by Guy Antibes
He ran to Pira’s room and slipped inside. She had managed to arm herself with a fire poker and fended off the other attacker. Ricky didn’t recognize this man. He winced as the assassin sliced into Pira’s arm before noticing Ricky in the room. He turned to Ricky. Pira advanced and struck the man in the face with the heavy poker, and then Ricky finished the job with the blade of his wand.
Duke Noacci stood at the door in a nightshirt. He looked forlorn with his skinny legs and long bare feet. He held a bloodied sword and breathed heavily, with his hand on the door jamb.
“An attack on you, as well?” he asked. He looked at the assassin. “I don’t know him, but Arriana might.”
“No,” Ricky said. “Arriana attacked me. He did not survive.”
Noacci went to Ricky’s sitting room. Arriana’s body did not look pretty. Ricky pulled a throw from the couch and covered the body. Noacci pulled the servant’s cord.
A frightened servant looked in the room. “I saw the other body,” he said. “An assassination attempt? I will find the captain.”
“He’s here.” Noacci flipped the throw back to reveal Arriana. “Get Pub up here, now!” He looked at Ricky. “Whoever attacked me didn’t know I always sleep with a sword. I was much better when I was younger and healthier, but surprise makes up for a lot of infirmities.” He looked closer at Pira. “You are bleeding all over the rug!”
Pira sat on a chair staunching the blood from her arm. “Didn’t you expect me to follow you into your room when you left me alone with a dead body?” she said. “You’ll do anything to get me inside here,” she said with a painful smile.
“I can probably fix that,” Ricky said. He took her arm and did a quick seal of the wound. “That is only the first step.” He gathered towels from his bathroom and poured a basin of water, then he went deeper.
Ricky gently washed the blood from her arm to see his work. He’d have to go back and work on the cut to eliminate a scar. “We will have to link for me to do this properly,” Ricky said.
Pira nodded. Pain from the closed wound still showed on her face. Ricky deep-linked. With another sorcerer at the Hospital, the kind of deep-link wouldn’t have led to anything else, but like his link with Healer Kokorak, Ricky’s link went right to Pira’s mind.
She gasped. “Ricky,” she said in a whisper.
Ricky again saw the love she harbored for him, and she must have seen his reciprocal feelings. He had gone too far and withdrew concentrating on her arm. He could see her tissue better than any person he had worked with at the Hospital when he had learned to work on wounds with Healer Kokorak. He knit Pira’s damaged tissue carefully. He saw the muscles and severed veins and even a knick in the bone. This wound was deeper than any he had ever tried to heal before.
Eventually, he worked his way back to the surface of her skin where he split apart his initial work and encouraged her skin to grow together. He opened his eyes and sighed. “I’m done.”
He spoke to himself. Pira had fallen asleep. Duke Noacci was slumbering on the couch. Someone had removed the assassin’s body, and it appeared that dawn was just tinting the dark blue sky outside Pira’s window.
He couldn’t leave her in the bloody gown, so he found a nightshirt a servant had already laid out on the bed for him. He removed her dress and replaced it with the shirt, and put her under the covers. Exhaustion finally hit him. He dropped onto the other side of the bed and fell asleep.
~
“I hope you don’t mind that I left you there,” Duke Noacci said wearing a proper bathrobe and looking in on Ricky just waking up and a still-slumbering Pira.
She woke and looked at Ricky on the bed. “Did you take advantage of me?” she said as soon as she realized someone had taken off her dress.
“Do I look like I did?” Ricky rubbed his eyes and looked down at his bloody jacket. “That’s not my blood, by the way. I’m hurt you didn’t ask.”
Pira folded her arms over her pulled up covers.
“Leave, and I’ll get properly dressed,” Pira said.
“That would be quite a trick,” Ricky said, “This is my bedroom.”
Pira looked around. “So it is. Give me something else to wear in the corridor.”
Ricky found a dark blue cloak.
“That will do.” She wrapped it around herself and padded down to her suite.
“Is everything cleaned up in her room?” Ricky asked.
