A Change For the Light

by Heather Maginnis

  * * *

  Mol had settled into her routine fairly quickly, her duties were lighter than others believed, they had to maintain some pretence of her doing some work,but, in reality Illia looked after herself, going to her apartment though did give Mol a chance to talk with Illia about how her search was progressing.

  There seemed to be a lot of power that Lord Werket controlled, he had his fingers in a lot of pies according to the gossip mill in the palace,Mol had decided to see what she could find out in more detail.

  Lord Werket had a large suite in the palace that almost rivalled the Kings according to some people, his servants as well were aloof, they did not tend to mix with other servants and were mainly male, there was also some nasty stories of what these servants got up too, that really interested Mol.

  If she could just set one of these servants up in a position where she could question him, Milli, that was the answer, what her friend didn't know wasn't worth knowing.

  "So, I've heard I should avoid some of Lord Werket's servants?".

  Milli had a furtive look to check they weren't overheard, "yes, all of them in fact, mentioning no names a few of my friends have left because of unwanted attention from them, they don't take no for an answer."

  Mol felt pure rage at that, even if Lord Werket and his staff were clean, they didn't have the right to do that. Some summary justice was called for.

  It needed careful planning, she was taking a big risk to secure the information, there was one particular servant a big hulking fellow named Josa, he really fancied himself a ladies man and was rumoured to like it rough, now to give him the opportunity to set himself up, a few preparations were needed first, modifying her dresses for one thing, making them accentuate certain features that would appeal to him.

  Her chance came when she saw him in a hallway and deliberately bumped into him,he was about to get angry but saw her well displayed cleavage and leered,she hurried on,smiling to herself.

  He cornered her the following evening as she was entering her room,a hand went round her mouth from behind and pushed her into the room.

  "Come on my pretty,lets have some fun", shoving her hard onto the bed.

  She flipped over quickly he was undoing his belt and wrapping it around his hand.

  "Looks like I'll have to teach you how to serve a man properly." As she sat up and he advanced her hands slipped around the hilts of both daggers and as he lifted his hand to strike she moved.

  He froze, "you're going to be a good boy aren't you?" Mol said, her face two inches from his.

  It wasn't the knife at his throat that made him stand stock still, but was the one against his groin, "yes!, please, I won't hurt you, I'll forget this ever happened."

  He blanched at the look on Mol's face,"no, I don't think so", she could feel the fear from him.

  "You are going to answer some questions, if not well, you haven't seen all my daggers can do."

  To drive home her point she removed the one from his neck and touched it to a wooden table next to her bed,she'd found recently she could make the blade burn anything she wished by conscious thought,besides it working in combat, the smell of burning wood made him look down. The fear radiating from him was palpable

  Fifteen minutes she let him go, but not before she'd delivered a dire warning to him.

  "If you say anything about this to anyone, you will both look silly at being beaten by a woman smaller than you, and the Bards will hear about it, they will not be as gentle as I have been."

  Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck she shoved him out of the door he stumbled and bolted as fast as his legs would carry him, Mol felt a glow of satisfaction mixed with a disgust of actually having to touch something so oily, she went to wash her hands before bed.

  Twenty Five

  Someone must have seen their approach Angee realised, for Sera, correction, the Mother Abbess was outside waiting for them.

  "I'm glad you're back safely, come straight to my office."

  By the time they'd dismounted the Mother Abbess had already gone to her office.

  "Who was that?" Stephanie enquired, stretching as she did so.

  "The Mother Abbess, the head of the Bards, you'd better stick with us."

  Groom's took their horses, and Stephanie followed the three Bards inside the temple, it was dark and eerie without any day light and the torches on the walls cast innumerable shadows giving the place a spooky feel, still for all that,it felt welcoming which Stephanie couldn't figure, how could something be spooky and welcoming at the same time?.

  The three Bards stopped and knocked on some doors, at the sound of a voice within they entered with Stephanie bring up the rear.

  The Mother Abbess sat behind a large desk, smiled when she saw them, and looked curiously at Stephanie.

  "This is Stephanie" Angee introduced, and proceeded to give a catalogue of events of the past few weeks.

  When she had finished the Mother Abbess sat thoughtful looking at all of them but mainly Stephanie.

  "Another puzzle to solve, well, you did the right thing bringing her here, it was the combat that resulted in her accidental arrival and we must see what we can do to send her home."

  Stephanie was relieved to hear that, she'd taken the last of her hormone tablets that morning and was rather worried about what would happen.

  "Thank you, you've all been so kind."

  The Mother Abbess's next words were like a bucket of cold water on her rekindled hopes.

  "It's nothing, it may take us a bit of time to work out how to do it, but we will do it eventually."

  Her world crashed about her, what was she going to do?.

  The stricken look on her face showed all too clearly, and Angee thought back to what she'd said about what she said about her tablet,yes that was the word, and how little she had left, "Bria,Allia, why don't you take Stephanie to get a drink while I talk with the Mother Abbess."

  Both Bards stood up and kindly escorted Stephanie out of the office.

  "I think I should explain a few things about Stephanie" Angee offered as she sat down again.

