Techromancy Scrolls: Soras

By Erik Schubach

Copyright © 2016 by Erik Schubach

Self publishing

P.O. Box 523

Nine Mile Falls, WA 99026

Cover Photo © 2016 Fotogestoeber / Triff / ShutterStock.com license

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties.  Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, blog, or broadcast.

This is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Manufactured in the United States of America

FIRST EDITION

ISBN 978-0-9966241-9-0

Chapter 1 –  Alexandru

I ducked under a sweeping blade and spun to the left just to parry away the strike of another attacker.  My blade, Anadele left an almost ghostly afterimage of wispy white as she shone brightly in the dwindling light of Father Sol.

The world was alive in color as amber sparks trailed from my eyes while I dove over a huge blade, which was almost as big as I was, as it swept past where my legs had been a moment before.  I landed in a roll that put distance between me and two of my opponents, then I rolled up onto my feet, panting.  They were wearing me down.  They had been at it for over ten minutes now.

I could feel them moving around me, like wisps of white ghosts on the edge of my perception.  Since the day of my second igniting I have been able to feel all of the life in the world surrounding me.  I may possess the weakest magic potential of all the Techno Knights of Wexbury, but I was an Adept, and my abilities spanned the spectrum of known magics.

It was a state secret that I also possessed the magic of the People, the magic of the Mountain Gypsies that inhabited the Whispering Walls range.  That was giving me the edge now, as the world came into focus on an instinctive level when I was accessing it.

Two years aforetime, the band of gypsies who befriended me and saved my life, the Lupei family, had imbued my cloak and my blade with charms that made me harder to hit and gave me just a little bit of luck.

I could feel the strike coming and I whipped Anadele up behind me to catch a blow that drove me to my knees.  I panted as my blade sparked, her razor sharp edge never dulling thanks the glowing white runes on her and the fact that she had changed in nature in a way the Lupei could not explain.

They say that something happened to the metal itself when I had channeled so much power through her in the battle of the Monolith, which had left me scarred in more ways than just physically.

My hand blurred forward, leaving ghostly afterimages from my spell imbued silk glove, I intercepted the blow meant to finish this fight, as my luck continued.  We all knew it was just a matter of time.  They had pushed me far past my limits and I was slowing down in my exhaustion as they continued their relentless assault.

I spun on my knee into a stand as I stretched out my blade.  The tip of Anadele tapping each of the four swords in my opponent's hands.  I almost smirked, it is what the love of my life, Celeste often did to indicate her reach and dare anyone to enter that circle.

This drew chuckles from all around me as I smirked in defiance.  Then the huge blade came crashing down on me and again I was driven to my knees.  Sir Tennison grunted as I deflected his blade into the ground.

Celeste said, “Good Laney, that's better.”  She came at me from my weak side in a spinning fury of blows. I rolled over the ground in the hole made by Tennison being off balance.  I kicked his leg on my way past and the big man tumbled to the ground with a resounding, “Ooof!”

I was able to get to my feet as I deflected the flurry of blows.  Both Celeste and I leaving behind wispy ghost images as we danced.  She too had the blessing of the Lupei on her cloak and blade.

Verna struck from behind and I just barely sidestepped in time to grab the end of her blade, Gertrude, with a gauntlet. I yanked her off balance before Celeste renewed her attack.  Sparks flew as our swords clashed.

Someone called out, “Just yield Laney.”

Another asked, “Why doesn't she yield?  She is outmatched.”

As Celeste hacked away at me, drawing my guard off time and again, she said between potentially debilitating strikes, “Laney...”  She reversed direction almost faster than my eyes could follow and I barely got Anadele in place to intercept, our blades sparking.

“Doesn't...”

She did a probing thrust that I didn't bother using my blade to deflect, I slapped it away with my free hand as I panted.

“Know...”

She did a sort of pirouette that I have never seen from her before, her hair billowed out like a red sea of fire behind her, and she ended in a double handed overhead strike that had me falling to a knee once again with a grunt.

“How...”

She just started hacking down at Anadele, which I had over my head.

“To...”

She grinned and went for my exposed side.

“Yield!”

Then she was suddenly on a knee in front of me, her blade at my neck and she winked at me and gave me a quick peck on the lips as Verna said, “Laney is out.”

I grinned and over-dramatically collapsed onto the ground, letting Anadele clatter to the cobblestones of the practice yard while I gasped for breath with a silly grin on my face.  Countess Celeste of the Techno Knight Order, Blade of Temperance of Wexbury, daughter of Prime Techromancer Donovan, Lady of the Court, stood and crinkled her nose at me as she sheathed her blade.  She wasn't even breathing hard, neither were the other three knights.

She offered a hand and I grabbed my sword then accepted her hand with a smile and she pulled me to my feet with no effort at all.  My hand remained on hers, and she laced our fingers as we stepped over to Verna, who was collecting coins from the knights and squires who watched the spectacle of me getting trounced by my fellow knights.

I didn't know why they insisted on picking on me when they needed to demonstrate why defense was more important than offense to the new recruits.  I slid Anadele into her scabbard as my Lady  asked her best friend, “How much did we make, Verna?”

The musclebound woman grinned as she made two identical stacks of coins and handed one over to Celeste.  “Your share is twelve gold two penny.”

Celeste absently just gave our bounty to me and I slipped it into one of the many pouches on my belt.

One of the new knights we had received in the new cross training program, from the ranks of the new defenders of Far Reach Keep, Donald, spoke up, “The outcome was a given.  Everyone knows that Lady Laney here is a poor excuse for a knight.  Wexbury only allows her to defend, she doesn't know how to attack.  It is common knowledge through the Lower Ten that she has the least amount of magic potential of any Techno Knight in history.”

I sighed, the details of the battle of the Monolith are a tightly guarded secret.  The leader of Wexbury Keep, Duke Fredrick, does not want the other realms in the Lands of Sparo to know the real strength of Wexbury's defenses.

All who were present for that terrible battle will swear to the bravery of Lord Samuel, though rumors circulate of the actual outcome of that awful night, which left me with physical and mental scars that will never heal.  They will always remind me of the evil that Rogues can bring to bear.

It was Verna who spoke up, to my chagrin, “Do you wish to test your blade against Laney's, Sir Donald?”

What was she doing?  I was almost too tired to stand.  It was all I could do to remain standing after that punishing sparring match just now.

He smirked.  He was a good sort, and we got along, but he was always puffing up like a rooster on display.

He asked, “You call that tiny toothpick she wields, a blade?”  He nodded and stepped toward the courtyard as he drew his long-sword.

I deflated as everyone started yelling out bets and Celeste winked down at me and nudged me toward the man.  I really didn't need another beating today.  All I wanted to do was take a nice long soak at the Bath House and then go to our quarters and cuddle with Celeste.

The evil Verna, who had instigated this, cut off the betting then stepped up to us.  Celeste was at my side.  Our well-muscled friend grinned at both of us, I was going to make her pay, mark my words.  She said as Donald checked his backpack that would electrify his blade so he could stand against a Techno Knight's magic powered blade,  “Remember, this is only a sparring match.  First blood.”

She narrowed her eyes at both of us as everyone in the courtyard repeated, “First blood.”

Donald sheathed his blade in his insulated scabbard and said, “First blood.”

She turned to me and I nodded and echoed, “First blood.”

Then Celeste and Verna stepped away.  I said to Donald as I tried to stop my heavy breathing from the last match, “Let's just call it a draw?  I'm exhausted and just want to rest.”

He shook his head with a confident grin.  Celeste caught my eyes and nudged her eyes toward the man in a prompt with a wicked grin.  I understood what she meant and tried hard not to snort.  She was positively evil, did she really want me to do that to the poor man?

I sighed as I thought of the words of people much smarter than myself.  “Even the smallest thing can turn the fiercest battle when it is not expected.”

I started gathering my meager power as the world again became brighter and flooded with the colors and tastes of all the metals around me.  Liquid amber sparks started dripping from my eyes as rivulets of power arced down my arm.  I sought out my target.

Verna held up a glove then dropped it.  The moment it hit the ground I released my power faster than Donald's hand could travel to the hilt of his sword.  With a little pinging sound, his metal belt buckle tore off of his belt and his sword clattered to the cobblestones along with his trousers, and I turned my back to him and walked off to my Lady as Verna said, “Donald is out!”

In first blood, disarmed is the same as injured.  I tried so very hard not to smile as I heard him making exasperated sounds.  I held my hand out to Verna for our take of the bets when I staggered, grabbing my head.

I suddenly found myself moving through a forest at breakneck speeds.  I was hurt, I could see the ramparts of Castle Wexbury and the walls of the Keep through the trees as my horse's powerful legs thrummed on the ground while his chest heaved as it took in labored breaths.  Its coat lathered with sweat and foam dripping from its mouth and nostrils.

I winced as I twisted in the saddle, hanging over impossibly to one side, facing backward, as I drew up my bow and nocked an arrow as fast as thought and let loose.  I watched the deadly shank with its brightly colored feathers slice through the air and find its mark in the neck of one of my mounted pursuers.

I saw, at least, five more as my vision pulled back for me to see Alexandru hanging from his saddle.  Then like a string had snapped, I found myself back in the courtyard staggering from my vision as Celeste steadied me.

She started to ask, “Laney, what is...”

I blurted out, “Alexandru!”  I ran at the line of horses on the far end of the courtyard.  I called back as the other knights who automatically just started running after me.  “Sound the alarm!  An ally is under attack at the gates in less than five minutes!”

I reached my huge black Percheron stallion, Goliath, and sprang into the air, my silk gloved hand blurring, leaving that ghostly after image as I grabbed the pommel of the saddle. He was already in motion, sensing my urgency as I swung myself gracefully up onto him.  Graceful would never have been a term I would have applied to myself just two years aforetime.

I didn't bother with the reins as I laid across his neck and patted it while I spoke to him.  His large hooves kicked up sparks on the cobblestones as we shot through the main arch and onto Lord's Way.  “Give me everything you have my beautiful boy.  A friend is in need.”  Like he could understand me, he stretched out farther as his lungs worked like huge bellows and our speed increased.  I glanced back to see the other knights falling behind on their slower mounts, Celeste leading the pack.

I heard the great air powered war horns of the Keep, sending out a long steady rumble that rolled throughout the lanes.  When the people of the village heard this, they all moved aside on Lord's Way and the Crossbar, and I thundered past them unhindered.  All eyes were on me as I passed.

I reached for that elusive magic of the People and let it flow from me in wispy sheets of silk and ether into Goliath, giving him more energy, more stamina.  I wasn't very good at using the magic of the spirit element without someone to teach me, but at least this much I could do.

I cut across the Roundabout at the Church and flew down the Crossbar as my Techromancer power rose within me, leaving a trail of amber sparks in our wake.  As I approached the main portcullis, I saw the gate guards were assembling to the call of the war horn, which had finally stopped echoing through the Keep to be replaced by the alarm bells on the wall and in the church towers.  I yelled, “Make way!” And they made a hole which I shot through and through the huge portcullis, under the heavy iron gates.

Just as I cleared the Keep, I saw Alexandru's horse break out of the Whispering Forest and into the clearing.  He was hanging from the saddle just like in my vision, he was firing volley after volley at his pursuers.  There were more than I thought.  Ten men broke out of the cover of the trees in pursuit.  Another of Alexandru's arrows hit home, making it nine pursuers.

I raised a hand and quested to the limits of my range and I could taste the steel arrowheads in the return fire as Goliath thundered past my injured ally.  I screamed out in defiance as I slapped my hand to the side, knocking all of the incoming arrows to the ground as my power grasped the metal in arrowheads.

I slowed, now that I was between the injured gypsy and the enemy.  I swatted away another wave of arrows in mid flight as Celeste and the other knights swarmed past me.  The attackers pulled up short and reversed course.  Half of the thirty knights in pursuit pulled up and turned back as the others gave chase.

I gave some pressure to Goliath's side as I finally reached for the reins.  He reared a little and turned back as Celeste slid in on my right, looking ready to chastise me for being reckless.  We caught up with Dru, who was now just hanging limply from his saddle.  I shook my head at her and gave a pained look of apology and said, “He's hurt.”

Celeste reached his side and grabbed the reins of his mount and urged it to a stop.  We dismounted and I ran over to them as Celeste helped him out of the stirrup and to the ground.  I got to the man I owed my life to, and he was barely conscious.  The handsomely rugged man, with his flowing mane of black hair, raised a hand up to first cup Celeste's cheek then mine as he rasped out in the tongue of the Mountain Gypsies, “My Soras.  I have found you.”

He gasped, then said in a pained voice in English, “Mother Udele has been... kidnapped.”  The man passed out, leaving Celeste and I staring at him in stunned silence.  Mother Udele?

Chapter 2 –  Nicholas

After the field medics at the gate saw to the unconscious Dru and stabilized him, he was spirited off to the Hospital.  I couldn't help fidgeting in worry.  He had lost a lot of blood.  I had felt his weakness in my vision.

For all the wondrous things my magic brings me, it is a double-edged sword.  My visions are a curse, as I can feel, see, and live the terror in them.  They are part of the Gypsy magics that I somehow possess.  It is unheard of for an Altii, an Other, to have the gift of spirit element magic.  My visions are what they call, the Sight.

I have no control over them nor their intensity.  Sometimes it is as simple as seeing my little brother, Jace, arriving with an official message a few seconds before he actually arrives.  And sometimes I see a possible future of pain and fear, like I had in the expedition to Far Reach.  That was just two years ago, but it feels almost like another lifetime.

I don't just see things in these visions, I am subjected to an assault of all my senses, and feel as if I am actually there, living them.  Mother Udele had called that Transference, back when her band of gypsies had saved my life.

I stood by my Lady, Celeste, as the medics assured her that Dru would survive and that they would send word the moment he regained consciousness at the hospital.  She spotted Jace hiding near the portcullis, watching, he must have followed the knights to the gates.  She smirked at my mischievous brother and crooked her finger at him in a 'come here' motion.

He slunk over, eyes down in embarrassment for being caught spying, he bowed his head to Celeste.  She ruffled his hair then instructed the medic, “Use Lord Jace here.  He is the fastest of the runners.”

The medic cocked an eyebrow at that.  Jace may be small, but even at just nine years old, there is no messenger of the court as fleet of foot as he is.  He has a keen ability to find the quickest routes through the maze of lanes and alleys in the village.  I beamed with pride at him.  He looked so cute in his page uniform and cap.

Then the man just nodded and pointed at the wagon that was already half way up the Crossbar and he smiled, “Best catch up then young Lord Jace.”

My brother shot us a smile that reminded me so much of his father, Corrick, rest his soul.  Then he took off in a flash over the cobblestones of the lane, just to turn and disappear into Cheap Quarter.  I grinned, he was going to cut through Cheap Quarter and either use the great bridge at the Belt, or the footbridges into the Warehouse district to get to the hospital before the wagon could arrive.

I exhaled heavily in relief.  Then Celeste looked down at my worried face, her emerald eyes sharing her strength with me as she pulled me beside her to hug me with one arm.  I sighed.  I could live in her arms forever.

I was startled as Donald spoke from beside us, his brows knitted in suspicion, “How did Laney know a man was in peril?”

I knew that the Keep didn't want it known I was an Adept.  It was a closely guarded secret.  We had known it would be tough to hide when we had so many cross-training programs going on with the other keeps now.  We've been able to explain away the ghosting effect that the magics of the People have on me when I exert myself, by pointing out the gear I wore that was heavily imbued with runes and charms filled with that mysterious Gypsy magic.

Sir Tennison stepped up before we could speak and he said, “Outside sound carries on the wind here in Wexbury, and it uses the courtyard like an echo chamber.  I heard it too, a distant cry of pain as the man was hit, then the pounding of hooves getting closer to the Keep.”

Celeste gave him a discrete smile.  Then he added, “And little Laney is small as a bunny and has ears like one too.”

I protested, “Hey!” I took a couple swings at the big man as he held his hand leisurely on my head and kept me at a distance with his condor length arms.  I swished the air harmlessly.  I grinned at him and slapped his hand away as Celeste snorted.  Why did everyone make fun of my height?  I was just the right size for me, thank you very much.

I squinted an eye and crinkled my nose at my Lady as I shook my fist.  “I'm glad this amuses you.”

Donald didn't look entirely convinced but he smiled at our antics and said, “You owe me a rematch, that was a dirty trick you pulled.”

I shrugged, blushed, and buried my face in Celeste's shoulder as the knights around us chuckled.

Celeste countered, “Seems her weak magics can do a few things after all, huh Sir Donald?”

The man finally grinned and inclined his head in acknowledgment.

Then she looked back at the gate as Lady Verna, Sir Kristof, and Bex came trotting back into the Keep.  We could see the other knights slowly making their way back as well.

Verna slipped off her charger and shook her head once at Celeste. “They lost us in the woods.  I don't believe they were marauders, their horses were shod.”  And she held up an arrow. “And their equipment is Knight grade.”

Celeste took the arrow and looked at the fine craftsmanship of the serrated, bladed tip, and the uniformity of the feathers which had been dyed black.  She squinted and looked closely, then asked, “Were these orange before?”  There were a couple realms with orange in their colors.

I blanched at the implication and asked, “Do you think another realm was attacking a Gypsy?  And within our borders?”

Tennison said, “We don't need to jump to any conclusions, they could have some into possession of it in a variety of ways.”

Celeste nodded and tossed the arrow to Bex. “Tennison is right.  Bex, can you examine this to see if you can suss anything out?”

The tall, gawky Knight, who had more wires and gadgets on his armor than sense, nodded his head. He peered closely at the arrowhead as he clumsily mounted his charger and headed back toward the castle to his quarters that doubled as a tinker's workshop, much to the chagrin of the two knights that shared the quarters with him.

He belatedly remembered his manners as he turned back in his seat and grinned sheepishly back at us, dipping his head, “Ladies. Lord.”

Since Celeste, Tennison, and I were above his station I had to grin, the boy become man was one of my best friends.

Verna sighed at us and rolled her massively muscled shoulders.  “I don't know about you girls, but I need a nice soak.”

I nodded earnestly in agreement.  Celeste chimed in, “Yes we should visit the baths, Laney has an important day at the Dig tomorrow. So we should clean up.”

I blushed.  The Dig was the name that the people of the realm had taken to calling the excavation of the settlement from the Before Times on the lands I donated as a treasure of the realm.  The wonders we were unearthing at Gus Davis Ford were phenomenal and excited the scholars and Techromancers in the great library of the Techromancy Scrolls at the castle.

That wasn't what tomorrow's visit there, outside the gates, was about.  I had more coin than I could ever need in twenty lifetimes as my share from of the prizes from the spoils of battle in the Far Reach campaign.  I used a portion of it and some revenue from the salvage retrieved during the excavation, to commission a project that might revolutionize Wexbury Keep if it were successful.  Or it could fail miserably and spectacularly.

We mounted up as Celeste called out to the captain of the watch, “Have someone call for Lord Peter, and have him track the marauders.  He is not to engage, just report back to Wexbury their activities if he can locate them. And send word to the Duke about what had transpired here and that I would speak to him on the subject when we know more when our ally regains consciousness.”

The man said, “Aye!” He flicked his fingers at a page who was standing unobtrusively by the heavy oak table that was tucked away in the shade of the portcullis.  The girl nodded once and ran off toward Uptown on the Crossbar.

We nodded our thanks and then started toward the Bath House at a leisurely pace to rest our mounts after exerting them in our rapid exodus from the Keep.  I released the reins and just guided Goliath with my legs as I ruffled his mane and gave him a deep scratch, murmuring to him, “You were such a good boy, and so handsome.”

Celeste smiled over at me with mischief gleaming in her eyes. “Do you really think he understands you?”

I lifted my nose in a royal manner and stated, “Of course he does.  My Goliath is quite intelligent.”  Then to him, I said, “Don't listen to them.”  Eliciting a chuckle from Verna.

After we turned onto Lord's Way and moved past the Belt, things got congested fast, so we dismounted and led our horses on foot through the evening crowds. Everyone was trying to get the last of their shopping done before the closing bell as Father Sol hung low on the horizon.

We hadn't gone more than twenty feet or so when we were mobbed by a group of squealing and giggling children.  I laughed happily as I was surrounded.  I shot a pleading look over to Celeste, who had a huge toothy grin as she watched my plight.  Most were yelling, “It's the Penny Lady!”  Or, “That's Anadele on her hip.  It can split lightning!”  One little girl, I recognized, Misty Cobbler, stopped right in front of me and she smiled with wide eyes as she turned back to the other children with her hands on her hips.

She hadn't been more than four or five the first time I saw her, but now she was about seven and spoke maturely for her age though she still had the tone of a little girl as she chastised the group.  “We mustn't behave like animals.  She is a Lady and a Knight.”  Then she made a cute little curtsy and said, “My Lady.”  Then to the others, “Ladies.”  The other boys and girls followed suit.  She seemed to be the ringleader of the group of giggling mischief makers.

I was all too cute, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from smiling like a loon. I said with all the seriousness I could muster for the girl as I took a knee in front of her,  “It is very important for a young aspiring Knight like yourself Misty, to care for those under her protection.”

Her eyes went wide again in earnestness that I remembered I had said the same thing I told her on our first meeting.

I reached into a pocket of my tunic and pulled out a handful of violet penny vouchers and handed them to her. “I have a mission for you and your band of hooligans here today.”

She was nodding fervently in excitement as I said, “Do you think that all of you can make sure that every child in the market today, gets a penny voucher before closing bell?  Be sure to keep one each for yourselves.”

She turned and held her hands out with the violet slips of paper and said, “Knights in training!”  The kids all stood at sloppy attention, shoving each others shoulders and giggling.  Then she handed the vouchers out.  “You heard our Lady.”

They all nodded and vanished into the crowd.  Misty turned back to me with a grin and reported, “Junior regiment is on the job, my Lady.”

I smiled at her and couldn't stop myself from giving her a hug.  I held her at arm's length just so that I could see how much she had grown.

She cocked her head and reached out to run her fingers along the scars on my face that were shimmering a wispy white from the magic of the people in my cloak and glove.  She looked far more serious than a little girl should be as she said in awe, “You got these in the battle of the Monolith.”

I nodded and she asked as her brow furrowed in sympathy, “Do they hurt?”

I smiled sadly and shook my head. “No.  But they were a price I was happy to pay to protect those in need.”  I removed my silken glove to reveal the scarred and gnarled skin beneath to show her, the aches and pains returning as soon as the spell-laden glove was off.  The scars seemed to shimmer and sparkle in the light.

I said, “There is a cost to power.  If you truly aspire to become a knight, you must be willing to accept that.  And to sacrifice all for the good of the people.”

She reached out and ran her little fingers along my skin.  Then she put on a cute but serious look and nodded once then took my glove from me and put it back on for me.  “It is what knights do.”

I felt the pains ease away.

I smiled and winked at her as I swelled with pride, knowing that this girl one day would make a fine protector of the realm.  She smiled back and spun in place then she curtsied again and said, “My ladies.  I must complete my mission.”

She held up a few of the vouchers and darted off, with Verna telling her, “Godspeed tiny one.”  Then our friend turned to me with a sparkle in her eyes as she spoke out of the side of her mouth to Celeste, “I never thought I would see a knight smaller than our Laney here.”

I scrunched my face up in warning at her as they chuckled at my wrath.  I grinned and rolled my eyes then said, “She will make a fine Knight of the Realm one day.”

They nodded their agreement as we started moving again.

Celeste said, “They all love you, and you are so good with all the children.”

I blushed and looked at my feet as we walked.  I gazed to the north, at the hospital as we tethered our horses at a trough by the Bath House.

Celeste reached out and squeezed my shoulder.  “I know, I'm worried too.”

I looked up at her then nodded and gave a weak smile.

She offered her arm and I laid my fingers on it and she escorted me into the famous Bath House of Wexbury like I was a Lady.

Later that night I sat on the long lounge in front of the fire in our quarters, just looking at my silk gloved hand, thinking about how much my life had changed in just two short years.  I may be a noble and a knight to most of Wexbury, but I knew who I really was.  Laney Herder, chicken farmer for the Keep, from Cheap Quarter.  A serf.  It was only by happenstance that I find myself in the company of the Lords and Ladies of the Keep.

I caught myself smiling, thinking about that fateful day when I first laid eyes on the most beautiful and inspiring sight.  A Techno Knight of the realm, Lady Celeste, on her grand charger, as she passed by me in Cheap Quarter when she was heading off to do the morning patrol.

My life changed that day, into this almost surreal life I live now.  I am no noble, but I play the part as a child would play dress up.  But I can put all my insecurities aside, because my Lady, the love of my life, my Celeste, chose me.  I have never been happier in all my life than when I am at her side.

I looked over as I felt her sit next to me and she ran her fingers through my long dark hair and asked in the soft tone she reserved for me, “What is it, Laney?”

I smiled warmly at her and leaned in to snuggle into her shoulder as she put an arm around me.  I shrugged a little.  “Just thinking about a girl I used to know, Laney Herder.”

She smiled at that and I added, “It seems almost like a lifetime ago.”

She pulled back slightly to study my face.  “So you miss it?”

I rejected her insecurity with a compassionate smile.  “Sometimes.  Life was much simpler then.  But here, now, with you... I wouldn't change a thing.”

She nodded and hugged me tighter to her for a moment.  I knew that of all the people in Wexbury, Celeste would understand.  She herself had come from common stock until she was bought by the Prime Techromancer from her Uncle.  She had been thrust into the world of the nobles just as I had, but she had thrived and excelled in it.

She was now the commander of the mobile battalion for the realm, no other knight had risen so fast to the position.  Her fighting prowess and ability to command in the field were unmatched.  She was the hero of the Great Raid of York though she will never admit to it, instead she, and the other knights present, all swear to the bravery of Sir Edwin, who fell in that battle.

I didn't understand why she never took credit for her deeds until I found myself in the same situation after the battle of the Monolith.  Wexbury goes through great effort not to expose our real strength, so that any enemy that dares to challenge us would have no idea as to what we can bring to bear.

That is why they have not revealed to the other realms that I am one of the six Adepts in the eleven realms.  True, my power is almost laughably underpowered compared to even a Techno Knight, but they still do not want what I am to become public knowledge.

It has been much more difficult after I ignited a second time with the magics of the Mountain Gypsies.  Or magiks as they say it, with a hard k.  What the difference is, I do not know.

I waved my gloved hand through the air in front of us and watched the trail of white mist blur along, giving a ghostly effect, an afterimage.  No one in the Keep knows how to instruct me in its use, so I do not know how to control it and turn it off.  There has never been a recorded case of a Techromancer in any of the realms possessing the magics of the People before.

Celeste smiled then her eyes widened slightly.  “That reminds me.  The research into your family's background turned up something interesting that may explain your circumstances.”

I sat up a little straighter and turned to her.  I got a little distracted by her flaming mane of red and her emerald eyes for a second before I shook myself out of it and asked in interest, “Do tell.”

She said, “One of the scholars came upon an old immigration record of a Rover named Nicholas who applied to become a citizen of Wexbury.”

A Rover?  They were Mountain Gypsies, who left their clans to wander the eleven realms alone.  It was rare for them to ever settle down in one place.  My father's name was Nicholas.  I whispered, “And mother told me that father was the one who taught her the language of the Mountain Gypsies.”  I let that hang in the air.

Could it be true?  That my father, Nicholas Herder, had been a gypsy?  If that was true, I had gypsy blood in me, and that would explain how I can wield their magik.  They called people with the gift, the Touched.

I locked eyes with her excitedly and asked, “Do you think?”

She smiled at my excitement, her eyes twinkling.  “All of the pieces fit together nicely, I believe we have discovered why you can command not just the power of the Altii but of the Gypsies as well.”

I nodded and said absently, “I'll speak to mother about it.  See if she can corroborate that.”

She stood and clasped both my hands and pulled me up gently to my feet.  Her nightdress that I wore dropped down to my ankles.  Which was a little embarrassing since it hit her around the knees when she wore it.  I liked wearing her nightdresses because they smelled like her.

She said as she walked backward to the alcove that had our bed, “Come to bed.  I miss my favorite pillow.”

I blushed and did her bidding.  I'm not stupid you know.  I grinned at myself.

***

The next morning I awoke, stretched and curled my toes, making a satisfied sound when Celeste's arm reflexively pulled me tighter into her as she slept.  I looked back and caught the slight smile on her lips and smirked.  “You aren't fooling anyone, woman.  I know you're awake now.”

Her smile grew and she slid up in the bed to sit up.  Unceremoniously dropping my head which had been on her chest, onto the mattress.  I squeaked, she laughed.

We slid out of bed and as I almost drooled as I watched her stretch, I asked, “So what does one wear to an occasion like this?  Armor or one of those dreaded dresses the nobles wear?”

She nudged my shoulder. “You are one of those nobles and you know it is social protocol to wear a dress when you are not wearing armor.  Besides, you look adorable in dresses.”

I growled at her, which most likely sounded like a puppy with a sock to her.  I was a simple farm girl inside still and was more comfortable in a tunic and trousers than dresses.  Dresses were terrible for doing hard work in, and only hard work puts food on the table.

She thought a moment then said, “You will be doing this as Baroness Laney, not as Knight Laney, so I'm afraid a dress would be more appropriate.”

I sighed in defeat and trudged over to the armoire like I was heading to the stockade while she headed to the dresser instead.  Then I turned shook a finger at her after I selected an emerald dress with a violet sash, the colors of the Keep.  “You'll not get off so easy.  If it is a dress for me, then I'll have Countess Celeste on my arm, not Knight Celeste.”

She scrunched her lips to one side of her face and I crinkled my nose at her in defiance until she giggled and put the trousers back in the drawer and stepped up beside me and reached for a dress while she teased, “Yes, my Lady.”

I sighed as I dropped my nightdress around my feet, and teased her by turning away and getting into my undergarments then slipping the dress on.  Then I frowned, a dress meant I couldn't ride Goliath, we'd have to take a coach or wagon.  I tied the sash at my waist in a bow as I plodded to the door of our quarters and poked my head out into the castle corridor as I brushed my hair out.

I looked over to the ever alert page boy, Gregory, at the end of the corridor and he came hustling over.

“My Lady?”

I smiled at him, he was always earnest and eager to please.  I said, “Good morning Greg.”

He blushed, he did that with all the lady knights.  Then I asked, “Could you please have the livery get Goliath hitched to a wagon for me?  We'll need him after we eat, if you could have Cook send something up, we'll be breaking fast in our quarters this morning.”

He bowed his head. “My Lady.”

I laid a hand on his arm as he moved to run off.  I know it isn't proper social protocol, but I am no real lady.  I asked in worry as he turned to me, “Has there been word from the hospital?  And for the hundredth time Greg, call me Laney.”

I knew how quickly word spread through the Wexbury grapevine, so knew he would know what I was asking.  He nodded with a smile and said, “Yes my Lady, the Gypsy man is doing much better and they expect him to be awake anytime soon.  The arrow missed anything important, he just lost a lot of blood, they were surprised he survived.”

