"Nothing," he admitted, "of which I know. Of late, however, I have come to distrust the reliability of my network of informers. Many that I trust seem to be under the lady's spell.
"In any case," Peace added, as if seeking to comfort them, "only four days have passed since she received the message. Baron Endbrook would not yet expect her reply."
"Do you know where he is?" Lady Elise asked sharply.
"I do not," Peace said, "but I am assuming that he is outside of New Kelvin. Soldiers under my orders have searched closely within."
"Then Citrine may still be alive," Lady Elise said. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears, but her voice was steady. "We have time."
"Time only," Peace put in, "if you go to her swiftly. I fear that only one person in New Kelvin may know where the child is hidden."
"Lady Melina," Lord Kestrel breathed. "Of course! We must go to her and get the truth—by force if necessary."
The young lord sprang to his feet.
"There is not a moment to lose!"
Derian Carter pushed Lord Kestrel back into his chair with a firm, though not unkind, hand.
"We'll lose more than time, my lord, if we don't lay our plans carefully."
He glanced at his companions.
"Do we work with this man?"
Peace noted that he did not say "trust."
One by one, six heads nodded agreement. There was no argument, no debate. The only sound was a squawk from the crow, which had been drowsing on its perch.
"Very well," Derian said, turning to Peace. "Let's get on with it. What's your plan?"
Yes, Peace thought as he began to outline what he intended. I am indeed beginning to like these young people. What a pity that if they choose to do as I suggest most of them will probably end up dead.
Chapter XXX
Firekeeper felt a certain thrill when she realized that the hunt would take place that very night.
At first there had been some talk of delaying, of making further plans. The great log in the hearth had split in two and begun to crumble to ruddy cinders as the humans discussed possible ways to achieve their goal.
There were difficulties. Grateful Peace could not say for certain just when—if ever—the research teams left off their work on the three artifacts. Some experiments required hours of observation. These were usually scheduled to run through the night, and one or two researchers remained to tend them.
Grateful Peace wanted them to go after Lady Melina and to trust him to retrieve the artifacts. No one—Firekeeper least of all—liked this idea, so Peace was forced to abandon it. Reluctantly, the thaumaturge was forced to agree that whatever plan they settled on must include means to achieve both goals.
That simple decision, apparently, made things more difficult rather than—as Firekeeper had thought it would—easier.
One difficulty that the white-haired man with his smell of grease and old silk had solved for them was how to get inside Thendulla Lypella. Grateful Peace knew of a tunnel—a tunnel branching from one of the sewers Firekeeper had already discovered—that would take them beneath the walls and under the complex. From this tunnel they could emerge into one of several cellars.
However, even this didn't solve all their problems.
Using the map Edlin had drawn, Grateful Peace showed them that the building in which Lady Melina was living and the building holding the artifacts were not the same.
Following this revelation, there was much argument over which goal should have priority—for their group was too few in number to make splitting up a realistic option.
Needless to say, Grateful Peace felt that kidnapping Lady Melina should come first. Firekeeper, however, knew her duty—retrieving the artifacts must come first. The others varied in opinion, but gradually one and all were convinced that perhaps kidnapping Lady Melina should come first. After all, she was the only one who knew where Citrine was, and if she escaped…
This last argument won Firekeeper—albeit reluctantly—over. The wolf-woman was fond of the round-faced little girl, remembered their long conversations in the springtime meadows above Eagle's Nest Castle, remembered, too, that Citrine and her cousin Kenre Trueheart had been the first friends she had made on her own. She thought that gave the girl some claim to her energies, a claim that competed fairly with the one held by the Royal Beasts.
After all, Firekeeper told herself when she thought uncomfortably of how the Beasts would react if she failed, it wasn't as if she was choosing to rescue the girl rather than steal the artifacts. She intended to do both.
Her own decision made, Firekeeper grew restless when the planning continued. To her indignant surprise, Blind Seer chided her for her impatience.
"Don't be such a pup," the great wolf growled. "When you lived in the wilds did you dig after a rabbit without first blocking the exits from its hole?"
"No," Firekeeper replied a trace sullenly.
"Here we are hunting not a rabbit but a den of weasels—weasels we must stalk without waking them, weasels we must catch without hurting. Surely that merits a little thought in advance."
"They are thinking more than a little!" she protested.
Blind Seer huffed at her. "You are still such a pup! I tell you, this is more dangerous than any hunt we have ever attempted. My fur stands on end just thinking of it. Rather would I go into a she-bear's den in spring and attempt to eat her cubs than do what we must do here."
"But you are with me?" Firekeeper asked anxiously.
"I have sworn before our people to be with you," the wolf assured her. "But I do not think they knew what they were asking when they sent you out."
To Firekeeper's surprise, Edlin Norwood was the one who halted the seemingly endless cycle of plan, counterplan, and refinement.
"I say," the young lord said, "but isn't it getting rather late? I mean," he went on diffidently, "shouldn't we get a move on?"
"Are you saying, Lord Kestrel," asked Grateful Peace, a touch of astonishment in his voice, "that we should essay this challenge tonight?"
