Council of War (34 page)

"I look forward to hearing all of that," smiled the queen, "but there is no need to do so immediately. I think Garth has more disturbing news to share with you."

Kalina raised her eyebrows in surprise and turned to look at Garth. She had felt the tenseness in him, but she thought it was solely because of her delayed return.

"Karl's group has been captured by the Zaroccans," Garth stated. "They were taken as suspected spies. I got the report from Peanut not long after you left, and the boat to Korocca does not leave for another week. I fear the worst for them."

"Then we will go to Zarocca tonight," replied Kalina. "We now have the means to do so."

"What means?" asked Edmond.

"The unicorns can fly," answered Kalina.

"It will not be as simple as that," Garth continued as if Edmond had not even spoken. "The Zaroccan cities are unlike those of the Federation. They have huge castles that will be impossible to penetrate."

"Perhaps I can help," offered Edmond. "I have spent a good deal of time In Korocca and Zarocca since we last met. I have made a few friends that might be able to put us in a position to negotiate with the authorities. If we can convince them that Karl and the others are not spies, perhaps they will set them free."

"Or take us captive as well," interjected Tedi.

"Maybe I can help," suggested Sidney. "While I have not been to their countries in decades, my father was well respected there. In fact, I have been thinking of moving there with Queen Romani in case Tyronia follows the way of Vinafor."

"Vinafor had decent relations with both countries before the world shook," agreed the queen. "While we never had extensive dealings, we used to ship a good deal of wine to those countries, and we never had harsh words for one another."

"Perhaps letters from the two of you would suffice," replied Kalina. "We plan to get our people free no matter what the consequences. I do not think it would be wise for you to be with us. Things might progress far beyond the negotiating stage."

"You would actually attack them?" asked the queen.

"If they intend to kill my men," stated Garth, "we will not stand by and watch it happen. Kalina is right. This is something best handled by us alone."

"The queen and you should still write the letters," Edmond said to his father. "I will carry them with me and only expose them if they might be helpful."

"I must not have made myself clear," frowned Garth. "This mission may come to fighting. You should remain here with your father."

"You were quite clear, Garth Shado," smiled Edmond, "but I am going with you. I can easily separate myself from you if it is needed. At worst, I will not be in your way. At best, I might be able to help free your men without bloodshed."

"I only have enough unicorns for our people," declared Kalina. "Unless there is a death, someone would have to stay behind in Zarocca."

"Then I will stay behind," shrugged Edmond. "I still have not found the land that I was seeking over there. I will pick up where I left off and catch the boat home."

Kalina glanced at her husband, and Garth silently nodded.

"We are agreed then," Kalina said with an air of finality. "I suggest we all try to catch some sleep this afternoon. It would be best if we cross the Barrier at night to avoid being seen. Tedi, you and Garth might also want to head to the corral and meet your new companions. I need to speak with Queen Romani for a while."

The two young men sat on the dock in Trekum watching a young woman as she moved through the crowd. The woman appeared to be merely strolling along the wharf, but the men knew better.

"What is she doing, Lucky?" asked the clean-shaven man. "She could have had that old lady's pouch easily enough. I could have stolen it five times over already."

"Patience, Fesler," chuckled Lucky. "That old lady probably doesn't have enough in her pouch to buy a decent meal. Sinsy is particular about who she robs. Just hold your horses and watch."

"We could wait here all day," frowned Fesler. "I don't think she has the guts to do it."

"You have no idea how wrong you are," replied Lucky. "No one can clip them like Sinsy. She is the best."

"We'll see," retorted Fesler.

The young men continued to watch the young woman as she strolled up to one end of the wharf, turned around, and strolled down to the other end. She had made three complete passes when Fesler suddenly stiffened.

"Get her attention!" Fesler said anxiously. "We have to get out of here."

"Why?" asked Lucky.

"The law has arrived."

"It's only one soldier," scoffed Lucky. "It's not like we are being attacked."

"One soldier?" echoed Fesler. "That is not any ordinary soldier. That is Sergeant Musaraf. He is Governor Mobami's personal aide. Let's get out of here."