I nodded and assured him, “Alexandru is made of sterner stuff than most.”  Then I added, “Thank you.”

He bowed his head again then was off like a shot down the corridor.

I smiled to myself as I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders, knowing my friend would be ok.  Then I popped back into my quarters to see what mischief I could get into while we waited for our morning meal.  I still felt almost guilty having people serve us.  I once tried going down to the large castle kitchens to prepare a meal myself and Corwin, matron of the kitchens, chased me out of her kitchen with a wooden spoon.

Chapter 3 – Christening

After a filling breakfast, Celeste offered her arm to me and I took it with a sigh.  I still blushed every time she treated me like a Lady, like I mattered.  She led me through the maze of hallways and back corridors that I knew like the back of my own hand now, and out into the livery courtyard.

I had to smile, mother was there with Prime Techromancer Donovan.  I released Celeste's arm and hugged them both, the tall bald Techromancer having to bend down to get his hug.  Celeste just grinned at that then tilted her head in greeting. “Lady Margret, father.  Here to see us off?”

Then I looked around as mother said, “Perish the thought, Celeste.  Did you think I would miss this accomplishment of my daughter's?  We will be accompanying you.”

I asked, “Where's Jace?”

Donavan spoke, “He is yet at the hospital, waiting to get word to you the moment Alexandru awakens.  He takes his job as messenger quite seriously.”

I smiled, my little brother was such a good boy, I was so very proud of how he has excelled in this new world of Lords and Ladies he had been thrust into because of me.

Then he added, “We mustn't tarry, some important people from the Keep are already waiting.  There are people from other villages of the realm here to witness this grand experiment, to see if it would help their communities, and representatives from other keeps.”

Oh dear lord.  I shook my head. “Or they may be here to witness a spectacular failure.”

He chuckled at my pessimism.

A stable boy pulled up beside us with a Wexbury wagon pulled by Goliath.  He hopped down and placed some steps and offered a hand to my mother.  Donovan held her other hand and they guided her into the wagon.

I was so happy that she had regained much of her old strength and vitality now that the new medicines kept the symptoms of her Wasting Syndrome at bay.  She still tired easily, but that was a small price to pay for getting her life back.

The stable boy offered a hand to Celeste next and she gracefully accepted and mounted up into the wagon.  Then I was offered a hand.  I rolled my eyes and tousled the young man's hair and grinned at him when it flopped down over his eyes.  “I think I've got this thank you.”

He grinned out from under his mop of hair as I stepped up into the wagon, followed by Donovan.  When the stable boy started to mount, Celeste smiled at him and shook her head.  “We have this thank you.”

He bowed deeply then placed the little steps into the back of the wagon and scurried off toward the livery.

I asked nervously as Celeste and I sat in the driver's seat while my mother and Donovan settled in behind us, “By 'important people'  what do you mean?”

He chuckled at my nervousness then explained as Celeste and I fought over the reins.  Goliath was not amused and just started toward the courtyard arch before Celeste made a triumphant sound when she got the reins from me.

The charismatic Prime Techromancer said with a humor-filled voice, “Oh, just the Duke and Duchess, some of our top scholars and Techromancers, Emily, Bernadine... and a few others.”

Celeste's mouth twitched up into a wry smile at the dreamy way her father said Emily's name.  The Queen of the Scrolls; don't tell her I called her that; was the matron of the great library of the Techromancy Scrolls.  The tiny woman was even shorter than me, and Donovan and her really had a thing for each other.

He never acted on his attraction because he felt Celeste would take exception as Emily was just five years her senior.  However, nothing would make my Lady happier than if those two were to get together.  She loved them both.

We all discussed the happenings of the prior day as we made our way to the Main Portcullis.  We saluted the gate and wall guards as we passed through and onto the Ring, the cobblestone highway that was commissioned by Highland Keep long ago to ease travel between the keeps in the Lower Ten.

We reached a fairly new ten foot stone pillar with brass signposts at the top and a dragon weather vane at its apex.  One sign pointed back and read “Wexbury”  That was obvious since we were just a few hundred yards from the walls of the Keep, the one pointing the opposite direction read “Flatlash.”  I grinned at the third, which read Gus Davis Ford, and in smaller letters below it “Treasure of the Realm.”  Some prankster had hung a wooden sign below that that read, “The Dig.”

We had paused before we turned onto the new cobblestone road that was under construction by the Highland Keep masons.  Prince George himself had commissioned the road when he learned that Wexbury had discovered a settlement from the Before Times.  We were unearthing amazing things daily from the great Wizards of the Before there.

I followed Celeste's gaze to the farms and orchards between the Keep and the village of Wexbury Minor.  I had to smile at the Auto-Wagons that were moving down the rows of apple trees, their beds were laden with hundreds of bushels of apples each.

They were horseless and were driven instead by powerful electric motors.  After Bex had demonstrated that it was possible to build a horseless conveyance like the great Wizards of the Before, our scholars and Techromancers wasted no time in refining his design and adapting it for use in the fields.  I was so proud of our scatterbrained tinker.

I hear they even have one in the fields that can plow multiple furrows at a time.  Wexbury now has four Auto-Wagons with more under construction.  They are modern marvels.  I sometimes wonder if there is nothing we cannot accomplish in these modern times.

I heard mother whisper, “Amazing.”

Celeste had Goliath put the wagon back in motion toward the east.  After we had traveled a mile, half the distance to the Dig, we left the cobbled road onto the wide dirt road.  Tipping our heads in appreciation at the dozen workers in the Highland colors, laying new bricks.  It would only take them another month to finish the final mile of the short road.

We paralleled the powerful Hawktail River until we slowed as we entered the Dig.  There were dozens of workers carefully removing dirt from around the remains of a couple hundred of the horseless conveyances that were found near a large building that was unearthed just months ago.

That was the most amazing find.  We found ten of the conveyances mostly intact, and scholars from all the realms had traveled here to examine them in detail before they were moved to Wexbury where our Techromancers were going to attempt to restore them.

I had to grin and wave back at the steward I had chosen to supervise the Dig and manage my lands, Yvette.  She had been a maid in the castle who Celeste and I had taken a liking to.  She had a level head and was much smarter than people gave her credit for.  She had proven invaluable here on the lands that I was awarded when I became a Techno Knight ascendant.

She was covered in dirt.  She wasn't afraid to do the hard work herself.  She gave us one last grin then went back to instructing some workers as to what she needed to be done as she leaned on her shovel.

Donovan spoke up, “I was dubious at first when you chose a maid as your steward, Laney.  But I am happy to say now that it was an inspired choice.  Bernadine herself says that she wishes that other Lords and Ladies has such competent stewards.  It makes her job so much easier.”

We moved around the excavation to the large outcropping over a section of the Hawktail that was swollen with one of the few rapids along the length of the river.  There were so many people milling about there.  I had to swallow.

We paralleled the cables that were thicker than my thumb, that were hung up fifteen feet above the ground on posts along the river.  They ran all the way to the Keep and Celeste paused when the three great paddle wheels came into view.

They stood out against the terrain, painted a crimson red, looming twenty feet above the crowd of people milling about.  I knew the lower portion of the wheels hanging over the overhang were submerged in the waters rushing through the gully below.

The crowd parted as Goliath lumbered along, we stopped at the roped off area by the giant paddle wheels.  The last time I saw the long, low structure, which housed the three huge copper wound generators that were as tall as I was, it was not quite finished.  Now the roof, which had not been finished last week, was complete.  A portion of it formed an overhang over a heavy iron cage that housed a large lever that was again, as tall as me.

We dismounted, and helped mother down then made our way toward the caged lever.  Lord Everett was beside a tall, strong looking, muscled man with silvered hair, who wore robes in the colors of Highland Keep.

They were speaking with Emily and Bernadine.  I glanced around to see most of our friends and family in the crowd, including most of the knights and squires in our tight knit group who were not out on patrol.  I was getting more nervous.  I might fail in front of most of the people we knew.

We walked up to Everett, the man I chose to engineer my project.  When I was young, the man had been laughed out of the conclave of Techromancers for suggesting that his interpretation of the old writings of the Before was that the Great Wizards had powered their many machines and gadgets with the rivers.  Everyone knew that water and electricity didn't mix.  Even I, a barely educated serf, knew that.

But we learned the folly of our 'truth' when we discovered at the ruins of the Great Monolith, that his supposition had been true.  Upon the liberation of Far Reach and Treth after the battle of the Monolith, the man was reinstated and given an apology from the realm and the other Techromancers.

I had figured that there wasn't anyone better suited to spearhead my pie in the sky idea than the man who had the vision and stood unwavering as his peers shunned him.

The tall and skinny thirty-four-year-old man with his eye lenses perched on his nose to helped his vision, turned to us with a big smile.  And I dropped to the ground when I instantly recognized the powerful looking man beside him who turned around, my eyes on the ground as I bowed in supplication.  My heart was threatening to beat right out of my chest as the world around me brightened.  I could feel and taste all the metals around me start to quiver in the preparation of coming to me to orbit around me in a cyclone of power and steel.  I calmed myself immediately before that happened.  My lessons with Donovan had been helping me to control my power when I experienced heightened emotions... like fear.  What was HE doing here?

Celeste, mother and Donovan had all taken a knee beside where I groveled on the ground.  As she bowed her head, Celeste's unwavering voice said, “Prince George.”

The man was not what I had expected.  The paintings were spot on but he didn't have that looming presence in the paintings that had the perspective of someone in the position I found myself in. He didn't have the stern look on his face that was famous throughout the realms.

Instead, the sixty-year-old man had excitement and intelligence glittering around in his ice blue eyes as he smiled and moved excitedly to us pulling each to their feet.  He seemed to be bubbling over with enthusiasm as he said hastily, “Up, up, you all look silly down there.”

Then the heavy boots of the ruler of the eleven realms of the lands of Sparo came into view in front of me as he asked someone, “Is this her?”

I heard  Everett reply, “Yes my Liege.  This is Baroness Laney of Wexbury.”

The most powerful man in the habitable lands crouched in front of me, his hands draped over his knees aloofly as he grinned at me when I chanced to look up.  He tilted his head and gave me a toothy grin, and said, “Hi.”

I lowered my eyes and said in a hoarse voice that was barely audible, “My Liege.”  Dear Lord Laney, do not lose control of your bladder here.

The man gently reached out to grab one of my hands and said in a mirthful tenor, “Let's speak up here shall we Lady Laney? It is much easier that way.”

I almost gasped when he touched my hand, he had a huge magic potential, I have never felt that much power before except in Prime Techromancer Donovan.  The ruler of the realms chuckled when I was standing before him and he joked, “Hmmm... not much taller this way are you?”

I shook my head with my eyes down. “No, my Liege.”

He chuckled and said, “You can look at me.  I promise I don't bite.  Princess Everly domesticated me long ago.”

I heard a titter from a woman who joined the group.

I looked up at the man and he seemed genuinely pleased and I glanced over and then bowed deeply when I saw Duke Fredrick and Duchess Lucia of Wexbury standing there with none other than Princess Everly on the Duke's arm.

I whispered, “My Lady.”

She was even more lovely than the paintings I have seen.  She looked to be in her forties even though she was the same age as the Prince.

She tittered again and said, “Come now child, just call me Everly.”

I looked at her, I'm quite sure I was pale as a sheet. I stuttered, “I... I don't know if I can do that my Lady.”

I saw the measure of the woman in her eyes and could tell why she was chosen by Prince George.  She was taking in everything about me, in turn taking my measure behind her smile.  I couldn't tell if she approved.  But then her smile reached her deep brown eyes and she waved her hand in the air and chuckled out, “Royal decree... it's done, now you have no choice, Laney.”

She was fun.  I bowed my head slightly and tried to hide the grin that was threatening, “Yes... Everly.”

Prince George said, “Grand.  Now shall we be about it, people?”

I nodded and wobbled a little.  Celeste steadied me and offered her arm.  I gratefully took it.

The Prince said, “I just had to be here when you started up this grand venture.  This could change everything in all the realms if it is successful.  It would have more impact on the habitable lands than the Great Bridging.”

Work had begun on the Prince's dream of uniting the two portions of the inhabitable lands across the Gap.  A forty mile stretch of uninhabitable lands between the Highland and the Lower Ten.  He proposed excavating soil from the mountains on either side of the Gap and to run an irrigation canal, to build a grassland bridge over a mile wide between the lands.

The Gap can be crossed easily on horseback in less than a day now.  But it will be a boon as it would increase the grazing lands for both lands and allow wildlife to easily migrate between the lands.

It would take almost forty years to complete, and work began on it just this year.  The two lands would merge naturally in around eight hundred years without the Prince's intervention, but now I may see the two lands united in my lifetime.

Every year, water seeps farther and farther out into the rocky landscape of the uninhabitable areas, and wind and rain erosion slowly builds up the land; grasses slowly spreading outward.  The inhabitable lands on the Fringe are continually growing by about a hundred yards a year all around the perimeter of the realms.

The Prince offered an arm out to me and I swallowed and looked at Celeste, who was seeing some sort of humor in my terror.  She crinkled her nose at me and moved her arm closer to the Prince's and I transferred my fingertip to his.

He placed a hand over mine to calm me, and started striding toward the generator shed with me in tow and asked, “So each of those grand paddle wheels is connected to a generator.  What is their capacity?”

I squinted an eye at the man then back at the people we left behind us.  I'm positive by the look on Everett's face that he had already discussed this with the man.  I responded with a tinge of suspicion in my voice, “Theoretically, each generator has a one-megawatt capacity.  With all working in concert, we can provide the Keep with enough power to give every cottage in Cheap Quarter electric lighting, including the streetlamps at night, power electric motors on the hand pumps for the wells, and still have power enough to supply to vendors at the market.”

He nodded then asked, “And the idea of supplying the power first to the serfs rather than the nobles?”

I paled, I knew it was not popular, and I could not tell if he approved or not.  I explained, “Most everyone in Uptown and Mid End, already enjoy electrics, whether it is from magic spark containment vessels or are supplied power from the castle proper.  Almost everyone in Cheap Quarter and the Trough can only dream of owning a spark containment vessel.”

My voice firmed as I clarified, “As nobles, our measure can only be taken by the care of the people under our charge.  Wexbury prides itself upon the benefits we provide our own.  From our Bath House to cut down on illness, to our weekly feast on the castle grounds.  And now our new programs to educate every man, woman and child in the realm, and our new Wexbury Spark program, only add to that.  Now, if this project is successful and doesn't explode in our faces today, we will provide them with modern conveniences once only enjoyed by nobles.”

He had a look I couldn't quite understand on his face, but it had a touch of... admiration?

He said softly, “You speak with great passion.  I am told you hail from Cheap Quarter yourself.”

I nodded slowly and he smiled and asserted, “You have the qualities that mark a great noblewoman.  With compassion and empathy like that, you will aspire to great things.”

I blushed and looked down.   Then he turned us back toward the cage while shaking his head and muttering, “Three megawatts?  That is unheard of.”

My mouth started moving on its own volition. “That is but a fraction of what the Wizards of the Before had accomplished.  Just one of the many turbines we witnessed in the bowels of the Monolith was over eight hundred megawatts.  And they were in the third powerhouse, which meant there were three times that many.”

He raised his silvered eyebrows on his handsomely weathered face.  “Indeed?”  Then he just shook his head like most of us did, as he wondered at the accomplishments of mankind before the Great Impact.

We joined the others and Emily claimed my arm before Celeste could.  I grinned at the tiny woman.  I noted her long blonde hair now reached her ankles in its braid.  She seemed to be brimming with excitement.  Donovan shot a smile her way and I swear the woman melted.

We all turned to face the crowd as the Prince stood on a box near the lever.  The moment he did that, the din of voices in the crowd beyond the roped off area quieted.  The only sounds were the river rushing by below and the wind blowing gently through the trees.

I noticed as I looked out from our slightly raised position, that there were at least a dozen knights in the colors of Highland Keep ringing the perimeter of the crowd.  I squinted and studied the tree line.  There were about as many archers in the trees.  The Prince's personal guard.

I had wondered why he was there speaking with us without an escort.  Now I knew he indeed had an escort, but he must have instructed them to keep a discreet distance.  I appreciated that, for I knew I would have been twice as nervous speaking with the Prince if a group of armed knights of another realm was following us.

Then I looked up at Celeste on my other side.  She would have known the Prince was here, and his guard, as commander of our mobile battalion.  The evil woman purposely didn't tell me.  She didn't look down at me but I saw her crooked, sly smile form on her face as she felt my scrutiny of her.

Prince George began speaking in a powerful, authoritative voice, “People of Wexbury, and honored guests from the other nine realms.  On this day, the eleventh day before Three Sisters Conjunction, twenty-seven and forty-four years post Impact, we witness a modern marvel.”

The crowd murmured and he continued, “This grand experiment is headed by a commoner come Knight, Baroness Laney of Wexbury, and the distinguished Techromancer with a vision, Baron Everett of Wexbury.”

I could feel the excitement in the crowd building as he finished, “With the pulling of that lever...”  He pointed to the caged lever.  “Electricity will be provided to thousands of people in the Keep.  A free energy from nature herself without the need for magic spark to power it.”

The murmurs grew and I could feel the anticipation like a solid wave flowing out from those assembled.  I saw Yvette step up to the ropes in the crowd and grin at me as she took off her heavy leather work gloves to watch.  I gave her a tiny wave.

Then the Prince surprised me.  “Lady Laney, if you would.”

He gave me a flourish of his hand and a bow.  I blinked.  The ruler of the realms just bowed to me.  Come on Laney, don't pass out and don't screw this up.

I gave him a bow I hoped looked graceful.  “My Liege.”  I stepped over to the lever as he stepped down from the box.

I tried to look regal, to do Celeste proud.  I grabbed the lever and heard the clank as I held the small safety lever to the shaft.  Then I exhaled and pulled.  The crowd chuckled as my feet slid a bit.  To my chagrin, I had to yank a couple times to get the thing in motion.  Oh, dear lord, I was going to die from embarrassment.

Then I muscled the lever down until I heard three loud clunks from the generator shed.  With a rumbling, creaking groan, each of the huge paddle wheels started to turn, pushed by the mighty Hawktail River.  I heard the restraints protest as the generators engaged.

Electricity likes me.  I can use it to enhance my weak magics.  It is part of being an Adept.  I can, to an extent, harness energy from around me, whether it be magic or electricity, and can channel it through me to give me more power than I can produce myself.  But too much and I wind up damaging myself in return.  I glanced at my silk gloved right hand.

I could feel and taste the power rising.  The strings of electric lights we had around the area for demonstration purposes started flickering then glowing brightly as the crowd cheered.  I looked at the panel beside the lever as lights began glowing on it.  They went from blue to amber.  I blinked, Mother Luna, it worked!

The crowd exploded into cheers as the Prince clapped my shoulder and boomed out, “Good show Laney!”

I felt weak in the knees and sparks arced out from the panel into me and the nearest bulbs broke and electricity leaped to me.  People started backing away from the roped off area.  I heard the Prince speaking to me, “Calm yourself little one.  Don't let the power control you.”

I glanced at him and his eyes were lit up with a green light from within.  I could see amber energy flowing from me.  I nodded and started taking deep breaths and calmed myself as the colors of the world dimmed and the arcing of electricity stopped.  He gave me a consoling look and said, “Better, right?”

I nodded and Celeste was there, by my side as the Prince just studied me.  With a furrowed brow he turned his head toward Duke Frederick.  “Electricity?  And earlier I saw the steel around her starting to quiver.”  There was a touch of accusation in his voice when he asked, “What kind of elemental is she?”

The Duke smoothly supplied a line his wife had used to placate someone else that raised the questions of two abilities. “Electromagnetism my Liege, earth magic.”

Prince George looked between us, brow furrowed then slowly nodded his head.  I was so afraid he'd ask me to confirm it, and I couldn't lie to the ruler of the inhabitable lands.  And if I did, it would be an automatic death sentence.  I wondered why we must also deceive the Prince about the fact I was an Adept.  Highland had one of their own after all.

The ruler of the realms exhaled and let it drop as he looked around and at the string of lights that were lit by the power of water and his smile returned.  He looked around and said loudly, “Shall we have a celebration feast within the walls of Wexbury?”

The crowd cheered in support of that idea. Everett went about locking up the control platform when a small figure came barreling through the crowd toward us.  Almost like magic, three of the knights in Highland colors had the newcomer surrounded and one was holding my panting brother up off the ground by the scruff of his tunic.

Jace's eyes were wide in fear as I started moving toward him.  Celeste restrained me by my arm and gave me a cautioning look.  She spoke calmly to the Prince, “My Liege, he is a messenger of the court, and brother to Baroness Laney, he is no threat.”  Then she lowered her eyes and tilted her head down in respect.

Princess Everly tutted before the Prince could speak, “For goodness sake, he's just a boy.  Have you no shame gentlemen?  Let him pass.”

As if they had been doing it their entire adult lives, the three stood at attention so quickly I was afraid they'd snap their own spines.  The center man released Jace, who landed awkwardly.  Then he looked at the men and us, and if I weren't so terrified for him at that moment, I would have laughed when he glared at the Knights and indignantly tugged his tunic back in shape.

He was still panting and out of breath as he came under the rope and started toward us.  His eyes flicked around and at the deathly silent crowd then his eyes caught an overly amused looking Price George, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he went to the ground in prostration.

The Prince chuckled as his wife hustled to Jace's side and knelt to grab his arm gently to usher him to his feet.  “Get up you silly boy, you've already suffered enough indignity by my husband's heavy handed doom troopers.”

I caught the wink she shot at the Knights to let then know she teased and they had barely restrained smiles on their faces.  The teasing must have been a common occurrence.

Duke Fredrick had joined them and stood in front of Jace and asked, “You have a message young Jace?”

He nodded and had to bend over to put his hands on his knees.  He held a finger up as he tried to get his panting under control.  He had run the two miles to here?  Why hadn't he just taken a horse from the royal stables?  The thought probably never occurred to him since he rarely ever left the walls of the Keep.

He looked over at me and said between gasps of air, “Alexandru... is... awake.”

Chapter 4 – Kidnapped

We had returned to the Keep with all haste, the rulers followed with Verna, Kristof, and Bex in tow.  People all along the lanes in Wexbury bowed in shock at seeing the rulers of Highland pass by with us in the middle of knights and archers, not in the colors of Wexbury.

It must have looked a sight as two knights entered the hospital first and the rest of the knights and archers formed a perimeter around it.  A minute later the two knights exited the hospital, gave a nod to the Prince, then took positions on either side of the door.  Our Duke's guard joined them.

I knew they were around, there are always four of them guarding Duke Fredrick and Duchess Lucia, they had kept a discreet distance until then.  Mostly because if anyone come for them, they'd have to get through the Prince's elite guard first.

After Fredrick had explained to the Prince by the river just who Alexandru was and what he had said before he lost consciousness, the Prince insisted on coming with us.  Something about maintaining good political relations with the Mountain Gypsies.

The Gypsies had roamed the Whispering Walls mountain range long before the scouts from Highland Reach; which is what the Highland Realm is often called; had crossed the Gap to discover the New World.  Every realm acknowledges the right of the Gypsies to roam the realms unencumbered and beholden to none of the Altii, the Others.

No realm has sway nor say over the people who so freely shared their lands with us newcomers.  Though the Lower Ten purport it to be for diplomatic reasons, the truth of the matter is that all know it would be folly to be at odds with the peaceful people.

There are estimated to be over seventy thousand of them across over a thousand miles of mountain terrain, and we cannot fathom their magics or how powerful the magic of the spirit is.  I am the first known Techromancer to possess it and I have no idea what I can do with it yet.  So if any realm were foolish enough to anger the gentle people, they all fear what the Gypsies can bring to bear.

The short time I spent with them, I fell in love with their people and their ways.  I almost chuckled when I realized that in both of my stays with them, I was injured and they had to nurse me back to health.  Just once I'd like to visit the clan I knew, the Lupei family, when I was strong and healthy.

The Prince shot a smile at his wife and winked at her then offered me his arm, “Lady Laney?”

I looked up at Celeste and gave a weak smile then accepted the Prince's arm.  He marched us in and I heard Celeste tell our group to wait there. Then she positioned herself behind and to the left of the Duke and Duchess as they followed.

Doc Maxwell met us in the lobby.  He seemed frazzled and he only gave a nod of recognition to the Prince.  He never paid much attention to station and I worried about how the Prince would react.  To my surprise, he didn't seem to care. Doc held a clipboard as he smiled at me through his tight-lipped expression.

He gave me a tilted bow of his head which made me more embarrassed to get more attention than the Prince.  “Lady Laney, our combative guest is insisting on speaking with you.  It is all we can do to get him to rest.  He was just impaled by an arrow for God's sake.”

I held back a smile.  Yes, Alexandru was a bit headstrong.

I nodded as he plucked me from the Prince's grasp.  I glanced back and Prince George seemed overly amused.  Doc started telling me about the accelerated healing he saw as we walked, “It has been a day but he has healed what would take at least four or five days.”

I was peripherally aware of the procession of people we had in tow.

I nodded. “His family is of the Touched of the People.  His sister possesses the gift to heal, so I've suspected that he had a touch of the gift since he can go for days without sleep and seem unaffected.”

He thought out loud, “I wonder if he would agree to allow us to study his blood and cells.”

I slapped his shoulder lightly and scolded, “He is not one of your lab mice Max.”

He nodded with a grin.  I loved this scarecrow looking man with his long face, he had saved my mother from certain death with his new treatments for Wasting Syndrome.  He never seemed to take a break and always looked so frazzled and tired.  I liked it when he grinned or smiled, it seemed to take away that bone-deep weariness, if just for a fleeting moment.

He pulled me into a room and the four royals and my Celeste followed, stepping against the walls to be as unobtrusive as possible.  I had to grin, there were three nurses at the bed as my charismatic friend flirted with them all while he finished some, no doubt exaggerated, tale of valor.

The women tittered and giggled at him.  You couldn't fault them for fawning over him.  The first time I saw the man I had thought him beautiful.  I know men don't like being called beautiful, but he was.  His long, flowing, wavy black hair hung below his shoulders.  He had a chiseled jaw with a perpetual three-day growth of stubble, giving him a rakish appearance.  And I had never seen him with his shirt off like this.  His torso was wrapped in clean white bandages and his abdomen was rippling with muscle.

If I hadn't had a preference for the fairer sex; I smiled back at Celeste who looked overly amused at his antics; I would have succumbed to the man's charms myself.

He noticed me and started to sit up quickly, but three sets of hands pushed him back to the bed.  He shooed them away and held a hand out to me and said in the tongue of the People, “Laney, Celeste, my Soras.  We must make haste, Mother Udele has been taken.  The clans are threatening to take up arms.”

I glanced back as Celeste stepped quickly to my side, her eyes wide.  Her grasp on Mountain Gypsy was rough, but she understood what he was saying.  I saw the crease in the Prince's brow and looked back at our friend as I grabbed his hand and said in English, “Dru, English please, not everyone here speaks the tongue of the People.”

He nodded and slowed down a bit then looked at the others in the room and gave then an acknowledging tilt of his head as he switched to English.  “Yes, of course, my apologies.”

I paused and remembered my mother's lessons on manners. “Alexandru of the Lupei family, this is Prince George and Princess Everly, rulers of the lands of Sparo, and you know the Duke and Duchess.”  The nurses noticed the people in my company and bowed deeply then scurried out of the room.

Dru got a silly half smile on his face, his dimple showing and mirth sparkling in his dark eyes. “I'm surrounded by princesses, I must have passed to the afterlife.”

The Prince asked with confusion in his tone, “Princesses?”

Dru nodded and said, “My princesses here, and yours.”  He winked at Everly and then flexed his pectoral muscles.

I slapped his shoulder again. “Behave, she's royalty. And taken.”

He tilted his head and teased, “Yes, my Sora.”

I glanced back at the blushing ruler, she didn't seem to mind.  She looped her arm through her husband's arm.

Fredrick explained to the Prince, “When the Lupei family aided us in our Far Reach campaign, and the battle of the Monolith, Countess Celeste here, inadvertently initiated a blood bond between the ruler of the Lupei family, Mother Udele, and the House of Celeste.  Which had the unfortunate side effect of our two Knights becoming the heirs to Udele.  In essence, they are Gypsy Princesses of the Mountain Gypsies as well as being Knights of the realm.”

The Prince took a moment to process that.  Then he turned to Fredrick and asked incredulously, “And, you allowed this, Fred?”

The Duke shook his head and shot Celeste an amused look as he said, “Of course not.  It was done before I could protest.”

The Prince nodded slowly, wheels turning in his head as he said slowly, “This is unprecedented.  The Gypsies have always isolated themselves from the Altii.  This opens a whole can of political and diplomatic worms.  Wexbury now has ties to the Mountain Gypsies that no other realm enjoys.”

I had never thought about that.  Parity has been critical in keeping the peace between all the realms.  That is why the Prince makes sure that no one realm gains such a significant advantage over the others that it causes friction.

The only real disparities in the Lower Ten are the populations of each.  For the most part, the fighting force of any realm is proportionate to their population, with few exceptions.  Wexbury is the third smallest Realm, but we have the third largest fighting force.  We also have more Techno Knights than any realm but Highland.

This has always been acceptable because we are always the first to answer a call for aid from any other realm and our Knights bleed and die beside their own to defend their realms.  We have joint defense pacts with every realm of the Lower Ten.  Wexbury stands with all.  So I did not know how or if our situation would affect the status quo.

Princess Everly seemed to grasp it all in a moment and she made light of it. “Laney, Celeste, it seems we are peers.”  She seemed infinitely amused at that.  It just made the blood drain from my face.  Mother Luna!

The Prince rolled his eyes at her antics then looked at the Duke.  “Wexbury, we'll discuss this soon.”

Fredrick bowed his head in acceptance, then we all turned our attention to the overly amused looking Dru.

Then I cocked an eyebrow at him, he hid away his smile and started to tell us what was going on in a solemn tone, “I was out on patrol in the passes when it happened.”

His eyes began to burn with anger as he recounted, “I returned to camp but was alerted to the fact that our spotters were not in position, so I dismounted and came into our camp as stealthily as I could manage on foot.”

He gritted his teeth. “What I thought was the central camp fire had been two of our wagons set aflame.  People laying all on the ground.  Men, women... children.”

My eyes flew wide as I gasped out, “Ingr and Eli?”

He laid a hand on my arm to allay my fear as he softly said, “Safe.”

My heart, which had threatened to burst out of my chest, slowed as I exhaled in relief.  Ingr and Eli were the children of Dru's sister, Sylvia.  They were such adorable children and smart too.  I don't think my heart could take it if they came to harm.  At the same time my heart went out to the children who had apparently lost their lives.

He continued, “I found Sylvia healing the wounded.  She told me that a band of fifty men, all dressed like the Knights of the Altii, only all in black, had stormed the camp, killing all who got in their way.  They had a vrajitor of the Altii, how do you say, magic user?  To counter the few of our Touched, who stood against them.”

