Naming Day (Jake Underwood Book 1) (26 page)

My father came home at some point, but I don’t know when it was. The sleep that had escaped me finally made itself present and I dozed. I almost wish I hadn’t. It wasn’t restful. The dreamed of Marty and Dalia and my long ago torture session, only this time I was asking the questions with them alternating in the hotseat. Neither of them knew anything but the questions kept coming. I wanted to wake up from that but I couldn’t. I kept seeing Kevin’s severed head whispering unintelligible, sweet nothings in my ears. The scene would shift and I would find myself at the Nasoni mound, trying to open the gate while my friends were being slaughtered by Jeryn Callisandra. I dreamed of my father and my grandfather and both pulling at me, trying to tear me in half.

It was early morning when my father awoke me. He probably hadn’t any sleep at all but he looked a hell of a lot fresher than I did.

“What time is it?” I asked as I rose stretched. I regretted it almost immediately. Despite the doctor’s ministrations, I was sore from head to foot.

“It is midmorning. The ceremony will begin in two hours. We can leave whenever you wish. It will only take a score of minutes to arrive,” He seemed calm. I guessed that whatever he was planning was ready to go.

“I’d like to get there early so we can see who arrives. It can help to avoid unpleasant surprises. I have had too many of those lately.” He nodded. A servant shoved a mug of hot java into my hand. It was incredibly strong and inexplicably delicious. I wonder what the penalty was for stealing a servant who actually knew how to make coffee was.

“What have you been up to all night?” I asked.

He smiled that Fey smile that always reminded me of a puzzle that can’t ever quite be solved.

“I have been making arrangements for the ceremony. I have called in favors from family and friends to make sure that nothing goes wrong. My servants have spent much of the night notifying various members of my family that there presence is required to greet a new scion of House Melliscant. Any who wish to remain in my favor will be there.”

“We don’t want too big a crowd! It might scare Callisandra away.” Today would probably be my one chance to get her back. Nothing could interfere with that.

“Do not worry my son. Everything has been arranged. All will play out as I have planned. We will have Dalia back and Jeryn Callisandra will be yours to take vengeance against. I give my word as your father.” Knowing how hard he hard worked to be able to say that to me reassured me. I knew I was out of my depth on this one. I just had to wait until the right time to make my move. 

As I drained the cup of coffee he motioned to another aide who came up carrying a scarred wooden case. I could see that the top of the case carried the crest of my house. How odd for me to think that way. My House. A day ago I wouldn’t have wanted to be a Melliscant or if I could arrange it, a Fey.

“Before we leave, I feel you should have this, at least for today.” He opened the case and inside was a sword. It was a long blade, nearly three foot from tip to hilt. It looked old and while it was well maintained, it carried few adornments. The scabbard was plain but well oiled. I could that it was scratched and I could see more signs of battle on the hilt itself. It reeked of age and use, but appeared to be anything but unloved or uncared for. It was obvious I was puzzled because before I could ask he explained what I was seeing. 

“This is an honor blade. It carries the honor of our house. It has seen combat on many occasions and carries the scars of conflict. It has been captured, but always ransomed or recovered. While I have better swords and certainly have more luxurious swords, no blade I possess says ‘Melliscant’ more than this one. It has been present at our victories and our defeats. It has been bloodied but its honor is unstained. It is fit and proper that you wear it today to your Naming Ceremony for today you gain not just a name but your family as well. As my son, you will carry my honor into the future.” He held the sword and scabbard out to me

I wasn’t sure what to say to all that. It seemed like an awful lot for a professional snoop like me, let alone a beat up sword to live up to. He was obviously expecting me to say something and I probably would have known what the protocol was if I had been raised here, but I didn’t so wing it was all I could do.

“I thank you for this honor and I will wear this sword in honor today and will always try to act with honor and not bring shame on our house.” I took the sword from his hands. “I pledge this on my name and with my personal honor.”

He smiled and I knew that even if they weren’t the exact right words they satisfied him. I carefully buckled on the sword and smoothed out any wrinkles that may have been created by my fitful sleep.

