Chapter 9
I found the dinner both long and tiring, mostly because I had trouble concentrating on the people in front of me. I worry about Jeck and what Kavenlow will tell me. I want to jump on to one of my trustworthy horses and hear only the sound of their hooves thunder against the ground as I shorten the distance between myself and Jeck.
But of course I can't do that… And I has a feeling in my gut I has to keep an eye on Kavenlow. The feeling disturbs me because I have newer felt that way towards him before. It makes me wonder how much I have actually changed in the time together with Jeck and his training.
In the short space of time between one nicety and the next Kavenlow is goon. And when I ask my table neighbour he says;
"The ambassador said his farewell quite some time ago, did I miss it?"
I answer I must have and blame it on a lack of sleep. At the same time as I say a silent curse to myself and officially leave the party with one last smile. Luckily Contessa is laughing together with her husband, and seems to have a good time.
I start to track Kavenlow immediately. He is hard to find, probably trying to hide al traces of himself. So I send out small gusts of wind into the gardens where I think he hides, and try to feel his presence again while I hurry toward the gate. I have no luck by finding his position with my mind but my zephyr swirl back, making my big dress swirl as I meet it at the gate. Whispering it has found him at the place where the safe tree used to grow.
As fast as I can, I hurry there. He sits on the stump carved to a small bench next to a new sapling I planted.
"Playing games now, are we?" I ask, with the dress in a hoop in my arms to not get them dirty on the wet grass.
"Yes of Corse" He answer calmly and gives me one crocked smile. I have to hold back and not stick out my tongue at him like I would do when I was small and got that smile.
"I started to think you had so much fun, you did not want to leave your company at the party." He continues.
"Well I enjoyed the view of your stunning persona. Cold hardly take my eyes of you." I reply.
"And isn't it I who should get to the safe tree? Not you." I continue
"Well you se I wanted to reminisce old times, and because I am on your home field now, I thought you would like the gesture." He stretch his arms out to show me his win.
"Well yes I would have given you a match if I had known we played." I gruff sourly, I has always been a bad looser.
"That's the hook." Kavenlow says.
"It is not always the player is told a play is started… that is the most dangerous ones!" Now his expression is deadly serious and he rise.
"What place do you suggest is guaranteed free from listening ears?" He asks and take me by the arm to let me led the way.
I take him to Jecks library. It is a small room with no windows, located inside his personal room. Only I have the key and it is another kind than the rest of the castle. Lamps are lighted and we both sit down. No tea or other distractions, just the circle of light. No one knows where we are.
"You remember the story of how I killed my master and got hold of this playing field." Kavenlow asks.
"Yes I remember". I answer low.
"A short while after I had taking over as player, just before the neutral timeframe were to end it became unsteady in the southeast villages. As I believed I was still safe from my neighbour's plays, and our kingdom tried to regain its strength after the war I travelled to check it out. It was a strange religious teaching with violence and manipulating in its core, which had started to spread among our fishermen." He collected his breath before continuing
"The nature of it was clearly a player that made a move on forbidden ground. And the religions origin was in the capital city of our southern neighbour. So I decided to go there and check it up closer.
Or I tried at least, I was taken prisoner on the ship there, of one of his agents." Here he stopped for a moment and looked out in the space between us, focusing on something only he could see
"On that ship I was held and tortured for a stormy week before I succeeded to escape. I nearly drowned then and there. But at least they didn't get any information on who I was. I took shelter in a empty fisher hut and licked my wounds, so to speak. I decided this dangerous player needed to be stopped no mater the consequences." Kavenlow made a move as to shake of something unpleasant from his shoulders and continued.
"I took great lengths to disguise myself as a courier and got unnoticed to their capital. There we played a fierce game. One of my best, but the stakes was incredible high. I was on his turf; I was new and had almost no allies. On top of that, he played dirty in every way possibly.
My luck was that I was ambitious and so new so no one knew either my playing style or my skill levels. But it was a close one, to close"
As he takes another short pause I keep my breath, afraid to disturb him. My hands closely knotted in my lap and my heart ace for his young self that has goon thru so much and still managed to stay as his gentle self.