He shook his head. “They struck us when most of our men had gone out on patrol, they must have been watching and waiting for that chance.  They took Mother Udele and left the camp in ruins.”

He hissed out, “I was enraged, twenty of our clan had died at their hands.  I retrieved my horse and rode hard with three men following their trail East toward Solomon and the Great Sea.  But we found dozens of these Altii surrounding the camp to prevent us from following.  It was all we could do to fight our way back to the wagons.”

He nodded to himself as he shared, “We were able to slip a tracker out to follow the kidnappers, and a messenger to the other clans, out in the dark of night.  When the messenger returned a week later, he brought word that a war council was gathering near Heaven's Gate and that they were going to vote on whether the Gypsies would go to war for the first time in over a thousand years.  The thirteen families would move on the Altii if they get a unanimous vote.”

I glanced back at the Prince and his eyes were dark and his gaze held something dangerous at that news.  I looked back at Dru and he said, “They have twelve votes, but they have not heard the voice of the Lupei family yet.  With Mother Udele gone, it falls to her heirs to cast their vote.  It falls upon the Soras of the Lupei.  It falls upon you and Celeste, Laney.”

I blinked. “But... war?  How can we vote to start a war that would cost both sides so much?”

He nodded at that, knowing it would be my response, the man didn't want war either, even after seeing his kin slain.  He said, “You are the only one who can stop it.  We sent out four men in different directions to track you down in the dark of night.  I fear I am the only one to make it through the enemy to find you?”  It was a question.

I nodded sadly. “You are the only one of the Lupei we have seen.”

I turned to Fredrick and blurted, “We need to free the Lupei from siege and find Mother Udele.”

The Duke shook his head, I could see the conflict in his eyes,  “We are not allowed to unless they are in the realm of Wexbury.”  He looked at Dru hopefully.

The Gypsy nodded with a primal grin. “We are in the mountains at the southeastern most reach of the Realm of Wexbury.”

Fredrick looked at the Prince who tilted his head in assent and I could see the fire of Wexbury in his eyes as he said, “Celeste, mobilize the force you deem necessary to free the Lupei.  We will not let this assault on the friends of Wexbury stand.”

I noted he carefully stayed way from the word ally, as it held too many political connotations.  I hated politics.

The Prince cleared his voice and we all turned to him as he said, “I'm afraid Lady Celeste cannot act in the name of Wexbury on this one.  In this instance, she is being called upon by the Gypsies as one of their own.  As such, she is akin to a visiting dignitary from a foreign land.  Have her second in command take charge until such time as this whole mess is straightened up.”

He held his hand up to prevent Celeste and Fredrick's protestations. “And it sounds as if Mother Udele has been removed from the domain of Wexbury, so her rescue cannot be performed by the Knights of Wexbury.”

He exhaled. “I can send word to Solomon and the other keeps to be on the lookout.”

I was starting to get angry, we needed to save Udele and he was playing politics.

I almost blurted out something that more than likely would have had me put in the stockades as the man smirked at the look on my face and held his hand up to stop me as he added, “But I am sure that if visiting dignitaries requested a diplomatic escort of say... three?”

He left it hanging and Celeste caught on before I did and said, “Four.”

He amended, “Of four capable knights from Wexbury, the crown would have no choice but to endorse it.  If those dignitaries happened to be in search of a missing member of their clan, then who am I to meddle in their private business?  With my endorsement, they would have free passage through the realms.”

Celeste poked her head out into the hall and called loudly, “Verna, fetch Tennison!”

She stepped back into the room as Doc started examining Dru's wound again.  Everyone was looking expectantly at me.  Celeste was just grinning at me.  What?  Oh!  I got it.  I felt a little dimwitted and blushed and then stood tall as I faced the Prince.

I said, “Prince George of the Altii, the Lupei family formally requests a diplomatic escort through the lands of Sparo for an unspecified amount of time.”

He blinked innocently. “Why Sora Laney of the Lupei, it would be my pleasure to accommodate you and Sora Celeste of the Lupei in this endeavor.”

I grinned at the man, this was all just silly, but I knew it was a serious game of politics and he was walking a tightrope here.

Behind me, Doc Maxwell muttered, “Just amazing,”

I looked back at him as he looked up at me.

“The man is virtually healed.  It looks to be about two weeks along in the process.”

Dru gave a cheesy grin and winked at me.  I had to chuckle at the cheeky man.  Then he got a serious look on his face and shared, “The war council expects you there in four days, or they will vote in a person of their choosing to speak for the Lupei.  They want to send a war party to liberate my clan as the first order of business.”

The Duke spoke, “If our men travel to the mountains to free the camp, that will take two days.  You'll reach Heaven's Gate with time to spare.”

Celeste nodded her agreement.

Then Prince stepped up to Alexandru, who pushed past Doc's restraining hands to stand and don his purple, blood-soaked tunic.  Prince George said in a gravely serious tone, “Alexandru of the Lupei, I give my word as ruler of the Altii, that the attack on your people and subsequent abduction of your leader was in no way sanctioned by the crown.  We will do all in our power to seek out those who perpetrated this heinous act and bring them to justice.  I will give you a writ stating such before you leave Wexbury Keep.”

He offered his arm and Dru took the man's measure and then gave his aloof smile and nodded as they grasped forearms.

The Prince said, “Let us feast tonight as the Knights prepare for travel at first light of Father Sol.”

Dru nodded and started to walk to the door with my Liege.

Max called out, “Where are you going, young man?  I don't recommend you leaving bed yet.”

Dru winked at the man. “Thank you for all you have done for me healer, but I will be fine by morning.  We Lupei are a hardy bunch.”

Then we all followed our friend and the Prince out of the hospital with a protesting doctor behind us the whole way.  The huge church bell chimed out noon, and I looked to the clock in the tower.  Sir Tennison was just galloping up on his steed beside Verna at the last reverberating bong settled across the village.

He dismounted and bowed to the Royals.  Then the Duke said in a strong voice for all the people in the market who were gawking at the spectacle, “Sir Tennison, I need you to assemble a force to free the Lupei family of Mountain Gypsies on the lands of Wexbury from an encroaching force that has them under siege.  And escort their visiting dignitaries to Heaven's Gate.”

He continued, “You are then to return to the Keep, leaving behind a diplomatic escort composed of four knights of their choice to guard them as they travel the lands of Sparo.”

The Prince nodded. “Nicely done Fred.”

The Duke grinned back. “Not my first rodeo.”

Tennison looked confused and asked, “Dignitaries?”

Princess Everly said like it was obvious, with a mischievous grin on her face, “Why the gypsy princesses, Sora Laney, and Sora Celeste of course.”

Tennison rubbed his hand over his face in exasperated resignation. “Why do I feel a clusterfuck coming on?”  To the royal women for his language, he quickly said, “Apologies.”

Everyone laughed at the huge man's confusion.  Celeste rolled her eyes at him. “Come on big man, I'll fill you in privately at the castle before we feast.”

I went to follow but then gleeped as I was tugged back to take Princess Everly's arm.  She said in a conspiratorial tone as she looked around at all my confused friends and family, “Let them discuss all that monotonous planning, you must tell me about your adventures with the Lupei.  I have heard so many rumors.”  She grinned at Dru and looped his arm too and dragged us toward the market, half the Knights peeling off with her.

She called back, “You have fun planning violence dear George, I find it tedious.  We will see you at the feast.”

The man just chuckled and called back, “May the Lord have mercy on your soul Laney.”

A few of the Highland Knights chuckled at that.  I just blushed and went with the most powerful woman in all the lands.

Chapter 5 – Whispering Forest

The next morning, Celeste and I found ourselves heading out the gates and riding hard toward the west, with a rescue expedition of twelve Knights of the Realm, and six archers.  Dru and Tennison, the sole Techno Knight of the group, lead the charge.  The last deep rumble of the Keep's war horn rolling across the lands in our wake.

I had to look down at myself then over to my Lady.  It felt so very odd riding out to battle without our armor.  Instead, we wore brightly colored gypsy garments in yellows and deep purples and greens.  Our only protections were our heavily spelled riding cloaks and the sloppy and weak charms that Dru had shown me how to construct on our clothing.

They only had a fraction of the power that I could feel from the wispy magics the true Touched had placed on our cloaks.  But Dru was not of the Touched, so could only instruct me to the extent his sister had explained to him.  Even so, I was amazed that the magics persisted after I constructed each charm.  Though it resulted in blurred, poorly constructed runes imbued into the clothing, in that glowing, misty white magic of the spirit.  I placed as many protective and luck charms as I could on them until I was exhausted.

I almost sighed when I looked at Celeste, she looked great in anything and didn't look silly in the brightly colored garb like I did.  Her fiery mane billowed back in the wind of our passing, with her deadly looking sword in its scabbard on her back peeking out from under her cloak, making her look dangerously seductive.  Like a vengeful wraith, full of fire and beauty.

I glanced at the four knights that bracketed us, or personal diplomatic escort.  To our right, were, of course, Verna and Bowyn.  The second and fourth best with a sword in the entire realm; Tennison being the first and Celeste the third.  We wouldn't have been able to convince Verna to stand aside in this mission, she was Celeste's best friend and would not let us attempt this on our own.  And Bowyn has been Celeste's partner since he was assigned to her the day she became a knight.

Verna had a fierce look on her face, and the long scar which cut diagonally across her face made her look even more dangerous than her bulging muscles.

To our left, I had to grin, Bex in his clockwork looking armor with all of his gadgets and wires sprouting out everywhere.  And Kristof rounded out our escort, where his wife, Verna goes, as well does he.

They all looked somehow distinguished with their modified sashes, that held the crest of Wexbury and the prominent royal seal of Highland, giving then free passage throughout all the realms and complete autonomy by decree of the crown.

I glanced back, at another of the 'volunteers'.  When the mission was announced after the grand feast last night, the entire mobile battalion to the man had stepped up to volunteer to liberate the Lupei clan.  I could see Celeste's pride for her knights glowing in her eyes at that.  They had to draw lots to see who would be selected.

I'm quite sure, part of the draw was fixed as I smiled at our newest knight who got her commission just days after Bex and me.  Lady Brenda rode high in her saddle.  She had been in our small group of squires before the mission to Far Reach.  Brenda, Bex, and I were advanced quickly because of our contributions to the battle.

She saw me looking and gave me a smile and a wink.  I grinned back at her.  She and our dear Lord Bexington are set to be betrothed on the fall solstice in two months.  That was as improbable of a match as Celeste and I were, the strong and capable Brenda, and our scatterbrained intellectual, Bex.  He the brains, her the brawn.  But in the past two years, he has come a long way.  He was still gangly and clumsy, but his pimpled complexion had cleared up and there was some muscle on the young man's body now.  The two were good friends to have.

The other person I'm sure was in on the fix was Lord Peter, the most accomplished archer in the realm.  Stories abound about him never missing his target except for one tale of him missing a buck in a hunt.  He supposedly missed on purpose when he saw a cougar was on the scent before him. He said that he would not steal from the mouth of another.  I grin like a loon every time that story was passed around, as it was really me that knocked his arm so that the mountain lioness could make the kill.  It was her buck, not ours.

He wiggled his eyebrows when he saw me twisting back to look at everyone.  I bit back a chuckle at the man, then furrowed my brow as I started to notice something.  I turned in my saddle to look at the knights in front of us.  I glanced at Celeste, who was watching my realization with a smug smile on her face.

I whispered, “It was fixed!”  I had realized that it wasn't just our friends that had somehow had their names drawn.  Every surviving member of the Far Reach campaign was among the rescue detail.

She whispered, “They all feel a strong connection to the Lupei, we had spent so much time with them on the road as you recovered.  I would deny none their desire to assist our friends.”

Alexandru had faded back like he knew what we were discussing and said loudly, with a smirk on his face, “Hello my Soras, what might you be talking about in hushed tones?”

I scrunched up my face and waggled a fist at the ass of a man.  This got a hearty laugh from him.  I'm pretty sure Celeste gave him the one finger salute since she looked a little too innocent when I turned back toward her.

Then Celeste complained, “I feel naked without my armor.”

He brightened at that and told me in Gypsy in a matter of fact, teasing tone, “I'd like to see her naked.”

I had Goliath side step next to him and I backhanded his gut hard and admonished in the tongue of the People, “Eyes off, pretty boy, she's taken.”  I bit back an 'ow'.  It almost felt almost like hitting Tennison, his abdomen muscles were so dense.  But I grinned at his reaction as he exhaled with a wince.  I had hit his almost fully healed wound and it was still a little tender.  Good.  Celeste was mine.

I gave him a satisfied grin and he laughed heartily again.  Mother Luna, you couldn't help but smile at the playful man.  Celeste was chuckling at us mock fighting over her.  I blushed at her reaction and urged Goliath a little faster, making them have to hustle to keep pace.  Giving me the last word on the subject.

When we were deep in the Whispering Forest, we slowed the pace to give the horses a break.  I thought about last night after the feast.  Celeste had asked if I wanted to take a walk.  After we turned down the Crossbar from Lord's Way, I cocked an eyebrow in question at her.  We hadn't spoken much, I was just enjoying our closeness.

It was getting close to the last chime, the bells of the church would be silent after ten o'clock when she turned me onto a familiar lane in Cheap Quarter.  My smile grew as she looked down at me.  Then she whispered as we walked along under the street lamps,  “Look around, what do you see?”

I looked around, my old lane looked the same as any other night.  There was light coming out of the windows of most of the stone cottages, some spilling out under the doors.  People were hustling about getting ready for bed after a day of work and the celebration feast.  At the double lots, the gardeners and herders were stowing their gear and buttoning up their animals.

I shrugged as she stopped me in front of my old cottage.  It had been the only home I had known my entire life before a certain red haired Techno Knight stepped into it, back when I was simply Laney Herder, chicken farmer.

“Look closer,” Celeste said.

I glanced around and saw Hank Herder, the new master of the chicken farm that used to be my family's through the little window in the cottage, sitting down at a little table with his new wife for dinner.  I blinked as I realized that the light was not flickering. Instead of oil lamps, the cottage was lit by electric light.

I turned to look at a couple other cottages sprinkled around that were lit by the same steady light.  Then at the strings street lamps that had wires strung down the lane, not connected to any ceramic, magic spark containment vessels.

She whispered, “Your grand experiment.  They all now enjoy the modern convenience of electricity, given freely by the Hawktail River that breathes life into the land of Wexbury.”

Then she let go of my hand and pulled me in front of her.  Her eyes twinkled in the street lamps and the light of the Three Sisters in the sky.  “You gave that to them, my impossible Herder.”

Then our lips met.  My toes curled as my body heated up in desire, every kiss felt like the first time and I couldn't believe that this wonderful woman had chosen me, Laney Herder, as her own.

I glanced bashfully over at her as I forced the memory away.  She cocked her head in question, a warm smile on her lips.  I just shook my head at her and returned the smile.

We stopped just past noon, to rest the horses, feed and water them, and to have lunch.  As we all sat around eating rations of cornbread, jerky, and apples, Dru asked about our exploits since we last saw him.  Celeste smirked and nudged me and motioned her eyes toward Bex.

She was so bad, but apparently, so was I as I grinned at the man and started telling him of Bex's Folly.  The day he tested his idea at an electric motor powered wagon that wound up with him chest deep in Dragontooth Lake as the wagon slowly sank.

Bex was all grins and a good sport about it as Tennison laughed loudly and slapped the poor boy on the back.  We joke about it but it was actually truly brilliant, his tinkering had brought about many innovations like the Auto-Wagons, the portable electric torches, or PETs, and the powered blades that half of the knights in our party wielded.

Though for every success, there were a dozen failures, and they were usually such spectacular failures that we are amazed he always walks away from them unscathed.  Many of the brightest scholars of the realm, including Prime Techromancer Donovan, are secretly keeping tabs on the brainy man and are quick to adapt any advancements he makes that they deem helpful to the realm.  In a much more refined and safe implementation of course.

He has some grand experiment of his own in a new warehouse in the warehouse district that he won't even let his beloved Brenda into.  He is always moving materials and supplies into the structure.

Bex got his revenge after I finished the tale, and he said, “Has everyone heard the story of our Lady Laney's first attempt at using the Gypsy magic she has been gifted with.”

I shook a finger at him and said, “Don't you dare!”

Celeste chuckled as she took a bite of the apple.

He just gave me an evil looking grin and started telling of one of my most embarrassing moments and my inadvertent swim in Beggar's Creek.  He and Brenda were along with Celeste and me, doing a sweep of the Grove.  The little island of land to the East of the castle walls, between the Hawktail and Beggar's Creek.  They were a Treasure of the Realm, given to the people by my Lady.

We had finished our sweep when Bex had asked me about the ghosting effect I left behind when I exerted myself.  We had just reached the bank of the creek and I turned back to him on Goliath and shrugged as I explained, “It has something to do with the Gypsy magic of the spirit.  I can't control it yet.”

So I had tried to call it forth to see if I could build the power up like I did my Techromancer power.  Someone who is not magic sensitive cannot perceive Techromancer power, but if there is enough power of the spirit gathered in one place, even a non-magic user could see it.

But I learned that day that unlike the magic I had grown used to, it persisted after you called it up, instead of just vanishing into the ether we call it up from.

I gathered a ball of the bright white mist into my hand to show him.  He and Brenda looked at it in amazement, since magic to them was something they understood but could never witness, so to be able to actually see it, they had been amazed.

I had smiled at them then released it.  But instead of dissipating it remained in place, then pulsed and pushed outward, striking me and sending me tumbling over backward off my saddle to come splashing down into the creek.

Bex was almost giggling as he finished up the story.  “We were all knocked off our mounts, Lady Laney was unceremoniously dumped into the creek.  It took us a bit as we were all laughing to realize that the poor girl hadn't come up for air.  Her armor was weighing her down.  A chuckling Celeste waded into the water and reached down and pulled a gasping Laney out of the water.”

I blushed as all gathered laughed at the story.  Celeste smugly took another bite of the apple.  She was one to laugh, a similar thing happened to her when she was but a squire.  I cleared my throat to get Bex's attention as I patted the hilt of Anadele.  He swallowed then gave a toothy grin.  I couldn't help but smile back at the man as the laughter around us doubled.

To take the focus off of me, I asked Dru what misadventures he had gotten himself into since we parted ways with him.  Let me tell you, the man could spin a yarn, most of which I knew were greatly exaggerated if his past stories were any indicator.

But he kept us amused until we broke camp and headed toward the looming peaks of the Whispering Walls in the distance.  At the pace we were traveling, we'd arrive at the Lupei camp by mid-morning.

As Father Sol was dipping low in the sky, we could see the lights of a large settlement from a rise.  It was nestled in a clearing in the canopy of a clump of deciduous trees that broke up the conifer trees of the forest at irregular intervals.

Tennison fell back as a forward scout, an archer named Francis I believe was her name, rejoined our task force.  They exchanged some words and she nodded and silently disappeared back into the woods in front of us.  The huge knight asked Celeste, “The way is clear to Owensdale.”

I perked up at that, it was the largest township in the realm of Wexbury.  It was founded by the miners and loggers of the Whispering Walls who provided most of the raw construction materials and metals for the realm.  It had grown to the unimaginable size of fifteen thousand people.  More than twice the size of Wexbury Keep.

I have not been to a settlement larger than that before unless you count Flatlash Keep.  But there, they were constrained by the walls of the Keep so instead of spreading out, they built up.  Almost all the structures in Flatlash were two or three stories tall, with living spaces and businesses, built on top of other businesses and services.  So there was this sense of claustrophobia like everything was packed into a small space, like chestnuts in a small sack.

Tennison asked, “What do you think?”

Celeste saw my excitement and smiled.  I blushed and looked down.  I know it was funny to everyone how I got so excited about new things.  As nobles their entire lives, they had all been well traveled and had experienced so many wonders that it seemed silly to them the wonder I saw in commonplace things to them.

But I was naught but a serf just two years aforetime and we could never dream of affording to leave home to travel the realm, not to mention we had animals to tend and they wouldn't tend themselves if we were to attempt to holiday.  My entire life had been the Keep.

She was still smiling at me when she spoke toward Tennison, “Let's overnight in the township.”

He glanced at her with an eyebrow cocked in surprise, then followed her intense gaze to me then he smiled in understanding, which just made me blush more.  She added with a mischievous smirk, “But you are in charge of this expedition, so it is your call.”

He rolled his eyes, we all knew who was really in charge.  Then he loudly spoke for all in out party to hear, “I have made the decision to overnight in Owensdale... with no input from the pretentious Gypsy Princess in our midst.”

I had to grin at the silly man as everyone chuckled.

There was some murmuring.  I knew that they all preferred to keep any village on the horizon and break camp where things were more defensible.  That is normal procedure when escorting a noble, but I think Celeste thought it to be an acceptable risk on this occasion as the ones being escorted this time were trained knights of the realm.

I looked down at the reins in my hands bashfully as I added, and she wanted me to see more of the village than simply passing through without stopping.  No to mention, Owensdale had a large constabulary established to police and protect the people therein.  And two knights of the realm were rotated through every two weeks in most of the villages in the realm to help defend against marauders.

I looked over at my heart, and saw her sitting high in her saddle, almost regally, and I sat up straight, following suit.  I was rewarded with a sly smile curling up on her lips while she started straight ahead.

Dru was looking between the two of us then he slowly smiled and trotted off to the front of our procession to engage Tennison in tales of valor again as we made our way down into the little valley at the base of the foothills to the towering mountains that now dominated the eastern sky.

Chapter 6 – Owensdale

Before long, we started passing outlying cottages with huge gardens, then more tightly packed cottages.  Then we emerged into a large clearing, and my eyes widened at the buildings built on either side of the Ring as far as my eyes could see.

There were trees and large yards between every building, giving the impression that the township had grown up through the forest itself.  I realized it was almost the case, this really wasn't a clearing as it looked from above, this town which was bordering on the size of a proper city as they had in Solomon or Highland, had incorporated itself into the nature of the very valley.  And it was gorgeous, not utilitarian at all like the Keep.

We passed many of the outlying cottages and more and more businesses started popping up between them.  There were dozens of tree-lined winding lanes on either side of the highway that disappeared into the township.  We had traveled over a mile into the village, passing dozens of people along the way who looked up at our group in awe,

We came upon a wide courtyard, in a group of large two story buildings.  It reminded me of our market back home, only three or four times the size, with hundreds of people hustling around the vendors to make purchases before closing bell.

Men running around lighting oil lanterns along the roadside as the light of Father Sol burned orange and red as he said goodnight to the land.  I narrowed my eyes.  This great metropolis was using oil to light their nights, and not magic spark vessels.  This was such a waste of resources.  Resources that were hard to come by. Was the Duke aware of this?  Why hadn't Owensdale been supplied at least enough vessels to power their streetlamps for the safety of their people?

Celeste must have seen my consternation and said softly, “To light this metropolis, it would take thousands of vessels.  Our techromancers work tirelessly to supply the keep and the villages of the realm, but they can only do so much.  Only a couple dozen a month get shipped to each village.  It is slow progress, but it is progress, eventually all of the townships will be modernized.”

I understood now, but it still made me scowl over the fact that even though I had lived in Cheap Quarter, we still had the modern convenience of electric streetlamps.  I felt almost guilty that just because I lived in the keep, I got to enjoy the privilege before the rest of the serfs in the realm.

She narrowed her eyes in realization of what I was thinking then she whispered, “With your grand experiment at the Dig, the modernization of all the townships in Wexbury can be accelerated almost exponentially.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, she knew I felt ill-educated whenever she used big words I had not been taught.

She corrected herself, “By an order of magnitude...”  She trailed off and gave me a soft smile then said, “Tenfold?”

I grinned and nodded and whispered, “Better.”  I didn't mind as much as she thought I did because now I knew two more big words I hadn't before.  Knowledge is power.

Then I thought about what she had just said and I couldn't help but smile at the thought that something I did might help others throughout the realm.  If it proves out large scale like that, I'm sure the other realms won't be far behind in adopting it.  It took only months for the other realms to harness wind power with windmills once Wexbury started using them at our castle.

I felt a warm pride in the fact that Wexbury seemed to lead the way in modernizing the habitable lands.

We held there.  I wondered why for a moment until five mounted men rode up to Tennison, who moved forward from our group.  All of the men wore cloaks in the colors of Wexbury.  Ah, it was the constabulary coming to challenge us.

One man with a sash that had the crest of Wexbury on it rode up next to Tennison and said, “Salutations Wexbury.”  The two men grasped arms.

Our Sir Tennison inclined his head in respect and said, “Salutations Owensdale.”

I blinked, the man must have been the magistrate here if Tennison addressed him as the township.

Two more riders joined the other five and I smiled, the Wexbury Knights assigned to this rotation.  I knew the one who leaned on the pommel of his saddle and gave me a silly grin.  Sir Kenneth.  He was the prankster of the mobile battalion and my small stature and Anadele's pride were frequently targets of his tomfoolery.  I had to regrettably admit, he was pretty funny.

I rolled my eyes at the man and smiled.  He gave a toothy grin and turned his attention to the Magistrate as the man spoke, “What can our humble village do for you, Sir Tennison.”

They apparently knew each other.

Our big man supplied, “We are seeking respite for the night in our travels to the Whispering Walls.”

The other man seemed surprised we were going to overnight in the town.  He seemed a little embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck and said, “I do not know if I have a secure location large enough for all...”

He trailed off as Verna trotted slowly forward to stop on the man's other side, wordlessly staring straight ahead.  The man's eyes bulged when he saw the royal crest on her sash and started rushing out, “Yes!  Of course.  Ummm... the town hall!  We can pull in trusted men in the constabulary to stand watch.”

Verna didn't even look at the man as she continued to stare off into space as she backed her charger back to our side.  I glanced at her and Celeste, and if you didn't know the two women as well as I did, you wouldn't have caught their barely restrained smiles.

Tennison spoke as if they hadn't been interrupted.  “Grand.  Wexbury appreciates your hospitality.”

The man nodded and said to one of the others, “Bring in four men to guard the town hall and get cots brought in for our guests.”  Then to another after he looked back at Celeste and me, “Have the steward give another hour before closing bell in the markets for our guests.”

Then he asked Tennison, “Who are you escorting?  Mountain Gypsies?”

The big knight nodded with a cheesy grin splitting his face, “Indeed, Gypsy royalty.”

The other man's eyes bulged again and our two knights looked puzzled, they knew who we were.

Then Tennison said, “Magistrate Hans, I'd like for you to meet Sora Laney of the Lupei.”

I lowered the hood of my cloak, the scars on my face casting a faint white shimmering light, and gave the man an acknowledging bow.

He bowed much deeper on his horse in return as he said, “My Lady.”

Then the big man continued with a touch of humor coloring his words, “And Sora Celeste of the Lupei.”

Celeste lowered her hood with a shit eating grin on her face as the man said, “My La...”  He stuttered then said, “Lady Celeste?”

She shook her head. “Sorry Hans, but in this instance, I am in the capacity of a Sora of the People.  My commission from Wexbury is suspended until the conclusion of our business.”

He narrowed his eyes and looked over at Sir Kenneth like it was one of his pranks, then back at our knight.  “She's kidding right?”

The big man just shook his head, his grin not wavering, “No, it is true.  She had unwittingly instigated a blood bond between her house and Mother Udele of the Lupei.  They are princesses of her house now.  Our mission requires them to wield that title instead of titles of the Altii, of Wexbury.”

The man processed that then his eyes snapped over to me. “So that is Lady Laney!?  Do you yet wield Anadele?”

Oh, Mother Luna, the tales have spread here too?

I nodded once and reached to my hip and drew my blade smoothly to hold her before me, she seemed to both glow and not glow at the same time as the runes power gave her a ghostly appearance in the night.

The man furrowed his brow and then asked apologetically to Tennison, “That... toy, is the Anadele that split lightning?  I thought Lady Laney was seven feet tall.”

I blurted out an explosive giggle before I could stop it as I sheathed Anadele.  Oh to be so tall.

Sir Tennison, with all his chivalry, defended me, “No, the runt is Lady Laney, and that toothpick she wields is indeed the Anadele you hear whispers about.”

I blurted, “Hey!”

He chuckled and added, “And we all love her fiercely.”

This made me smile and feel the warmth of family spread through me.  I guess I could survive a little teasing.  I concentrated for a moment, questing out for something... something small to level the playing field.  I felt it and tugged then let my power fade before Celeste noticed the amber sparks in my eyes.

Magistrate Hans inclined his head in respect to me then turned as he said, “Let's get you situated and your horses tended, then your... Princesses might enjoy the market.  We have traveling minstrels this week.

We all started to follow and Tennison slipped off his horse and thudded on the ground in a tangle with his saddle.  Oh my, the buckle on his billet strap must have come loose somehow.  I grinned smugly as our group laughed at the big man's folly as we rode past.

He grinned up at me as he hoisted his saddle back up onto his charger.  “Why you little sneak.”  Which got more laughter from the knights.  He was nothing but smiles.

I said as I passed him, “I'm sure I have no clue what you are talking about, Sir Knight.”

We came up to a large stone and wood structure a couple lanes past the market square.  The pretty building had dozens of paned glass windows in it and a large clock face tucked under the eaves of the third story of the building.

Porters met us at the large steps into the building and took our belongings and supplies in and others led our horses away.  Nobody moved except Verna, who took Bowyn with her.  They cleared the building then rejoined us and we went inside.

As we were shown to the cots they laid out in a large meeting hall with over a hundred chairs moved off to the side, the Magistrate stopped me and said, “No offense was intended, you were just not what I expected.”

I grinned, shrugged, and assured him, “I'm not quite what I expected myself.”

He smiled in understanding, I liked the man.  The stout man had salt and pepper hair, and an oddly square jaw that looked to be made of granite.  He walked with a slight limp in his powerful stride.  His eyes held the dangerous hardness of someone who had seen too much violence but was capable of visiting that same violence on any who crossed him.  His measured movements told that man was well trained and had seen battle.

But on the same token, he had laugh lines and those wrinkles you get at the corners of your eyes from smiling a lot.  My eyes drifted to his scabbard at his waist.  Though worn with age and use, I could still just barely make out the crest of Wexbury on it.  Hans had been a knight of the realm, had his injured leg made him retire?  I smiled over the fact that he still found work protecting the people he had sworn to protect when he was a knight.

He inclined his head in acknowledgment and excused himself to see to it everyone got settled in, “Sora.”

I inclined my head a little deeper and said so only he could hear, “Sir Knight.”

He paused, gave me a sad smile, then stepped away.

He had a little spring in his step, Celeste looked at me with a twinkle of approval that made me blush as she whispered, “He stood with us in the bloodiest sortie of the Battle of York.  He took down seven marauders before a cowardly blade to his leg from behind, took the man down.”  She had pride in her voice for a comrade in arms.

She had finally confided in me the true events of the Battle of York after we agreed to live together after I had been knighted.  Nobody would ever say a word about it, they would only swear by the bravery of Sir Edwin.  She had looked so haunted when she shared with me the day her mentor had fallen, and her, a mere Squire had called out the leader of the marauders, the Reaper, and bested him in single combat.

