140 – Karen’s Flight

  Karen tied her horse aside and put her things she had pulled off the Caplan’s cart down on top of Caspian’s pack and things, as though Caspian’s were her own. She then did her best to stand aside from the troopers.

  As the party departed The Captain sat on his horse and watched. The two he detailed to stay behind mulled about lining up the dead, and generally cleaning up. He watched as the party started filing out and then nudged his horse over to where the Assassin was watching all this from across the fire. The cargo cart was rolled to a stop beside the Captain, and six small heavy sacks were dropped from it. They landed with the heavy sound of coins. The cart then rolled on at the end of the departing line. She picked the sacks up one at a time. Opening them in turn, she sifted through a mixture of coins and precious stones. The rest of the Queen’s twenty five pounds, and the rest of the Viceroy’s one hundred twenty five plus separated into six twenty five pound sacks.

  “Is that satisfactory?” The Captain looked down at the assassin as she put the sacks aside one at a time.

  She looked up from the last. “Yes. Treat them well.”

  At that he reined his horse around and rode out after his company and joined the rear guard.

  Karen shifted the contents of the sacks, finding an honest mix of silver, gold, platinum, and gems, as agreed on. She secured the tops of the sacks, set them among her gear, and sat down to watch for a moment, as her meal finishing cooking. She watched the two men riffle and sort the dead and their belongings. The valuable stuff was being stacked to one side as the seven guards bodies were readied for burial. They left Caspian and Cyrril completely alone after putting him at the end of the line. The bodies ready to be buried, they came and sat at the fire.

  It was dinner time and they were hungry. She had carved what she wanted from one of the animals over the fire. She pulled a chunk of bread from the finished loaf, and put it aside, and some roasted vegetables from the dutch oven. Karen set the rest aside where it would stay warm. The men helped themselves to the food without asking. They were going to be working late to get the dead buried, and did not want to work on empty stomach’s.

  Her own food finished, Karen got up and started to mess about with her stuff, putting the money with her saddle bags, being sure it clanked loudly, as she balanced the load. She had noticed that they had pocketed the money from the dead. Greed was an easy taunt. So was sex, particularly when she added some psionic goading to it. She leaned over letting them get a good view of her rear as she shifted about. They made approving noises but she was not fully sure if it was over her or the cooked food, or something else. She was not quite sure of them yet.

  Then she heard the creak of hard leather as one of the men stood. He stepped toward her. Now she was generally sure of them.

  She drew her wrist blades, waited a moment while charging her psionics, and spun. Her stiletto in her right hand went into his chest through his steel breast plate, and into his heart. She pulled it back out quickly, slicing his lung. She sliced across his throat with the other knife in her left hand, opening his vital arteries and veins, among other things. The other man was starting to move when she threw her stiletto at his face. His head jerked from the impact. He fell back over the log, and lay still. She had caught the man in front of her to use somehow, and now just let him fall to the ground to finish bleeding out, his sword fell to the ground between them as his hand lost strength. They had meant to kill her after all; whether by orders or not did not matter.

  She wiped her knife on his shirt and sheathed it on her right arm. Then she went and pulled her stiletto from the others face, holding his head down with her foot to pull it from the bone. She wiped the blood and gore from it and sheathed it on her left arm. Moving quickly, she packed her gear, then Caspian’s gear. Next she pulled the extra gear from both of the two horses left for the burial detail and replaced one with Caspian’s, and the other with the sacks of money. She then saddled her own horse and secured her gear to it. Once done, she walked one of the borrowed horses over to the line of bodies, and swatted a buzzard away. She then picked Cyrril up and stuffed him in a sack. She tied it to the saddle of the horse with Caspian’s gear. She then tied Caspian’s staff horizontally to one side of the saddle. Last she picked up Caspian and hoisted him onto the back of the horse, securing his foot in the stirrup, and walked around the other side.

  With his head at her head level as he lay across the horse, Karen charged her psionics. She touched his head, and reached in. There. She found the block she had put there earlier, and removed it. That done she withdrew. He would wake before lunch tomorrow. She put his arm under his staff, then secured the reins of the second horse with her money to the saddle of the horse she put Caspian on.

  Taking the reins of Caspian’s horse, Karen mounted her own horse and rode out, away from Skarg. She did not care what anybody thought of the scene. If asked, she would only reply that she had properly disposed of the wizard’s body.

  After leaving the camp, Karen rode the horses back to the town they had left this morning. It was near midnight, and drizzling when she came out of the forest into the back yard of a house at the north end of the town. She tied the three horses to the veranda post, and proceeded to pull her saddle and bags from her horse and set it on the veranda. Next she pulled Caspian’s gear from the horse he was on, including the bag with Cyrril. Last she pulled her money from the third horse. She used her guild insignia as a key and opened the back door. She propped it open and then went for Caspian.

  She pulled him off the horse and onto her shoulders. Then she carried him into the house, down the hall, turned left and went upstairs. She unbolted the first door on the left at the top of the stairs, carried him in, and dropped him on the bed. As she came downstairs, the Housekeeper was bringing all the bags inside.

  “There is a man in the room upstairs. Strip his wet clothes off him, and let him sleep.”

  The Housekeeper nodded at this.

  Karen then went back outside into the rain, and untied the two borrowed horses. She led it them into the woods and then swatted them. They went a few steps under the forest canopy, then stopped and slept where they were. She turned and went back to the house. Being branded military horses, they would find their way home eventually, or not.

  She took her own horse aside into a stable and saw to its feed and water, and checked its feet. The horse was asleep before she left the stable.

