This is the next installment of 'A Twisted Tortallian Tale.' Please enjoy and review.
BTW: if you're one of the characters or will be AND YOU DO KNOW WHO YOU ARE SO DON'T JUST SKIP OVER THIS, no more anonymous reviews from you, it really doesn't help me much and I'll just catch up to you later on.
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The mage looked at her scrying mirror in aggravation, that cursed mage, Numair was his name, had made contact with two of the groups that had been pulled in. She had by pure luck caught it in time and had managed to spell his mind so he couldn't remember the other two at the palace. Thank the goddess for her inexhaustible reserves of the Gift.
Not only did she have to keep a scrying mirror on the two palace ladies [the one is more of a tomboy, even if she is older] she thought, and the other two at the Rider's Stables, plus the mage fellow, but the book was sensing the presence of some others and she could tell by the itch in her pointer finger that they were going to get sucked in as well. Hopefully whoever it was would be as easy to please as the last one's were...
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Elizabeth stood against the wall, grinning contentedly. She and Amanda were having their first small 'get together' in their rooms and the few who were invited seemed to be having a pretty good time.
"Lady Elizabeth," said Owen with a mock bow. "When should your dearest sister be arriving with the food?"
Elizabeth smiled evilly, the Tortallians were in for an American surprise. "She should be here any minute..." Amanda walked in, three pans in her arms as she juggled them expertly. A small crowd of the younger folk followed her, only to be shooed back out by Elizabeth.
"Pizza's here!" said Amanda, bowing with a flourish.
"Pizza?" asked Kel as she looked at the round and cheesy pies. "What's pizza?"
"It's a food Elizabeth and I used to eat all the time," said Amanda, picking it up and eating it like a true American teenager, backwards.
"People our age practically lived off this stuff," added Elizabeth, grabbing a piece for herself.
"And you eat it with your hands?" asked Neal as he picked up a piece, holding it awkwardly.
"Yep. Some fold them over, and others start at the other end. A few of the older people eat 'em with knives and forks, but I think it just wastes time," replied Amanda, finishing off her first piece and glancing at Buri and Raoul evilly.
"C'mon you guys, dig in. It's not poisonous, I promise," said Elizabeth, digging into her own. Both girls had been going through the effects of not being in America and needed something to feel a little but more at home.
Kel picked up a slice with sausage on it and tried it bravely, looking quite surprised when she found it to be quite delicious. "I've got to say, Amanda. This is pretty good," admitted Kel, reaching for another piece. Pretty soon the whole group was getting their hands dirty the American way as they dug into the steaming pies Amanda had made.
"What do you know?" whispered Amanda to Elizabeth before she could slip off with her latest 'lover'. "My pizza was a success."
"Don't you mean our pizza?" asked Elizabeth dryly. "I'm the one who came up with the idea..."
"So you could spend more time with Trent," Amanda finished for her, "But still we're going to have to do this a lot more often..."
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Sarah brushed the chestnut mare gently, being sure to not hurt the beautiful mare in any way. John was due home soon, and she had made dinner for the first time: homemade soup and bread.
She heard the sound of hooves beating the dirt road that lead to their humble quarts and knew was Jon from the funny canter of the horse. He rode a gelding named Offbeat who, for the life of him, couldn't run or walk with a steady beat but had taken a liking to Jon for some reason.
"Sarah!" he yelled, dismounting quickly. "We've got company." Sarah slapped her head quickly, remembering what it was she forgot. Today was the day Onua was coming for her first visit and she must've just arrived.
"I'm in the barn!" she yelled back, finishing the mare as quickly as she could. The mare snorted indignantly as Sarah dropped the brush on her hoof. "Sorry," apologized Sarah, giving her a sugar cube for being so good. She rushed outside and gave John a hug before greeting their visitor, who was not Onua at all.
It was a young man, fairly tall and thin but broad shouldered and looked to be in his early twenties. His uniform said he was in the King's own and his badge around his biceps a sergeant. His hands were big and his dark hair was cropped short as most men's were.
"Hullo," he said cheerfully. "I'm Domitan of Masbolle, and one of my horses, a fine gray dappled gelding, went lame. Onua told me to come and give you your pay and at the same time pick out a new horse." He pulled a pouch of gold nobles from his own pouch and a letter from Onua as well. It merely confirmed what he said, and Sarah agreed to let him look about the place.
