Disclaimer: I don't own Tamora Pierce's characters.
Not Taking Anymore
Chapter 36
"So, what are we going to do to this guy to get him to talk?" Kyle growled in an angry whisper as they locked the interrogation room and walked to the weapons training room.
"Have you ever heard of truth drops?" Raoul questioned his heir.
"Are you two alright?" Thom blinked worriedly down at the two girls on the ground.
"We're just fine, Thom," Bianca grinned up at him evilly, making him back away from her and trip over something, causing him to fall into Beatrice's lap. "Oh and here I thought all mages were supposed to be graceful!" Bianca laughed giddily, before she received two vicious glares, making her 'EEP!' again and take off for the nearest exit.
"Ah hm," Beatrice cleared her throat.
"Ack!" Thom quickly jumped out of her lap, blushing as red as a ripe apple. "I'm dreadfully sorry!" He quickly turned around to help Beatrice up from the floor.
"No worries," Beatrice took his offered hand and stood up, but she grabbed hold of his arm to steady herself before trying to walk. Realizing what she was doing, she pulled back her hand and blushed as she stared at Thom's shirt.
"What does 'no worries' mean?" Thom asked softly.
"It means that I'm alright and if it happens again, don't worry about it," Beatrice replied softly and turned her now embarrassed gaze to their shoes.
Lifting her chin with his hand, Thom made Beatrice meet his gaze, "I believe I will always worry about you, Beatrice…"
"So, you're keeping me company?" Jen stared at the crow, "What is your name?"
"Her name is Rippa," Kyprioth appeared before Jen. "Now, did you wish to learn crow?" Kyprioth chuckled.
"I'd like to, but I'm afraid I would not be a very good student," Jen bit her lips sadly.
"Chaos will not tell us what or whom she has released," Kyprioth sighed tiredly.
"Oh! While you're here, could you meet Kyle?" Jen glanced at the Trickster and pouted.
"I suppose it would not inconvenience me too much," Kyprioth chuckled.
"Oomph!" Bianca suddenly found herself toppling backwards and landing on the ground with an incredibly handsome man, blushing, on top of her.
"I-I-I a-a-apol-pol-o-ogi-gize l-l-lady," the nervous man/boy quickly pushed himself off of Bianca and continued to apologize, stuttering the entire time, while helping Bianca to her feet.
"It was probably my fault," Bianca shrugged casually. "I didn't exactly watch where I was going…"
"No lady, it was my fault, I had my hands full with towels for the lords in the east wing of the palace…" the man/boy continued to apologize.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I've probably gotten you all off-schedule! Tell you what; I'll help you deliver these!" Bianca immediately began to pick up scattered towel and fold them properly, handing half to the man/boy and keeping the rest for herself to carry.
"My lady, you shouldn't be doing this!" the man/boy nearly begged.
"Look at it from my point of view, I'm bored. When I'm bored at home, what do you think I do?" Bianca waited for the boy to come up with a reply, but he just blinked and stared at her in puzzlement, "I do chores. Sometimes, when I think too much on the why I'm doing it, I just end up doing more. So, why don't you lead, and I'll follow? With me carrying half, you won't crash into anyone else…"
The man/boy finally seemed to sense her reasoning, and started down the hall at a fast pace that had Bianca trotting to keep up, "Very well, my lady."
"By the way, my name is Bianca. What's yours?"
"Valerik," the man/boy blushed. "My parents picked Valerie for a girl and Erik for a boy. In the end, they decided to combine the two names."
"Really? That's neat, I would have thought that Val was just a shorter version of valor," Bianca gave him a hundred-watt smile. "You can call me Anca, if ya want to. My best friend Beatrice or Bee does."
"If you can think of a nickname that I will enjoy… then you may bestow one on me, if you wish it," Valerik felt a tendril of fear travel up his spine.
"How about Rik (R-ick)?" Bianca flashed him another smile, when he nodded happily back to her.
"Kyle!" Jen waved to him as he finished he put up the practice sword he had been using.
"Hey Jen, who's this guy?" Kyle gave her a light smile.
"Kyle, I'd like you to meet Uncle Kypri!" Jen beamed at Kyle mischievously. He's Kyprioth, the God!
YOU HAVE A GOD FOR AN UNCLE?!! "Nice to meet you sir," Kyle bowed lowly to the God.
No! He's pretending to be my uncle, remember! When is Raoul leaving? "Uncle Kypri knows your uncle, Kyle!" Jen smirked.
My Uncle? Since when does a god know my uncle? "He does?"
