by Guy Antibes
She stopped her work when she heard a knock on her door.
“The Queen requests an audience, Number Five.”
Number Five. They didn’t even call her by her name. Kulara had told her to expect that. “She may enter.” Valanna said, her chest still heaving from her exertion. She wiped her face with the damp towel that she now had at hand during her exertions.
“What are you doing, Valanna?” Herla said as she entered, waving her hand in front of her. She motioned the two guards, now familiar faces, to check for listeners. They did their jobs, while the pair of them talked.
“Exercise. Since I am still restricted to my rooms, I don’t want to waste away.”
Herla smiled. “Like the rest of us?” The Queen definitely didn’t look like she had lost any weight.
Valanna wiped her face to hide her blush. “I’m used to a more active life and want to maintain my fitness. I am sorry if I offended you. I’ve found that if I make up dances that incorporate the use of my body and muscles, my exertions become more fun.”
“Fun,” Herla giggled, something that Valanna hadn’t expected of the Queen. “That’s a word I haven’t heard in quite awhile. Would you show me?”
“I am sure any performance I might present wouldn’t be pleasing.”
Herla narrowed her eyes. “Please perform for the Queen.”
Since she put her request to her that formally, Valanna didn’t think she could refuse.
“I am a magician as you know—”
“As am I,” Herla said. “I was going to be a water-woman just before I caught Marom’s eye.”
Valanna hoped she didn’t show surprise. “Kulara—”
“Asem found Kulara after she had become one, I understand.”
Valanna nodded. “I decided to link poses together with movements. I’m sure they aren’t very artistic.”
“They don’t have to be.” The guards stood together and nodded to the Queen, who pointed towards the door. They left the two women alone.
“They are gone,” Valanna said with relief.
“Obviously,” Herla said drily. “I really do want to see your dance.”
After taking a deep breath, Valanna launched into her movements, thinking of common poses. She ended with the water-woman’s pose.
Herla sat back and clapped her hands. “Kulara taught you that last one?”
Valanna relaxed. She wiped her face again. “She did in the Arid Lands. She wanted to show me that the Arid Lands isn’t a desert.”
After a shrug, Herla said, “I think of it as a desert. Kulara has the true spirit of a Ferezan in her. I must admit that I never did. I’ve always been more comfortable in Balbaam than in a village.” She rose and faced Valanna. “I’m not very powerful, but why don’t I come here on a regular basis and we can dance together. This old body needs to be more flexible, don’t you think?”
“I wouldn’t mind a partner, but I have a purpose to my dancing.”
Herla put her hands on Valanna’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “You need a purpose, I think. Depression has surrounded you ever since you arrived among us. There are wives that enjoy your pain, but I am not one of them. Let us practice together. I imagine I don’t know many more than ten poses. I’ve forgotten precisely how many, it’s been that long.”
Valanna couldn’t hold back a smile. “I would be honored for you to join me.”
~~~
Chapter Six
~
Trak could see Lenis standing with Tembul, who had provided the wind power for their flyer. Trak continued to follow behind. He had Derit stand in a pose, but he was the one who guided the flyer with poseless magic. He didn’t need to have anyone tell him how to head, since he could face forward and control steer the wind with his mind. After two hours, they had reached Kizru and flew over the city. Lenis ordered Tembul to stop, and then the flyer lowered to a large garden.
Trak didn’t want to wait to catch up and teleported his flyer to the garden. He waited with folded arms as the Toryans descended.
“This is your father’s house?” Trak asked.
Lenis ignored him, but Tembul nodded. He looked ashamed, and that somewhat mollified the anger that Trak felt. He hadn’t expected betrayal on the part of his friend.
Trak looked up at the four-story house. Touches of the melted sand look of the Kizru palace could be seen around the casements of the windows and doors. The garden itself looked a bit strange to Trak, but then he had no feel for what might be in style among the Toryan nobility.
“Trak, come here,” Princess Pullia said. She pointed down to the ground.
