Disclaimer… still have no money (less now that gas prices are up) and I still don't own tamora's stuff.
A/N sorry this took so long I've been busy but soon I'll be out of school so that'll be nice… I spent the entirety of the past week and a half eating and sleeping and breathing flash presentations they pretty well took over my life for a while but anyway thanks so much fer yer patience and the review from Celestial Secrets. Many many cookies for you.
After a month of living at pirates swoop Gill was quite at home there. Most of her lessons had ceased, but the head cook insisted that she learn grammar and reading. George also maintained her self-defense lessons. Life settled into a routine and she could almost feel as though things were normal.
The main problem with the whole situation was that normal meant she was being held, although it was admittedly not entirely against her will, in an isolated keep by a magic-man. And then there was the intrigue constantly under discussion. She had been told Tortal was above such squabbling, but then again things were unsettled. The border raids hadn't stopped, minor uprisings had been quelled by the dozens, and disgruntled lords had been cropping up all over the place, yet slowly but surely things were getting back to normal.
Gill didn't actually see any of this but she heard plenty, just like everyone else at the swoop. News traveled fast there. That was due to the relative smallness of the keep and the closeness of those who lived there. Gill had been accepted readily enough into the family of servants there. Unlike in her past experience though the keep's lord, George, was very much at home with his servants treated them almost as equals.
Just then Gill was hurrying to finish her chores so she wouldn't be late for her lessons with George. She just had to fetch a final bucket of water for Cook and then she could be off.
"Ferrier," Cook called from the stove as Gill poured the cool water into a cistern.
"f-e-r-r-i-e-r," Gill rattled off the spelling. Cook had taken to quizzing her whenever she entered the kitchen so Gill was used to it by now and it had almost become a sort of game between the two, "and I really must be off or I will be late for my lesson with George."
"Hmph! Just don't you forget to bring me wood after you are done this time," Cook said briskly. Gill winced at the reminder of her neglected chore. She had forgotten all about the wood a few days ago and cook kept teasing her about it.
"I won't," she said and trotted off the find George. He was standing in the stable-yard where they practiced as she had expected. With him was his travel-worn wife, Alanna. It was apparent that she had just arrived after a hard ride.
"Gill dear, just the girl I wanted to see…" George greeted her.
"Do you know the boy we caught the other day Gill?" Alanna interrupted bitingly.
"What boy?" Gill asked taken aback.
"The assassin," Alanna hissed.
"I never even saw him and you barely told me a thing about him, how should I know if I know him?" Gill responded reasonably.
"She has a point Alanna, don't be harsh on the girl," George interjected before the red-head could further vent at Gill.
"Stay out of this George," Alanna said, "The boy looked an awful lot like you and like I mentioned before, he had a very similar story. But the reason I am here is that some new information has come up. The boy wasn't acting under his own powers. From what George tells me they used some pretty funky magic on you. My question then becomes what kind of capabilities did your masters have? I need to know exactly how big a threat that kid and those behind him represent and I need solid information about the kid because if he is in any was responsible for his actions the penalty is death."
Gill heard what Alanna said, but at the mention of magic her brain shut out the meaning. This lady wanted to know about the masters. About what they knew and what they could do. They would probably have killed her for what she had already told George and he knew next to nothing… what would they do to her if they ever found out she told the king's champion of Tortal about their experiments. She shuddered at the mere thought.
"I can't tell you."
"That boy, his name is Kale. Did your master own a dark angry little brat by that name?"
Gill started. It couldn't be. They were dead, all of them were dead. He had told her so. Gill could have kicked herself, of course he never would have though twice about lying to her. Kale, how could he be alive after so long, "Are they going to hang him?" she asked quietly.
"That all depends on how much magic was involved in his little regicide attempt."
"And if I tell you what the magic-men back home were capable of that might help?"
"It might."
Gill took a deep breath, "If they ever find out about this… kill me before that happens… Can we go someplace private?"
Alanna and George exchanged looks, "the west tower I suppose," George said with a shrug and then led the way to the place he had named.
Gill looked around the empty tower-top nervously before launching into discourse.
"The kid you found, you said he wasn't acting under his own power…?"
"Yeah, they were questioning him and someone caught a trace of magic on him. They've been trying to figure out exactly what's been done to him for a few days now. The thing is the more they unravel the less they understand what kinds of spells have been laid on him."
"Coercion then. They like that one," Gill fought back memories and continued, "They are quite adept but they need to maintain close contact with their subjects to retain control. And for stronger coercions there has to be a level of cooperation on the part of the subject. Which basically means that whoever sent him was either in the city himself of sent a representative to maintain the spells and that Kale somehow opened himself up to this by some willingness to do what was asked of him."
"What kind of willingness would that require? Coercion by its very nature is contrary to the wishes of the one it is being used on."
"True. What I mean is there has to be some kernel of commonality between the goal and the impulses of the one used to execute it. Like if they wanted you to fight someone with your sword, you are good with your sword so they could probably do that, but if they wanted me to do the same thing, since I have never used a sword it would require an inordinate amount of energy to use me. But it doesn't have to be a physical thing like that."
"So if this kid had a real bone to pick with Tortal?"
Gill nodded, "If he was angry enough then that would make him all that much easier to use and he probably wouldn't really even notice the spells himself. He would simply feel it was his own choice to do what they wanted."
"So the one responsible is probably in Corus then?" Alanna was getting excited about the new lead.
Gill shook her head, "no, like I said, they like that spell anybody who could do the caliber work we are talking about here would have been able to maintain it well enough that no one would have detected it unless they used extremely specific tests. Whoever did it probably fled when they found out Kale had been caught," Gill felt anger bubbling up at that. Leave it to those magic-men to leave Kale to take the blame for them.
"So would the kid have been able to resist them? Would it have been possible for him to not kill the king?"
"Well, the fact that he failed says something for him. I doubt they were depending on anything less than magic to slip him close enough to the king. Meaning the one behind it likely underestimated the cost of keeping Kale in line and had to compensate with what he would have used to mask Kale's approach."
"That's just dandy. So you are saying the kid most likely had no control over himself at the time?"
"I find that very unlikely yes."
Alanna growled at that, "Great. Just when things were starting to settle down…"
"The border raids?" Gill blurted.
"The first batch of Queen Thayet's riders is just getting their field training and so far they have been a huge success. She plans to extend the training once the immediate need is past, but for now we all make due with the time we do have. And the assassins have stopped other than the boy."
"Oh."
"Anyway the major concern now is war with the isles and then there's the issue of what to do with our little would be assassin."
"Could you bring him here? I mean if it turns out that it really was just coercion. That way he would be out of the way and you could still get information out of him."
"I don't like that notion. Having him in our home upsets me."
"I think it is the best option available to us at this time though Alanna. Gill, try to remember more about anything that might help, in the meantime I think it is safe to say the child would be best served if he were brought here," George replied softly.
"I will make the necessary arrangements then," Alanna said.
"Thank you," Gill put in.
Alanna raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have chores to be about?" she asked pointedly. Gill took the hint and scurried down the tower stairs to get the wood for Cook.
A/N there that was fun I hope I can write another one by the end of the week… that'd would be great… I also hope that you like it if so please review… luv ya's night.