Morning came too early, again, but Lina was getting used to it, and anyway, making a scene really seemed the wrong thing to do this time around. So Lina took her wakeup call, and kept her grumbling to herself. She was determined to be polite and good, at least until she had this so-called Queen Grace alone on the highway, preferably on HER side of that border wall, then she'd see what she could get out of her!
The maid who helped Lina get dressed brought her the clothes she was to wear, at least while they walked through the land of the Westhold. It was a sturdy affair, sort of a hooded cape that closed in front to protect the face from dust and wind, maybe even the sun. It also hid it from view. Lina asked the maid if covering their faces like this wouldn't make them conspicuous, but the woman replied that in fact such a garment was common enough among the people of the land. The mountain air tended to be cold and dry, even in the height of summer, which was just approaching, and the winds could be strong and dusty in some of the highland areas, and this protective garment was the result. They would be conspicuous if they DID NOT cover up! So, in short order, Lina was done up in the garb of a respectable, if poor, traveler along the roads of this strange kingdom.
Lina was taken downstairs and found breakfast laid on and ready. This time she ate with the servants. The plan was to have the two women leave by way of the servant's entrances to help make it look like they were not important, while Zelgadiss was to get a royal send off. Lina didn't mind overly much, the staff were rather talkative, at least about general things and Lina had lots of questions. She learned that they had been repeatedly invaded from the East and had survived by sheer dint of arms. She also saw that there had been enough wars in the land that the people did not like it, but was relieved to see that they hadn't had so much of it that they had made a cult out of war. Again, she found this re-enforcing the idea that these people were not going to be lead into a battle at the whim of a king. She even found out that the king wasn't all powerful, but that he had to share power with a council of ministers who were elected from the people themselves. She began to wonder all the more what was going on, this would imply that the whole kingdom would have to agree to a march west. She decided to ask outright.
"Um, pardon me if I'm sticking my nose in your business, but from what little I've seen, and from the tales that several merchants have told, your kingdom appears to be on some sort of a war footing. Are you expecting trouble then?" she asked. "Hard to say." was the casual reply that she got back. "We are always hearin' of rumours of war, so anytime an alarm goes out we don't jump to too many conclusions. The army has to check out the rumours of course, so there is always some sort of activity going on, and every now and again we get a surprise drill or exercise where several units go off to train, so who knows. You outlanders, meanin' no offence wouldn't know about that, I reckon, so maybe it looks to someone like we are at war, when it is only preparedness we are about." "Uh, yeah..." said Lina, not sure if this was the answer, or if she was being conned. "I guess so..."
At that moment a tall, hooded woman entered, dressed in a simple robe similar to Lina's, with a baby snuggled into her breast. Some of the staff rose, only to be quietly told to sit back down by some of the others. Lina did a double take and realised the eyes, about all she could see of the woman, were those of the Queen! So, here she was at last. Lina wondered if the mystery woman would have breakfast, so that she could see her face, but, apparently she had eaten with the king, or wasn't hungry. She asked Lina quietly "Is everything well with you this morning? Are you ready to go?" Lina replied "Well, I'd never say no to sleeping in, but he, he, yes, I am ready." The Queen made no reply, but her eyes seemed to smile.
The two women made their way to the door and took up various packs that looked like those a couple of travelers might carry for a few days journey to a neighbouring town, perhaps taking goods to market. Lina checked her own personal gear, her sword was safely tucked in out of site, but easily reachable, and the bag of money was well hidden. The Queen carried a small utility knife and a wicked looking one hand dagger. Lina thought this was practical. She couldn't hold her baby and swing a sword anyway. They both had walking sticks that were quite sturdy. Looking the part finally, the two women set off, just as the rising sun began to brighten from dawn to daylight proper.
"I must disappoint you I'm afraid" said the Queen with little more than a whisper, "but a quick search of the rolls revealed no one named Gourry or Gabriev." "Why am I not surprised." said Lina resignedly. "We will keep looking, there may have been a spelling error or something" the Queen went on. "If he is here under an alias though, we may never find him, I'm afraid" she concluded. "I thank you for looking, Your Majesty." said Lina quietly, then she picked up her stick and said "Well, let's go!" They set off into the streets.
As they trudged through the streets Lina looked around at the city. It certainly didn't have a lot of impressive buildings or temples or anything, but the architectural style, thought it was rather foreign to Lina's experience, was never-the-less pleasing to look at. It spoke of a culture that had developed a high competency in science and art. Then the Queen spoke in a low but urgent voice. "Lina, please, I know this is new to you, but if you look around too much people will know you are a tourist! And cover your face! It was seen as you rode in, people will want to know why the Lady from Seirune is walking around the country like a merchant woman!"
