106 – Running, swimming, and running some more

  As Karen held Rox’s arm, she quickly touched Rox’s mind with the thought to trust Karen, at least until this trouble was over. She then started to a different door, keeping the crowd between then and the guards. At the same time Karen was actively shrouding herself and Rox.

  Roxanne followed Karen, the brown haired woman, through the crowd while tucking the inactive staff against her arm. Somebody behind them finally yelled some kind of alarm and some guards were moving across the room toward them. Even shrouded, Rox was not hard to spot, being taller than nearly everybody else here.

  The brown haired woman pulled her skirts up to run better as she got clear of the dance floor and to a different set of doors than Rox had been going toward originally. Without stopping, the woman leaped into a flying kick that bounced her from one guard to land on the other. She got up, holding a knife purloined from one of the guards as Rox pulled the door handle to unlatch the door and push it open.

  The woman did some quick tailoring to her own dress, splitting the hem of her right side to allow more freedom of movement for her legs. She then tossed the knife into another guard’s leg, and slipped through the door. Once on the other side the two women leaned against it, and heard it latch.

  “Let’s go.” Karen grabbed Rox’s arm, starting to run.

  They ran along the hall, as people looked around wondering what was going on.

  The magic of the illusion was finally getting on Roxanne’s nerves. She grabbed the amulet as she ran, and pinched it, turning the magic off. The dress faded to her apprentice drape, and her spandex. She wished she had worn her gi instead.

  The brown haired woman grabbed Rox’s arm and pulled her around a corner and into a side room, closing and baring the door, as a squad of guards turned another corner ahead of them. This room was full of stacked munitions an stored equipment that would normally festoon the various balconies, particularly if the fortress had to fight off attackers.

  “Can you swim?” The brown haired woman was quickly divesting herself of the heavier fabrics of her costume, her dress was already off and her petticoats were following.

  “Yes. Where’s the water, and what’s in it?”

  The brown haired woman nodded across the room. “The balcony, then about four floors down. You don’t want to meet what’s in it.” The brown haired woman was down to her shift and corset. She had placed all her jewels between the petticoats and that onto her dress, and rolled the mass into a roll that she bound with the sash. She then used the sleeves and tied the bundle across her back.

  Rox ran for the outer doors as the inner ones started echoing the pounding of the guards on the other side, the brown haired woman a few steps behind. They burst through onto the balcony as the guards broke in the inner doors. Rox jumped onto the balcony railing and pushed hard off it, the brown haired woman a step behind.

  They cleared the balconies below them by very little, and plunged into the river feet first. The cold water was a shock that took Rox’s breath away. Rox spread her legs and arms to slow her descent feeling a bit of instinctive magic pass through the staff held in her right arm, and she landed in the silt at the base of the island hard enough to end up sitting in it, with her hands in the mud. She stroked forward, the lanyard tied to the staff keeping it with her, and pushed off the bottom in the direction she had been going. She soon broke the surface with a gasp, but could not quite catch her breath for the coldness of the water.

  The current was already carrying the women past the west end of the island the fortress sat on. Rox quickly looked around and could see the north bank, where she wanted to go, but the brown haired woman was pulling for the south. Something in Rox said to stick with her. She started pulling as hard as she could to catch up. Quickly the temperatures grip on her eased, and she was able to breathe in rhythm. The brown haired woman was a little bit away and swimming strongly, but doing most of her swimming under the surface. An arrow pierced the water next to Rox, and she decided that submerging would not be a bad idea.

  She heard a few more arrows hit the surface, and felt one flow past in the current, but none came any closer than that to hitting her. The brown haired woman was swimming down stream. Rox decided it best to follow for the moment. But she would need to find her way back to Steven and Caspian quickly. Rox surfaced and followed the brown haired woman into a sewage drain hole, in the wall that was the south bank of the river, crawling in the shallow water. A short way in they stood up in the less than knee deep water. Both were puffing hard, from the cold and exertion. Both were dripping water, each drop seeming as loud as a bell telling the world where they were.

  Rox was about to move farther in, but the brown haired woman took her arm and stopped her.

