by CM Raymond
“Damn,” she said, checking herself out. “We look every bit like those rich pricks. I imagine we can pull this off.”
Ezekiel nodded. “We might just be able to do it if you keep your filthy mouth shut,” he said with a wink. “I’ve given you new clothes and new hair. The rest of you looks like you. But if you work on refining your manners, we should be able to blend in.”
“Wait,” Hannah said. “My face is the same?” She ran a finger down her nose and across her cheekbone.
“Yes, same old beautiful you.”
“But, everybody in Arcadia is looking for me,” Hannah said as if Ezekiel was an idiot.
“That’s right. They’re looking for a rough-and-tumble girl from Queen Bitch Boulevard. Not what I just made you—an elegant woman of noble status. It’s amazing what people will and won’t see, and the rigid class lines in the city will ensure they will not see a poor person in wealthy clothes. Again, act like a noble, and they will see you as a noble. I assume you can keep up the charade?”
She nodded, but the thought of doing this was more frightening than facing the remnant.
But Hannah realized she didn’t have much of a choice. The magician could only get her so far. The rest was on her. Ezekiel made the original change, but Hannah would need to sustain it, which would take a significant amount of magical energy. This plan would have to work, or else they would have to be inseparable within the walls of Arcadia, which wasn’t an option either.
“There are few things I trust about the nobles and bureaucrats of Arcadia,” Ezekiel said. “But one of the things that I know will always be true, is that their prejudice outweighs their reason. When they look at you, they will see the daughter of a nobleman, not the orphan daughter of a drunk. Not all education is useful, and they have been training for a lifetime to see things within those categories. Their training will ultimately serve us well.”
Ezekiel turned to walk away before Hannah reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “Uh, Zeke? Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?”
He looked confused for a moment until she nodded in the direction of the dragon standing at her feet. “Don’t you think I’ll look a little suspicious coming into the city with a hundred pound dragon by my side? I mean, Sal is more than a little conspicuous.”
Ezekiel smiled. “Ah, yes. I almost forgot.” His eyes turned red as he mumbled something under his breath. Sal began to hiss again, but within seconds, the sound was no longer coming from a lizard, but a large wolf-like creature.
Hannah smiled as she kneeled down to pet him. “Awww, Sal. Who’s a good puppy?”
Sal looked less than pleased with his new digs.
“Unfortunately, he won’t really sound like a dog,” Ezekiel said. “So we’ll have to try and keep his hissing to a minimum. Now, we really should be moving.”
Hannah, Ezekiel, and their dragon in wolf’s clothing cut through the woods and found another smaller road heading west toward Arcadia. A carriage with two beautiful horses and a uniformed driver waited for them there. Ezekiel walked up and ran his hand down the neck of one of the horses whispering into its ear. He greeted the driver and stepped up into the carriage, offering his hand to Hannah. It took a fair amount of effort not to trip over her elegant clothes as she stepped into her carriage.
Zeke waved a hand once they were inside, blocking their conversations from being heard outside of the carriage.
She had never ridden in a carriage before, and the jostling on the rough road surprised her. She always imagined the rich and noble to ride in complete comfort in the back of these things. But their journey had been long, so she wasn’t going to complain about a bit of jostling just so long as she didn’t have to walk.
Sal rode beside her, obviously enjoying the trip. He stuck his head out the window and she wondered if this felt like flying.
“Where the hell did this carriage come from?” Hannah asked. “Did you... conjure it?”
Ezekiel sighed as he looked out the window. “Did that boy, Hadley, teach you nothing? Not all illusions are magical. This carriage, along with the driver and horses, is real. I own them, or at least, Lord Girard does. And since no one will ever find his body, I am the real Lord Girard now.”
“Damn,” Hannah said, admiring the efficiency of her mentor.
“My sweet daughter,” Ezekiel said, with a slightly formal clip to his speech. “What did I tell you about using that language?”
“Dear nobleman,” Hannah replied, in a terribly fake accent. “What exactly is our plan when we reach the city? Who the hell am I?”
“Well, let’s start with me,” Ezekiel said. “You should know these details by heart. I’m Lord Girard. Years ago, I took my extraordinary wealth and left Arcadia for what I thought was the rest of my life. The real Girard was a terrible person, he had no degree of stability or noble stature whatsoever. But now, the Lord is dead. I put an end to his viciousness. And only now, will he be able to offer something of value to Arcadia—to all of Irth.”
“Okay, that’s just a little creepy. What about me?”
