Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (58 page)

“
They chased her, the
Followers and Servants of Doomba, they chased her all the way from
the south to the north,” Lord Lagotaq said, turning Basha’s
attention towards him. “Hundreds of miles, across the roughest
terrain, into the coldest months of the year, carrying you inside
her belly. They practically chased her until she died, but she got
away, did she not? She survived long enough to deliver you. That
was what she wanted.” He said.

“
This is disturbing.” Fato
remarked.

“
Who are--how do you
know
that
?” Basha asked. They chased her until she died, just like
they had almost chased him to death.

“
Basha, I am--” Lord
Lagotaq said, and then stopped. “Never mind that. Corr wielded the
Black Sword as a Knight of Arria before he became the first ruler
of Arria,” He said abruptly, standing up and crossing around the
desk, and the stunned group, towards the study’s doors. “And that
is all you need to know about for now. Anything more could put you
all into jeopardy, more so than you are now. I suggest that you all
drop the matter entirely,
you
too, Monika,
” He
added
, “Until it is safe to
talk about
Basha’s mother and
the Knights of Arria
.”

“
When will that be,
your Grace?” Basha asked in a low temperment--he had never expected
answers of any kind about his mother Kala, when she had been gone
from his life for so long, but now that they were being hinted at,
he wanted more.

“
Complete the task
that you
all
were sent out to perform, and then we can talk
about her
, and the
Knights,
to your heart
s’
contentment.” Lord
Lagotaq huffed. “Complete the task, and get Tau’s Cup. I am afraid
to say that, for now, it is not safe for you all to linger anywhere
for very long. Select what supplies you need from my stores, rest
here awhile for a couple of days, and then continue on your way. I
do not wish to make you all stay or go, when you do need your rest,
but it is the only way that this can work out for me.”

“
Are you in danger
too, your Grace?” Monika asked.

“
You can say that.”
He paused a moment before opening the door. “I am afraid, as well,
that we must keep apart. One meeting is more than enough, but two
meetings like this--we cannot possibly meet again like this in
private, without drawing some attention to ourselves, and I will
probably not speak to you all again.” He said, opening the study
door with the guards waiting outside. “Goodbye, my friends.” He
said, bowing his head and gesturing for them to leave before they
could protest.

“
Goodbye your Grace,”
The group muttered in different tones, bowing and curtsying as best
they could before him, and then they trooped out of his study,
because of his command.

“
Lead them to their
quarters,” Lord Lagotaq instructed his guards, “And let them have
access to the stores. They are free to replenish their supplies,
and take as much as they need. I will give you further orders
later,” He said, closing the study door.

“
Do you think he was
lying?” Oaka muttered to Basha as they followed after the guards.
“About Corr and everything?”

“
Lying? I don’t
know.” Basha said, his mind still reeling over everything he had
just heard as he shook his head. “He seemed knowledgeable, more
knowledgeable than I ever could be about what happened, and he
seemed to believe everything that he was saying. He seemed so
earnest. And though he didn’t explain enough, perhaps not even half
of what he really knew, I think that
there
has got to be a reason why this is all going on.” He
muttered.

“
You believe in a reason for
everything, don’t you?” Fato remarked. “What if there is no reason,
for any of this?”

“
I agree
with Basha. There has to be a reason of some kind, even if it is
sort of random.” Oaka remarked to himself, glancing over at the
bird. “It might be just a fluke that we have ties to the Knights of
Arria, it might be just a fluke that we happened to pick up the
Swords of Arria where we found them, and swore some kind of oath so
that they now belong to us, because someone else might have done
the same if they had ties to the Knights, but still, it is a reason
of some kind. Lord Lagotaq might have reasons of his own for why he
doesn’t want to tell Basha or any of us more about the Swords of
Arria, and it might be totally random on his part, but it is still
a reason.”

“
I didn’t mean for this
conversation to get philosophical.” Fato remarked.

“
You could be
descended from Corr, Basha.” Gnat hissed, focused on that still. “I
could be
…
that’s royalty, that’s nobility.
Good grief, so could Goga!
”
She
exclaimed.

“
Royal, noble blood, that’s just
what Goga needs.” Fato muttered to himself and shuddered. “Imagine,
Goga on the throne of Arria, what could be worse than
that?”

“
Nonsense. Absurd.”
Basha said, shaking his head. “I don’t believe it,
neither Goga nor I
could…
she never would
have
…
I never would have
…
how can it be that
she
, my mother,
would die alone far to the north, without friends
or family, and without much in the way of material wealth, if she
was descended from Corr?
And
Goga?
How can it be possible?” He
asked.

“
She may have
fallen
…
” Oaka started to say, but then stopped at the look on
Basha’s face. “Don’t ask me.” He said, raising his hands. “I don’t
know.”

“
Perhaps
she might be distantly related
to Corr, like I am distantly, distantly related to one of
the Knights of Arria.” Monika remarked. “Perhaps she was a
descendent of one of Corr’s daughters, or maybe a younger brother
of King Marvola. Same with Goga.” She, and the others, shuddered
once more at the thought of Goga.

“
Never mind
that
.”
Basha said. “The one thing that gets me, though
…
south to north. How
did he know that?” Basha asked. “My mother
…
the man they found in the
snow, they say he was wearing southern clothes unsuitable for the
north, perhaps from as far south as Coe Kiki. Perhaps she did come
from that direction as well. How did he know that?”

“
Maybe
he was just lucky at guessing?”
Oaka asked and then shrugged. “I don’t know, Coe Baba is
the northernmost point in the kingdom. You can’t really get there
from anywhere else besides traveling south to north.”

