103 – Searching for Clothes and People

  Rox stopped at each dress shop that had a dummy in its window. Steven was surprised at all the plate glass windows with wooden multi-panel shutters he saw here. Veradale had an industry in stained and colored glass. The elves had smaller windows with glass block and a few glass pains in their mountain top city. Here in this city it seamed that glass was as plentiful and easy to acquire as at home, on Earth. As were the window washers. Rox marveled at the fabrics and gown designs. She soon was able to pick out the society ladies and gentlemen from the lowerclassmen by their dress. Pastels seamed to be the colors of the season. Where as the lower class was much more utilitarian, though still with their own style. It seamed that this city was on good economic standing, and wealthy enough to indulge in cloth.

  Rox decided to approach her gown design as she did a car. What did the customer want, and what available parts could be acquired and reconditioned as opposed to purchased new? She did not want to purchase a dress, but wondered about maybe trying an illusion. But she would need a convincing under lay to attach the illusion to. Her Elf gowns were mostly where she could not easily retrieve them, and she did not want to buy a new one. She had the elf skirt she was wearing, but its cut, fit and color would scream ‘I’m an outsider’ louder than if she tried to wear her jeans and t-shirt. She had one of the smocks from the palace in Veradale. It would be good for underwear for the illusion she was considering. She would need Caspian’s input.

  For his part, Steven also realized that nothing he had would be useful for looking formal. So he stopped a man who looked like a runner for someone, and asked where someone from outside the city might be able to borrow a suit.

  After spending the morning wandering through eight blocks of stores and shops, mostly rag-mongers, with a good assortment of tailors and seamstresses, they stopped at a corner café for lunch. Steven was mildly surprised that they had not been accosted by any street thieves, but then neither was wearing much of apparent value, that could be easily lifted. Also at Rox’s instigation, she and Caspian had put a few protective spells on their things. The elves had made the pouches secure in themselves. Steven wondered if the spells were actually spells or placebos.

  As they ate, Cyrril came and landed on their table, took a meat roll from the plate they were eating from, and left. Shortly after, Caspian came striding up, staff clicking on the cobbled walk, munching on the roll Cyrril had taken, and sat down to join them.

  “How has your morning been?” Caspian spoke to them in the language from up north, as he finished the roll.

  Roxanne had her mouth clear first. “Instructive. I have found plenty of ideas for a gown. But I want to talk more about that in private.”

  Steven took up the conversation as Roxanne dipped a meat roll into the dipping sauce and then took a bite.

  “I have found two places we could borrow suits. I will have to go back and be fitted immediately if that is going to happen, though. I thought you were going to try to see some of your fellow spell-casters. Did they have anything to say?”

  Another plate of meet rolls and a cup of water was put down for Caspian. Then the waiter went away. Caspian pulled a meat roll apart and dipped it in what Steven would call salsa, but it was too bland for his liking and tasted like cucumbers.

  “Well, yes and no. I found two magic users. One was an old man gone senile, cared for by his grandson’s family. The other was more help. She had more to say about the local situation and monarchs than about anything that really concerns us. Most of the local magic community has gone to ground over the last years, or is living in the outskirt towns as house retainers. She thinks this has led to the necromancers causing trouble by improperly influencing the local youth. The Queen is not well though of among the magic users, and it is to get clear of her that they have left. I got the impression that there is a larger story there, but no further idea what.”

  Rox impatiently turned the conversation to her concern. “What about the ball, why is it happening? Did she know?”

  Caspian finished his bit and answered. “I have heard several versions. The most common pieces are that a week ago there was some kind of military parade to and from the palace and this ball is in commemoration of it. The other pieces involve diplomatic and social happenings that don’t seem to agree in any two stories.”

  Steven nodded. “That agrees with what we have heard. On the parade and the others. The handbill did mention a vanquished enemy.”

  Roxanne finished eating, got up, and wandered away leaving Caspian and Steven to pay, and then go to a tailor and get fitted for borrowed suits. Caspian quietly groused about being fitted the whole time. Steven found Caspian’s discomfort amusing, considering how often he had been discomforted in this adventure.

