Chapter 18. Wow, I can't believe I've written so much. I have 80 reviews! That's, I can't even explain how awesome that is! Thanks again to everyone who reviews. You guys motivate me to update. Just a note to those who have noticed, yes I am having a bit o trouble with my formatting. I usually put stars in between POV shifts, but they aren't showing up, I'll try to fix it. I'm sorry if that caused some confusion as you read reading the last couple of chapters. Now enough of my blabbing, on to the story! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or places in this story, they belong to Tamora Pierce.
The City Guardsmen Captain shifted nervously from foot to foot as he anxiously awaited the King's presence. Normally, he would have been excited to have the opportunity to meet royalty. When he had first joined the City Guards, he had often pictured himself performing some heroic deed and being personally thanked by the King and Queen, but that dream had died fast when he had learned what a City Guard's life was really about. Respect and fear. Fear of the man whom he now awaited beckoning from. The noontime heat was not the cause of the sweat that glistened on his upper lip.
The door by which he stood parted slightly, and a gold collared royal slave steeped out into the hallway.
"His majesty requests your presence now, Master Guardsman," the old raka man said with a bow.
The Captain couldn't help but hear the amusement lingering in the slave's voice. Of course he would think this was funny, he thought as he took a quick peek in a near by looking glass, straightened his brilliant purple tunic, and strode into the room.
The King's private office was beautiful decorated, with blue velvet couches outlined in silver thread. The King himself sat behind a grand mahogany desk that the Guardsmen Captain couldn't help but imagine was worth more than a whole year of his salary.
He sank into a low bow before standing at attention in front of King Rubinyan and putting his right thumb to his temple in salute.
Luckily for him, Rubinyan did not seem as though he were in a bad mood. In fact, the Captain could have sworn he glimpsed a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Rubinyan saluted him back. "I hope you bring more good news, Captain," he stated lightly.
"More good new, sire?" he asked delicately. He was trying to put off telling the King his less than pleasing news as long as possible.
"The siege of Corus is going very well. I would give the Tortalians one month at the most before Jonathan is kneeling at my feet begging for mercy." The King announced proudly.
"Th-that is wonderful sire, an important conquest," he stammered. Rubinyan sensed the quiver in his voice and sent a sharp glare in his direction.
"Well?" he asked expectantly.
The Guardsmen took a deep breath and steeled himself for the oncoming storm. "We lost them, your highness."
"What!?!" Rubinyan exploded, standing up so hard that his desk chair sailed back along the floor and crashed into the wall behind him.
"B-But we did recover your horse," the captain added hopefully.
"Do you think I care about a blasted horse? Please explain to me how a raka wench and a halfway dead Wild Mage managed to escape three squads of City Guardsmen in MY city?" he asked.
"Well, your highness, they seemed to know every alley and short cut there is. They escaped through the rear gate and once they got out of Rajamuat, they rode straight into the jungle. We followed their trail, but it was mighty hard on a count of they kept riding in the river. We followed as fast as we good, but when we caught up, we found only the horse which they had sent a' running to confuse us. Believe me sire; we've searched every inch of this island. They aren't here any more. They must've snuck aboard a boat. They could be any where by now." He looked down at his boots, which looked much more friendly than Rubinyan did.
"Do you know what you've done?" Rubin screamed, "I look like a fool! A prisoner escaped right in the mists of hundreds of people and guards. All of them saw what happened. One blasted raka defeated an entire squad of my men and Miss Sarassi escaped with plenty of useful information for our enemies, dancing in her head!"
The captain risked a glace up a Rubinyan and did so just in time to dodge the vase that the King had thrown at him. Instead of hitting the guard in the head, it crashed loudly into the wall behind him.
Taking this as a dismissal, the Captain saluted quickly and rushed out of the room.
Sarai drew her blade with the ease of long practice. It had taken her a while to master the correct way to draw a sword without managing to drop it, a feat that looked much easier than it actually was.
Slowly, she lifted the weapon to the guard position. Taking a breath, she cleared her mind and focused all of her senses on the opponent in front of her. Sarai looked directly at the bigger man's upper body as she had been taught and waited impatiently for him to attack. She always preferred to let her opponent begin the match so that she could get some idea of his style of fighting.