  A little later Angee left the Mother Abbess's office, they could think of no remedy to stop Stephanie's reversion back to her former gender, they didn't know of or had heard of any potions to maintain what the other world potions had already done.

  There was one thing she had not tried, but it would have to wait till the morning, for now,it would be a night of reassuring Stephanie, though what could reassure her she wasn't sure.

  The next morning Angee set off early to see Suse, she had not asked her if she had any ideas and as she'd helped so much already she felt she had to turn to her.

  Suse was waiting for her when she walked into the glade, she was sat with a welcoming smile, patting the log "sit down."

  Angee sat down, she didn't know why but this Bard was special too her.

  "It's nice to see you again." Suse didn't answer she waited for Angee to continue. "It's about the other world woman, Stephanie" she paused trying to frame her thoughts into coherent words, she hadn't realised until now the emotions stirred up by Stephanie concerning her own gender.

  "I know it wasn't my action that caused her to come here, but I do feel responsible for it."

  Suse sat there waiting,after Angee sat not saying anything else, "there is more yes?".

  Angee was looking at her hands in her lap, she suddenly felt very vulnerable, "yes" she said in a quiet voice.

  Suse put an arm around her, "take your time."

  Angee let out a shuddering breath, "All my life I knew things weren't right, I now know why, I was always a woman emotionally, just my physical body was wrong.

  The Goddess set things right, but I can still feel it. With Stephanie here, it brought back a lot of memories, and to think there are a lot more like her on her planet, I wish I could do something for them all."

  "There's your mistake, you aren't the Goddess, she is the only one who can do anything, and being from another world, I'm
not even sure she has any power to affect anything in or from that world, they must have their own God's surely?".

  Angee looked Suse in the eyes, "as far as I can tell their belief structure is very complex, they have countless religions both large and small, and the majority don't seem very kindly, not evil, just oppressive."

  Now it was Suse's turn to be quiet for a while, "I think your answers will come from elsewhere" she said cryptically.

  Angee walked back to the temple still non the wiser, she was approaching the last line of trees before the temple came into sight when she saw a child, somewhere around the age of ten, she looked gaunt and dishevelled, that wasn't the thing that shocked Angee, the child was glowing.

  "Help me!", the voice seemed to come from all around her, the child held out her arms to Angee imploringly, and vanished.

  Angee was in a state oh shock when she knocked on the Mother Abbess's office door, she entered, "I went to talk to Suse about Stephanie, she couldn't help. It's what happened coming back from seeing her I want to tell you about."

  The Mother Abbess hadn't heard anything like it, "obviously some sort of spirit, but a child?, most unusual."

  Angee wasn't sure what to do, yet another problem for her to handle, she'd expected adventure when she travelled with Sera but nothing as intense as this, oh well, she knew it would be part of the job to handle situations, and given the choice she'd rather have this than her old life.

  The Mother Abbess had an amused look on her face when Angee realised she was staring at her. "Sorry,guess I was miles away."

  Angee suddenly felt very tired and yawned. the Mother Abbess stood up, "go on now, go get something to eat, you will feel better."

  * * *

  Mol was waiting in Illia's apartment when Illia arrived back the next morning, she looked ostensibly as if she was cleaning but as soon as she saw Illia was alone she gave up the pretence. "I've had an interesting conversation with one of Lord Werket's bully boys, it seems he has a lot of dispatches both to send and receive I'm getting a sense something is really wrong with him."

  Illia was about to say something when there was a knock at the door, "enter", a servant stepped in timidly.

  "excuse me, the King requests your presence immediately" a brief flash of annoyance crossed Illia's face, "very well I will attend the king presently."

  The servant bowed again and made a hasty exit, turning to Mol she had a stressed look on her face, "I'm not suited to this" and before Mol could answer she was gone.

  Milli had told Mol she should get out into the city and take a look around, Mol for all she'd travelled so much of recent wasn't prepared for the proper look she got as she walked through the portcullis, the cold spring morning was virtually cloud free and the sun streaked through the streets the shops she could see a delight of foods and wares to tempt the passer by.

  She walked down the cobbled street, the smells and sounds assaulted her senses, people were busy buying their shopping and she smiled at the sound of the children who were pestering their mothers to buy them some candy.

  For all she was dressed in servants garb she was not without funds Illia had seen to that, "you may be undercover but you never know when you'll need coin of the realm."

  Mol had stopped at a shop which sold weaponry, she's been thinking a lot recently about her defence, the daggers were ample protection for close combat, but what if someone had a crossbow or something similar pointed at her?, that had caused a few sleepless nights.

  Entering the shop she found it deserted, she had noted the bell ring as the door opened, and a tall muscular old man came out from behind a curtain.

  Mol saw that he saw a servant and nothing else, he looked slightly annoyed and disinterested, so she looked over the weapons arranged on tables and shelves around the shop.

  Looking at the quality of the weapons and examining them she realised she had a knowledge of all of them, though where she got the knowledge she did not know, she could tell from the look,feel and sound of the metal when she tapped them together how good they were.