  Going inside the house, Karen locked the door behind her as she went. Her saddle and other tack rested on a wood bar for the purpose next to the door; it would need oiling in the morning. The bags of money were piled under the saddle. She then went upstairs, and around to the end of the short hall where her gear was all piled. She unlocked this door, and went into the loft room. She dragged her stuff into the door, to hold it open as fresh air circulated in. She then went to find the housekeeper just tucking Caspian into bed. His wet clothes draped on the chair. His things are on the floor by the coal burner. The housekeeper looked up when finished.

  “Shall I launder his clothes?”

  “In the morning.” It was too late to worry about that. “Just keep breakfast bland, and warm.”

  The housekeeper nodded in ascent, and shuffled past. Karen caught the old woman’s wrist as she made a quick swipe with a worry stick.

  “Not tonight.” She released her grip and the old woman left

  Once the old woman was on her way down the stairs, Karen picked up the bag with Cyrril in it from the top of the pile. She opened it and pulled his limp form out. Suddenly he was not so limp. With a quick move, he clamped her thumb in his jaws, drawing blood. Karen dropped the sack, grabbed around his ribs and wings, and applied increasing pressure. He snarled some, and then turned to gasping as she prevented him from breathing. He let go, and she dropped him on Caspian’s chest. He gasped for air, not quite ready to continue the fight. She moved the staff from behind the door, to between the dresser and the head of the bed, against the wall. She then put a rock next to it on the dresser. Cyrril hissed at her again, but made no move to attack.

  “Oh, hush. It’s too late in the evening for that.”

  She then left the room, closing the door behind her.

  She went back to the room she had taken for herself sucking the blood from her thumb, tasting for anything bad, then spit in a chamber pot, and shut herself in. She then stripped to her skin. She piled her tools on a dressing table, and left all her clothes on the floor in a pile. She picked up a bath sheet, which she wrapped around herself. She then went back down stairs, and into the kitchen. Here she found the usual warm water and wash tub. She filled the one with the other, and sat in it relaxing. Once the chill had left her, she drained the tub and made sure the reservoir would refill. She dried off and went back upstairs, taking a lump of burning coal with her. The coal went in the stove; the towel went on a peg. She treated her bite wound, dug out her sleeping clothes, put these on and curled up in the bed.

  After awaking fully and writing in her journal the next morning, Karen went out to see what was next to do. She quickly saw that the housekeeper had been up and about. The muddy tracks had been eradicated. The horse tracks in the yard were gone. Cyrril was still in the room and Caspian out cold. All his fabric and leather things were gone; the rest sat on the table or dresser. A small bowl with hints of blood sitting on the dresser and Cyrril looking sated on the bed, told of attention there as well.

  Breakfast was found warm on the stove in the kitchen. Karen had her fill of the mush, bread and butter, and juice. She then asked that something with broth be made for lunch. The housekeeper was busy washing Caspian’s things in the wash tub, but nodded in response. Karen dodged a thrown knife as she left the kitchen. She returned to her room and sorted through her things, pulling her equipment out of the packed gear. She opened the wardrobe and dug through it for an outfit near her size. She found under-things in her size, and put them on. The rest was a bit oversized, but useable. She dressed in trousers, tunic, and sandals. Once in this she took all her personal stuff down to wash. She did her own washing after helping set Caspian’s out to dry on the lines in back. The sky was clear and the air fresh, the winter chill telling of the storm just past on the eastern horizon.

  After all her stuff is set out to dry, Karen went back upstairs to check Caspian. As he was not yet awake she left him be. She went back to her own room and through her gear cleaning and oiling it. She did not damage anything this time, so no repairs needed to be made. Once all this was cleaned, she turned to the money.

141 – Caspian’s pair-of-dimes problem

  She took the bags to the wash tub, and using the usual guild formula of cleaning agents washed all the coins and gems, watching for any fizzing that would indicate a surface coating of some kind. There was none to this assassin’s mild surprise. It looked like the Viceroy was going counter to the rule of royal assassination: kill the assassin. That the men had tried to attack her was due to taunting on her own part. A few of the stones dissolved, but there were enough quality costume stones floating about society that aside from this process, only a gem-dealer could sort the fakes from the real. She kept a small purse of coins for herself, and put the rest back into some other sacks. She gave some money directly to the housekeeper, for running the house. The housekeeper took the sacks of money and put it on account with a moneylender, bringing the receipts to Karen. The sacks the money had come in were laundered ant put away with the spare sacks kept for whatever. Once the money was dealt with, and all her other gear needing no further attention, Karen turned to her tack and cleaned and oiled it.

  All this was accomplished before lunch.

  After lunch she took the antidote for the soporific nerve toxin that the housekeeper coated her drinking glass with, washed her hands, and went up to Caspian. She wore thick leather gauntlets this time. Her first obstacle was Cyrril.

  Karen entered the room. Caspian was at the point of coming around, while Cyrril stood on his chest watching her enter, growling sub-vocally. She pulled the blankets off Caspian, and on top of Cyrril, carrying him into the corner of the bed. A whiff of a bedridden body went past her. While Cyrril dug himself out, she grabbed Caspian’s feet and pulled them off the bed, turning him around some. Cyrril climbed out of the blankets at that point, and launched himself at her face.

  Karen was waiting for this. As he reached her she blocked him with her left hand, and caught him with her right. He hissed and spit while clawing and biting at her hands and wrists, trying to get through the gauntlets. She held his body firmly while he squirmed and struggled to attack her.

  Her response was quick. She psionically projected to him an image of him on the mantel watching, or in a cage.

  Cyrril paused then continued to struggle.

  “All right, the cage it is.”

  She started to turn to take him down stairs to the birdcage down there. Cyrril stopped immediately. He hissed, and looked over at Caspian for a moment. He then relaxed, as much as he could. She looked over at Caspian, who was watching thought groggy eyes. She knew he would not have any strength for a few more days, but his mind would be active. She looked back at Cyrril.