  That evening, back in their rooms, Rox tried to do some illusions showing what she had seen earlier. Caspian saved her some time, by producing his glass marble and then touching it to the hem of her dress, he then cast a spell on and around it. Steven sat back to watch the show, remembering the last time he had seen that marble.

  Unlike that time, Caspian constrained the image, once it started, to a bit larger than a crate, and then either sped through it, or paused it as he and Rox talked. Soon they were understanding each other, and working to a common goal. They would have to create an illusory gown for Rox, as a borrowed one would take a week to fit, and a new one nearly as long.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 135

  This is an interesting city. I understand it is a monarchy, and this is the capitol. Yet it seems as free and as restricted as many of the non USA cities I have been in. They evidently do not have printing presses, so graphic artists do a busy job of hand bills, yet they have books and scrolls of sufficient abundance that they can sell them to the public. They do a good business in window glass. Few people are armed, and most strangers evidently stop carrying shortly after arriving. The local guardsmen and constables appear to be in good favor.

  Yet I sense that there is some underlying malevolence. From what the elves drilled into us about the monarchs here, I wonder what it would take to instigate a revolution, whether by coup or uncivil uprising.

  The next two days found Steven with little to do beyond wander around. So he did, learning as much of the city as he could, tending to their horses in their rented stable, and generally staying out of Caspian and Roxanne’s way. For their part, Roxanne was doing her best to learn how to control the illusion spell that Caspian was doing his best to teach her. They based it on one Master Iver had briefly had Rox attempt. In this case, to maintain the spell, they needed two objects: one to carry the spell and one to be its focus, like a light source and a lens. Her drape that she had worn in Veradale was to carry the spell, and a cheep silver amulet that Caspian had picked up was to act as the focus. In the end she had an illusory gown that looked like it came from one of the local tailors, with a bit of elfin cut to it. The colors drew from the layers of the drape she wore, a light blue outer layering with white under. For some reason that she could not define, Rox felt to tie a length of cord to her short staff as a lanyard and keep it at hand, as a swagger stick.

  Caspian helped her invest her short staff with a few spells. She had several times demonstrated that it magically extended and broke apart, and on investigating, Caspian determined that it would not take or use any spells while it was in components. He figured that it was actually still one stick, but a small gate of some specific kind allowed the stick to be used as two pieces, and turned all other spells inactive when this one was. It also had the intrinsic property of the energized ends canceling out any spell they both came in contact with. During a quick impromptu drill Caspian put up a variety of static spells and Rox passed the energized staff ends through, and found that combat spells it defused or discharged. The domestic ones, it left alone.

  For investing the staff with spells, Rox kept to spells and ideas she was familiar with. Rox thought of one as a machine gun; basically a magic supply of darts. Another she thought of as a flashlight; this shone a beam inline with the staff from the end she had come to use as the top. At this point, Rox hoped she would not need any others, and that she could brute force her way out of any situation that these could not handle.

  Over the last days and nights Karen had been trawling through the markets looking for any adult half-elves in at least occasional company of magic users. She started near the district where she lived. Karen figured they most likely would come from the sea so she started with all the ports on the northwest river front of the Krogg River working north. Then she went south on the east side of the river front to where the rivers merged, and southeast up the north side of the Garmad River, then backtracked on the south side, past the Palace Island. By the time she finished with the west end of the south side of the Krogg River, where it left the city and ran down hill to the coast, she had not found anything. That had taken her two nights of hopping roof tops and scanning with her senses.

  Next she began working her way across the city in a right handed turn, starting in a northerly direction across the west markets on the north side of the west riverfront, she eventually turned east across the north districts, and around to the east highway markets.

  Karen had found a few half-elves, but only two who were not local. The locals who were half-elf most often were the children of rape from when a war-quest from the cave-dwelling Urnvtai elf communities near by got a burr under their saddle and went on a rampage. That had not happened in several years, but about a dozen years prior there had been a spate of that. These half-elves were all juveniles, so Karen dismissed them.

  Next she had found one older half-elf with a mage scouring the markets for musical instruments. They had been instructed to head a few days travel east into the mountains and the city there that specialized in musical instruments. They left Skarg, and had disappeared. Karen dismissed them.

