Earth Gate (Wine of the Gods Book 17)

by Pam Uphoff

  Dominic frowned. "Rich?"

  "Well, my dad's rich."

  "He's the 'Wolf' in the Wolf Company, and don't be modest, Xen. You've accumulated quite a lot of money in your own name. Janic's checked you out in detail, and I saw that particular report as part of the investigation." Staven grinned. "Dare I say something nasty about presents from your Daddy?"

  Xen snickered. "If you want to. I've spent a lot of time in the New Lands as a teenager, so I've mined for gold. Good exercise, sensing densities. I'd have to dig through my records to figure out how much I earned and how much Dad dumped in there."

  "But you didn't tell that realtor you wanted to buy it." Fuchsia eyed him.

  "I didn't want to goad the lady into signing a contract on the spot. Hopefully I can beat her to it, tomorrow morning."

  Garit grinned. "And when you do that magic building thing, I want to watch."

  Staven raised his eyebrows. "Magic building?"

  ***

  The realtor's eyes hadn't bugged out too far at the sight of the letter of credit from the Bank of the West. And had only gulped a little when he realized he was dealing with one of the people who had been considered both as a royal heir . . . and a suspect in the assassination of Prince Rebo.

  But he'd been quite happy to sell the lot out from under his other clients. Especially since Xen hadn't bargained the price down at all.

  "Why not make a lower offer?" The little man had been curious.

  "Because of my weird position with regard to the royal family. I do not want to give the impression of having received favored treatment, or money in the guise of below market value property."

  "Oh." The man looked a bit appalled, but filled everything out, with much signing, witnessing and writing of checks. The fat package was sent off with a messenger.

  By which time Janic had thought out where he needed more magical staff.

  "Lefty's got the Earthers under observation, and Fuchsia's an excellent fit for the One World. Lieutenant March is pretty much the whole of the hunt for those witches associated with the assassination.

  "Half of Intel is still working on the Oner data. The other half is cycling through Fascia, picking up intel, then coming back to try and figure out what they are up to.

  "As for you, Lefty says he needs wizards for some serious close in snooping. You're the best we have, for sneaking around invisibly. So right now, I want you out there. But if March finds a solid lead on the four witches, I'll probably send you out to the New Lands."

  Xen nodded. "Yes, sir. Anything in particular you are looking for?"

  "Invasion dates, if they ever have one. Right now? Study them. Interesting internal dynamics, down there. The new soldiers think the old ones have gone native—hardly surprising after twenty years. A lot of them have grown children, some of whom were serving with the old group.

  "These new officers are dismissive of the natives and half natives. And they disallowed the field promotions Orobona gave out to his people."

  "Have they reinstated any of them?"

  "No. And that's not going down very well. Sounds like they are creating a fertile field for sowing discontent. I don't think we ought to ignore all their hard work."

  Xen grinned. "I shall toss a few seeds of discord as the opportunity presents."

  "Can't hurt, but check in with Lefty first. He's down there right now." Janic waved him out with a minimal return of salute.

  Janic's pretty mellow. Has he come to terms with his daughter being a witch? Or maybe he likes all the desk work involved with being head of the King's Own. Or perhaps only having to answer to Rufi and the king. Whatever the cause, I think I'll enjoy it while it lasts. His sons must be thirteen and ten and, well, teenage boys . . .

  The temporary camp he'd left less than three months ago had grown into an extensive permanent encampment. A dozen people moving about. The cliff face was honeycombed with rooms and ledges, stairs . . . Q writing something in a notebook, sitting beside an outdoor stone and steel army sized kitchen setup and no doubt also responsible for the pots giving off delicious odors.

  "Hey you look good." She grinned. "Do you like what we've done to your camp? Pyrite's going to be hard put to find a place to relax, the humans have taken over. And the dogs." She nodded behind him.

  "It's not my camp. It's Lefty's." He turned in time to get flattened by Pig and Barracuda. He held off slobbering tongues. "Only two of them?"

  "Shark and Piranha have adopted the camp guards as their mascots and allow them to help with their patrols."

  "The pups adopted them?"

  "Yep. And they're damn good at patrolling too."