  “You are going to behave now, aren’t you.” She wasn’t asking. “If you don’t you are going into the cage.”

  She set him on the mantle, and withdrew her hands. Cyrril fanned his wings, and turned hissing and snarling at her in indignation, but made no further hostile move. As she moved Caspian, Cyrril continued to scold and chitter at her.

  She sat Caspian up, and he gave her an accusing look.

  “If they can’t handle themselves by now, our work has all been for nothing anyway.”

  She sat down beside him, pulled his arm over her shoulder, and put her other arm around his waist. His bed and clothes would at least need a good washing, if not burning. She stood, and took him to his feet, holding his whole weight, as he could not support himself. She started talking as she took him downstairs.

  “I had to shut off all your voluntary muscle control, and higher mind functions. This always takes several days to recover from. Until then, you are an invalid. Right now you stink, and are going first to the outhouse, then to get a bath.”

  She had him to the top of the stairs, and readjusted her grip on his arm and trousers. Cyrril had followed and perched on the banister, still scolding. She started carefully going down.

  Caspian noticed that she wore loose clothing that did not show her figure. Or any potential weapons. Caspian tried to ignore her, but found he could not. Her handling him was mildly embarrassing. In the days previous, they had been walking side by side, and even holding hands and talking relatively freely. Caspian did have some experience with sexuality with others, but had never bothered with a long term relationship himself. In the last few days around Karen, Caspian had realized he never let himself out long enough to attract someone, or be very attracted to someone. But origin of the current situation aside she was attracting him, and attractive to him. So what should he do about it?

  It took most of a week for Caspian to get his strength back, in which time he was in peril of his old way of life - being the single academic and farmer. Growing up in his parent’s tower he never had much familiar contact with anyone; his parents are/were good people, but lousy parents. Caspian was also still afraid for his life around Karen, on top of his growing attraction to her. The former frustrates because he can’t solve it. The latter frustrates because he has no idea of himself how to treat her in the way that he is feeling attracted to her. He never recognized that side of his parents, and never paid attention to this behavior in anybody else.

  In this week he has come to more deeply trust her in some areas; she bathes and dresses him the first two days while he is still too weak to move, and both survive the experience. She also changes his bed sheets, and otherwise sees to his comforts. In addition, she spends time helping him move and get his strength back under control. His magic is no problem but also no help in this case, unless he wants to burn his body out. Karen would sit Caspian at the table and move his joints through full range of motion, while subtly psionically stimulating his nervous system. At this same time she could sense his thoughts, but out of respect for his privacy and by trained reflex, she did not intrude on them. At the end of the day as a demonstration of her abilities, she carried him back upstairs walking up the wall.

  He got his voice back the morning of the second day. She kind of wished he hadn’t, but it shut Cyrril up. However, the little beast had been following her around of his own accord, to keep an eye on her since Caspian had told him to stop attacking.

  On the third day, he has some control but no strength yet. When she had asked if Caspian had set Cyrril on her, he honestly told her no.

  On the forth day, the old woman commented to Karen that she bickered with Caspian as a wife does with her husband, and vice versa. Karen threw a practice knife past the old woman for this.

  On the fifth day, he is out of bed under his own power, but still week. Nevertheless, he is determined to go after the Caplan’s.

  “You are still as week as a kitten.”

  He gave her an irritated look as he pulled the laces of his boots tight, and tied them. He was obviously impatient with how long it was taking him to dress.

  “That does not matter. Steven and Roxanne need help. By my trackers they should still be a day out from Skarg. If I hurry, I can get them before they get in the gates.”

  “You are sounding like Steven – needing to be in control of the river rather than simply keeping your course. They are doing something that needs to be done, and we should not interfere.”

  Karen just stood in the bedroom door watching him, her arms folded. Another thing that bothered him was her constantly watching him. Not even Cyrril was as attentive. Caspian got up bracing himself firmly on his feet, and turned to the dresser.

  He started emptying his stuff from it onto the bed. All his clothes were freshly laundered, mended, and folded. As also his cargo belt and vest. His shoulder bag had a new strap to replace the old one. His knives had all been freshly smoothed and sharpened. Sharper than they had been in years. He put the vest and belt on, and then began putting all his remaining stuff in their travel spots. The dagger went back into his boot, the long knife behind his left hip, the fruit knife on his left forearm. He hung the crossbow behind his right hip next to the bag of bolts for it, all of them freshly sharpened. The vest got packed, the bag filled.

  Thought he was not breathing hard, the effort was beginning to show. Caspian didn't care. Finally he shouldered the bag, picked up the robe and cape, and turned to his staff. He had not moved it since getting here. He could sense the null-magic field around the rock, and how it protected the field around his staff. He had not asked, but presumed that was done for a reason and left it as such until he needed to change it. This was the longest he could recall that his staff had sat in one place. He drew it from between the bed and dresser where she had put it five days previous.

  As he held his staff, its energy began to flow over and through him again. Energizing and invigorating.

  He checked his belt and vest one last time. The staff in hand, the robe and cape over the shoulder, the bag opposite.

  As he turned, he noticed that Karen had gone without his hearing. As had Cyrril from his spot on the mantel. Her stealth also bothered him.

  Caspian looked around, inwardly reaching for his familiar. Cyrril was in her room, on her mantel. Karen was changing her own clothes, facing away. The images of her filtered through Cyrril’s senses were yet another annoyance.