My father looked me up and down and I knew for the first time since my grandfather died what it was to bask in the glow of parental approval. It made me a little giddy, like a double shot of bourbon on an empty stomach will do, but it was as fine a feeling as I have ever known. We said nothing as we left the house and went into the courtyard where a finally matched set of horses waited to draw us to my Naming Day ceremony.

I knew it was a trap when I saw him. Try as I might now to find some other way I might have resolved it, nothing but minor modifications of my decisions come to me.  I made the best choices I could with the knowledge I had. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I had known a few things then that I know now, but maybe not.

I was nervous, watching the roads pass as we neared the Court of Dawn proper. I was mainly nervous because I wasn’t sure what to expect. My father had told me that relatives and friends of his would be there to give me a proper Naming Day ceremony or at least as proper as he could arrange in such a short time. My efforts in directing the conversation toward the situation regarding Dalia were politely but deftly sidestepped. He told me that was plenty of time to deal with that after I was named.

The carriage slowed and finally stopped and I heard my father’s driver dismount. He stepped towards us and ducked his head around through the open window of the carriage.

“I am sorry my lord, but there seems to be some dispute between two cart men ahead.” He frowned for a moment. “It seems to be getting worse. Should I call for the bodyguards to clear the road of rabble?”

“James,” he smiled, “We don’t call them rabble, even if they act like it.” He thought for a moment. “No, I think we can wait a few moments or just take another path if need be.” He relaxed back in his seat. But I didn’t.

It was too coincidental and I hate coincidences. They are almost never what they seem. This one was certainly no different.

I saw him at the edge of the small crowd that had gathered to watch the cart men argue about who had the right of way. He made sure I couldn’t have missed him and the same time kept concealed as much as possible. It’s a gift I suppose, but tailing at the Court of Dawn isn’t that much different than tailing any where in the mortal world. He was pretty good, but Marty was about the only guy I know who could shadow me without getting caught and even his record wasn’t a shutout.

It was a dwarf. The same one I had seen with Jeryn Callisandra’s crew. He wasn’t exactly trying to stand out, but he was trying to catch my eye. Once he did, he casually point to a lock blonde hair pinned to the edge of his cloak. Bastard. I suppose there was some miniscule chance that it was someone else’s but I figured it was Dalia’s. Our eye’s locked and he nodded once and pointed to the lock of hair. He wanted to talk. So did I, but I had hoped that it might be my Glock that did the talking. No such luck today.

My father looked relaxed, at least I thought so at the time, and when I said I wanted to stretch my legs for a bit while we were waiting I thought I saw his eyes narrow a bit, but I dismissed it. Had I known him better I would have recognized it for what it was, agitation and concern. But he said nothing and didn’t stop me from getting out of the carriage. When my feet hit the ground I looked around and saw that the argument continued. I took it for granted that it was probably staged to stop my coach. I was equally sure that this was a trap and it might get me killed. But the first step to avoiding a trap is being aware of its existence. Besides, damn it, it might be my only chance to save Dalia and I was willing to risk it, I had lost too much already.

I glanced about and saw that Fey wearing the livery of the house of Melliscant were about, infiltrating the edge of the crowd, but they were moving toward the coach. These guys were good. They saw this whole thing as a potential danger as I did and they were trying to secure the primary, my father and make sure he was safe. It was a stroke of luck for me. They were distracted.

I moved through the crowd easily. Most inhabitants of the Court avoid getting in the way of highborn Fey, which dressed as I was, I certainly appeared to be, because drawing the attention of the mighty is never a good idea at Court or in the mortal world.

The dwarf stood at the back the crowd, his back against the wall but with a handy corner to duck around if he should need it. His arms were crossed and while I didn’t see any drawn weapons, I was sure that he was probably bristling with them. He was about average height for dwarf about 4’5”. His beard was scandalously short for a dwarf, but I understand from a dwarf that drinks at the Silver Tree that is currently in fashion to wear a little shorter than waist length. I figured he kept it short so he could get it under the Black Watch helmet. His face showed his experience. He smiled a knowing little smile and nodded to me as I got a closer.

