14th Day of Planting, 565 CY
The Brass Dragon Inn, Furyondy
Caroline Bigfellow walked out the front door of the Brass Dragon and smiled.
Her first night home had been surprisingly restful. She already missed her husband terribly, but everything inside the young woman was telling her that she had made the right choice.
It was a beautiful morning. A little cool, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun felt good on her face. As she began to walk around the inn towards the stables, she frowned as an itch began on the upper half of her right arm. She couldn't reach it without removing the shoulder plate and arm coverings of her leather armor, so she just rubbed her arm against the stone wall of the inn. It wasn't an ideal solution, but the itch abated enough that she could ignore the remainder.
Caroline had actually been eager to get out of her armor for the first time in over a week. Sir Dorbin however, had included Bigfellow in his newest idea; that of sending members of his party out in different directions from the Brass Dragon as sentries, to be on the alert for anyone watching the inn. Caroline had been a little miffed at his instant inclusion of her into his plans without asking for her permission, but when she realized that she'd be able to ride Sequester every day as part of her patrol, it hadn't seemed so bad. And of course, Caroline still felt indebted to Sir Dorbin for the role he had played in helping her and Argo get back together, and for his continuing stewardship of their home.
The Kingus party had opened up a little on their trek back to the inn, and Caroline had discovered several things about them.
First of all, although they seemed to lack the boisterous and constant banter of Elrohir's or Sir Dorbin's band, Kingus and his allies were just as devoted to each other as anyone Caroline had met. Saxmund, who had not admitted to being a thief, but only of possessing "certain skills," had first come across Garoidil over a decade ago when she had been cast into a Hellasion prison, where he had been one of the guards. After her release, they had formed a close, if platonic, friendship.
Aelfbi of course, was all too happy to talk about his youth in the Shelem woods of Weralt, and of meeting the young human sorcerer Kingus shortly after leaving. They had traveled together a few years before hooking up with Saxmund and Garoidil.
Kingus himself remained aloof, but polite. Actually, he pretty much was behaving exactly as Caroline thought Cygnus would behave in the same circumstances. Aslan and Elrohir's counterparts seem to have ended their similarities at the physical, but Cygnus and Kingus seemed a lot closer to each other than anyone could have guessed.
Somewhat disturbingly, Caroline had discovered that Kingus was on a mission of vengeance. His half-sister Kayla had been murdered on the order of a group of priests known as The Pact who ruled the Prelacy of Darien, another nation on Weralt. Details were sparse, but Kingus apparently had an elaborate plan to trigger the downfall of these clerics but needed large sums of money to put his plan into operation. It was that reason that had caused his band to accept the mission from the Hellasion Senate to bring down Gasbabble. That, of course, had not gone according to plan.
Still, Caroline thought, the others bore watching, as well. At one point when they had been alone together, Aelfbi had, in a roundabout way, asked about Cygnus' family history. She couldn't tell the cleric anything about that subject because she knew nothing about it, but looking back at it now, Caroline suspected that Aelfbi might have been acting as a proxy for Kingus in that regard. He wanted to get information without giving up any in return, and it was only Caroline's ignorance that had foiled him, not her caution. That bothered her.
She walked into the stables, grabbing a horse brush off its nail on the wall as she did so. The skinny boy of about ten was working there currently. Caroline still couldn't remember his name. She flashed her smile at the youth and could practically see his knees knocking as he stammered out a greeting before returning to cleaning out the stalls, much more clumsily than before. Caroline grinned to herself. It was somewhat callous of her, she knew- but it felt good, too.
She walked up to Perlial and White Lightning, whose large brown eyes lit up at her approach. The horses maneuvered instinctively so that Caroline could walk between them and brush one and stroke the other.
"Hello, my friends," she smiled at them.
"Thank you for coming back, Caroline," said White Lightning. "We missed you."
Caroline chuckled. "I missed you too, girls, but I have to admit I didn't come back only to see you."
Perlial bobbed her head. "We know," she added huskily, "but we are still grateful."
Bigfellow leaned in to whisper conspiratorially in White Lightning's ear. "So, hear any good gossip? Who's mounting whom here in the stables? Anyone getting fresh?"
White Lightning tossed her mane while Perlial actually managed to roll her eyes.
