Duke looked straight at Ticca. “Ticca, one thing, please. I need you to avoid all old artifacts, like that book in the Algan Mayor’s officeand especially old throne rooms, if at all possible; if not possible, do not touch the floor sigils. Don’t ask me why just don’t ask the cities for anything and especially, do not cuss and ask for some response, like closing the gate.”
Ticca’s face went white, and she said, “That was me? Are you sure?”
Duke nodded.
Ticca’s eyes narrowed, “what would have happened if he or I had been on that gate?”
Duke shook his head. “I don’t know, which worries me. It shouldn’t have done what it did and I haven’t had the time to look closer. Keep in mind what could have happened. Promise me to do what I say until I have time to figure it out.”
Ticca look at the ceiling for a moment, “why should the city listen to me?”
“I cannot tell you that. Just promise me.”
“Okay I swear, I’ll try to stay clear.”
Duke held Ticca’s eyes for a moment then looked around at everyone else. “Unless anyone disagrees, I think your group should continue with finding out what Vestul was up to and why the Nhia-Samri want it so bad. I will pursue the war with the Nhia-Samri that I started, making it noisy, painful, and annoying. That should give your group cover to find out what is going on and take preventative actions.”
Lebuin sat up straight, then stood with a look like nothing Elades had seen before. Ditani looked worried, as did Duke.
Ditani stood, putting his hand on Lebuin’s shoulder. “Lebuin, is everything okay?”
Lebuin focused on something outside of the cave. “What is she doing?” he asked, and ran from the cave at top speed, followed by Ditani. Duke looked at Elades, and they vied for the exit with Ticca. They all got out, only to see Lebuin and Ditani on the far side of the camp, skidding to a stop by Illa, who was standing in front of a group of Daggers, including Nigan and Risy. Next to Illa was Boadua, looking suspiciously like a proud mother. The eleven Daggers before Illa were standing at attention, and they had their daggers out and raised high. They cried out as one, “Hail, Lord Lebuin, the Dagger God!”
Lebuin sputtered out loudly enough to be heard across the whole camp, “Illa, what are you doing?”
Illa bowed to Lebuin and her voice carried across the entire camp as she said, “My duty as your high priestess; gathering followers.”
Duke chuckled. “Yep, she’s an excellent choice.” Then he called out, “Let us feast to the honor of the rise of a true Dagger God!”
The camp exploded with a sound of cheering as Lebuin stood, looking lost.
Huh. A Dagger God. He sure doesn’t look like a God right now. I might consider joining up myself, so long as he doesn’t impose a dress code, Elades thought.
CHAPTER 5
SOME TRUTHS ARE BEST HIDDEN
Ticca sighed as the boredom pressed down on her spirit. I hate waiting for something to happen. Everything was great until we packed everyone up and moved to Magus Vestul’s property in Algan. I thought Lebuin would be able to open up Vestul’s locked tower a lot faster than this. All this standing around is making me itchy.
Ticca watched as Duke paced back and forth, supposedly inspecting the property. Even though his head was down, he rarely looked at the ground. Instead, his eyes were darting around at the large, neighboring estates. Duke’s ears were moving as oddly as his eyes. They would rotate around, only to lock onto something and remain locked on it, regardless of his body or eye motions.
He is looking for an observer.
Lebuin stood before the large door to the tower, holding a silk umbrella for shade, his eyes unfocused as he examined the incantations woven into the structure. The boredom and the midday’s heat started gnawing at Ticca again, and Duke was annoying her. Instead of bothering Lebuin, she decided to walk around the tower for the fourteenth time.
How much time does it take to check for magic? We’ve been camped here for eight days now. She walked around the tower, examining the perfectly-fitted stones. Running her hand over them, she looked for a crack, or even a flaw, which she knew wouldn’t be there. Still, it was something to do. The tower stood four stories tall with windows on the top three floors. Vestul’s property was huge. There were garden lawns in parts of the estate that would have been hidden by the two-story house before it was burned to the ground.
