A Change For the Light

by Heather Maginnis

  The three young Bards walked over to the bed, "I can tell from your faces my time has come, I've had a good life, and will soon be with the Goddess, I just wish..", as the light went out of her eyes, Angee knew she was gone, all three of them got on their knees and prayed for their fallen sister.

  Later Bria prepared the body and Allia went out into the temple, they headed straight back to the Inn and changed into full ceremonial uniform, picking up Bria's uniform they took it back so they could do full Honour to Esha, the priestess saw them come in, "what?" she asked, Angee solemnly told her what happened.

  Fifteen

  Kimih was in trouble again, up to a few months ago she'd had little to do in the way of chores, but Allia's leaving had changed all that, now she was the eldest at home and her mother expected her to do the jobs Allia did.

  Alloe, Kimih's mother stared at her daughter, "I asked you to go to the market two hours ago, I cannot prepare dinner without vegetables!".

  Kimih shrugged, "I had things to do" she said offhandedly, Alloe grabbed her daughter and shoved her out the door, "you get to the market now miss!".

  Kimih stood there in the rain, "I'll get wet" she wailed,

  her mother had no sympathy for her, "tough, you should have gone earlier when the weather was fine" and slammed the door.

  Kimih walked to the market getting slowly wet, she'd considered asking for her cloak but in the mood she was she wasn't going to ask anything of her mother.

  The market didn't have a lot left, but she wasn't going to take nothing back to her mother and get another scolding, she wasn't aware of the woman watching her or the predatory grin she had.

  Her life was so unfair, she never seemed to have any free time any more, she couldn't play with her friends, all this and she was sixteen in ten days as well!.

  It was while she was walking back from the butcher's she bumped into a young woman coming the other way, in truth she hadn't been watching where she was going and didn't see the elegant red haired young woman.

  "I'm so sorry" she said apologetically, "I wasn't watching where I was going." The stranger smiled, "no problem, I wasn't looking where I was going either" she said with a winsome look, "and look your packages are ruined , you let me replace them."

  Kimih felt appalled and grateful at the same time,she protested but the stranger wouldn't have none of it , "come with me, I know a very good butcher, my name is Lisebee by the way" and taking Kimih by the arm led her up the street.

  They went to a butcher's Kimih had never been to before, it was too expensive for her families budget, Kimih tried to protest but it was waved away, "you must let me replace it with the best."

  Lisebee walked into the shop with Kimih behind her, Lisebee took charge and bought all manner of meats Kimih hadn't had in the first place, when she'd finished Kimih blanched at the price, Lisebee simply took out a purse and poured a few coins into her hand, it was only the third time in her life Kimih had seen gold, and never so much.

  The butcher handed the order over in a wicker basket at no charge and Lisebee gave it to Kimih, "there, you'll be alright now" Kimih couldn't think what to say she was still in shock, Lisebee smiled, "now, how would you like to go for something to eat tomorrow lunchtime?".

  Kimih was so pleased at what she was carrying she agreed, Lisebee put an arm on her shoulder, "good, I'm sure we'll become good friends" and with a cheery wave she walked off up the street.

  Over the next week Kimih met Lisebee as much as she could, they seemed to have a lot in common, "you must let me throw you a party on your sixteenth" Lisebee said enthusiastically, "Ooh it would be such fun!".

  Kimih's heart leapt for a moment, but she came down with a bump when she though of her family, "I'd like to but my family will have plans."

  Kimih's thought she saw a flash of anger, but the smile Lisebee threw at her seemed genuine, "oh well, if you change you mind meet me here" and she gave her a slip of paper with an address on it.

  The day of her birthday arrived but it was not a good day for Kimih, first she got none of the presents she wanted, then ended up having a blazing row with her mother and father, it ended with a final shout from Kimih , "fine!, if that's the way you want it, I'll go to the party my friend has arranged for me, at least I know someone wants me!", and grabbing her Cape she slammed the door hard on the way out and ran up the street.

