021 - Acclimation, Orientation, Initial Goals

Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 1

Retrospectively, my first complete day on a different planet – I am farther away than any of the NASA boys ever got.

Waking first, Caspian took opportunity to do for Steven what he had not done for himself before leaving for Terra. He had to use himself for a source, but then asking anyone else to stand still would have been potentially problematic. Caspian then cast a spell that copied Caspian’s knowledge of his native language and implanted it into Steven’s mind. It would take several days to work out and for Steven to get to fluency, but once done he could then communicate with at least some of the natives.

Steven slept until lunch. He had not slept this long in a long time, but felt fully refreshed. The language had not yet taken hold, but Caspian did not expect it to yet; Steven could only try to gesture what he wanted, as there were no common words between what Steven could speak and what the locals could. The refreshment did not last, as he collapsed just after dinner and did not wake until a little before dawn.

This village being little more than a way point for the local high mountain herders and trappers, there was little for Steven to equip with. Also they mentioned that the Krogg Caravan had kept to itself, and had left before afternoon the day before; there were no extra women with them when they left.

This bothered Caspian as it meant that they probably had already disposed of Roxanne, and he had to find her first, before trying to go after the children. He tried to explain this to Steven the next morning as they hiked out from the village.

Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 2

What have I gotten into?

Steven called him on that. “What do you mean by that?”

Caspian responded, thinking carefully. “Your children are safe enough while they are in the caravan’s care. They are two days or so south of us now. They have most of a season’s travel south to their destination. We can catch them by sea with relative ease. But your wife could be in greater trouble. She can’t communicate with any of the locals, and there are some who would kill her or worse, should they discover her heritage.”

Steven was slightly puzzled. “Kill her just because she is not from around here?”

Caspian shook his head. “No. Kill her because she is descended from an elf. She is a half-elf. Her mother and grandmother were only children, and only bore daughters. Her grandmother is too youthful for her age; all three of them look almost identical. Her great-grandmother died within days of her husband. That is because that great-grand was an elf, from one of the clans’ local to this planet. There are some who think that kind of interbreeding should not happen and will kill the offspring out of hand, if they can.”

Steven had to think about this. “How do you know so much about my wife’s family?”

Caspian waved this off. “Alistare Kevan is the contact for all who travel to your planet from this one, at least for those who know about him. It is part of his job to keep tabs on all the immigrants and their families, and to keep the new arrivals out of trouble. He has a chart with your wife’s pedigree, and where you all live.”

Steven bristled at this. “That’s an invasion of privacy.”

Caspian just continued. “If he used it for nefarious purposes, yes. To keep people out of trouble, well, that’s his job. As for some of what I said, that is common knowledge about half-breeds, to those who know. Their lifespan links to their mates; so they die near the same time, while aging inwardly almost as slow as a full elf does. They only breed to their own sex, and only once. That you have two is truly rare, and marks your family as special.”

Caspian had to bite his tongue from saying any more. He wanted to tell more, but did not think Steven would be able to absorb any more, for now. As it was, he would have Steven’s acclimation to mana to watch for, on top of everything else.

They were hiking through a forest with dense enough cover that Steven could not clearly see the sky. They walked through the early spring forest, with buds and blooms around them, and patches of snow not yet melted. The trees were larger than Steven had seen in most of the forests he had been in. They also looked to have survived several fires, with few low hanging branches, and little accumulation on the floor. The air seemed both heavier and more energizing. Steven had also noticed that everything seemed to be a bit heavier. At first he though it was just fatigue. Once he could march forty miles and still have energy to make a sniper hide; now he was acknowledging to himself that he was not in as good shape as he once had been. He did spot tracks of several different critters, but while they looked patterned, he could not put specific animals to the tracks from memory.

Steven hiked a bit in silence, then stopped and looked around, and at the tracks on the trail they were following. “You say that this caravan is heading south. You said that Rox is probably not with them. Which way are we headed?”

Caspian had not stopped. “West. To find the right trees to make the replacement trackers, I need to get to a lower elevation. The fastest way is west. New trackers, and then we can see where to go to find Roxanne and your kids.”

Steven caught up. “Why not just teleport?”

Caspian remembered asking this question as a child to his own father. “To teleport safely, by any of the known methods, one needs to know where he is going. To open a gate, one usually needs a known object to focus on. For what I need, I don’t know exactly where I need to go. Just teleporting a straight line distance has the danger of damaging either the caster, or whatever the caster has his spell shunt out of his way. No, ethical and polite teleporter’s don’t do that.”

Steven had one last important question, to Caspian’s judgment, at the moment.

Steven asked it. “How many days march to where you can get your stuff?”

Caspian was quick to respond. “Five days. Maybe six, depending on the pace you can keep.”

They continued hiking west all day. Steven kept wavering between this being all some kind of hoax, and taking it at face value.

The forest continued to have a sparse tree population compared to what he knew in the Tahoe Basin and Sierra Nevada area, with few low hanging branches, but the upper canopy was thick enough that the sky could not clearly be seen. It reminded Steven of some of the forests he had seen in Washington and Oregon, and some few parts of Germany. It rained from time to time, but with the canopy of trees, it only drizzled on Steven and Caspian as they marched through the forest.

*          *          *

Margot Winslow always enjoyed going to visit her daughter, and grandkids. The cleaner air and altitude of Carson Valley agreed with her. Her husband, Mike, on the other hand despised any gain in altitude, equating that with getting cold. He refused to travel to Tahoe in the winter. In lighter moments he claimed to be allergic to snow. Margot, on the other hand, enjoyed snow, so long as it was not moving sideways. She had seen enough of that growing up in Nebraska. For her purposes she was well enough off in Santa Cruz, California.