Rounding the tower, she saw some more workmen arrive with full carts. She was about to call out for some help when some senior Daggers broke off from training the junior Daggers to help unload the tools and supplies. Half were for the working crew and the rest were more war supplies. Glad to see everyone pitching in where needed. She headed over and started pulling tools out of the carts.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Duke leap up and rush off towards the back of the property at high speed. Ticca handed the package she had pulled out of the cart to another Dagger and jumped up on the cart to get a better view of where Duke was going.
Duke had already vanished into one of the groves, and she couldn’t see any trouble. A terrible fear ran through her as she realized it was a ‘friendly visit’ emergency. Spinning around, she dove into a small space on the cart and cowered down, trying to get out of view from the front gate.
“Oh, she can’t be that bad, Ticca.” Risy was behind her on the cart, helping to pass down the many crates and packages.
“You haven’t experienced a tea with her. I swear, you can lose a week and not notice it.” Ticca’s mouth started watering as she remembered the pastries the duchess had served the last time she had accepted an invitation to tea. Actually, I felt more like I had been outmaneuvered into having tea. I have the oddest feelings about her. I feel like I should trust her, yet at the same time, I feel a need to hide as much as possible from her. But that non-stop talking in that voice makes me grind my teeth.
From the front gate, she heard the duchess’s high-pitched voice. “Oh, come now. You mean, they are all busy? You hardly look that busy. I mean, really, how much practicing can you do in this heat? Are you married? I know a lovely young girl that would be just right for you!”
Some cool heads reassured the duchess and managed to keep her from hunting down her prey. “Oh, very well. I had some specially-made arit from the mayor made for Ticca. You really should eat more, young man. You would look so much cuter with another stone on you. Tea and arit will be available till four-thirty. Make sure you tell Ticca about the arit. Ta-ta! Mustn’t keep the mayor waiting.”
The duchess had come around at least once a day with an invitation to dinner, or a party, or something. Every time she stepped into the area, she looked like one of those fair toys with the spinning heads. Also, her high-pitched, non-stop, jabbering drove Duke to distraction, which is why he bolted for the back of the property to hide whenever she approached.
Ticca’s cheeks burned as Risy pulled another box from beside her. His eyes stayed on the gate. “Okay, it’s clear. You can stop hiding now.”
Ticca looked over the top of some packages.
“No, seriously. Ticca, she’s gone. You act like she is a demon, or something. She’s just a lonely old lady. Kinda reminds me of my mother’s sister.”
“Do you like your mother’s sister?”
“Sure. She lives up north.” Risy kicked her in the side. As she turned to look at him, he winked and grinned. “That’s why I Dagger in the south.”
She felt her mood lighten at Risy’s grin. Still, Ticca made a second and third sweep of the area before jumping back down and helping with the unloading.
One of the newest Daggers looked at who handed him a crate and stammered, “General Ticca, you don’t need to help. We got this.”
She laughed. “I’ve got little else to do until we get some more intel. You should remember that as a Dagger, no job is too little. If something needs doing, and you have no higher priority task, you lend a hand. Remember, nobody ever drowned in sweat, so dig in and work
hard.” A couple of the senior Daggers chuckled at her use of the old Dagger saying, but they also nodded.
The younger Dagger moved off, bunching his brows as he thought over what she’d said.
Not sure what kind of general I’m going to make, but since I’m one now, I must set the best example.
The whole squad had moved onto the property, setting up tents and bringing in cots. They had also acquired additional supplies and were using this as a practice setup of a field office for the coming war. There were always four Daggers on guard at the front gate and three patrols moving around the perimeter of the ten-acre lot. With half a dozen groves of fruit trees and some wonderful old oak trees in the back garden, it would be easy for someone to hide. Everyone took the threat of observers and attack as real.
Elades had gone to the local Dagger home, called the White Mare, and put out the word that all Daggers in the area were being called to war by Duke. Two more squads of Daggers were then under Duke’s command, and he had made it clear to all of them that Ticca was his general and Elades was her second. There had been a few dozen raised eyebrows, but no one questioned Duke’s judgment or authority.
