Star of Sakova

by Richard S. Tuttle

  Kapla started fidgeting and the Monitors looked to their leader for guidance while he was looking at the Minister of Defense for instructions. Cherri did not give them time to think.

  She spun around to the Monitor holding StarWind and pointed at him. “Get your hands off my servant,” she screamed. “If you need to molest women, go down to the docks where the rest of the dirt resides.”

  The Monitor reflexively released his grip on StarWind, still holding his hands next to her arms. Kapla’s hands were shaking as he approached Cherri to try and soothe her. She spun away from his grasp and folded her arms around herself and pouted. Kapla turned to the lead Monitor with a shrug, but the leader was already walking towards the man holding StarWind. The two men conversed quietly and then the leader returned to the Minister of Defense and whispered something to him.

  Cherri fought down the fear that they might have already been discovered and continued her charade. “Get the Minister’s coat,” she ordered StarWind. “I wouldn’t want him to unintentionally leave it behind.”

  Minister Kapla stepped alongside Cherri and held up his hand to halt StarWind. “That will not be necessary,” he instructed. “The Monitors will be leaving without me. I am sorry, Cherri. I had no idea that you would be this upset. You should have said something to me.”

  The leader of the Monitors signaled his men and they gathered at the front door. He walked over to Cherri and stood before her. “I am sorry Cherri,” he apologized. “We take our job very seriously and we are searching for a very dangerous man. Perhaps our manners should take into account people that are above suspicion, but it has been a long day for my men and all I can do is apologize. I hope you will accept it.”

  He stood in front of Cherri waiting for an answer and Cherri forced tears to her eyes before looking up at him. “I guess I understand,” she sobbed, “but I felt so violated. It was like I had lost control of my very self, that I did not matter anymore and anyone could come in anytime they wanted.”

  “I understand,” consoled the lead Monitor. “I am sorry for interrupting your dinner.”

  He spun on his heels and led his men out the door. StarWind quietly closed it and locked it. Kapla put his hands on Cherri’s shoulders and she cringed at his touch.

  “I didn’t even think it would disturb you,” the Minister explained. “It is a very normal procedure. I just thought everyone would know to expect it. I will make it up to you somehow. Please do not be upset with me.

  “I have to clean my face,” sobbed Cherri as she pulled away from his hands and ran upstairs.

  StarWind glanced at the Minister and hastily followed Cherri up the stairs and into her bedroom. “That was close sweetie,” StarWind said. “You would not believe what saved you.”

  “I thought my performance saved me,” grinned Cherri.

  “Not really,” StarWind stated. “The Monitor holding me told the leader that we should leave you alone.”

  “Why?” questioned Cherri. “Monitors do not tell their leaders anything.”

  “He was one of the Monitors who escorted you and the Katana last night,” StarWind explained. “He told the leader that it was you who alerted the Katana to the threat from Master Malafar. To the leader, it made no sense that you would then be hiding the assassin. That is why he agreed to end the search.”

  “That fat slob could have ordered them out,” complained Cherri. “Instead we were saved by a weird quirk of fate. I will make him pay for that.”

  “If it is any consolation,” grinned StarWind, “I loved your performance. Still that was too close to disaster. We have to get out of here.”

  Cherri splashed water from the basin on her face and dried with a towel. “From what I am hearing so far,” she replied, “that is not going to be easy. Did you hear about Khadora and the armies surrounding the Sakova?”

  “Yes,” answered StarWind. “I will need to get another bird off tonight. You are not intending to let him spend the night I hope.”

  “Are you serious?” chuckled Cherri. “Never, never give them what they want. As soon as they are satisfied you are worthless to them. No, I will keep him on the hook until I have no further use for him and then I will pick a fight with him so that he is glad to leave.”

  StarWind shook her head and smiled. “I can see that you are not only good at what you do, but you love your work,” giggled StarWind.