A few hours later he lead a dark brown gelding with white markings on his forehead and fetlocks to Sarah and Jon, who were outside doing some other work. "I think I'll take this fellow," he said cheerfully. "He and I fit each other just fine."
"That one I call Veety, because he reminds me of a fellow I knew who didn't get along with everybody and that horse certainly doesn't all the time," said Jon sarcastically as Veety laid back his ears and bared his teeth at him. "See what I mean?"
"He's just a bit ornery, right Veety?" asked Domitan, deciding the name fit the horse well.
"That was mean, Jon," said Sarah in her usual way. "Veety got along with more people than you give him credit for. Just because you didn't like him..."
"I never said that. I just think he was hard to get along with," interrupted Jon, getting a grin of Domitan.
Sarah shook her head and sighed. "Would you like to join us for dinner, Domitan?" she asked politely, feeling the three of them would get along pretty well.
"Sorry, but I can't. The King's Own needs me and I have to get back as soon as possible," replied Domitan, smiling ruefully. "I tell you what though, next time my meathead cousin needs a horse we'll stop on by together and have dinner, ok?" He swung himself up onto the horse, ready to ride him back to Corus bareback.
"Bye, Domitan!" called Sarah after the retreating form as he galloped away.
"Good riddance, Veety," mutter Jon, having had a great dislike of that particular horse.
"Jon!"
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The book sat innocently below Brenna, Allie and Mouse's locker. Brenna came bustling in, looking puzzled when she saw the no one was there. Amanda and Elizabeth's lockers were still locked and Sarah and Hewet, as everyone called him, were nowhere to be seen.
She spotted the book and her eyebrows shot up, pouncing on it instantly. "This is a Tamora Pierce book?" she said aloud, looking at the cover carefully. She saw that the picture on the front was the same as she had at home, except for the two pictures in the top corners and them looking strangely familiar.
Allie came in and asked what she was looking at. "That's what I'm trying to figure out," said Brenna, opening the cover. She flipped to where a red bookmark was and began to read, realizing this wasn't like the copy she had at home. "They didn't have pizza in Tortal!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking very confused. "And why are there extra characters and scenes in here?!"
Bryanna, most often know as Mouse for being fairly quiet, walked in carrying her books wearily. "Squeak-ums!" cried Brenna teasingly. "Did you have a good time with James last night?"
"Yep. He's glad to be home from college," replied Bryanna, tossing her head.
"I think he was more glad to see her..." whispered Allie to Brenna, chucking quietly.
"What'cha looking at?" asked Bryanna, ignoring Allie's comment.
"I thought it was a T.P. book, but it's not like the one I have at home," replied Brenna as she closed the cover of the book. The ever-faithful burst of light appeared, and all three disappeared, their things somehow flying magically into their locker and the lock shutting it's self automatically.
The book floated for a minute, the settled it's self on a chair near the flute and clarinet lockers, a new picture appearing on the back of a thief, a bar maid, and a brothel worker...
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Brenna found herself on the road outside of Corus, her two friends right beside her. She was dressed as a common bar worker, her skirt full and flashy and her top coming down a bit lower than she liked. The only thing left from her original clothes was a dragon's caw pendent with a ball grasped in it. She also realized she was packing about 6 or 8 hide knives in various places. In her hand were the reins to a gelding Palomino with a star on his right flank and a pair of saddlebags over his shoulders.
Bryanna and Allie found them selves in similar situations, yet slightly different. Allie was wearing all leather and looked like she belonged to one of the local whore houses while Mouse was wearing a commoner's clothes as any respectable bar maid might. Both had horses, Allie's a black and white whiskey Pinto mare, and Bryanna's a Clydesdale with a tan coat and blonde mane and fetlocks; and both had the same necklace and pendent Brenna wore except the ball was different colors.
"Girls," said Brenna in awe. "I do believe we're in Tortal."
"What?" asked Allie, wrinkling her nose.
"In your terms, we were sucked into the book and all we can do now, I guess, is to go and make what little future we can have," said Brenna dully, wishing Amanda was here, she practically had the books memorized. She suddenly shot up with a jolt of inspiration. "Let's go the Dancing Dove!" she cried, leading her horse down the path to Corus.