Now events happened that had left her wondering a few things. First were the strange dreams, about flying through space. Then there was the phone call. She had heard of Judge Kevan; that he was a good judge to go before, and a stern man personally.

When he called Thursday evening to report that Roxanne and the kids had been abducted, Margot was devastated. Then when he said that his best investigator was on the case, and to call Steven and tell him to trust the investigator, and go with him, that had been strange. More so was that he had only given a single name, “Detective Caspian.” That was different. But her instincts said that this was all right. Last he said that Roxanne and the kids had been taken back to Margot’s grandmother’s home world, Tywacomb. That was something she had not ever told Roxanne, or Mike. Her grandmother had said that if that name was invoked, to follow her instincts. So she called, and relayed the message.

She then told of this to Mike.

The next day, Friday, Margot had gone to Sacramento, and found this Judge Kevan, and taken him to lunch. The information they shared was quite startling, to both of them. He had been surprised that she had known that her grandmother was an elf from another planet. When he had told her of the origin of the kidnappers, she quickly put together that Rox and the kids had been taken to her grandmother’s home world. Then he mentioned that Caspian and Steven had already left in pursuit. Margot was a bit dumbfounded by this. She left lunch promising to keep in touch.

She drove to her husband’s work place, and told him everything she knew, start to finish. And also why there was no good reason that Roxanne had not been told of her half-breed status. They decided to do what ever they could to keep things in order.

When she finally got back to her office, for the last 20 minutes of the day, she found two messages from a Sheriff Deputy investigating the abduction, one from Judge Kevan, and a handful from her work she had neglected that day. She told her secretary, partners, and boss generally what she had been up to. Also that this might take up unexpected time in the next while.

She then planned to drive up to Roxanne’s place on Sunday, see the deputy then, and take care of the house. Mike begged off the trip, having other things he wanted to do. Margot recognized it as his dislike for traveling, for personal not being the same as important, his recognition of her abilities, and let it go.

So here she was taking a Sunday drive from Santa Cruz through Tahoe, going to her daughter’s house to finish cleaning it up and to close it up until Roxanne and Steven returned. She arrived just after ten a.m. and let herself in.

022 - Margot Crosses Swords

Doris Winchel watched a strange car pull up in front of the Caplan house. A Toyota Corolla with California plates and what looked like some extra fancy work done to it. After a moment, a woman got out. Doris almost jumped, thinking for a moment that this was Roxanne. But this woman was dressed in slacks and a nice blouse, where Roxanne would wear jeans and a tee-shirt. Also her hair was snow-white in color, but pulled back in the same kind of tail that Roxanne routinely wore, if a bit longer. And Roxanne never carried a purse like that one.

Doris watched the woman walk up the driveway at the Caplan’s and decided that she had better go see what she was about. Especially after Steven’s call asking her to watch the place. She put her current project down, wiped her hands on her apron, and picked up the ring of keys that she had been given. She walked next door, and found the door closed, the strange woman evidently having gone inside. Doris knocked, and waited. After a moment the strange woman opened the door. Again for a brief moment she thought she this was Roxanne. But this woman, while almost a physical match, was visibly older.

“I’m from next door. Are you here to visit Roxanne and Steven?”

The woman looked Doris over, and then pointed at her. “Mrs. Duncan, right?”

“Mrs. Winchel, dear; how can I help you?”

“I’m Roxanne’s mother, Margot. Steven asked me to come and take care of whatever I found. But he didn’t mention you.” Margot looked a bit puzzled.

Mrs. Winchel thought a moment. “Oh, I remember, you visited last summer. I watch everybody’s houses around here.” Doris stepped inside, causing Margot to step back. “Steven called me Thursday night, after everything happened and asked me to watch the place while they were gone. So, where shall we begin?” Doris turned and entered the kitchen, looking around.

Margot was a bit put off. Here was this woman in her apron barging in like she owned the place, and offering help. ‘Why not?’ she thought to herself. Shrugging, Margot closed the door. She would have to remember Mrs. Winchel’s correct name. She had always been associated with donuts in Margot’s mind, just the wrong brand.

Margot had got out her clipboard and pen and walked the house, noting damage and messes. The back doors needed to be replaced, with the glass and frames cracked and broken, currently covered in plastic. The kids’ rooms were still jumbled. From there they went into the yard and around back to the garage, still noting things.

Margot unlocked and opened the side door to the garage, turning on the lights as Mrs. Winchel followed. Not having been in here before, Mrs. Winchel was immediately scandalized by the poster of the family that hung over the main doors. Having a print of the same that was portrait sized put away in her office at home, Margot paid the poster less heed than Roxanne ever did, and went through the place as quickly as she did the house and yard.

They went back to the house. As they went back into the kitchen they saw Deputy Poulson in his car in the driveway, making notes to himself. Margot went out, and knocked on his window. He rolled it down.

“Can I help you?” Margot leaned over to look into his car.

‘Yes. Just a moment.” He finished his note, and closed his binder. Then he got out.

Deputy Poulson realized that this woman stood taller than he did, and looked a bit familiar, but could not place why.

“I am Deputy Poulson, Douglas County Sherriff. I am looking for Steven Caplan.”