  She closed her notebook. "I've been hanging around in case of emergencies. Now that you’re here, I'm going to head home and see what those people are doing to all our intel. Maybe even make the Summer Solstice ceremony."

  He climbed to his feet in time to salute Colonel Lebonift. "Wizard reporting for duty, sir."

  "Good. I've been wishing for another Q, but you'll do. Let me show you what we're up to." He grinned. "I think we need to run another corridor all the way into town. I checked the house the God of Peace used, when he lived there, and it is still empty. We can put the end of the corridor there, and be an easy walk from the palace."

  "Pax, eh? I wonder what happened to them, on Earth?"

  "Well, I can tell you part of it, but even the Earthers don't know the end . . . "

  Chapter Sixteen

  Late Spring 1395

  King's Own Headquarters, Karista

  "So with Fuchsia on the One World, we're pretty much down to eight people with any magic at all."

  Xen grinned. "And neither Dominic nor Jeff have enough training to do anything fancy."

  "And Yellow." Lefty shook his head. "She's so good at some things, and so utterly unsuited for this . . . type of spying."

  "And eventually we'll have to put up with Fuchsia again." Easterly shrugged. "What we need is a witch who is more powerful than Fuchsia and who outranks her both militarily and in t'Pyramid. Since there aren't any such in the military, you are completely screwed."

  Lefty eyed him. "But you know, Q has a college degree, we could bring her in as an officer." He snickered at Xen's horrified expression. "Speaking of which, how's college coming along?"

  "Well, if I'm not needed in Fascia, I suppose I could start classes again, but being back on duty it's going to be awkward, so really I should . . . Oh stop looking at me like that. Even if all I do is occasionally go swat some hot spot, I'm going to miss classes."

  Deena snorted. "The rest of us got some interesting credit for the classes we took on the One World. And while you ought to have a bachelor's degree in infiltration, and a Master's in Blowing Your Cover, nothing you did counts."

  "Don't forget my PhD in Social Sabotage. My thesis on Seducing the Enemy is considered the seminal work on the subject." Xen shrugged. "Thanks to Lady Gisele, I tested out of all the basic biology and chemistry classes. And I did squeeze in two quarters before we all ran off to spy on the Empire. I wish they had classes in genetics though."

  "And genetic engineering?" Deena crossed her arms. "Aren't you supposed to be taking history, law, civics, and politics?"

  "Umm, the king told Staven that was what he was going to take. I managed to agree to go to University without committing to a subject. And Garit managed to duck out altogether."

  "Garit needs time with the troops. Staven needs to learn to be a king."

  "Oh, I dunno, I think he'll make a pretty good cop. The street level experience will give him a much needed perspective, in thirty or forty years. Much better than turning him into a bureaucrat right from the start."

  Lefty cleared his throat. "While you'll be a good biologist? Actually I've expanded the list of things people keep telling me would be so handy, if only I'd get some of my people to invent them. I'll make a copy, that can be your regular assignment. However, right now my problem is getting three Halfmoon witches to cooperate. Deena, do you ha
ve any ideas on that?"

  "Beat the snot out of Fuchsia when she comes back? No? Well, I need to go find out about how to get magic lessons that don't involve years of lolling around naked in the hotsprings, and just perhaps I'll pick up some gossip on how Fuchsia managed to advance at fifteen years of age." Deena grinned.

  "Don't get too catty. She's the strongest witch we've got."

  "I'll twist Q's arm some more." Deena grinned.

  Deena found Quicksilver out on the hills with three kids and half a dozen foals. "All very easy births, thank goodness. The mares are all looking good. Spooky had a Pyrite foal, another colt. That should be it for the year. I've suggested to Dun that he might have more fun if his mares didn't get pregnant right away."

  Deena snickered. "Don't tell me, let me guess. You taught him the haploid spell. You and Xen are too damn funny." Kinkajou wiggled and she sat her down on the short cropped grass. She immediately wanted to be picked up again. Deena sometimes wondered if she ought to have left the girl bubbled for . . . some indeterminate length of time. Two years old by the calendar, just seven months old on her own time scale. I never expected to love her. It feels so strange, this desire to hug and hold and protect her. To play inane games and laugh at her expressions. And Old Gods, Ricardo's daughter is strikingly beautiful! I feel so guilty sticking her back in the bubble when I'm on duty. Or having dinner with friends. Or busy. Or just in need of a good night's sleep. Poor kid is going to grow up at half speed. Or less.

