Kaeleer: SaDiablo Hall
Mephis hurried through the halls towards his father's study. As he walked he rehearsed his story, trying to get all his facts in order so he could tell the story clearly, rather than the fragmented pieces he had received.
Saetan heard a soft knock in his door. "Come in," he said immediately. He was sitting tensely, frowning into the distance, wondering what Mephis was going to tell him
Mephis entered. "Father," he began. "I went to Amdarh as you asked me to and I wasn't able to find any of them. I inquired around and from the reports I had, they haven't been seen in town since two evenings ago. No one seems to know where they have gone. They were last seen at an inn-"
Saetan held up a hand to interrupt Mephis. In his hand he held a note. "Thank you Mephis," he said quietly, "But I think I know where they have gone. I received this note this morning." He handed the note to Mephis.
Mephis took it and read the brief message "Uncle Saetan, we have gone to Little Terreille to visit Jaenelle. We'll return in a couple days. Don't worry. Morton." He returned the note to Saetan with an incredulous "Little Terreille? They went to Little Terreille to visit Jaenelle? Mother Night! How did they manage that?"
"I don't know," answered Saetan grimly. He rose and moved beyond his desk. "I'm going to bring them back."
"Are you sure that's wise?" inquired Mephis. "They will obviously have to face some consequences for this stunt, but don't you think that it would be better to wait until they are back at the Hall? They aren't children anymore and to go and drag them back for punishment might not be the best option."
"I would wait until they are back, if for no other reason that it would keep them out of Dhemlan for a few more days. Let Little Terreille deal with those young Blood for a day or two and if they do manage to find Jaenelle, it will be no more than those sons of whores deserve for forcing Jaenelle to go and 'socialize', " Saetan responded.
He stopped for a second and then continued. "But something makes me uneasy about this. How did they manage to get into Little Terreille so easily? Did someone help them, and if so, why? Jaenelle has enemies still, you know that."
Mephis nodded solemnly.
"They wouldn't hesitate to use her friends to get at her." Saetan moved towards the door, then turned back to Mephis. "And I could've sworn that, an hour ago, that I heard a faint cry on the Sapphire thread. It was a cry for help."
"Do you want anyone to go with you?" asked Mephis. "Myself, Andulvar?"
"No," said Saetan as he vanished the Red Jewels he had been wearing and called in the Black. "I believe I can handle it."
* * *
Kaeleer: Little Terreille
Morghann wanted the annoying voices in her head to stop so she could continue sleeping. * Go away,* she snarled, and just for good measure she said it out loud as well because she suspected that some were non-psychic voices. Then she felt a huge poke in her side. There was only one person who dared poke her. "KARLA!" she yelled.
Karla said urgently. "Wake up, Morghann!"
Memory of the previous day flooded Morghann. Going to Little Terreille, Lord Rafel, drinking the drugged wine… She opened her eyes and sat up fast, wincing as her stomach made a protest at moving quickly. Her head ached and she desperately needed a drink of water. She looked around at her surroundings. She was in a small cell with no windows and a heavy door with a small slit for a window. Morghann was sitting on a hard dingy mattress. Karla and Kalush were kneeling close by, Karla looking extremely angry and Kalush wearing a worried expression.
"Are you all right?" asked Kalush. "We couldn't wake you up, Khary's getting frantic."
Morghann opened her mouth to speak when she experienced Khary's worry firsthand.
*MORGHANN!* came his distraught message on a private thread.
Well, at least she knew now that the voices in her head weren't a result of the drugs. *Stop yelling Khary; I'm awake now! * Morghann responded irritably.
* Thank the Darkness. Are you all right? *
Why was everyone asking that? * Yes, I'm fine.*
"Morghann?" came Kalush's worried voice.
Morghann remembered that she hadn't answered Kalush. "Yes, I'm fine. Are you and Karla all right? Where are Khary and Morton and Aaron? And where are we?"
Karla answered, practically spitting the words out. "We don't know for sure but the boyos are in another cell close by. I tried earlier to shout to them and I heard Aaron respond before some guards yelled at me to be quiet."