  Nothing caught her fancy as being what she would call a worthy weapon.

  She could see the man was looking at her differently now, and he came out from behind the counter as she was examining two wicked looking knives, " you have some knowledge over weapons, yes?" that was rhetorical and Mol didn't answer.

  "I'm looking for a pair of throwing knives in quick release arm sheathes."

  The man's face took on a scornful expression, "are they for your master?".

  Mol turned and gave him a steely look in the eye, "no."

  He took one step back under that ice cool gaze, "I don't sell weapons to people who cannot use them properly I have a reputation to maintain" he blustered.

  Again Mol said nothing and simply tossed a dagger from the table to him which he caught with all the care of holding a newborn baby, "try me."

  Mol had put down the dagger and was simply stood there, waiting.

  The man seemed undecided and she smiled, that must of angered him for he lunged at her.

  For all his expertise at making weapons he wasn't very skilled at using them and Mol sidestepped easily, she grabbed his hand as he went past and twisted it making him drop the dagger, before he knew what had happened she had scooped it up and had it at his throat.

  "You were saying?" a smug grin on her face.

  She heard the bell and before she could turn was grabbed from behind by two sets of hands.

  Someone pinned her arms behind her and she was shocked when a Bard walked past her. "Are you alright master smith?" he nodded,still slightly pale.

  The Bard turned and looked at her, what sort of servant goes around attacking honest merchants?.

  Now it was the smith's turn to have a smug grin on his face, Mol did not want to blow her cover but this could get very nasty.

  The Bard was slightly taller than Mol and her blonde curls hung over her shoulders, icy blue eyes stared directly at her, "I think we'll take you to the watch."

  Mol was roughly bundled out of the shop and down the street.

  She wasn't too scared they did not know who she was after all, but she could not afford questions from the town watch.

  "please, couldn't you take me to my Mistress I'm sure she'll punish me to your satisfaction better than any town watch could."

  They stopped, and the blonde Bard turned to her, "and who is your Mistress?", Mol smiled hopefully, "Bard Illia at the palace."

  They frog marched her back to the palace and got a few funny looks from the guards on duty but weren't hindered in any way.

  Mol lead them to Illia's apartment, they entered but no one was there so they sat down to wait.

  An hour later Illia walked in and was surprised to see the three of them sat there, "and what is the meaning of this?".

  Mol stood up relief on her face, my fault Illia, I got slightly carried away teaching an idiot a lesson and these two caught me in the middle of it."

  The blonde Bard stood up, "my name is Jaynne, I think a few explanations are due!".

  Mol sighed and flopped in a chair, "you'd better explain, they'd never believe me, that's why I waited."

  Illia looked annoyed, "so much for undercover."

  She also sat down and stretched, "Mol is a new type of Bard, a bronze one, her current job is to help find who murdered Xeexa."

  Jaynne seemed to take it in her stride, her partner just sat and said nothing.

  "Things are always changing" after a moments pause she queried Mol directly, "so what were you doing to that weapons smith?".

  Mol had a chagrined look on her face, " he was being rude and thought himself better than me because I am in servants garb, I decided to teach him a lesson. I didn't expect anyone to walk in on it."

  Jaynne persisted, "what were you there for though?, you need a weapon to defend yourself?".

  Mol pulled out her daggers, "these protect me in close combat, I was looking for some throwing knives in quick release sheaths
to combat an archer say."

  Jaynne stood up, "come back to the temple with us sister, we can accommodate you nicely."

  As they walked through the streets, Mol had trouble weighing these two Bards up, they'd accepted her without the usual histrionics which she'd had before, maybe she was beginning to fit in she mused.

  Twenty Six

  Angee sat on her bed pondering, this child she had seen really spooked her, it was obvious the child was in distress and her instincts called on her to help, but what could she do?, who was this child?, where was she?, her head started to throb with all the questions whirling around in there.

  A knock on her door shook her out of her musings, Allia popped her head around the door, "what are you doing sat in here on your own?".

  Angee smiled weakly, "trying to work out what i saw this morning."

  Allia gave her a look that spoke volumes, "you think you can solve every puzzle on your own?, come on sister,Bria is sat in the refectory waiting for us, after all three heads are better than one", and with a grin she left.

  Angee stood up and sighed, she'd spent so much of her life depending only on herself it was still a natural reaction to deal with things that way.

  They'd got her a drink and some pastries when she arrived and Angee had to smile.

  "You know how to make me happy, I've always had a sweet tooth", the last bit was said as she bit into a sweet fruit confection that melted on her tongue.

  While she sat and ate she explained the dilemma in detail as they only knew roughly what had happened.

  "So you see, she obviously needs help, but what to do about it?".

  Her two friends both looked thoughtful, Bria was first to speak. "There are too many unknowns, all I think we can do is keep an eye out for if she appears again."

  Angee didn't like her answer but she had to admit privately that she was probably right.

  A thought distracted her, "where is Stephanie?, I haven't seen her for the past two days."

  Allia sighed, "she's been staying in the room we gave her, she seems pretty depressed by the situation she is in, and quite frankly I cannot blame her."