It felt good to let off some steam. After being holed up in Tanair all winter, Saraiyu longed for action. She desperately wanted to go riding, but the weather disagreed with her plan of action. Today was much too wet to go visit the villages scattered throughout the forest. Swordplay was the next best thing to put her restlessness to bed.
The man lunged forward, his dulled practice sword aimed directly for her belly. Sarai yanked her left leg out of its current position and sidestepped the lunge, parrying it with her own blade. He followed up his attack by pairing it off with a slide slice aimed for her neck.
At the last moment, Sarai lifted her blade to block and the two lengths of metal met with a ring. She leapt backwards, trying to put some space between herself and her attacker so that she could better see his up coming assaults.
Sarai was uncomfortably aware of all the eyes watching the fight. Since it was raining, her teacher in the art of the sword, Fesago, had decided that instead of taking a day off, they would clear the dining room tables to the sides of the room and practice there. Because the rain was so hard, all the servants had been forced indoors for the day, giving her a rather large audience. Nervously, she swiped a bead of sweat off her forehead.
The second she dropped her guard, Fesago attacked. He chopped at her head and Sarai felt her bones ring as her weapon met his in a block. Out if the corner of her eye, Sarai noticed her little brother Elstren, who had been watching the match quite intently and facing off against his own imaginary opponents with a stick, rush to the window with a cry.
"People are coming!" he shouted.
"Ignore it," Fesago commented, "Focus on the fight."
Sarai nodded quickly and decided that it was time for her to take the offensive. She began a series of wide attacks at Fesago's sides, all of which he solidly blocked. Sarai realized that she had little chance of hitting her much more experienced instructor in the body, so she took a chance. She ducked down, attempting to slice him across the knees, which would win her the match.
Fesago looked surprised, but easily jumped and landed on the blade with his sturdy boots. Sarai tried to free her sword out from under his weight, but he was too heavy and was planted firmly on top of it. Fesago pointed his own blade at her throat and she raised her hands in defeat.
Sarai gripped Fesago's offered hand and slowly pulled herself to her feet.
"I know all the techniques, but I just can't put them together in a fight. I just can't think," she mumbled, trying to give an excuse for her poor performance. Doggedly, she picked up her fallen weapon and carefully replaced it in its sheath.
"It's your stance that weakens you. Footwork wasn't too bad though. How long have you been studying?" a quiet but calm voice asked from behind her.
Sarai spun and found Duchess Winnamine, Elstren, and Aly standing beside two very muddy and wet strangers. The one who had spoken was a tall, thin raka woman, a little older than herself. Upon further inspection, Sarai noticed a small patch on the woman's shirt. On it was a picture of a tiger sitting atop a globe. She blushed slightly, embarrassed that the best of the mortal Shang warriors had just witnessed her pitiful performance.
She suddenly remembered that the Shang had asked a question. "I began serious study last summer, although I knew a little before that. We started practice bouts this spring." Sarai managed to say finally.
The Shang nodded and said no more. Sarai tried to read her face, but it was smooth and blank.
Winnamine took the opportunity to introduce both the Shang and her companion. "Saraiyu, this is the Shang Tiger, Lani Supyilk and her traveling companion Miri Draper." Sarai curtsied gracefully in her practice breeches
"They wish to spend the spring here at Tanair. Lani says she used to live in Pohon, but no longer has a home there. She and her companion would like to visit home, but need a place to stay." Winnamine said to her daughter. Sarai nodded and eyed the visitors a little more carefully.
She noted that neither had any visible weapons, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. She and her stepmother were both wondering the same thing: Whether these two 'friendly' visitors were as friendly as they appeared.
If the last year had taught Sarai anything, it was to not give out her trust as she so freely used to. She snuck a glace at Aly.
Dove's maid, Aly, had been bought by the Balitangs last summer and truly was a godssend. She had saved Sarai's life more than once with her uncanny knacks of sneaking and lie detecting and her skill with knives. Aly claimed to be a maid, but her true identity was something that Sarai and Dove often talked about when they were stuck inside mending clothes. Dove believed that she was the second female knight of Tortall, the one they called the Protector of the Small, while Sarai thought she might have once been a thief. Either way, Sarai trusted Aly with her life.