  Then she had crossed back over the Krogg River and entered the northeast districts and started through their markets. This was where the main highway left Skarg and went north. Most of the markets here were of goods going or coming to the city, before the loads were broken down and distributed. She paid careful attention to the two caravans of traders in their grounds, but found nothing. Then she found a trace of a sleeping half-elf. Returning the next morning she found what she guessed was her targets; a tall half-elf female, not of the local short Urnvtai stock, traveling with a very large man, and a mage.

  After discretely following the half elf and her mate around, Karen learned that this was indeed her target. The magic user had a dragon as a familiar. Not completely unheard of, but dragons were not native to Tywacomb, so it meant that there was some off-planet going’s on somewhere in the background. Also that she could not just follow him around as the familiar would spot her easily.

  As she followed the half-elf and mate, Karen learned of their need for information, and that they were planning on going to the ball at the palace. This cemented Karen’s need to go to the ball. So she had to decide what to wear. Karen followed from a distance as the half-elf window shopped the local dress shops. Karen felt her own bit of aristocratic class bubble up, as she would not even consider having her drapes for her taverns done by these seamstresses and tailors.

  The next day Karen followed the large man around, as he seamed to wander aimlessly. She noticed that he walked like a predator on open ground, and appeared to be minimally armed. He had put his sword aside after wearing it for the first day, evidently after seeing that most of the city was orderly. She brushed past him as he stopped to look at a silver smith’s wears, and touched him, to psionically remember his ‘flavor’ and be more able to find him in the future. She had not been able to get this close to the half-elf, but figured that he was the father of the two kids, and the half-elf the mother. As she touched him, Karen learned she had guessed right, about ‘Steven.’

  Karen then left off and went home to deal with her own gown for the ball. She still had a day and a half, but that would barely be enough to get her chosen gown worked over.

104 – Welcome to The Party

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 137

  Going to this ball seamed  like a good idea at the time. Now, I wonder what we are expecting to happen.

  Caspian stood against the wall as the Caplan's sat on the bed. Steven had started the conversation. “What are we looking for?”

  Caspian answered. “Anyone talking about the reason for this ball. And where they were taken.”

  Rox's brief experiences with official happenings in Veradale were at the foremost of her concerns. “Remember, don't start the conversation about our kids, unless you can deflect any suspicion that may arise.”

  Steven brought the conversation back to his original concern.“So what's the plan?”

  Caspian had thought about this. “Spread out, find the important people, and discretely listen without attracting attention. I have not sensed any magical attention on us, but if they are using trackers like we have for your kids, then I wouldn't. I would presume that if they were aware of us, and considered us a threat, they would have moved against us by now.”

  Steven countered Caspian's initial idea. “Or we could listen for and to the chatterboxes and socialites. The problem then becomes distinguishing between the chatter and the facts.”

  As the conversation continued, Steven conceded to Caspian that authority figures were a good source, and Caspian conceded that the socialites were as well. Roxanne was mostly concerned with not attracting attention.

  That evening Caspian and the Caplan's set out from their hotel rooms with Roxanne on Steven’s arm. Under her cloak, Roxanne wore an illusory elfin looking dress attached to one of the smocks from Veradale, and taking its substance from it, with an amulet on a necklace around her neck driving the illusion. Her mane had returned to full growth thanks to some magic after having had it cut short on Earth, the sides being about a cubit long, tied in rope braids with costume gold bands at the bottoms; the middle stood up free of the hood of the cloak. Under the illusory skirt she had secured her staff into her belt by the lanyard she had wrapped around one end. Steven and Caspian wore suits of the local season’s flavor, with short coats, and pantaloons that cuffed and bloused mid-calf, and stockings and black buckled shoes below that. Both men had made it a point to shave and trim their beards carefully. Caspian had again changed the size  of his staff and stuck it into a pocket of his coat. All three were slightly chilled by the cool night versus the cut of their clothes.