We got situated then she smiled hugely at me. “The market for supper?  I'd like to hear the minstrels.”

I nodded enthusiastically and she offered her arm, which I took instantly.  I felt so bashful as she lead me to the door like a princess.  I always felt special around her, like I was actually someone, like I mattered, and it warmed me to my very soul.

Someone cleared their throat and we turned to see Verna standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot expectantly.  Bex, Bowyn, and Kristof were behind her.  Oh yeah... them.

Celeste sighed and said, “Please, by all means our escort, lead the way.”

Verna bumped her shoulder as she passed by with a smirk, causing my Lady to stumble back a bit.  Celeste called after her after Bex followed her.  “Moose.”

Verna chuckled back, “Chicken.”

I heard Kristof chuckling as the women bantered back and forth, “Cow.” “Mouse.”  While Celeste and I followed our friends back out into the warm night air with Kristof and Bowyn in tow.  They certainly took their jobs seriously even though my Lady and I could defend ourselves.

I was amazed at the variety they had in their market.  They had things that I hadn't even dreamed of in the Keep.  We stopped at one vendor to get snaps for everyone.  It was a treat mother sometimes made, wrapping ears of corn in wetted husks and steaming them until the kernels snapped and turned inside out, puffing up.  Then she would melt butter on them and you ate it on the cob.  It was a treat that commoners could afford to make cheaply.

But here, they coated the snaps in honey-butter instead and served them on a stick that skewered the cob.  Celeste took a bite, tearing the puffy white kernels from the cob and savoring the sweet honey taste.  She murmured, “Mmm... I hadn't had a snap since I was a child before father bought me.  This is delicious.”

The consternated knights looked at us dubiously as we enjoyed our treat, then Bex tried it experimentally and his eyes brightened.  He took a bigger bite and said with his mouth full, “This is tasty.”

The others tried a bite after him.  I guess he was the canary in the coal mine for them.  Since he didn't keel over dead, they all partook of the treat.  I paid the lady a full penny instead of her half penny asking price, smiling at her shocked reaction.

Then we moved along, munching our snaps as we searched for a good place for a meal.  I absently asked nobody in particular when I saw children all around us, “Do they use penny vouchers outside the Keep?”

Bowyn answered, “They do but not as much since the vendors have to wait for an officer of the Treasury to visit every couple months to redeem them for coin.”

Verna muttered, “Bowyn, you idiot.”

A smile spread across my face when I spotted a group of children playing and weaving through the market.

The man humorously backpedaled. “No... I mean no.”

Celeste chuckled. “Too late you lout.”

I stepped up to the children and they stopped playing as I knelt near their apparent ringleader, a little boy, perhaps seven or eight who had an unruly mop of red hair a few shades lighter than Celeste's and enough freckles on his face for any four children.

His eyes bulged like he thought he was in trouble when he saw the knights around me.  I smiled to allay his fear and asked, “Are you the leader of this giggling band of mischief makers?”

He nodded and asked like he wasn't sure, “Yes ma'am?”

I approved of his manners and asked, “What is your name kind, sir?  Mine is Laney.”

He smiled and said, “I'm Bernard Mason.”  Then he looked at Celeste and me and said with excitement, “You're the Mountain Gypsy Princesses!”

I had to chuckle at that.  It seems the Owensdale grapevine is just as fast and alive as the grapevine in the Keep.  Word had already spread about us.

I smiled, nodded and said, “Well Bernard, how would you like to help me out on a goodwill mission for the Gypsies?”

He nodded enthusiastically and I reached into one of the pouches on my sword belt and pulled out a handful of bright violet penny vouchers.  I handed them to him and I thought his eyes would explode from his head.  I said in a serious tone, “Would you and your friends here like to be honorary Gypsies tonight, and give one of these vouchers to each of the children in the market today, for their families?  And of course as our duly appointed representatives of good will, each of you can keep one for yourselves.”

The other kids were squeaking in excitement, prompting him and he just nodded then said excitedly, “Yes ma'am. We can be honerly... honor...”  He furrowed his little brow.

I supplied, “Honorary.”

He nodded and said, “Honorary Gypsies.”  He turned to his group with a big smile. “We're Mountain Gypsies!”  A little cheer went up and I giggled.

I tousled his hair and he gave me a silly crooked grin and then started handing vouchers to his friends who ran off in every direction, handing out vouchers to surprised children.  He looked up at me as I stood back up, and he said in a serious tone, “We have a lady like you too.  Wexbury Keep has the Penny Lady.”  He had pride in his voice as my smile doubled.  Mother Luna, that nickname is my bane, even outside the walls of the Keep.

Then like a shot, he dashed off after his friends.

I glanced around to the silent knights around me, then at the warm smile Celeste had on her face.  I asked, “What?”

She shook her head and offered up her arm again, I took it and then took another bite from my snap as I prompted, “Does our care for those we are sworn to protect end at the walls of the Keep?”

Celeste said with a warmth in her voice as we walked, “No, it does not.  A lesson you teach us when we sometimes forget.”

I blushed.

Then she pulled us all up short when we heard the music.  She grinned hugely and dragged me through the crowd, our escort hustling to keep up.  We wound up on the edge of the market and there was a cluster of restaurants like we had in the Belt bordering the market back home.

In front of one was a group of minstrels playing a jaunty tune as a woman sang in Welsh of all things.  Welsh was a dying language.  Welsh, English and Mountain Gypsy were the three languages spoken throughout the lands in ancient times, but mostly, Welsh had slowly disappeared.  It was only evident in the Outsider language anymore, which was a mashup of Welsh, English, and Mountain Gypsy.

It was a beautiful melody and I could understand part of what she was singing because the woodcutter, Corrick, who courted my mother and fathered Jace, had taught me Outsider.

Some couples danced to the energetic tune.

Celeste pulled me over to one of the long plank tables outside of the buildings, the occupants vacated when they saw Knights with the royal crest approaching.  We sat and listened as a young lady came out to the table from the restaurant closest to us.

We had never had the coin to spend at one of the few restaurants in the Belt when I was growing up.  They were a luxury that we just couldn't afford, for the cost of a meal, we could buy enough supplies to feed our family for a week, so it was always one of those things Jace and I only dreamed about doing one day.

We sold eggs to one of them, Benjamin's, and the cook there was always generous with the coin and appreciated the size and taste of our eggs.

Since I became Celeste's squire, she has taken my family and me out a couple times over the past two years to the restaurants.  It was very exciting, and she was so patient with Jace and me as we looked all around to see everything as we ate.

I am embarrassed to say that I really couldn't tell much difference between the meal and the meals we could get from the carts in the Market for a fraction of the price.  I rationalized that you were paying extra for the experience of feeling like you were being treated like a noble or one of the rich commoners from Mid End.

The woman who introduced herself as Jayleen, recited their menu and took our orders.  I tried to get our silly friends to sit with us instead of standing at each corner of the table guarding us.  Bex almost sat but when he saw the other three not budge, he remained standing.  Celeste just shook her head. “For the very long list of Verna's shortcomings, she takes her duties quite seriously.”

Verna's lips trembled in a restrained smile as she protested, “Hey! Tramp.”

My lady gave her a toothy grin and countered, “Trollip.”

Another lively tune started up, I knew this one, the ‘Tavern Maiden's Bonnet.’  Celeste stood and dragged me into the group of people dancing, to Verna's protest.  I heard Kristof telling her, “Let them have this.”

I was petrified, I had never danced before.  I mean sure I've made my own silly dances as I sang songs when I was alone, but we had dozens of eyes on us.  My lady grabbed my hands and started pulling me around in circles.  Then she would pull me one way or the other.  I found myself smiling and getting into it as I realized that there didn't seem to be any rules, you just let the music carry you.

When I finally exhaled and let Celeste lead me around, I was having fun.  I worried as I started blurring, leaving an afterimage as I turned and moved.  My white silk glove, a ghostly pantomime in the air.

I started getting nervous when I realized all the other dancers had stopped and gave us room.  My lady locked eyes with me to reassure me that it was ok.  The minstrels moved forward and the female bard started singing to us as Celeste spun me around and around, making me a whirlwind of white mist.

When the tune was finished, everyone clapped and Celeste released me and clapped for me as well.  I had made a spectacle of myself with magics I could not control.  I blushed and looked down.

The songstress excitedly spoke to me in the tongue of the People, with an accent different than the Lupei,  “That was marvelous.  What clan do you hail from?  We are from the Andrei family.”

I hadn't taken in their brightly colored garb until then, they were Gypsies.  The woman had a sword at her hip.  It was very rare for a Gypsy woman to take up the sword and they were revered in their society.

She was slight of build with beautiful long curly locks of midnight black.  Her delicately feminine face was punctuated by eyes as dark as coals.  She moved with a natural grace and freedom as if the world was naught but a grand adventure for her.  And I could taste... power.

I swallowed nervously, then said, “We are with the Lupei family, under Mother Udele.”

She rolled her eyes up and said playfully, “That explains it, you Lupei have an unfair share of the Touched.”  Her eyes drifted to my sword and then Celeste's, and she added, shaking her head in bemusement, “And two Femeie de Sabies.”

I blushed at her grin.

She winked up at Celeste and said in accented English, “The show must go on, have a joyful evening.” Then she took a step back and her minstrels started up another tune as she spun off in a flourish and danced as she sang and wove her way through the crowd as I gave her a tiny wave.

My lady smiled fondly down at me then nudged her head to the table, where the food had arrived.  Celeste stopped the server and flicked a gold coin through the air.  It was my turn to be surprised, our meal had been a steep three penny, but to give a gold?

She told the woman, “Meals for all tonight until the coin runs out. Keep a penny for yourself.”

The excited woman bowed deeply and retreated back inside, just staring at the coin in her hand with a huge smile on her face.  I blinked at the woman I loved, warmth spreading slowly through me and I gave her a kiss for her generosity to others.

Then we just looked around as the crowds slowly dwindled.  It was close to the extended closing bell that the Magistrate decreed.  We were just finishing our dessert, hot cinnamon apples, when Celeste froze and her hand moved half way up to the hilt of her sword.

My hand dropped to Anadele before I realized it as the other four knights did the same.  The commander of the mobile battalion had an uncanny knack to know when she was being watched and we all reacted on instinct as soon as she had made the move toward her blade.  I blinked at that, I was finally getting more aware of my fellow knights it seemed or was I just in sync with my Lady?

She didn't move her head but her eyes flicked down the row of buildings, near the highway.  I glanced that way the best I could without turning my own head and saw a man in black near a streetlamp watching us.  He was dressed in the armor of a knight like the men who had chased Dru.

Verna gave an almost imperceptible nod as she walked into the restaurant.  She would be finding the back exit and circling around behind the man.  We all relaxed and Celeste made a show of finishing the last bite of the apple.  She didn't want him knowing he had been spotted.

But something must have spooked him because he turned to run.  Kristof brought his fingers to his lips and let out a quick shrill whistle.  I saw a shadow pop up on the roof of the restaurant and the sound of an arrow splitting the air.

I spun at the sound of a second as the escaping man was thrown off his feet and onto the highway with two arrows in his back.  I made out a second shadow on another roof.  I could just make out Alexandru standing there with a vicious look of triumph on his face.  A woman somewhere screamed as people started running for cover.

I looked at the other archer as he leapt off the roof, three stories up, just to grab a rain-pipe with one hand and slide gracefully to the ground.  It was Peter.

All the knights and Celeste were in motion, she just about yanked me out of my seat as we ran to the spy, our swords were drawn, emerald energy flowing down my lady as she left a trail of sparks from her eyes. Anadele was dripping amber sparks herself as I realized I could see as bright as day.

We arrived and the man was quite dead. His armor seemed no match for Pete's carbon steel arrowhead nor Dru's charmed arrow.

Peter cursed, “Shit!”  He yanked his arrow violently out of the right side of the man's back and absently slid it into the quiver on his back without looking.

He looked behind me and hissed, “We wanted him alive.”  He yanked the other arrow out of the man's heart.

I turned to see Alexandru stepping through the retreating crowd, like a looming specter.  His eyes dark.  Our Gypsy friend said through clenched teeth, “His people killed women, killed children, in my camp.  I held their broken bodies in my own hands.”  He raised his voice, “In my home!”

I had never seen him like that.  He glanced at me and something made him hesitate and he calmed down and took a deep breath.

Celeste sighed and said, “What's done is done.  We need to get the body back to the Town Hall  to see if we can find any clues as to who these people are.”

Then she looked off in the distance to where Alexandru was apparently guarding us from, and said, “A hell of a shot, in any case, Dru.”

Peter followed her gaze and grudgingly agreed, “It was.”  He handed Dru his arrow back and he placed it into his quiver as deftly as Peter had.

I looked at Kristof as Verna joined us.  He had known Peter was up there.  I narrowed my eyes at the man.  “Just how many others are out there shadowing us?”

The corners of his mouth twitched up and he said, “I didn't even know Pete was up there, I just assumed he was.  He's a good man.”

He narrowed his eyes and asked Dru, “What were you doing up there?”

The Gypsy grinned and said, “I am the garda personala of my Soras, where else would I be?”  He shrugged like it was obvious.

Peter was looking at the short oddly curved bow in Dru's hand then down at his longbow with a furrowed brow.  I understood his consternation, the Gypsies have ways with creating things that outperform any of our contemporary counterparts.  At times, I think they are far beyond us in reclaiming what mankind had in the Before Times.  I think the only thing we surpass them in is mechanical things, but they have no need for such technology in their traveling caravans.

Dru whistled and his stallion came trotting out from between some buildings down the way a bit and up to us.  He grabbed the body without regard for compassion and hefted him over the saddle almost effortlessly.

Celeste gave him a grin and shook her head and we all started toward the Town Hall.  Hans met us there, asking,  “I hear there was trouble in the market?”

Verna nodded as she reached up and grabbed the scruff of the dead man's neck and dragged the body down.  “We need to see what we can find out about this man.  He is connected with an attack on the Gypsies.”

I know we were trying not to let anyone know what our mission was, word spreads like wildfire in villages, but I think they all trusted Hans and saw him as a comrade in arms.

They put the body inside where the light was better and they started searching him.  I tried hard not to get sick, looking at the dead man.  I was still not hardened to death like the others, though to my shame, I had more kills than all of them combined.  Thoughts of the Monolith came up unbidden to haunt me.

I shook it off and bent to look at the man as Tennison came from the main room to get a report while Kristof searched the man's pockets and belt pouches.

Verna filled Tennison in and Celeste's eyes got narrower and narrower as Verna searched.  She asked Bex, “What do you see?”

Bex looked as green as me but he replied, “His armor and blade look like Knight issue, but all the crests have been mangled.”

She nodded. “Good.  And Laney?”  She had already saw that this was more a training exercise now since Bex and I hadn't had the years of Squire training that others had.  Brenda joined us and grasped Bex's hand as the others from our task-force started gathering around.

I looked closely and said, “His clothing and cloak have been dyed black to hide the colors of the...”  I paused and placed my hand on Kristof's to stop him.  He looked up with his hand in a tunic pocket of the spy.

He pulled his hand back and I reached down and turned the pocket inside out the best I could,  the inside was deep forest green.  On the other men at the Keep, we could see some orange through the black.  I blanched as I whispered, “Solomon.”

Celeste asked, “Laney?”

I pointed out the color, “Green and orange.  These men are knights of Solomon.”

Our men began murmuring.  Solomon was second only to Highland Keep in the size of their forces.  Where the Capitol had over a thousand and hundreds in reserve, Solomon's forces were four hundred strong.  Wexbury only had one hundred and fifty Knights of the Realm and seventy in reserve.

Dru snapped out, “So the Altii realms are responsible?”  There was a fire in his eyes.

Celeste laid a calming hand on his arm and said softly, “We do not know that yet.  All we know is that these men are from Solomon, we do not know if this was sanctioned by Duke Liam.  They went through great effort to hide where they hail from.  They may be deserters or marauders with stolen gear.”

I knew she didn't believe the last part because even I could see the armor was fitted to the man.  But it was enough to calm the man.  Then she added with the fire of Wexbury fueling her dangerous tone, “Believe me when I say, if Solomon is truly behind this, there will be a reckoning!”

This brought up a predatory grin to Dru's face as he nodded once in agreement.  This part of Alexandru scared me.  The man was a deadly predator, but I preferred the happy, jovial man who was prone to spinning exaggerated yarns and flirting with any female within a hundred yards.

Then Tennison loudly spoke, “Alright people you heard the 'Princess,' we have an early start tomorrow so get some rack time.”

As everyone started dispersing, Tennison looked at the Magistrate as he grabbed the body and flung it over his shoulder like it weighed less than a sack of potatoes.  “Where do you want the body, Hans?”  Then he lumbered off with the limping man as Celeste dragged me into the main room and the cots.

She murmured to herself, “Solomon.” She took my cloak off of me and I took hers off of her.

Then she laid on a cot and held her blanket open for me to slide in front of her.  She pulled me to her and someone turned down the last lantern.  I don't know how long I just lay there, listening to her breathing, before sleep finally claimed me.

Chapter 7 – Broken Siege

In the morning, Hans had a meal to break our fast brought in.  Our horses were brought around and we said our farewells to the man.  He called out, “Safe travels.”

We started riding through the awakening of the large village, passing people on their way to work or to set things up in the market.

As soon as we were out of Owensdale, we rode hard to the east on some gypsy trails Dru had pulled us onto.  Navigating them like they were his own home.  I smiled.  Of course he knew them, they truly were his home, Laney.

The terrain started getting rougher as we left the foothills behind and we entered the majesty of the Whispering Walls mountain range.  There were more and more deciduous trees the further we moved into the range, with a crown of conifers at the treeline.  The intense heat of summer was tempered and it felt more like early spring to me.

I again was humbled as I looked on in awe at the soaring peaks that still held snow on their apexes in mid summer.  My eyes turned to the north to see Heaven's Gate, towering over the rest of the range like some great sentinel from times gone past, covered in white.  Great glaciers covering it as it rose over a mile above even the highest peaks.

I had never seen it so close before, only on the horizon.  Even when we traveled the mountains on our Far Reach Expedition, we had been down in Flatlash when we entered the range.  It was easy to see why our forefathers had named it Heaven's Gate.  If you believed in God and Heaven, they would be the closest any mere mortal could get to Heaven.

It was late morning when Dru pulled us all up short on a ridge overlooking a green valley with various small rivers flowing through it.  In the mountains, water was everywhere.  Celeste and I moved forward and dismounted when he did.  He pulled out a spyglass and scanned the valley.

My red headed lady knight held her hand out absently and I pulled my own spyglass out of the tool pouch slung over my shoulder.  She looked too as Dru pointed down.  “There by the east ridge, that is the caravan.”  She nodded and then he said, “A quarter-mile perimeter.  See the movement?”

She scowled and shook her head and held her hand out again, I handed her another lens that slid over the end of the spyglass, doubling its power.  I grinned that I knew her so well I knew what she needed.  After a moment, she said, “Ah.  I see maybe a half dozen.”

She handed me the spyglass and I took a look myself, I could see the wagons but not the men they spoke of as Dru said, “Yes there are maybe three dozen in a loose ring.  I don't know why they are containing the camp other than they don't want anyone getting out to warn the others or they are using them as leverage against Mother Udele.  I cannot see them being able to hold her otherwise.”

I shook my head and whispered, “Don't they realize that they essentially just declared war on the People?”

Tennison snatched the spyglass from my hand with a grin and took a look himself as Celeste said, “Most just see the peaceful Mountain Gypsies they only see at Carnival and see them as no threat.  That is a dangerous attitude when we are in the Lower Ten at their leave.”

I nodded in understanding as Tennison handed the spyglass back to me and I stowed it.  The big knight asked my lady, “How do you want to handle this?”

She bared her teeth in a vicious sneer and said in a voice devoid of emotion, her eyes starting to spit emerald sparks, “Let's not give them time to think or martial their troops and hit them head on, hard and fast.  Let's show them the fire of Wexbury!”

Everyone made guttural growls of agreement.  Alexandru's fire matched our own.  Then with comic timing, Tennison spoke up and said, “I have decided that we should not give them time to think or martial their troops and hit them head on, hard and fast.  Let's show them the fire of Wexbury!”

Everyone chuckled at him.  He looked around and asked in mock hurt, “What?”  Which got more chuckles as he winked at me.  We all knew Celeste was really in charge of this mission and he was hamming it up.

Celeste made some hand motions as we mounted back up, we broke into groups of four with an archer watching each of groups back.  The other two archers would place themselves in the trees near the first enemies.

Celeste's group was over-strength with me, our four escort Knights, an archer, and Dru watching our backs. It would have been smarter to divide our group in half to be able to hit more targets simultaneously as the enemy holding siege to the clan were only patrolling in pairs.  But Celeste would not allow me out of her sight, and the others repeated that they were sworn to be our escort.

Celeste looked at Dru before our squads moved apart in a string, though she addressed the group, “Remember, we need at least one of them alive to find out who authorized this and where they took Mother Udele.”

The Gypsy nodded once.

We started moving down the valley toward our independent targets.  The plan was for each squad to move within a hundred yards of their designated enemy.  When we were in place, Tennison would give some sort of signal and we would rush the enemy.  Then the squads would sweep around the camp in opposite arcs and take on the other patrols.

We located ours, we were at the center of the groups, our task was to take out our target then continue through to the caravan to guard them in case the remaining enemy rushed them since we had no idea what their orders might be.

I felt my nerves fraying as adrenaline started dripping into my system in anticipation of a fight.  I was terrified like I was any time a fight was imminent.  I was no knight no matter what the others said, but I couldn't run, I would never run, people depended on me.  I would not let innocents suffer for my own cowardice.

I took one last deep breath as swords were drawn.  I drew my Anadele, she shone in the light of Father Sol, unwavering, and I drew strength from her and the equally unwavering knights around me.  I returned the reassuring smile that Celeste shot me.

I wondered how Tennison was going to signal a line of squads stretched out over a mile, since we brought no signal horn.  Then I felt someone using magic nearby.  It was more powerful than both Celeste and my weak magics.  It tasted of steel and air magics, I smiled, it tasted like Tennison's magic.  The only other magic user in our group.  And I saw a mini cyclone of leaves drifting up into the sky, high above the trees.

Goliath was already in motion with the other knights before I could react, and we were barreling through the forest.  The second we saw the patrol hear our approach, the knights and Alexandru bellowed their battle cries.  I almost felt sorry for the two men, they hadn't been prepared for seven knights of Wexbury and an enraged Gypsy archer to burst out in front of them.

The first man flew off the back of his horse when he was struck in mid right chest by an arrow with colorful feathers.  There was a metallic ping sound as Dru's arrow cut through his armor like it was made of straw.

Bowyn dove off of his charger onto the other horseman, pulling him out of his saddle and they went tumbling down to the ground.  They tussled a moment and gained their footing and split apart.  Bowyn drew his blade so smoothly as he stood I almost wondered how it got into his hand.

The other man lifted his arms over his own shoulders to grasp the hilts of the dual sabers he had on his back and pulled them forward smoothly, spinning them in wide arcing circles in the flourish of a well-trained swordsman.

They exchanged guttural cries as the collided in a swirling tide of flashing steel and sparks.  The man pressed his attack, forcing Bowyn back.  I started to call power to me but Celeste laid a hand on my arm.  She shook her head then crossed her arms lazily on the pommel of her saddle and turned to watch as two expert swordsmen dodged, parried and struck in a macabre dance of death.

I often forget how good of a swordsman Sir Bowyn really is.  He deflected every blow from the dual blades with his own lighter blade, with deft moves and economy of motion.  He hadn't pressed the attack.  Then I remembered the hard lesson I had been taught almost two years aforetime.  That it takes a third of the energy to block a strike than to swing your sword.

Bowyn was wearing the man down before he made his move.  They broke apart after the Dark Knight did a probing attack then tried to get in a spinning backhanded strike.

Bowyn smiled at the man who's breathing was labored and strikes were slowing.  Then he moved his blade from his left to his right hand.  My jaw almost dropped, I had not noticed that he had been fighting with his off hand.

Our cocky knight saluted the man with his sword then pressed the attack for the first time.  He was forcing the man back one step at a time, it was all his opponent could do to fend him off.  In an intricate thrust and swirl of his blade, Bowyn wound up pulling one of the man's blades free and it landed on the ground between them.

They paused and our knight dipped his blade to the hilt of the fallen weapon and with a flick, sent it into the air and the man deftly caught it.  Bowyn seemed to study the man as he stepped sideways, one leg crossing over the other.  Then he went the other way and then dipped his blade down, leaving himself wide open as he asked, “Master Harrick trained you?”

The other man showed his teeth in a smug snarl then without warning thrust both blades toward Bowyn, who anticipated it, and stepped through the man's guard between blades with a single step.  It looked almost as if he hugged the man as he said, “A pity to lose one with such promise.”  His blade was resting on the man's back as Bowyn lowered him to the ground and when he moved back, I saw the bloody dagger in Bowyn's left hand.

He turned to look up at Celeste and said, “These men were trained as knights, by some of the same traveling masters as most of us.”

This chilled me.  It was looking more and more like one of the realms was truly responsible for the attack on the Lupei.  The implications and ramifications of that were frightening.  Peaceful as they may be, we saw what just Alexandru could do.  I didn't want to imagine what an army seventy thousand strong could do.  Even all the realms forces combined would be overwhelmed, and nobody knew the true capabilities of their magic.

No matter how you looked at it, unless these men were working on their own, then it was an act of war.  And this war could prove more deadly than even the Great Mage War, so it needed to be avoided at all costs.

The other man moaned, and that caused us all to divert our attention from Bowyn.  Dru slid off his saddle and walked up to the man and yanked his arrow out of his back viciously.  It caused the man to cry out in pain.  Our gypsy friend kicked the man over and knelt on his chest with a blade to his throat and hissed out, “Where have you taken Mother Udele?”

The man just spit at him and said with a Solomon accent, through teeth clenched in pain, “I won't tell you shit, Gypsy trash.”

And I turned my head to wretch as the insane man grabbed Dru's wrist, pushed up against the knife at his own throat and slid his head aside before Alexandru could pull back.  My friend stumbled back and up away from the man, looking down on him, then his own knife in stunned disbelief.  The black-clad knight had killed himself rather than speak.

I heard myself whispering, “He... he just killed himself.”

Celeste said in a hoarse voice, “We have to get to the caravan, now.”

Bowyn and Dru nodded and mounted up and we were once again thundering through the forest to the camp of our allies.  After a couple hundred yards we slowed to a halt and I made a distressed sound and had to look away.  There was a man, covered with blood, strung up between some trees, arms and legs splayed.

Alexandru hissed out, “Marku!”

Tennison and Dru both dismounted quickly and cut the man down.  I turned back when I heard a gurgling gasp.  The man was still alive! I slid off my horse quickly and ran to them with my waterskin.  I winced at the sight of the man as Dru grabbed the waterskin and held it to the man's lips.  He sipped and coughed.

What kind of animals could do this to another man? Most of his fingers were bent back unnaturally, and his fingernails were gone.  There were various cuts and burns all across the man's skin.  He had been tortured.

He opened his one eye, the other was a dark, bloody hole.  In a weak voice, he asked, “Alexandru?”

The big Gypsy said in their tongue, “I'm here Marku.”

The man tried to focus then said, “They... tried to get me to tell them...”

Dru pushed the bloody hair out of the man's eye.  “Tell them what?”

The man took a deep wheezing breath, “How... how many of us tried to get out... and...”  He choked on the words and Dru gave him more water.  Then he continued, “...and where we were heading.”

Then his face twisted up in defiant hate as he hissed, “I told the Altii dogs nothing!”

Then he seemed to go bonelessly limp as she said in a faraway voice, “They finally tired of me after days of torture and hung me there as a warning to others.”

He took two more breaths, then his eye flew wide, “The Soras?”

Dru was stroking the man's hair as he cradled him like a broken doll. “I have found them.  They are here.”

I leaned in so the man could see me and I gave him a gentle smile as I laid my hand on his cheek.  I whispered in English, “We are here, Marku.”

The man smiled at me and replied in English, “Good... good... that is good...” He slid back into unconsciousness.

I looked at him a moment then turned to see Dru staring at me, a question in his eyes.  I just nodded once, showing him the fire of Wexbury in my eyes.  He nodded back.  We would not let this go unanswered.

He wouldn't allow Tennison to assist him in lashing the injured man to his saddle, then we proceeded to the caravan at a much more sedate rate.  We arrived in a clearing by the ridge and found the wagons I remembered from my time with the Lupei.  They formed a tight ring with only a gap between one to the center.

I heard short whistles and chirps all around us.  Lookouts were all over in the trees.

We dismounted and Dru ran through the gap between the wagons with the limp form of Marku in his arms, bellowing out, “Sylvia!”

Celeste and I were next through the gap and we froze, maybe thirty men and women were standing in an arc, aiming at the gap with bowstrings drawn.  I saw recognition in their eyes and their aim changed slightly to behind us... our knights!

Dru snapped out, “Stand down, they are Wexbury!  They are beholden to our Soras!”  Then he looked around as the archers relaxed and he bellowed again, “Sylvia!”

The healer of the Lupei came rushing forward with two burly men, who Dru handed the broken man to.  Sylvia hesitated a moment to give me a sad smile then she was running off with the men, rattling off orders.  “My wagon now!  I need bandages.  Boil me some water.”

One man said, “Yes Mother.”

I blinked but I realized that with Mother Udele gone, she was next in charge so the title of Mother fell on her... until Udele's heirs, her mostenitors, arrived.

I hoped her healing magics could ease the man's pain quickly like she had done for me in what seems like a lifetime ago.

I looked around the camp, it was barren except the huge fire pit in the center.  I assumed they had everything packed up in case they needed to move on a moment's notice.  All the others and the children must be hidden in the wagons, to give them the scant protection they would provide.  The life, laughter, and wonder that always filled a Gypsy camp was absent.

The archers were greeting us like royalty when Celeste suddenly burst into emerald energy as she drew her sword.  I and our escort were doing the same as they rushed past the archers who were drawing their bows again to point at our knights who stepped past them.  I didn't know what was going on but Celeste called out in the Lupei, “Behind us!  Archers on the ridge!”

I turned, not raising my sword, swinging my head to look up when a half dozen arrows came whizzing down at us.  I felt an arrow bury itself in my chest and I snapped out of the vision of my immediate future.  I had just finished my turn and swung my blade up in front of me in desperation to change the outcome of what I had seen and felt.  Then blinked at my sheer dumb luck as the arrow meant for my heart, struck Anadele's blade instead, splitting the arrow in two, down the entire length of its shaft.

I swallowed hard as I saw one of the luck charms on my sword fade away, spent.  My heart was threatening to beat out of my chest.  I silently thanked Mother Udele for teaching me that my visions were of a possible future if nobody changed their decisions or actions, and not set in stone.