  Cyrril had decided on his own to keep watch on her to prevent her from doing anything to hurt Caspian again. He had discreetly followed her almost everywhere. Most of the time they were together, so Caspian had no need to watch through Cyrril’s eyes. The rest of the time, Caspian had occupied himself with other things, so he did not bother to see through Cyrril then. The change of perspective was discomforting enough that he only did this of necessity.

  Cyrril had followed her into her room to keep an eye on her, and watched her strip out of her house clothes as she selected a suit to wear. She was in only her panties when she noticed Cyrril. Faster than he could follow she had picked up some practice throwing balls and hurled two at him. Cyrril crouched and leapt just over the first one as the second one blocked his movement deeper into the room. Several more balls came at him herding Cyrril toward the door.

  Caspian had moved to his right toward her door after the first brief image. The distress from Cyrril was enough to amuse him. As did the successive thumps of balls hitting the walls. Caspian called Cyrril out, and opened the door enough for the little dragon to dive through. A ball ricocheted to follow, hitting Caspian. He closed the door before more could come. 

  Cyrril darted out and behind Caspian, bounded off the wall, and back to land on his shoulders. Two balls had hit him. One in the middle of his right side, the other on a wing. He chittered in agitation.

  “That’s what you get for going into a woman’s room uninvited.”

  He went back to the end of the hall, and down the stairs.

142 – Caspian and Karen go for a walk

  At the bottom of the stairs he started to feel noticeably woozy. But he was determined not to be hindered. Then his right hand began to go numb. He switched his staff to his left hand, and looked at his right. There was a small fresh scratch on his palm. Karen telling him not to use the door knobs echoed in his memory.

  Caspian focused his will, slowing his heart rate. Then he thought for Cyrril to go find the antidote. Cyrril jumped from his shoulder and flew noisily into the kitchen. Caspian followed, the numbness running up his arm.

  The housekeeper was making lunch, and packing provisions for travel. Cyrril had landed on the counter and was pulling at her apron pocket. She looked up and shrugged as Caspian entered. She put her things aside and came around the counter; Cyrril fell from the counter, his claws still in her apron jerking him about as he fell to the floor. She retrieved a small glass bottle out of her apron pocket.

  “Sit down,” she ordered.

  Caspian obeyed.

  She gathered up the corner of her apron, and wet the end of it from the bottle.

  “Show me the hand.” She put the bottle on the table, and took the proffered right hand. She dabbed at the scratch, and the numbness was immediately pursued by fire at about the same speed. She then picked up a spoon from a place setting at the table and poured some of the thin bluish liquid on it.

  “Open.”

  Caspian opened his mouth, and she popped the spoon in almost gagging him.

  “I mostly use a soporific, but with enough other stuff to make you want to keep on your toes. Visitors are not open targets; you should not have been scratched. Use that spoon to eat just to be sure you get all of the agent.” She made sure the bottle was securely closed and back in her apron as she walked back to her tasks.

  “Get out of the pot. You had more than enough this morning, you little beast.” She pulled Cyrril off the pot by his tail and tossed him backhanded across the kitchen. He hit the far wall with a squawk, and tumbled to the floor.

  She continued her preparations of food for travel.

  Caspian slowly felt better, as the antidote countered the soporific. Then the old woman placed a bowl of vegetable stew in front of him and a pan of bread on the table. He pulled his vest and bag off, and started on lunch.

  He ate carefully, pacing himself to avoid any severe reactions. Cyrril crawled cautiously up his trouser leg and up onto the table, having slunk carefully around the edge of the room. Caspian looked at his dragon a moment; Cyrril wanting comforting.

  “Not this time. You’ve got what you deserved in the pot. Thanks for getting the bottle. Now sit and behave yourself.”

  Cyrril had not really been interested in the food, as he usually only ate once a day. He had just run afoul of what killed the cat. After watching a moment, he walked across the table and leapt up onto the dish cabinet and curled up there. Caspian could sense a little forlornness from his familiar. He would comfort Cyrril later.

  Karen came down stairs and into the kitchen as he pulled some of the bread apart. For a moment she looked relieved to see him still here, then her features set to her usual neutral. She was dressed in her brown travel clothes, her trousers instead of her skirt. She sat down and was soon using a hunk of bread to push stew onto her spoon and shovel it down as fast as she could to catch up to Caspian. Silence punctuated by flatware was the reigning sound.

  Caspian felt better when he finished his bowl and stood. After stretching a bit, he put his dishes in the sink. The stew rather than just sit heavy seemed to be seeping right into him filling him with energy. The housekeeper had finished packing the food, and put the leftover stew in a travel bag. The extra bread was wrapped in some paper.

  He distributed his bundles of food around his vest and pack as he put these on. Next, he slung the proffered water skin, freshly filled. Last, he put his robe and cape over top of everything.

  “Thanks for the rest and the food. But this is where I leave.” He reached for his pouch of money. “How much do I owe for services rendered?” He looked at the Housekeeper. She looked curiously up at him, with that old woman’s Cheshire Cat smile.

  Karen spoke. “You’re not strong enough to leave on your own.”

  He turned to her. “That does not matter. They need my help.” He pulled a small bag of gold coins out of his pouch and dropped it on the table. “That’s twenty in gold. It should be more than enough.”

  He picked up his staff. Cyrril landed on its head, and bounced to his shoulder. Karen’s gear was in the hall under her horse tack as he went to the door. He walked out the back door, off the porch, and across the yard, looking at the tracker in his hand. He heard the door close as he got to the tree line. Karen walked beside him before he was the same distance into the forest.

  “Here’s your money. We don’t run a hotel.”

  She managed to get it into his hand before he could argue. He thought about trying, but decided it was not worth the effort.

  She then continued. “We are seven days easy foot travel from Skarg, on this road. Four if I try hard. Ten if you try for four, because you will collapse before the end of tomorrow.”