  “Yes and I better get back to it,” she sighed. “That clova is excellent by the way. Where did you get the recipe?”

  “I didn’t,” laughed StarWind. “Fisher cooked it.”

  “Incredible,” she chuckled as she opened the bedroom door.

  She composed herself on the way down the stairs and quietly took her seat at the dinner table. “I am sorry Kapla,” she apologized. “I have not had a man order me around in my own home since Calix died. “I guess I just couldn’t handle it. The thought of some man going through my personal belongings really disturbed me. And that fool trying to break into my private garden didn’t help. No person other than myself has stepped foot in my garden since It was built. I did not even allow Calix or the servants in there. It is my personal sanctuary.”

  “I must confess that my actions tonight were callous,” admitted the Minister of Defense. “These searches are routine for someone in my position and I never thought how someone might react to them. I figured that people would be glad to know that we are performing our jobs. I will make sure that it does not happen again. I hope you can forgive my shortcoming in this matter, but it happened so quickly. What can I do to make it up to you?”

  “I will think of something,” Cherri smiled weakly. “Let’s finish dinner before it gets cold.”

  She signaled for Fisher and he brought the meat cart back out and sliced new hot portions for the Minister and Cherri and disappeared again. They ate in silence for some time before Kapla finally wiped his lips with the napkin and threw it on the table.

  “That was the finest meal that I have had in years,” he declared. “You have such a fine staff here that I look forward to more of these comforts in the future.” Cherri smiled slightly but didn’t respond and the shadow of a frown fell over the Minister’s face. “Were you really going to throw me out?” he asked.

  Cherri quietly put down her fork and pushed her plate to one side. “Yes,” she replied solemnly. “I expect my man to do whatever he can to make life easy and wonderful for me and I will do the same for him. Surely you must have known that I was getting tense at their intrusion? You should have used the power of your office to make them go away. Then I wouldn’t have had to get upset and spoil my dinner.”

  “But they are looking for the assassin of the Katana,” argued the Minister. “Surely you can understand that everyone must comply with the searches?”

  “I understand no such thing,” retorted Cherri. “I am not everyone. I am special and the rules do not apply to me. Don’t you think that I am special?”

  “Of course you are special,” agreed Kapla.

  “All of this is very distressing to me,” confided Cherri. “You asked before if there was something you could do for me to make up for tonight. I have thought of something.”

  “Just name it,” smiled the Minister of Defense.

  “I want to leave the city,” Cherri declared. “I think I will go sell my estate up north before the market drops up there.”

  “Impossible,” pleaded Kapla. “The city is sealed. Nobody can leave.”

  “I am not nobody,” smiled Cherri sweetly. “I will be taking four servants with me. The two you have already seen, my old tutor who is infirm and will have to be carried and my stable boy. Of course he doesn’t look much like a boy because he is huge, but that is what I call him.”

  “Cherri,” Kapla pleaded, “Alazar would have my head if I let anyone out of the city. It is my responsibility to make sure nobody gets out.”

  “Then make sure that he never learns of it,” demanded Cherri. “We will leave at night if that will mak
e it easier on you. Am I special or not?”

  Kapla fidgeted with his hands and Cherri rose and walked over to him and stood close to him. He turned his head and stared at her body, his eyes rising until they met her smiling face.

  “Be ready to leave in four hours,” he conceded. “I hope you will not be away long.”

  “I will be back before you know it,” grinned Cherri as she hugged the overweight Minister of Defense.

  Chapter 29

  Lord Marak

  It was the middle of the night when StarWind answered the gentle tapping at the door. She eased the door open to find Minister Kapla standing alone in the darkness with a black cape around his shoulders.

  “Is she ready?” the Minister of Defense asked.

  “Yes,” StarWind replied softly as she signaled to those behind her. “The stable boy will bring the horses around with the old tutor. Cherri is on her way right now.”