My fellow knights were deftly batting away the incoming arrows with flicks of their blades.  I heard whizzing and whistling behind me as dozens of arrows were loosed by the Lupei.  Two of the snipers went down, another taking a strike to his shoulder.  Most of the arrows just bounced off the attackers armor.  They must not have had charms on the arrows.

Celeste was building her power, she, like me did not have much, but she had the ability to marshal all she had to send it barreling out of her in a focused, compressed burst that left her exhausted.

She issued a primal challenge and I saw a burst of her emerald power that none but those with magic potential could see.  It struck the ridge and rock crumbled and one man came tumbling to his death, eighty feet below, his arms windmilling.  His scream was cut short by a sickening thud.

Then suddenly the other men came flying down after him.  The large form of Sir Tennison loomed at the edge of the cliff with a struggling man held high above his head and he threw the man over to meet his doom with the others.

The big knight looked down at the caravan, sunlight reflecting off his silver armor, tinted red with blood.  And he called down “Sorry we were late.  We were dispatching the rest of this scum.”

Celeste shot him a proud smile, and the man pulled back out of sight.  She looked at the Lupei, “The siege has been broken.”

A cheer went up.

Then she looked at me and the two halves of the arrow at my feet and then was by my side, checking me for injury.  I sighed and assured her, “I'm fine, woman.”

She didn't trust my own assessment and finished her examination.  Satisfied there wasn't blood spurting from my neck or anything, she looked at me with pride.  “That was a hell of a strike, you tore that arrow asunder.”

I blushed and swallowed as I admitted, “It was just dumb luck.”

She rolled her eyes at me and we checked on everyone else.  There had been no casualties.  Then we moved over to the gap as the Knights of Wexbury started trickling in.

Chapter 8 – The Lupei

Sir Scot had a wound to the shoulder, where a blade had struck home at the joint between his armor.  He didn't seem aware that he was bleeding.  Lady Brenda had her left arm in a sling with bloody makeshift bandages wrapped around it.  But she looked strong.

Celeste stepped up to Tennison and they clasped arms as he reported.  “Thirty-seven enemy slain, only minor injuries to our Knights.”  His eyes narrowed. “It would have been much different if they had been in larger groups.  They were well trained and fought smart.  We would have suffered far worse had they been in numbers.”

Celeste just nodded and said, “Well done.”

I contemplated what our big knight had said.  He implied they were a match for us, it was only our greater numbers attacking isolated pairs that afforded us a swift victory.  I had a bad taste in my mouth like I was about to vomit again as I thought of it.  Knights fighting knights.  That wasn't supposed to happen in modern times, we were more civilized than that now, weren't we?  Knights should be fighting marauders and Rogues.

Some women and men came out of the wagons as the all clear was sounded.  They led our injured to Sylvia's wagon.  When an exhausted Sylvia reemerged, she took Scot and Brenda to sit by the fire and started healing them though she looked ready to drop after tending to Marku.  I could feel the misty sheets of silken healing magics from where we stood.

Alexandru whistled shrilly and men started melting out from their hiding spots in the trees surrounding the camp.  If the enemy had tried another rush on the Lupei, I'm sure they would have had a nasty surprise, and I wasn't at all confident the enemy knights had a hope of prevailing.  It made me sad that a peaceful people like this were forced to be willing to commit violence to protect their own.

I moved off to the side as Celeste coordinated with Dru, Tennison, and the camp defenders.  I recognized some of them, and they were no warriors.  There was a tanner and a master carver in their ranks.  I hugged my arms to my chest as I looked at these everyday people who decided to make a stand against a well-trained enemy.  My chest swelled with respect and... pride for them.

When Sylvia had done all she could she led our Knights back to us and I wasn't prepared when she stepped right up to me and engulfed me in a tight hug.  “My Soras, you have returned to us.”  She held one arm out to grasp Celeste's hand.  I don't know who blushed more, my Lady or me.

I asked, “Marku?”

She softly said, “He will recover.  Though he lost one eye.  He is strong.”

I nodded solemnly.

Tennison smiled an almost sad smile and said, “Our rescue mission here is complete.  If we are to stay with the letter of our orders from Prince George and Duke Fredrick, we must depart immediately.”

Sylvia looked annoyed and snapped back, “Nonsense, you can, at least, stay for a celebration meal, we owe you that much oameni de sabie of Wexbury.”  I contemplated the word oameni, it didn't have an English equivalent, I think it meant roughly 'people'.  People of the sword?

Then she turned to me and asked, “That is acceptable... Mother?”

I swallowed and was surprised how hoarse my voice was as I fought back all sorts of conflicting emotions, “Don't call me that.  That implies that Mother Udele is gone.  Just Laney, please Sylvia.”

She nodded and capitulated, “Yes...”  Then she grinned wickedly, “My Sora.”

I whispered through a smile, “I hate you, wench.”

She gave me a cheesy grin and said in Gypsy as Celeste chuckled, “Tough, I love you two.”

She cocked an expectant eyebrow, and I sighed, looked at Celeste, who gave me a smiling nod, and said, “Yes.”

Dru bellowed, “You heard the Soras, prepare a feast for our liberators!”  He clapped his hands and everyone was in motion.  He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.

Sylvia smirked and backhanded his gut.  “You help too you lazy lout.”

He gave her a smile and went about opening wagons and setting up plank tables as the children came streaming out of those amazing houses on wheels.  I never get tired of looking at those gorgeous wagons.  Some shaped like little cottages and others like giant barrels tipped on their sides.

I saw the look of extreme pride she had for her brother as she watched him go.  She enjoyed teasing him but she knew his measure.  He had braved the enemy to get through to us when no other could.

She gave me a small embarrassed smile when I caught her and she shrugged.  “We don't need his head getting any bigger.”

I chuckled with her.

Then she got serious and asked in disbelief, “Please tell me the Realms of the Altii didn't commit this despicable act.”

Celeste shook her head and admitted, “We do not know, but our ruler, Prince George, ordered no such campaign.  It is looking bad right now, but I promise you, we will get the bottom of this and we will make sure those responsible are held accountable.”

She nodded slowly and whispered, “A war council is assembling.  I do not wish to see the time of blood in my lifetime.  It has been over a thousand years since a war council has been called.”

I nodded before Celeste and assured her, “That is why we are here, to vote for patience at the conclave and to find Mother Udele and return her home, where she belongs.  We need to be on the move to Heaven's Gate.”

She looked at us and exhaled then nodded.  She looped an arm in each of ours and dragged us toward the tables.  “After you eat.  You need to keep your strength up.”

It was a grand celebration that followed.  We feasted like it was Holy Day.  Dru told exaggerated stories to the children of our exploits in this mission.  The little ones listened in rapt fascination with wide eyes.

They erupted into tiny cheers when he got to the part where he said, “Sensing the incoming arrow that was headed toward her heart, Sora Laney struck swiftly with her enchanted blade, Anadele, which has split lightning, and tore asunder the great Monolith of the Before.  She cleaved the arrow from tip to feather with an accuracy unheard of.  Then she pointed her blade at the enemy above in unwavering challenge.”

As the children squealed and cheered at that part, I just looked over at Sylvia who was sitting on my left and Celeste on my right, as I said, “Unwavering?  I was scared to death, and it was the charms on my blade that intercepted that arrow.  I saw one rune fade away after that.”

The healer slapped my arm lightly. “Oh shush, I want to listen.  Just smile and be the Sora the children adore.”

I stuck my tongue out at her then looked to Celeste to tell Sylvia.  But she wouldn't look at me.  She just grinned straight ahead like a loon, trying hard not to laugh at me.  I murmured, “A lot of good you are.”  This did get her to explode into laughter.  I broke and smiled at the evil women.  Why was everyone always exaggerating about the things I do?

After the celebration, we bid farewell to our Knights.  I had to smile at Bex and Brenda as they kissed and embraced.  She looked over at me and said, “You bring him home in one piece.”

I nodded and crossed my heart, then she gave me a quick hug and mounted up and we watched them go as the camp was packed up.

Celeste asked, “What's going on?”

Dru stepped up and said, “We are heading to the war council with you.  The rest of the Lupei clan should be there by now.”

I blinked.  They were one of the smallest clans of the Mountain Gypsies.  With twelve bands of two hundred and fifty like this one.  All twenty-five hundred were going to be there?

I blinked and voiced the question, “All of them?”

Dru nodded then sighed. “This attack happened to our family, of course, the whole clan will be there to make sure they are represented.  Although...”  He trailed off.

Celeste cocked an eyebrow and he finished, “There may be some who take exception to Altii being our Soras and may challenge for leadership of the clan.”

Did he mean a fight?  Gypsies fighting over who ruled a clan?  That was against all I thought I knew about them, wasn't it handed down to heirs of the bloodline?  In our case bloodlines since Celeste had bonded our family with Mother Udele's?  It must have been something else and I was reading too much into it.

Before long, we were on the move again, the wagons being pulled by the huge oxen which the Gypsies bred larger than any in the realms.  A messenger was sent forward on a swift horse to inform the conclave that the siege was broken and of our impending arrival.

Sylvia insisted that Celeste and I join her in her wagon after Marku was moved to his family's wagon.  We tethered Canter and Goliath behind the healer's wagon, and our four knights in the diplomatic escort took up flanking positions to guard us.  Dru disappeared into the forest; no doubt to keep watch on the caravan from afar.

Celeste sat at the little table by the wood burning stove with Sylvia while I sat on the bed and was immediately swarmed by little Ingr and her two tiny goats.  She had grown so much since I last saw her.  What was she, four or five now?  She sat on my lap and I hugged her to me as the little goats laid across my legs to be close to their tiny ringleader.

Eli must have been in the other room behind the divider with the little door that separated the interior of the wagon, or up in the wagon's drivers seat with Johan, the man courting Sylvia's mother, Elaine.

As Ingr reached up to play with the scars on my face, Sylvia prompted Celeste in Gypsy, “Tell me what is happening. Why would the Altii do this?  What do they want with Mother Udele and why was it worth killing our people to accomplish it?”

My lady gave her a sad look as the wagon bobbed and swayed in its slow but steady crawl toward Heaven's Gate.  She shrugged. “We really do not know.  But I give my word, that we will find out.  Prince George has also sworn this.”  She pulled a rolled up parchment, with a wax seal bearing the royal crest on it, from her cloak.  She shook it with emphasis then she slid it back into her cloak.

Then she added, “And Duke Fredrick and I pledge the sword of Wexbury to the Lupei.  Our allies, our friends...”  She paused and smiled warmly my way.  “Our family.”

Sylvia gave a sad smile and laid her hand on top of Celeste's.  She repeated as if to enforce it as she looked at me and my lady, “Family.”

I nodded while Ingr, went about pulling my silk glove off to examine the scars there.

My hand ached the moment the charmed, healing glove was off.  I watched the little one as she traced the scars.  I noticed how much better they looked after being in that glove for almost two years.  Sylvia's healing magics, or magiks as they say, can not do very much for injuries that were caused by magic.  But over time, the close contact had made some headway.  The glove eased the pain.

I involuntarily remembered that day at the Monolith when I looked at a hand that was burned almost beyond recognition, it had been more a deformed claw which I could barely move.  Now it was just heavily scarred and throbbed and ached when I moved it when I wasn't wearing the glove that I was gifted by the Lupei.  I shivered a moment as I pushed the poisonous memory away.

Then we all stopped talking when Ingr laid both hands on my hand and closed her eyes.  I could feel unsteady magics well up and the warmth and peace flow through my hand at her touch.  It felt like the warm silken sheets of her mother's healing magic as the pains ebbed in my hand.  She took her hands away and gave me the smile of an innocent child and asked, “Better?”

I blinked at her and nodded.  Her mother looked to be in shock.  I looked at my hand as the pain slowly returned, but not as much and some of the scars looked less severe.  Sylvia moved over quickly and shooed one little goat away to grab my hand to look at it, then at her daughter.  She asked her daughter carefully, “Ingr.  How long have you been able to do that?”

The little one shrugged, held her arms open so the displaced goat could jump up into them, then said as she nuzzled the goat, “Since always.  I wanna be a healer like you one day mama.”

Sylvia was all smiles as she hugged her daughter, squishing the little goat between them as she said to me with pride, “My daughter is of the Touched.”  She looked at my hand and mused, “She could do more for you than I am capable of and she hasn't bloomed yet.  That is what we Altii called igniting when our full power is finally unlocked, generally, after puberty was done wreaking havoc upon us.

I grinned and stroked the little girl's hair and said, “Thank you tiny one.”  I slid my glove back on and the pains receded to nothing as the runes began to shimmer.

Celeste spoke up, I think the moment moved her as well, “Tell us all we have missed since we last saw you, Sylvia.”

I smiled at that and nodded my support for such a grand idea.  We listened to all the wonders they had seen on the trails of the Whispering Walls.  Mother Udele was insistent that her clan travel every inch of every Gypsy trail in them before time caught up with her and claimed her as it had their ancestors.

Little Eli was seven now, and training to be a scout because he idolized his uncle, Dru.  He had a keen eye and knack for seeing movement at great distances.  I remembered when he had gone with his uncle to find the Wexbury expedition to let them know that I had survived a terrible fall into a ravine and to lead them to the caravan.

I think Celeste was remembering the same thing because she looked over at me fondly.  The other knights had told me that it broke her when she believed me to have died.  Syl glanced at us as she sipped her tea while the wagon swayed, she was obviously used to the motion and didn't spill a drop.

She smiled over her cup.  “You two finally opened your eyes to each other?”

I blushed and Celeste leaned forward to grasp my hand for a moment, then she nodded as she sat back in the chair.  I looked down bashfully then smiled at the sleeping Ingr in my lap. The rocking of the wagon must have lulled her to sleep and her two little goats lay on either side of my legs like they were guarding their tiny leader.

Sylvia said in English, “Grand!  When was the betrothal ceremony?”

I swallowed and Celeste chuckled at my reaction. “There hasn't been one, it is not uncommon for a man to sleep with man, nor woman to sleep with woman, but truthfully I have never thought of it.  I am dedicated to my Laney.”

I sighed like a lovesick puppy at that.  She always said things that just reminded me of the passion a fierce warrior like her was capable of.  It was one of the main reasons I loved her so.

Our Gypsy friend smiled over the rim of her cup again and she said, “A pity.  I have never witnessed two more suited to each other.”

I squeaked out before I died of embarrassment, “Can we please change the topic?  My love life is not something I'm comfortable discussing.”

The woman actually giggled at that. “Why ever not?  Sharing one's stories of amorous encounters is ever so much fun.”

I scrunched up my nose, and squinted an eye at her and asked, “Oh really?  So tell us about your last amorous adventure.”

She exploded in a sharp bark of laughter and said with a chuckle, “Changing the topic it is.”

We all shared a laugh at that and it felt good, it felt like family.

Before long, Father Sol was dipping low on the horizon and the caravan made a loose circle in a large clearing where there was already a ring of rocks for a large central fire.  It must have been a well used Gypsy camp.

Ingr almost sprang up like she had springs on her bottom the moment the wagon stopped.  She was full of energy and excitement as she opened the door and simply jumped off the back of the wagon with her four-legged protegees.  Syl laughed at her daughter then swung down the steps and we exited, I heard her mother coming through the partition to join us.

I started to stretch then froze.  Heaven's Gate loomed above us and into the heavens it was named for.  Mother Luna, it was almost more than I could take in.  We had been traveling upward for most of the afternoon and the air had a bit of a nip in it, but I was warm in my spelled cloak.

Sylvia stepped past us and reached up to close my mouth as she chuckled. “You have never seen Father Stone before?”

I shook my head as she handed Celeste and me our swords.  That knocked me out of my wonder, and I sighed as I strapped the belt around my waist.  As Femeie de Sabies, Women of the Sword.  It would be an insult if we did not wear our blades when we were outside.  I thought that was just silly, but I would never insult our hosts.

I was acutely aware of our four shadows and wished they'd just relax, the danger had passed.

I found myself quickly slipping into the Gypsy community as everyone assisted in whatever ways they could contribute to the set up of camp and the preparation of a feast.  I wound up with the children, kneading dough for flatbread as Celeste helped set up the tables.  She was always better at the physical labor than I was.

I had to grin when our friends dropped their escort duty for a while to help out.  It was funny watching Bex trying to lead the oxen, who were nearly as big as horses, to the nearby stream.  A woman covered her mouth so she wouldn't laugh then went to go help the poor man.

I studied the camp intently and had to smile.  The first time I had met the Lupei, I was confused as to how things worked in the camp until I learned that everyone is equal and there is no hierarchy other than Mother Udele being the leader.  I smiled as I watched various people throw branches and wood on the central fire as they went about doing other tasks.

Men and women were giving the little ones tasks, whether they were their own children or not.  The community as a whole raised all of the children as a group effort.

There were times I felt that their way of life was much simpler and ideal than life in the Keep, before and after I had raised to the rank of noblewoman.  I found a familiar smile on my face as I felt I was contributing.

Celeste caught my eye after I heard her laugh heartily at something one of the men she was assisting said.  I felt that familiar warmth inside, knowing that magnificent woman was mine, and she didn't seem to even notice my scars.

I looked idly at my aching hand and flexed it then continued working the dough until Ingr whispered, “Don't over knead it, Sora Laney.”

I looked at the little girl who was trying to look and sound like an adult who was instructing the young.

I crinkled my nose at her and flattened the dough and put it in the basket she was going to carry over to the men and women who were tending the meal on the huge iron grills and open fire oven.  She mirrored my crinkle, which looked too adorable on her and she dashed off.

I looked around as dusted the flour off my hands and replaced my glove, looking for the next task to tackle.  I was caught in mid-stride as Sylvia looped her arm in mine and dragged me to the head of the longest plank table.  She was whispering, “You and Celeste should be sitting at the table, overseeing things.  Then you need to announce the meal when the cooks give you the nod.”

I said, “But I can help.”

She smiled and shook her head. “You help by showing strength, showing that you are looking over us.  Letting us know that we are not without guidance.  You are Mother, in spirit if not in name, until Udele is freed from her captors.”

She looked across the camp and narrowed her eyes and crooked her finger.  Celeste paused in what she was doing, excused herself and came walking over.  Sylvia pointed at the seat beside me like a parent chastising a child and she said, “Sit you, silly woman.  You two do not need to busy yourself with these tasks, you need to lead.”

Celeste looked at me and I blushed and shrugged, then she sat and Syl crossed her arms in satisfaction and nodded once.  “Better.”

I almost chuckled at seeing her ordering my Lady around like that.  Then I complained, “Can't we best lead by example and lend what help we can?”

She lowered her voice and said with the most serious tone I had ever heard from the woman, “This is the best way you can lend support.  By showing our band strength, showing them that the Lupei are not broken.  By showing leadership.”

I pondered her words as I just nodded once in acceptance.  These people had been attacked viciously as they slept.  Their leader was spirited away, and their people killed.  Then they were surrounded and held by unknown knights and sacrificed more men to get word to the only people that they felt could bring order back to their band and rescue them and their beloved Mother.

I studied the strained smiles on the adult's faces around us.  I realized that they smiled and went about their business normally to ally the fears of the children.  I admired these people and I said with surety, “The Lupei are not broken.  You have strength beyond measure.  You have each other.”

Celeste nodded in agreement and just said, “We'll do as you ask, there is wisdom in your words, Sylvia.”

I looked at our friend a moment and could now see the same strain and hope in the shadows in her eyes.  She would make an amazing Mother for her people, I just felt like a charlatan but I would not let her down.  I reached out and clasped her hand between mine, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

She grinned at us then winked as she started wandering off muttering, “Now where has that lazy brother of mine gotten off to?  He doesn't think I noticed he was favoring one side.  He's not as invincible as he thinks.”

I grinned and watched as she made a gesture with her arms and moments later, Dru stepped out of the treeline around the camp like a specter.  I hadn't had a clue where he was watching the camp from, but she obviously knew her brother.

Before long, one of the men at the fire caught my attention and nodded.  I whispered to Celeste, “Were supposed to call people to the table and announce the feast or something like that.”

I looked at her expectantly and the evil woman just clasped her hands in front of her and raised her chin regally as she said, “Well then, you best be about it then, Sora Laney.” She was bound and determined for me to see my end by terminal embarrassment, see if I cuddle with her tonight.

I swallowed and stood, I hadn't said a word but all the activity in the camp ground to a halt as everyone turned to me.  Over two hundred sets of eyes.  I swallowed, trying to find my voice.  They were all looking at me expectantly... me, a simple chicken farmer who was thrust into the role of noble, now princess.

I said in a shaky voice, “Come sit everyone.  Let us feast in celebration of the Lupei and life.”

A cheer went up and everyone started to find seats as the cooks started putting trays of scintillating smelling foods on all the tables.  A few who played instruments started playing a familiar jaunty tune.  Hadn't we heard that recently?  The minstrels in Owensdale had played it though it was slightly different.

Everyone dished up, heaping meats and cheeses, vegetables, fruits, and breads on their plates as Sylvia's family joined us at our table in the space everyone had avoided around us.  I had to smile when a man with an eye patch, looking so very much more alive than the last time I saw him, sat at the next table over.  Marku smiled his thanks over toward us.

Dru looked at our escort and shook his head and told them, “Sit, feast with us.  Do not insult our Soras.”

I knew they would have taken shifts eating after the meal, but Dru intended to guilt them into joining.

He grabbed Verna's hand and kissed the back of it as he pulled her gently to an open area at one table.  Our musclebound friend actually blushed.  I had to grin at that.  She sat and the others joined her.

Celeste whispered to Syl, “Nobody is eating.”

Sylvia said through her smile, not moving her lips, “You have to give a blessing.”

Celeste looked at me and I paled and shook my head.  She stood and raised her glass of sweet berry juice.  “I truly believe that the Lupei are blessed to have such good people, and strength of character beyond reproach.  That alone is a gift beyond measure, a family unbroken.  That we can be among you to share this bounty, is humbling.  To whatever gods may be listening, please bless this meal and the deserving people here.”

Then she smiled and raised her cup, “Dig in!”  Another cheer went up and everyone followed her advice and dug in.

Dru said, “Nicely done.”

Syl nodded her agreement.  I laid a hand on the arm of my blushing Celeste and gave it a little squeeze.  She just grinned down at started eating a thin slice of what smelled like roast venison.

I somehow wound up with a giggling growth on my lap.  Ingr helped me empty my plate.  She accidentally dropped a berry here, a bean there as we ate.  Her bleating cohorts in crime consumed the evidence under the table.

I wondered if it were possible to grow your family beyond blood because I was quickly falling in love with the Lupei all over again.  I realized you could grow your family that way as I looked at the woman beside me, still feeling the luckiest woman in the realm that she had chosen me.

After the meal the entertainment began as people danced and laughed and sang.  Then Dru and a couple others told exaggerated tales that were more fairy tale than truth, to the children who had not already retired to their beds in their wagons.

I laid my head on Celeste's shoulder as we listened, a sleeping Ingr on my lap.  I had to smile, the little one was always sleeping on me.  She had announced that I was her favorite pillow.  My lady absently raised a hand to play with my hair, I don’t even think she realized she was doing it and I just reveled in the attention.

We sat until all the tables and gear was stowed back into the wagons except the one we sat at.  Dru stood and gave us a chivalrous bow.  He wiggled his eyebrows and Celeste and I chuckled at the overly flirty man.  Then he faded into the woods on his steed.

I stood, Ingr cradled in my arms and I handed her to Sylvia.  We started following her to her wagon and took our familiar spot on the bed with the children and goats all around us.  Syl said before she went through the door in the partition to sleep with her mother,  “You two really should use Mother's wagon, it would be more dignified.”

I shook my head, she had tried to get us to do that when we first started out to Heaven's Gate earlier that day, but it just didn't feel right.  It felt like if we did, then we were accepting the possibility that Udele was not coming back.  I whispered, “We belong here, with... family.”

Her eyes seemed to twinkle a bit as she smiled.  She inclined her head to us then disappeared into the other half of the wagon which I realized I still had not seen.

I smiled up at Celeste, who had taken up her usual, protective, big spoon position and then sighed and happily cuddled into my little spoon.

Chapter 9 – Father Stone

I woke up to a woman screaming.  I took a moment to fully awaken from a nightmarish dream to realize that I was the one screaming.  Celeste was shaking my shoulders gently and Ingr was shaking my hand.  The red headed knight of my heart said, “You were dreaming, Laney.  Was it a vision?”

I nodded, gasping and wiping sweat from my face. “It was all broken up, jumbled.  So it was farther in the future, days away as it had been on our mission to Far Reach.  Mother Udele beaten and bloody.  She... she was smiling.  Dark Knights descending.  Pain.  Power.  I was searching, being pursued.”

I shook my head, that was all I could remember as it faded.  She held me, “Shh... it's ok.  You're safe.  I'm here.”

I giggled nervously when Ingr glommed onto my waist and assured cutely, “I'm here too, Sora Laney.”

Then I looked down and snorted. “Eli is still sound asleep.”

I almost jumped out of my skin and I felt Celeste reach for her sword that wasn't there when someone next to us said, “It is about time you woke up ladies.”

I glanced at the little table by the wood burning stove in by the door, and a grinning Sylvia and  Elaine, who were finishing some of that divine smelling porridge they ate for breakfast.  I noticed the wagon was jostling, we were moving.  How long had we been on the road?  We must have been exhausted from the eventful day yesterday.

Elaine added, “We will reach the Meeting Spot in a few hours, you need to eat.”  She said it like Meeting Spot was a title.

Celeste noticed too and asked, “Meeting Spot?”

Sylvia said as she spooned up four bowls of porridge and drizzled maple syrup over them,  “It is where the conclave meets on Father Stone.  It has not been used in my lifetime, but Mother Udele often spoke of the meeting that was held during the Great Mage Wars of the Altii, where the People decided to wait it out to see what became of the Realms rather than interfere.”

She handed the three of us bowls and Ingr began shoveling it in as fast as she could bring her spoon to her mouth.  Eli magically awoke at that and swung up to sit in bed and accept his breakfast.  I had to grin, food usually woke up Jace too when we lived in Cheap Quarter.  It struck me that little Eli was about the same age as Jace was back then.

I asked as I ate the porridge, “Why do you call Heaven's Gate, Father Stone?”

She smiled and her eyes twinkled with mischief.  “It was from Father Stone that the People were saved from the cataclysm.  From the Great Impact.  He held the only water and forest in the barren lands which you call the uninhabitable lands.  He was an oasis in all the death that followed the cataclysm that gave our people what we needed to live.  Resources, food, water.”

She slid into storytelling mode easily and I could tell from that alone, that she was Dru's sister, if their striking resemblance to each other hadn't.

“The lands that had held so much life in the Before was shattered.  Father Stone stood witness to the fall of the great Wizards of the Before and the rise of the People.  You could walk across the inhabitable lands in seven days in any direction.”

She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows like her brother.  “Then he spread across the dead lands left behind, over the centuries he has reclaimed the lands for the living, and our world expanded and continues to grow from the life he has breathed into it.  One day, the Earth will again be alive, a gift to us from Father Stone.”

She clasped her hands in front of her, lacing her fingers, and said with excitement, “Then one day, strangers visited our mountains.  We were shocked, believing the People to be the only humans to have survived.  We rejoiced and greeted the Others, the Altii.  They came in great numbers to settle on our land and set up great kingdoms.”

She lowered her voice. “They brought violence and sickness too.  But we were patient with the Altii.  They were but children in the eyes of Father Stone.  When they tried to claim our mountains as their own, thinking we had no teeth, the People held our first war council at the Meeting Spot.”

She grinned wickedly. “Great Mother Ezabelle taught us temperament.  We had numbers that could wipe the Alti from the lands, but she bid us patience.  We showed the Altii our strength, our numbers.  But our magik scared them the most, they had not witnessed such power, and it gave them pause.”

She sat tall in respect, her voice strengthening. “Then a wise ruler of the Altii from Highland Reach had traveled to the lands, he ruled over all the realms of the Altii.  He bid them all temperament as well.  Reminding them that they were guests of our land and were there at our convenience.  King Derek the Righteous set up a parlay with his people and us and forged peace that has held until the day Mother Udele was taken.”

She added an interesting fact I did not know. “He was the first of the Altii to ever bloom with the odd elemental magics of your people.”

I thought about that a moment.  If he were the first, after he had come to the Lower Ten.  And others started igniting after that, was it something about these lands or these mountains that awakened the magic in those with the potential throughout the realms?

I passed my empty bowl back to Elaine, who was reaching for it, my hand ghosting.  I had got caught up in the excitement of the story and the power was leaking out again.

Sylvia smiled at me and asked, “You cannot control your gift? It is amazing you can wield both the magic of the Altii and the magik of the People.”

I shrugged in embarrassment.  “I have no one to teach me.  It just sort of does whatever it wants.”

She scowled at that and said, “I can help you understand and control your gifts.  But not the sight.  Only Udele or Marion can help you with that gift.”

Elaine mock spit to the side. “A curse is the sight.  Some say a gift, but they have not seen what it does to Udele and Marion.  Udele is strong and can handle it, but Marion... the poor girl never leaves her wagon.”

I agreed with Elaine.  It was a curse I wish I were never given, but then I shuddered when I remembered how it had saved me just one day aforetime from that arrow.  I guess you had to learn to take the good with the bad.

We spent the next couple hours with her instructing me in the basics of controlling the spirit element.  She laughed heartily at my poor attempts at charming our clothing.  When I told her that Dru had shown me how to construct each rune she laughed even louder then said, “That silly man.  He has potential but has never bloomed.  He wouldn't know a charm if it came up and bit him.”

I defended the poor man. “He knew which runes were for which purpose.”

She shook her head in amusement, she loved teasing her brother.  She explained, “The magick does not act in any particular way because of a rune mark.  They are simply for a frame of reference, to give the caster a focus to pour power into, and to allow others of the Touched to quickly identify each casting.”

She furrowed her brow for a moment then brightened.  “As it was taught to me, magik of the spirit element follows the will of the caster the best it can and persists until its energy is fully expended, unlike magic of the Altii which is exhausted as soon as it is cast, with few exceptions, like containment vessels and limited illusions.  Though illusion requires the caster to continually pour a trickle of magic into to keep it persistent.”

Then she smiled and said, “Everything in the magic of the People is intent.  So if you wish a spell to imbue fabric to keep one warm, that is what you concentrate on as you allow your power to seep into the material.  The runes only give you a focus.  You are writing the symbol for warmth, so it is simpler for you to maintain your focus and intent on that warmth.  You can accomplish the same with no symbol at all but it is harder to focus on the desired result.”

She looked at my furrowed brow as I nodded, trying to understand.  “So it isn't the symbol itself that dictates what the power does, it is simply the intent of the caster?”

She nodded and I continued, “So it would have the same effect if I wrote 'warmth' with the energies in English?”

She nodded again and supplied, “Or writing nothing at all, like your hand print, but you would have to maintain your focus on the desired outcome for it to be successful.”

She pulled out two exquisite dresses from a drawer that was part of the bed platform, I had never noticed the drawers down there, they ingeniously utilize every nook and cranny in these wonderful moving houses.  Then she went about instructing me the proper way to calm my thoughts and tightly focus on constructing runes while blocking out all outside stimuli.  I was happy that my attempts were much more crisp and defined than the ones I had done myself with Dru helping.