Trak suspected she wanted him to stand in the exact spot she designated. He wouldn’t do such a thing, since he didn’t feel the least bit of desire to demonstrate fealty to Lia.
“Thank you for all you’ve done, Lenis,” Trak said. He walked up to Lia and took her arm. “Please take her things to the palace, Lord Lenis.”
Trak teleported her to the changing room he had used the previous day and then teleported into King Basiul’s study.
The king toiled on paperwork by himself in the room and looked up with surprise. “Trak Bluntwithe, how did you get in here?”
Trak shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I present Princess Pullia of Western Torya. Princess, this is King Basiul, the monarch of Eastern Torya. I thought it would be a good idea for the both of you to meet informally before Lenis takes all the credit for your return.”
“Lenis?” the king said.
Lia looked at Trak and nodded her head to the king. “King Basiul, regardless of what anyone might tell you, Trak arranged my release from the Benninese government. By his actions alone was I taken from Beniko to Kizru. Lord Lenis was not involved. As a matter of fact, Trak had put him to sleep for much of our journey to Torya. I sanctioned his actions.” She looked sideways at Trak and continued.
“Lord Lenis betrayed Trak and his companions, which led to their captivity. I would still live in the Emperor’s palace if Trak hadn’t saved me. Indeed, he saved Bennin from a Vashtan-influenced takeover.”
Basiul narrowed his eyes and peered at Trak. “I suppose she is under a spell?”
“I worry that you are, Your Majesty,” Trak said, intoning the worry spell. He didn’t think he needed to say anything now, but it seemed to be a fair way of doing things.
The king closed his eyes and his head hit the pile of papers, scattering many to the floor. Lia put her hand to her mouth.
“More Vashtan interference?” she said.
“There are more than enough factions in Basiul’s government to do this. They just need to know the right spell. Imagine ensorcelling the king,” Trak said, shaking his head
They both stood until the king stirred from his imposed slumber. “What happened?” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Did you—?”
“No, he didn’t put a spell on you, King Basiul. Someone else has,” Lia said.
The king looked surprised at the mess he had made of his paperwork and began to put some order to his desk while he talked. “Namiul and his son Lenis arranged for my ensorcellment yesterday, as far as I can remember,” Basiul said. “Last night they had me sign an order assigning custody of Neel Fidelia and Able Bluntwithe to him.” He shook his head and ground his teeth. “I’ll rescind that immediately.”
“They were taken in the middle of the night while I slept in the house. No one knew I was there. I sneaked in so my fathers wouldn’t be awakened,” Trak said.
King Basiul scribbled on a parchment that he slipped out of a drawer of his desk. “This countermands my previous order.” He gave the document to Trak and then walked over to a tapestry ribbon next to the wall and pulled. “I will have a servant show you to rooms, Princess Pullia. You may take your evening meal alone, if that is acceptable. Tomorrow morning I will assign two ladies-in-waiting.”
Lia raised her chin and sniffed aristocratically. “It will. Thank you for hearing out Master Bluntwithe. I emphasize that I have no relationship
with Lord Lenis, nor do I desire one.” She looked over at Trak for some reason he didn’t fathom. “Don’t believe what Lenis says, Your Majesty.”
“Not now,” King Basiul said. “We have ways to detect ensorcellment, and I’ll subject myself to that on a daily basis from here on out.”
Trak bowed. “A wise decision.”
The king looked angrily at Trak. “I’ll not have a Pestlan judging me.”
“Of course,” Trak said, mentally clamping his mouth shut. Just because the king had been freed of a spell didn’t change his basic nature, and Trak was certain that Basiul wasn’t a friend.
The servant came, and Trak walked with Lia to her rooms. “You’ll be treated here in a manner more befitting your station.”
The princess squinted her eyes and nodded. “You may go now.” She flitted her hand indicating that Trak was no longer needed.
As soon as Trak reached an empty corridor, he teleported to Lenis’s garden. Everyone was still there except for Lenis.