”Steven is not here, just now. Would you like to come in and have a sandwich while we talk?”

After a moment, Deputy Poulson accepted the invitation.

 Mrs. Winchel had made some sandwiches and juice while Margot had been out side.

Deputy Poulson followed Margot into the kitchen and found his digital recorder on the kitchen counter. He wound it back to listen to it, and scowled a bit in disappointment. By that point, they had all gathered around the kitchen table. Mrs. Winslow had placed three plates with sandwiches and three glasses of juice around and sat down at the head of the table. Margot also sat, opposite the last empty seat for the deputy. He started by turning on the recorder.

“For the record, who are you, and how are you related to all this?” Deputy Poulson had his notebook and pen ready.

Margot smiled a slightly predatory smile. She was a corporate lawyer, not a court-room lawyer, but did enjoy the occasional word-fight. “I am Margot Winslow, mother to Roxanne Caplan, mother-in-law to Steven Caplan, and grandmother to Diana and Alexander Caplan.”

Deputy Poulson’s pen scratched, as he understood why she looked familiar. “How much do you know of what happened here, last Thursday?”

“I know that my daughter, Roxanne, and grandchildren, Diana and Alex, were kidnapped by two thugs. They broke in the back door, and evidently chased the kids to their rooms. I presume my daughter intervened, and was taken with when they left. What have you been doing to track their movements?” Margot started to lay ground for an offensive.

Deputy Poulson countered, he had not sat down yet. “I am asking the questions right now. Is there any reason that you can think of for Steven Caplan to want to do anything or have anything done to his wife and children?”

Margot held her offense at this question for later. “Yes. He loves them and would do all in his power to want to get them back in his care and protection. Is Steven a suspect?”

Deputy Poulson still held his cool, refusing to be baited. “Is there any reason you can think of that Roxanne would need to hide from Steven, or take the children and run?”

Margot took this as an insult and volleyed it back. “Is there any reason for your wife to?”

“I am not under investigation here, ma’am. A breaking and entering and possible kidnapping is.”

Margot started on the offensive. “And what have you found so far? Are there tracks leading to or from the yard? And where do they go? And what of the dogs injuries? Did they have any evidence that might identify who did this?”

Deputy Poulson had not conducted many investigations like this. Most of the crime in the area was kids getting up to trouble, or fell into the jurisdiction of the local Tribal Police. As such he was starting to feel a bit out of his depth. But having this grandmother upset was something he thought he was able to handle.

Mrs. Winchel calmly ate her sandwich, staying out of the fight.

“Ma’am, that information is still being developed. We are trying to follow up on everything. Can you tell me where Steven Caplan may have gone to on or after Thursday evening?” For some reason, he began to feel a subtle pressure on the back of his mind to leave.

Margot started to verbally maneuver in on him. “Yes, he went after the thugs who kidnapped his wife and kids.”

Deputy Poulson continued to write. “You know this how?”

“Because I talked to him on the phone while you were here, with the private detective. And I know my son-in-law.”

 He stopped, and turned back through his notes. “You know this Detective Caspian?” The pressure was increasing. Not anything dangerous, more like a bad smell at the back of his mind.

“Not personally, no.”

“Do you know a Judge Kevan?”

Margot smiled a bit more. She could see the Deputy was reacting to something, but was not aware it was more Caspian’s spell than her. “Have you done your homework on that yet?”

Deputy Poulson was getting tired of this woman, as his unease at being in the house increased. “Answer the question please.”

“You tell me what you already know; I will tell you if I know anything more.”

“Do you or do you not know of any persons known as Judge Kevan?”

“If you were eavesdropping on my conversation with my son-in-law, then you know the answer to that.”

Deputy Poulson tried to move this forward. “Fine; how do you know Judge Kevan, of Sacramento?”

Margot’s smile dropped. “I have done a little business before his District Court. If you had already done your homework, you either already know that, or you don’t have it back yet and are on a fishing expedition. Are you trying to pin this on my son-in-law? You have been told the truth by everyone involved. Why don’t you want to believe it?”

Deputy Poulson lost a bit of his cool, which for him on duty was a big deal. The pressure at the back of his mind to leave was increasing. “Because I am not being give the whole truth. More is going on here, than anyone is willing to tell me.”

“You have as much information as any of us has to give you. You haven’t done your homework, or are jumping ahead to find a conclusion without support. You evidently think Steven is your primary suspect, ignoring that he was out of the area, and has no motive. Go look somewhere else, and stay out of the private lives of my daughter and son-in-law.” Margot found herself moving into the tone she had sometimes used to chew out Roxanne as a child.

Deputy Poulson almost rounded on Margot. “Ma’am, I am just here trying to collect as much information as I can.”

Margot cut him off. “And you have shown that there is nothing new for me to give you, which you would not have if you had done your homework. We are done, for now. You can leave. You know where the door is.”

Margot got up, with Mrs. Winchel following, having sat and watched the duel. Margot waited a few moments longer.

“Deputy, you have been invited to leave. You will go now, before I consider preferring trespassing charges.”

“One last question. You said you did business before a court. Can you say what you profession is?”

Margot smiled. “I am a Lawyer.”

Deputy Poulson, seeing that he would not get anything farther, and the pressure at the back of his mind starting to override his discipline and come into the front of it, he picked his notebook and recorder up and left.