  Cherri pulled the door open and walked out with StarWind and Fisher right behind her. Gone were the pale blue servant uniforms and dark travelling clothes were in their place. Cherri wore a long animal fur robe over her travelling clothes.

  Kapla’s eyes widened when he saw Cherri. “Are you going to wear that expensive robe?” he asked. “The trail dirt will ruin it.”

  “It is only gold,” smiled Cherri. “You do want me to look the part of an important diplomat, don’t you?”

  “Well, yes,” responded the Minister, “but it is such a fine robe. Well, I am sure you know what you are doing. I hope you will take care of your business and hurry back soon.”

  “I will,” promised Cherri as she hugged the overweight Minister. “Here come the others now.”

  Goral appeared around the corner of the building leading five horses, one of which had a litter attached. Kapla’s jaw dropped open as he stared at the giant leading the horses.

  “That is your stable boy,” he sputtered.

  “Yes,” chuckled Cherri softly. “I told you he was huge, but he has the mind of a child, poor thing. Don’t let him notice that you think he is tall. He is very self-conscious and may start to cry. I’m afraid the other children gave him such a terrible time when he was younger. We just treat him like a little boy and he is happy.”

  Minister Kapla shook his head without comment and leaned to see who was in the litter. An old bear of a woman lay sleeping in the litter with a basket of sewing items next to her. She had a large gaudy necklace, which lay between her obviously uneven breasts and the stable boy swiftly covered her with a blanket and tucked it all around her.

  “A good idea,” commended Cherri. “I wouldn’t want her to catch a cold in this night air. It may be fair to us, but she chills easily. I think we are ready to go, Minister. Lead the way.”

  Kapla shook his head and turned to the rest of the party. “Okay,” he instructed, “I have papers identifying you, Cherri, as an important envoy to Khadora. If anyone asks what your mission is, just be vague and say that it is none of their business. If they need to know they can ask me, and only me, directly. That is pretty much what the papers say, so don’t stray from that line.” After a short moment he shook his head again. “I am afraid your travelling companions do not look much like an official escort, but the papers ought to hold. Try to avoid everyone you can. The less questions asked, the less risk for all of us. Only two people here in Okata know that this is happening and they are the men I had posted at the closest gate, so let’s move quickly.”

  The Minister of Defense led the small procession through the dark city streets with Cherri at his side holding his hand. As they approached the gate, he signaled to the two guards and they swung the gates open for him. He gave Cherri a kiss good bye and then went to distract the guards so they would not see who was in the party, more out of embarrassment than a need for security as these two men were extremely loyal to him.

  Cherri led the group along until they were outside the city gates and she waited while the gates were closed. Upon her signal, everyone mounted and Goral held the reins to the horse with the litter. Without a word, the small group moved down the road and out of sight.

  ***

  “Why do you suppose he picked this spot on the coast to come ashore?” asked MistyTrail as she sat near the rim of the tall cliff looking out over the vast expanse of the sea. “I wouldn’t want to have to climb this cliff if I didn’t have to.”

  “He didn’t pick it,” HawkShadow explained as he threw a small rock over the edge of the cliff. “StarWind chose it so that whoever met him would be safe. Nobody is going to make it up here to the top if we don’t want them to.”

  “Sounds like StarWind didn’t trust this lord either,” snipped StormSong.

  “StarWind trusts Sakovans,” responded HawkShadow. “It is not that she mistrusts this Marak, but she is right in taking every precaution where the Star’s life is concerned.”

  “I don’t think he will even show,” added StormSong. “We haven’t seen a decent ship anywhere near land all day. They all travel well offshore in this area.”

  “That is another reason that I think StarWind chose this spot,” stated HawkShadow. “The less people who know about this meeting the better.”

  “What about that boat?” chirped MistyTrail. “It has been hugging the coast and it is getting closer to us.”

  “That is an old fishing scow,” answered StormSong as she shook her head. “No lord would ride for hundreds of leagues in something like that. The stink of dead fish would permeate his clothing for days.”

