Day 3
To Richard's right stood Asbel in a pose halfway between relaxed and alert. Jasmin had also accompanied them. Richard watched her navigate the shrubbery at the base of Lord Windegarde, the central windmill in Lhant. Her black-booted feet hardly made a sound.
At least, all three windmills had been restored to full functionality, and Lhant bustled with quiet activity. A few curious glances came their way, likely due to the presence of the king of Windor with a mere escort of two.
Asbel sighed. "Any luck?"
"The footprints have disappeared. I was away too long."
Richard scanned the area around them as the other two began to debate the next course of action. He tensed as a low, drawling voice interrupted them.
"The creature you are looking for has made a nest." Both of Asbel's eyes flared purple as Lamdba spoke through his vessel's mouth.
"Can you sense where it is?" Richard asked, unsure how to greet his former ally. He had forgotten about the entity watching the world through Asbel.
"Behind the Barnes household," Lambda revealed before releasing Asbel. After a moment, the lord of Lhant grimaced and scratched the back of his head.
"I wish he would warn me before he does that," he muttered with a sheepish glance for Jasmin. "Ah, I suppose we have to explain now…but it's a long story."
Seemingly unperturbed, she waved a hand. "We all have our secrets. You don't have to tell me. As long as we find that creature…" Jasmin considered the king of Windor and his friend as if judging their readiness. "Remember to stay behind me. That's what we agreed on, right?"
Asbel elbowed his king. "Yes." Richard hated to lie, but the exchange this morning only cemented his worry. With an air of utter resolve, she had negotiated until Richard agreed to come alone; Asbel had come along as a bonus when the king pointed out that the lord of Lhant needed to know the status of the situation. Still, what was worth hiding and taking a mortal risk for?
Richard had no more time to think as they moved down the path and into the greenery of the Barnes' backyard. An immediate shuffling brought his rapier out; the weight of it smoothed his nervousness into concentration. Beside him, Asbel gave him an encouraging grin. The two of them together could handle any monster.
At last, Jasmin drew the twin blades she had previously left in her room in the Barona Inn. The short swords glowed with energy and then flashed once, the only warning as Jasmin dove forward and behind an apple tree. Richard followed and found her half-buried into a burrow. A shriek prompted Richard to reach for the woman's boots, regardless of the impropriety, to pull her back out.
"Wait. I think she's got something." Asbel's observation made the king of Windor draw back.
"I got the monster, but…I may need some help getting out," came the muffled retort.
Shaking his head, Asbel gestured for his king to go ahead. Richard found himself laughing as he kneeled beside the burrow's entrance. "Do you mind if I place my hands on you?"
"Do what you must."
With that permission, Richard wrapped his arms around her waist. Taking care to not grip her too tightly, he walked backwards until she emerged from the hole. He helped her stand upright, aware of her warmth all the while.
Dirt had streaked her mussed hair with brown highlights, and her usual reserve had been replaced with shining eyes and a grin. Her arms clutched a transparent cage formed by a barrier that emitted from floating parallel blades. Inside, the monster had huddled into a yellow ball.
The rippling cage reminded Richard of Amarcian technology. Perhaps guessing his next question, Jasmin said, "The blades are my sister's work. She inherited the brilliance of our Amarcian father, though little passed to me. I take after my not-Amarcian mother, I suppose." The revelation of such a personal matter made Richard want to draw her closer for a hug.
Of course, Asbel was watching, so he released her and proceeded to examine the monster Jasmin had caught. It was a Peepit, or a facsimile of one. Asbel glanced at his king for an opinion. The lord of Lhant dared not voice his thoughts out loud.
"I feel as if we have yet another case of mistaken imprisonment," Richard remarked.
Jasmin grinned. "Deceptive, Your Majesty. It's a powerhouse when given access to wind eleth. The windmills are the perfect place for it to gather that eleth."
Richard and Asbel peered closer at the Peepit, both jumping back as the round, yellow bird pecked at the barrier. "And…what would it do with the eleth?" Asbel wondered.
"Destroy the windmills, my lord. That's why I worried it might become dangerous to people." Jasmin placed the cage with the Peepit on the billowing grass.
Richard still had many questions, but here was not the place to ask them. "What are we to do with it?"
Jasmin frowned. "I'll bring him home, of course."