Margot and Mrs. Winchel finished their sandwiches and drinks, and then commenced to clean the house, starting with the lunch dishes. Josh Fitch knocked on the door as they were finishing up. He explained that he had seen people here, and wanted to know what was going on. He then told them about his truck, and Rox helping with it. Margot knew nothing about this, though Mrs. Winchel did. She asked Josh to return later, and they could talk all about what was going to happen. But first they needed to finish straightening up. So he left, promising to return.

Mrs. Winchel left just after, to finish her house work, and left Margot to the laundry. By the time things were ready to be folded and put away, Mrs. Winchel had returned, and began vacuuming the living room after moving all the furniture to one end of the room. They got everything folded, and put away. The kid’s beds were put back together.

Margot plugged the phone in, and called Leticia, to confirm with her that she was getting the mail, and tending to the bills. Finished, she unplugged the phone again.

About mid-afternoon, a stranger showed up at the door, asking for Roxanne, and about picking up the Camero. Roxanne had already arranged to sell the car to him, and finish the deal this day. Margot found the business records, and a bill of sale, and finished the deal with a note that she was a third party conducting it. She then led him around back. As he watched, she pulled the car out of the garage, and left it for him. They closed the garage again, and he drove away. Margot then looked at the various piles of truck parts, and the two trucks in process. This reminded her of Josh.

 Margot left the cashiers check with the mail and a note to Leticia what it’s about.

Mrs. Winchel was now out tending her flower beds, and simply moved on to take care of Steven’s. Margot figured they had to be Steven’s because Roxanne could not even grow mold.

Finally Mr. Winchel came home from his errands, and Mrs. Winchel called Josh and had him come over. They worked things out that Josh could work on his truck, but only when Mr. Winchel was there. And he had to clean up everything. Margot also arranged to have Mr. Winchel drive the truck with the trailer for the errands that needed to be run, again with Josh along, and only for these related errands, and they have to buy the gas. This arrangement was added to the note to Leticia.

When everything was done, Margot bid farewell to the Winchel’s and Josh, and arranged to come by every few weeks. Then just for fun, she showed off for Josh what Roxanne had done to Margot’s Toyota. The two black stripes disappeared by mid summer.

023 - We Are Not In Nevada Anymore

Breakfast was as noteworthy as dinner, healthy but nondescript.

Roxanne found that as the wagons moved through this hill country, the only comfortable position was to stand and hold onto the bars above her, as the cart pitched and rocked about. Looking at the trees and other plants, Rox guessed that wherever she was, the season was still in spring. The air was cool, but not uncomfortable, so long as she had the blanket to hold around her. It rained about a half hour every day.

The other slaves were all significantly shorter than she was. Two of them were children, a boy and girl, which reminded her of Alex and Diana, but were both more thickly built. One probably a teen, or at least a pubescent male. And the last an adult woman. All were fair skinned, but not of any specific stock that Rox could identify. For what ever reason, they stayed well clear of her. Almost as if they were scarred of her. “Schwaer,” they would whisper, the adult making some kind of warding gesture.

About mid afternoon, they rolled into a guard post that sat in the opening between two valleys. The guards, wearing green tunics over maile hauberks, inspected the wagons with the three slavers in tow and a manifest in hand. The inspection finished, and the man and chief guard got into a haggling match.

Evidently the guard wanted more than the slaver wanted to pay. Finally the slaver threw up his hands. He turned with the guard, and the woman also came over, and they opened the door to the wagon. The other slaves just sat and waited. The guard looked them briefly over, then pointed at Rox and spoke.

The guard stepped back, and the woman motioned for Rox to come over. Rox was not sure what was going on, but guessing from the body language did as she thought she was bidden, leaving the blanket behind. They cleared out of the way and Rox climbed out onto the ground. The woman put the leash on Rox’s slave collar, and handed the end to the man. The man took a board with a piece of parchment on it from the guard, and wrote on it, and handed the board and leash to the guard and walked away.

The small slave train left Rox there, wearing only her slave collar. Once it was gone, some of the guards started to carouse with each other, but were immediately deterred by a barked order from the leader, and one of them went and got Rox a blanket to wrap in. She was taken into the guard house and left there, not quite under watch, for the rest of the day. She was given a respectable dinner of meat and vegetables and bread, with a fermenting fruit juice to wash it down. She was then shown a bath house and allowed to clean herself up, and then shown to a cot to sleep on.

Mid morning the day after being paid as tax, Rox was finally given ill-fitting trousers and a tunic, and loaded onto a wagon with two guards who were evidently making the rounds. A manifest was signed, and a chest from the structure replaced with one from the wagon, as another wagon unloaded supplies. The two wagons were on their way in time to get to the next guard station for lunch.

Thus for the next few days Rox got to be a passenger, on a free tour of wherever she was.

*          *          *

Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 5

Caspian can march as well as any Marine I can remember.

Caspian finally stopped for the evening at a camp beside a small stand of trees. They had left the forest behind just after lunch and now traveled across grassland. The sun was going down while Steven gathered some sticks to make a fire with. Once the wood was gathered, Caspian scratched his usual circle around the camp. Steven had the fire going and the food ready to cook when Caspian sat down. A log set up by some other travelers was just right for sitting on. The spring nearby was a plus, providing their first non-stream water in several days. Steven laid his bedroll out after cleaning up the dishes, and Caspian lay down to sleep, wrapping up in his cloak.

This night was the first one they spent under the stars, having finally left the canopy of the forest. There was a boulder here on one side of the camp. Steven sat on the top of the boulder, as Caspian settled for the night. Steven watched the stars come out for the first time in a long time. Partly in wonder, and partly in curiosity.

