Who was the eavesdropper she killed?

Eh, just a good-for-nothing soldier who was wandering the courtyard at the same time. Being dark as it was, he curiously crept closer and recognized Kenric and Alisse. But before he could make sense of their conversation/tell anyone, Vistra caught him.

How did the Queen go crazy?

Several events, one after another (trouble with her husband, her 'baby', General Aleyn, etc.) just pushed her over. Poor unfortunate soul…

Vistra doesn't pick locks at all? She's never practiced any? Even if she used to be a thief?

Oh, she did at one time or another. But she hated it. So she always left the lock-picking to the others. Or she just stole the keys and used those.

Did Travion hear "Danel" when Vistra was talking to Nathan? What was the ruckus at the palace? Why were jailkeepers sent to solve it, opposed to other soldiers?

Travion did not hear the name 'Danel.' He was only watching. The ruckus at the palace? Well, you know how Kenric told Nathan about Alisse even being in the jail in the first place? Kenric (that scheming devil) set up the ruckus at the palace (drunk men/soldiers are easy to play with). And Travion sent his own men to deal with the problem because: 1. He himself wanted them out of the way so that he could be at the jail by himself. 2. The palace soldiers were the …object of the ruckus. They needed soldiers to … take care of the soldiers. And the next closest batch of soldiers was at Travion's jail.

Author's Note: Lots of things will be happening within this fic from this chapter and beyond. Things are picking up pace; people are getting in trouble. Kenric, like Nathan, will be back. But, unlike Nathan, he is not drawn back in by Lauryn, but by himself. Kenric likes being involved… There will be more on the crazy queen and her caretaker… about ten chapters from now. And let it be known: this fic will most definitely be more than thirty chapters. Whether it'll be more than thirty five, I'm not sure yet. So you guys are about half way finished. And, there were a few people who asked me if I'd ever heard a couple songs by Evanescence ('Bring me to Life' and 'My Immortal'). I have to say that I adore both of those songs, and that I want the CD. *mutters something about money*

17. A Message

Nobles' Bane: Chapter 15

General Aleyn

"How could you let this happen?"

General Aleyn shoved his face in front of Lord Travion's own and gave him a red hot glare.

Lord Travion gave an easy shrug. "You ordered most of my men here last night. So there were hardly any left to guard the jail from intrusion."

The General looked as if he wanted to reach out and strangle the young lord.

"One good thing has come out of this, however," Lord Travion said.

"And what's that?" Aleyn snarled.

"We know that Noble's Bane is less than a day's ride nearby. Probably within city gates."

Aleyn just continued to glare.

"And," the young lord continued, "now all you have to do is catch their attention once more."

Glare.

"And then reel them in."

Aleyn blinked. The glare slowly dropped from his face.

And was replaced by a malicious smile.

~*~*~

Vistra

Bile pushed at her with his nose.

She just pushed him away distractedly.

He leaned over her, refusing to leave her alone, refusing to go away.

Stubborn horse.

But even as she thought the words, she reached up with a hand and patted his nose tenderly.

"Vistra?"

Bile turned and snapped at Danel as he saw him enter the stables.

Danel stopped a respectable distance away from her and her horse. "Vistra."

She leaned her head against Bile's side. "What?" she said flatly.

"What happened yesterday? What's wrong?"

She closed her eyes and didn't bother making a reply.

After a moment, she heard Danel sigh and quietly leave the stables.

Bile turned his head and lipped at her slumped shoulders.

"You're lucky to be a horse, you know that?" she said quietly to Bile. "You have no worries. Your life is simple. No unexpected surprises."

He snorted, as if to say, I worry about you.

She heaved herself to her feet, gave Bile one last pat, and wandered out of the stables. She walked wherever her feet took her, not caring about which direction she might be going, not bothering to care.

"The name is Lord Travion…"

"You can stay with me if you want…"

"Do you not know your name?"

"Consider my debt to you repaid…"

She never should have come to Corus. It was a mistake. A terrible, horrible mistake.

Painfully splintered and distracting thoughts coursed through her mind as she wandered aimlessly through Corus' streets.

But she was not so distracted as to not feel the intruding hand poking at the purse that hung from her belt.

She grabbed the offending hand in a tight grip and tightened it when she felt it try to pull away.

"What are you doing?" she found herself saying aloud.

Oh, you idiot. What does it look like he's doing? He's trying to rob you of your money.

Wide brown eyes stared up at her, a mouth was opened in surprise but not speaking any words.

Vistra sighed and shook her head. "You need to be better than that if you want to survive these streets." She reached into her purse with her free hand. "Here."

The brown eyes got even wider, if that were even possible, as Vistra stuck a silver coin in the hand of the wrist that she held.

"Th-thank you!"

The voice gave the child away: he was actually a she. But with her overly thin form and her mussed, shorn hair, she easily passed for a boy.

Vistra gave the girl a look of reprimand. "It felt as if a rat was digging through my belt, your hand was so obvious."

The girl flushed a rosy pink. "I'm sorry. I… I just recently became a thief. And I'm not quite good at it."

"Well, that can get you killed around here."

The girl gave a shy shrug. "Well, you know what they say. Practice makes perfect."

Vistra smiled wryly. "Well, then. You need lots of practice. Not only were you completely obvious, you also have a bad choice in prey."

"What?"

"You don't want to thieve just anybody. You want to thieve someone with money. A noble, let's say."

"Oh."

"Even if you had managed to be less obvious while handling my purse, at best you would have walked away with a silver piece or two. You need to strike someone with money, not someone who's hardly richer than you are."