"What's that?" asked Bryanna as she walked beside Brenna, Allie on her other side.
"It's a bar and inn in that town down there. Once there we could find jobs and maybe pick up some tricks of the thieving trade." She thought about everything that had happened since they arrived and began to piece it all together. Spotting a fat pouch on a noble in front of her, she swiped it easily and opened it, jackpot!
"What'd you just do that for?" asked Bryanna quietly, not wanting to attract any attention. Allie was too busy flirting with a young man who had slipped up beside her to notice anything.
"A test of sorts. I noticed some other pictures on that cover before we were sent here, and I think Amanda and Elizabeth and maybe two others came before us. There's no use trying to find them, we're probably miles apart. One thing I always wanted to do if I came to Corus was to join the rouge and be a thief."
"Oh, you would, would you?" asked another young man who appeared next to her out of nowhere.
"Who are you?" asked Brenna sharply, reaching for one of her knives automatically.
"Joe's the name, and a member of the rouge you just spoke about. I've been listening in on your conversation for awhile and saw you take that pouch of gold, not bad work if I say so myself. Why don't you three ladies join me and Al, the fellow who's enamored with your friend, and we'll take you to the Dancing Dove," replied the young man, in his late teens or early 20's.
"How do we know we can trust you?" asked Bryanna wryly.
"You don't," replied Joe. "But I give you my word as a thief of the rouge that I won't hurt you three and as long as you're in company of me and Al you should be fine."
"Ok, then," agreed Brenna, "But if you're lying I will break you."
"And she could, too," added Bryanna. Brenna could bench press well over 100 lbs, something most thieves couldn't do. Joe nodded his understanding and grabbed onto Brenna's arm, quickly weaving his was through the crowd.
They reached it quickly, Joe giving the stable boy a gold noble to put up their horses for them (which Brenna suspected he had flinched from her anyways...). Walking into the bar, he was loudly greeted by a few of his fellow thieves and those who wanted to see who he had with them. Allie and Mouse followed Brenna, who was following Joe, to the table where the present King of thieves sat.
"Ladies," said Joe in a mock-regal voice, "May I present Jeremy, King of the Rouge." Jeremy stood up and bowed to them, and all three curtsied back.
"What can I do for you?" asked Jeremy as he motioned for them to sit at his table. "And where are you from?"
"We're not sure," said Brenna, silencing Bryanna and Allie with a look. They knew that whatever she was going to say was a lie, but had to go along with it anyway. "We used to live somewhere, we don't know where, and we used to have jobs at a place similar to this. But there's this rather large, empty space that we don't know what happened."
"Well, it's of little matter," said Jeremy, leaning back in his chair. "All three of you have a gift, and any sort of gift is welcome here as long as it's used for the Rouge. Bartholomew! Bring us three tankards of lemonade and two of ale, will ya?"
An old man, bent over with age, began to scuttle around the bar area, filling out the requested order. Bryanna got up and went to help him, asking where the drinks were and taking them to the table for him. Jeremy watched with a critical eye as she served them, watching to see if she spilled any. "You, lass, have worked with drinks before?" he asked nonchalantly.
"In a way," replied Bryanna, remembering serving them at one of the parent meeting for the band boosters.
"Then you can help old Bart behind the counter all the time. You can flirt with the fellows who come and order drinks, but they won't lay a finger on ya without your consent if they're one of my boys." Jeremy leaned forward and looked her in the eye. "What's your name, lass?"
"Mouse," she said automatically. "Call me Mouse."
"Mouse," replied Jeremy absently. "Now for you two," he looked at Brenna and Allie carefully. "I don't know exactly what all your gifts are. I know Mouse's isn't serving drinks so we'll figure hers out later. You, I think you have the gift of the thief."
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Brenna asked with a sly grin as she put a few more coins in her pouch that she had relieved from passing persons.
"Well, you just took all poor Benny had in his pouch and right about now he should be realizing he can't pay for all the drinks he's had." As if on a cue a surprised yell was heard from across the bar, and a short scuffle as he was dragged before the King.
"He can't pay his bill, sir," said Joe respectfully. "What should we do?"
"How much is it?" asked Brenna, feeling guilty.