"Yes, Mith and I are almost as close as brothers should be," Kyprioth chuckled.
You're in the hands of Mithros, remember? And Kyprioth is Mithros' younger and mischievous brother!
I get it now, Jen. Kyle sighed, "So, how is the old fossil?"
"Fossil?!!" Kyprioth burst into guffaws.
"Well, he is, and so are you, Uncle Kypri," Jen smirked as she watched Kyprioth's face take on a stunned look.
Kyprioth placed his hand to his chin and thought about it before answering with a smile, "Too true!"
"Kyle, I'll see you at supper?" Raoul frowned at the strangely garbed man whom Jen had addressed as 'uncle'.
"Okay, see you at supper," Kyle nodded and watched as Raoul moved out of the training room. "So, why exactly is the God here?"
"You wanted to meet him, don't you remember?! Kyle Andromeda Redfern! You had best not be getting all-timers at your age!" Jen placed her fists on her hips in an irritated gesture.
"No, Jen, I'm not getting all-timers, but whenever did I say I wanted to meet a God? Particularly a very devious one?" Kyle glared back at his friend.
"I'm sorry, children, but I have to run. Rippa I leave her in your care," Kyprioth winked at the crow, before disappearing.
"So, what did he want?" Kyle frowned, clearly not impressed.
"He didn't want anything; it's more along the lines that I wanted information…" Jen huffed as she stalked over to a workbench and plopped down.
"What?" Kyle stopped glaring and yelling, but stared at her with a confusion apparent in his eyes.
"I asked him who was after us, and he told me something along the lines that Chaos got loose, freed a trapped person, and they somehow messed up Numair's magic, which caused us to arrive in Tortall," Jen glared at him for not letting her tell the entire story before he became angry with her.
"So, who is this person?"
"None of the gods besides Chaos have any idea to this person's identity…" Jen frowned.
A man strode into the room, smirking when he saw them, "Well, if it isn't the two off-worlders?"
"Nat Sirt! How did you get out of your cell?!" Kyle growled and stepped in front of Jen protectively.
"Ah, now there is a riddle, but I shall tell you that I am a mage," the man smirked, his dark blue robes laughing at the two teens.
"You're a mage?!!" Kyle growled, his eye twitching.
"You were all so easy to fool! Especially, that fool, Arram Drapper!" Nat Sirt laughed.
"You!" Jen gasped in both shock and horror, "You're that mage that Numair turned into an apple tree! You're the black robe mage Tristan!"
"Ah, so I see you've heard of me, my little off-worlders," Tristan laughed. "It is so nice to have a fan!"
"You have none, you despicable piece of filth!" Jen hardly felt it, as her nails bit into her hands hard enough to cause droplets of blood.
"Well, since you now know that I'm the cause of your… unfortunate little problem, and you now know my identity, I'm afraid I'll just have to do away with you," Tristan sneered.
"We have the Trickster and Mithros on our side, you will not be able to harm us," Kyle grabbed a sword from a nearby rack, and hefted it between himself and the mage.
"Rippa!" Jen gasped in shock as the mage threw but a tendril of his power out and smashed the crow to the floor of the training room, before it could gauge out the mage's eyes. Jen dashed forward to get her fallen friend, but before she could, Kyle grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her to him with one arm, while holding the sword in the other. "Rippa!"
"I've dallied long enough," the mage laughed wickedly, and threw a mage-blast at the two of them. Kyle never released hold of Jen, or the sword as the light enveloped them and where they had once stood, nothing remained but footprints.
Now, before you all rush off thinking that this is the end, I'm tempted to end it right here, but I don't believe that I will. I've still got some ideas swimming around in my head, and I'll have plenty more, after my vacation. So, I won't be able to update for a bit... but I will be back!
Sending mischief your way!
Snowfire the Kitsune
Tris the weatherwitch: What is this master sword you speak of? I've never heard of it. Oh well, this is the best I could do, but the next update may take a lot longer, since I won't be able to reach a computer for a while. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Seraphina2: Yeah, I kinda noticed my incorrect wordage when I went back to review what I had written in before I wrote this chapter. I thought the last chapter was kinda short, but this one is rather lengthy in comparison. Hope you enjoyed it!
harryptaxd204: Thanks! Encouragement is always a plus! I always enjoy hearing others inputs! Hope you like this chapter a bit better, especially now that the villain has shown himself! Did you know that if you spell Tristan backwards, you can get natsirt or Nat Sirt? Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
sYaOrAnRoXmiSoX: Glad you liked the --POOF--! I just love making Kyprioth a humorous trickster! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!