"But you looked like easy prey," the girl explained. "You looked to be distracted."

Vistra smiled a lopsided smile. "I was distracted. But not enough."

Vistra looked down at the young girl. Her brown hair was short and tangled, her knees caked with mud.

Looking down at the young thief, Vistra was somehow reminded of herself. Of her own young self, who had also been a thief. A young thief who had diligently followed her mentor, Nathan, around the streets of Corus.

But this girl had no mentor.

"Look." Vistra knelt down so that she was at eye level with the girl. "You look like a bright sort. Why don't you let me buy you some lunch, and while we're eating, I'll teach you some tricks that I know."

The young girl's eyes widened again; it didn't take much to awe the girl, but she seemed so very excited. "Oh, will you?"

"Sure. Why not."

~*~*~

The sun was starting to set. She had spent much of the afternoon teaching June, the young thief, a couple tricks to help her improve her thieving abilities.

It had been a pleasant afternoon, one without thoughts of her normally depressingly life. The most simple things she had said to June had made the girl gasp in surprise. The girl seemed to be surprised even while she was laughing. June wasn't a terribly ambitious sort. She had no thoughts of revenging a distant family. No thoughts of killing nobles out of hate. No thoughts of anything other than getting a warm place to sleep and enough money to afford herself a nice meal.

How she envied the girl.

She stopped walking and stared up at the house that she stood in front of.

It was small, with two windows in the front and a simple wooden door. The house was painted a vibrant, shining white. It seemed to emanate a sense of easy hope.

She knocked on the door.

The young woman who answered it gaped at her.

"Hello, Clarine," Vistra said.

Clarine blinked her green eyes. "Vistra? You changed your hair again."

Vistra shrugged. She had colored it brown the night before and had put it up in a sleek bun this morning. It was loose and mussed by now, however.

"I have something to ask of you," Vistra said quietly.

Clarine stared at her warily. "A favor?"

Vistra slowly shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

Clarine stepped back and motioned Vistra inside. "Well? Won't you come in?" she asked when she realized that Vistra was making no move to enter.

Vistra bit her lip. "Is… is your husband home?"

Clarine shook her head. "No, Nathan is not here."

"All right, then. I'll come in."

"Would you like something to eat? To drink?" Clarine asked her.

"No, no. I'm all right."

Clarine nodded and then motioned for Vistra to sit in what appeared to be the parlor. "Is something the matter?"

Vistra started. "What? No, of course not. Why do you ask?"

Clarine gave her a gentle smile. "You seem to be a bit distracted."

Vistra shook her head. "No, no. I'm perfectly all right."

"So you said." Clarine glanced at her curiously. "What is it that you wanted to ask of me?"

Vistra stared down at the hands she had placed over her lap. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She had to try again before she was successful. "What do you know of the Lord Provost?"

Clarine's surprise was obvious. "Lord Travion?"

Vistra nodded. She could practically see the word 'why' jump from Clarine's tongue.

"Well," Clarine said instead. "He's a very handsome man. Not too old. His father died just recently, and so he was transferred to his father's post as Lord Provost." She paused. "He isn't married, if that's what you really wanted to know."

If Vistra hadn't been so distracted, she would have been insulted.

Have designs on a noble? Why, she wasn't that foolish…

Vistra suddenly stood up. "I have to go."

It had been stupid to come here. She had learned nothing of use.

Clarine led her to the door. "Take care, Vistra."

Vistra glanced up in surprise, wondering if Clarine was mocking her. But Clarine's expression was devoid of any malicious intent. It only had sympathy.

Or was it pity?

Vistra quickly strode out of the house without another word. She had started to walk aimlessly again, when a shadow fell over.

"Vistra."

She glanced up. She tried to keep her expression clear of any emotion. As a matter of fact, she thought she was doing pretty well until Axe stepped up to her and pulled her into a comforting hug.

Axe had always been able to see through her like she was made out of glass.

He did not speak, but only continued to squeeze her shoulder sympathetically.

"You know," a cocky voice said. "I'd join you and make this a group hug, but then it'd just be much too mushy."

Vistra let out a shaky laugh and shook her head at Danel. "Mithros forbid that this scene somehow become mushy," she said.

Danel came over and kissed the top of her head. "Good thing Bile isn't here to fawn over you the way we are. Then this scene would be too perfect."

~*~*~

The heads were perched on their individual stakes.

Five stakes. Five heads. Five headless bodies thrown into one disorderly pile behind the line of stakes.

"What… what happened?" Vistra said faintly, staring at the corpses.

There were weeping people scattered amongst the square. Axe softly treated over to a woman who was not as teary as the others and spoke with her.

Her stuttered words were easy to hear. "General Aleyn did it. He wanted to send a message. A message to Nobles' Bane."

With a shock, Vistra realized that she recognized three of the heads.

Two were slaves. Neither had worked in her charge, but she recognized them as people she had often passed during her day.

And the last. Someone she had known personally.

Rye. Rye, the servant who was in charge of the outdoor upkeep of the palace.

Rye, whose eyes were frozen wide in a look of helpless horror, whose tongue hung limply from his swollen lips as if still trying to beg for his life.

Whose body lay underneath four others, as if it were a simple piece of unwanted chattel.

She did not recognize the other two dead persons. But she was able to infer that they were commoners who probably lived near the palace when they were still alive.

Danel's voice broke through the myriad of Vistra's stark emotions to anchor her. "Steady, Jade. Steady." His hand was comfortingly tight around her own.

A message.

And it came across to her quite clear.

Come. Come to the palace at Corus. Face us.

If you dare.