The senior Daggers were camped on the property with the original squad Duke had brought from Llino. Another twenty or so Daggers were expected to be arriving in a few more days. Duke had also put out the word that any Blades, guardsmen, or soldiers would be hired and trained. Outside the city, another two hundred soldiers were camped with the junior Daggers as camp officers. Horses, armor, and weapons were in short supply as everyone was making war preparations. Elades and Ticca took a regular tour through the growing camp outside the city, making sure everything was in order.
After a long debate, they had decided that only fully confirmed Daggers should be informed of Lebuin’s nature. Illa wasn’t happy about that, as she wanted to go out into the city and recruit more followers from the general population. Still, she had done fairly well with the Daggers, and Lebuin had almost fifty followers, which he said would let him gather enough power for most simple tasks or perhaps a small fight.
Ditani had refused to accept the property, instead, signing it over in full to Lebuin. Duke had hired workmen for Lebuin to clear the rubble of the old house, and an architect to design a ‘suitable replacement,’ which Ticca was sure meant large enough for Duke to visit. A master mason had yesterday agreed to build the new home, attached to the tower, out of stone. Duke spent marks arguing with the mason on which type of stone and mortar to use. Finally, Duke had to promise to share something before the master mason agreed to Duke’s demands; exactly what, neither Duke nor the master mason would elaborate on.
A matching set of three carts piled high with canvas and thick poles trundled in from the street to stop in front of her. Ten young, but strong-looking, boys jumped out of the lead cart and started to unload it. The faint scent of oil cloth hung in the air. What do we need more tents for? Stepping over, Ticca abandoned unloading the first set of carts and started helping with the new carts, so she could find out what it was for. She smirked as some of the junior Daggers gave the carts curious glances, wishing they could do the same. Of course, rank has its privileges.
Lebuin’s eyes refocused on them and he stepped out of the way, setting down the umbrella and grabbing a pole, helping to lift it over near the tower.
“Lebuin, do you know what this is for?”
“Nope. Duke announced earlier, a big-ring tent would be coming. But he wouldn’t tell me what that meant or why he wanted it. According to Elades, Duke ordered it the day we got back into town and has been pestering the merchant daily since then to hurry up and deliver it.”
Duke drifted over, smiling at the carts and their load. “’Bout time. I can’t believe it took so long to produce it.”
She placed some heavy spikes on the ground where the eldest boy had indicated. “What is it?”
“A big-ring tent.”
“Come on, Duke, you know we don’t know what that means.”
Duke smirked at her. “And soon you will. Saying it is a large tent doesn’t do it justice. Up north, they are still used. But here, the weather is always so damned warm and dry, they aren’t needed. Just help out and see what it takes to raise it, and you’ll see what it is and why it is called a big-ring tent.”
Duke let the delivery boys fit a harness on him and unhooked their own horses from the wagon. Duke spent the rest of the morning working as hard as a draft horse, pulling large, wooden poles into place. With a series of ingenious leverage tricks, two poles were raised and tied down. Then more horses were brought in and with Duke, they pulled the tent canvas around the poles. The canvas was then attached to two massive rings, which rose up on the central poles via pulleys.
As the tent went up, Ticca stepped back, and then back again, to take in the size of the thing. It was as tall as the tower and bigger than the original house. In fact, they had put it up right next to the tower so that the bottom half of the tower was made into one end of the tent.
It was late afternoon before the workmen left for the day and the tent was fully erected. It had a canvas door large enough to drive two wagons through. There were a dozen smaller canvas doors evenly spaced around the tent, and the top of the tent flared out over the canvas walls, leaving large air vents which brought in the afternoon’s cooling breeze. All of the Dagger officers and most of Alpha Squad had come in to marvel at the tent. Some of the Daggers, having seen the type before, pointed out different things about it to everyone else.
Duke motioned with his head for them to follow, walked into the tent, and pulled the main door flap closed behind him. “And now, they can’t see what we are about to do.”
