Chapter 9
Gaile paced. Something felt wrong, and he didn't know what it was. It irked him to be uninformed. 'The Roses' would reach Corus in four days if they rode at an appropriate pace and once there they would send word —correction Cairn would send word, the other three members couldn't care less for his existence.
Walking over to his desk he rummaged through a pile of papers, who knew being king entailed so much paperwork. Where was it...ah, here it was: the original notice and report concerning that brat who held his kingship. Scanning the page an idea came to him. She was far too noble to say nothing about him once her suspicions were confirmed, so why didn't he just kill her.
"Well for one, thing we don't know where she is," he slumped over his desk disappointed. "Wait...I don't know where she is, but she can't be that hard to scry for."
That ability was a bit rarer in Maren than in Tortall as the majority of the Gifted populous was skilled in plant-craft to assist with farming. There was one mage nearby, however, whose power could span the continent and look past magical barriers. Why didn't he think of it before? Gaile laughed a bit at his stupidity and had the mage summoned.
Turning to look at the page again, his eyes landed on the word that gave him the idea: Magic. She had magic and therefore would give off an aura that his mage could lock onto. His mage, he liked the idea of owning a mage.
"You asked for me, majesty," a velvet voice cut into his thoughts. He looked up; it was his mage, Anelee Draper, a very talented woman who had studied in Carthak.
"That I did," he said looking at the woman. She had the black hair and eyes that she shared with her brother along with the height. Originally from Tyra, she moved to Maren after a request by the previous king, Barnesh. "Come, sit, I have a favour to ask."
She raised her eyebrow at him sardonically and then sat in one of the chairs before his desk.
"What is it then?" she asked after a moment of silence.
"You know of what happened here last year?" she nodded, "And you know of the fact that the female assassin got away?" she nodded again, Gaile himself had 'found' the girl's accomplices recently and had had them executed, the girl however had vanished a month back. What she didn't know was that Gaile had actually turned on his own henchmen to cover his trail.
Anelee looked at the relatively young king, agitation was written on his face. "You fear that she will eventually come back to kill you or harm one of your royal cousins. Am I correct, milord?" he gave her a look that said what do you think? "You wish for me to seek out this girl before she can cause any harm."
"That is my request." He confirmed.
"Then consider it done." She stood and curtseyed. "I'll inform you of her location as soon as I find her." With a nod she exited, her red robe flapping behind her.
Contented with the promise, Gaile tidied up his desk and returned to reviewing papers concerning wheat exports.
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"Three days," Jeremy said with a smile, "three days until you play for the King and his court. Are you nervous?" he asked turning to look at his young companion.
"I'd rather not think about it," Raven replied. She was more than nervous; she was scared out of her wits. What in the bloody blue blazes of the Black god was she doing this for? There was a plus side though; she could gather some information while she travelled. She looked around at the merchant caravan they'd been tagging along with for the past few hours. She pulled her hood up a little. "I feel kind of sick actually." She admitted with a sheepish grin.
"No you don't," the old man said confidently, "you're just nervous. Don't worry lass, there's nothing to be scared of. Jonathan's a fine king, even if you don't play with the same calibre as his court musicians he'll still applaud you." He looked around them as the head of the caravan began to slow. "Time for lunch, you can practice violin for a bit after you eat. No use in getting out of practice." He added as if he knew the qualms of playing a musical instrument.
"I guess you are right." She acknowledged leading Stone out of the line to the side where some people were already tethering their horses. Giving him an apple for good behaviour, she met up with Jeremy as he tied Camomile to the post provided. Now on her feet she felt a little bit better.
"After you practice we'll be leaving the caravan," he stated simply, before she could ask 'why' he spoke again. "They're too slow, at this pace we won't make it to Corus before you're supposed to register. You're okay with this, right?" She nodded. "Good. Now lunch." With that the pair of them went to the tent-kitchen the merchants had set up.
'Another plus of travelling in groups,' she thought, 'you don't have to do the cooking.' While she ate she reviewed the tidbits of information she'd picked up, the majority of it was useless. Though her eavesdropping wasn't completely in vain. She had learned that a group of knights would be catching up to the caravan tonight, they were returning from border duty in the Drell River Valley. Raven smirked in spite of herself; they were likely the group who was supposed to watch out for her, poor fools. Shaking her head, she returned to her facts and food.
Apparently it was believed that she stayed in Tusaine, while others speculated that the 'girl assassin', as they referred to her as (which she liked and disliked at the same time, it sounded cool, but was completely inaccurate), was already dead.
'Let them think I'm dead, last thing I need is for a swarm of headhunters to trail me and get Jeremy and Rosie mixed up in this'.
She pondered many of the other things she'd heard, all false to her knowledge, but her mind kept returning to the knights she heard of. Why would they be coming back? For Prince Liam's birthday? No, the king likely had some ulterior motive. And why were they having a music competition as a birthday celebration. Maybe because it was convenient...the prince has his party and the 'girl assassin' is drawn in by the prize money and caught. It made perfect sense, she laughed at her folly; the competition was for her.