  Cyrril was not in visible evidence, Caspian having instructed him to keep clear of the palace, after the little dragon had tried to get near on his own, and been scared off by something he could not clearly define to Caspian. In his spare time after, Caspian had simply remarked that there was a lot of old heavy magic about the palace fortress, most of it martial in feel. It should not interfere with their plans to go in an listen around.

  They caught one of the carriages that wandered the city as a taxi service. The leather and fabric top to the carriage had been deployed, but not the sides. Initially the three rode alone, but Caspian soon switched from his position in the passenger area to being on the bench with the driver as another couple was picked up.

  This was a local couple and initially tried to engage Steven and Rox in conversation. The woman wanted to talk about who did what since the last ball, the man about what business he might do with Steven. As soon as it was understood that Steven and Rox were from a long way away and just traveling through, the couple seemed to lapse into an uncomfortable silence, since  there was noting familiar to talk about.

  The carriage turned onto a main road heading south, and the whole way in, Steven and Rox had a good view past the driver and Caspian of the fortress/palace they were going to. The carriage joined a line traveling across the western most bridge over the Skarg River into the fortress. Other bridges could be seen crossing the river to the island, and from the city on the north to the city on the south. Also the river here was wide enough that there were shipping docks visible on both shores. The line of carriages went into a large court yard were it turned and lined up to some stairs. Here each carriage jockeyed into position, and the passengers  dismounted from the carriage. 

  The Caplan's deferred to the local couple to disembark first, then followed. Caspian got off the drivers bench easily, and adjusted his trousers slightly. The three then followed the flow of people. A squad of Palace Guards in polished breastplates over their fabric tunics and trousers stood with pikes at presentation as an honor guard lining the yard and a short formal staircase to a formal Palace Entrance. The Caplan's climbed the stairs and entered the palace.

  Karen wore a body hugging gown of very light tan. The gown generally allowed her full freedom of movement in the skirts and shoulders. She had ended up taking one of her three last-seasons gowns to a tailor and having it adjusted for this season, mostly in removing some of the trim, shortening the hem accommodating for the two less layers of petticoat, and slitting last season's puffy sleeves open from the wrist to the elbow with the cuff adjusted to still close at the wrist. Jeweled hairpins, large enough to be weapons, held her medium length brown hair off her neck. A small jeweled stiletto in its sheath hung as a necklace center pointing into her cleavage, in the wide collar. The rest of the necklace is a crescent style collar filling the open neck of her dress. She carried a small leather clutch hung on the sash of her gown.

  She rode to the palace in one of the many coaches that plied the city, with another couple from the block she lived on. These knew her as the unmarried and only surviving daughter of a prosperous merchant family. So Karen played this roll, talking up the wife on what was happening socially, and then turning to the husband and talking about his business, and their children. She was able to keep both chatting enough to avoid them asking her any substantive questions beyond her general condition.

  Within the palace was the usual Formal Hall. This had several stair cases and openings to the available wings of the buildings. There were paired guards with velvet ropes blocking access to the left hand wing entrances on all levels, a few of which were dark, and two that had curtains across them. Some people moved straight through the hall into a courtyard between the structures. The rest turned right/west and went into the wings there, whether by descending a flight, staying on this level and going along a hall, or by ascending to one of the three apparent levels above this one. Each floor was about three times the height from floor to ceiling as the average person here was tall. The walls were covered with assorted hangings trophy decorations, and paintings of various sizes. Some times the display was orderly and impressive. Others were just thrown up, almost literally.

  Aside from preventing passage into other parts of the structure, the guards were almost invisible, patrolling in pairs with swords at their belts, or standing watch with the pikes. As outside, these wore the polished breastplates over dress costumes. A few even paused to chat with the locals.

  Steven leaned to Rox as they walked. “This place reminds me of a mall, or The Pentagon.  Probably the latter, as I doubt the public is allowed into the office areas, without need.”

  Caspian interrupted. “How shall we proceed, and where would you like to set our assembly point?”

  Steven did a quick scan, speaking as he did. “Five apparent levels from here. No clear idea how deep any of them go for access into the structure, though it probably is not as deep as some suppose. There are probably but not definitely connecting stairways deeper in, but we have no idea if they connect to all the other levels. I would say that our rally point is that bench there.”