"As you said, isn't that dangerous?" Asbel pointed out. Lhant had not come to any real harm this time around, but…
Jasmin hesitated. "Once I leave Windor, it won't be. I'll ask for refuge at the Amarcian Enclave. Since you both are acquainted with Pascal, I imagine she's already brought you there for a visit."
"You know Pascal?" Asbel's mouth had so far resisted dropping open, but now he was gaping. Jasmin gave an emphatic nod and then turned to Richard as if to apologize for the trouble.
The king of Windor held her gaze. "Do you want to leave?"
"Of course not," she returned, "but what other choice is there? I won't let anyone hurt Rapho, and he can't stay here."
"It has a name…" Asbel reeled away to kneel beside the cage with the Peepit.
Sparing a sympathetic glance for his confused friend, Richard murmured, "Then it was your pet?"
"Very astute, Your Majesty. He's but the first of many modified creatures." Jasmin sighed and gave him a rueful smile. "I suppose there is no point hiding anything now."
Reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder, Richard assured her, "I still trust that you have a good…explanation."
"How about a twisted story instead? To start off, I made a bad choice, Your Majesty."She bowed her head, seemingly having acquired a dark cloud over it.
"What choice was that?" He found himself whispering as if asking any louder would scare her away.
"I trusted that Leiah, my sister, wouldn't go so far with her experiments. For a long time now, she's been looking into harnessing the great power that Nova monsters have and creating those that would obey a human master. They were weapons of war, I realized later. She planned to sell them to Fendel."
The words fell heavily on the king of Windor, who had worked to maintain the peace between the three nations of Windor, Strahta and Fendel.
"Fendel hasn't indicated a desire for war lately," Asbel said.
"Exactly. So my sister's work became useless." Jasmin removed the king of Windor's hand from her shoulder, her fingers lingering on his for a moment. "I never wanted to betray Windor…but I overlooked a flaw in my sister because I didn't want her arrested! Then Rapho escaped, and here we are now."
"Would you have stopped her? If Fendel wanted the weapons after all?" Richard asked.
"Yes." The resolve in her answer satisfied him.
"Let us return to Barona."
"Return? Is bringing Rapho near the valkines cryas wise?" Jasmin crouched to peer at the Peepit, who was now fluffing its feathers in a relaxed fashion.
"Do you question the wisdom of your king?" Richard said with a dramatic gesture, but she only laughed at him. "If the cage will last, then I don't see why not."
"What about the sister?"
Richard almost called Asbel a fool then for alarming the lady. Jasmin's loyalty to her sister ran deep—not so different than the devotion Richard had reserved for his father. "We will sort that out later under the proper protocol."
"You seem to dilly-dally on a lot of matters." Jasmin sighed. "I led you on this crazy chase and wasted your time, Your Majesty. We should settle it now."
"The research of dangerous weapons in my country falls under my jurisdiction. How could protecting my people be a waste of time?"
Jasmin brushed a dirt clod from her skirt. "True, you have protected them. Now you just have to find the perfect queen to complete your obligation to Windor."
"In time, I will find the right queen." So he had stated on multiple occasions to his advisors.
"A right queen? As opposed to a left one?"
Richard stared at her, the woman coincidentally standing to his left. After a moment of frozen shock, Jasmin pattered to stand beside Asbel, who wore an unbecoming smirk. "That isn't…what I meant was…" She trailed off. "Say, Lord Asbel, what qualities do you think His Majesty requires in his queen? Perhaps we can formulate a list and match them to the women I saw lining Barona castles' halls."
Lining the halls? How long had Cheria's list become? Richard shook his head to shake off the disquieting thought. "Well, a list seems terribly cold to me. I trust that when I meet her, I will know she is the one."
"You trust in your own choice then."
So far, his decisions had produced positive results, but those were always smaller matters. In this case, he had chosen to trust Jasmin and had found the truth of the monster of Lhant.
Perhaps taking a lack of objection as agreement, Jasmin continued, "That's good. A king with confidence in his judgment—one who learns from his mistakes and is a perfect gentleman about it…that is a king I could love. As a subject, of course." A hint of a blush lit her face, and she turned around to pick up the caged Peepit.
"Shall we return, Richard?" The lord of Lhant gave his king a bow. In Asbel's gaze, he read respect and a faith that Richard felt was beyond what he deserved.
Perhaps he had deluded himself for too long. With knowledge from his parents, his tutors, his friends and even from his enemies, Richard had made the right choices for his people. How then could he doubt his own wisdom in picking a queen when no one else did?