  The brown haired woman was shivering a bit from the water running off her, and out of the soaked dress wadded and tied to her back. Her shift clinging transparently to her muscled legs and sculpted butt, corset still in place on her athletic frame. Her muscular arms showed that she did some physical conditioning. The formal set of her hair was a loss, as was her makeup. But she looked the type not to really need any. The dim light made it hard to tell for sure. Rox then realized that again she could see the heat being put off by their bodies and the things around them, as both waves and coloration. She had not had opportunity to fully recognized this before, as there was always a fire to see by.

  They stood opposite each other, against the tube sides, catching their breath. The odor from deeper in was going to be nasty, but right here it was bearable. Roxanne gathered what she could of her skirt and drape and started to wring it out. She then realized the noise it was making and stopped. As she looked at herself she could see steam rising. Between the new sensory experience and her lack of magic use experience Rox did not consider how she might use it to help just now.

  The brown haired woman seemed to be listening like a trapped animal, as she caught her breath. She then looked back out of the tunnel, and up along the wall that was the bank of the river.

  “There is an access stair right here. In a moment we will climb it, then run for a safe house. Stick close, and you won’t get lost or caught.”

  “Why not deeper in this way?”

  “Too easy to get lost.” She did not even turn to give a considering look.

  Rox thought the answer, while sensible, came too quick. “And why should I follow you?”

  “Because if you don’t, the guards will catch you. And killing a guest at a Royal Ball is not a very endearing thing to do. My name is Karen.”

  “Roxanne.”

  “You’re the mother of the two kids, aren’t you?”

  “What two kids? How would you know?”

  Karen turned to look at Rox. “Two kids in irons paraded through the streets tend to make a spectacle. And half-breeds your size aren’t common around here. The rest is just guess work.”

  “How long ago were my kids here?” Roxanne put more concern in this then she wanted to share.

  Karen could hear the concern, and brushed it aside with her professionalism. “A bit over two weeks. They did not stay long.”

  Karen looked around the edge again, and then pulled back quickly. “Be as silent as you can. Think as empty as you can.”

  Roxanne could see a slight increase in the heat from Karen’s head. Then she cleared her head, and focused on the emptiness of space. They stayed this way for a long instant. Karen then relaxed, and blew out a breath.

  “The constables above have passed. But we have to move quickly.” Karen ducked around the corner, and was gone.

  Roxanne went to the opening, and looked out. A small platform that she had missed on her way in was right there, with a slim stair going along the wall to her left up to the top. Karen was slinking up the stairs in utter silence.

  Roxanne followed, her staff in the crook of her right arm, keeping her left hand against the wall on her left as she went. Karen crawled the last few steps, keeping herself pressed down. Then she looked over the wall, checking all directions. Roxanne stopped two treads below and waited. She then realized that Karen was not dripping, though still damp. Karen looked back at Roxanne in slight annoyance. Then she put her hand on Roxanne’s head. Suddenly Roxanne felt as if a squeegee were being run over her, pushing most of the water out of her clothes. It ran down her body, and off her feet.

  Roxanne was still marveling at this when Karen turned back to the wall. In an instant Karen was up and gone through the walls opening for the stairs. Roxanne followed, looking all around as she went.

  Karen was sprinting across the concourse that ran along the river front. Roxanne followed and they wove their way through several blocks of buildings before slackening their pace. The streets were empty, save for shadows. Roxanne did her best to stay in them. Karen seemed to attract them as she went.

  After many twists and turns, and what felt like four miles, Karen stopped running and scrambled up a wall at the back of an alley. From the top, she vaulted onto a balcony, and into a window. Roxanne followed, and just glimpsed a guard crossing the end of the alley as she went in the window.

  “Where are we?” Rox whispered.

  Her legs bumped against something and she almost fell over onto it as she backed out of Karen’s way. Karen paused a moment, looking out the window. She then reached out and closed the shutters.

  “Safe. For now.” Karen moved across the room with the ease of familiarity.

  Roxanne looked briefly around, marveling at the things she could see. She would have to ask Caspian for more explanation about this.

  Both were nearly dry, thought Karen’s dress was a soggy mess. Karen dropped it on a table, then moved to a gas lamp on a wall and unmasked it, letting light into the room.