"I thought you were asking about human gossip," Elrohir's steed asked. The horse couldn't actually laugh, but her happiness was evident in her voice. "I'd be quite the outcast here if I told you of our own matters, but all seems quiet. Sir Dorbin and his friends come in sometimes to talk to us. I have heard about Kingus and his friends." The mare shook her head. "Even after seeing Nodyath with my own eyes, the notion of these counterparts is hard to accept." The horse's eyes grew thoughtful. "I wonder sometimes if Perlial and I have counterparts, somewhere back on Rolex."
Caroline was surprised. She'd never considered the matter, so she certainly didn't know the horses had. "Even if you do," she smiled at White Lightning, while brushing her glossy coat, "you just can't beat the original."
Perlial looked as thoughtful as a horse could.
"If they do exist, they are probably thinking the same thing."
Caroline chatted with the steeds for a few minutes more on mundane matters and then moved over to the pegasi. She loved pampering Sequester and suspecting the winged horse enjoyed it just as much, although she put on an almost-convincing act of tolerating the attention.
Caroline hugged the steed around her neck and felt the breeze on her back as Sequester flapped her wings. "I'll be back in a few hours girl, and then we can go riding," she whispered to her mount. Caroline brushed her for a few minutes, spent a minute or so with Gylandir so the other pegasus wouldn't feel neglected and then headed out back into the sunshine. The stable boy gave her a nervous grin as she passed.
Caroline looked around. She hadn't been up for all that long but the common room of the Brass Dragon had been crowded, and uncomfortably warm with the combined body heat of the Sir Dorbin party, the Kingus quartet, staff and guests. Caroline considered being lazy and grabbing a quick nap back at her cabin before heading out on her patrol.
That was when she saw Kingus standing over by Aslan's cabin.
Caroline frowned. Kingus had been inside with the others. He must have come out shortly after she had, but what was he doing there? Her brow wrinkled with confusion until she realized he was standing by the cabin's rear wall.
The memorial to Hyzenthlay.
Caroline took a deep breath and started walking towards him.
The air was cool and still. The grass was lush and green from the recent rain. A lone hawk circled above.
Kingus looked up briefly as Lady Bigfellow approached, and then returned his attention to the metal plate in the ground below as the young woman came up alongside him.
HYZENTHLAY
Beloved of Cygnus
From Death, Life
The sorcerer again eyed Caroline, who had to look away. That familiar face with unfamiliar thoughts behind those eyes, was just too much.
"I am sorry for his loss," Caroline heard him say.
She gave a brief nod of acknowledgement.
There was a pause. "Did she die in childbirth?"
Caroline, who had been watching the hawk above just to give her something to focus on, now turned back to Kingus.
Still looking for free information, Kingus?
Her indignation gave Caroline the courage to face the sorcerer directly. Her mouth a thin line, she muttered, "You might say that."
Kingus stared at her a moment and then, somewhat surprisingly, gave a small, self-satisfied nod. "I understand. I will not pry. I am glad you realize that some information must remain private."
Is this just a trick to get us off his back? Caroline wondered, her indignation now asking her for a field promotion to full-blown anger.
"That story is for Cygnus to tell, not me, " she said curtly. "Why are you so afraid to talk to him about your family, Kingus? No one on this world knows you. I can't think of any conceivable way it could come back to hurt you. I know nothing about Cygnus' past, but I know he thinks you could help him. He's- my friend." The words tumbled out, more emotionally than Caroline would have wanted. "I don't have a lot of friends, Kingus, and sometimes I have trouble keeping the ones I do, so I want to keep them happy."
Cygnus' counterpart said nothing.
"Please tell him, Kingus," Caroline pleaded. "Cygnus says that knowledge itself is neither good nor evil, only the purposes for which it can be used."
Kingus was silent for a while, studying the memorial. Then he looked up again at Caroline.
"I'm sorry Caroline, but that's not true. Some knowledge carries with it an intrinsic evil all its own. I think… I think Cygnus knows this as well. I don't see how he couldn't."
So, you're calling him either an idiot or a liar now?
Caroline decided she was now officially feeling angry. She said nothing but could feel the flush climbing up her neck towards her face. She considered just heading towards her cabin when Kingus spoke again.