  The address on the note couldn't possibly be right, this was a very lovely house, all graceful lines and white marble, whoever lived here had probably never heard of Lisebee. Kimih walked up the small drive to the house and was about to knock on the door when it opened almost magically before her, "yes miss?", said a man in scarlet livery, Kimih was feeling very intimidated, "I'm her to see Lisebee", the servant did a half bow, "yes miss, if you'll come this way I'll tell her you're here."

  Inside she stopped looking at all the opulence, a double staircase ran before her and there were doors either side of her, the servant walked to one and opened it indicating she should enter.

  Kimih sat down on a luxurious chair, red satin from the look of it, she looked around the room, priceless objects were everywhere, Lisebee must be very rich she thought.

  She didn't have to wait long, "you made it!" Lisebee sounded really pleased, "oh, happy birthday dear" Kimih burst into tears.

  Lisebee sat next to Kimih as she related what had happened at home.

  "Oh you poor dear", she said in a comforting tone "that must have been terrible for you. Did you tell your family where you were going?", Kimih sniffled, "sort of, I told them I was going to someone who cared about me."

  Lisebee pressed the point , "but you did not tell them where?", Kimih shook her head and snuffled again into the handkerchief she'd taken out of her sleeve, she missed the look of triumph that passed over Lisebee's face.

  Lisebee stood up and poured some wine from a decanter,

  "here, drink this, it will make you feel better", why not Kimih thought and downed it in one gulp which set of a coughing fit, the coughing subsided as Kimih felt tired, she slipped to the floor and the last thing she saw was Lisebee stood over her.

  * * *

  Mol was sat in Sera's room, Sera seemed still slightly shocked by the day's events, "so what are you going to do?", Mol was caught by surprise by the question, "me?, I suppose the exercise is over, we can't have a traitor here, especially one who's a Bard and a dark agent."

  Sera mused over her answer, "but the traitor is aware of you now, how do you plan to expose her?". Mol was thinking hard, "if we make it too obvious any trap we set will be seen right through, we have to use something more subtle", Sera grinned, "we?" she said innocently, how did I get caught up in your scheme, Mol leaned forward , "well you see, it's like this ...".

  * * *

  The Temple was packed Angee noticed, for all it seemed Bards were out of favour in this town Esha had a lot of friends. The priestess conducted the Rite with due reverence and respect to the service this Bard had done her Goddess, there were more than a few people weeping but Angee noticed something else too, some seemed to be here just for appearances sake it was those she would ask Bria later about.

  After the Rite was completed the three Bards stood honour guard while the mourners at the service filed past, they all saw fear in some peoples eyes at their presence, as if they had not known there were three other Bards in the town, Angee couldn't credit that though, surely the incident at the magistrates court was common knowledge by now .

  The last mourners had left and Allia suggested they go back to the Inn to talk, since the death of Esha none of them had any time free for any sort of discussion of the past few days events.

  Allia led them into her room, "I'm beginning to have a really bad feeling about my home, if we can't find the poisoner soon we should write the Abbess and move on, I fear something terrible is happening."

  Angee was not pleased to hear this, she herself had no inkling of any danger, but then her father was safe now, and maybe Allia's connection to her f
amily was what gave her the edge.

  "Very well, who was the man with the black hair and blue eyes at the funeral Bria, something seemed wrong about him."

  Bria thought for a moment trying to remember the procession of mourners, "I think you mean Lord Rovere , a very powerful lord and merchant, the Council usually listens when he speaks."

  Angee decided this man was worthy of some attention.

  The Jolly Ranger was an Inn on the edge of the poor quarter, from talking to the staff at the Inn they were staying at Angee learned a lot of the servants who worked for wealthy families and individuals frequented this establishment maybe she could pick up some information there.

  for the first couple of nights Angee in plain clothes just sat there quietly listening to the general conversations letting the regulars get used to her presence, she had gleaned a certain footman liked to come in and get liquored up who worked for Lord Rovere, on the third night she decided to talk to him.