He speaks up again.
"Finally we came to a point blank where we were both locked at a stalemate. I got thru with a negotiation that stated I would never set my foot, or play on his turf again. And he would leave my turf untouched. We also got to promise to not tell the other players of any of this. By then we had both been guilty of several things they would not look gently on."
"And I have hold on to my promise until today, and as far as I know has he hold on to his. I had actually believed he would get himself killed by his dangerous way of living and playing. I have been holding an extra eye on his playing field since then. But the last year I have not heard a single ting… Maybe I was just not thoroughly enough, and my ears were silenced…" He quietens and sits with a strange, blank expression on his face. It's unlike himself.
To break the silence I throw out the question that is on top of my head.
"Is it therefore you hate ships?"
"Yes" he says tiredly.
"No good memories there." He continues.
Now he looks at me and become his old safe self.
"And you think he hold some sort of grudge against you?" This I had picked up between the lines.
"Yes I am certain of it; he is my prime suspect for the creation of that red moon prophecy."
At this I sit dumbfounded for a heartbeat before I collect myself and ask the next question.
"Can you tell me more in detail of his skills and way of playing?"
"Yes of course, please remember all this happened lots of years ago. So noting is certain anymore…"
As we continued to talk long into the night, the oil burned low in the lamps. I did my best to collect all useful information of his amazing story.
When we was finished I only had about twelve hours until I had to start travel to get to the meeting point with Jeck. I didn't plan to waste them with sleep more than necessary. When we locked the library door behind us the early morning was already on the palace threshold. The first chores were taken care of by sleepy staff members. I gave Kavenlow a silent hug and rested in the familiarity of his smell, and the warmth from his body before saying goodbye. Dragging myself to bed, telling the nearest guard to make sure I was not disturbed for the nearest hours. Kavenlows worried eyes followed me down the corridor.
I stayed awake long enough to feel that Kavenlow had goon to sleep, and took a fast glimpse on his dream before dragging my tired consciousness back to myself with a feeling of being dirty, a unruly child peeping on the grownups…
My last thought when I sink into sleep was; soon, soon I got to se Jeck and chare everything with him. My stomach got a light feeling and I had a pleasant dream despite all dark facts I had listened to.
When I wake up I was still groggy, but the smell of newly made food convinced me of the benefits to wake up. No doubt Kavenlow was behind this.
The day went fast, and I was ready to go with the saddles in place the food and personal stuff packed lightly onto my two beautiful horses. They were eager to get going with a pat for each of them I left the stable. Only one difficult thing left to do. To tell Contessa I would leave and not be present over the midwinter party. Jeck and I had made up a plan to make her give her permission and not send guards and so on. I just hoped It would go smoothly. Kavenlow had also promised to make sure they were safe and stayed in the capital. Just in case.
"Contessa?" I said as I knocked on the royal's door, the guards nicking their recognition as I went past them.
"Yes what is it Thess?" I heard her voice from inside, so like our mothers. I opened and saw her busy with something as un-queenly as repairing socks. But I didn't say anything, given my own strange hobbies.
"I have not heard from Jeck in a couple of days." I say to her, not a lie. we had not had any contact at all since he left.
"I am worried he's planning a party or something else to surprise me, so I want to surprise him in return by meting up with him." A total lie, but it has all component to make her say yes without worry. Hopefully happy of my seemingly lovesick behaviour.
As planed she gave me a happy smile and put down the socks to give me a hug.
"Please do so, but don't stay away more than you have to. I will miss you both!" She tells me
"I will hurry as much as I can! I will miss both you and Alex dearly. Please make sure to take care of Kavenlow for me too. He is like a father to me." I don't know why I said the last part; it was true but probably entirely unnecessary. Kavenlow is fully capable of taking care of himself. It could either complicate Kavenlows play or make it smother to have the royal's eyes on him more than necessary. I decided it was simply because I was worried for him and had noting to do with any play.
So when the sun started to sink I rode out from the palace and the capital in the chilly air. South, towards Jeck and a uncertain play.