“
Please,
I’m supposed to have a smaller brain than you humans do, and even I
know that’s wrong.” Fato said.
“Or at least…did any of you mention Coe Baba to
him?”

“
I think I did when I introduced
ourselves.” Basha remarked.

“
Never mind then.” Fato sighed as
Gnat giggled slightly. “I thought he just guessed that part as
well.”

“
Perhaps we should
avoid Coe Kiki as well.” Monika remarked.

“
Why should we do
that?” Basha asked, staring at her.

“
If Lord Lagotaq is
so adamant that Coe Kiki is a dangerous place, then perhaps we
should consider
avoiding
it.
” Monika said.

“
No, I
don’t
…
this may be my one and only chance, our one and only chance,
for
all of us
to see Coe Kiki before we
…” He hesitated, about to mention ‘go into the
Wastelands’, but he didn’t want to bring it up just yet, when it
was so closely tied to death. “
In any
case, we should not be afraid of everything, should we?” He asked.
“Lord Lagotaq said we should only avoid saying
that name in Coe Kiki and in other place
s.
O
therwise it might be safe, far
safer for us in Coe Kiki than in Coe Aela, surely.” He said, not
quite sure why he should avoid saying Kala’s name in such a safe
place
as Coe
Kiki
, but perhaps he might as well follow
Lord Lagotaq’s command on this matter if the duke was right. “Coe
Kiki is the capital of my country, and I don’t want to miss seeing
that
, few of us
would
. Plus, Fato has to get there to
deliver Janus’s message about Fobata, and
…
”

“
Don’t
try to make us
into your excuses.” Fato muttered.

“
I believe Janus
might be heading in that direction as well.” Gnat added in a low
voice.

“
Exactly!
” Basha cried,
as Fato glared at Gnat.
“
If Janus and the other servants
get free of Coe Aela, in that servants’ rebellion that Gnat was
talking about
…
” Basha snapped his fingers.
“Then that’s where he would be heading. Gnat needs to get there if
she wants to be reunited with him and the rest of the servants.” He
said.

“
I wouldn’t mind seeing Janus
again.” Gnat remarked.

“
I wonder if Nisa
would be following the servants...”
Basha
muttered to himself,
thinking of his protector they had left behind at Coe Aela. He had
thought that she couldn’t possibly have followed their escape
route, especially when they had climbed Old Smoko the mountain
range, and
he hoped that she was okay, and
had not been found out by either Lord Fobata or Captain Goga while
she was still in Coe Aela.

“
Are we really supposed to trust a
woman who uses knives indiscriminately, in threatening people like
Janus, a spy in service to the crown?” Fato asked.

“
She
might have a perfectly good reason to do so, if she suspected him
of misdoings.” Monika muttered to herself.
“All right, all right, I suppose we cannot avoid that city,
much as I wish we could,” Monika sighed to herself. “Especially if
we have to do so much. Why do we have to do so much?” She
muttered.

“
It’s just the way
things are,” Basha sighed.

“
Do you want me to
leave when we get to Coe Kiki, Basha?” Gnat asked, her voice
strained and croaky as she looked up at him.

“
No,
I
…
it’s up to you, Gnat,” Basha told her, “But we’ll be going
into dangerous terrain soon after that, especially in the
Wastelands, and
you’ll be much safer in
Coe Kiki,” He said. “If you didn’t want to be chased anymore by
people or things like Captain Goga.”

“
I would be much
safer, too,” Oaka remarked, holding up his hand. “Can I stay in Coe
Kiki as well?” He asked.

“
Coward, through and through!”
Fato cried.

“
You can stay there
if you want to,” Basha said, staring at his brother, “But I would
be going on, with or without you.”

“
All right, all
right, I suppose I will go on too,” Oaka sighed, lowering his hand.
“Don’t want to break my promise either.” He muttered.

“
That settles it?
Good,” Basha said, turning away from his moody, brooding friends.
“We can do this,” He said to himself as they reached their
quarters, and the guards finally left, with some instruction as to
how to reach the Great Hall for meals.

“
Or die trying!” Fato
cried and the group moaned.

Goga opened his eyes, and groaned
softly to himself in the dimness that surrounded him. “Where am I?”
He asked, trying to peer about and move, but he could barely lift
his head.

“
You are in my cave,”
A husky female voice replied, lined with dripping stone in both her
voice and location, though it was difficult to discern her figure
as she bent down, and arranged a few pots set atop a grille. The
dark, matted brown hair covered up her face and form, the shadows
overcame the light. “Your horse was scared when I saved you, and
you had a great fall.” She said.

“
Who
are
…
that was you?” Goga gasped, staring at her as her words
struck him. He couldn’t believe it, she was
…
he remembered part of what
had happened. The Coe Wina guards had been chasing after him, into
the foothills southest of the fortress as he attempted to escape
the valley, but they were gaining on him as his horse was far from
well rested, having traveled from Coe Aela for days now with Goga
as his rider. The animal was also unaccustomed to hilly, rocky
terrain, traversing it with great difficulty, unlike the horses
born and trained to move over mountains.

Goga had tried his
best to encourage the beast, but it was no use, the Coe Wina guards
would catch up with him at any moment. Suddenly, clouds gathered in
the sky, and were rent apart by lightning flashes until a spector
appeared before him and the others
;
a crow it seemed to be, with
dark wings spreading out and talons spearing towards them. With a
thunderous screech, it swallowed him up whole as the Coe Wina
guards were forced to flee with their animals panicking. That
spectral crow, though it had been a conjuration of sorts, an
illusion, had been such a fiendish thing that he couldn’t believe
she had created it.