  The two beds on either side of the window, and a table in a third corner with a door in the last were the contents of the room. Karen unrolled the dress on the table, and pulled her large jeweled collar and other pieces out of the petticoats. She laid the jewelry out on the bed, then took the dress and petticoats in hand and went to the door.

  “Stay here. There are traps everywhere, and you don’t want to get hurt.” Karen pulled the door by its edge, and closed it behind her as she left.

  Rox, sat down on the unused bed. She could feel it to have a down mattress, under the wool blanket. Then the exhaustion hit her. She had been exhausted by her magic lessons with the elves, but they had never pushed her quite as hard as the jerk tonight. That reminded her. She wanted to get back to Steven and Caspian. But with the adrenaline wearing off, she did not think she could do more right now than crawl into one of these beds. But she had one other need to take care of first. Until then, she fell over sideways her staff beside her, and curled up on the blanket, realizing that she was longer than the bed.

  Karen came back, wrapped in a course robe. She tossed another one to land on the bed Rox had collapsed onto. “Your clothes must still be damp. You can wear the robe until they dry.”

  Rox pushed herself back up. “What I really need is the necessary.”

  “Right. Follow me.”

  Karen turned to leave, and held the door as Rox picked up the robe and followed into the hall. Several doors lined it on one side. At the end was a stair that turned left halfway down. They traveled another hall, and Karen opened a door at the end. This went into a small courtyard. Rox recognized it as being on the other side of the wall they had climbed. There was a small shack under the shade of several small trees in one corner. Rox went right for it. Relief waited inside, despite the smell.

  While in there, she stripped out of her wet clothes, except for her thong briefs the elves had given her to wear under the spandex. Each had a magic pouch. Pull a tab on the top of the seam of the front panel and the pouch opened. Within was an elfin silk night gown all folded up, among a few other things. She put the close fit nightgown on, and the robe over top.

  She came back out with the robe wrapped around herself. The drape was over her shoulder along with her damp spandex, and her staff in hand. The jewelry she had put into the magic pouch in the back of her thong. Karen took her sideways into the kitchen, and put all her clothes over the drying rack there, and her shoes on their own rack.

  They then went back upstairs, and to a different room in the same hall. It was laid out the same.

  “This will be your room, for tonight. In the morning, we will try to find your companions. Also, don’t touch the door knobs.” Karen held the door.

  Rox felt too tired to reply. As soon as the door closed, she pulled the covers from one of the beds, put the staff across the table, and dropped the robe on the other bed. As Rox slipped between the silky sheets, she sent silent thanks to heaven for her safety and comfort. Whoever owned this place, they took good care of the guests.

107 – Clean up, Room 412

The guards moved people away from the ruined buffet, and the body next to it. They quickly worked with the staff to clean things up, and cover the body. The two guards by the doors that had been exited through were relieved of duty, and the one that had been kicked helped the one with a knife in his leg out of the room. The guests mulled around as a platoon of guards stood in a picket across the room, and at each door. The guard officers quickly asked questions of the guests, and then dismissed them to other rooms, where the ball was still going on undisturbed. Several versions of the events were circulating before the ball ended.

Then The King and a Guard Captain entered. They looked things over. The guardsman that had been collecting the stories reported all that he had learned. Further that runners had been sent to warn the city constables on either side of the river to be on the look out.

The King knelt and pulled back the table cloth and looked the body over. The jaw was shattered, as was part of the face, and the head lolled at the wrong angle to still be properly connected to the spine. Also the neck looked bruised all the way around from other damage that The King would not guess at.

“The face and head are from a blunt weapon. Not magic.” He put the cloth back over the body, and he verbally summarized what he had been told. “He tried to get a young adult elf to leave with him? This response doesn’t fit. An elf would just knife him, and leave him in a corner. Not brawl. It was a female, and ran out that way?”

“Yes, sire. From there she went into a storage room and over the balcony and escaped into the river.”

“That is sensible. If she tried to teleport she would have found that she couldn’t.”

“Sire, some of the witnesses, and the door guards report that there was another woman that helped the elf. They left together.”