“I have just come from King Basiul—”
“How could you just drop in?” Tembul said, but then he colored and stood silent for a moment. “I suppose you delivered Princess Pullia?”
“I did, and without any interference from Lord Namiul. I’ve never been formally introduced to Lenis’s father, but I have an order from Basiul,” Trak said, handing over the order.
“Why did Lord Namiul take your fathers into his own custody?”
“For the same reason King Basiul did. He wants to control me. Someone in his faction ensorcelled King Basiul and had him write the order that this countermands.”
Tembul looked at Trak with a serious look. “Toryans have rarely employed such spells up to now,” he said. “I hate to see them being used, since in my view, compulsion demeans the honor of Torya.”
“Will you help me serve this?” Trak saw armed men coming from the house, led by an armed Lenis and an older man with a familiar face. Trak had already had a run-in with Lord Namiul. Trak walked over to his things, still bundled up in the flyer that the Toryans had used, and pulled out his sword and knife. A show of weapons might slow the others up. Both Lenis and his father would know of Trak’s expertise wielding a sword.
“What have you done with the princess?” Namiul said rather indignantly Trak thought.
“She is in the palace, under the protection of King Basiul, who I recently freed from a spell that someone used to influence the affairs of Torya,” Trak said. He put out his hand for the document that Tembul now held.
“I have come to retrieve Neel Fidelia and Able Bluntwithe. I won’t leave without them.” He held up the document and let Lenis and Lord Namiul read it, but Trak did not let them touch it.
Namiul sneered, and Lenis became visibly angry.
“Princess Pullia and I have already explained Lenis’s true involvement in her rescue to the king,” Trak said.
“You—” Lenis ran towards Trak, who whipped out his sword before Lenis could get his half out of the scabbard.
“On your knees, Lenis,” Trak said, pressing the point of his sword into Lenis’s cloak.
The Toryan had no choice but to get down.
“I will release your son when my fathers are escorted here.” Trak created a shield around the two of them and called out to the others in his group. “Shields everybody. Lord Namiul is not to be trusted.”
An arrow flew and skipped off of Trak’s shield, while the others assumed poses. “See, Lord Namiul? We are not without defenses. Do you want to see some of your son’s blood on my sword? Quickly.”
Lenis’s father ordered two guards back into the house while he fumed, with hands clenched, swearing at Trak.
“Lenis knows a few Benninese curses. After we are gone, I am sure he would be happy to share them with you. He didn’t pick up the language very well, but then he didn’t have to since our guide betrayed the rest of us and became his personal interpreter. Isn’t that right Lenis?”
The Toryan lordling nodded, eyes still focused on Trak’s sword. The pressure of the blade against his chest hadn’t lessened.
Finally, Able and Neel staggered out of the house, their hands bound. Their faces were swollen from the beatings Namiul had ordered, and they walked as if they were covered in bruises.
“On the flyers,” Trak said. He escorted them, dragging Lenis, and waited until the others had boarded as well. They went up thirty stories into the air. Trak teleported Lenis back down to his father and flew one to Able’s house followed by Tembul. They landed, and Trak showed the king’s order to Watul.
“Leave,” Trak said.
Watul nodded his head. “That’s the king’s order, all right.” He looked at the rest of the gathered guards. “I think that you should all return to Lord Namiul’s house for new orders.”
A few of the men wanted to inspect the order, but eventually all left.
“I’m going to leave you here,” Tembul said. “It appears you can take care of yourself. I’ll make sure Princess Pullia gets her belongings. Sirul can use the palace barracks, and we’ll find out what to do with Hana. You can have both of the flyers. Sirul said he would love to make a new and improved model, anyway.” He pulled Trak aside. “Get your fathers, Mori, and the Vashtans out of here as soon as you can, or Lord Namiul will find a way to get rid of them. For the princess’s sake, I suggest that you stay for a while.”