  Q's batch . . . In theory, her Aunt Obsidian had adopted the younger two, but Q seemed to grab them whenever she was around. Wavelength was the baby Teri had abandoned when she ran off with Ricardo and Jade three years ago. Mars was four, the younger son of the Oner spy Hoon. Hoon's older child, Xen's son Rufi, must be about six. He lived here at the Tavern, with his informally adopted father, Kipp Hasty. And obviously spent a lot of time with his aunt. I wonder how often Xen comes to spend time with him? Not that it matters to me . . . other than being nice to see some sense of responsibility toward his children in a co-worker, a man I occasionally depend on. And sometimes even like.

  "Recognizing the existence of smart horses is not funny. Funny was watching the Council guards trying to catch their mares when the smart horses were trying to keep them. Well, they guards did finally succeed, when the mare headed for the barn before the first winter storm. Dun and Pyrite couldn't keep the mare out in the storm, when they all wanted their nice warm stalls and some oats. That was just before we left for One World."

  Deena snickered. "I've heard all about it from the troops. The Old Dun and Pyrite stealing all their parade horses was the only humor in the whole disgraceful affair. Twelve mares. And all pregnant by the time they'd chased them all over these hills, threatening to kill the Old Dun and Pyrite the whole time. They weaned the foals terribly early and sold them at auction just to get rid of them. Word leaked and half the King's Own went down there to bid on them. Rufi laughed and fenced off a section of Fort Karista for them. Good looking batch of yearlings."

  "And you weren't here join in the fun. I think you need a horse, Deena. How about Hornet?"

  "Yeah, right. I don't think I need a stallion with 'Warhorse' written all over him. What I want is salacious and slanderous gossip about Fuchsia. How'd she make Half Moon so fast?"

  "Ah. C'mon." Quicksilver led her down to the Tavern and through the front Corridor to Ash. "This is where to go for gossip."

  Wavelength danced around excitedly. "I want to fly to Never's house." She peeled out of her shift and Deena felt Quicksilver trigger a spell.

  "Ouch, ouch, ouch." Wavelength hopped in circles as her muscles and bones rearranged themselves and she turned into a bright red dragon with gold tiger stripes. "Bye!" She jumped into the air and flapped away.

  Mars stomped his feet. "No fair! I want to fly!"

  Q just shook her head. "Sorry kid! You are not a dragon."

  Rufi laughed. "C'mon, race you to the winery!"

  After a long moment Deena sighed. "I have got to stop thinking Xen is kidding me when he says things like, 'Wavelength is a dragon' however obviously absurd they are."

  Quicksilver chuckled. "Teri and Jade were apparently experimenting with genetic engineering. On their own babies. And for better or worse Obsidian and I really do need to remember that Wavelength is not just like other children."

  "Yes, but, flying away . . ."

  "My main challenge is to keep clothes on her. I changed her back and forth regularly when she was a baby, so she could develop control of the wings and tail, then stopped when she hit that awkward period of high mobility and zero caution. And, of course, I was gone for a year. I started again a few months ago, and eventually she'll be able to control the changes herself. I really don't know what she'll do, then. Jade's son, Zodiac is the same, but his grandmother isn't about to let him change." Quicksilver led the way down the road. "I babysat him occasionally when he was really little, and changed him. I think that's what got me labeled a bad influence."

  "Good grief." Deena juggled Kinkajou, who apparently wanted to get down and crawl after the boys. "I thought Obsidian adopted them. And how'd you wind up with Rufi too? Has Obsidian added him to her collection?"

  "Not officially, but she seems to be spending an awful lot of time with Kipp."

  "Oh my. Is your family about to affront the witches again?"

  "I doubt she'll go so far as to actually get married. Although anyone crazy enough to adopt five kids under five . . . "

  "Five? Where'd she find three more . . . Old Gods, do you mean the three babies we found in that cathouse in the divide? Are they witches?"