She showed me how to keep the magik inside from showing itself.  I would need a lot of practice because it was exhausting to hold it back.  She contemplated it. “It may be something beyond you, Sora Laney.  You have but a spark of power compared to even the weakest of the Touched so maybe you will never fully master containing it.”

I exhaled in a long sigh, I was used to being under-powered.  Donovan told me that given time, my abilities may get stronger, like exercising a muscle.  I hoped so, because I felt so helpless at times, wishing I had more power so I could help out my allies better.

Sylvia read this in my face and covered my hand on the little table with hers and said, “Do not fret, it is not the quantity of power that you hold that matters, it is how you wield that power that matters.  You believe that you are inadequate in any ability, but I believe that it is just because you have a far wider range of abilities than any I have ever heard of, both elemental magic of the Altii, and of the People.”

She smiled warmly. “Plus you hold the compassion and empathy of any three people.  Only so much of each can fit inside such a tiny person like yourself, and you are already filled to capacity, that is why the spirit element spills out of you like a full cup of water sloshing out as you run.”

I smiled at her short person tease, I'd get her for it later when she wasn't expecting it.  I contemplated what she was telling me.  I had never thought of it before.  Perhaps I wasn't truly underpowered.  Perhaps all of my abilities added up would make one normal magic user.  It was sort of comforting except for the fact that that knowledge didn't help me defend my friends in a battle.

Then she went and shattered that thought by repeating what Donovan, Mother Udele, and Celeste keep telling me, “Even the smallest thing can have an enormous impact on the outcome of any event.”

I smiled at that, then subconsciously flexed my damaged hand, knowing that even though I had found that to be true on many occasions, there was still a cost for every action.

She stood suddenly and clapped her hands toward the children who were fascinated with my lessons.  “Off with you little scamps.  The Soras need to prepare, we will be at the Meeting Spot in a few minutes.”

The giggling children and goats dashed through the connecting door.

Celeste asked, “Prepare?”

Sylvia spoke to my Lady like she was a thick child.  “You cannot meet with the conclave in peasants clothing.”  She inclined her head to the two beautiful dresses that now had a dozen practice charms on each.  They were a rich buttercup yellow with forest green piping and sashes.

She got a basin and poured water into it from a flat bottomed pitcher, grabbed a small towel then said, “I retrieved those from Mother Udele's wagon.  Please stand Sora Laney.”

I swallowed.  She had done this to me before.  It seemed like a ritual to me.  I looked at Celeste, who just grinned at me.  She was no help whatsoever.  I stood bashfully.

Then Sylvia seemed to get very serious and silent as she carefully removed my dress and undergarments one at a time.  I felt naked to the world in front of her and my love.  I tried crossing my arms over my breasts, but the healer slapped my arm gently and I dropped them to my sides.

The look of awe on Celeste's face had me blushing as Sylvia slowly washed my entire body,  She slowed at my back as she traced each scar I had received from the whipping I took so long ago for sneaking into the library of the Techromancy Scrolls.  Then again, she traced the burn scars on my face, arm, and leg.

Then she dressed me in one of those requisite dresses and braided my hair.  Tying the braids off with forest green ribbon.  She quietly said, almost startling me in the silence, “Yellow is the color of the People.  The green both represents the Lupei clan and designates you as a leader.”

She put my boots on me and slid my little dagger into the sheath inside my left boot.  The other knights teased me about my dagger, calling it a paring knife.

She took up Anadele, and just as though it were a solemn ceremony, she wrapped the belt with its many pouches around my waist, my blade at my hip.  She smiled at me as she hung my tool pouch over my shoulder.  Then she bowed her head.  “Mother.”

I looked over at Celeste and she mouthed, “Beautiful.” to me and I looks at my feet feeling bashful in such finery.

Then Sylvia said, “Please stand Sora Celeste.”  That caused my lady's smile to falter.  Ha, take that.  I sat on the bed and watched as Celeste went through what I had.

The sight of her unclothed always made my heart hurt, I loved her with every fiber of my being.  She was so sublimely feminine under her garments.  She always projected such strength, but this reminded me of the soft, and gentle woman when was behind that strength.

I watched in utter fascination as the ritual proceeded, I had never seen it from this side, and it was something beautiful, something reverent.  The whole time, Celeste's eyes were seeking mine.  I saw insecurity and longing for approval that she would show to none but me.  To others she was a paragon of strength, to me, she was so beautifully human, seeking approval from one she loved.

I approved.  I showed her with my smile.

When her weapon was secured on her back, and Sylvia gave her a reassuring smile and addressed her, “Mother.”  I was slightly embarrassed.  Her dress came down just below her knees, just covering the tops of her tall leather boots, mine hung to my ankles.

Then we all exchanged smiles and the wagon slowed to a halt.  I narrowed my eyes as Johan called out, “We've arrived.”

It was sort of unnerving how all of the Lupei seemed to have this uncanny knack for timing.  Almost as if it were something instinctual.  That was a mystery for another day as Syl just grinned at us mischievously as Celeste and I exchanged suspiciously amused looks.

The others joined us from the partition and Elaine reached over and put my hand in the crook of Celeste's arm.

I had heard it before we exited the wagon.  It sounded like our crowded market.  There were hundreds of people out there.  There was a knock at the door.  Sylvia said, “They are ready Dru.”

The man opened the door for us and gave a genuine smile that was twinkling in his eyes.  He placed both hands over his heart and bowed deeply while standing in the doorway.

Then he moved aside, still in his bow, and made an ushering motion.  Celeste and I stepped out onto the back platform of the wagon to witness Gypsy wagons as far as the eye could see.  In a large clearing at the very base of Heaven's Gate, which dominated the skyline.  The imposing mountain disappearing into the clouds above.

But that was not what was the most surprising.  I was stunned by the sea of people in front of us.  When they saw us, a huge cheer went up, and oddly a small amount of boos as well.  A group of heavily armed men and women stepped up, dressed all in solid green.

Sylvia whispered behind us, “Duly appointed stewards of the conclave.”

Ah, security, like the Duke's castle guard.

One woman bowed to us then said in heavily accented Gypsy, “Mothers, we are to escort you to the war council.”  They didn't waste any time, did they?

Celeste nodded and they just stood there until we descended the fold down steps, our Wexbury Escort stepped up to flank us and all hell broke loose.

Mother Luna!  All of the stewards drew their weapons on our knights in an instant, and more appeared from the crowd everywhere with blades drawn.  From endless hours of drills, our knights, Celeste and I all had our weapons drawn moving into a half arc to protect each others backs.  I was confused and scared, what in the hell was going on?

Celeste was growling dangerously at the stewards.  “Stand down!  What is the meaning of this?”  Her emerald power was rippling down her arm and dribbled off her blade as sparks of excess energy dripped from her eyes.  I knew that amber sparks were doing the same from mine as the world was alive in colors and tastes of the various metals around us.  I could see a couple of the stewards glowing bright wispy white.  They had much more power than Celeste and me.

One of the men hissed in Gypsy, “What are these Altii dogs doing here?  They are the ones who have slaughtered innocents of the People!”

Celeste growled in English, “They are our diplomatic escort from Wexbury.  They are duly appointed representatives from Prince George himself.”

The crowd was getting louder and more aggressive.  It hit me like a wave.

Then a familiar, strong and melodic woman's voice sounded out in the tongue of the People, over all of the commotion and everyone including Dru and Sylvia all dropped to a knee, bowing low.  “Stand down!”

Someone murmured, “Great Mother Ranelle.”

Great Mother?  She was the ruler of all the families of Gypsies.  Someone unanimously elected by all the clans to speak for them all.  The most powerful and respected of all Gypsies.

Celeste and I looked at each other then went to a knee and lowered our heads too, our blades rested on a knee, our knights following suit.  It was silent on the mountain, the only sound was the sound of padding feet getting closer.

Then some feet came into view in front of me, and the fringe of a rich green dress with forest green piping.  I swallowed hard and found it hard to breathe.  She was Prince George's counterpart.  I was acutely aware that I was nothing but a chicken farmer playing at knight, in front of someone of such great importance.

The woman said in an amused tone in accented English, “So we meet again, Mothers.  Please, get up, it does not befit your station to grovel so.”

We looked up at her and stood.  My mouth just hung open in shock as I took in the young woman.  She was barely older than I was.  Not only was she the ruler of the Gypsies, but she was also the woman who sang with the minstrels in Owensdale.

She had a smirk on her face that matched the one on Celeste's.  I sputtered, keeping my head low.  “But... but you said you hailed from the Andrei clan.”

She chuckled and lifted my chin up to force my eyes to meet hers, “I do, we all must hail from somewhere don't we?  And what about you, did you not fail to tell me you were the Mother's of the Lupei?”

My face heated and I heard a tinge of anger in my own voice that surprised me as I corrected her, “Soras.  Mother implies we have lost Udele.”  I looked down for my insolence and waited for the strike for being so presumptuous.

Instead, she nodded once, “Soras then.”

I heard approval in her tone.

Then she sounded amused as she confided, “Forgive me the deception, but I had to see this Femeie de Sabie of the Altii, who fell from the heavens and lived.”

I shuddered at the memory of my fall from the cliff, and the death of Lord Samuel.

She tilted her head at me.  “Impossible stories are circulating throughout the clans about you.  I knew from what I had heard that you would not let the siege of the Lupei stand, and that to liberate them, you would need to travel through Owensdale.”

She chuckled. “I had to see you for myself discreetly before the conclave met so I could form my own opinions of you.  So I waited in Owensdale, to find naught but a girl full of compassion and her warrior woman.”

She made me look at her again and she smiled and said, “I approve of Udele's choice to form a blood bond with you.  You have heart and passion for those less fortunate than you.  Do not think what you did for the children of the village went unnoticed.”

Celeste spoke next, with humor and question in her voice, “You are little more than a girl yourself. Great Mother.”

The woman beamed with almost childish delight at that and she shot a smile and winked at me.  “I will be fifty this coming season.  I am of the Touched, and more power flows through me than any other of the People.  It has slowed my aging.”

I blurted, “Fifty?”  She could pass for my older sister.  I slapped my hands over my mouth, it was always getting me into trouble.  But I found myself laughing at her girlish giggle at my reaction.  I whispered, “Sorry, Great Mother.”

She chuckled and said, “Do not be, I take it as a compliment.”  She looked around like she hadn't noticed all the people around her taking a knee.  She made frantic rising motions with her hands.  “Come now everyone, get up.  You know I don't like that.”

Everyone rose then she held up a finger to the steward who was about to speak again.  He relaxed and stood at attention as she asked Celeste, “So please, ally our fears and tell us why knights like the very ones who attacked the Lupei and absconded with their Mother are in your party.”

Celeste began, “Great Mother...”

The Gypsy ruler exhaled heavily, dropping her eyes and shaking her head as she interrupted, “By all that is sacred.  Would you two stop addressing me as such?  It gets rather tedious.  Please call me  Ranelle and I will call you Laney and Celeste.”

I blushed. “I don't think I can do that Great Mother.”  Years of proper decorum of being naught but a serf was pounded into me.  Addressing nobles in the Keep, who shouted at me that it was disrespectful not to address a noble by their title.

She squinted one eye at me and said to the gathered crowd in her native tongue, “As Great Mother of the People I decree it.”  Then she crinkled her nose at me in a 'so there' manner and said, “It is done.”

Celeste chuckled.  I think at me.  Then she started over.  “Ranelle, Prince George himself...”

She pulled out the sealed scroll and handed it to her.  “Has tasked them as a diplomatic escort to assure our safety in this peace mission and the rescue of Mother Udele.  He pledges to you that he had not sanctioned any such attack against the Lupei, and further pledges to find who was responsible and bring them to justice.”

Ranelle broke the wax seal and unrolled the parchment and read it while she grinned and said, “Assure your safety?  Do not think I do not know who you are, Lightbringer of the Altii.  I witnessed your deeds at York from afar.  Your blooming was like a beacon in the night that lit up the lands.  You need no protection.”

Celeste blushed and again I wished I could have witnessed the great battle of York to see my lady ignite.  I hear rumors that even those without magic potential were blinded by it.  I smiled slyly, Lightbringer, I would have to file that away for future teasing.

My lady said in an embarrassed tone as she admitted, “It may be that we wanted a fighting force to confront the ones who perpetrated such a heinous act.”

The smirk that  Ranelle gave her was almost cute.  I was having a hard time reconciling the fact that someone who looked Celeste's age was really fifty and the ruler of tens of thousands.  She inclined her head in acceptance of that.

Then she asked the hard question, “Can you explain why the men who did this, wear the armor of the realms?”

Celeste shook her head and admitted, “That confounds us as well.  They are trained in the arts of combat like our knights, and wear fitted armor like our knights, with all recognizable markings and crests destroyed to conceal their origins.”

The woman searched Celeste's eyes and I felt power flowing and saw the barest wisp of mist touching my girl.  Then she nodded in satisfaction and looked at me for a second, she grinned at me, knowing I had caught her questing for truth with her magic.

She looked back at Celeste. “Then tell me, what will your Prince do if it is found that it is one of the Altii realms...”  She paused and narrowed her eyes. “Specifically Solomon... who perpetrated that act?”  She knew something that we didn't though we already suspected some rogue element from Solomon.

Celeste didn't hesitate, and I saw her own thirst for vengeance, her need to right a wrong, in her burning eyes as she said, “Then Highland, Wexbury, and our allies, will bring all we have to bear against Solomon if it proves to be true.”

Ranelle inclined her head at that, accepting her word, then turned to her stewards and said, “Accord our guests of the crown all due respect.”

They all replied as one in a reluctant tone, “Yes, Great Mother.”

Then she added to us as an afterthought, “But they must surrender their weapons to the Lupei family while they are here at the Meeting Spot.”

Verna narrowed her eyes and looked at Celeste, who gave an imperceptible nod and our Knights pulled all of their weapons, Bex taking a longer to get out of his backpack and disconnect all of his gadgets.  Celeste and I offered our blades and daggers as the Lupei took the weapons from the others with great respect, except from Verna.

Ranelle looked almost horrified at us and snapped out, “What are you doing?  It will show great disrespect to the conclave if a Femeie de Sabie is without her blade.”  She was positively pale.

Celeste inclined her head in respect and re-sheathed her blades.  I followed suit.  Verna hesitated then slid her oversize split broadsword, who she lovingly called Gertrude, back into her scabbard over her shoulder.  The beast weighed nearly twenty pounds and she wielded it as easily as a short sword.

I snorted and winced because I did, at the show as Sir Bowyn kept pulling blades out from everywhere, concealed in pockets in his armor and boots.  Then just before the Lupei woman who was being loaded down with his weapons departed, he held up a finger as he remembered something and pulled a small throwing dagger from under is armor in an unmentionable location. Ranelle chuckled at the roguish man who wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Was she blushing?  I swear that man is as bad as Dru.

Then she looped her arms in ours and said, “Come, we mustn't keep the rest of the conclave waiting.  They want justice and we cannot convene without all of the clans represented.”

Chapter 10 – Vote

As we moved through the wagons, I asked in amazement, “How many of the People are in attendance?  There are so many wagons.”  I had only expected a representative of each family.

Ranelle chuckled at me, “This is just the Lupei family, three-quarters of their number have arrived with more to come.”

She paused at a wagon, then pulled us up to stand on the drivers seat so we could see over the wagons, they seemed to go on forever.  She explained, “About a half of the People have arrived for the War Council, they will still be arriving for days.”

I blanched, there were over thirty-five thousand people here?  I imagined just a fraction of that number armed with bows and swords descending upon any realm and shuddered.  We needed to keep the peace.  Just what have these mystery knights unleashed upon the world?

The look Celeste gave her as she locked her eyes on the Gypsy's dark eyes, spoke volumes to me.  She had made the same realizations I just had and she thought Ranelle didn't just satisfy my curiosity.  It was also a display of strength, a warning to the realms.

They each inclined their heads slowly at each other like two warriors who had made each others will known, who had taken a measure of each other.  Then Ranelle's face broke into an easy grin as she hopped down from the wagon and waited for us to join her.  “Come now Soras, the conclave awaits.”

Celeste jumped down and held her hands up for me to jump.  I blushed and said, “I can get down myself, woman.  She kept her arms up and I rolled my eyes and hid my grin and jumped.  She caught me easily and lowered me to the ground.

Then I went to move behind the ruler, our ebony haired hostess, and to her left like any noble of higher rank.  She was having none of that as she looped her arms in ours and dragged us along as she hummed a merry tune.

I glanced back to see the stewards and our escort were in tow with hundreds of Lupei following behind.  I know I betrayed my status as Knight and Sora of the people, but I was looking everywhere in amazement.

The wagons we passed were fascinating, I was starting to pick out the different bands of the Lupei clan by the style of painting and symbols on each wagon.  Each group was clumped together and there were endless creative types of wagons, as individual as each family that lived in them.  Just as we would decorate our cottages back in the Keep to give them our own unique look and feel.

Then the colors all changed after a bit, and I could tell we had moved through the Lupei and into another clan's camps.  Again I was struck by the variety.  They seemed to have more rugged and utilitarian wagons.

We walked in relative silence as the thousands of people we passed all quieted to bow and stare at their ruler passing through with strangers, and I could see the hate in their eyes; knights of the Altii.  Ranelle didn't seem to notice the looks they were giving our knights, but I was already learning that not much slipped past her.

We finally reached a smooth stone arc that seemed inset into the base of the mountain itself, at least, a hundred yards across.  I glanced past at the smooth, level surface as we walked across it.  It was too flat, too level, to unnatural to have been made by the elements.  I couldn't imagine the labor and stone masons involved to have hewn this from the mountainside so precisely.  The Gypsies keep surprising me more and more.

The crowd seemed to avoid this arc.  They ringed around it in a tight circle, everyone jockeying for a spot in which to see.  Children were sitting on their parent's shoulders to get a good view.

At the far end of the arc was a huge, ancient looking table made of large dark hardwood timbers. Tied together with great straps of iron that seemed to have no rust.  The wood showed age and wear of the countless years it had no doubt been resting in that spot.  It radiated history like it was from a bygone era.

Seated around three sides of it were twelve people, with an empty seat in the middle of the group.  On the empty side of the table, with its back to Heaven's Gate, was a huge chair made of the same great timbers as the table.  It looked almost like the thrones I have seen in some of the writings in the Techromancy Scrolls in the library.  Or the storybook tomes mother used to read to Jace and me from.

The crowd parted for us as they bowed to their Great Mother, and we stopped at the edge of the smooth arc and she looked back past the stewards to our knights.  “You must stay here and not set foot on the grounds of the Meeting Spot.

Celeste held up her hand to stop their protests.  The nodded, clearly distressed, but complied.  Then Ranelle led us onto that smooth stone surface as her people stood again and the crowd started murmuring all around the arc.

She silently led us on her arm to the empty chair facing the great throne chair.  The stewards followed and made a line on the opposite side of the table behind the great chair.

Ranelle bowed her head slightly to the people in rich flowing, colorful robes and said in a voice that carried almost too loud to be natural, “The Lupei.”

We were met with looks of almost open hostility from the group, but they nodded in acceptance to us and Celeste and I inclined our heads back.  I realized these were the leaders of all the clans.  I had to fight off the need to bow and show fealty.  Ranelle offered the chair and I looked back at Celeste and she gave me a reassuring smile and inclined her head to the seat.  I sat and she stood behind me.

Ranelle walked around the huge table, it must have been forty feet long and looked even more ancient and impressive up close.  I wondered how it had survived the elements for so long.  Then I answered my own question when I recognized misty runes all along the iron bands that tasted of ancient magiks.

She took a seat then said again in that loud tone, “The conclave is complete, the War Council can now convene.”

I blinked.  Already?  We had just arrived and I didn't have a clue what was expected of us.

One woman stood and said, “Point of order.”

She looked to be over sixty, and had a striking resemblance to Ranelle, except her hair was more silvery white than black.

Her voice carried like Ranelle's had.  Then I realized that it was the rounded cutout in the mountain itself behind the table, it was amplifying the sounds within it like when entertainers at Carnival used a similar structure behind their stages.

Our hostess closed her eyes and sighed. Then opened them again and said almost tediously.  “The People recognize the Andrei clan.”

The Andrei?  Isn't that where Ranelle had said she hailed from?  I looked between the two, at their similar looks and their eyes that seemed to mirror each others.  Was this Ranelle's mother?

The elder woman looked at us as she said, “We do not recognize these Altii standing for the Lupei.”  There were murmurs of agreement from the others.

Ranelle inclined her head, recognizing her argument but said, “Mother Udele of the Lupei clan accepted a blood bond with them, there have been many witnesses to confirm this.  This makes them her mostenitors.”

The woman looked at her for a long moment and seemed to concede the point but countered, “There can be only one voice to represent the Lupei.”  She narrowed her eyes almost in a challenge to Celeste before she turned her gaze on me with a smirk.  “At least, the child is Touched by the magik of the People.  I propose that she speak for the Lupei.”

I froze.  If anyone should speak at a war council, it was Celeste.  And this woman from the Andrei knew that.  I started to open my mouth to protest, but my Lady squeezed my shoulders with her hands she had rested on them.

Ranelle exhaled in a long sigh then inclined her head almost reluctantly to the group, then asked, “What say you?”

She said the name of each family and each responded with a “Yea.”

Ranelle sighed again and shook her head sadly and looked past me to Celeste. “I am sorry Lightbringer, but the conclave has spoken.  Mother Laney will speak for the Lupei.  You must step off of the Meeting Spot.”

There were murmurs among the conclave and more rippling through the crowd at the mention of Lightbringer.  I snapped my eyes over to a smug looking Ranelle.  Our hostess had used that name just for the reaction.  She has wanted everyone to know exactly who Celeste was.  It seemed there was some sort of game being played here that I didn't know all the rules to.

I looked back at my girl almost in terror, I could not do this with a war against the realms at stake, I was a nobody, a herder.  She gave me a reassuring smile and she whispered.  “You will do fine Laney, just follow your heart.”

She looked at Ranelle and gave her a deep bow.  “Yes, Great Mother.”  She added an acknowledging tilt of her head to the others and paused a moment to exchange looks with the  Andrei representative.  I swear she made her eyes flare with the brilliant emerald light on purpose as she smiled.  The woman paled and my lady turned and stepped away, heading back to our knights on the periphery of the stone arc.

The Andrei Mother gained her wits about her and she seemed to smile back at someone in the crowd.  I followed her gaze to a woman who appeared to be about thirty, with chestnut hair pulled back into a tail behind her.  She was dressed similarly to the people from the Lupei camp.  It seemed there were games afoot.  I needed a scroll of rules for these apparent machinations.

Ranelle gave me a sympathetic smile, then straightened up and said, “NOW the conclave is complete, the War Council can now convene.”

That woman from the crowd yelled out, “Point of order.”

Ranelle rolled her eyes and hissed out, “Oh for the love of the stars above, what now?”  She glared over at the woman and said, “The People recognize Sarafine of the Lupei.”

The woman bowed and said, “Thank you, Great Mother.”  She walked to the center of the arc and said as she acknowledged the conclave then turned to survey the crowd, “I formally challenge Laney of the Altii for the leadership of the Lupei.  She is not one of us and is not fit to hold the title of Mother.”

There was another wave of murmurs throughout the crowd.  Ranelle hissed out a word that did not befit a lady of her standing.  To the conclave, she almost growled, “What say you?”

But Sarafine loudly said, “By single combat.”

I noticed the sword that hung on her hip for the first time.  I swallowed, keeping down my panic and my power.  Not many women of the People took up the sword, those who did were looked upon with great respect.

I saw a glint of hesitation on her face as her eyes rested on Anadele, she must have heard the exaggerated rumors about her, she was nervous too.  She added, “By hand and wills.”

Ranelle almost roared out, “It is customary for the conclave to vote on succession.  There has not been a rite of combat in centuries.”

Sarafine just inclined her head and asked, “It is my prerogative to issue such challenge, is it not Great Mother?”

All eyes were on their leader, who looked ready to explode.  I could feel immense energies building and bubbling at her surface as she began to glow brightly as she said through gritted teeth, “It is.  Though nobody has used that barbaric rule in dozens of lifetimes.  We have learned the way of peace since it was last employed.”

My mind was starting to speed up and catch on to everything that had transpired in the past few minutes.  The conclave was mad, and rightfully so, about the Altii attacking and killing some of their own.  They... they wanted war.  To seek vengeance.  They knew that we would vote for temperance and beg time to find out what truly transpired and to rescue Mother Udele before a final vote could occur.

That is why they argued against allowing us to represent the Lupei. I was told that a war vote needed to be unanimous.  And they planned on challenging our leadership of the clan, that is why they removed Celeste, they knew of her skill and battle prowess and Sarafine would stand no chance.  Once she bested me, then they could get their unanimous vote and Ranelle wouldn't have a say in the outcome.

I knew the game now and I was not going to play by their rules.  Cooler minds must prevail.  I understood their pain and rage, but decisions should never be made out of anger.  It makes us do things not in our character, some things that we cannot take back, things we cannot live with once they are done.

Ranelle sighed and then stood and declared, “Sarafine of the Lupei challenges Mother Laney to single combat by hand and by wills for the leadership of the Lupei clan.”

Two stewards stepped over to Sarafine and two stepped behind my chair and indicated I should follow them.  I walked woodenly, my legs threatening to give out under me.  I looked over at Celeste, who was being held back and calmed by Bowyn and Verna.  She met my eyes then calmed and just nodded once at me.

The stewards backed off, leaving us in the center of the arc as Ranelle stepped up to us, almost gliding across the floor.  “This challenge will be over when one yields or is dead.  The victor will gain the mantle of Mother of the Lupei.”  Then she added with venom in her voice to Sarafine, “Until such time as Mother Udele is returned to us.”

She looked at me and explained, “The challenge stipulated by hand and by wills, you may use no other weapons than your innate magiks or fists.  To do so would result in your life forfeit.  Do you understand Mother Laney?”

I nodded hesitantly and she took four or five steps back and said, “Then begin.”

The crowd roared as Sarafine took an open-handed stance I had never seen before.  I held my hands down near my sides, palms out and said as I felt her gathering power, and white mist started roiling around her hands. “I will not fight you Sarafine, I have no quarrel with you, our quarrel is with those who have wronged the People.”

She screamed. “You are a coward you Altii dog!  Do not associate yourself with the People, do not presume to think you understand us.  Your kind are arrogant children who destroy all that they touch.  We have tolerated you for too long!”

She thrust a hand forward and mist shot out at me faster than my eyes could follow and it struck my shoulder with as much force as being kicked by a horse and pain flashed through every nerve in my body as my system was shocked.  I went tumbling across the ground and stood back up shakily.  I shook off the residual buzzing of magic that mine consumed.  Because I am an Adept, I have the ability to convert energy, whether it is magic or electricity, for my own use.  I just let the energy dissipate from my body in a thin wispy mist.

I have no doubt that the strike would have killed me if the magic had persisted.  So that had to have been one of the curses of the People I had heard about.  They use their magik for constructive purposes mostly, charms and the like, but Mother Udele had shared with me once that it can also be used for malicious purposes like curses.

I gasped for air, my chest felt like it was on fire from the impact.  I faced her again without raising my guard as she approached.  I repeated, “But I am of the People.  My father, Nicholas, was a Mountain Gypsy Rover, who became enamored with my mother and settled in Wexbury as a herder.  I have Gypsy blood in my veins, that is why I can wield the magiks of the spirit element.”

That made her pause in her approach.  She narrowed her eyes and said, “You lie.  You are trying to save your own worthless hide.  All know that you carry but a spark and no true power.  You are a charlatan.”

I shook my head and tried not to allow my fear to make me start shaking.  Mother taught me to never show weakness.  I stood tall and raised my chin and repeated, “I am not your enemy.  I will not fight you.”

She shrieked a challenge and hit me with a barrage of strikes from her magic that made me feel as though I were being trampled in a stampede. Every fiber of my being felt as if it were being held over hot coals as I tumbled relentlessly across the stone ground and collided with the people in the crowd who just pushed my body back into the arc.

I could taste blood in my mouth as I pushed away the multiple castings that were eating away at my body and mind.  I staggered back to my feet as her power flowed out of me to disperse into the winds.  The crowd was no longer cheering the fight on.  It was silent as I slurred out, “I will not fight you.  We should work together to find Mother Udele.”

The woman was panting now, I was pretty sure she had used most of her magic potential in that series of strikes since I could barely taste the sweet tang of Gypsy magik from around her.

She stepped up to me and yelled, “Yield!  I have no wish to see you dead.”  She struck me in the stomach and I almost gagged on the bile that rose in my throat as I doubled over. Then she spun and lashed out with her leg and her booted foot landed across my scarred cheek, sending me spinning to the ground.

I slurred out as I pushed myself up to my knees, “I will... not yield.”  I got to my feet and staggered to the side a step before I could straighten up.  “And I will not fight... sister.  We need... to stand united.  Violence is... not the way... of the People.”

She screamed in fury and started striking out with blow after blow as I was forced back, refusing to fall again.  I could take the pain, mother taught me to never cry out, to never show weakness.  All I wanted to do was to crawl into a hole and hide, but I would not let her down, I would not let Celeste down.  I would not be the instrument of the downfall of my people because I was weak.

The memory of standing tall at the whipping post as I was flogged at thirteen came unbidden to my mind and galvanized my resolve.

She struck my face. “Why...”

She kicked me in the chest and I backpedaled a couple steps. “Won't...”

She backhanded me. “You...”

The she struck at my throat, as she finished, “Yield?”

Now, I was willing to suffer through a lot to keep the peace, but that blow would have killed me.  I caught her fist with my silk gloved hand before she made contact.  My arm blurring and ghosting behind the movement.  I thanked Mother Luna for all the defensive drills that Celeste made me endure.

I gave my opponent a bloody smile and croaked out, “You say you know of me.  Then you know that I am from the house of Celeste, we do not yield!”

She pulled her hand back and snarled in frustration as she drew her sword.  She was hit instantly with a wall of white energy so thick it looked like solid stone.  It hit her like a runaway horse and it sent her skidding and tumbling across the ground, her blade spinning away from her.

I turned and focused my vision, blurry with pain and from the strain of preventing my own power to rise in me, on Ranelle who had one hand up and she blazed as bright as the sun as she said in a voice filled with power, “Your life is forfeit Sarafine!”  She seemed to be pulling in power from the mountain itself.  Her eyes were solid white with the hints of a chaotic mist boiling beneath.

I wobbled on my feet, then walked as quickly as I could to Sarafine's side, who was trying to regain her feet.  She had blood dribbling from her nose and she had abrasions across her exposed skin.

Ranelle calmed herself and she dimmed until she looked like just a pretty, young woman again.  She said slowly, enunciating each word as it were a pronouncement, “You have broken the rules of engagement that you yourself invoked, by daring to draw a weapon during the contest.  For that, your fate rests in the hands of MOTHER Laney of the Lupei.”  She stressed the word Mother and it still made me wince, Udele would be returned to us, she had to be.