“I told Serlisch he was fool to try and take you without help, especially being blind in one eye like he was. But he was always like that. Never could get that guy to listen but hell, a lot of you tall fey are like that. Think you’re the Creator’s gift to the Court. I guess he found out different pinned up against that burning counter, didn’t he?” He grinned and played with the blonde lock on his cloak.

“You don’t seem too broke up about it. Did I do you a favor?”

“Naw, don’t get the wrong idea Underwood. I would have killed you just as soon as he would have, but that wasn’t the time or the mission, see? With Serlisch it was always personal. It had to be for him to get into it. Hell, it was always about honor or some damn fool thing he believed. It was just rationalization so he could live with himself and what he did. Me? I got no illusions. It’s all about business. I got a mission, I do it as best I can. Mission goes south; it’s nothing to me, just a deal gone bad. Plenty of other deals out there that might go right. You start takin’ things personal, you can get yourself killed.” He turned and looked down the alley, checking his line of escape. “By the way, I’ll take that sword, if you don’t mind. You ain’t supposed to be any good with a blade but you couldn’t tell it by Serlisch.” He grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it gets back to yer house whatever happens. You’re father’s a real stickler about this kind of thing. Take it from me. I wouldn’t want to be on his bad list, you don’t last there for too long. He takes the honor stuff personally and he’s got a bad temper and long memory and damned competent when it comes to vendettas and that, my friend, is a very bad combination.” I unbuckled the sword and regrettably handed it to him.

“Take you for instance. There is no sane reason why you should walk down this alley with me. I already tried to kill ya once and you know I work for a guy that basically thinks he has to have you dead if he has any chance of getting out of this jackpot he’s in, it’s crazy for you to do it, but I make it 5 to 2 odds that you will.” I nodded.

“See? That’s crazy.” He turned to the alley. “Now maybe you gotta plan. Maybe you think that you’ll get me in the alley and start kicking the shit out of me and get me to tell you where your girlfriend is.” He looked up into my eyes assessing my mood.

“The thought has occurred to me.”  Besides, I thought, beating the hell of this guy would certainly make me feel better.

“Nah. You don’t want to do that. Firstly, because I hired some local muscle to help deal with any such situation. Yeah, they ain’t too good, not in your league or mine, but there is a bunch of them, too many to take easy. Second, I won’t even know where we need to go until I get to the first checkpoint. By that time, You won’t be in a position to do much but come along quietly.” He paused for moment. “I don’t suppose you’re one of those honorable types are you? Give your word that you’ll cooperate and keep it? On your house honor or some crap like that?”

“I can promise that the first chance I get to kick your ass up to your ears I will, regardless of anything I say or do.” I couldn’t help but like the guy.

“Tha’s the spirit. But don’t kid yourself. You may not be as hung up on this honor gig as Serlisch was or your father, but if you really didn’t care you would have assured me in glowing words of power about how sacred your word is and all that crap. See? You didn’t even want to lie to somebody who will probably be asked to kill you later. That’s honor for ya!” He grinned and waved me down the alley. I looked back at the carriage and wondered how long before my father decided I had been gone too long and decided to look for me. Not too much longer, I thought, as I followed the dwarf down the alley and out of sight.

“Ya know,” he mused, “If I do get the word to kill you, don’t take it personal. You seem like a right guy, but the job’s the job, and if I started killing only those who deserved it or that I didn’t like or refusing to kill you honorable types, I’d be out of business.” He paused for a moment and looked me square in the eye. “Here’s how it is. I’m to take you to his lordship and you are supposed to work it out with him. You just come with me, don’t give me no trouble and as soon as I find out where I’m going, we’ll see Jeryn Callisandra and Dalia Claris.”  I didn’t look happy and he didn’t either. He sighed. “Look. My guess is he means ta kill ya. But maybe not. I can’t imagine how he can think that he can work this out by killing you and the girl but I ain’t too sure that the boss is tightly wrapped, ya’know? Really, his best move would be to disappear and just let the both of you be. His original plan is shot to shit, there’s too much noise and heat and all he’s asking for is a vendetta by doing the two of you. His house against two powerful families on both sides of the court? Please, it’ll be a slaughter, he and all his kin.”