"Katherine would you mind telling my what is so amusing." Jeremy asked. She flapped a hand at him, saying 'nothing'. She had fallen into their trap, the clever bastards. Picking up her now empty bowl she gave it to the woman who was already scrubbing dishes. With a nod of thanks, Raven then turned to walk over to get her violin, Julian, after letting Jeremy know that she would be practicing.
With Julian on her back she tramped through the woods to a small clearing; she didn't really want anyone to see what she had planned. For some reason she didn't believe the horses or people would be very comfortable around red light that rolled over everything like fog.
'Heck, I'm not even comfortable with it and I'm the source.'
Laying Julian's case on a rock shelf by the clearings edge, she stretched. Her entire body was stiff and sore from riding, her shoulders making a faint popping sound when she rolled them. Once done stretching, she unbuckled the case and opened it to the afternoon light. The shafts of sun bounced of the gleaming red-stained wood of her violin. She would play a song for prosperity and protection. What had Demetrus called it...a shield call, or as he said a Schildanruf, in Old Marenite.
"Schildanruf," she said testing the word, "To protect me in these dangerous times."
Picking up Julian, she tucked the violin under her chin recalling the tune, it was one of the first she had learned with her magic. It was a simple, but fun melody that loped between measures like a Copper Isles waltz. Humming a bit she applied her thoughts and wishes for protection to the tune. She felt the familiar fire burn in her as she picked up the tune with her hands. 1,2,3. 1,2,3. 1, break,2,3 and repeat.
The light, airy waltz spread the sound following the light that poured out. Normally she would have suppressed the actual light being so close to people, but she couldn't bar her magic if the Schildanruf was to work. The bubble of light encased her, cutting off the sounds of the forest. Feeling a calm wash over her, she felt like she was a young child in her mother's arms. Completely secure, thanks to a simple waltz and application of needs.
Okay, maybe not a simple application of needs, it required a bit of magic to.
She held one note and let the bubble recede until the light had faded. Out of bow, the note ended and she felt revitalized. She looked up, the sun had shifted a bit in the sky; she'd been out for an hour. Putting her violin away, she decided to test her spell.
'Hmmm...how does one test a protection spell?' She looked about herself and saw only trees. Trees...she could jump out of a tree. Feeling rather brilliant, she found a tree that suited her purposes.
Underneath it was a thick bed of moss so if the spell was ineffective she wouldn't seriously harm herself. Climbing the tree by way of a low hanging branch, she stopped at branch of medium thickness approximately twenty-five feet above the cushion of moss. Licking her lips, she shuffled out onto the back and sat. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back and released the branch. She fell, eyes squeezed shut; she remained that way for a while. Why didn't she hit the ground?
Opening an eye, she saw a fox looking at her curiously. It was upside-down, or rather she was upside-down, when she noticed the canopy below her and the soil above her. It had worked. Laughing a little, the fox ran away, not wanting to be around the strange human. Struggling in the air a bit, she managed to right herself. Once upright, the spell allowed her to touch the ground again.
"That was so cool," she said aloud, she had half the mind to try it again when she heard Jeremy calling her.
"Coming," she called back. Picking up the violin case she hurried back to their horses. Strapping Julian to her back she mounted, while Jeremy gave her an odd look.
"I didn't know playing a violin was such a messy activity," he commented dryly plucking a leaf out of her short hair. In reply she merely grinned, combed her hair flat with her fingers. After saying their goodbyes to the merchants they rode on.
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Anelee poured her ebony Gift into the bowl of water searching for the girl. She needed to find her...her escape route. She rode over the Eastern and Southern lands just waiting for the girl to sow herself. Music magic...she should show herself soon if she wanted to remain in practice. She waited ignoring all the Gifts she saw flowering over the countries in some magical working or another. Healing, fire, plant, thread, carpentry, truth spells, soothsaying, all flowed by at different intensities.
Then she saw it in Tortall, a little past the fief of South Olorun. A bubble of crimson light rippling like a wave of sound. The bubble then receded, so Anelee took a closer look. She saw a girl. She put away a violin and looked about herself in thought. The girl was fair-skinned, amber-eyed and had short black hair. That's her. The girl climbed a tree and let herself fall out of it to dangle in the air for a few minutes, body about an inch from the ground.
"So she's perfected a shield," Anelee said simply. Watching the girl for a few minutes more, she saw her pack up her things and then begin the ride west with an old man. Picking up the picture that Gaile had had delivered she compared the girl and the print. "Definitely her."
Standing, she jotted down Raven's location and trajectory and ran off to find Gaile. Man was he going to be so pleased, she thought, maybe he'd let her join the expedition as a 'reward'.
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