop the man from casting a spell. Aria however seemed to come out of nowhere, and threw herself in front of Katy. His dagger sunk into Mal’s side as Aria went up in flames. He could also see a bright light form behind the burning pyre of Aria’s body, and then the room filled up with an impossibly complex illusion.
He pulled out the dagger and tried to hit a mortal spot, since Mal was only wounded, if badly. But Mal elbowed him in the face hard, and he went down. He moved to get back up, but Mal screamed in pain as the magic of the scepter ripped into him and took his life. Daniel was a little dazed from the elbow strike, and it took him a few heartbeats to realize Mal must have been their elven infiltrator.
His mind seemed in a daze, he couldn’t believe they were still alive and he looked guiltily at Aria, who had given her life for Katy. Oh shit, Erin!
He got up and moved over to Katy, helped her stand, and brought her over to Erin.
Katy summoned a lot of magic, and it flowed into Erin. He could see she was still alive, but barely.
“Will she be okay? Are you okay?”
Katy replied softly, “I’m fine, his spell didn’t do much damage before you killed him. My body is already healed. Erin… he broke almost every bone in her body, and her skull has two fractures, but I think she’ll make it. It’s just going to take a while.”
He sat down on the ground in relief, he felt drained, “Thanks for the knife.”
She giggled, obviously feeling relieved and a little giddy the nightmare was over and they were still alive, but then she looked over at Aria with a guilty look on her face and got tears in her eyes.
Katy explained, “The knife is imbued with powerful death magic which makes it immune to most protections. It’s probably the second most dangerous weapon in this vault. Even if my uncle had used death magic in his shield, it would have only stopped the knife for a second or two.”
He said softly, “I’m sorry about Aria, do you need anything?”
He smiled and kissed her hair, “Always my love.”
“Oh for the gods’ sake, get a room,” Erin moaned under her breath, making them both laugh.
Erin joined them then winced, “Stop that, laughing hurts.”
Katy grinned, “Sit still, I’ve still got a lot to fix.”
Chapter 21
The next couple of days were busy. They cleaned up the vault and dug into the matters around the palace. They found the poor girl that was scheduled for execution and put her up in the guest rooms, the girl was an exact lookalike, but changing her back would be painful, so they weren’t quite sure what to do with her yet. The only thing they were sure of was the girl had suffered enough.
Aria was buried the next day in honor, and the guards from the stairs along with the cook that had helped them were rewarded as well.
Katy sent out word everywhere that her crowning and marriage would take place in two days, at which time she would kill every elf on Lendaran soil. His future wife seemed to have had enough of death, and wanted to give the elves time to retreat back to their own kingdom before she took extreme action.
He was busy himself, going through Aria’s records. Aria had been both the captain of the guard, and in charge of the spy network, and over Erin’s objections, him and Erin now shared those responsibilities. There were more spies to manage than he expected, after all, there were only three villages and two cities in the kingdom to keep an eye on for trouble. But he’d forgotten they’d have spies in other kingdoms, their trading partners, to watch out for instability there.
It would be a while before he’d get to see Gabby again, since she was travelling around to connect him with the other spies. He had no way to shadow talk with them, until he got a sense of who they were. Gabby’s excellent work and loyalty had led to Katy giving her more work, no good deed goes unpunished. Gabby would be his second in command when she got back. He did miss her presence, she’d meant more to him than just the fun flirting and wild sex they’d shared, but he’d survive with Erin and Katy just fine in the meantime.