“If there is a description, circulate it among the guards and constables. Otherwise, keep things quiet. Get this body out of here, and sent home.” The King turned, leaving the Guard Captain to take charge. He was met at the door by the Viceroy.

“I am told there was some excitement, Sire. Anything to worry about?” The Viceroy was ever helpful to The King, though sometimes The King wondered that the real motive was.

“Probably not. A wizard tried to solicit something from a female elf, and got in a brawl. Odd that the elf used a blunt weapon, though. She then fled, and ended up diving into the river.”

“And her companions she came with, if any?”

“I still do not have all the details.”

“Well then Sire, if they have left, than I see no reason not to continue with the festivities.”

“Is the Marquise still here?”

“Third floor, second banquet room, last I was told.”

“Thank you. See that the Lady BarDona is introduced to the representative from Pelieloq, and that they have somewhere quiet to talk.”

“Yes, Sire.”

The King turned and sighed as he moved toward the stairs down to the third floor. He much preferred force of arms to diplomacy. But this Marquise was from the teamsters. Trying to use force with them would simply sign the cities death warrant. On the other hand, fear and security were as useful in negotiations as on the battlefield.

Caspian felt the magic of the fight subside as he climbed the stairs. He regretted allowing the Caplan’s to move about separately, but there was not much other choice. As it was, Steven had kept a low profile. Rox had circulated, looking like a foreign elf, or close enough that most of the locals would not suspect different. When the magic fight had started, every magic user around could not help but notice. The enchantments of the fortress surged to active and blanked all other sense beyond a general using of magic. But Caspian had located the direction and was going that way. As he got to the stairs the dampening enchantments of the fortress were diminishing back to ambient giving Caspian a sense that the fight was done.

At the top of this staircase, a company of guards came double timing through, in the direction he was going. Along with the other ladies and gentlemen in the hall, Caspian was obliged to stand aside as they went through. Caspian moved circumspectly in the guards wake. A soft boom of doors closing echoed down the halls, followed by the quick staccato of banging against a door. Caspian rounded the corner, to see the company of guards pile through a set of double doors. As he went past, two guards puffed importantly, giving the nonverbal glare to move along, and not be interested

Caspian went to the end of the hall and the balcony it terminated on. He looked over the side, back the way he had come. There were balconies for the several rooms, and they all overhung the larger balcony below. Several party goers were in minor fits down there, looking up at the vacant balcony above them in irritation. A few others were looking over the balcony and trying to look out on the river. But it was too dark to see very far. Caspian huffed in minor irritation, and then proceeded to dally around the balcony, making and listening to the idle conversation. He found it as exciting and informative and watching fruit dry out.

After doing the round of the balcony, Caspian went back inside, looking for Steven. He was found two levels down in another wing, chatting amiably with a few merchants about local events, while sitting at a table sipping drinks and nibbling on some scones and assorted fruit and nut pastes.

Caspian approached as the men started laughing about something. “Steven, there you are. Things have happened, and it is time we leave.”

Steven looked up at Caspian, smiling and having the first good time he had had without Rox since Caspian had met him. “Sure. Caspian, this is Marklel, he is a textiles merchant, and Taban, a metals and ore merchant, and Gillen, a teamster. Gentlemen, this is Caspian, my current traveling companion. Evidently it is time to travel. If you will excuse me.”

Steven got up, and for the first time, these men saw how tall Steven really was. As he followed Caspian out, he finished his drink, and put the empty glass on a tray as it went by.

Once in the hallway, Steven pulled Caspian to his side, and kept striding. “Where is Rox?”

Caspian did not slow, save to match Steven’s pace. “I think she just went for a swim. There was a fight near where she was. A local mage is dead, and a female elf is reported to have done it then fled the fortress by jumping in the river.”

Steven sobered. “What’s the plan?”

Caspian headed for the front doors. “Leave, and go look for her. Find somewhere discrete and see what spells I can use to try to find her.”

Steven looked around, thinking the same basic direction. “And if she is still in the castle?”

Caspian stopped for a moment. “If she is, Cyrril will have to let us know. I just swept through that floor and did not see her anywhere. You know how well the both of you stand out.”