Fesler started to rise, but Lucky placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"Don't bring attention to us like that," frowned Lucky. "Soldiers always tend to notice people who leave whenever they appear. It makes them suspicious. Just sit and wait."

Fesler sat back down, but he was clearly nervous about the sergeant's presence. Sinsy also noticed the sergeant's presence and she turned around before the end of the wharf and began following him.

"Oh, curse it!" Fesler said softly through clenched teeth. "Is she a fool? She can't really be targeting him."

"The governor probably sent him out to pay some bills," smiled Lucky. "I swear Sinsy can smell gold."

"I'm getting out of here," Fesler said as he tried to rise again. "She will probably rat on us."

"Sit," hissed Lucky. "She is about to make her score, and I don't want you blowing it. As for talking, Sinsy would take the heat herself. She would never rat on anyone."

"If I go down because of her," warned Fesler as he sat back down, "you both will end up dead. I have friends in this city."

"So you keep on saying," Lucky replied as if he couldn't care less.

Sinsy casually moved up behind the sergeant as the officer walked along the wharf. She quickly glanced around before her hand streaked towards the officer. Lucky and Fesler saw the officer's tunic rise slightly and fall back down as if a gust of wind had lifted it. Sinsy immediately changed direction and headed towards the dock as if she had just remembered something. Fesler sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness she didn't press it," he said. "That is the wrong man to mess with."

Sinsy grinned as she approached the young men and sat down next to Lucky.

"Do you have any idea who that was you just tried to pinch?" asked Fesler.

"Sergeant Musaraf," grinned Sinsy. "He is the personal aide to Governor Mobami."

"You knew and yet you still tried to rob him?" Fesler asked with disbelief.

"Certainly I knew," chuckled Sinsy. "I met him early this morning when I was talking to my cousin. He mentioned that he had bills to pay for the governor later. And I didn't try to rob him," she added with a laugh. "I robbed him blind."

Sinsy opened her hand to reveal the large pouch with cut drawstrings. Sticking out of the sleeve of her tunic was the tip of a sharp blade and she pushed it back up her sleeve and then handed the pouch to Lucky.

"Pretty heavy," Lucky commented appreciatively. "Aren't you worried about him missing so much weight?"

Fesler sat with eyes as large as coins as he starred at the young woman.

"Soldiers are easy," smiled Sinsy. "The weight of their swords make the loss of a pouch insignificant. He won't even notice it is gone until he tries to make a payment to someone."

Lucky opened the pouch and peered inside. He whistled softly.

"I bet there is three hundred in here," he said softly as he tucked the pouch under his tunic.

"I can't believe you two," Fesler said with a shake of his head.

Lucky ignored Fesler and glanced at Sinsy. "Your cousin is in town? Which one?"

"The one from Tagaret," answered Sinsy.

"Isn't he a Red Sword?" asked Lucky.

"Yup," nodded Sinsy. "He was speaking to Sergeant Musaraf this morning. It seems that the king is coming to town. He has been sent down to coordinate security with the governor."

"King Arik?" asked Fesler as he suddenly became very attentive.

"Is there another king that I don't know about?" laughed Sinsy. "Maybe I should try to pinch his pouch. I bet he carries a lot with him."

"This is no time for jokes," Fesler said eagerly. "When is the king coming to town?"

"I didn't ask," shrugged Sinsy. "I was only there to say hello to my cousin, but I needn't have bothered. He was too busy to acknowledge a nobody like me. I guess he thinks being a soldier makes him important."

"Can you find out when the king is due?" asked Fesler.

"Why do you care?" scoffed Sinsy. "Do you think he is going to be handing out gold pieces to the first hundred starving people that come along?"

Fesler had been leaning towards Sinsy with eagerness, but he now leaned back and tried to act casual.

"What do you two think of this warrior king?" Fesler asked nonchalantly. "Can he really save the world?"

"I don't have two copper coins' worth of interest in him," Sinsy answered. "He hasn't done anything for me."

"Isn't that the truth," nodded Lucky. "Who cares who the king is? All those important people in their fancy clothes. None of them are going to do anything for us. We have to make our own way in the world."

"That's how I think, too," stated Fesler. "Look, if you could find out exactly when the king will be in Trekum, I know people who will pay a lot to have that information."