  “How do you know,” he put the tracker back in to a pocket.

  “I had to learn it the hard way, from my psi-teacher.”

  Caspian could tell how weak he really still was, but did not care. His body was willing, but still did not yet have all the connections straight. Travelling would help that. He took a deep breath of fresh forest air.

  “Seven days. Do I still have to worry about you trying to kill me?”

  “Do I need to kill you in the next seven days?”

  “No.”

  “Then you don’t. Besides, I was already paid. As far as they are concerned, you are dead.”

  Cyrril perked from his usual looking around at that comment. He gave a quizzical look at Karen.

  Karen noticed and looked at the little dragon. “That’s right.” She adjusted back to Caspian. “The captain of the company that attacked us saw you dead, and paid me for the job. If they want to recollect their fee because of mispayment, when they did not even check the body, that’s their problem.”

  The velvet of her voice was thin as she finished, showing the steel underneath. Few merchants could bargain as hard as an assassin could. Fewer people ever tried to collect a mispayment. As far as the Assassin Guild was concerned if you were sloppy about inspecting their work that was your problem. Once you released the assassin from the contract, he was done. Any further complications were your problem.

  Caspian was following the tracker through the woods, figuring that he would find the road one way or another, as the road curved around the rolls of the land some, and passed through several meadows in this forest. Karen had not told him where they were, he had simply gathered they were in the same town they had previously stopped in. Now she began to steer him gently south to the highway.

  As they walked, she tried to take his hand. At first he resisted. Later as they crossed a meadow to the highway, he realized she had been holding his hand for a while, and could not place when she had taken it. They did not get as far as the last day the Caplan’s had been with them, which was a relief to Karen.

  That night, she watched amused as Caspian initially started to setup camp for a size including the Caplan’s. He then reduced it to just the two of them, while she readied dinner. For warmth they made one lean-to and curled up under it, almost next to each other.

  Come morning both were still wrapped in their blankets, and snuggled against each other against the cold. Cyrril did them the favor of restarting the fire as they got themselves going. Caspian had to concentrate to get himself going in the morning cold. Karen watched amused, remembering that her time in the drill of recovering from this lever of psionic attack had been in summer.

  A warm breakfast and other morning necessities finished, Karen got Caspian going. Once he was moving he was steady and stronger than the previous day.

  When they walked past the turn to the camp where the Caplan’s had been taken, Karen almost cringed that Caspian might notice. But he was too focused on keeping going to apparently pay attention to the landscape in that manor. She vaguely wondered if the site had been noticed by anyone else, or what happened to the horses.

  Over this day as they followed the trackers to Skarg the signals were relatively still. Caspian again realized Karen was holding his right hand as his staff moved in his left, and wondered briefly if she realized she was. Either way, he was enjoying walking with her. After checking the trackers again, Caspian concluded that the Caplan’s were in Skarg, and doing what ever Karen had programmed them to do. On voicing this opinion, Karen became surprisingly talkative.

  “Caspian, what do you know of local politics?”

  “Very little. I know that Krogg has been stable since its last war, when there was some territory consolidation. I know a little more about its markets, that one of the cities exports fine wooden musical instruments. That there is some mining, but its primary export is summer time fruit.”

  Karen nodded at this. “Actually our primary exports are sheet glass and textiles. But only those in those markets would know that. As for the politics, we have a king and queen who have no heir. Further the queen is bound to some magical creature. The surrounding kingdoms, and their and our duchies, counties, and baronies are all to stable to risk conquest. The society, which you got a very skimming taste of, is stable and more worried about prosperity and status through the market, than about consolidation of political power.

  “Into this pudding, add the garnish of a prophecy that this current king and queen will be killed by the Harbingers of the Chaos Bringer. As a result the palace set up a small section of the university and their spy networks dedicated to tracking down everything about them.”

  Caspian interrupted. “That’s why they knew to send all the way to Terra for the Caplan’s. I never could figure that one out. I had many of the other pieces, but not the explicit one about the prophecy until you gave it. But then I could not figure out how they knew where to go look for them. Though I was more concerned with other bits of it.”

  “Yes. Once Diana and Alex were here, they were sent to the two villages you retrieved them from: I was contracted by the queen to do what I could to stop you and Steven and Rox. I was then counter hired by the Viceroy to see that the kids would be able to fill their destined appointments with the king and queen. It was left to me to figure out how to do this.”

  Caspian nodded in comprehension. “Thus all the things you were pushing Steven and Rox to know and do. And by extension, Diana and Alex.”

143 – Caspian and Karen sort things out

  “Yes. Rox and Diana needed to be able to dispel the magic connection, thus the silver and fire. I hope I have not unduly damaged Diana by the awakened magic skills in her. Once the connection the daemon is gone, either of them should be able to stand up to and defeat the queen. Alex mainly needed to get over his childish innocence and inexperience at killing. It was easier to simply program him, rather than train him; I don’t know how much he will be aware of or remember once that starts. Steven just needs to be able to hold his own and get Alex close enough to do the job.  From the makeup of the company that took them, I figured the Viceroy arranged to get the Caplan’s as close as he could to the king and queen.

  “Now, I surmise that because all four signals on your trackers are still active in Skarg, they have, or are in process of fulfilling that destiny. By the time we get to the city, the Viceroy will be on the throne. I fully expect that if things go as planned the Viceroy will quickly and quietly get the Caplan’s out of the city, rather than kill them. On that same hand, I should probably keep myself scarce until he has secured his power.”

  Caspian nodded on this one. “First Rule of Assassination: Kill the Assassin. In this case, the Caplan’s are only the tool; you are the one wielding it, at request of the Viceroy. I can see that. So, are you telling me this as a way of asking to come back to Shalaia with us?”