Steven was glad to finally be out from under the canopy of trees, and that there were no clouds at the moment. As a boy, he had been taught navigation by the stars. As the fire burned down to coals he turned his back to it to watch the sky. It was going to be a cool night, but the camp was such that most of the heat from the fire was reflected around. The few large boulders radiating heat were a bonus. He barely noticed. His interest was held by the sky. Steven stretched out on his back on a boulder, and watched the stars.

As the sky darkened it was not washed out, as Steven had otherwise expected. The light from any nearby settlements was not enough to brighten the sky, or wash anything out. All the stars that were to be seen were quickly visible. But they weren’t the stars he expected. Only one constellation was close to right, and it was in the wrong place. Also the Milky Way was too thick, and running the wrong direction. Roxanne’s star was completely gone. As he contemplated this, a moonrise caught his attention.

 “Come on, jar-head. Get it together. There is an explanation here somewhere.”

“What is a ‘jar-head’,” Caspian asked.

“When you join the marines, as one story goes, the first thing you do is take your brain out of your head and put it in a jar. They then issue you a new brain, full of only what they tell you. Then you are taught how not to use it. Just to react to the situation and not think about it. Thus a ‘jar-head.’”

“A curious concept. But typical of the military mentality, I suppose.”

The rising moon was too small to be the one he took for granted. And it did not show the same surface features. Steven dozed a bit, before the sky got brighter. A second moon followed the first across the sky. It did not move as fast as the first, but was larger. Still not as big as the one he was accustomed to seeing. There was only one conclusion.

“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more. So, is this over the rainbow, or down the rabbit hole?”

The glory of the heavens had Steven in slight awe as they moved above. But he was satisfied. This was real. Now what to do about it, and how to get back over the rainbow? Steven got up, put a small log on the coals, put his clothes aside, and crawled into bed. The world would keep until morning.

As he finally dozed off, a third moon began to climb across the sky.

When Steven dreamed, it took him a moment to realize that he was dreaming in a language other than English. As this realization happened, he slipped deeper into dream.

*          *          *

After several days of soggy, rainy travel on the wagons, stopping at two more guard stations, the wagon train Roxanne was part of was taken into a large city. She rode on the passenger seat of the lead cart, with her leash tied to the bench. She could pull the end, undoing the knot, and run off quickly enough if she wanted, but the guards had made clear enough that she would catch an arrow in her back if she tried. They rounded a tall hill and came into a large valley. Across the valley stretched farm lands to the south as far as she could see. To the north the valley ran into a lake of some size, on which there was much shipping. They were traveling west across the valley to a city that sat on the north foothills of a mountain range demarking the west side of the valley.

Rox had decided that the compass directions were only subjective relative to this planet’s sun, but adequate enough. It was morning, the sun not yet high in the sky. The sun was behind them, almost directly. A small moon was half way above the far horizon.

As they approached the city, it looked to Rox that it was built on the north slopes of the mountains here. About half of the city is not on the hills, this mostly within the fortress walls that ran from the base of the mountains north to the lake shore. The architecture looked to be mostly of arches and columns; pointed arches soared high, and rounded arches in stacks carried roads and smaller structures. At ground level there was little height change. As the city climbed the mountains, it did so in multiple levels of solid structures and arch demarked pillars supporting the ascending levels.

Four guards in blue tunics and renaissance-era armor had mounted the cart Rox rode on as it entered the gates of the city wall. The noise and bustle of the city was distracting and refreshing as they plied their way in. The driver guided the cart with familiar ease, while still watching for any trouble that might pop up. They were quickly into a warehouse district.

She still had not picked up much language. Mainly as the locals seemed to slur their nouns and verbs together, with the verbs being conjugated. The rest of the vocabulary and syntax went by so fast as to be all but incomprehensible. Never minding that the range of sounds the language used was more diverse than any she had heard at any length. She tried to listen and hear as much as she could as they traveled.

As the buildings passed, Rox had to reevaluate her appraisal of the city. Instead of building on the slopes of the mountain, they seemed to be carving into the rock, and building a multi-tiered city in place of the mountain. High roofs covered the sky above them, and carved canyons of mostly cut stone stood on either side. Windows and doors with columned arches over porches demarked the various levels. They climbed the hills, steps cut into the steeper climbs between smoother tracks for the carts. Large reflectors bounced light around to illuminate what the sun did not naturally get to.

Rox would later learn that the city expanded south along the slopes of the mountain range it sat on. The north end was finished buildings on terraces. As the expansion proceeded, the mountains were slowly being carved and mined. The mountains were very mineral rich providing an economic base, from the mines. Cut stone was quarried from other parts, and shipped in as needed, and the fortress city was expanded.

Buildings were built from the bedrock, columns and gothic arches and flying buttresses carrying the structures up from there with much reflected light; windows and balconies were arranged in terraces that echoed the rise of the mountain; fields and gardens were at irregular levels. Many reflectors and refractors dotted the area, from towers and individual houses. A water collection system scattered across the city, with catch basins on the roofs of most of the buildings. It rained regularly enough that most of the catch basins were at least half full all the time.

024 - Rox Gets Inspected

The guards brought the carts into a square of warehouses with clear sky visible above them, where a clerk appeared and went through the manifest of the cart with the driver, and witnessed it with the companion. The clerk then had Rox put in a small office, and the wagon taken elsewhere. Rox was given lunch, and then taken deeper into the complex, to a house of some kind.