The girl was scrutinizing every inch of the visitors, grinning all while. Sarai wondered if Aly didn't enjoy her unofficial position as spymaster of Tanair.
Finally, the duchess broke the silence. "Perhaps we should talk in private?" she asked the two women.
The woman who Winnamine had introduced as Miri looked at her companion for a moment before replying, "Of course,"
The duchess turned to Aly, "Aly, take them to my chamber."
"Yes milady," Aly answered dutifully and beckoned the two to follow her. To Sarai, she said, "Go clean up and fetch your sister. You both should be there for this."
Sarai rushed off to find Dovesary.
Aly stood behind Daine and Lani, her hands in close reach of her many knives, trying to appear as though she was quite nervous that they were assassins. She hoped that the plan they had devised on the way to Tanair would work. Aly knew that she probably could have explained to Winnamine that Lani and Daine were sent by the god, but that would lead to questions like, "Why do we need more protection?" which she wasn't quite ready to explain. She could just picture the look that would appear on the duchess's face if she told her that the god was actually a trickster and that Sarai was destined to be the next raka queen.
No, she thought wryly, that would definitely not be good. Aly focused her drifting mind as Sarai and Dove sat down on either side of Winnamine.
The duchess cleared her throat and began. "I'm very sorry we have not yet offered you hot baths and food, but this is much too important to wait."
Lani nodded, inadvertently splashing the table they sat at with some of the raindrops that still dripped from her face.
"You may have heard of the events that have occurred at Tanair in the past few months, including the death of my husband Mequen," she paused, taking a breath, "But if you have not, several times assassins have made their way into our home with devastating consequences. Therefore, please do not take offense from our initial inhospitality."
"Tis not a problem, duchess," Daine, or Miri, replied steadily.
Pembery entered quietly, setting cups of freshly pored tea in front of the wearied travelers. After her duty was finished, she hurried off to prepare for dinner. Lani and Daine graciously took sips of the still steaming liquid.
"Then you won't mind our asking you a few questions?" Winnamine asked slowly.
"Not at all," Lani answered politely in a strange voice. Aly looked in the reflection of the window behind the ladies and saw that the Shang's eyes were cloudy and she seemed to be in an almost trance-like state. Daine glanced inquisitively at her companion before she fell into a trance of her own.
Aly swore silently and called herself fifty kinds of stupid. Truth drops! Why hadn't she told the ladies that she would inform them if the two women were lying? She had put Lani and Daine in danger. If Winnamine, Sarai, or Dove asked the right question and got an answer that didn't fit in with the story Lani and 'Miri' had first told Winnamine, things could get ugly.
Aly caught Winnamine's gaze and sent her a questioning glace. The duchess shrugged as if to say 'just being doubly sure'. Aly braced herself and frantically tried to think of someway to get her aunt and Lani out of this situation, but there was none. Instead, she did what her father had once told her was the most important rule of being a spy: Stay quiet and listen.
"What are your real names?" Winnamine asked stiffly.
"Laniki Supyilk," Lani replied thickly as if drunk.
"Miri Draper," Daine said in the same tone. Aly almost jumped. How did she beat the truth drops? she wondered. She made a mental note to ask her later. Aly guessed that it might have something to do with Daine's abundance of Wild Magic.
"Where are you from?"
"I was born in Rajmuat, Copper Isles, but spent most of my life in the Shang village in Maren." was Lani's answer.
"I come from a small village called Willowglade in northern Maren." Daine answered, sticking to her story perfectly.
"Are you going to try to kill us, or hurt us, or spy on us or something?" Dove asked quickly getting to the point before Winnamine could ask another question.
"No," Daine and Lani said in unison. Winnamine looked at Aly for reassurance as to the truth of the answer. Aly nodded and she could visibly see the duchess relax.
In the window, Aly noticed that the truth drops were starting to wear off and Lani began to blink furiously. Daine copied her reaction a second later.