Then she turned to me and said in a tone more serious and filled with a more sorrowful weight than someone her apparent age should shoulder, “You may serve the sentence at your convenience, the prescribed forfeiture of her life, or you can give mercy and allow the offense to rest.”  Her eyes showed her age at that moment, and all the pain and joy she had seen in the world over many years.

I raised my chin in defiance to those who thought I should end another woman's life simply because of the games that were being played when the People should be supporting one another.  I bent and retrieved Sarafine's blade and her eyes widen in fear for a moment until I presented it to her. “I choose mercy.”  Then whispering to the blinking woman I said, “A Femeie de Sabie should not be seen without her sword.”

She took it and slipped it back into her scabbard without looking.

There was relief and... respect, in her eyes as a murmur rippled through the crowd like a pebble thrown into a pond.  She lowered her head and whispered, “Mother.”

Ranelle addressed all the people present with the flair of a showman, “It is settled, Mother Laney speaks for the Lupei.”  Then she stopped and asked toward the conclave, her eyes narrowed, “Unless there is another who dares challenge.”

There was silence from the thousands gathered, the only sound I heard was the wind echoing around through the peaks, sounding like a thousand whispers from those who came before us.  You could listen but not quite hear the voices, as they teased and swirled.  A person could go mad trying to make out what the whispers were trying to tell us.  I blinked at my own realization about something that had never been explained to me, something I had never thought to ask about.  This is why they called these mountains the Whispering Walls.

I wobbled and she was by my side supporting me, as Sarafine just stared at me in confusion, like she couldn't believe I hadn't struck her down, instead choosing to show compassion. I asked the bleeding woman, “Will you be alright?”

She nodded dumbly as Ranelle started leading me toward the table, calling out, “Lupei healer?!”  I looked back and caught Celeste's frantic eyes.  She wanted someone to pay for my pain.  I shook my head at her and smiled, then winced as I felt my lip crack.  This seemed to calm her.

Sylvia made her way to the arc, then ran up to us as the Great Mother walked me over and sat me in the chair.  Syl pushed past the custodians and didn't bother giving her leader a bow, then knelt in front of me.  She scolded me in a whisper as she winced at my bloody face, “Why did you not just yield?”

Ranelle chuckled and said to her, “I do not think she knows how, child.”  Then she looked at me and asked as she winced at my bloodied face, “Can you continue?  Or do we need to postpone the vote until the morning?”

I shook my head and said, “The longer this takes, the longer Mother Udele is in the hands of the enemy.  I can continue.”  I sighed as Sylvia's healing magics draped over me, the silky mists forming a fabric of warmth and healing that coaxed the spirit magiks inside of me to bubble up and embrace it as they swirled around each other like a joyous dance.  I started to relax as she skillfully started stripping one injury or ache away from me at a time.

Ranelle smiled and nodded with a bit of pride in her eyes.  It brought to mind, the display I had witnessed just a few minutes ago.  The energy she was throwing around was on the level of Prime Techromancer Donovan himself, possibly greater.  She was a force unto herself, and it scared me more than a little.

She retook her throne-like chair from a time gone past, then summarized, “The conclave has been called to address egregious events that have transpired against one of our clans.  The attack and murder of eight women, ten men, and two children of the Lupei clan. The unknown enemy attacked then spirited Mother Udele away, and laid siege to her band.”

I felt my lack of education embarrassing, as I stumbled over words like egregious, but I could suss out their meaning by the context.  I was learning more and more each day in the great library.

She looked directly at me when she said, “Any of which is an act of war against the People.”

Then she said, “A War Council has been called for the first time in ten centuries, here at the Meeting Spot, as the possibility of all-out war against the Altii is a possibility.”

She added in warning, “I bid you all to think carefully about what has transpired, and know that I have a writ from Prince George himself, pledging that he had not ordered such a vicious attack and pledged all the aid that he and Wexbury can provide.”

She moved her hand palm up toward me then to Celeste as she added, “As a show of his earnestness, he sent a contingent of knights to accompany Udele's Soras, who broke the siege.  Led by the Lightbringer herself.”  That caused the murmurs in the crowd to begin anew.

She finished with, “With but twenty-two men and women, Lupei's Soras killed the forty-seven enemies and liberated their band without any loss of their own.  They are now pledged to help us locate and liberate Mother Udele from her captors.”

She sat back in her chair and exhaled, I looked at all the faces around the table, the woman leading each family was diverse, some looked well into their sixties, one looked to be a girl of maybe sixteen.  Some were olive skinned and two had beautiful skin as dark as midnight.

Then Ranelle turned to her apparent mother and asked, “How votes the Andrei?  War or patience for the Altii?”

The woman looked around at the others in the conclave and then she turned to address the crowd, “We have sat by for centuries as the Altii invaded the lands of Father Stone, laying claim to and raping his lands.  They are young, impetuous, and arrogant.  We have seen them destroy each other and now they seem to not be content with that anymore and have turned their sights upon the People.  The Andrei vote war!  We need to send them back to the north lands of Highland and ensure the safety of our future generations.”

This got a lot more support from the crowd than I was comfortable with, as a roar of cheers made my ears ring as my heart fell.  Ranelle seemed to deflate some and she inclined her head then turned to the next woman, “How votes the Romanov?  War or patience?”

My heart fell farther with each vote as one after another, they made similar speeches.  I didn't understand the order in which she selected each to vote, but it was beginning to look to me as if it were by age, the elders spoke first followed by the next youngest.  That would leave me and the young girl for last.

The only thing holding back my rising panic was the knowledge that the vote needed to be unanimous so my vote would break the concerns, it was just disheartening that a peaceful people could be so ready to resort to violence so quickly.  Had we Altii truly been so bad, so violent in their eyes, that they thought war was the only way?  I know I would have contemplated that for a long time if I had the luxury of time, which I didn't.

There were eleven votes for war when Ranelle turned to me, I could not read her expression, it may as well have been carved in stone as she asked, “How votes the Lupei?  War or patience?”

I looked around at everyone at the table then back out at the crowd.  The silence had returned like the entire mountain were holding its breath.  Celeste caught my eye, and she nodded once, showing her faith in me.

I looked down at my hands nervously then up to the leader of the Gypsies.  I was half Gypsy, they were my people by blood as much as Wexbury.  I felt a woman of two worlds and I could understand the outrage, I had felt it myself even if I had not learned of my heritage. But...

I said in a voice I tried to keep the waver out of, and it was amplified by the mountainside, rolling out over the assembled crowd then blending into the whispers trapped forever in the peaks on the wind, “Lupei vote patience and tolerance.”

The crowd exploded into a frenzy of boos, hisses, and shouts.  The conclave all started arguing.  Ranelle looked around and her pretty face became dark with anger as she grabbed a stone on the table in front of her and she slammed it down on the table three times.  It sounded like thunderclaps and her voice boomed out, “Silence!”

All in attendance instantly quieted and turned toward her.

The anger drained from her face to be replaced by a pleasant smile as she looked around.  “Lupei was courteous and listened to all of your votes and arguments, do you not owe the same civility to Lupei?”

The conclave murmured together almost as if it were rehearsed, “Yes Great Mother.”  It was amazing to me how she commanded such respect among the leaders of each family.

I was beginning to understand Ranelle more and more.  She was on the outside of her own people, separate, caring for all but never a part of it.  She was the voice of reason among the leaders, but not able to affect or dictate the inner workings of any of the thirteen families.

She held absolute power but none at all, and they all respected and... feared her because she was on the outside.  She must feel so isolated and alone.  I understood, at least, part of that.  I was alone until a certain Techno Knight passed by a common serf in Cheap Quarter by happenstance.

I contemplated that a moment.  Is that how Prince George felt, and why he would never take the crown of King?  As long as he didn't, he was a part of Highland Keep, and not held apart from it.  I might ask him one day if I were ever to see him again.

The leader of the Gypsies inclined her head to me and prompted, “Please continue.”

I was no speaker, so I just spoke from my heart.  “Does not violence beget violence?  If we go to war against an enemy without all the facts, we could be making a mistake that our people can never come back from.”

I exhaled then inhaled deeply, looked around and beseeched those around me as I stood and turned to the crowd, “The People and the Altii have always enjoyed the peace that has lasted for as long as the Altii have been here in the New World.  Will we let one event, that we do not know the full truth of yet, dictate our actions and wipe away all these years of peace?”

I spun and almost pleaded with the Great Mother.  “Should our first concern not be the rescue of Mother Udele?  Before we make a decision which we may well regret?  Allow us to free her and to investigate these knights who have perpetrated this vile act.”

I looked down at my hands and said in a small voice, “That is all we ask.  And if it proves out that Solomon was indeed behind the attacks, then the Lupei will abstain from the next vote and abide by the decision of the conclave.”

The crowd started murmuring again as I sat and made myself as small as I could.  Ranelle gave me an almost gentle smile and she said, “Wise words always come from the heart of those innocent of spirit.”

She turned to the young girl at the table and gave her a sweet smile which turned her pretty face into something more radiant.  The young leader looked nervous and Ranelle put her at ease.  “Hello, Tianna.”

The young girl blushed and said, “Hello Great Mother.”

I felt power leaking from the young one, she was of the Touched.  Like me, she didn't have very good control of her gift.  The leader of all the Gypsies was making her nervous.  I knew that Gypsy leadership was generally passed down in bloodlines, so my heart went out to Tianna.  If she were the leader of her clan, that meant her mother was taken from her while she was young.

Ranelle asked in an almost motherly tone, “How votes the Aratreya?  War or patience?”

She looked down then at me before she averted her eyes to her fidgeting hands as she said in a small voice, “Mother Laney has given me words to take into consideration.  Do we need more death and bloodshed before we are certain of who perpetrated the crimes?  I do not believe it is out of line to allow the Altii and the Lupei to determine the truth of the matter as it is their two groups that have been directly affected by the attack.”

She looked up and around and she was suddenly full of confidence like she had just made the decision and was confident of her answer. “Aratreya votes patience with my sister Mother, Laney.”

I smiled at her.  I don't know why but I felt pride for someone so young to weigh such issues that had dire consequences not just for her people, but for the world as we knew it.  She felt like a kindred spirit and I suddenly felt very protective of her, like she was my own kin.  She smiled back and blushed as she looked down at her hands.

I looked back at Ranelle as she spoke, “The war vote is eleven to two and does not meet the required unanimous decision.”  Then I saw where the power of her title came in as she added, “The People will give Udele's Soras two weeks to investigate the attacks and affect the return of Mother Udele.  The War Council will reconvene for a second vote at that time.”

Her voice boomed, “So say the People!”

The council and the crowd roared, “So say the People!”

It reverberated through the peaks with a power of its own, the echos of it joining the ghostly whispers filtering through the peaks.  Then I flinched when the Great Mother again slammed the stone on the table, apparently signaling the end of the meeting as people flooded the smooth stone floor.

I glanced at Sylvia who looked exhausted and I could feel her healing magics slowing.  I said to her over the din of the crowd.  “Please, see to Sarafine.  I am fine.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and protested, “You still have some injuries.”

I shook my head and pleaded, “I will be fine, please, go see to Sarafine before you have nothing left to give.”

She hesitated then nodded once and disappeared into the crowd.

I looked over at Tianna as she stood and walked past to rejoin her family.  I laid a hand on her arm as she passed and said, “Thank you.”

She nodded and blushed again and rushed off.  I had a genuine smile on my face.  It was nice to know that I had at least one ally on the council.

My smile spread as two warm arms wrapped around my waist from behind.  I looked back up into Celeste's sparkling eyes and almost sighed into a quick kiss.  She whispered in my ear, “You did good lady.”

I exhaled in relief and admitted as she moved to my side and claimed my hand, “I have no clue what I am doing.  I'm not qualified to speak on matters of war.”

She shook her head and said, “But this, was a matter of the heart.  Something you excel in, love.”

Ranelle had come around the table to join us then she looked at the darkening sky.  It was evening already, how long had this taken?

She smiled at me and said, “Well done Laney.  The rumors about your level head are well founded.  Let us feast, I assume you will be off on your mission at first light.”

Celeste nodded, and then I staggered.

I was hanging from chains from the ceiling in a dark room, I could feel the iron biting into the flesh of my wrists as my grey hair hung in my vision.  I saw blood on the ground that had dripped from some of the wounds on my body.

I heard voices, asking me questions but I couldn't make them out.  I was struck in the face by a powerful blow.  I winced but would not cry out to show my tormentors the satisfaction.  My vision pulled out to see it was Mother Udele, beaten and bloody, her fingernails had been pulled out on one hand. And she had various cuts and bruises on all her exposed flesh.

She was smiling, right at me and she said something I couldn't understand, like she was speaking to me, like she could see me there, watching.  Then I was somewhere else, with Dark Knights descending upon me.  There were flashes of pain, of power.  Then I was searching, questing for something or someone as I was being pursued.  Some portion of my brain understood I was having another vision, but I was so exhausted and still had some injuries from Sarafine's challenge, that it was taking everything I had left in me.  Then as a small mercy, everything went dark.

Chapter 11 – Visions

I awoke with a start, to find myself in Sylvia's wagon, someone put a hand on my chest and forced me back down to the bed.  I felt a warmth flowing around me, into me, in sheets of finely spun mist.  I knew this feeling.  I turned my head to look up at a smiling Syl as she said, “Welcome back Laney.”

I stretched as she let her healing powers fade.  I felt great.  How had she found the power to finish healing me so soon?  Then I realized there was bright sunlight streaming in through the little, stained glass windows. It was morning.

Ranelle said, “Good morning sleepyhead.  You had us worried for a bit.”

I turned my head and I blinked.  She was sitting at the little table by the door, sipping tea.  My normal little bed warmers were not in the bed.  Ingr must have already awoken and went outside with her goats.

Sylvia scolded me, “You had some internal bleeding I hadn't found yet.  If you would have let me finish last night before sending me off to tend to the woman who did it to you, I would have found it.”

I blushed at the scolding.

She smiled and crinkled her nose at me.  Then she asked, “It was a vision?  The way you stumbled and your eyes clouded over before you passed out.”

I nodded and said, “Mother Udele is alive.  Being tortured for something.  I couldn't make out the words.  She is hurting but defiant.  She was trying to tell me something.”

Ranelle sat her teacup down and narrowed her eyes at me.  “You can hear in your visions?”

I nodded. “And I felt her pain.”

She cocked an eyebrow and Sylvia explained, “Transference.”

The ruler tipped her head back and laughed heartily, I couldn't help but smile at her.  She looked down at me, shaking her head as she said, “You are just full of surprises aren't you little one?  And the way Sarafine's curses seemed to burn off of you?”

I shrugged in embarrassment for reasons I don't understand, then said almost like an apology, “Though I have very little power of my own, I can channel the power of others and convert it into energy I can use, so long as it isn't too much.”

She froze for a moment and then said carefully, “But... only and Adept can do such a thing.”

I swallowed, it was a secret of Wexbury what I truly was.  And I had just opened my mouth and just told her without thinking.  I looked down and played nervously with the glove on my hand.  She tilted her head back again to laugh.  Father Sol help me if I didn't grin at it.

She nodded as if to herself and quietly said, “Now some of the stories I have heard are starting to make sense now.”

She moved over and sat on the side of the bed and laid a hand on my head to stroke my sweat-matted hair.  “Do not fear, it is not our place to divulge your secrets.”

She smiled and I nodded my thanks.

I looked around and asked, “Where's Celeste?”

Both women froze.  I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the angle of the sunlight streaming in through the windows, it was an extreme angle, it was around noon.  I started to get up but both women held me down.

Ranelle squinted an eye and said like she was tearing a bandage off a wound.  “She and your party rode out at sunrise with some of our trackers to Solomon, to confront Duke Liam with what they have found.”

I tried to get up but they blocked me again. “I need Goliath.  I have to catch up with them.”

Ranelle shook her head as Sylvia forced me back to the bed saying, “You'll do nothing until I finish with you.  Why did you just take that beating without defending yourself?  It was reckless, she could have killed you.”

I felt like a child being chastised.  I lowered my eyes.  “It seemed like the thing to do at the time.”

She tried not to smirk but failed as she muttered, “And totally in character for you, my... Sora.”  She said the last word with a ton of humor in coloring it.  I grinned and slapped her arm lightly.

Then Ranelle spoke, “You were in no shape to travel, and time is of the essence so Sora Celeste left me to protect her greatest treasure.  If it were any other than the Lightbringer, I would have brushed aside the threat of the great pain she would bring down upon us if we failed to keep you safe.  We are to care for you until her return.”

She smiled warmly at me and confided, “She loves you with all her heart, you know that don't you?”

I blushed and nodded. “And it goes both ways.”

She nodded back and her smile grew. “I can see that.  I doubt she would have let you out of her sight if I hadn't pledged personal responsibility for you.  She figured that you couldn't be any safer than in the middle of tens of thousands of protectors.”

I swallowed.  She had pledged herself personally?  Then I tried to get up again as anger rose.  I was held down again as I growled, “She left without me.  She thinks I am too fragile to face the violence of knights.”  Then I blanched as I realized that she thought here was the possibility that she may not return if it turns out that Solomon was behind this.  Their fighting force was next to none but Highland itself.

As if she could read that realization in my eyes, Ranelle nodded slowly and said, “Lady Celeste of the Altii is no fool.  If it proves to be our darkest fears, she can make it back out if any can.”

I nodded but still felt slighted.

Then she leaned in with a bright smile that almost made me forget about Celeste leaving me there.  She asked quietly in a 'just between us girls' tone, “So tell me Laney... does Sir Bowyn have a woman back home in Wexbury?”

My smile almost split my face as my eyes widened in surprise.  I scrunched up my mouth then grinned again as I almost whispered, “No.”

Sylvia chuckled as she pushed my head back onto the bed to continue her healing work.  “Those two were flirting all night at the feast.  I was tempted to dump a bucket of water on Rain here.”

My shock returned.  She had called the Great Mother, Rain?  Wasn't that akin to blasphemy, giving a nickname to your ruler?  It would land you in the stockades in the realms to show such familiarity.  I looked desperately between the two women in concern for my friend.

Ranelle smirked at me and said, “Come now Laney, I haven't always been the Great Mother.  I was good friends with Syl's mother, Elaine, when I was younger.  I used to change this one's diapers on occasion when I visited the Lupei.”

She tilted her head almost cutely at me and said, “When we are alone, my friends and family call me Rain.  You can do so as well, I'm finding myself quite fond of you and your protector.”

I shook my head. “I don't think...”

She gave a wicked grin and interrupted quickly, “Proclaimed.  Too late, you have no choice now.”

I narrowed an eye at the playful woman who was possibly the most powerful woman in all the lands of Sparo and asked, “Isn't that abuse of power... Rain?”

She tilted her head back again and laughed heartily.  It was infectious and Syl and I found ourselves chuckling at the woman.  I paused and took a good look at her, realizing that she must feel so isolated being apart from her own people, a necessity if she were to lead and stay neutral.  Then I found myself glad that I could make her laugh and feel like a normal woman, if for just a while.

While I worried about Celeste and the others, we gossiped about the differences in our cultures.  I think Ranelle was fishing for more information about how nobles live in the community.  I admitted to her, “I live on the peripheral of the noble world.  I live in the barracks with Celeste and my exposure to the nobles is limited to a small group who I believe are not your customary nobles.  I prefer the scholars and Techromancers in the library of the Techromancy Scrolls over socializing with the upper crust of Wexbury.  I'm just a chicken herder at heart and feel out of place in such circumstances.”

“True I no longer have a heart attack whenever the Duke or Duchess are in the room, and I have grown accustomed to being around the Knights of the realm over the past two years so I may be slowly acclimating to it.”

She gave me a sad smile and confided, “I understand, I'm still slowly acclimating to the isolation that being Great Mother entails.”

Syl gave her a sly smirk and threw a linen napkin at her.  “Oh boo hoo, you are such a drama queen, Rain.  You've been basking in it the past fifteen years.  You get to travel the lands visiting every clan, being welcomed into each.”

Rain grinned a little and cocked an eyebrow and said, “There is that I guess.”

They chuckled and I could see that both of them really didn't believe it was any consolation.

Elaine joined us and we moved out to one of the Lupei tables where lunch was still being served and we ate, I saw her isolation in action, as nobody joined the four of us.

After the meal I excused myself and I wandered the various camps, helping out where I could.  Ranelle accompanied me, I gave her a questioning look and she held her hands up in surrender, stating, “I gave Sora Celeste my pledge.”

I sighed and felt nervous about my high ranking shadow.

In any of their eyes, I knew I wasn't a real Gypsy, but I would participate in their community where given a chance, it was only fair since they were caring for me while I was there.  I wound up with a different band of the Lupei, they were weaving fishing nets.

After they got comfortable with me watching and asking questions, a younger man, Bolan, let me try.  I made a poor attempt at knotting and weaving and the other men and women seemed entertained.  I learned that this band preferred to travel the base of the range to the east, and fish in the Great Sea with their nets.

I kept glancing over when they would clip off the end pieces of the rolls of string and toss them into the small fire nearby.  I cringed each time they did.  It was such a waste.  I paused and asked, “Could you please save the ends for me, they can still be useful.  We reuse, and repurpose everything in the Keeps.”

This got people studying me but they did as I asked with amusement on their faces.  By late afternoon, my fingers were starting to ache with the fine work I was doing, and I was getting pretty passable at weaving.  My net on one end looked like a drunkard from the Trough had weaved it but it got progressively more consistent.  I tied off the small net and held it up with a silly grin on my face and everyone laughed, which got my smile to grow even more.

Ranelle gave me a smiling smirk and held hers up.  It looked just like the masters work.  To her giggling pleasure, I mumbled, “Showoff.”

Then Bolan took my net from me and explained as he started tying small weighted burlap sacks on the corners of it as he explained, “This is a throwing net.  Rope will be attached and a fisherman will fling it into the deeps of a river or Great Sea, then reel it back in using the rope which will also close the net like this.”

He demonstrated on a finished net to show how it would constrict into a loose sack.  As he explained, I started dipping into the bucket that the end pieces were in and started deftly braiding them into a thin rope.  Bolan paused when he was explaining what a drag net was, and he watched me.  A little girl, who was the daughter of one of the net weavers sat right next to me and looked at the small rope I was making.

I got nervous when I realized all eyes were on me.  I swallowed and held the rope up that was now as long as my forearm.  There were enough scraps that I could make it perhaps four feet long.  It could be useful for a lot of things.  I looked over to Rain, who was cocking her head with interest.

I looked down as I blushed with so many eyes on me. “We repurpose everything in Wexbury.  Resources are too valuable to waste.  My little brother Jace and I would collect all the strings and papers that purchases of food in the market were wrapped in.  We'd make these small ropes to use around our little farm.  They are good for tying the chicken wire to the posts, or even to hold your britches up.”

This got a chuckle and I looked down to grin.  The little girl had grabbed some of the clippings and was attempting to braid them. I stopped her and tied off five together then told her, “No like this.  Just like you would braid your hair.  When you get near the end, overlap another piece by two fingers width and twist like this and continue braiding.”

“What is your name?  Mine is Laney,” I asked

She got really bashful and squeaked out, “Natasha.”

I smiled down at her and continued to show her how to braid the rope.

She was nodding as I explained, “You may think that the overlaps would be weak and would unravel, but once braided, they are actually the strongest portions of the rope.”

I watched as everyone was silent until she wove in her first overlap.  She smiled up at me and held it in front of her.  I nodded with pride and said, “Very good!  You can be the bands master scrapper in your travels now.”

The girl looked over at one of the women with a blush and held up the start of her scrap rope.  “I'm a master scrapper, mama.”

Everyone chuckled and grinned at the girl then they finally started talking as they went back to work.

I took my leave and Ranelle walked beside me with her hands clasped behind her back.  “An Altii warrior with skills of peace.  What a contradiction you are Sora Laney.  You do know that now you've started a new craft for their caravan?  As well as teaching that what we view as waste can be useful.”

I rolled my eyes. “I tied little strings together.”

She shrugged then looked to Father Sol as his bottom limb touched the horizon.  “Come, Sylvia will have my head if I don't get you back for the evening feast.”

I grinned at that because it was true.  Syl didn't seem afraid of Rain in the least, just like she was never afraid of Mother Udele.  We turned back toward the caravan I saw as my second home and I staggered and fell to a knee.

I caught words in my vision this time as I was being tortured.  Something about a curse, and of a threat to the people and family I see as my children.  I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold out.

I looked up, my grey hair hanging in my vision.  Someone was watching from afar, I smiled at the recognition of her magiks.

Then my vision swung out and I could see Mother Udele as she said three words that, though a whisper, cut through me in a roar so loud I cried out at the pain.  “Laney. Aelwen. Island.”  The power of it struck me and tore me out of the vision before the rest of it could play out again.

I spun to the ground with my hands pressed against my ears.  I curled up in a fetal position and felt hands on me.  Warmth spread through me as white mists soothed me.  The ringing in my ears dwindled and I could hear Rain repeating my name.  They weren't healing magiks.  Her magiks weren't as delicate and subtle as Sylvia's, but were more reassuring and calming.

I uncurled and she helped me to my feet as I panted.  She had concern in her eyes as she tore off a sleeve of her beautiful robes and started dabbing under my eyes and nose.  The blood on the cloth looked black as the red mixed with the green of the fabric.

When I stopped shaking, she locked eyes with me. “Are you alright Laney?”

I nodded and exhaled and she seemed to relax.

Then she asked, “A vision?”

I nodded again.

In a husky voice, I croaked out, still trying to get the booming voice out of my head.  “She knew Rain.  She knew somehow that I was watching.  She believes her people are in danger still.  She gave me some sort of message, but she didn't realize how much power she put into it.”  I nudged my chin toward my blood on the fabric.

I shuddered, over the great distance I could feel in the vision, for Mother Udele to be able to do that with such power, even as hurt and exhausted as she was, as to make my eyes and nose bleed?  It was sort of frightening to think what the People could do if angered.

Ranelle kept eye contact and asked in earnest, “What was the message?”

I shrugged. “Just three words. Laney, Aelwen, and island.”

She furrowed her brow and I said with a sinking heart, “Apparently Duchess Aelwen of Solomon is somehow involved.  I believe she was trying to say that she is being held on an island.”

She seemed both saddened and angered by what I said.  I understood.  It seemed more and more likely that the realm of Solomon was involved in this mess, and that did not bode well for the hope of peace.

I pushed that aside and asked, “Does the Great Sea have any islands?”

She just nodded and whispered, “Many.”

She supported me and started walking me back to my band.  I smiled.  My band.  I didn't feel as out of place with the Lupei as I did among the nobles of the Keep.  She said with worry, “I want Sylvia to look you over.”

I nodded.

By the time we had moved through the growing sea of people and wagons, I was able to walk on my own into camp.  There was a man who was covered in dry blood, who looked ready to collapse on his feet, speaking animatedly with Sylvia and Elaine.

They turned at our approach and the man's eyes widened and he stumbled over in front of Ranelle and took a knee, bowing his head.  The poor man looked beyond exhausted.  I recognized him as one of the scouts from my band but could not recall his name.

She knelt beside him and pulled him to his feet.  “You are covered in blood man.”

She looked toward Sylvia and beckoned her over, but the man said without raising his eyes to her a slight, vicious smile on his lips, “It is not mine, Great Mother.”

Then he chanced to glance at her and then down and he said, “I have found her, Mother Udele.  She yet lives!”

Chapter 12 – Heaven's Gate

I remembered the man's name was Roman, and he shared his story with us after Ranelle dragged him, Sylvia, and me into Mother Udele's empty wagon to have him report as Sylvia checked him over 'just in case.'

As she did, Rain made and almost dismissive hand motion, I felt magic drifting out from her in the darkening twilight, and the oil lamps in the wagon all lit.  Wow.  I felt inadequate with what little power I had.

She sat down across from the man at the big table that dominated the space.  I had sat across from Udele here once.  I glanced around at the familiar intricate tapestries draped along the walls.  Then Rain said, “You have found her?”

Roman nodded and said with a voice tinged with excitement,  “I have been trailing the ones who spirited her away for days.  After Alexandru had used himself as a diversion so I could get out of camp that first, blood-soaked night.”

He looked at Ranelle and Sylvia in sudden desperation?  “Does he yet live?  I last saw four Altii knights pursuing him.”

I smiled at the man and reached out from where I stood to lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “He yet lives, Roman.  He is guarding Lady Celeste, as they head for Solomon Keep to confront Duke Liam about the attack and kidnap.”

He seemed to sag in relief and gave me a small smile. “Thank the makers, Sora Laney.”  He shook his head and said, “I do not think that these knights are with the Keep.  Something is off.  They avoid the patrols of Solomon like they know where they are.”  He was looking at Ranelle and me as he spoke.

Then he winced away from Sylvia's probing hands.  She slapped his shoulder. “Hold still.”

He quickly lowered his eyes and said, “Yes Sylvia.”

I sometimes forget that the Mountain Gypsies have a matriarchal society.

He added, “They have a powerful vrajitor of the Altii with them, so I couldn't get close.  But a noblewoman of Solomon joined them with about twenty-five of those dark knights. “

He smiled. “Whenever she spoke to Mother Udele as they traveled, she would stomp away in anger like a spoiled child.”  He was quite pleased with that and he had a touch of pride for his leader in his voice.

Then he narrowed his eyes. “When they reached the Great Sea, they turned north instead of south toward Solomon Keep like I expected them to.  After a bit, they used boats to go to an island just offshore, that had the ruins of a great castle on it.  When the noblewoman returned to the shore, Mother Udele was not with her.  I rode hard for two days to the Meeting Spot, like Alexandru instructed me to.  He said you would most likely call a War Council.”

He had a look of sadness on his face when he said, “I rode my poor mount into the ground.  I came the rest of the way on foot.”

This sparked a memory in me.  I was trying to recall the old songs the bards would sing,  ‘Ode to the Sea.'  I started singing to myself to refresh my memory...

The waters that hold

The Heaven's Gate did behold

Lord Cedric did herald the sea

He built a great keep

Upon the waters of hope

But the gods thought it not to be

The ground it did shake

To the bones it did quake

And the keep, it was lost to that sea

I noticed all eyes were upon me, and I blushed and Ranelle said, “You would make a fine minstrel yourself.”

I blushed again and blurted out to keep the attention off me, “The great stronghold of Lord Cedric,  from the days of old, just after first crossing of the Gap.  The Lord, who founded Solomon.  When his first stronghold fell to an earth rumble, the capital of the realm was rebuilt on the shores of the Great Sea to the southeast instead!  Solomon Keep.”

I smiled. “The castle lands must have separated from the shore to make the island.”

Then I perked up. “Mother Udele had said Duchess Aelwen's name.  I would wager a month's stipend that she is who Roman saw.”

Ranelle was contemplating all of the man's words and then told me with relief coloring her voice, “It seems all is not as it seemed after all, young Laney.  It was wise to beg patience.”

