Disclaimer: I own none of Sherwood Smith's characters. She is wonderful. I am not. End of story…
Author's Note: I don't know if Mel had a spy…. but she does now! (Cackles evilly…)
POV: LETTA (SPY OF MEL)
The camp was in an uproar. Tlanthian soldiers had struck their—ahem, our—ranks twice today. The first had been a complete surprise. Most soldiers were completely unaware that their forces had captured an enemy soldier, caught in his own trap.
I was only aware of this fact because I was in the high employ of the Marquise. I had personally thought it fishy, that I, a spy of the Countess of Tlanth was able to find a place so high in the troops. In fact, I still found it fishy. I had risen extremely quickly, even for a brilliant strategist and healer. I personally believed that the Marquise knew what I was—however, he never let on.
Naturally, you wonder why I did not share these opinions with the Countess. Some mistresses, want all the gossip—the Countess does not. She wants the hard, cold facts, not the supposed's.
I had been the one to report to the Countess that her brother was in the hands of the enemy. What she didn't know was that I was the one to find him, on my way to report. Unfortunately, others came by at the same time as me, and I was unable to pull him to safety.
I knew now that the Marquise knew whom the Count was, and I had been assigned as his healer. Naturally, Branaric did not recognize me, as he didn't know that his sister employed spies in the enemy's camp. I was unable to give him a message—Lord Debegri was watching me the entire time as I set a poultice on Count Branaric's wounds.
I knew now that the Countess' forces could not attack again—they had lost the element of surprise. I also knew something else—Bran was being moved.
POV: MEL
I ground my teeth in frustration. We had attacked the camp twice, taking out a good number of soldiers. Unfortunately, we had not been able to locate Bran, although our spy, Letta, knew he was under the Marquise of Shevraeth's guard. The enemy, of course, now knew exactly who Bran was, and we could not attack again—we had lost the element of surprise.
I ground my teeth again. It could not be good for my teeth—but this was extremely ground-your-teeth-worthy.
And now, today, Letta had informed us that Bran, and, to our surprise, the commander of the army, the notorious Marquise of Shevraeth, had begun their journey to Athanarel. And Galdran. It made me feel sick to my stomach.
I wanted, naturally, to charge after Bran, and rescue him. (The great lummox)
However, this was neither likely, nor possible. The main reason being that I could not leave the army. Although the Marquise had left, Debegri was still there. (As far as we knew)
What I needed, I decided, after a day of pacing, was something to occupy my mind. What I also needed was a plan—I needed something to get Bran back, and if that was impossible, then I needed something to annoy the enemy troops.
Sighing, I returned to my tent—I had a quick meeting with Letta coming up. When I arrived in the tent, Letta was already there. I nodded my head by way of apology, and sat down across the small table from her.
"Do we have anything new on Debegri? Or, for that matter, what can you tell me about the Marquise of Shevraeth?" I asked.
Letta gave a slight wince. "Do you want my opinion, or the facts?"
"Facts first, then opinion," I said, impatiently. I wanted to resume my pacing.
Letta sighed. "The Marquise is tall, with pale blonde hair and gray eyes."
I nodded. "I know that. Do you know anything about him besides what he looks like? Or have you spent all your time looking at him?"
I immediately regretted my words. "Sorry," I muttered, "I'm just… stressed."
Letta nodded. "The Marquise, generally known around Court, is a… a fop." She stumbled slightly over the unfamiliar term—she, and the other commoners, rarely called noblemen names, even if they were true. "He is obsessive about his clothes, jewels, hair—his appearance in general. Or so it appears. He is quite fond of horseracing, betting, gambling, flirting… etc. And, of course, laying wagers. He quite recently placed one with his cousin, Lord Savona, which bet that he could capture one of you."
I nodded. From there, I knew everything—including the details of that bet!
"You said you had some opinions. What were they?"
Letta looked uncomfortable. "I… I don't really think he's a fop." She said, in a rush, "He knows what he's doing—and, for some reason, he's not going all-out on us. He's… helping us."
I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. "Thank you, Letta. That was amusing." I said, gasping for breath. My laughter, combined with the stress of recent days, nearly sent me into hysterics, and I squeezed some stingflower under my nose, and got under control.
"And Debegri? What have we got on him?" I asked, finally.
"Not much—it's hard to get near him. However, it was his plan to immediately kill your brother, and the Marquise delayed it." I waved off the 'proof' of the Marquise' good intentions. "In the meantime, he's getting complacent. He thinks, that with your brother gone, that we will be helpless. He's been eating and drinking and behaving luxuriously for some days now."
I nodded slowly. "Thank you, Letta."
Letta nodded, and turned to leave. "I do think that you should consider the Marquise," she said, hesitantly. I nodded, not really listening.
"Thank you, Letta."
As soon as she was out of earshot, I burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh—I could swear that I hadn't laughed in months. I think I nearly ruptured a rib laughing. Suddenly, Letta's words came back to me. "Eating, drinking, luxurious…."
I smiled wickedly. I had a plan.
"You want to do what?" Khesot asked, bewildered.
"Lead Debegri on a game of… oh, Follow-the-Leader…" I smiled.
"Why?" Khesot asked.
"To give him some exercise," I said, smiling wickedly.
By sundown, Khesot and I had formulated a plan.
"Why?" Oria asked me, as I prepared for bed.
I gave her the same smile and answer that Khesot had received. "To give them some exercise."
Author's Note: Okay, I know it was not only a short chapter, but an uninteresting short chapter. But hang with me! It'll get better… I hope. So review, please—and include any ideas you like! I love hearing them!
And thank you to FelSong, Willow-41z, … , FlyAway, Icelands, and Ekirth! Thanx:-)