Noacci nodded. “Cleaned up or replaced. I had Bocca and my best sorcerers administer the interrogation spell that you taught him to all my soldiers after you fell asleep. The assassins were all officers in my guard. Five other guard members were caught. All were compelled. Someone had to have sung the spell.”
“Arriana fought well. All I could grab was a wand. Now I have another one that is all chewed up.”
“We were lucky to have escaped the night. Arriana was an expert swordsman, and the others were, as well, I imagine,” Noacci said with a weary smile. “I was able to sleep a bit more, but as I said last night, I need more rest, not less. I may not be able to sleep, but I’m headed back to bed.”
Ricky rubbed his eyes and took off his clothes. His bathroom had a water spigot that filled the tub with cold water. That didn’t deter him from heating the water with a spell. He made sure the suite was secure and locked before he slid into his bath and let the warmth soak his skin.
He stayed in until his fingertips wrinkled before he toweled himself off and dressed in clean clothes. He inspected the room and couldn’t find evidence of the attempted murder from the night before, except for the ruined dark dimani wood on his wand.
As his thoughts freed up, he realized that he was hungry and hoped there would still be some breakfast in the duke’s private dining room. He found Pira at work on a plate of food when he entered. She wore a fresh gown, but her hair was pulled back into a thick dark braid. No elaborate coiffure today.
She blushed when she lifted her head. “You did it again,” she said.
“What, saved the princess?”
“No, you looked into my mind again.”
Ricky grimaced. “I didn’t mean to. I went deeper than I thought I would.” He took her arm. “I did a pretty good job, didn’t I?”
“That’s the wrong arm,” Pira said, looking peeved.
Ricky glanced at her other one. “No, I’m sure I worked on your left arm.”
Pira smiled a bit more broadly. “You are so easy to tease, Ricky.”
“You aren’t mad about the linking?”
“I am mad about the linking, but I was playing with you about the wrong arm. Sit next to me.”
Ricky filled a plateful of food and sat next to the princess. She took his hand and kissed it. “You do know how to communicate with a girl,” she said. “I bared my soul to you, once again, and I took advantage and looked inside yours.”
Ricky glanced down at his food.
“We are pledged.”
“Not formally,” Ricky said. “You must have seen my intentions. Especially after last night, you understand, don’t you?”
She smiled and nodded. “I always understood, but how can I be a strong-willed princess if I can’t let go once in a while?”
“And if I had invited you into my room?”
“We both might be dead. I think we would have gotten in each other’s way,” Pira said. “My boy has great instincts.”
“I thought we’d be safe in Cistia Palace.”
Pira nodded. “We are in peril until the king is dead,” Pira said.
“And the Botoyans are gone. The Order of the Curled Fist must succeed.”
Pira took his hand and curled his fingers. Ricky squeezed.
“A Sorcerer’s Fist will save us,” she said.
“Lot’s of fists, I’m afraid.” Ricky loosened his hand and began to eat. “As you are aware, healing is a task that makes you hungry.”
Pira rubbed her arm. “I can’t see Mirano Bespa doing a better job.”
“You aren’t t
hrough healing,” Ricky said. “I put things back together, but now your body needs to complete the knitting that I started.”
“But there is no scar.” She said rubbing her arm.
“Don’t rub your arm too hard or your skin will split open, and blood will spurt out everywhere!” Ricky said.
Pira’s eyes grew, and her jaw dropped.
“Not your prettiest expression, Princess,” Ricky said smiling.
“You were joking, weren’t you?” She hit Ricky in the shoulder, but then withdrew her arm. “I see what you mean. Healed, but not knitted.”
“A good breakfast eaten in silence will help,” Ricky said smiling.
Pira pulled her hand back to hit him again but remembered and put it in her lap. “I will eat in silence with you.”
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Six
~
P ira took Ricky’s hand and kissed it as they strolled through the Lady’s Garden. Their tour was indefinitely postponed. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You already have,” Ricky said.
“Thank you for healing me.” She kissed his hand again.