These people were as thick built, and large as all else she had seen, and Rox quickly realized that she was taller than everybody, and absolutely skinny in comparison. And she still felt like she was carrying a bit of extra weight all the time. Finally, all the clues clicked. She had dismissed the vegetation before. But it was as thick and solid as the people. The only thing that she could think of to account for all this was that the gravity here was stronger than she was used to. Thus the inescapable conclusion was that these people were just all built that way by nature. With this, Roxanne realized that she had no accurate way to gauge the age of these people.

If Rox had had time to dwell on this line of thought, she might have been terrified by the enormity of the potential possibilities. Perhaps she would have been able to more quickly get her bearings on her situation. But time was not hers to spend, at this point. Here in the house a woman that Rox would have called stout took Rox aside and into a bathing room. She pointed and jabbered in the local language as she went. She then pointed to Rox, and handled the tunic like she would not dress a beggar in it.

The woman unhooked the leash, and pointed Rox at the bathing pool. Rox removed the tunic and trousers, and stepped into the tepid water. It circulated, but was not overly warm, and only came up to Rox’s thighs. Rox did not care. The woman tossed her a bag of powdered soap, and Rox used it to wash. Finished, she knelt and rinsed herself off, wrung out her hair, and scrubbed it with the soap. After a final rinse, she got back out, and the woman handed her a towel. The tunic and trousers were gone.

Once dry the woman handed Rox a large sheet. It had a slit in the middle for her head, and draped down to just above Rox’s knees, front and back. It was wide enough to wrap around her, but there was no belt. The leash was back on the collar at her neck, and the woman leading Rox out as quickly as that.

The woman then took Rox to a waiting cart. Rox’s leash was handed over to the cart driver. She climbed aboard, and gathered the drape around to cover herself. The cart this morning had two burly draft nearly-horses to pull it. This one had two small mules. They left this square, out into the streets of the city again.

They climbed a terrace, and finally entered a large park-like area, with walls on either side of the large open area. They went across this and through a gate into a courtyard surrounded by carved columns and cut stone structures. Here two guards, again in blue uniforms, approached and inspected the wagon and driver. One took Rox’s leash, and she got down. The second gave her a quick pat down through the drape, and then led her into a small office. Some papers were passed to the clerk at the desk. He looked them over, and then motioned to a chair and spoke. The meaning was obvious. Hurry up, and wait.

Rox had continued to notice other things about her surroundings. There was no visible cement, as such; plenty of carved rock and cut wood. The clerk was using a glass and metal pen and an ink well. The paper looked to be some cousin of parchment. There were no electric lights or mass consumption utilities beyond plumbing apparent anywhere. Everything looked to be hand made, and ranging in design from early dark-age to late Elizabethan. Then there were the smells; plenty of burnt wood, animals and their leavings, various food and non-food odors. This room was a bit musty from barely adequate air circulation. The clothing ran the gamut as well, though mostly utilitarian. From home spun and leather on the farmers she had seen come to market, to mass produced armor on the guards. The drape she wore was a tight weave of bleached cloth. It was almost white.

She was still cataloging this in review when a female guard appeared, more formally dressed but in the same basic blue uniform of all the guards in this complex. She was the tallest woman Rox had seen on this trip, but still most of a head shorter than Rox herself. Also most of the other guards had a pike or spear, as well as a short sword and a knife on their belts. This woman only had her sword on her belt. The clerk handed over what Rox had come to consider as her papers. The guard looked these over, and then took Rox’s leash. Rox stood on cue, and followed this guard woman. Two more guard women fell into step as they went through the door. They took Rox first through a receiving foyer, then into a hall. Rox noticed that the guards were a co-ed force, and that the women had a different cut of uniform, but with identical rank badges and coloring as the men.

The guards marched her down a long hall, and then turned through some doors into a large room. Within the building, the air seemed to circulate a bit. The halls were echoingly wide and tall with several tall stories visible, with a continuous row of windows on either side just below the roof letting in the majority of the light. Right now, they echoed slightly with the sound of a rain squall. Carved and cut columns of grey-white stone were spaced every so far, providing natural breaks in the passage and vaulted arches at their tops. The arched columns formed squares in the ceilings, with chandeliers hanging from every second or third vault. The floor appeared to be a continuous cut that had been smoothed by design and by unknown ages of traffic. Doors to rooms appeared every so far. The usual fittings, trappings and furniture of large places were along the walls, but Rox paid these little notice, save as potential weapons. People in formal dress of assorted varieties filled the halls and rooms with a low murmur. Rox had not ever been to Europe or its Gothic Cathedrals, but what she had learned of them kept coming back to her as an architectural reminder.

They entered a side gallery on the left side of the hall. This room had full length windows between carved columns on the wall opposite the doors they just entered. There was also a large set of doors in the center of the wall to the right as they entered. Furniture was placed throughout the room forming conversation pits and isles for people to move about in, and was full of people apparently waiting. Rox had never paid much attention to the activities in the halls of government, but believed the saying about not seeing politics and sausage being made. Some people sat or stood aloof from everything around them, including each other. Others were clustered in groups chattering or whispering. A few pages were also circulating, the young boys and girls being easy enough to spot. The guards lead Rox over to one side. A page came over, and talked briefly with the head woman. The page finished and the guard nodded as the page formally turned and left.

Rox just held the drape closed, and felt the cold polished stone under her feet, as she watched the crowd move in a kind of brownian motion. Every so often a page would get someone, and take them to the large doors, where a small woman and a huge guard waited. The woman would then take the person or group through the doors, which opened from within.