"Right, so go ahead and ask those questions," Lani said sleepily.
Sarai looked at her mother and sister and answered, "No, that won't be necessary. On behalf of everyone, I'd like to welcome you to Tanair."
Feel free to review and let me know how you liked it.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or places in this story, they belong to Tamora Pierce.
The City Guardsmen Captain shifted nervously from foot to foot as he anxiously awaited the King's presence. Normally, he would have been excited to have the opportunity to meet royalty. When he had first joined the City Guards, he had often pictured himself performing some heroic deed and being personally thanked by the King and Queen, but that dream had died fast when he had learned what a City Guard's life was really about. Respect and fear. Fear of the man whom he now awaited beckoning from. The noontime heat was not the cause of the sweat that glistened on his upper lip.
The door by which he stood parted slightly, and a gold collared royal slave steeped out into the hallway.
"His majesty requests your presence now, Master Guardsman," the old raka man said with a bow.
The Captain couldn't help but hear the amusement lingering in the slave's voice. Of course he would think this was funny, he thought as he took a quick peek in a near by looking glass, straightened his brilliant purple tunic, and strode into the room.
The King's private office was beautiful decorated, with blue velvet couches outlined in silver thread. The King himself sat behind a grand mahogany desk that the Guardsmen Captain couldn't help but imagine was worth more than a whole year of his salary.
He sank into a low bow before standing at attention in front of King Rubinyan and putting his right thumb to his temple in salute.
Luckily for him, Rubinyan did not seem as though he were in a bad mood. In fact, the Captain could have sworn he glimpsed a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Rubinyan saluted him back. "I hope you bring more good news, Captain," he stated lightly.
"More good new, sire?" he asked delicately. He was trying to put off telling the King his less than pleasing news as long as possible.
"The siege of Corus is going very well. I would give the Tortalians one month at the most before Jonathan is kneeling at my feet begging for mercy." The King announced proudly.
"Th-that is wonderful sire, an important conquest," he stammered. Rubinyan sensed the quiver in his voice and sent a sharp glare in his direction.
"Well?" he asked expectantly.
The Guardsmen took a deep breath and steeled himself for the oncoming storm. "We lost them, your highness."
"What!?!" Rubinyan exploded, standing up so hard that his desk chair sailed back along the floor and crashed into the wall behind him.
"B-But we did recover your horse," the captain added hopefully.
"Do you think I care about a blasted horse? Please explain to me how a raka wench and a halfway dead Wild Mage managed to escape three squads of City Guardsmen in MY city?" he asked.
"Well, your highness, they seemed to know every alley and short cut there is. They escaped through the rear gate and once they got out of Rajamuat, they rode straight into the jungle. We followed their trail, but it was mighty hard on a count of they kept riding in the river. We followed as fast as we good, but when we caught up, we found only the horse which they had sent a' running to confuse us. Believe me sire; we've searched every inch of this island. They aren't here any more. They must've snuck aboard a boat. They could be any where by now." He looked down at his boots, which looked much more friendly than Rubinyan did.
"Do you know what you've done?" Rubin screamed, "I look like a fool! A prisoner escaped right in the mists of hundreds of people and guards. All of them saw what happened. One blasted raka defeated an entire squad of my men and Miss Sarassi escaped with plenty of useful information for our enemies, dancing in her head!"
The captain risked a glace up a Rubinyan and did so just in time to dodge the vase that the King had thrown at him. Instead of hitting the guard in the head, it crashed loudly into the wall behind him.
Taking this as a dismissal, the Captain saluted quickly and rushed out of the room.
Sarai drew her blade with the ease of long practice. It had taken her a while to master the correct way to draw a sword without managing to drop it, a feat that looked much easier than it actually was.
Slowly, she lifted the weapon to the guard position. Taking a breath, she cleared her mind and focused all of her senses on the opponent in front of her. Sarai looked directly at the bigger man's upper body as she had been taught and waited impatiently for him to attack. She always preferred to let her opponent begin the match so that she could get some idea of his style of fighting.