Ticca joined with Lebuin, Ditani, Elades, and a half-dozen senior Daggers, following Duke into the tent. Duke was already walking towards the tower door. She jogged to catch up with Duke and asked, “And what, exactly, are you going to do?”
Duke looked at her. “Open it, of course.”
Her back tensed and her heartbeat quickened at that statement. “You mean to say you made us stand around for more than a week, banging on that cruddy door, and you could open it all along?”
Duke looked at her, his eyes twinkling. “Yep.” He looked over at Lebuin. “So did you find anything dangerous, like a trap?”
Lebuin shook his head. “No, but the tower is self-sufficient and protected from dozens of things I don’t understand yet. Also, that door has channels and mechanisms which are a blend of incantations that are a bit familiar. I still don’t know enough about them to desire to tamper with them.”
Duke’s head rounded on Lebuin like a sling shot, making Lebuin worriedly step backwards. “What do you mean, ‘familiar’?”
“Well, ah… I mean…they seem like some…well, I have studied similar incantations at the Guild.”
Duke shook his head, and his tone was deeper than usual. “Oh, no, you haven’t. The Guild was set up specifically to stop any such incantations from coming into general use again.”
Lebuin looked around for support. Ticca met his eyes and motioned at Duke with her head. She gave him what she hoped was a ‘stand up to him,’ encouraging look.
Lebuin looked back at Duke. “Well, they weren’t exactly Guild materials. I was given a set of books to help me deal with a Magus who was causing trouble. I only said it was familiar. I didn’t say I knew what it was.”
Duke stared at Lebuin before making a huffing sound. “Elades, get the squad up. I want active patrols and guards at every door in ten minutes.” Elades turned and jogged out of the tent with the other Daggers following behind, leaving only Ditani, Lebuin, and Ticca with Duke.
Duke looked around. “Where is Illa?”
Lebuin concentrated. “She is with Nigan and some other Daggers in the market, getting supplies.”
Duke stepped up to the tower door. He looked around the area and his ears twitched. “Hmmm… I know we are being watched, but I can’t find who is doing it. And I don’t mean, by that
nosey busybody of a neighbor you have over there.”
Ticca tried not to laugh.
Still, he is right; I can feel it, too. Someone is watching us. But I can’t find them, either.
Duke looked around one more time, then in a low whisper, added, “Don’t tell anyone else about this. I don’t want anyone to know, which is why I ordered this tent to hide the fact. Plus, it will let the mason’s crew work much faster, with the shade and such.”
Duke turned and walked up close to the door. He sniffed around on the door until he stopped near its top right corner. There, he sniffed hard again and grunted with satisfaction. It didn’t look any different from the rest of the door, but Duke looked back at them and winked. He lifted his front right paw and placed it on the door near the spot he’d located. A glowing bar of red, about a half-inch tall and wider than his paw, appeared on the surface of the door, just above where he touched it, and moved straight down under his paw, which he kept motionless. When the bar had passed under his paw, it disappeared, and a small panel over the four horizontal sliders opened outward.
Duke stepped back. “Lebuin, would you please step up to the door and do as I instruct?” Lebuin looked around and grabbed a stool that was close by. I wondered why that had been brought here. He stepped over to the door and, using the stool, stood high enough to see into the panel. “This is interesting. There are a lot of small gears and dials in here.”
Duke nodded and looked over his shoulder, giving him a series of instructions to move this gear or turn that dial. But Lebuin was having difficulty. Finally, he stood straight. “Sorry, my fingers are not small enough. I need a jeweler’s pick and pliers.”
Duke looked around, frustrated. Ticca remembered the tools she had in her pack. “I have something that might work.”
She raced off to her tent and dug out the Knife’s belt from Llino. Remembering where the thieves’ tools were on the belt, she pulled out an appropriate pick and strong tweezers. Putting the belt back in her pack, she ran back to the tent and held them up for Lebuin’s inspection.
Thread Strands (Golden Threads Trilogy) Page 13