As well as the people, Rox also looked at the statues and decoration of the room. It was tasteful if a bit overwrought, none of it in a familiar style.

Then the door-page came to them. He spoke to the head woman, and the five of them moved to the little woman and burly guard at the door. Rox decided that she would rather tangle with the guy than the woman if she ever had to fight either one. He looked like he would be the easier one of the two.

They passed through the doors, and into a waiting room. This room was much darker, as there were no windows. Here the guards stopped, and pulled the drape off of Rox. Rox was about to protest but a herald announced them and they marched into the throne room.

The room was smaller than the previous gallery, but was evidently more important. A throne sat behind a desk, and both sat on the front of a raised dais straight across the room. Windows and columns lined the wall to Rox’s left, with a row of seats, evidently for ministers. On the right was a wall with another set of doors in its middle and windows in the top half. Guards flanked the doors. War trophies of arms and banners were hung on the walls.

The King was a man of adult years, but a bit older than average. He looked to be a large man, giving a bit to age, but still capable of much physical activity. To his right, in a chair a step down from the dais, sat a darker-than-average-skinned dark haired woman in a green dress with a large jeweled necklace that hung almost like a breastplate, and other jewelry about her arms and legs. The dress looked more like a drape similar to what Rox had been wearing, that was tied at her waist, exposing her relatively long and shapely legs. Rox briefly thought she was The Queen, but quickly dismissed that, as there was another chair set back out of the way on the dais. A page took Rox’s papers, and put them on The King’s desk.

The absurdity of all this hit Rox for a moment. She had no idea what was to befall her. Her children were in some other unknown place being carried farther away with each moment, and she was powerless to stop it. Further she had no idea if Steven would ever be able to find them, or her. And here she was in some unknown place with gravity heavier than she had grown up with, naked as a newborn, and in a King’s throne room.

The King looked the papers he had been given over, and handed them to the woman in green. They conversed briefly, as the woman looked them over. She then got up and put the papers on the desk as she stepped down and approached Rox, and her three guards. As she approached Roxanne realized that the green dress was cut open down to her belt in front, with some other translucent material underneath, also slit like the top piece. None of the rest in the room reacted as though what was happening was fully unusual. The ministers muttered to themselves. The guards watched everything and nothing. The King put her papers aside, and picked up another and began reading it, ignoring all else going on.

The woman in green came close and touched Rox’s mouth, quickly feeling all her teeth through her cheeks. She judged her hair, poked her thigh and calf, felt her forearm and upper arm, and noticed the state of Rox’s fingers, toes, and nails. As she was examined, Rox was able to get a better look at this woman. Her straight unrestrained hair was a very dark brown, her features angular and starting to show the lines of age. Her eyes were an off-green color. She stood up to Rox’s chin at full height.

The woman did something completely strange to Rox, reaching into a pouch in her sash, and began chanting quietly as she flicked some powder on her. Rox perceived some energy organize, bond to her briefly, and fade, leaving her tingling. This sensation passed so quickly that Rox did not have time to examine it. The woman then poked and prodded her torso, not much different than a physical, but not invasive. Along the way, Rox realized that she was suddenly able to understand the language being spoken, and the room brightened and intensified in color slightly but perceptibly, as her ears and scalp tingled.

The woman suddenly spoke up, getting The King’s attention. “She is strong, and potentially fertile. She has born one man two children.”

The King took mild interest, not putting the paper down. “She is already mated? I will not take another man’s mate. Is there any thing else she can do?”

The woman turned back and using a few other things cast another spell.

Rox perceived energy center on her head and torso, and then dissipate again.

The woman looked pleased by the result, though obviously unsure of something. “She is educated and intelligent, strong of body and spirit. And she has potential for magic.”

The King considered this, then waved his hand to shoo them away. “Take her. She is in your care until her mate comes to buy her back, or she buy’s he own freedom. See to her clothing and lodging and return. I would have you in attendance when I receive the ambassadors.”

The woman bowed, then motioning to the guards walked to the doors to Rox’s right. The guards and Rox followed.

025 - New Patterns And Old Ones

As they moved through the palace, the escort guards fell off until there was just one guardswoman left holding her leash, as they walked. The woman in green led the way from the throne room in to the heart of the complex. As they walked, Roxanne noticed the back of her green dress was cut to the waist as the front was. The guards and other passers-by all paid deference to the woman as she went. Roxanne just did the best she could to look dignified, as she followed wearing only a slave collar, with a comparatively large female guard holding her leash. To her relief, most of the people were too involved in their own activities to gawk.

They ascended several levels up a well with stairs around the perimeter. Columns of several sizes stood at regular intervals, demarking squares of area. They passed into a guarded area and up to a large set of closed doors on the right side of a hall, between columns. The door guards opened the right hand door and the woman in the green dress stepped in, leaving the door open for Roxanne and her escort to follow.

This hall was taller than the one they left, having windows above the ceiling line of the previous hallway letting in sunlight. Roxanne thought how the house Steven and she lived in would fit in this space with room to spare. The columns and squares motif and design continued here. The woman in green was already heading down this hall. More double doors lined the hall on either side between columns at regular intervals. Torch and candleholders were interspersed among the banners hung against the walls. With the light coming in the high windows the torches were not lit.