  Karen looked as Caspian gestured with his right hand, still holding her left hand. She had not realized she was still holding on as he walked; she let go, stepping slightly to the side to put a little lateral distance between them. “If you don’t mind. I’ve never traveled that far away. Might be nice to see some new places.”

  Caspian noticed that Karen had a slight bit more blush to her cheeks and face than just the cold could account for. It complimented her straight brown hair. Cyrril chirped and pushed off to stretch his wings.

  “I don’t mind. I don’t seem to be in charge anymore, so . . .” Caspian let the conversation go.

  They walked for a while quietly.

  Caspian started again. “When you first joined us, I though it was a mistake to let you along.”

  “And now?”

  “I’m still deciding. It would have been a lot harder to get the kids out without your information.”

  Karen sensed he was trying to decide if, what and how to say, so she met him at the mark. “Is this the start to an apology?”

  “Maybe. I’m still thinking over what you did and why. You submitting to my spell and questioning that day. That was reassuring.”

  “That was Steven’s idea, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It did help my concerns about you. Probably why I was so off my guard when things did go down.”

  Karen had to pause to think about how to answer this. “Well, your being off guard helped me with that bit of theater. And for what it is worth, I’m sorry I had to attack you, but glad it worked out for the best.”

  “Well, so far.”

  “If I had told you then what I have been telling you since, would you have gone along with it?”

  Caspian had to think about this. “I expect Rox might have, and Steven not, for the reasons they expressed when we last talked about this. Me? I need a little time to think about it before answering.”

  Karen sensed his confusion of the issue, and let the answer wait.

  The conversation drifted to other things as they went. Caspian’s mouth went on about some of the plants he saw and their magical use. Karen added her own limited scope and great depth to the topic. And thus they went: two people with nothing more to do than get to know each other better.

  Caspian was quite tired when they stopped a little while after dark this second day of the two of them traveling together. After he set up his usual and wards and spells, he dozed against the base of a tree. Karen took care of the rest of the set up and dinner. Once he ate, he curled up to sleep under a tree, and she curled up in her own blankets next to him to keep each other warm.

  The afternoon of their third day the trackers started moving in a manor indicating large scale movement again. It took Caspian a few moments to understand the direction of travel. Karen looked at which way the indicators were moving and comparing that to her memory of the roads and terrain. She then led out at a slightly faster pace. Caspian did his best to keep up, mostly. He did find he liked watching her walking and moving ahead of him.

  At the next crossroad Karen turned north, to go to another of the highways out of Skarg. It took Caspian a moment to understand why. When she let him catch his breath to ask, she only had to start to explain before he confirmed what he had already figured. The Caplan’s were leaving Skarg on a different highway.

  Karen walked Caspian into the ground this day and again the forth as they traveled through the forest. The weather was clear and cool, the cold of winter had broken. Caspian was gamely trying to keep up with Karen, and realized that he was getting his mental stamina and his physical stamina back together. It took him a while to realize that Karen was deliberately wearing him out. Once he realized this, his ego kicked in and started putting up the front that he was not going to let her win.

  On Karen’s part, she was simply pushing Caspian to physical exhaustion, to reset his mind and body into synchronization with each other. She did not think to tell him this was what she was doing, because in her circles this was common knowledge.

  During the morning of the fifth day on the road Caspian and Karen reached the next highway north, and found a place to rest. This was a most commonly traveled highway into Skarg from the north, as it was the first one from the main north south highway that ran along the foot hills of the mountains to turn to Skarg. Most of this highway was fronted by farm or fenced range land, so the forest was cleared back beyond these fields. A river wandered the valley this highway traveled to Skarg, before turning south to join the Krogg River at the last port town on the waterways that ocean going vessels could access. As such the highway had long stretches of straight easy travel, punctuated by a few turns through intervening hills from the edges.

  Caspian figured and voiced the opinion that if the Caplan’s are coming this way, there is no sense going toward them to backtrack. He then started to wind down. To Karen’s surprise he then got up and started going toward Skarg and the advancing Caplan family anyway, to stay energized. She let him, catching up to him and taking his hand.

  As they walked, she took a moment to read him. He was tired but not about to tell her. So she began an exercise, and trickled a little of her own energy into him to keep him going. On Caspian’s side of this, he simply felt a little bit energized by holding her hand. He looked a little for some little flower or plant sprig to give Karen. But quickly his attention went to keeping going forward; there was nothing to find and traffic to dodge as they went. Cyrril just explored and flew near by, leaving Caspian to walk without Cyrril’s weight to off balance Caspian. He could have done for Caspian what Karen was doing, but sensing Karen doing it, went about his own business. Thus they traveled, eating lunch as they walked.

  Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 164

  Two days out of Skarg. We unexpectedly met some familiar faces. Cyrril swooped in first and landed on Rox’s shoulders. Diana was particularly leery of Karen once she spotted her.

  It was an anticlimactic surprise to see Caspian. He briefly looked to be a bit under the weather, and almost grateful to have an excuse to stop. I think he might have been trying to show Karen how strong he is, but she didn’t seem to be buying it. Both were on foot. We all stopped where we met up. Caspian and Karen then spent the rest of the afternoon telling us what had happened between them. Rox and I then began grilling Karen on all she had actually done.

  Because of his link to Cyrril, Caspian alerted to the Caplan’s before Karen. Had she been paying attention to her extra senses she would have noticed the Caplan’s for some time before ever seeing them. But with her attention on Caspian, she did not.

  “Here they are.” Caspian paused as the family walked into close sight from the other direction.

  Karen had been thinking about other things when Caspian suddenly stopped, and pulled her to a stop as she took one more step, their hands still together.