"Two silvers and a copper." She fished the money out of her pouch and handed it to old Bart who then told them to release the fellow. Benny breathed a sigh of relief before winking at Brenna and walking away.
"Yes, you definitely have the gift of the thief," murmured Jeremy as he watched the young ladies talk amongst themselves. "What are we to call you?"
"I'd suggest Vixen, she looks as sly as a fox to me," commented Joe, getting a hard punch from Brenna because of it.
"Vixen it is then," agreed Jeremy, "It suits you well and your real name doesn't really matter anymore, you're one of the Rouge."
"What about me?" asked Allie, not wanting to be left out of the fun.
"Well, you certainly have the gift, and lot's of it," admitted Jeremy, noticing the three she had been flirting with just sat there and waited for her to return to them. "Look inside yourself and call up a thread of it. Then send out that thread at Joe, just to see what would happen." She did, hers being a dark red color. Joe immediately became relaxed and submissive. "Call to him." She did and he obeyed immediately. "Now try in on one of your friends." Allie did, but nothing happened. "Well, at least we know what her gift is."
"What?" asked Allie excitedly.
"You're a seducer of men."
"Sweet!"
"Yep, that's right up Allie's isle," remarked Mouse to Brenna, now known as 'Vixen.'
"What should we call you?" asked Joe, not making any suggestions himself this time.
"I go by Allie," she replied, grinning evilly.
"Bartholomew! Show these ladies upstairs to spare rooms!" proclaimed Jeremy, seeing some other fellows who wanted to see him walk in. "You'll have to excuse me, I have another meeting to go to." Joe shooed them up the stairs before they could see who he was meeting with, much to their annoyance.
"What will we do now?" asked Allie when they were settled, having gone through the bags that were on their horses back and put everything away.
"I'm gonna go do some thieving later this evening, and until then lets go and get something to eat," suggested Brenna, rising from her seat and walking out the door.
"I might as well go start serving behind the bar, he said he needed more workers there and I'm kind of bored just sitting around here," added Mouse, rising to her feet and walking after her.
"Wait for me!" cried Allie, suddenly realizing she was the only one left in the room...
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"Enjoying lightening my customer's purses?" teased old Bart as another noble who came there for a drink found his gold nobles gone.
"Yes, and you'll get half of what I make if you don't rat me out," said Brenna lightly as she scanned the crowd for another victim.
Allie was in the corner with four or five guys around her, completely under her spell. "Of all the Gifts she had to get," murmured Brenna to herself.
"What was that?" asked Joe as he walked up beside her. "Someone jealous of their sister?" The three had claimed to be sisters earlier so they would have a good reason for sticking together.
"What? No, you just don't know her like I do and trust me she's in heaven," replied Brenna frankly, turning away.
"Would you like to go meet Jeremy's distinguished guest this evening?" asked Joe, coming around her other side.
"You mean the guy next to him in the cowl? Sure." He led her through the crowds and claimed two chairs for them next to the King, jostling his arm by 'accident.'
"I see you got her to come pretty quickly," observed Jeremy without looking at them. "Baron George, I'd like you to meet Vixen, one of the three new Rouge who joined today. Brenna froze in her seat. The Baron George of Pirate's Swoop who was the former King of Thieves???
"Hello there," said George cheerfully, extending a hand to her. "I've seen you lightening heavy pouches this evening and am impressed with your work."
"Thank you," said Brenna softly, turning slightly pink, one of the greatest thieves ever was impressed with her work!!
"Sorry to have to leave so soon, Jeremy, but the wife and kids may be getting worried about me, so long. See you soon Vixen, Joey." The Baron got up and drew his cowl back on, quickly leaving into the dark night.
"So long, sir," called Joe to his back, grinning merrily.
"You know him?" asked Brenna in awe.
"George? Yeah, he was the King when I first joined. He and Fingers found me in an alley when I was 8 and took care of me since then."
"Lucky," muttered Brenna under her breath as Mouse came and plopped down beside her.
"Tired?" asked Jeremy, eyes twinkling mischievously.
"Shut up," growled Mouse, not to be messed with at the moment.
"Touchy," mumbled Joe, getting a venomous look from Mouse before she was called away to serve more drinks to people by old Bart.