“You are Girard’s daughter. Noble by birth, but uneducated due to our life in the country. It recently struck me that I did not want my daughter growing up in ignorance. So, we’re returning to Arcadia to get you enrolled in the Academy.”
Hannah’s eyes opened wide, and she dropped all pretense of an accent. “I’m going to be a student at the Academy?”
Ezekiel only nodded.
“Holy crap.” She shook her head. “Zeke, this is never going work.”
“You’re wrong.” He pointed out. “Because it has to work.” Ezekiel looked out the side window of the carriage in silence for some time. Then he turned back to Hannah who was doing the same. “There’s a trunk in the back of the carriage with enough clothes of the noble person to keep you outfitted. You won’t have to waste energy on that illusion every day, just on your hair. It will help you fit in at the Academy. But remember, you’re going in knowing next to nothing. And you certainly aren’t in any way some sort of amazing magician trained by the greatest wizard alive.”
“So, I need to play dumb?” she confirmed.
Ezekiel laughed. “Not dumb, just inexperienced. I imagine you can handle that. Hell, I’ve only been working with you for a few months. Is your memory really that short?”
“As short as your sense of humor,” Hannah said with a wink. “I’m sure I can play dumb enough to fool those rich idiots.”
****
An hour passed before the carriage pulled up to the gates of Arcadia. Hannah looked out the window, happy to see her old home again. There was a long line of farmers, hunters, and trappers waiting to enter, and Hannah spied a group of mystics with a cart full of barrels surrounded by a couple rearick. She strained her neck to see if she could recognize anyone, but she didn’t.
One of the Governor’s Guard stepped around the line and pointed at the carriage. He waved them around. Cutting line was just one of the many advantages of being a noble person.
Ezekiel watched the process as they pulled up to the gate. Everything had changed. Just months before, the Guard at the gate did nearly nothing, most of them had been lazily sitting around, talking and laughing. But now, their number was doubled, and all of them focused their attention on searching the carts and wares of all trying to enter the city.
The travelers grumbled to each other, but there was little they could do but accept the increased scrutiny.
A Guard came up to the carriage and poked his head in. He was a young man, dressed in well made light armor and carrying a magitech rifle.
“What is your business in Arcadia?” the Guard asked.
Ezekiel cleared his throat. “I’m Lord Girard. I have returned from the country, for it is time for my dear daughter to enter the Academy.”
The Guard looked Hannah over and then back at Ezekiel. “She looks a little old to just now join the Academy. Do you have any proof? Perhaps her acceptance papers.”
Eze
kiel’s voice turned hard as granite. “Guard, what is your name?”
The man’s face flushed, and Hannah could nearly hear him swallow. “It’s, um, Anthony, sir. I’m sorry—” he looked over his shoulder then back at Ezekiel “—it’s just that I have to ask. We have all sorts of dangerous folks trying to enter the city these days.”
Ezekiel ignored his excuse. “Anthony, is your commanding officer here?”
The man looked down at his feet, and then back up at Ezekiel. “No. Well, I’m actually the commanding officer on duty right now.”
Ezekiel broke out into laughter, long enough to make the man want to melt. “I’m sorry,” Ezekiel said. “Did you say that you’re the commanding officer?”
“Yes, sir. That’s right.”
“Well, Anthony, I suggest you let me and my dear daughter through. The Chancellor and I are close, always have been. Now, you can take a chance of holding us up here over your half-cocked suspicions. But I can imagine that the Chancellor is going to be very unhappy about your decision to delay us.”
The man stood there, looking back and forth between Ezekiel and Hannah. Hannah held her breath and then ran her fingers through her curly strawberry blonde hair. The man’s eyes lingered on Hannah’s face. For a minute, she thought that they had been discovered. The guard had made them.
Finally, he spoke. “OK. My apologies, sir. Welcome back to Arcadia.”
“Good man,” Ezekiel said. “I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you when I see the Chancellor.”
The man nodded and stepped down from the carriage.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Ezekiel said in his direction. “On our way here, we saw a band of remnant raiding some traders heading toward the city. I suggest you run this up the chain of command. If we had been just a few hours earlier, it could’ve been us attacked by those foul creatures. Perhaps it’s time that the Governor take some of your men off this guard post and put them out to protect people like us in the countryside.”
The man nodded again. “Of course, sir. Thank you, sir.”
At that, the carriage moved past the frightened Guard and into Arcadia.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hannah could feel Ezekiel relax next to her on the bench seat of the carriage as they started to move. The gate into the city was just in front of them, and she was glad to have the inspection behind them. But just as they were passing through the wall, another guard stepped up to their ride and held his hand up indicating that the driver should stop. Some words were exchanged between the driver and the guard. Hannah couldn’t make them out, but she knew they were not pretty.