"Eep!" said Lina, pulling her hood shut. "Sorry, Your Majesty!" she said in earnest. "I knew that much, but it slipped my mind this morning!" "And don't call me "Your Majesty!"" the Queen went on with an earnest whisper. "For the rest of the trip call me Grace!" Lina thought for a second and asked "But wouldn't calling you by your name give the game away as quickly as using your title? Shouldn't I use a false name?" The Queen replied "Anyone who figured out who we were from our disguises won't be put off by a name change. And in an emergency there is the chance the false name might be forgotten by any of us. No, it is to hide from the curious, the talkers who's recollections might be of interest to trackers that we must hide ourselves. Anyway, Grace is a common enough name in this country, even Lina, though rare, isn't unheard of. We will be best if we just seem to be what we look like, ordinary women..." The Queen broke off suddenly, leaving Lina to wonder why. "This is going to be a strange trip" she thought to herself.
The Queen, or rather, Grace, didn't seem very talkative, and Lina didn't feel like bothering her at first anyway. For one thing, they both wanted out of town as quickly as possible, plus, the baby was a bit fussy, perhaps not used to such movement as the walking. Also, Grace seemed a bit out of shape for this sort of exercise, and admitted as much when Lina asked if she was tired, but then added that before she was pregnant she walked a lot all over the place, and that she needed to get back into shape anyway. "There's nothing like a baby for altering your figure Lina." she confided, then added, "Not that I'm complaining, my life was so empty before Arthur was born, even if my days were packed." She sighed and seemed lost in thought, or perhaps it was recollection. Lina ventured a question. "So, um Grace. Tell me a bit about yourself, since your mission is off limits.
Grace pondered for a minute then said rather flatly in her quiet voice "There isn't that much to tell, really. I was raised the daughter of a prince. To say I was pampered would probably be an understatement, but I did love to walk and ramble in the outdoors when I got the chance. I'd say I was happy enough as a child, not knowing any differently. My little sister was born several years after I was, so we weren't really that close, though that doesn't mean we didn't love each other dearly." She was quiet for a minute, then continued in a sadder tone. "My mother... died unexpectedly when I was a teenager, and, well, I'm afraid I took it very badly. It certainly changed me. I wandered a lot, by myself when I could, and was well nigh inconsolable, we had been very close. In fact, I am very much like her, both in personality, and in form and face. Finally my father let me go where I would, and I ended up in the court at Stronghold, where I held down a minor position, but one that I liked, mostly doing research in the libraries there."
Grace paused for a secind then went on "Somehow, I caught the King's eye, then one night, an opportunity came up for us to just talk. We discovered we liked talking to each other, just as friends, and, well, somehow one thing lead to another, we fell in love, and, since I was suitable and there was no objection to make, we married. A short time after that I discovered I was going to have a baby. I think I conceived on my wedding night, but to be honest the honeymoon was certainly just full of opportunities, he, he. We discovered we liked each other, a lot! Now here we are and but for two things, life would be perfect." She fell silent for awhile, clearly wrapped up in her memories.
After a bit Lina gently prodded her and said "Um, what are the two things? May I know?" Grace looked up with a start and apologized. "Oh Lina! I'm sorry, I got lost in my memories!" she said gently. "The two things, one is my mission, so I won't answer it here, bur I promise I will speak in full in Seirune. The other is just the fact that my mommy is not here to see her first grandchild. She loved children and often wished that life had let daddy and her have more. She would have absolutely doted on Arthur. Sigh... Oh, but enough about me! Let's hear about you! You don't become perhaps the world's greatest Sorceress on a whim?"
Lina smiled. "I wondered if you had recognised me, uh, Grace." "Well, your reputation has preceded you, Lina Inverse. Err, I hope you don't take this wrong, you aren't quite as you have been described." replied Grace quietly. Lina nodded and smiled. "Oh yes, I am well aware of how I am described, and if I ever find out who started some of those awful rumours there's gonna be hell to pay. Especially the Dragon Spooker business. But, that's my fight, Your, err, Grace." Getting ahold of herself she went on "Mommy and Daddy hey? You must have had a close relationship if you could be the daughter of a prince and still use such familiar terms." "I think you are right." Grace responded, sounding quietly happy. "Oh, not for the formal occasions, we still had to do the High and Mighty stuff then. Oh well, when you are of superior breeding you have to act like it." Lina did a double take and wished she could see the woman's face so she'd know if she was joking or serious. Finally she decided it was the former and went on.
"Well," she started, "in everyway I guess I'm your opposite. We are of different heights, and I have bright red hair, but I think I've seen the occasional trace of hair that must be black showing at the edge of your hood." Grace simply nodded, giving Lina a funny look. "He, he, well I am the younger of two sisters, we were raised very poor and I learned to scrounge at an early age. Also I learned to value, or rather, to covet money, I've been known to fireball a friend in an argument over a coin... perhaps I over rate it, but if you've ever done without, perhaps you have an idea what it is to be counting every penny?"