“So why is he doing this? If you don’t think it makes any sense, why do you think he believes he can get away with this?”

“Beats me. I was never the brains of our team. Cavanaugh was always the one for deep thinking and double thinking. He had a mind like a corkscrew and evil imagination. It’s a shame he got killed by your partner back in that first firefight, he could probably have figured a good way out of this mess, but them’s the breaks!  He was the only one of our team who really could work the boss. He’s plans were always a little too deep for my taste but he always had a trick to two to try. Real shame he got killed but I told him to keep down and always wear that damn helmet. It probably would’ve saved him.”

We turned a corner and boarded a rather plain looking coach. There were three Fey hanging about, who tried to look tough, and one who might actually be able to pull it off. I had seen a few other furtive figures skulking in doorways. He wasn’t kidding about having a lot of help. There must have been at least seven that I had spotted and probably some I missed.

As soon as we were seated the driver got us moving. It wasn’t as comfortable a carriage as my fathers, but it was taking me towards Dalia, at least I hoped it was.

“What’s your name? As long as we have to share this carriage, it would be nice to know my potential killer’s name. That way I can leave a clue when they find the body. Dwarf bastard isn’t much of name to leave as a hint” I quipped.

The Dwarf laughed. It was hearty laugh, the kind that comes from the gut and runs all the way to the top of the head.

“You’re a caution, you are.” He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “You could call me ‘Dwarf bastard’, I’ve been called worse, but you can call me Duntar Redcap though, if you have to have a proper name. It’s not my real name, but even the boss doesn’t know that and it’ll do. Serlisch was always little careless like that, slingin’ his name around, kinda free like. Poor, dumb bastard.”

“Forgive me if I don’t cry any tears over his death. It was either Cavanaugh or Serlisch who killed Kevin Unglunblasch, with you and the Ogre helping. If I get to kill you at some point I will have avenged him. Something to look forward to.”

“Whoa! We didn’t kill this guy! The boss was straight about that. We didn’t know then and we don’t know anything about his death except for what you’ve said.”

“Don’t bother, Sergeant Bermuda showed me the re-enactment! It was two tall Fey, an Ogre and a dwarf. Sound familiar?” I sneered but inside I was having doubts. I’m pretty good at reading people and he was convincing especially when I remembered the look on Jeryn Callisandra’s face when I had accused him of the murder back at the Nasoni temple mound.

“I don’t care what you think you saw. It wasn’t us.” He seemed pensive and continued. “Look, we would have killed him if we had to, no doubt. But killing him would be about the last thing we would do if we could help it. He was a Hidden Watcher, man! I knew him back when I served the Court and he was sneaky and a top guy for the Watchers. Killing him would just draw all the wrong kind of attention.” He paused for moment studying my face. I wasn’t sure why it was important for him to convince me that he hadn’t killed Kevin, but it was. “Look what happened when he got slotted;  big pressure from the court, every field agent checking under rocks and stirring the pot, making life hard for independents like me and my team to make a safe living.”

“What about Chris McNeely and his secretary. Did you kill them? Somebody used Magic on them. It had to be somebody who had a reason and the ability, just like your team.”

“Who? I never heard of them and I never met them. We didn’t kill them.”

He thought for a moment.

“You got any other murders you want to pin on me? I grant you, we did try to kill you, your partner and the girl at the house. That was Cavanaugh’s idea. He figured if we presented the boss with a bunch of stiffs that he would be easier to manage and he could basically tell Lord Klaris any story we choose. His daughter, dead in the world of mortals, in the company of a disgraced cousin, what could he do?” He sighed. “It probably would have worked if Cavanaugh hadn’t gotten iced by your partner and if you hadn’t taken Serlisch and Karl down.”

“Karl?”

“The Ogre. Tough bastard but even he couldn’t live without head.” He chuckled. “But that’s the game for you, one damn thing after another went wrong with Callisandra’s plan. Dumb bastard.”