  Upon seeing and recognizing them, Karen’s senses passed briefly over the family. Steven was determined to get his family as far as he could as quickly as he could. Rox was relived of anxiety she had previously had, and otherwise shared her husband’s mindset. Diana was as normal as she had ever been, pointing out that Caspian and Karen were again holding hands, while riding on one of the cart ponies. Alex was walking between his parents, holding the lead for the ponies. He seemed a bit subdued from normal.

  All the Caplan’s wore arms of some sort openly.

  The Mage and the Assassin stood and waited as the family and cart came in the other direction, and then fell into step as they passed.

  “Hello,” Caspian greeted.

  Karen felt a surge of relief flow out of Caspian at seeing the safety and health of the Caplan’s.

  Steven greeted the couple for the family. “Hello Caspian, Karen. We need to talk.”

  Rox smiled. Alex waved, and smiled a little. Diana looked a bit pouty.

  Karen, her senses refocused on those around her, picked up on Steven’s mood and slight annoyance at her.

  “Not surprised to see me alive,” Caspian asked.

  “Maybe a little,” Steven responded, without stopping.

  They were at a gentle curve of the road as it traveled around a hill on the south side of the valley. Farm lands were to the north, down hill from them. Uphill was some cleared area that was not fenced.

  Sizing up Caspian’s movement, Steven led them off the road and up into the scrub.

  “We will stop here for now,” he announced. “Depending on things, we may camp here tonight.”

  Steven saw to the cart being unhitched from the ponies, and the ponies turned out to graze across the hill. Cyrril landed on the back of the pony he had come to prefer and curled up on its withers. After a few flicks with its tail it left the dragon alone.

  Taking a shovel from the cart, Diana and Alex selected a latrine site and used it in turn. Rox and Karen cleared an area for a small fire. Caspian put his usual wards up. Nobody made any move to set more of camp up yet. Diana kept one of her parents always next to her or between her and Karen. Steven got the wood ax from the tools attached to the cart, then seeing no dead trees in proximity, put it back away. Without any usable logs or stumps near by, they all just settled to the ground.

144 – Karen retells the story to this point

  Karen knelt beside Caspian to his right. Rox sat around the circle to his left with Diana next to her. Alex was on his back opposite Caspian, and Steven was last facing Karen.

  “Do you want to start, Karen, or shall we?”

  She surveyed the family. “Do I need to apologize?”

  None answered her, and all were genuine in their presented selves. Rox was mildly expectant, Diana a bit hostile. Alex was not paying attention. Steven was neutral as he finally broke the silence. “Maybe; you might have told us the plan where we could have actively been aware of it. Though I can see why you wouldn’t, to keep us from spilling it accidently or under any possible interrogation. So, why don’t you start from the beginning?”

  “Which beginning,” Karen asked. “Why you are here in the first place, or when I first got involved?”

  “Why we are here in the first place might be a good place, in order to keep it all in order,” Rox answered. “We know some of that from the elves, and have been holding off from going into to much detail over that with the kids, until we get back to Shalaia just to be sure we can keep it all straight ourselves.”

  Diana looked at her mother in some annoyance. Alex was starting to doze, and not paying attention.

  So Karen began to rehearse to the Caplan’s what she and Caspian had discussed at length and in passing over the last days; about Skarg politics and history, and the local King and Queen’s history. This brought her to the Chaos Bringer, and its harbingers. Diana perked up at this. Alex was apparently less interested, but Karen’s senses told her he was listening hard to her. Steven and Rox were evidently somewhat familiar and had most of these pieces put together already. Karen finished this chapter with the caravan being sent for Diana and Alex and returning. She was not aware of its departure, but had seen its triumphal return.

  Then Karen broke Guild policy, and told of her being hired, by whom, and why.

  “We met him.” Steven interrupted at the right moment as Karen spoke of being counter-hired by the Viceroy.

  “From what I know of him, he should make a good King,” Karen editorialized. Then she continued her story of her investigations.

  Alex perked up at her brief telling of her adventure into the palace.

  She continued with a brief account of her scouring the city for them, having expected them to come in by boat.

  Rox took the conversation, shortening Karen’s story. “Fine, then we met up and had our adventures and left the city. So what all did you put into our heads? In all seriousness, is there anything we need to worry about?”

  Karen looked over the family. “The only worry I have had is whether I awakened Diana’s magic abilities too young. Magic and psionics both usually manifest in a person at a young age, but also usually sit static and dormant until puberty. I have had some concern that I might have pushed Diana to do something beyond her ability at her age.”

  Rox looked at her daughter, who was glaring daggers at Karen. “She surprised me with what she did. But since then has not tried anything, and appears as normal as I presume she should be.”

  “The Urnvtai woman taught me a bunch of basic stuff,” Diana added to the conversation. “But I could not do much of their magic. Since then I am able to tell when he does some magic,” she pointed at Caspian. “What you had me do in the Queen’s place was strange, but made sense. The last bit I did was  . . . not really magic, was it?”

  Rox put her hand to Diana’s arm and squeezed her close. “Yeah, it was. Even if you reverted to a cartoon pattern to do it. Not the best way, but it worked.”

  Caspian perked up. “What’s this?”

  “The short version is Diana does magic the way I do. We will tell more later when we tell our story.” Rox deflected. “First we want to finish hearing your side.”

  Caspian looked a little worried at this, but put the subject aside.

  Karen took back the center and continued telling what she had psionically implanted into each person’s heads, and when.

  Starting with Steven, she explained that the first time she had put information in his mind it was information about the path to the village Alex was in. The same night she had given Rox the information about the way to the village Diana was in. That was why she had then verbally given them the same information the next day. This information was of no further use, unless they wanted to go back into the tunnels.