It felt good to let off some steam. After being holed up in Tanair all winter, Saraiyu longed for action. She desperately wanted to go riding, but the weather disagreed with her plan of action. Today was much too wet to go visit the villages scattered throughout the forest. Swordplay was the next best thing to put her restlessness to bed.
The man lunged forward, his dulled practice sword aimed directly for her belly. Sarai yanked her left leg out of its current position and sidestepped the lunge, parrying it with her own blade. He followed up his attack by pairing it off with a slide slice aimed for her neck.
At the last moment, Sarai lifted her blade to block and the two lengths of metal met with a ring. She leapt backwards, trying to put some space between herself and her attacker so that she could better see his up coming assaults.
Sarai was uncomfortably aware of all the eyes watching the fight. Since it was raining, her teacher in the art of the sword, Fesago, had decided that instead of taking a day off, they would clear the dining room tables to the sides of the room and practice there. Because the rain was so hard, all the servants had been forced indoors for the day, giving her a rather large audience. Nervously, she swiped a bead of sweat off her forehead.
The second she dropped her guard, Fesago attacked. He chopped at her head and Sarai felt her bones ring as her weapon met his in a block. Out if the corner of her eye, Sarai noticed her little brother Elstren, who had been watching the match quite intently and facing off against his own imaginary opponents with a stick, rush to the window with a cry.
"People are coming!" he shouted.
"Ignore it," Fesago commented, "Focus on the fight."
Sarai nodded quickly and decided that it was time for her to take the offensive. She began a series of wide attacks at Fesago's sides, all of which he solidly blocked. Sarai realized that she had little chance of hitting her much more experienced instructor in the body, so she took a chance. She ducked down, attempting to slice him across the knees, which would win her the match.
Fesago looked surprised, but easily jumped and landed on the blade with his sturdy boots. Sarai tried to free her sword out from under his weight, but he was too heavy and was planted firmly on top of it. Fesago pointed his own blade at her throat and she raised her hands in defeat.
Sarai gripped Fesago's offered hand and slowly pulled herself to her feet.
"I know all the techniques, but I just can't put them together in a fight. I just can't think," she mumbled, trying to give an excuse for her poor performance. Doggedly, she picked up her fallen weapon and carefully replaced it in its sheath.
"It's your stance that weakens you. Footwork wasn't too bad though. How long have you been studying?" a quiet but calm voice asked from behind her.
Sarai spun and found Duchess Winnamine, Elstren, and Aly standing beside two very muddy and wet strangers. The one who had spoken was a tall, thin raka woman, a little older than herself. Upon further inspection, Sarai noticed a small patch on the woman's shirt. On it was a picture of a tiger sitting atop a globe. She blushed slightly, embarrassed that the best of the mortal Shang warriors had just witnessed her pitiful performance.
She suddenly remembered that the Shang had asked a question. "I began serious study last summer, although I knew a little before that. We started practice bouts this spring." Sarai managed to say finally.
The Shang nodded and said no more. Sarai tried to read her face, but it was smooth and blank.
Winnamine took the opportunity to introduce both the Shang and her companion. "Saraiyu, this is the Shang Tiger, Lani Supyilk and her traveling companion Miri Draper." Sarai curtsied gracefully in her practice breeches
"They wish to spend the spring here at Tanair. Lani says she used to live in Pohon, but no longer has a home there. She and her companion would like to visit home, but need a place to stay." Winnamine said to her daughter. Sarai nodded and eyed the visitors a little more carefully.
She noted that neither had any visible weapons, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. She and her stepmother were both wondering the same thing: Whether these two 'friendly' visitors were as friendly as they appeared.
If the last year had taught Sarai anything, it was to not give out her trust as she so freely used to. She snuck a glace at Aly.
Dove's maid, Aly, had been bought by the Balitangs last summer and truly was a godssend. She had saved Sarai's life more than once with her uncanny knacks of sneaking and lie detecting and her skill with knives. Aly claimed to be a maid, but her true identity was something that Sarai and Dove often talked about when they were stuck inside mending clothes. Dove believed that she was the second female knight of Tortall, the one they called the Protector of the Small, while Sarai thought she might have once been a thief. Either way, Sarai trusted Aly with her life.