"If I haven't mentioned it before Caroline, I do wish to extend the gratitude of myself and our companions to you and the others. We will be heading off to Willip tomorrow, and I think it unlikely we shall return. Our return would not have been possible without your aid."
Caroline frowned, but her anger subsided a little, despite herself. She turned back to the sorcerer. "But what if Lancoastes cannot return you to your proper time, Kingus? Will you still elect to return to Rolex?"
The mage nodded. "Yes. We have all agreed that that the- sooner," and here a thin smile played over his lips, "we can return to our world, the better we will feel."
On impulse, Caroline decided to turn up the heat just a little.
"Why not? I'm sure that after six hundred years, The Pact will be long dead and your mission of vengeance completed."
Kingus stared at Caroline. His face was cold and calculating, but at least it looked familiar now. Lady Bigfellow had seen Cygnus wear that mask many times.
After a short pause, Kingus spoke quietly.
"I'm somewhat surprised that you've never been lured by the desire for vengeance, Caroline." His eyes narrowed. "Surely, you've had tragedies befall you in your life that called out for it."
Caroline shrugged and gave the sorcerer her best imitation of her husband's smile. "I admit, self-control is not what I'm best at, but I feel that vengeance beyond the immediate and the passionate is best left in the hands of the gods."
It was here that Kingus surprised Caroline. The magic-user sneered, his face contorting in disgust.
"I put no trust in the gods. They are cruel and have no sympathies for mortals. If perchance they should aid us, it is only for their own purposes, which can shift in an instant."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You keep odd company for a man with that philosophy, Kingus."
The sorcerer's face relaxed somewhat, managing a cynical smile while looking off into the distance. "You mean Aelfbi? Hanali Celani will harm no mortal, a rarity among gods of any race. I do not worship Lady Goldenheart, but I respect her, unlike her fellow deities."
Caroline shrugged and eyed her and Argo's cabin. The bed inside beckoned her. A quick nap inside sounded a lot better than a theological debate with a man from another universe. "To each his own, I suppose. I'll stick with Zeus, myself."
The sneer returned to Kingus' face.
"Ah yes, the Olympians." he snorted and spat on the ground. "Worst offenders of the lot. Mortals killed and used by them at a whim. The Republic of Hellas has worshipped them for thousands of years, for all the good it's done them." He voice changed to mockery of the liturgy of Zeus. "Accept thy lot children, for such is the will of Almighty Zeus, Hurler of Thunderbolts!" He turned an angry face to the clear blue sky above.
"Where you watching when they killed Kayla, Almighty Zeus?" he yelled. "Were you watching when my mother was raped in her cell? Were you watching when most of my world died?"
There was a loud snap, like the cracking of a gigantic whip.
The boom of the thunderclap that followed was so intense that both Caroline and Kingus were forced to bend down, their hands clasped tightly over their ears. Perhaps it was the echo, but the sound seemed to last longer than it should have; the reverberations only fading away slowly, almost grudgingly.
Caroline wasn't proud of it but as they slowly stood up, Kingus' astonished expression gave her a sense of smugness.
So there, she thought, turning her gaze upwards so the sorcerer wouldn't catch her bemused smile. There still wasn't a cloud in the sky, but the hawk above seemed to have been momentarily disoriented by the blast of thunder. It recovered, circling slowly, much lower now. For a moment, Caroline thought the bird was staring directly at her…
And then it disappeared.
Caroline's breath caught in her throat. She glanced over at Kingus, but the mage hadn't seen it. He was busy looking off at the Brass Dragon. Coming around the side of the building now were his three friends, as well as most of the Sir Dorbin party. Some were looking up, but others saw the two standing by Aslan's cabin and started to head towards them.
"Garoidil will never let me live this down," Kingus was muttering, but Caroline only half-heard him. She looked up at the sky again, almost frantically now, but it was devoid of answers as it was of clouds- or birds.
What was that, Almighty Zeus? she wondered. Was that a rebuke? A demonstration? A warning? And why now, and what of that hawk? Was it from you? What did it vanishing like that mean? Did any of this even come from you?
Caroline gulped as the others drew near. She wished she had something to tell them, but even more, she wished her husband were here.