  The next time was to give them some of her knowledge of local fighting styles. This so they would have an easier time defending themselves if they got in a fight, and also looking forward to when they would be confronting the king and queen. She was pleased to learn how much they already knew. And had been a little surprised that Rox had acquitted herself at the ball, and then kept up as well as she had. Both kids perked up at this, but Rox put it off to later.

  When she had sparred with them, she had been pleased with their abilities, and adaptability. The brief fight with the bandits had solidified her opinions of their competence.

  Just before the caves, she had reinforced and refreshed all that she had already put in. She had also taken the opportunity to put in some of what she had learned about the king and queen.

  Karen explained in short repeat about the silvered rope. Then she talked about the next time she had put information into the kids. She had first evaluated their abilities, then began instruction on things she knew.  The night of the storm she had put some of her own fighting ability into them. This was for their own protection, and to use against the king and queen.

  “Used it,” Alex interrupted.

  “Of course you did. You are here and he’s not.” Karen continued.

  Moving on Karen told how in the town she had arranged for their capture at that time.

  Rox and Steven were not at all surprised by this. Caspian had already been told. Diana had a look that told Karen she was a vile villain. Alex did not react.

  “You all remember what I did that night in the bunk house. But I did a bit more than you were told. Alex, I had to put some specific commands into you, for you to do what you had to. I’m sorry that it may not have been what you wanted to do, but it was what you were needed to do.”

  “It’s okay. He was bad, and the hero has to kill the bad guy, to be sure he doesn’t escape and come back.”

  Karen turned to Rox and Diana. “I also did more with you. I was not sure how the fight with the queen would ultimately go, so I copied your memories of the spells you did and we discussed, and put them into Diana. I am concerned that this may be more advanced and powerful magic than is healthy for her at her age.”

  Mother and daughter looked at each other, for a moment, then back at Karen. Rox answered. “That’s okay. Asking permission would have been better, but now that things have happened, there is nothing to done for it. I will keep and eye on Diana.”

  Karen turned to Steven. “Last was you. I figured that all you had to do was get Alex close enough to the king, and hold your own until Alex could do his part. I gave you all I had learned about the king, and a bit more about fighting. But for the most part you were already as prepared as you needed to be.”

  Caspian spoke to let Karen recollect her thoughts. “That brings us to the capture and what happened there. For my part, I remember casting a barrier that stopped an initial charge, then sent a bolt of lightening through another bunch of men. Then everything goes dark.

  “Some time while I was out, Cyrril bit Karen. I eventually awoke in bed in a house, with Cyrril crouched on my chest. Not long after Karen came into the room, and threatened to put Cyrril into a cage if he did not stop trying to attack her. I told him to settle down and stop being offensively hostile to her, and he did. I then spent the next two and a half days being babied and nursed by Karen. She helped me to begin recovering. I haven’t been nursed that way since I could bathe myself. Problem was I couldn’t. Cyrril scolded her the whole time.”

  “Which you wanted to do,” Karen interjected. “But until your voice returned, you had to use his.”

  Caspian continued as he lightly rubbed Karen’s shoulders and back. “This continued as I got my mind and body back in order with each other. Since then I have been regaining my strength and getting everything straightened out between my mind and body. We spent the last four days hiking to come meet you.”

  Karen interrupted Caspian. “What he is not telling you is he was initially determined to save you from any encounter with the king and queen. Because of what I did to him, he would not have had the strength to help.”

  Rox and Steven shared a look as the couple squabbled. Diana tried to politely follow it, but couldn’t. Alex let his attention drift away. Rox having had some personal experience of Karen’s domesticity at close range understood a little of what Caspian complained about.

  Karen complained that Caspian was a miserable patient. Caspian replied that she was a patient nurse. However she was a terrible mother hen. She fired back that he needed a little mothering. After a little while of back and forth about how each had behaved and some specifics about what had been done over the last days, occasionally telling too much detail, Rox broke in.

  “Back to the attack: what did you do to him? Diana said you stunned him somehow.”

  “I turned his mind off for a short time. To outside appearance he was dead. Once I turned it back on, it took about the same as two full nights sleep to wake up. In that time I took him back to the town we had been in and a house there. He is still getting all the connections sorted out, and his mental stamina back. He is doing about as well as I did when it was done to me, when I was in school. He still needs a final collapse and nights sleep to get everything back in order. When Caspian decided to finally come after you, I came with: both to help him, and because I owed you all this explanation, and what ever apology I can give that will be sincerely accepted.”

  Caspian looked at Karen in annoyance and puzzlement over her last comment about him. Rox was nodding, as puzzle pieces slotted into place in her mind. Diana thought that she now had a clear reason to not like Karen; instead of an unclear one should she decide to really not like her. Alex was busy watching the few clouds roll by high over head, and looking at the moons in visible site. Steven was nodding, having finally gotten from Karen what he had wanted from the start, for her to tell all in clarity and honesty.

  “So, why did you attack him, and us?” Diana almost spat this at Karen.

  Karen kept her tone neutral, rather than responding to the girl’s attack. “Some of the men in that company were in on the plan. I was supposed to kill Caspian, but put him to sleep to convince them that he was dead. As you can see, he is very much alive. What I did do was a much stronger version of what I did to the two of you. He is still recovering from it.”

  Steven gave Karen a brief break as she took a drink. “We then went to Skarg and killed a king and queen.”

  “So when do you move in together,” Rox interjected. She could not have stopped things colder with a bucket of ice water.

  Caspian was the less embarrassed of the two locals. “We have tried that. We will see later on our own time whether a second round happens. As it is, Karen is coming with us back to Shalaia.”

  The Caplan’s were nonplused by this.