"Gee, thanks for making her so happy when I have to share a room with her," grumbled Brenna, flinching a few coins from a passing lady. The lady went around the table and sat by Jeremy, much to Brenna's surprise, and winked at her.
"Like those fake coppers you got there?" she asked, grinning wickedly.
"Let me introduce my cousin Ratina, Queen of Thieves," said Jeremy, trying not to laugh.
"That's it, I don't think I could take another surprise today!" exclaimed Brenna, rising from her chair. Joe caught her arm and told her to sit back down. "Listen, buddy, don't tell me what to do. I could break you with my bare hands."
"Vixen, sit," ordered Jeremy. Brenna glared at him, but obeyed, his cousin about to burst out laughing.
"Oh, go ahead and laugh," grumbled Brenna, waving a hand at Ratina. She did, it echoing to the rafters of the old inn.
"At least somebody's having fun," teased Joe, getting another punch from Brenna. "Hey! You know that does kind of hurt!" he protested, rubbing his arm.
"You think I care, you son of a bastard," replied Brenna, getting up and leaving. Ratina watched her for awhile as she weaved in and out of the crowd, taking more coins as she went. A stop by the counter gave Mouse and old Bart part of what she'd made, before disappearing up the stairs to her room for the night.
"So what do you think of her?" Jeremy asked Ratina.
"She's definitely skilled, gift or no gift. In time she could be a valuable part of the team," she commented lightly. "Her sisters are as equally of use, especially the one, since she can seduce men. The other has the gift, right? Do we know what it's for yet?"
"I sent for Zoe, that mage that owes me a favor. We'll find out when she gets here, and whatever it is I'm sure will be as good as her siblings," replied Jeremy, watching Mouse for a minute. He was certainly a lucky King. Only a few months in power, and already he had new followers who were of use to him!
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Allie woke up last the next morning, having been up until the early hours of the morning with her group of guys the night before. Rolling out of the bed about noon, she pulled on a dress with long, wide sleeves to hide her daggers in, like her leather shirt had had the day before. They were just long enough to kill a person, but small enough to remain concealed.
She ran down the stairs, pausing at the bottom long enough to spot her friends. Brenna was back over at the King's table, drinking some ale with Ratina and Mouse was working the counter while Bartholomew took a break. Going over to the counter, Mouse handed her a plate and drink and told her Brenna wanted to see her.
Allie nodded and went over to the table, sitting by Brenna and waiting until there as a break in the conversation for her to speak. "What did you want?" she asked, mouth full of eggs.
"We figured out what Mouse's gift is," replied Brenna. "She has the ability to control any male with her singing."
"Might've guess that," commented Allie, "She's so good and all. Was there anything else?"
"Yeah, you really don't have that big of a gift according to Jeremy and it would be better if you saved it for jobs rather than use it on every hot guy you see."
"Jobs?"
"We're going to pick out the richest nobles in each bar, have you seduce them or Mouse sing to them while I loot 'em clean. We'll make a bundle and from what I understand they don't remember a thing later on so we can't get caught," replied Brenna.
"How do you know they won't remember?" asked Allie.
"Because the guys you were having fun with last night all know they were with some girl but couldn't tell it was you if you were standing right in front of them. Al came down before you did and I had to tell him about last night with three or four others swearing it happened before he would believe me," replied Brenna, smiling slyly.
"And what will we do with our new found cash?" asked Mouse as she walked up, a tray of drinks for the King and his table in her hand.
"We'll buy some nice clothes and invite ourselves to a few of the balls at the palace where we can clean up even more," supplied Brenna, Ratina agreeing with her.
"Those nobles get so drunk at those things you can practically send people off the street in there and they'll come out filthy rich," she smirked.
"I like the sound of that," said Allie dreamily.
"Most thieves do. But do you understand who you need to save your gift?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get me something with caffeine in it and I'll agree to anything."
"What's caffeine?" asked Ratina
"Just get her some coffee and don't worry about it," answered Brenna, making a mental note to tell the other two not to make references back to their own world. Besides the rather annoying Joe and a magic-happy Allie, things were going alright in her opinion.
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Anther chapter up, and right before Christmas too! Happy Holidays and as a gift to me please review, I don't ask for much. Just tell me if you hate it or love or are a little in between...you get the picture.