Grace gave another strange look to this as well, then asked "And were you still friends after the, um, fireballing? Sounds painful..." "Oh, ha, ha," chuckled Lina in reply. Nah, the woman I usually did this to was a Sorceress herself and had enough magical wards to absorb any blow I gave her. Well, I can't say it doesn't hurt even then, but it isn't anywhere near to the effect you get if you aren't protected. But she was as poor as I was, and would sometimes go so far as to swipe a coin right out of my hand. I mean, there I am, walking along flipping a shiny gold coin to watch the glint in the sunlight and suddenly SNATCH! and it's gone and there she is, running away with MY coin, and laughing! If that wasn't daring me to do something, I don't know what was."
"Hmm. well, perhaps you will tell me about this coin stealer sometime, Lina" said Grace with a strange tone to her voice. "Oh," said Lina, "It wasn't like that either, we were both out on the road trying to find ourselves, basically living from hand to mouth, and adventure to adventure. We must have made and lost more money in our days than can be counted! It was more of a rivalry thing. "Fighting over territory", is how my dad used to put it when my sister and I had some of our knock down drag'em out battles royal... err, I hope you know what I mean..." said Lina. "Of course!" responded Grace with a quiet, bemused tone "Why do you think they are called "Battles Royal"?" "He, he, yeah, and I just carried them over when I was wandering with Naga!" Lina went on. At the name Naga, Grace turned and gave Lina a strange, unfathomable, look, her blue eyes starring intently out from under her hood. Lina stopped in mid sentence and looked back, wondering what the other woman was thinking. Finally, when Grace obviously wasn't going to spontaneously answer, Lina asked "Does the name Naga mean something to you?"
"Oh," Grace said, still quietly, "Umm, I was trying to remember where I heard it before." "Hey?" said Lina, suddenly excited. "Was she in your kingdom? The last I ever heard tell of her was about three years ago, she was headed in the general direction of Westhold! Maybe she's in your kingdom?" "I believe you may be right." said Grace quietly, "And please keep your voice down" she went on. "Sorry, sorry," replied Lina with less volume than she had been using.
Grace went on "As I remember it, but it is possible I am mixing this up between more than one person, this lady did enter our kingdom and set up shop, so to speak, as a Sorceress, and at first she was proud, and beautiful, and even wonderfully wild, but then she met someone who seemed able to gentle her, and so she settled down quietly." "Proud and beautiful, yup, that sounds like Naga, especially when she described herself." replied Lina. "She was always so convinced she was the most beautiful and superior woman in the world, and she would never, ever give me a break! Especially about, about..., " Lina paused and gathered her breath then went on, rather explosively "Especially about my BREASTS! It isn't my fault they are small! And there SHE was! Hugh in that department. Enough to make every man drool with lust and every woman green with envy! And well aware of that fact too! I think we had more fights that were ultimately based on breast size than we did on our second favourite reason to do battle, which one of us was the superior magician. I usually won, of course."
After a minute of silence Lina went on. "Settled down eh? Say, can I beg a Royal favour?" "What favour?" asked Grace, giving Lina yet another strange look. "Oh, only that when we get done with your mission, can I come back and find her? I need to come back and look for that Gourry I told you about anyway, but it would be fun to see Naga the White Serpent settled down, and I presume she married and has children?" "If I am thinking of the same person, then yes, yes she is, and yes she does. As for looking for her, when my mission unfolds it may be that she won't be that hard to find..." was Grace's response. "Oh does this mission involve magic then?" asked Lina trying to sound curious and keep the warning bell about possible assassinations out of her voice. "It involves a lot of things." replied Grace with a sigh. "Hmmm, is she trying to be cryptic?" Lina asked herself with a quiet thought. "And what's with the quiet voice all the time? Who is she afraid will hear us here?"
Just then there was a distant clink on the highway behind them. The women turned and saw Zelgadiss and a small party of honour guards heading for the boarder at a steady trot. Zel obviously had a batch of papers in a special bag, obviously he was taking important messages to Seirune, if nowhere else. "Just move to the side and keep travelling" said Grace. "We are travellers after all, any other action would be suspicious." The two walkers did just that and in a flash Zelgadiss and his retinue were past them with out so much as a sidelong glance, except maybe a quick one from Zel, who didn't seem to actually recognise them. A few choky minutes passed as the dust of the horses hung along the road, and finally it settled and the road was clear again.
"We must talk less and listen more!" said an earnest and agitated Grace. "We should have heard them coming a lot farther back than we did!" "Who, exactly, are we afraid of?" asked a perplexed Lina. "Spies!" said Grace with a sharp whisper. "Kidnappers! Assassins!" she practically spat. After a few minutes of silence she spoke again in a softer, more sorrowful voice. "I am sorry Lina. In kinder days I would have welcomed you to my kingdom with open arms and made your stay as enjoyable as possible. I realise all this seems strange to you, and there have been no explanations, but it is most important I get to Seirune as soon as possible, and in one piece! Trust me, you will know why, soon enough!" "Okay Grace." whispered Lina in reply. "Well, let's keep our ears open and our mouths shut, as it were.