Steven followed Caspian out, pausing long enough to look at the appointed gathering bench. Rox was not near it. They got a coach across the bridge to the north shore, and then west, down stream, along the river. They searched until fatigue required them to go back to their rooms for sleep. In that time, they saw several patrols of constable’s sweep down the avenue that ran along the river front, as well as the lights of similar patrols on the other bank. They also saw two patrols of Palace Guards follow with the Constables then turn up the main streets that ran from the river front. Caspian took them aside into a suitably shadowed alley and then up onto a roof. There he used his tracker to cast around for her, and found that Rox was somewhere to their south across the river.

“We will have to find her in the morning.” Caspian said this as he turned to get down and head for their lodgings.

Steven looked across the river, and over at the fortress. The night felt like a bit of a bust. He had learned that two young kids had been paraded through the city and then back out, prisoners of The Guard, but had not yet found more. Now Rox was separated again. At least this time she was close.

Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 138

“Let’s break up the party. You go that way I’ll go this way” Sure this always works. Well at least Rox is still in the city, and we have a prearranged meeting point. So long as she can walk.

The next morning, Roxanne woke to the smell of breakfast being cooked somewhere. She sat up, and looked around the room, confirming all that had happened the night before. She pulled the robe on, and went to the door. She was about to grasp the knob when she remembered the warning not to. Roxanne looked closely at the knob, and saw a small needle sticking out of the round knob, right where she would put her palm. A second needle was on the other side of the knob, for her fingers. Roxanne looked the door over a moment, then found the latch on the edge, and pulled it open, checking first for anything that might prick. She went down the hall and stairs back to where she remembered the kitchen.

The brown haired woman, Karen, wearing a skirt and blouse, sat at the table eating some toast and eggs with some fruit aside. Another woman shorter and younger in age was cooking at the wood stove. The younger woman had medium length black hair, another of the local skirt-and-blouse-with-a-vest costumes, an athletic build, and was more than head and shoulders shorter than Rox. She stood with the relaxed stance of total self-assuredness. She turned to look at Roxanne.

“How would you like your eggs?”

Roxanne looked quickly at Karen’s plate. The eggs were scrambled, with some stuff added to them. She motioned toward the plate. “Like that will do.”

Rox sat down, in a chair that felt slightly too small. Her knees almost bumping the table. She looked around in curiosity, but there was nothing outstanding about the kitchen or dining area. Utensils arrayed in order, a cabinet with dishes in it, shelves and counters as expected in any kitchen. A large cast iron wood stove with a water tank attached to it sat against an inner wall, with a hood over it, the flue ran across the room toward an outer wall. Rox was a little surprised to see the sink had in-door plumbing. It was a hand pump, but there it was next to the water tank.

She was given a silver plate with silver utensils to eat with and a glass mug to drink from. The toast was just right. The eggs had some diced vegetables and spicing in them. They were also delicious. The fruit was fresh. She was only offered water to drink.

When she finished her food Karen spoke.

“So, we need to get you back with your party. Any ideas where to go look for them?”

“One or two.” Rox continued enjoying her food.

“Do you think you can get there from here?” Karen was used to evasive conversations, but did not really enjoy them when honesty was better.

“With a bit of walking.”

“Roxanne, you need to trust me. I can help you get around this city, and back with your traveling companions. Or you can fumble about, and probably get caught by the guards.”

“You think I am that incapable?”

“No. I think you are on unfamiliar ground, and all but completely out of your own element.”

Roxanne had to concede the point, but it did nothing to make her feel better. “You are right about all that, Karen. And I am a bit too obvious to just go sneaking around. What do you recommend?”

The younger woman brought a pitcher of water over and set it down, with her own plate of food and setting. She then sat at the table to the other side of Karen from Rox.

“Well, you are taller than anybody local. So we make you as unremarkable as we can in every other way. Mainly in getting you a cloak that covers you to your feet, with a deep hood. Then you keep yourself cloaked in darkness.” Karen started into a fresh mug of water she had poured while speaking.

“While we go, Roxanne, I can also tell you some of what I know about why your kids are here.”

This comment by Karen made Rox stop and look at her.