“Enough with your thanks,” Ricky said. “You fought off your assassin long enough for me to arrive. Killing the man was a group effort on our part. Teamwork.”
Pira squeezed his hand as they continued to walk. “We are a good team.”
Ricky patted her hand, “So we are.”
Pub approached them. “The duke would like to speak with us.”
Ricky and Pira followed him back into the palace and up to the duke’s study. Noacci was still dressed in his robe.
“Ricky and Pira, have a seat. I called you here because I wanted a pledge from you that if something happens to me that Pub and his wife and Rachael are taken care of.”
“I don’t know why you’d want such a thing,” Ricky said. “I don’t see why they can’t continue on in their current positions.”
Noacci smiled. “Something in writing would give me more comfort. I don’t know what will happen shortly. In any conflict, lives can be lost in an instant. We saw the peril of that last night. I am putting something in my will for my cousins. I’d like your pledge that you will honor it. Pub, Rachael, and I grew up together.”
“I agree,” Ricky said. He looked at Pub standing close by. “Allegiances may shift, but regardless, I will honor my pledge.”
Ricky sat looking at Duke Noacci and wondered why the Duke was doing this. He sang the compulsion counterspell. Pub remained standing, unaffected, but the Duke slumped in his chair.
“Dino!” Pub said rushing to his cousin’s side.
He had never given Noacci protection from compulsion, so Ricky sang a protection spell over the duke. Pira looked shocked as Ricky invoked an interrogation spell over Pub.
“Are you a sorcerer?” Ricky asked.
“No.”
“Who put the compulsion spell on the duke?”
“A sorcerer from Sealio.”
“One of the sorcerers that Duke Noacci has at Cistia Palace?”
Pub frowned. “No. One of the University sorcerers.”
“Is the sorcerer still in Firali? Where is he or she staying?”
“The Ducal Grace. It is all my fault,” Pub said looking miserable.
“What is all your fault?”
“I worried about what might happen if Dino died at the king’s hand and you survived. I wanted protection no matter what happened. After last night, when you defeated Captain Arriana, I began to think that a person of your capability might survive. I panicked and let Rosanno in to spell my cousin.”
“Was Arriana compelled?”
Pub nodded his head. “I introduced him to Rosanno.” Pub’s eyes began to well with tears.
“You knew about the assassination attempts?”
Pub, now sobbing, nodded his head.
Noacci began to stir. “My head. I suppose I was compelled?”
Ricky looked at Pub. “When did the sorcerer enter the palace and put the compulsion spell on the duke?”
Pub broke down again, shaking his head. “I was only trying to protect my wife.”
“And yourself,” Noacci said.
“Is Rachael in on this?” Ricky asked.
Pub sighed. “A spy from Sealio persuaded me to make a few introductions.”
Noacci grabbed his aching head in his hands. “I can’t trust you again. Arrange to leave, but you are ordered to stay in the palace until Ricky has removed this Rosanno creature. The only thing that stays my hand is your service to me until now, until this betrayal.”
Ricky shivered at the ice in the duke’s voice.
The duke turned to Ricky. “I am asking you to take Bocca along with a few soldiers and take Rosanno’s life.”
Ricky nodded and left with Pira following.
“You are going to kill the sorcerer?”
“That will probably happen. Botoyan sorcerers rarely listen to reason,” Ricky said as he strapped on his sword and placed his damaged wand back in its case.
By the time he made it to the courtyard, Bocca and four soldiers were approaching from the palace’s barracks.
“A servant asked us to immediately come here. They mentioned that Puboli Bennetto is a traitor?” Bocca asked Ricky.
“He is. Evidently, the duke is letting Pub and his wife live since they are lifelong friends,” Ricky said. “We have a sorcerer to catch. Which way to the Duke’s Grace?”
“It will be faster to walk quickly than waiting for mounts,” one of the soldiers said. He took off across the courtyard.
The fancy inn was across a tree-filled park that ran along the front of the palace. Ricky followed the soldier and stopped as a breathless Pira, now wearing her leather flying outfit, joined him. She carried her wand.