  Steven had turned and pointed to a bench beside a hallway on this level that was guarded by a pair of guards.

“It has a clear view of everything that is not directly above it. There are already others using it, so standing near it should not be much issue, mostly. And we all can find our way back here.”

  Rox nodded while people watching, studying  the crowd.

  Caspian looked at the bench, then turned to Steven. “Very well. Assuming we don't bump into each other sooner, meet there as soon after as possible after the tocsins sound one. I will start on the top, as that will allow me to clear my senses and get a better sense of the magics at work here, in order to deal with them the rest of the night.”

  Rox and Steven turned as Caspian went to the closest stairs and started climbing. The Caplan's strode into the hall on this level and followed the crowd wandering through it. Due to her novice skill with her magic senses, Rox barely perceived a buzzing at the back of her mind. Caspian needed to reset his senses, proverbially getting a breath of fresh air, or he was going to have a smashing headache before very long.

  Each of the levels, while arranged differently for their specifics, were generally arranged the same. The lower the level, the thicker the arches and pillars that demarcated the areas, but otherwise these lined up. There were large rooms with various buffet tables in array, several rooms appeared to be set for conversations with the furniture arranged in discrete arrangements. In one of these, Rox and Steven paused to listen to a man at the center of a spirited debate. There were three rooms on the east-west leg of the first floor with between four and a dozen musicians playing various forms of dance music as people did rounds and turns on the floors. The Caplan's passed a room that seemed to be just for sitting and drinking. This rooms outer doors were open to a balcony that looked north across the river. The bridge and its steady stream of carriages were easily visible. Looking up and down there were other like sized balconies almost at random on this section of wall. They passed one room on the inner side of the wing that had been taken over by the kitchen staff and was the local staging area for managing the buffets.

  At the end of the hall was a larger banquet room, with medium sized orchestra on the far left, a dance floor in the middle, a buffet to the right side of the room, and most of the wall open to a similarly large porch that occupied the western most tip of this part of the island. Looking up it was apparent that this next section of the structure was stepped back with each floor having variously sized balconies and porches that looked down to the one below.  The three floors above were accounted for, so also were the military battlements. Steven briefly wondered where the anti-ship artillery that would normally be deployed from this balcony was currently being kept.

  The hall inside turned south and the rooms repeated the same arrangements, with various social functions happening in each, and a few utility rooms here and there. They even passed one room with discrete booths and a few attendants at hand, that was well vented to the outside, with a large fragrant fire keeping the otherwise malodorous scent from disturbing anyone around it.

  A second large staircase was midway along the north-south running hallway. Here, Rox took leave of Steven and went to the next floor up. Steven continued to the end of the hall and found another balcony arrangement, this defending the south approach from the river. The hallway turned back east and ended up in another atrium with closed passages, and access to the inner yard that this structure section surrounded.

105 – Exploring The Party, Rox gets in a fight

  Steven went down to the first floor and continued his looking around. He soon found that the lower floor had no balconies that were not also docks, and that this floor in general was designated for the juveniles and teens that were not of sufficient discipline, or interested in joining the adults above.

  Roxanne wandered the second floor, pausing in one room to help herself to the buffet. She found herself making small talk with a few other locals, but most were apparently loath to approach her until she sat. Then she was set upon by a token few who took it upon themselves to interrogate and then properly introduce this elfin interloper.

  Rox did not have long to converse, before being taken from the third floor up to the forth floor and introduced around there. She was soon passed about a dance floor, and learning the local dance moves. As they went, she was able to learn little that was truly helpful.

  Caspian got to the top floor and strolled briskly down the hall, checking the rooms for a balcony, and then went out onto the first one he found, looking over the river. He paused and then seeing no one around he closed his eyes, and relaxed as best he could. Then he turned to his magic sense. The entire fortress was weighing heavily on him, but there was also a brooding malevolence pushing against his awareness. Caspian reset his senses, partially by remembering and concentrating on a ditty from his youth. Quickly it was as if a fog lifted, partially. The old magic that was virtually innate to the fortress was still there and dominating his magic senses, but it was now more bearable. The malevolence was also reduced to a peripheral level.