  "Nimbus and Dusk are. Two more of Ricardo's babies. Toby is one of the Auralian Whore's kids, Skori's second child. His father is a Oner, so he doesn't have a power gene. Mother said they would do best raised by people with magical abilities. And Obsidian jumped right in."

  "They're what, three years old now? The woman must be insane. And very glad of a niece who'd take a couple of them for days at a time."

  "We bubbled them, until we decided what to do with—or to—their mothers. So actually they're just about a month old. I'm helping with the older kids while Obsidian gets acquainted with the little ones. I think she ought to have brought them out one at a time, but she couldn't bear the thought of babies so neglected." Q scowled. "I need to advance. How hard can it be to seduce someone? Look at the three biomothers, to borrow a Oner term."

  "Don't imitate them. I mean, they gave birth and just a few weeks later they were off to an orgy? Ouch! What about the, umm, Hors' older children, the ones Rufi's age? I know Dominic has his little girl."

  "Lord Baylor's mother took in her granddaughter, said he'd done enough damage to the family already, the child wasn't going to grow up in a private brothel." Q grinned. "Yes, she said that in public, loudly. Yellow told me all about it. Let's see, since you're collecting gossip . . . the Gannis family is trying to repudiate Lester's little boy. He's managed to show enough gumption to stand by the kid, so far. Phillip and Onray both got married, and their wives have taken on the raising of the kids. Phillip was apparently unaware that Skori was pregnant again, and since he's not the father, we didn't tell him. Talk about oblivious . . . "

  "And immoral. I'd say something sarcastic about men, but . . . " Deena looked at her beautiful little girl. Shrugged.

  "Oh, you're just being a proper witch." Q sighed. "I need to figure out how to stop intimidating men, and advance."

  They crested the low saddle that hid the winery from view, and sheltered the grape vines from the coldest weather. There was a swarm of small bodies running through the trees in front of the winery, and three women sitting and watching them. Rustle and her sister Obsidian. A witch Deena hadn't met; brown hair, thirtyish, with a toddler asleep in her lap.

  "Hey, Mom. You know Fuchsia's in the Army, right? How'd she advance so early? Centauri's seven already. She makes me feel like a slacker, wandering through life without a plan."


  "Fuchsia? She was always like that. Ambitious." Rustle said. "Some people said I was the same way, but I really don't think so." She smiled over at her daughter. "Now some girls are boy crazy and advance much too early—but Fuchsia . . . I don't think Fuchsia was tempted by her hormones. I think she just decided she wanted to advance and get ahead of the other girls in her group—Emerald who hadn't even grasped power, Indigo and Jade. With a baby, she could be right up there, with or ahead of the twenty-two year old group."

  Obsidian snorted. "She's twelve years younger than me, and just loves to rub in her advancement. She looked over the children that were around, chatted with their mothers about who the father was, and went off and tracked this fellow down who had some powerful, early bloomers . . . do you know him? It was that Deni fellow that is Flare, Orion and Yellow's father. Hmph. That man does get around. Anyhow, Fuchsia borrowed a horse and went 'camping' and came back smug as can be, announcing that she was going to advance. Since she was still fourteen, her mother and Answer were both furious. And poor Centauri, she gets pushed and pushed to do anything magical. Fuchsia just isn't good at waiting."

  Quicksilver sniffed. "Centauri's only seven. For most girls it's usually thirteen to sixteen, with a bunch of the strongest ones seventeen or eighteen. I didn't grasp power until I was . . . five? Seven? Something like that. Closer to normal than Xen. Fuchsia must be hoping Centauri's just as early."

  Deena frowned. "I don't really remember grasping power for the first time. I wasn't trained, and fantasizing about magic was frowned upon."

  "Suppressed it. Or at any rate the more obvious physical manifestations of power gathering." Rustle smiled. "I'll bet you were fending off men from your early-teens on. You've a solid glow."

  "Ugg. Yes. Complete strangers would proposition me on the street. I couldn't think what I was doing wrong, and I got really tough and mean to compensate."

  "I guess I got control early." Quicksilver frowned. "I mostly noticed the men panting after the other witches."