"Well, I do think so, rather," Edlin replied boldly. "I mean, tonight you got out of there, no one the wiser. Will you be so free another night? What I'm trying to say is that you're at the beck and call of this Ass-fellow…"
"Apheros, the Dragon Speaker," Elise corrected quickly, clearly horrified at this lapse in diplomacy.
Edlin didn't seem to notice her dismay. He simply grinned his thanks for the correction and continued speaking.
"Right, Apheros, well, what if he needs you, Grateful Peace, tomorrow night? What if he wants you to do some watching or whatever it is you do? What if there's some big experiment in the laboratories you need to supervise? What if—and don't get me wrong, old chap, but these things do happen—what if Lady Melina gets her hooks into you again? I mean, we know about the way in through the sewers and all, thanks to you, but we don't really know how to get through them right and how to come out right and a dozen other things. I say we go for it tonight—right now. We have hours and hours of darkness left and folks there in the tower will be getting tired and well…"
Edlin trailed off, a bit confused by the flood of his own eloquence.
"Lord Kestrel," Grateful Peace replied slowly, "does have a point. As I told you earlier, I took my fellow Three, Xarxius, into my confidence this evening as the fastest means of learning about you. I trust Xarxius as much as I do any man…"
"And that," Blind Seer muttered, "is not very much at all."
"… But a servant could have passed on word of our meeting and conclusions might be drawn. However, I will say that I think it unlikely we were betrayed—my servants, after all, are loyal to me. A much more real threat to our success may occur if Lady Melina chooses to act against you."
"Against us?" asked Edlin, surprise making the words sound rather like a gulp.
"You," Peace agreed. "I recognized her anger when she learned that you were residing in the city. It is not impossible that she might choose to have action taken ag
ainst you. Something as simple as voiding your residence permit—a voiding based on some minor technicality, nothing that could be traced to her—could force you to leave Dragon's Breath. Even if you were able to hide nearby in the mountains—an onerous task this time of year—our chances for a successful raid would be reduced. If she insisted that you be escorted to the border…"
"She could do this?" Derian asked.
Firekeeper noted with some satisfaction that her red-haired friend was clearly worried. If Derian was worried, then it was likely they would move tonight.
"Apheros could, or the Healed One." Peace shrugged. "I can think of a dozen ways that such an escort could be arranged without giving reason for you—or your government—to take offense. Since I believe neither Apheros nor the Healed One are able to refuse Lady Melina anything, it is much the same."
"Then tonight," Elise said, wonder and no little fear in her voice. 'Tonight we must be ready."
"Within the hour I should say," Grateful Peace replied. "I came to you straight from my meeting with Xarxius. We have talked for some hours. Most of the residents of the Earth Spires will have retired. I wish we could know how many are at work in the Granite Tower."
Firekeeper grinned.
"I can have that learned," she said, leaping to her feet. "Elation will fly at night, as will Bold. They can report to us here. I will tell them to look especially for Lady Melina. No need for us to go to her place—her room—if she is with the artifacts."
The wolf-woman felt some satisfaction at Grateful Peace's evident surprise. He hid his reaction well, but there was a momentary widening of his eyes that told her much. The thaumaturge's scent—now that she had learned to separate it from that of his cosmetics—altered, too. She did not need to hear Blind Seer's tail thumping muted applause on the boards behind her to know that she had pulled off a coup.
Still swelled with wolfish pride, Firekeeper woke the birds, explained their task, and promised rewards for swift return and detailed reports.
Cold wind swirled in through the window when she opened it to set the birds free. Above the sky was dark, the stars undimmed, for the majority of the city lights had long since been extinguished.
Once, Derian had told her that the Waterlanders believed that the stars held the undying spirits of all who had walked on the earth. These spirits were thought to look down on the living with interest. Sometimes they even granted wishes.
Firekeeper turned her face to the stars and wished with all her heart that tonight's venture would be successful.
Elise saw Grateful Peace's surprise when Firekeeper suggested sending the birds out to scout, but she doubted that anyone else—except possibly the wolf-woman herself—had noticed. She decided that explaining that Firekeeper was really able to talk to animals—and probably being disbelieved for her pains—would waste valuable time.
The thaumaturge also apparently thought that the time for questions was past, for though his lips parted momentarily, they closed again without a word being spoken.
"Let us be at it then, friends," Grateful Peace said, the last word softening what had been a distinctly autocratic tone of voice. "I have shown you the buildings that hold our targets. I have also done my best to tell what you should do when you get inside. Let me emphasize once more that I would prefer that my involvement be minimal."
"Fine," Firekeeper growled to Elise's dismay. "Be this minimal. Let us get on with the hunt. The birds can find us in streets. I have told them to be looking."
"Well and good," Grateful Peace replied without any of the pique Elise had feared he would feel. "However, there is one thing that must be done before you can get on with your hunt. Without a disguise of some sort, you would not go ten feet without being stopped."
"Disguise?" Firekeeper tilted her head to one side in inquiry. "That word… I forget."
Wendee Jay rose as Derian began to explain. Elise turned to the thaumaturge with a question of her own.