  Reinforced, Caspian turned and went back inside. As the bulk of the party had not yet reached this level in force, the room buffets were not yet stocked. But he found a staging table outside this levels kitchen annex and helped himself to the meat, fruit, bread, and other foods being prepared.

  Caspian then proceeded to explore the available area. This floor had more dancing rooms than the other floors below, with the bands still warming up. To his surprise, in one smaller sitting room Caspian found a few merchants that he knew from elsewhere, and was able to strike up conversation with them. To no surprise, they had no real understanding of the why's of this particular ball, and were availing themselves of the opportunity to socialize with some they might not otherwise have opportunity to, and perhaps arrange some new business. Finally Caspian excused himself and moved on, working his way down through the floors seeking for anyone worth listening to.

  Karen had her senses going sorting through the static and noise of the various minds to find 'Steven' and his wife. As well, she was partially shrouding herself from the other society matrons, who would no doubt try to bring Karen into their circles and hook her up with some man. Her clean range of pickup was the floor she was on, and either the one below or above; there were enough minds beginning to fill the rooms that to try to scan three floors at the same time was too much. So she moved quickly along the second floor first, with scant attention to the kids’ floor below and more attention to the merchants on the floor above.  Getting around the whole of the palace wing, Karen climbed up two levels and started back the way she had come. She thought she picked up Steven on the lower floor but was not paying enough attention to get a good reading, and was not going to break character by backtracking right now.

  This forth level had more diplomats and socialites to interact with, or avoid. The top level was developing a good mix of everyone, as the primary dance floors were on that level. Karen would have to scan that level on its own. Now she focused on everyone on this floor. She got partway around and got a solid reading on a non-local half-elf female. Karen entered the room and looked around. Sure enough there was the tall female with a white mowhawk that Karen had followed on the streets. She was on the dance floor being passed from partner to partner, as a reel was played. Karen took a glass of drink from passing tray for camouflage and sat at a side table to watch, and wait for an opportune moment.

  Roxanne worked along the buffet, taking a break from the dancing to have a bite to eat while considering how to make the talk go to the subject of the reason for the ball. She had kept up with her dance partners, and realized that most of the locals probably recognized her as a juvenile elf, and therefore maritally unattached. As she looked the fruit tray over, she realized that the fresh stuff was all melons, with a few other candied and preserved fruits from other seasons. This struck her as she was looking for the strawberries and blueberries to go with her melon.

  “Traveling through or settling?”

  Rox looked at the man next to her. He wore white over off-white robes, and tingled of magic. He was tall enough she could elbow his nose without raising her arm. His accenting was not quite local.

  “Passing through. We were conducting business and learned of the ball, and came to see.”

  “Oh, then you have some time?”

  “Not much. This has been entertaining, though we don't know quite what it is for.”

  “I sense magic about you. Do you cast?”

  Roxanne was feeling that something was wrong with this situation and she needed to get out of it. Behind her, the orchestra started a new dance number and the floor filled with moving bodies.

  “I have access to some casting. Why do you ask?”

  “I have long had curiosity about elves and their use of magic.”

  “Then perhaps you ought to visit one of our cities, rather than troll about for someone to bother.”

  With that Rox took her plate and stepped away from the buffet and toward a table, where a few ladies were sitting.

  A hand took hold of her arm, almost gently, and tried to turn Rox toward another empty table. The man asked “Will you join me for a bit more conversation?”

  Rox felt his hand wander over to her hip and rump.

  Across the room, Karen senses told her that this man did not have the best of intentions toward the half-elf. Then she saw him put his had to her rump. Karen stood up and started around the perimeter of the room to go intervene.

  Rox grabbed his wrist and pulled it away, squeezing the bones together. “Touch me again, and you loose the hand.”

  Before she let go, he tried to cast a spell. She felt a heavier magic pop and fizzle the spell of this man. Rox turned the rest of the way, smashing her stoneware plate into the man's startled face, and twisted her other hand away from his arm. The plate fell to the floor and clattered, but the room was noisy enough that the sound was unnoticed by most. She stepped away and back to put space between them. He followed, and lunged after her, grabbing her arm again. Rox felt him try to cast a spell again, and again his spell was crushed by a heavier spell.