“Another gate check? If this guy looks at me like the last one, I’m going to rip his head off and shove it right up his ass,” Hannah said.
“You’re really not working on this noble girl thing, are you?” Ezekiel said with a smile. “There will be no heads shoved up any asses today, my beautiful daughter.” Ezekiel raised his eyebrows. “Make sure you behave”
“No promises,” Hannah said. “I thought our noble status would allow us to come right in.”
Ezekiel poked his head out the window and looked at the Guard who was inspecting their luggage. “I did too. But things have changed in Arcadia since your little show of strength. I imagine they’re taking extra precautions, even more so than you would’ve imagined.”
The guard, a burly man with a face that not even a mother could love, stepped up to Ezekiel’s side of the carriage. He pulled open the door. “Need you to get out, old man.”
Ezekiel tried the outraged act again. “This is preposterous. I’ve been away from our beautiful city for years, and I come back, and this is the welcome I get? Do you know who I am, young man?”
Hannah was shocked to see just how stately Ezekiel looked sitting in his nobleman’s clothes. She was impressed by his ability to be someone completely different than himself. Nervousness ran through her body, and she wondered if she would be able to pull it off.
“I don’t give a shit if you’re the Queen Bitch herself,” the guard spat back. “Knowing you is not my job. All I know is that you’re new here, even if you are old. And my number one priority is Arcadia, not worrying about offending some old rich bastard from out of town.” The lines in the man’s face got deeper as he scowled at them. “Now, you can get out of the carriage the hard way, or the easy way. Your choice.”
Hannah tried to read Ezekiel, to see how they should react. She hadn’t had the chance to change into actual noble clothes, and she wasn’t sure if Ezekiel’s magic would hold up under scrutiny. Sal, still looking like a dog, hissed at the man. He gave the creature a weird look, but before the man could react, another, much taller Guard, stormed over.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, you shit head?” The new guard towered over the other. His face was covered in indignation. “Who told you it was OK to harass the nobles? What are you, crazy or something?”
“Sir, they were being obstinate,” the ugly one said, trying to keep calm. “I’m just doing my job here.”
The superior balled his right hand into a fist, and Hannah was ready to watch the rude guard get clocked. “Your job here,” he said, “is to follow my command. Now, I’m commanding you to head off to the stables. Maybe you’d work off some of that steam shoveling horseshit for the day. No, make that two. I don’t want to see your face around here for two days, and if I do, you’ll wish that you were permanently on shit duty.”
The ugly guard looked at his feet and then back up at his commanding officer. “Yes. sir. Forgive me, sir.”
The man shuffled off, and the new guard looked into the carriage.
“Thank you, my good man,” Ezekiel said to the commanding officer. “I’m just glad there’s someone in Arcadia still with an ounce of reason, and an eye for refinement.”
“It might not be that easy, old man.” The Guard’s eyes cut toward Hannah and inspected her face and then back at Ezekiel. “I’m still going to need you to come with me. My problem with Bruce was his means, not his ends. Have your driver pull the carriage through the gate and off to the side. This won’t take long, but I’m going to need you to come to the Guard station. Make sure you bring your paperwork. A lot has changed in Arcadia since you’ve left, if you’ve really been gone for as long as you say. And if you truly love the city, as we do, you won’t mind obliging our diligence.”
The Guard turned and headed for the small shack off to the side of the gate. Hannah felt sick to her stomach and started to focus the energy within her. If there was going to be a fight, she could use the nerves.
If there is one thing that she learned from her training over the past several months, it was to close out and put away all the emotions that hampered her casting, and to channel the ones that were helpful. Fear and rage were amongst the most helpful.
She told Sal to stay and then climbed out of the carriage.
“We going to need to take them down?” Hannah asked Ezekiel as he joined her on the ground.
“Patience. Revolutions are won by the inch, not a mile at a time. This man will be no problem for us. I can guarantee that.”
They followed the man through the narrow door into the tiny guardhouse. The room was relatively empty, filled with only a desk and a few chairs. It looked seldom used and smelled like stale smoke from the Guards’ pipes. Likely just a place for them to get away from the wind in the winter and the sun in the summer.
Hannah rolled her wrists, readying them for an attack if necessary. Ezekiel closed the door behind them, and the Guard close the blinds.
“Your travels have been good to you, Ezekiel,” the Guard said. “You look years younger than when I saw you last.”
Ezekiel smiled. “Wish I could say the same for you. You look like shit.”