"Do we really need disguises, sir?" she asked. "It's not as if we're trying to infiltrate the Granite Tower. We're simply going in as raiders."
"Night raiders smear blackening on their faces lest the reflection be seen," replied Peace, indicating his own features with a graceful flourish of his long fingers. "In the same fashion, the longer you can pass for people who belong in Thendulla Lypella, the more time you will have to obtain your objectives.
"Remember," he added seriously, "not only must you get in, you must also get out."
Elise bit her lip. Wendee's return saved her from needing to reply.
"We bought most of these in Gateway, Lord Peace," Wendee said, displaying the bundled robes and the boxed cosmetics, "though I've added some since."
Perhaps in response to Elise's surprised expression, Wendee added:
"They're lovely things, Lady Elise, and I thought if we didn't need them here, we'd take them home with us."
Elise patted her hand. "You've done well, Wendee."
Peace was less pleased, but his displeasure was less at Wendee than at the mixed nature of their purchases.
"These," he explained, indicating their Gateway purchases, "are flimsy things—woven expressly for sale to foreigners. You'd never see such in the Earth Spires. These, however," he tapped a few robes, "are of fine quality. Goody Wendee definitely has judgment.
"Together," he concluded, "they are as mismatched as yellow stripes on a stallion."
"We hardly need to make a fashion statement, what?" said Lord Edlin. "Just to get in and out again."
Grateful Peace nodded. "But the mixture will make the getting in, much less the getting out, harder to do. Still, we shall manage. Happily, Goody Wendee has laid in a large supply of red tones."
Wendee blushed. "I thought they would do for cosmetics when we got home. Much less outlandish than the blues and purples, lovely as those are."
"Whatever your reason," Peace said, "they will serve well. The working costume in the research tower is a red-painted face and grey robe—not a deep grey, a pale shade close to that of undyed material."
"Why?" asked Derian, looking as if he was slightly surprised to hear himself asking.
"Because, young counselor," Peace replied, "the red is striking—a visual warning even to peripheral vision that someone else is near. The paint or stain is laid on thinly enough that facial expressions can be easily read through the color to help eliminate misunderstanding."
I wonder, Elise thought, if that means the rest of the time they actively court misunderstanding?
"Grey robes," Peace continued, "are easily cleaned or at least easily redyed. Now, my thought is to disguise those of you who are going in as researchers. Although the teams contain many important people, each sodality has sent over lesser members to do the scut work—sweeping up, grinding components, and the like. No one can be said to know everyone, so you should pass—at least for a time."
"Two questions," Derian said, raising his fingers. "One, you say 'those of you who are going in.' Are you suggesting we leave someone behind?"
Peace shook his head.
"Not precisely behind," he said. "Rather, I suggest that one or two of your number be delegated to pack your belongings and clear out of this house. Doctor?"
"Yes?"
"Have you the means to drug your landlady and her servants?"
Elise, knowing Doc's strict medical ethics, pivoted to look at him, ready to step in before he could say something too damaging to their cause.
The indignation she expected to find on his hawk-nosed features was not there. Instead, Sir Jared was nodding agreement and understanding. Something about his expression reminded her that he was a cousin to Earl Kestrel—a man whose devotion to scheming was as sincere as it was efficient.
Jared said, "I can do it more easily if they'll drink what I have. Wendee, did you notice if Hasamemorri was awake when you went to get the costuming supplies?"
"She was," Wendee said, looking up from where she had been sorting the reds from the other colors
. "I heard her speaking to her maid about fetching a bit more firewood."
Wendee's blue eyes twinkled with wicked glee.
"I wouldn't be surprised if she heard our late caller arrive and is staying awake deliberately in hopes of learning what emergency has brought him."
"Very good," Doc said. "When you can tear yourself from your labors, come with me. I think we'll be sending them up some refreshments along with our apologies for the disturbance."
"Wait," Derian said. "I mean, do you think we should leave Dragon's Breath tonight?"
"That's right," Peace replied a touch acidly. "Surely you don't think that if you are successful Apheros will wait until morning to call and ask what you have been about?"
Derian sighed. "No, I suppose not. Who should stay to clear us out of here?"
"Pause and think on that," Peace advised. "What was your other question?"
To Elise's astonishment, Derian looked positively uncomfortable.
"The disguises," he muttered.
"Yes?"
"About them," Derian said. "Do they include shaving our heads?"
Even before the thaumaturge replied, Elise knew what the answer would be.
What will my mother think?
"Of course," Grateful Peace replied. "Only peasants wear all their hair—and usually only those who must labor out-of-doors. It is quite out of fashion among the sodalities to wear front hair."
There was a startled silence. Somehow, even when everyone had been considering disguises earlier on, no one had anticipated this contingency.
Wendee said slowly. "In the theater, we wore false head-fronts made from waxed cloth, but they had to be custom-fitted and even so they looked right fake up close."
Running her hand over her already ragged haircut, Firekeeper gave a hoarse chuckle.
"Never will I have a good coat," she said with a rueful smile. "That I were a wolf!"
Wanting a moment to adjust to this new inevitability, Elise returned to the matter raised by Derian's first question.
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