Trak didn’t want to hear that, but he had to agree. He hugged Tembul.
“Do you forgive me?” Tembul said. “I knew you wouldn’t be taken by the Colcanans.”
“We’re still friends, you and I,” Trak said. Although with the shifting alliances in Torya, Trak hoped they would stay that way.
~
“I don’t want to leave,” Able said, pressing a damp towel to his face. “I’ve put too much time in to learning this cursed language and establishing my business.”
Neel patted his friend on the shoulder. “Write out the instructions to our partners, but don’t have any hopes of Toryan coin shipping to wherever we will be.”
Trak rummaged around in his bags and pulled out the bag of money and jewels that Asem had forced him to take. “Here, hold out your hands,” Trak said.
Able did as his stepson told him and Trak poured a palmful of coins and jewels into his stepfather’s hands. “This should be compensation enough.”
“I’ll say,” Neel said. “I thought your treasure was a small pouch of gold coins. Any of these jewels—”
“I know,” Trak said. “They should make up for any losses you have sustained. Use them wisely. Just get out of here. You two are my biggest weakness.”
Mori nodded and put her hand on Trak’s. “Just as I was a weakness to my cousin, Lord Jomio,” she said. “I’d be happy to go with them. I can cook and keep books or anything else they might need me to do.”
“I can vouch that Mori is very resourceful and a good judge of character,” Trak said, smiling.
Neel gave Mori a long look and smiled. “You’ve convinced me,” he said.
Trak turned to Ferikan and Derit. “I’m sorry. I don’t think this is the time for Blue Swans to be presented in King Basiul’s court. It’s not time for me, even,” he said. “Pestle is more in need of you than Torya, and more deserving, I’m sure.”
Derit clutched Ferikan’s hand in both of hers. “He’s right. We have only a few Blue Swans in Pestledown, and there are still plenty of members of the Yellow Fox clan influencing their king.”
Ferikan ran his tongue around in his mouth and nodded. “We will go back with you, if that is acceptable, Neel.”
“We can travel through southern Santasia to Nikia and on to Pestledown. We can make contact with those who can help us there,” Neel said. “I won’t ask Esmera for any help until we know what has happened in the city,”
“You should leave before nightfall,” Trak said.
“Won’t take more than an hour or two. Are you sure you will be okay?” Able said.
Trak nodd
ed. “Better by myself. Namiul won’t be able to take my friends hostage then, will he?”
“No chance of that, now,” Neel said.
~
Trak looked up into the sky and watched the two flyers disappear from view, heading east. He stood next to Watul, the Toryan guard.
“I’ll miss them,” Watul said.
“So will I. Only a few days for a reunion, but I’m glad they’ll soon be out of Torya.” Trak left Watul sitting on the front porch and walked into the empty house. This time, he felt lighter with his fathers’ departure. He would help get Lia established, and then he would head to Espozia to visit Honor. Now that the civil war had ended, hopefully General Adolphus Niamo shouldn’t see him as any kind of threat.
The next morning Tembul showed up at Trak’s door, and Trak invited him in for a cup of tea at the kitchen table.
“You’ve caused quite a stir,” Tembul said. “Where is everybody?”
“Gone. I imagine they should be out of Torya by now,” Trak said. “I don’t suppose you will miss the Vashtans.”
Tembul shook his head. “I’m glad they left. They are nothing but trouble to anyone.”
“I disagree. Namiul is more trouble than they are. He’ll be making my life miserable as long as I’m in Kizru.”
“Then what is keeping you here? I thought you might have taken off with Neel and Able, even though the princess will need you.”
“Pestle is not for me, right now. It’s too close to Warish.”
Tembul put his arm around Trak’s shoulder. “I can understand that, but you’ll have to face going back to your home country some time.”
Trak nodded. “I will. For now, I’m going to help with Princess Pullia, just like you suggested. Everyone in Kizru is a threat to the princess.”
Tembul raised his eyebrows. “You don’t trust King Basiul?”