  She timed her entrance to be at the busiest time of day, the footman for all he was a regular had a problem with his temper and was usually left to drink on his own .

  Angee bought an ale, "mind if I join you?" she said to the man who seemed bent on drinking as fast as he could, "shure, pleesh do" he said with a wicked leer, this was not going to be pleasant Angee thought.

  Sitting opposite the man she sat in silence for a while till the man spoke up, "sho my pretty, who do you work for?", Angee looked down, "nobody at the moment, I'm a maid looking for work."

  The man leaned over and put his hand on her arm, "I might be able to help you there pretty" his hand stroking her arm.

  "I work for Lord Rovere and we could use another maid, I could get you the job if you're nice to me."

  Angee shuddered inside, "Lord Rovere?" she said with a puzzled look on her face, "who's he?", the man gaped, "only the most important man in this town, everyone wants to be friends with him, from the Council to merchants, everyone, they all need his help", Angee looked disbelieving, "surely not all, there are some people who need no ones help", the man's face started to get angry, "oh yeah!, who?", here goes she thought, "well one I could think of, the Goddess's Bards", the man smirked, "if that's so then why did a Bard come every week for tea for nearly a year?".

  Angee wanted to jump up and shout, yes, instead she just looked abashed and said "oh" with a blush, now how to get away from this awful man she wondered.

  Sixteen

  Kimih came around slowly, she wondered where she was, the last thing she remembered was feeling very dizzy and falling on the floor with Lisebee standing over her.

  She tried to sit up but couldn't, she saw she was on a bed, tied to it's four corners by silk scarves. "Good, you're awake", said a voice she thought she recognised, she turned her head and saw Lisebee stood there, except she seemed slightly older and was wearing some sort of uniform.

  "Ah, you recognise your friend don't you ?", her voice was different, not the light slightly adolescent one Kimih knew, but this was fuller bodied and there was a tone to it that made Kimih shudder.

  Lisebee walked over to the bed and sat beside Kimih, "really my dear, we are going to teach you such things to show you your true potential , and what fun we'll have doing it , especially when you have such a young supple body."

  Saying that she ran her hand up Kimih's leg, only then did Kimih notice she was naked, Lisebee leaned forward and slowly licked Kimih once, Kimih felt sick.

  "Oh, you'll enjoy every moment", and at the sound of the door she turned her head. "Look here's your main teacher, Mistress Jesse" saying that she stood up and walked out of the room.

  The dark haired, dark skinned woman approached the bed, and said in a silken tone, "and now my love, shall we begin?", Kimih started to scream.

  * * *

  Angee eventually managed to slip away from the footman by telling him about the bragging she'd heard from another loudmouth who'd said he could take him any time, while the fight started she slipped out of the door.

  Back at the Inn she knocked on Bria's door, Bria opened it, "what did you find out?", Angee came in and sat down, she told her what the footman had said

  "Could the poison be administered that way?" Bria considered it for a moment, "it would take time for the poison to do enough damage, but if you wanted to kill someone undetected, then that would be the only way, small doses at regular intervals."

  Allia knocked on the door at that moment, she entered without waiting for a response, "I've found out Lord Rovere is up to something, his shops seem to be the ones spreading the bad things about us."

  Angee was getting impatient, she knew Lord Rovere was up to something , but how to prove it in a short time.

  She sat there trying to think of a way to push Lord Rovere into making a mistake, suddenly Suse's voice came to her, treason, arrest him for treason against the crown and the Goddess, Angee smiled.

  The next morning all three of them got dressed up in full ceremonial uniform and walked through the street's to Lord Rovere's mansion.

  They drew quite a bit of attention which is what Angee wanted, as public a display as possible, they approached the mansion and walked up the drive, they didn't bother knocking politely. Angee banged on the door with the pommel of her sword, "Open up in the name of the crown!".

  Nobody answered, she repeated her action, this time from inside came a nervous voice , "go away, the master doesn't want to see you!".

  Angee recognised the footman, she didn't answer him, just turned to her friends.