"Perhaps we should talk about this on a thread, instead of out loud," said Kalush with a nervous look towards the door. *That way Aaron and the other boyos can hear and we don't have to be worried about being overheard. *
*Good idea, * said Karla, sending a message that just the six of them could hear. * So, now that we're all awake, I think we should discuss how to get out of this situation and how to deal with that son of a bitch Rafel. *
They all agreed, Aaron adding * It should be painful I think. I tried to choke that bastard but I wasn't able to because of the drugs, all I gave him was a nasty bruise on his neck. Next time it'll be more than that.*
Morton interjected. * We also need to figure out why we were kidnapped. What would Rafel gain by kidnapping young Bloods from Kaeleer?
* We are all members of important and powerful families. Maybe we're bargaining tools for something he wants, * offered Morghann.
* Perhaps, but I don't think that Lord Rafel knew that; well, maybe he did,* said Karla. * I was so stupid to trust him; why would he have offered to take us if he didn't want something in return? *
* Don't take all the blame Karla, we were all idiots; we all wanted to see Jaenelle and we didn't stop to think of the dangers * said Kalush consolingly.
* Wait. Maybe that's why Lord Rafel wanted us, maybe he really wanted Jaenelle and we were just bait, * said Khary.
* No, I don't think that's it. If it were, why would he have kidnapped us after he found out that Jaenelle had left? There has to be another reason, * said Morton.
* Or maybe we are consolation prizes, if Jaenelle got away. *
They all fell silent as they considered Karla's suggestion.
* It still comes back to why Rafel took us, what use are we to him? *
* Or what use it would be if we were gone, - or if we were destroyed * said Aaron hesitatingly.
Morghann wondered what he meant, surely he didn't mean…
Morton said forcefully, * We have to get out of here, in any case. I'm sure that Lord Rafel didn't throw us in these cells if he meant any good. *
* Well, you never know, perhaps it's a Little Terreille tradition to throw your guests- sorry, I shouldn't have said that, * said Khary apologizing. * Is there anyone we can call for help? *
* No one who isn't half a realm away. We can't call Jaenelle because this could still be a trap for her. *
* What about Uncle Saetan? I know it's far but I might be able to reach him, * said Karla.
* Good idea, but we can't depend on him to come rescue us, * answered Aaron. * We have to try to get out of this by ourselves; it might be too late by the time he is able to come. *
* Or he might not get the message at all, * said Morghann.
* Try anyway, Karla, * said Kalush.
Karla tried. * I can't reach him. Sorry. *
* It's all right, Karla. I guess that we'll have to break out ourselves, * said Khary cheerfully. He seemed confident that they would be able to get out of the situation no matter what obstacles were presented. * Your door's locked, right? *
* Yes. *
* By what jeweled strength? *
* Umm, Sapphire. *
* So is ours. That means that only you have the strength to break the locks. *
* I don't know if I can. They took all our jewels-*
* Ours as well.*
* I only have my reserves, I might be able to break one lock but- but I don't think I could do both. *
Silence. There was a flurry of thoughts on a separate spear thread between the males.
* What are you talking about? * asked Karla suspiciously.
Finally Morton answered, * If only one lock can be broken, it has to be yours. You girls have to get out and find someone who can help us. We think that we're probably still close to Goth-*
* Why?! *
There were a couple seconds of awkward silence, then Aaron said. * If worst comes to worst, it's better that us males are here than you, they can't do as much to us as they could to you. *
* We can't just leave you here Aaron! * wailed Kalush.
* Yes you can and you're going to have to. Males are expendable; females, especially Queens, aren't. Listen; here's the plan. Khary and I are going to get into a 'little' fight complete with lots of Craft. Morton will try to break it up. With all the Craft going on, hopefully the guards will be too distracted trying to break it up to notice Karla 'quietly' breaking the door. *
* That's the big plan? It won't work- *
* It'll- wait, someone's coming. *
The Queens waited for a couple minutes, then Morghann got fed up. * Khary, what is going on? *
Khary didn't respond but Morton did. * Karla, you have to break that lock now! *