  Karen peripherally felt the enchantments of the castle thrum, then settle a second time. Suddenly there were two guards with pole arms standing and visible at each of the two sets of doors to this room. Karen briefly wondered if they had been there all along, but somehow shrouded.

  ‘Grenade’ began echoing through Rox’s mind, as she tried to get him to let go. She brought her martial arts to bear, and knocked his hands off her, but he was quickly trying to get his hands on her somewhere, even the arms she was using to deflect him. He was also still trying to subdue her using a spell, as they grappled. She could not understand the words, but could sense the direction of the magic. It was not the same that had failed twice. This would try to affect her will.

  “Shields,” was all she got out as he finished.

  “Come with me.” His spell wrapped around hers and they sparked and spat, trying to drive each other to nothing.

  Roxanne was not waiting. She yanked on his wrist with one hand and punched him in his sternum with the other, through the magic between them. He fell to his knees stunned, letting go of her. His spell fizzed to nothing.

  Rox again tried to leave. He tripped her before she got from him. He then started clawing and crawling up her leg to stand while trying to physically restrain her. He pulled her over in the process. Later she would wonder why he did not try to magically restrain her, or teleport again with her. His hand got to her knee, when she kicked him again with her free leg. But he wrapped this up before she could pull away.

  Roxanne had enough of his groping her. “Shields.” Again her magic shields came on at full intensity, using the floor for a locus. “Grenade.”

  She focused her attention and idea on the base of his skull. ‘This is a dangerous way to practice magic,’ she had been told. ‘The idea you have had better be clear, or it could go awry.’ Roxanne had a clear idea. In moments his neck exploded, becoming so much vaporized tissue. His body stayed put, but went totally limp and fell over. His head came to a pulpy stop under the table next to them. Somewhere near by a woman shrieked in instant hysterics.

  Roxanne let her shields dissipate and pushed the body off her legs. Her ears rang, her thighs were numb from the concussion, but she was in one piece.

  She picked herself up, as she heard his voice.

  “That hurt. Very clever.”

  She turned as he stood up from reaching under the table and put his head to his neck, his neck still reintegrating itself, his head inflating back to shape as he held it in place. He then began to cast a new spell. Roxanne felt her hair start to stand on end and crackle.

  ‘Energy is energy’ and ‘Lightening rod’ flashed through her mind. As her opponent set up to cast a lightening bolt at her. Rox reached into her sash and through the illusion of the gown and grabbed her staff, activating the ends. She planted one end on the ground and tilted the staff toward her opponent. The bolt let loose as she got set. The thunder was deafening, and almost a physical force, knocking several people between and around them down. Her staff glowed white for a moment, but all the energy was directed into the floor. There was now a small burned spot where Rox had planted her staff, and she had some tingling in her hands. But she was still standing.

  Rox pulled the end of the staff off the ground, deactivated the length and pointed the staff at the wizard, letting loose with a barrage of magic darts, like a machine gun.

  She pinned him to the wall with this, then turned toward the doors again. He tried to grapple her from behind as she crossed the room to leave, but only got the butt end of her staff in his belly for his troubles. He collapsed on himself as she came back around with the other end, catching him just under his jaw. His neck gave an awful popping sound as his head whipped back, and he rolled onto his back, his body going limp again. His jaw was a mess, and this time he did not get back up. Evidently his spell was either exhausted, or only covered dismemberment and not internal damage.

  The fight had made a mess of this part of the room, right in front of the buffet. Once the guards had become aware of the fight, they had closed the doors they stood at and waited for it to finish. Likewise Karen had stood aside and pulled a few non attentive bystanders out of the way, and set up a spot of cover.

  Roxanne decided not to stick around for the cleaning bill as guards started to come at her. She moved for an exit, staff in hand when a brown haired woman in a light tan gown pulled Rox into a knot of people on the dance floor. “Come with me, if you want to get out. And put the staff away.”

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.