“I was attacked, too,” she said.
“Stay close so I can shield you.”
“How will we recognize him?” Pira said.
“He will be the person who starts singing,” Ricky said.
They reached the inn. A horse burst out of the stableyard.
“Down!” Ricky said as a fireball headed their way.
It hit one of the guards. The man collapsed in a ball of flame.
They rose. The soldiers ran to douse their burning comrade. “He got away.”
“No, he didn’t. The chase is on,” Ricky said.
“Pira?” She nodded to him, and they both ascended into the air.
Ricky scanned the streets, looking for someone riding hard.
“There he is!” Pira pointed towards the west.
“He might be heading for Amarine,” Ricky said. “Rosanno probably thought he would throw off his pursuit, thinking we’d head north towards Sealio. Let him ride out of Firali, first. I don’t want any more bystanders hurt.”
They followed behind the sorcerer who had no idea Ricky and Pira flew above him. The man’s horse forced its way past a guard station and onto a road packed with travelers.
“Now,” Ricky said. “Stay well behind me.”
He descended. The sorcerer looked back but didn’t notice the pair of them flying in the air behind him. Ricky waited for a break in the traffic and then moved closer, reaching out with his hand and sang the sorcerer to sleep. The fugitive leaned back and bounced on the horse’s hindquarters before his feet loosened from the stirrups and he fell off the horse, rolling into a heap on the road.
They both landed. Ricky checked to see if the sorcerer was alive. The man had broken bones, but he still breathed.
“Are you going to kill him?”
Ricky shook his head. “His injuries are probably fatal, but I want to interrogate him first.”
He sang the spell of interrogation while Pira directed the travelers on the road around Ricky and the sorcerer. Then he loosened the veins in the sorcerer’s neck. The man awakened, groaning.
“What is your name?”
“Fellia Rosanno.” The man kept his eyes shut to deal with the pain.
&n
bsp; “Did you enchant Captain Arriana with a compulsion spell?”
“I did. He was to kill the sorcerer, and two of his men were to kill the princess and the duke. They failed.”
The man continued to moan, but the spell kept him responsive. He must have hurt so badly that he made no attempt to fight the spell.
“What was Puboli Bennetto’s role?”
“The man is a fool. He wanted his safety both ways. I promised him a royal pardon if he helped me find men for the assassinations. I would have killed him before I left Firali were it not for the soldiers.” The sorcerer coughed up blood.
“Are there others in the city who work for King Leon against Duke Valian?”
“Others?” the sorcerer said and then grimaced. “No. I’ve been waiting for months in Firali for the duke to return. There are others in Applia positioned to do the same. You must get word to them that the duke is still alive.”
He finally opened his eyes and looked up at Ricky.
“You!” he croaked.
“Me. Your fall is soon to be fatal. Say a quick prayer to whatever god you cherish.”
The sorcerer called on Botoy to take him into his bosom. That was all Ricky needed to know. He closed the neck veins and let the sorcerer die peacefully.
“You killed him, after all.”
“Count it a mercy killing. He had extensive injuries. I just sped things along a bit. He was in a great deal of pain while he answered my questions.”
“So Pub was merely a tool.”
“We saved his life as much as anyone’s,” Ricky said. “Let’s find the horse, and we can talk on the way back to The Duke’s Grace.”
The sorcerer’s horse wasn’t far from where Rosanno fell, chewing on some roadside grass. Ricky took the purse off the dead man and used it to pay a passing wagon to take the body to the palace.
“No saddlebags. That means the sorcerer left everything in his room,” Ricky said. He got up on the horse and helped Pira sit behind him.
“Captain Arriana didn’t need to die,” Pira said.
“Nor the other two. Compulsion is a very bad spell. Pub might have had an excuse had the sorcerer compelled him, too, but the man was a fool. I thought evil people wouldn’t need compulsion spells, like Ducri Wamia. But fools don’t need to be compelled, either,” Ricky said.