"You always claim to know important people," scoffed Lucky. "Frankly, I don't believe you."

Fesler looked around before he spoke softly. "I am very good friends with the head Snake for all of Sordoa. You don't get much more important than that."

"What's a snake?" asked Sinsy.

"You haven't heard of the Snakes?" asked Fesler. "You really are two loners. The Snakes are the group that is going to overthrow the government."

"Yeah, really," Lucky replied sarcastically. "You should give up thieving and take up storytelling. If this guy was going to overthrow Alcea, why is he down here in Sordoa instead of being up in Tagaret?"

"You don't know anything," scowled Fesler. "The Snakes have organizations in every major city. It's like an underground army. Charlson is the guy in charge of Sordoa, but there are other guys in charge of Lanoir and Cordonia, and one for old Targa, too. Each of the big guys has hundreds of men under him to build organizations in each city of the province, and each of them has hundreds of assassins working for him. The Snakes are a really big organization. You two might even be good enough to get into it."

"Really?" Sinsy said with interest. "Now that is something that might be interesting. Do they have any competitions to see who can do the best and stuff like that?"

"You are always so competitive," laughed Lucky. "You're a thief, not an assassin."

"I've killed more men than you have," retorted Sinsy.

"In their sleep," countered Lucky.

"So?" shrugged Sinsy. "Do they have to be awake to count?"

"Quit arguing," pleaded Fesler. "Can you find out when the king is coming or not?"

"I already know when he is coming," snipped Sinsy.

"You said you didn't know," Fesler said with confusion.

"I said that I didn't ask," corrected Sinsy. "I didn't have to. My cousin always comes down here the day before the king arrives. Soldiers are always punctual."

"I have to go," Fesler said as he stood up. "Where can I find you later if I need to?"

"I think we should check into a fancy inn and have a victory meal on the good sergeant," chuckled Lucky. "What do you think, Sinsy?"

"I don't want to waste a lot of gold," she frowned. "How about we continue staying at the Oasis Inn, and go eat the midday meal at a nicer inn."

"I will look you for you at the Oasis then," Fesler nodded.

Fesler ran off, and the other two thieves rose and walked casually to the Oasis Inn. They climbed the stairs and unlocked the door to their room. They entered the room, and Lucky locked the door while Sinsy went over to the window and gazed out. She saw nothing of interest and closed the window.

The Oasis Inn was not a fancy inn, but it wasn't a dive either. The room had a large comfortable bed, a dresser, desk, chair, and a standing wardrobe. Lucky opened the door of the wardrobe and parted the clothes hanging in it. He knocked twice on the back panel and then knocked again. The panel slid open allowing entry to the adjacent room. Lucky and Sinsy walked through the secret passage. Captain Orteka of the Kadin Claws mercenary company bowed low to the two arrivals.

"Any luck?” he asked.

"I think we are getting close," replied the king. "Have the governor find out what he can about a man named Charlson, but he is to do so with only secure people. I do not want anyone to know that inquiries are even being made."

"You think this Charlson might be involved with the Snakes?" asked the mercenary.

"If Fesler can be believed, he is the head man for all of Sordoa," answered the king.

"I don't even think Fesler realized that he mentioned Charlson's name," commented the queen. "He was so excited about the news that the king was coming to town."

"You said the king was coming to town?" frowned Captain Orteka. "Was that wise? I mean, with you already being here, that can be quite risky."

"It is risky," agreed the queen, "but not in the way you mean. By saying that the king is coming tomorrow, we have left ourselves a very narrow window of time to learn more about the local group of Snakes. If we don't find out something before tomorrow, Fesler will realize that we were wrong, and he will not believe anything else we say."

"So you are not going to appear as the king then?" Captain Orteka asked Lucky.

"No," the king shook his head. "I promised my fathers that I would keep my public exposure to a minimum. Alceans will have to continue to wonder where their king is."

"We either find out more before morning, or we go with what we have and arrest Fesler and Charlson," stated the queen. "But I don't like that option very much. All we have on Charlson right now is a slip of the tongue by Fesler. I want solid proof, and I want to know who Charlson reports to."