  "Let's move back from the door".

  They all moved back and Angee raised one hand, she pointed it at the door and it began to glow white, a blue flash flew from it smashing the door off it's frame and breaking it in two.

  The three Bards entered, the footman was just getting off the floor having been knocked over by the blast.

  Allia grabbed him, "where's Lord Rovere" she said in a voice like death, the footman quaked and pointed up the stairs.

  Angee followed by her two friend's walked upstairs's and into a drawing room, the same man she'd seen at the funeral was sat behind a desk.

  "What is the meaning of this?" he said, his voice was hard, but Angee noticed a hint of terror in it.

  Angee stepped forward ,"Lord Rovere I come here to notify you to get your things in order, at this moment I am having warrants drawn up for your arrest."

  Lord Rovere looked incredulous, "Arrest, on what charge?".

  Angee levelled a deadly look at him, "the charges will be treason against the crown, treason against the Goddess and the Murder of a Bard.

  "Preposterous" he blustered, "you have no evidence", Angee smiled then and walked to the side of the desk, "oh yes we do, for one we know the poison you gave Bard Esha, and where you got it from."

  A look of panic took over Lord Rovere's face and he pulled a bell pull. Angee whirled as about a dozen armed men rushed in.

  These men were good fighters and it took a while to whittle them down, she saw Allia holding her side with one hand and increased her pace killing the man she faced and going to help Allia.

  They were facing better than even odd's now as she noticed Lord Rovere bolt out of the door, Bria had just despatched her last opponent and came over to help, Angee disengaged and ran after Rovere, she caught up with him on the drive in front of the mansion, "damn you Bards!" he snarled and pulled out a sword, "the One will prevail" he shrieked and launched himself at her, but Rovere was no swordsman, Angee had decided to capture not kill and took the hand holding his sword off at the wrist, he screamed in agony watching the blood beginning to spurt out of the stump.

  Bria who had come down supporting Allia sat Allia down and came over, Angee pointed at Rovere

  "Heal this wretch enough for him to stand trial", Bria grabbed Rovere and held one hand over the stump, the blood stopped and the stump covered over slightly.

  Rovere spat at them, "I may have only got Esha, but it's one less to oppose the One."

  Ange
e looked at him, "you enjoyed killing her didn't you?". Rovere laughed out loud, "yes, seeing her slowly dying taking my poison week after week, what a pure pleasure."

  It was all Angie could do not to kill him on the spot, instead she bowed mockingly "thank you my Lord, up to now I had no proof of your involvement your confession is very welcome."

  Lord Rovere just sat there to stunned to speak , a squad of the town guard arrived, Angee gestured to Lord Rovere, "take him into custody , he has just confessed to the murder of Bard Esha."

  The guard looked shocked but grabbed Lord Rovere who struggled in their hands, "let me go!, don't you know who I am?".

  The corporal in charge held a sword to Rovere's throat. "Behave you!, or we'll drag you to jail rather than let you walk."

  Lord Rovere went silent, the corporal turned to Angee, "is there anything else Ma'am?", Angee took the corporal to one side, "only make sure nothing happens to him, he'll have a lot of useful information, oh, and get one of your men to take the names of the people here" she pointed to the gathered crowd, "they heard his confession too", the Corporal came to attention and saluted, "yes ma'am."

  The next morning they were all packed and ready to go, when they went downstairs Angee settled up with the Innkeeper, "how much do we owe you?", the Innkeeper for some reason looked embarrassed, "ah that will be nine silver's please."

  Angee took out a bulging purse and poured some coins into her hand, she counted out the nine and added four more, and turning they left .

  "Where'd you get so much money?" asked Bria as they walked to their mounts, Angee gave her a sly look, "I had a word with the priestess at the temple before we took leave of her", Bria laughed.

  As they were approaching the southern gate a guard officer stopped them and handed Angee a message, Angee read it while the officer waited to see if there was a reply, "thank the Council for the information", and pulling her mount she headed out of the gate with Allia and Bria in tow.