The girl was scrutinizing every inch of the visitors, grinning all while. Sarai wondered if Aly didn't enjoy her unofficial position as spymaster of Tanair.
Finally, the duchess broke the silence. "Perhaps we should talk in private?" she asked the two women.
The woman who Winnamine had introduced as Miri looked at her companion for a moment before replying, "Of course,"
The duchess turned to Aly, "Aly, take them to my chamber."
"Yes milady," Aly answered dutifully and beckoned the two to follow her. To Sarai, she said, "Go clean up and fetch your sister. You both should be there for this."
Sarai rushed off to find Dovesary.
Aly stood behind Daine and Lani, her hands in close reach of her many knives, trying to appear as though she was quite nervous that they were assassins. She hoped that the plan they had devised on the way to Tanair would work. Aly knew that she probably could have explained to Winnamine that Lani and Daine were sent by the god, but that would lead to questions like, "Why do we need more protection?" which she wasn't quite ready to explain. She could just picture the look that would appear on the duchess's face if she told her that the god was actually a trickster and that Sarai was destined to be the next raka queen.
No, she thought wryly, that would definitely not be good. Aly focused her drifting mind as Sarai and Dove sat down on either side of Winnamine.
The duchess cleared her throat and began. "I'm very sorry we have not yet offered you hot baths and food, but this is much too important to wait."
Lani nodded, inadvertently splashing the table they sat at with some of the raindrops that still dripped from her face.
"You may have heard of the events that have occurred at Tanair in the past few months, including the death of my husband Mequen," she paused, taking a breath, "But if you have not, several times assassins have made their way into our home with devastating consequences. Therefore, please do not take offense from our initial inhospitality."
"Tis not a problem, duchess," Daine, or Miri, replied steadily.
Pembery entered quietly, setting cups of freshly pored tea in front of the wearied travelers. After her duty was finished, she hurried off to prepare for dinner. Lani and Daine graciously took sips of the still steaming liquid.
"Then you won't mind our asking you a few questions?" Winnamine asked slowly.
"Not at all," Lani answered politely in a strange voice. Aly looked in the reflection of the window behind the ladies and saw that the Shang's eyes were cloudy and she seemed to be in an almost trance-like state. Daine glanced inquisitively at her companion before she fell into a trance of her own.
Aly swore silently and called herself fifty kinds of stupid. Truth drops! Why hadn't she told the ladies that she would inform them if the two women were lying? She had put Lani and Daine in danger. If Winnamine, Sarai, or Dove asked the right question and got an answer that didn't fit in with the story Lani and 'Miri' had first told Winnamine, things could get ugly.
Aly caught Winnamine's gaze and sent her a questioning glace. The duchess shrugged as if to say 'just being doubly sure'. Aly braced herself and frantically tried to think of someway to get her aunt and Lani out of this situation, but there was none. Instead, she did what her father had once told her was the most important rule of being a spy: Stay quiet and listen.
"What are your real names?" Winnamine asked stiffly.
"Laniki Supyilk," Lani replied thickly as if drunk.
"Miri Draper," Daine said in the same tone. Aly almost jumped. How did she beat the truth drops? she wondered. She made a mental note to ask her later. Aly guessed that it might have something to do with Daine's abundance of Wild Magic.
"Where are you from?"
"I was born in Rajmuat, Copper Isles, but spent most of my life in the Shang village in Maren." was Lani's answer.
"I come from a small village called Willowglade in northern Maren." Daine answered, sticking to her story perfectly.
"Are you going to try to kill us, or hurt us, or spy on us or something?" Dove asked quickly getting to the point before Winnamine could ask another question.
"No," Daine and Lani said in unison. Winnamine looked at Aly for reassurance as to the truth of the answer. Aly nodded and she could visibly see the duchess relax.
In the window, Aly noticed that the truth drops were starting to wear off and Lani began to blink furiously. Daine copied her reaction a second later.
"Right, so go ahead and ask those questions," Lani said sleepily.
Sarai looked at her mother and sister and answered, "No, that won't be necessary. On behalf of everyone, I'd like to welcome you to Tanair."
Feel free to review and let me know how you liked it.