  The three Sakovans lapsed into silence for a time. HawkShadow sat throwing small pebbles over the cliff and watching them fall far below. StormSong sat leaning against a tree while she sharpened her blade and MistyTrail sat cross-legged, fiddling with the tall strands of grass. Through each of their minds paraded the thoughts of the strange events that were happening, or soon to happen, to disrupt the normalcy of Sakovan life.

  “I am not so sure,” HawkShadow suddenly said. “The people on that fishing boat appear to be looking at the coast and they aren’t doing any fishing that I can see. I’ll bet they have been hugging the coast because they are not familiar with this area.”

  “That’s what I think too,” grinned MistyTrail. “An old fishing boat is perfect cover. We didn’t even think it would be him so nobody else will either.”

  StormSong sheathed her sword and crawled to the edge to watch the boat. “Maybe,” she conceded, “but if it is, I am sleeping on the other side of the camp from him.”

  MistyTrail watched the boat carefully. It was an old vessel with a small cabin and a single mast, its sail fluttering slightly in the light breeze. One man handled the tiller while two others sat watching the coastline as they mended nets. One of the men mending the net suddenly stood and pointed. The man at the tiller nodded his head and turned the vessel towards the cove, the sails luffing slightly as he did so.

  “They are turning in,” MistyTrail said excitedly. “It must be them.”

  “Perhaps,” cautioned HawkShadow as he watched the progress of the ship.

  The fishing boat continued and ran up on the beach. The two forward men jumped off and set an anchor in the sand as three new men appeared from the cabin. The men were dressed entirely in black, but HawkShadow’s eyes went to the tall blond man with the black cape.

  “Pretty young to be a lord,” he said softly.

  “They are probably just the guards,” surmised StormSong.

  “No,” contradicted MistyTrail shaking her head vigorously. “See how the others defer to him. The one with the cape is obviously the leader.”

  “There are supposed to be only three of them,” added HawkShadow. “I think MistyTrail is right this time.”

  The tall young man with the cape leaped to the sand and shouted something to the man on the boat as his two black-clad companions jumped down beside him. The fishermen picked up the anchor and boarded the boat as they pushed it off the sand. Within a few moments, the ship was setting a course back
to sea, leaving the three black-clad men stranded on the shore.

  “Pretty lax with their security,” frowned StormSong. “His guards did not even take a defensive stand around him when he got off the boat and he dismissed the vessel before finding out if anyone was here to meet him.”

  “I suppose that they are who we are waiting for,” HawkShadow stated as he retrieved a long rope from his choka. “At least we will find out when they climb the rope.”

  StormSong rose and took an end of the rope and secured it to a tree as HawkShadow coiled it so it would not snag when he threw it over the edge.

  “They disappeared,” called MistyTrail from her perch at the rim of the cliff. “I can’t see them anymore.”

  StormSong and HawkShadow exchanged puzzled glances before they both dropped the rope and scrambled to the edge of the cliff.

  “They are probably so close to the cliff wall that we cannot see them,” guessed HawkShadow.

  “Careful,” cautioned StormSong, “the assassins were dark-clad as well and there are still twenty of them unaccounted for.”

  “They can’t attack us any more than we can attack them now,” frowned HawkShadow. “It appears that they are not as lax on security as we thought.”

  The song of a bowstring being released startled HawkShadow and he immediately flattened his body to the ground and pushed MistyTrail’s head back from the edge. He caught the sight of an arrow flying past him on its way skyward and scrambled back away from the edge. The arrow fell back out of the sky and thudded harmlessly to the ground some distance away. He glanced at it curiously and saw that it had no point on it, so he crawled over to it. Wrapped around the arrow, secured with a piece of thread, was a small slip of paper. He broke the thread and pulled the paper free of the arrow.

  “It is Marak down there,” he declared as he read the note. “He wants to know the name of the person who met with his man in Okata.”