The woman pointed at the first set of doors on the left as they came in. “These rooms on the left are yours, for now. The ones on the right are mine. You don’t go in there without an invitation. You will find a wash room beyond the bedchamber. Keep them clean. We will furnish them later.”

The woman moved swiftly to the end of the hall. The stone floor in this hall was cold to stand on, but tolerable. Rox realized that the floors she had been walking on to this point had been comfortably warm. However it was her lack of modest attire that most bothered Rox, but she was in no position to say anything. They came to the end of the hall, and the woman opened a pair of double doors. After grabbing the single lit torch in the hall she went in the room. The guard and Roxanne followed.

 “Just wait by the door. The room needs to warm up. And I don’t want you to bump into anything.”

Rox was not sure if this was said to the guard, or her.

The woman made her way around a round room lighting torches in wall sconces, muttering to herself all the way along and opening curtains exposing glass windows. It was just before lunchtime here, the light radiating in, rather than shining directly. The room had an arched ceiling. Roxanne could not quite see more while her eyes adjusted to the light. As the woman came around, she spoke again, to the guard.

“Undo the bindings, and take them away. Then return to your duties.” She put the torch in an empty sconce, and started to poke around the shelves on one side of the room. She then left the room, still muttering.

The guard-woman spoke only as needful as she unlocked and removed the collar. The guard-woman then took the collar and leash and left, closing the doors to the suite as she went through them. Roxanne looked around at the room while waiting, both out of curiosity, and to find something to cover up with.

The room was round, in eight sections, with tables and shelves arrayed around the walls, regularly interspersed with seven large windows, their curtains now secured open. The door filled the place for the eighth window. The floor had several patterns and depressions cut in it, leaving the middle open, about 15 feet across. The tables had all sorts of bottles and jars scattered on them, as did most of the shelves. There was one table and shelf that looked to have direct light on it all day, which was covered with an orderly collection of books and papers. Roxanne began absently poking around the bottles on the closest of the tables when the woman came back in, her arms full of jars.

 “Get out of those. Disturb them wrong, and it could be dangerous.” The woman watched as Rox stopped and turned around.

“Good. The spell I cast to help you comprehend my language is working. From now on until I give leave otherwise, as my ‘slave’ and ‘apprentice’, you will not do anything without my permission. Now, stand here and be silent, unless spoken to.”

Rox moved to where she was bidden slightly upset at being a slave. But she also recognized that she had no power here. She was not forbidden to watch, so she did this with interest.

“You will address me as My Lady, and speak of me as The Sorceress.” The Sorceress said this as she put her armload of stuff on a small table to one side, and arranged it. Then she turned, and gave Rox an appraising look.

“Temperature variations have never meant very much to you, have they?”

Rox was not sure what this had to do with anything, but she had not achieved a second-degree black belt by being unwilling to accept a master. “No, my lady. I could wear a light jacket over my everyday clothes in the dead of winter and be comfortable.”

“Were you told to do anything with your newborn daughter? Words to say? Patterns to trace?”

“My lady, my mother and grandmother both told me the take the newborn; place it in a pentagram with the child’s head between the top two points, and to the north. Then to recite this phrase.” As Rox spoke the phrase, she sensed the power it invoked build in the air around her for a moment.

The Sorceress only nodded, pursing her lips. She considered something for a moment, than spoke again. “Your mother’s and grandmother’s hair silvered early?”

“Yes, my lady. I expect mine will come in in-force before my children are married.”

“I think much sooner than that.”

The Sorceress picked up a large masonry jug of something, and walked to a pattern carved in the stone floor. Then held the jug under one arm. “Come here. Lay on your back in the center of this circle, with your head here, and your body that way.” She pointed where and which direction on the carved floor. “Tell me your full name, then don’t say or do anything to break my concentration.”

The Sorceress then stood and waited as Rox moved onto the image, and lay down.

“Roxanne Clarice Winslow Michaelsdotor.”

The Sorceress then took and started to pour a thin stream of powder from the jug into the shallow circle, most of the way around, muttering as she went. Rox sensed power being organized as she was circled. The sorceress then placed several items at geometric points, and crossed into the circle. She then closed it and Rox felt the power organize, then expand no farther than the circles inner edge. The sorceress placed seven stones on Roxanne’s body, at positions corresponding to points her sensei had called chakra points. The Sorceress then took a flask of salt water, and splashed it on Rox’s belly. The sudden cool of it caused her to flinch slightly. The Sorceress then stepped back, and stood at Rox’s feet, and started a brief chant, which she repeated three times with slight variations. Rox felt more power organize, center on the seven stones and other items in the circle, and form a pattern. Also the water on her became uncomfortably warm. The Sorceress came to a crescendo as the power completely organized, and the water felt as if it were going to consume her whole body with fire, her head and ears especially. The whole time, the stones stayed cool with power swirling around them. Then the stones flared, the water ceased to burn, and the power peaked, and dissipated. When this was all done The Sorceress looked at Rox, with a satisfied look.

“I have just performed a general dispelling of magic on you, then reset the language spell. If you had given me your married name, rather than your birth name with a patronymic end, it would have gone quicker. You may set the stones aside, and go wash. As you do, take a good look at yourself in the looking glass. You will see your true features. Also you will find that your body temperature will raise some, and that you can sense more things than before. When you were an infant, you had a spell placed on you that hid your true features and a few other things about your body. It is the same spell that you placed on your own daughter. I have just removed that spell from you.” The Sorceress then set about cleaning up the things she had put on the floor.

Rox set the stones together, and left the room.