Then she added a qualifier, “But without the facts, we still cannot rule anything out.”

I nodded my understanding.  I stood tall and checked my sword belt and started to turn toward the door with determination swelling inside.

She asked, “Where do you think you are going Sora Laney?”

I looked aback and said as if it were obvious, “To save Mother Udele as I have sworn to do.”

She shook her head as Sylvia stepped beside me and pulled me over to a chair with the chastising look only a mother could show.  Rain said, “You will not go charging off into the night and have the Whispering Walls swallow you.  You need Sylvia to make sure Udele didn't damage you with her message.”

Then she sighed heavily and said, “We can break camp at first light.”

I turned my gaze to her and asked, “We?”

She nodded like it was obvious, “Of course.  I am pledged to watch after you for your Lady.  Only volunteers from Lupei can travel with us as that was stipulated by you in the bid for patience, only the Lupei, and Wexbury.”

She kept speaking before I could argue.  This was my responsibility and no more of the People needed to be put in harm's way.  “We will need to keep the party small, stealth will be our best chance.  So we need to remain discreet and nimble.  Maybe five of us.”

I started to open my mouth but she cut me off with a singsong voice, full of teasing, “Proclaimed.”

I narrowed my eyes and shook my fist at her as I grinned. “You'll play that card once too many one day...”  I almost said Rain, but Roman was there and I didn't want to show disrespect so recovered with, “Great Mother.”

She laughed her wonderful laugh and then said, “Today is not that day.  We need to eat and rest.  We assemble at first light.”

Roman tried to stand but was pushed back down onto the chair by Syl, who was healing some minor cuts and scrapes.  He said from where he sat, “I would volunteer for the rescue mission Great Mother.”

Ranelle shook her head slowly as she smiled with pride and said, “I could not stop you.  But for tonight Roman Lupei, you volunteer for a warm meal and a good night's sleep, you look positively dead on your feet.”

He deflated a little and said, “Yes Great Mother.”

She added, “Udele would be proud.”  This made the man beam as he sat up straighter.  His dark eyes glittering under his mop of curly black hair.

Then she looked at one of her Stewards. “Get word to Sora Celeste.”

The man nodded and ran off.

I was hooked by the arm and I said with a humor-filled voice as I was pulled out the door, “I will see you at home Syl.”

She smiled and waved.

Home.  My healer friend's wagon did feel like home to me a bit, but my true home was at Celeste's side.  I felt a little less anxiety that she was riding into hostile territory, but with the Duchess involved in some way, I couldn't fully rule it out.

The slender ruler seemed deep in thought.  Then she turned to me when she noticed my attention on her.  She just smiled and shrugged it off.  I whispered as she drew me through the crowd to one of the many feasts going on, “You are the leader of the People and do not need to be risking your neck on a rescue mission.”

She smiled and spoke in a normal tone, much to my chagrin, “I couldn't stop you from embarking on the mission before your Celeste returned could I?”

I paused and shook my head.  “I would not leave Mother Udele to that torture for one minute longer than necessary.”

She asked, “Then how can you ask me to turn my back on one of my own, or to break my pledge to your Lady?”

I exhaled and said in a tiny voice, “But... you are the leader of the Gypsies.  You are... important.”

She almost hissed at me, “And you are not?”

I said, “I am just a chicken herder.”

She nodded and countered, “And I am just a minstrel.”

Then she smiled and said, “Let's get you fed and back to Sylvia so she can look you over.  Then I will join you in the morning.”  I couldn't argue and a group from my Gypsy band cheered as Ranelle and I sat at their plank table.

***

The next morning I was surprised to see some clothing and leathers on a chair by the table beside three bowls of porridge,  I could hear a commotion outside.  I looked down at the myriad of bed warmers with me and shook Ingr and Eli awake gently.

They blinked at the lightening twilight, Father Sol was just minutes away from greeting the lands.  I smiled at them. “Morning children.  I need to prepare for the day, why don't you and your little fuzzy minions step out to eat your breakfasts while I do.  I think your mother is outside.”

Eli didn't take any more prompting.  He just grinned and hopped up and snagged a bowl on his way outside.  Ingr just gave me an adorable smile and slid out of the bed, her goats following.  I just loved the long silky hair on them, and Ingr kept them immaculately cleaned and brushed.

She grabbed a bowl and spoon and rushed it to me.  “For you Sora Laney.”

I cupped her cheek, scrunched up my nose and smiled at her.  Then she got the second bowl and sat with me.  I exhaled, it was too cute.  I was going to forego breaking my fast, but you could not deny a little girl with big brown eyes.

I ate with her.  I thought of all the children in the Keep, just how similar they were.  Children were children wherever I traveled, and I loved them all.  It made me sad to know that I would never have any of my own.  I would happily spend my life with my Celeste, so it was a sacrifice I would gladly shoulder.

Then I thought about it a moment, in the Mountain Gypsy culture, every adult in each band cared for all the children as if they were their own.  So... I looked at little Ingr and smiled warmly, since I was a Sora of the Lupei, did that not mean I had thirty children of my own?

This made me smile and I hugged Ingr and we finished eating.  She took the bowls and spoons, placed them in a rack to be cleaned then turned and started to pour water from the big pitcher into the basin.

I squinted and asked, “What are you doing little one?”

She put a hand on her hip cutely and said, “Mama is not here to per... perfor... to do the Femeie de Sabie ritual.  I am her mostenitor, so I gots to.”

I grinned at her.  Already following in her mother's footsteps.  I told her,  “You can help but first turn around so I can clean myself and get my undergarments on.”  It was bad enough her mother had seen me naked to the world, this young one didn't need to see.

I dropped my nightdress after she turned and I used the cloth and water to clean myself before I quickly pulled on the folded undergarments then told her she could turn around.  I reached over to grab the trousers.  I was so relieved I wouldn't be stuck in a dress, they are impractical for stealth or battle.

Ingr interposed herself between me and the table with a look of tried patience that would have done her mother proud.  She took the trousers and moved them to me, I lifted one leg then the other as she pulled them up and buttoned the buttons.

They were a thick canvas material that was surprisingly soft.  I noted that they and everything on the table almost hurt my eyes when I looked at them with my magic welling.  They were covered in hundreds of charms and runes and just screamed of power.

She efficiently dressed me and placed the leathers that covered vital areas on me and my arms and legs.  It was the light armor I have seen their scouts wear.  It shimmered misty white under all the runes. Then she cupped her little hands and offered my dagger.  I accepted it and slid it into my boot.

Then she picked up Anadele in her belt scabbard and presented her like something sacred.  I bowed my head to the tiny one and then lashed Anadele to my hip.

I squatted and helped her put my riding cloak on and hang my ever present tool pouch over my shoulder.  I stood and looked at her and asked, “So?  How do I look?”

She grinned and I noticed she had a tooth missing, upping the cute quotient, her nose was squished over to one side and she looked confused.  “Like... my Sora Laney, the Altii, who fell from the heavens and lived.”

I chuckled and said, “Shall we, Healer Ingr?”

She stood tall and opened the door and ran out with her bleating followers in pursuit.  I stepped out as the first rays of sun crested the peaks to warm my face, my entire form ghosted under the weight of the magik of the People on my person. Then I was stunned by the roar of the crowd.  It looked like every single band of the Lupei family was gathered and I just blinked down at a smug looking Ranelle and Sylvia.

Ranelle was dressed just like me, only she wore a dark green hunter's cloak with the hood raised and nothing was spelled but the slim blade at her hip.  It made sense, with the amount of power she could bring to bear, she didn't need the charms.  But now, more than ever, she looked strong, dangerous.  She looked every inch the leader of the Gypsies.

She held her hand up and the crowd quieted and she held her hand out to me.  I looked at my feet and stepped down from the wagon and took a knee in front of her.  She made an exasperated noise and pulled me up by my arm.

Then she crossed her eyes at me and shook her head.  I tried not to smile.

She turned to the crowd and spoke in a booming alto voice that carried like we were at the Meeting Spot.  Was she somehow amplifying it with her gifts?  “A Lupei scout has determined where Mother Udele is being held.”

A cheer went up and she continued, “Mother Laney of the Lupei has divined the identities of those behind it with her Sight, and is leading a Greva party to liberate her Mother.”

She said, “I am pledged to the young Mother's protection so I will accompany her on this quest.”  The crowd gasped and murmurs and shouts of concern flowed through the crowd.  She just narrowed her eyes and a nervous silence fell.  She smiled at that.

Then she continued, “Roman of the Lupei has already volunteered.  We need two more volunteers to complete the Greva.  We have two blades and an archer.  We require one more blade, and another archer.”

There were hundreds of men and women shouting out stepping forward.  She laughed heartily.  She inclined her head in a gesture of respect and said, “Your Mother would be proud of each and every one of you, but alas we need to travel quick and light.”

Her eyes scanned the crowd then locked onto someone.  A smile crept upon her lips as she asked, “Penelope?  Is that you under that cloak?”

A short, slight figure stepped forward, in a rich brown hunting cloak, a bow with the same odd shape of  Dru's was slung over their shoulder but it was twice the length of Dru's.  The archer reached up and swept their hood back revealing a woman who would have been the ideal of femininity if it weren't for her long beak of a nose that was crooked down at the end.

I kind of liked it, it gave her distinctive character.  But the most striking thing about her was her light blonde hair.  There were few blondes in the lands of Sparrow, like Emily.  Most people have darker hair, browns, red, or black.  I absently touched the ends of my own dark hair.  But blonde was even more exceedingly rare among the Mountain Gypsies.  All I seem to ever see is black or red hair among the People.

She had it cropped short, I assumed to keep it out of the way when she shot her bow.  It was an odd contrast to her rich olive skin and eyes so dark they appeared black.

She bowed deeply to her leader and Ranelle whispered to me,  “She finished second in the games with her bow at the Lupei camp last year, only after Alexandru.”

I smiled at that.  Dru had told me that most archers are men because it is harder for most women to draw back one of their oddly shaped bows.  But the ones who could, usually excelled.

The Great Mother nudged her chin over toward me and the fair-haired archer smiled hugely and hustled to stand beside me as Roman stepped up on the other side of Ranelle.

Rain boomed out, “Now a blade.”

The stewards all pushed to the front of the crowd of men who were offering their services.  She looked at them fondly and said as she tilted her head, “Alas, you must be Lupei, and we can only take one of you.”

She started to say a name, “Ja...”

When a woman's voice called out, strong and clear, “I will stand with you!”

All heads turned to the woman who voiced it and there were gasps and murmurs.  The crowd seemed to ripple as someone stepped through it, people making way, leaving a wake in the woman's path.

Both Ranelle and I were squinting, trying to see who it was.  Then my eyes went wide as Sarafine stepped out in front of us.  Her eyes cast down as she took a knee.  She looked as dangerous as the Great Mother in her leathers and a dark tan cape.  I noted that she, like us, didn't wear the bright colors associated with the Gypsies.  I knew it was because those colors would be too easily spotted when were wanted to move stealthily.

Sarafine's hair was tied in a tight braid, coiled around her neck and secured.

Rain started to say, “I don't think that...”

I interrupted, “We would be honored to count you among our party.”

She stood and stepped between Ranelle and I.  Her chin was up in proud defiance as she glared at the crowd, daring them to say anything.

Rain looked at me in mild surprise and approval on her face as she addressed the crowd.  “The Greva is complete.  We will depart immediately.”

The crowd roared and various men brought four saddled horses forward, with bedrolls and supplies.

The three women stepped to the horses that were obviously their own, their familiarity and ease of mounting was evident.  The fourth was brought to Roman.  He had a pang of... sorrow?  As she accepted the horse and mounted.  I felt for the man, he had said he had ridden his horse to its end just last night.

Ranelle sidled her mare to me and offered a hand down apologetically. “It looks like you are stuck with me, or we can fetch you a horse.  Sora Celeste took yours, most likely to make sure you stayed here, the only horse they left behind was her stubborn monster that will allow none to ride it.  It's the size of a wagon.”

I smirked, thoroughly entertained by the fact that so many couldn't believe that I rode the great Percheron.

There was some noise and people moved aside, I had to grin as Eli stepped forward, leading my beautiful Goliath.  He looked so intimidating towering over the other horses, midnight black with the white blaze on his muzzle.  Eli gave me a little bow and I ruffled his hair and he darted off, blushing.

I looked up at a confused Gypsy leader and I was emboldened and winked then jumped to snag the pommel of the saddle with my silk gloved hand and smoothly mounted him.  I patted the side of his neck as I told her, “Goliath is mine.”

She chuckled as I settled in, adjusting the leather glove on my left hand.  She said as the crowd started parting to make way for us, “You look silly up there Mother Laney.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her and urged Goliath forward with my legs.  He reared slightly and we went thundering off toward the east, his hoofs striking the ground like blacksmith's hammers.  I heard her explode in her characteristic hearty laughter as the broke out in pursuit after me.

I was grinning as I leaned forward across my boy's neck.  My hand seeking the loose reins.  I didn't need them, Goliath and I were so in tune, but it was a force of habit to hold them loosely in my hand.  I exploded from the wagons and the cheering crowd and onto a forest trail.

I grinned as I could hear the hoof beats of the pursuing horses falling farther and farther behind.  Ranelle called out with humor in her voice, “Alright you silly Sora, you've made your point!”

I slowed to a trot and let them catch up.  Ranelle slid in on my right, and Sarafine on my left, our archers trailing.  The women both had amused smirks on their faces.

Rain said, “I see more and more how you captured Celeste's heart, Laney.”

I felt my cheeks warming at that, and the thought of my Lady Knight.

Then I blinked, she used my name instead of the silly titles that she used when others were around.  Maybe our group of five the... what did they call it, the Greva?  Maybe among our Greva it was ok.  I asked in curiosity in English, “What's a Greva?”

She screwed up her face and thought a moment, she looked past me to Sarafine, who furrowed her brow and said, “I do not know the English equivalent.”

The Great Mother nodded at her then looked at me and tried to explain, “It is, how you say, a strike team?  It is an elite group of five that performs a specific mission.”

I nodded, understanding now, and supplied, “A task force.”

She smiled and nodded as she said, “Yes, a task force.”

I turned to the woman who had beaten me so badly just the other day and asked in curiosity, “Why did you volunteer?  I'm glad you are here, I am just curious, you didn't seem to approve of me before.”

She looked at me like I were daft and switched back to the tongue of the people. “With Mother Udele gone, you are my Mother.  I will defend you till my dying breath,” she said it like it was obvious.

I blinked and she spoke with strained patience, “I challenged you because I was prompted to.  I was told you did not respect the way of the people.  I believed that, you being an Altii.  But you would not fight...  All Altii are violent, yet you did not even defend yourself.  I still don't fully trust you, but you defeated me with peace, so I accept you as my Mother, born out in combat.”

I exhaled, the more I learned about the Gypsies, the more confused I got. I just nodded and just said, “Thank you Sarafine.”

She just nodded once, “Sara, Mother.”

I inclined my head then said, “Laney.”  I turned back to the archers and said, “Laney,” again to let them know it applied to all.

The two smirking Gypsies said in unison, “Yes, Mother.”

I growled and rolled my eyes at them then said, “If you're going to insist on it then I prefer Sora.  Mother Udele yet lives.”

They inclined their heads, trying to hide those persistent smirks.

I turned to Ranelle and asked, “Are all Mountain Gypsies smart asses?”

She got a sly look on her face and said, “Seeing as how you are one of us, then I would have to say yes.”

The group laughed as I retorted, “Smart ass.”  I had to grin.

We turned to the trail as Sara pulled ahead to lead.  I craned my neck up to look at Heaven's Gate in wonder.  I would never have believed just two years aforetime that I would have ever laid my eyes on such an awe-inspiring sight.  It humbled me, looking upon such majesty.  Nature was capable of so much more than mankind could ever hope to attain.

This was the mountain that breathed life into the Lower Ten.  Its sheer size was almost impossible to imagine.  Its base was almost the size of an entire realm.  Four of the Lower Ten overlapped that great base.  Wexbury, Perth Hollow, Defiance, and Solomon.  No man has ever climbed the peak, many have died in the attempt of what they call hypoxia.  The air gets so thin that they essentially suffocate.

Ranelle said in a reverent tone when she followed my gaze, “Father Stone truly is incredible.”

I just nodded and noticed that we had only been riding an hour, higher and higher into the peaks, and the air was much cooler and the air was thinner.  I looked at the pass we were heading to just a mile ahead, and maybe another thousand feet in elevation.  It was covered in snow still, even in the summer.

We paused and circled widely around the carcass of a horse that had been stripped to the bone by predators.  I looked back and Roman bowed his head to it as we passed.  I felt for the man.  To lose a friend like that to bring word to his people of his Mother's plight.

We broke the treeline about when we hit the snow.  It was hard packed and crunched under our horse's hooves.  Not like the heavy, fluffy stuff I first saw in the Whispering Walls above Treth on our way to Far Reach.  I imagined it would be much different in winter.  Most likely impassible.

We weaved through jagged rock formations that seemed frosted like confections the bakers made for special occasions at the Keep.  The path was cleared of snow down to the stone, ground smooth from centuries of traffic.  I'd have to ask about that sometime.  Did the Mountain Gypsies maintain all the trails?  Duke Frederick had implied that once.

We passed under a great ice arch, maybe fifty feet across at the crest of the pass.  I looked up to the peak of Heaven's Gate, we had passed through the low misty clouds a while back.  This summit in the range wasn't even a third of the way up the mammoth mountain.

I slowed and moved over to the arch and gazed at it, it was almost translucent, the sunlight causing prisms of color within it. It seemed to glow an eerie blue.  I knew this one, I had read a book about crystals, and refraction.  Blue was the color not stripped out of the light spectrum in this ice.  It was an almost magical effect.

Ranelle prompted, “Touch it.”

I pulled off my left glove and ran my fingers across the smooth glass-like surface.  My fingers went numb quickly like my nose and cheeks were, without the runes on the leather to keep the cold at bay.  I turned and smiled at the four who were looking at me oddly.  I said, “It is so smooth.”

Roman asked, “Have you not seen a glacier before, Sor... Laney?”

I shook my head and explained, “I had never really been far from Wexbury Keep my entire life, it was but two years ago I first ventured to the Whispering Walls.”

Then I turned back to look at the wall of ice and took it in, it seemed to stretch up Heavens Gate to disappear into the snow.  It was immense.  Ranelle said, “There are seven on Father Stone and dozens sprinkled about the highest peaks in the lands.”

I nodded and we started moving again.  She said to the group, “We will stop for midday meal once we can conceal ourselves back under the treeline.”

We all nodded and started down the twisting path on the back side of the Whispering Walls beside a stream that quickly became a river.  It would be a grand adventure if the situation were not so dire.  This was yet another part of the habitable lands that I had not set foot in, the Backside.  The name the Western Realms gave to the other side of the mountains.

We traveled deep into the trees in a valley between peaks, I could see another ridge ahead of us.  Sara fell back and gave me a little smirk.  “If you have not seen a glacier, have you not laid eyes on the Great Sea?”

I shook my head and she smiled in satisfaction, with a little mischief in her tone as she nudged her chin toward the ridge.  “You will be able to see it once we move beyond the lower ridge.”

I started to get excited but deflated as Rain said, “Let us stop here to allow the horses a rest and we can eat to keep our strength up.”

Sara trotted off the path which was widening to a small road and chuckled.

The little tease, she knew that the Great Mother was going to stop us here in the valley before I could see the Great Sea.  I growled, it would be more threatening if I didn't sound like more like a rabid squirrel.  This got them all chuckling, were they all in on it?

I noted a wide road farther down the valley with a couple Altii wagons moving toward a lower mountain path.  Roman said from behind me as we all dismounted, “The Ring.”

Ahh.  I nodded.

The Ring was the network of cobblestone roads that connected all of the Lower Ten keeps.  This would be one of the spokes that bisect the greater ring.  The series of roads and bridges was commissioned centuries ago by Highland.

We took our saddle bags off our horses and let them graze in a small meadow by the river.  Then we settled on a log beside a ring of rocks that looked to be a recently used fire pit.  We all seemed to have a need to stretch and work the kinks out from riding all morning.  Roman stepped away, into the trees to look for kindling.

Ranelle said, “This will be our last fire.  As we move farther into Solomon, stealth will be the order of the day.”

I smiled at that, I was too intent on rescuing Udele that I didn't think about the fact that when we crested the mountains, we had entered the Solomon Realm.  I mentally checked off the fifth realm of the Lower Ten that I have set foot in.  This was a grand adventure, Jace wouldn't believe me.

As we waited for Roman, we went through our packs and set some supplies for lunch aside.  Sara pulled out a whetstone and started honing her blade when it seemed satisfactory to her she looked at me and offered the stone.

I shook my head and explained as I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword, “Anadele always keeps a sharp edge and never nicks or dulls.”

She narrowed her eyes and pocketed the stone.  Penelope asked in a disbelieving voice as she was reorganizing her pack, “That is your fabled enchanted blade?”

I turned to her and nodded as I drew Anadele.  I explained as I slowly spun her in my hand, “The Lupei weaponsmiths say that her nature had changed after I channeled so much power through her in the battle of the Monolith.  Her edge never dulls and she seems nigh unbreakable now.”

I struck down on the stone circle and sparks flew off of her almost glowing blade my arm and blade ghosting in the air, making them hard to focus on.

Then I offered Anadele to Penelope.  She took it carefully and examined the blade, Rain leaning in with interest as she shook a pebble out of a boot.

The blonde woman went to touch the undamaged area on the blade which I had just struck on the stones. I started to warn her to be careful, but she pulled her finger away exclaiming, “Ouch!”  She looked at her bleeding finger and smiled and put her finger in her mouth to quell the bleeding.

Then she said, “It's sharp as a straight razor!”  She grinned and tugged a hair from her head and dropped it over the blade, it appeared to just drift apart in two.  She swallowed.

I smiled in pride, there was no honed blade sharper.

Then Sara prompted, “But it appears to be sized for a child.”

I blurted out, “Hey!  She's a proper blade.”

The three women smiled at me.  They were teasing.

Roman arrived with a small armful of twigs and branches and went about starting a small fire in the pit.  He glanced over as Penelope examined my blade.  She paused and looked at the crests embossed in the leather bindings on the hilt.

She asked, “What is this?”

I looked at what she was looking at.  I smiled and said, “My family crest.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “I know that, silly Sora.  I mean this animal in the crest, I've never seen such.”

I grinned and said, “That is a creature from the Before, they were lost in the Great Impact.  It is called a platypus.  It is a noble and adaptable creature, and a fierce fighter, like a wolverine or badger.”

She cocked an eyebrow at it and ruminated on the same thought I often had.  “To have lived in those days.  We lost so much to the Impact, it must have been an amazing world to see such creatures.”

Ranelle started singing a Gypsy tune with her rich voice.  It spoke of times lost to us and the future ahead.  The others joined in, adding their voices, and I was happy just to sit back and listen.  It was so much like the songs the bards sang in the market at the Keep.  The songs were half entertainment and half to preserve history so it would not be lost to time.  I was saddened when the song was done.

We cooked up a quick broth with dried vegetables and jerky and discussed life in the caravans.  I could never get enough of hearing of their travels.  I almost think that a life roaming the world might be a better and more eventful life than living in a keep.  I almost snorted at myself, realizing that my life the past two years has been anything but uneventful.  Here I was in Solomon, without my Lady, to prove that.

We doused the fire and buried the coals before we retrieved our horses.  Then we headed for the ridge.  Ranelle said, “We'll cross over the river on the next valley and stay north, away from the patrols on the Ring.”

I nodded as we rode our refreshed steeds.  I had so many questions I could ask later, I was just anticipating the sight of the Great Sea.  The concept of a body of water so vast that you cannot see the other side just confounds me, it must be amazing.

I thought I was prepared... I was wrong.

Chapter 13 – Backside

There are things in life that you hear about, but they are just stories, you think you understand the stories and always temper them with the fact that most tales are exaggerated again and again, gaining more bravado with each retelling.  But when you actually witness these things with your own eyes, it is never quite what you were expecting.  Seeing it makes it real with visceral details in a way that your imagination can't fathom.

We crested the ridge and my heart stopped beating.  I have seen many maps of the habitable lands, and the Great Sea always just looked large compared to our lake, Dragontooth Lake.  I knew it was nothing compared to the bodies of water from the Before times called oceans which covered much of the earth itself.  So I tempered in my mind what to expect.

I was so wrong.  I came to a halt on Goliath,  I stopped breathing and I think my heart may have skipped a few beats.  From our vantage point, I could see another sprawling valley and another ridge, but like a mirage, over that ridge a half days ride away was a third valley that disappeared into the water as far as my eye could see into the horizon to the north, south, and east.

I'm not really religious, I'm not sure what to believe, but seeing Heaven's Gate and now the Great Sea ahead of me...  “Good God!”  I had not been prepared to see such a sight.  Again I felt so... small.

My fingers fumbled at my tool pouch and I pulled out my spyglass.  Then looked again.  I could see white sails dotting the water's glassy surface.  I couldn't tell what kind of boats they were from this distance but some appeared substantially larger than even the biggest fishing sloop on the Dragontooth, the Mermaid, which was almost forty feet long.  Old man Hess Fisher actually lived on board it in a small cabin on the boat itself.

I lowered my spyglass taking one last look at the vast body of water, shaking my head.  Then I paused, eyes were on me.  I turned to see the other four looking at me oddly then back at the sea.

Rain gave me a soft smile and said, “Come now young Sora, we mustn't tarry if we are to get to a safe place to camp for the night.  It's still a days ride before we even reach the sea.”

I nodded and put my spyglass away and absently urged Goliath into motion without taking my eyes off the sea.

How was it possible for so much water to exist?  That was enough to feed and awaken so much of the uninhabitable lands.  They say it is over two hundred miles long and a hundred miles wide at it's narrowest point, and takes over ten days to ride around.

I smiled at myself for behavior befitting a child seeing the wonders of Carnival for the first time.  I lamented when we descended into the valley and that last ridge swallowed up the spectacular view.

We rode in silence now that we were deep into Solomon territory.  I worried what would happen if we were caught, I didn't have the protections of the Prince's diplomatic escort as they were with Celeste.  She would be so angry I left the Gypsy encampment where I was safe.  But I couldn't sit around and do nothing, letting Mother Udele's torture continue.  It would be days before Celeste returned.

Then I relaxed a little as I remembered I was traveling as one of the People, not as a Knight of Wexbury.  No realm has say nor sway over the Gypsies and we were free to travel anywhere we wished without informing the realms.  But... those dark knights.  Was anything certain anymore?

The Hinterland Forest swallowed us.  On the Backside, there seemed to be virtually no conifers.  I saw a pine or two but it was a dense leafy forest much like the Black Forest between Flatlash and Treth. It was lush and green and full of life.  I caught glances of deer, elk and many woodland creatures as we progressed.

From time to time I noticed odd marks on some trees, they looked old and resembled some of the runes on my clothing.  Gypsy markers?  I paid closer attention to my surroundings.  We had turned off the larger trail, well worn by wagons, to what looked essentially like a deer trail we were following as we diverged from the river some time back.  Multiple game trails were crisscrossing through the trees.  I nodded, they were trail markers to ensure we stayed on the right path.

We emerged from the forest onto that road again at some high rocks over a narrow spot in the river.  I blinked.  In front of us was a work of art.  A wood suspension bridge multiple times the size of the two little foot bridges at the west end of Cheap Quarter into the warehouse district, a shortcut to the market.

This one had soaring posts as thick as tree trunks and a webwork of ropes tied in intricate patterns, more decorative than functional in most cases. The swooping main ropes supported the plank pathway with regularly spaced suspender ropes.  The planks looked to be of hardwood as thick as my leg, broad as my chest, and there was even a carved railing on either side.

It tasted of elegance and age, I had never heard of it's like.  The realms built most of our bridges, even the small ones, out of stone.  That way they were more durable and not subject to the weather and ravages of time, and they did not sway in the wind or undulate as a rope bridge did.

Rumors of the foot bridges in Cheap Quarter are that a hundred years aforetime, one of the gardeners got together with the others and they pooled their resources and set up rope bridges to pull their harvests across to the warehouses without informing the Duke.  They were added to over time and eventually became the footbridges that are just barely wide enough for a person to walk it pushing a cart.  The Dukes over the years have ignored these unofficial bridges because they helped the citizens of the Keep.

I swallowed when I realized we were to cross a rope bridge with horses!  We stopped and Ranelle told me, “One at a time.  Lead your horse.”  I nodded and laid my hand on one of the great supports, it was carved with various gypsy symbols.  It was gorgeous.

I asked, “How have I not heard of such a bridge.  This is incredible.”

It was Sara who answered with a sly tone to her voice.  “The People have a great many things the Altii do not know about yet.  For as many of them as there are scurrying about the lands, they are still young and ignorant and have not explored all there is in this world.”

She paused when the Great Mother cleared her throat.  Sara's eyes went wide as she quickly added, “No offense Sora.”  I just inclined my head.  She was right after all.  I smiled internally that she had spoken to me like I was one of her own, forgetting where I hailed from for a moment.

Roman went first.  Walking slowly, leading his horse, who made nervous grunting sounds as they stepped onto the planks.  There was a groan as the bridge swayed to readjust to the weight then they made their way across.  It was wide enough that two horses could walk side by side.

When they made it across he moved aside and studied the shore then signaled.  Ranelle walked quickly, without pause, her horse followed without protest.  They had obviously done this often as they seemed to have no apprehension at all.  Then Penelope whispered to me, “Your turn, my Sora.”

I gave her a toothy grin.  “Yes, of course.  I'm not nervous about falling into the river at all, piece of cake.”

She and Sara chuckled.  Then Sara said in a low voice, “Just don't look down.”

Mother Luna!  Why did she have to go and say that?  I know she was trying to be helpful, but when you tell someone not to do something, their first inclination is to do exactly that.

I asked, “Why can we not just ford the river on horseback instead?  I'm not afraid of a little water and Goliath is an exceptional swimmer.”

She replied with a sympathetic smile and said, “The river is too swift here.  It is half a day's ride to an area it would be safe.”

I grinned nervously and then sighed heavily to their chuckles.  I pouted as I stepped up to the first plank.  “Be nice, this is my first time.”  I spun to catch the smiling girls ready to tease and admonished, “And no virgin jokes.”  This got explosive laughter from them and they covered their mouths.  So much for stealth.  I stuck my tongue out at them, then I turned back to the task at hand and steeled myself.

I took a deep breath and stepped onto the bridge, Goliath following.  When his weight was on the bridge, the ropes groaned and creaked, but we didn't go plummeting to our doom as I had envisioned.  I turned to him and said nervously, “See boy?  No reason to be apprehensive.”  He was in cahoots with the evil snickering women, as he didn't seem perturbed.  Traitor.

I turned back and started walking, my hand on the smooth railing that looked to be carved walnut.  One step at a time, feeling the sway of the bridge and getting comfortable enough with it by the midpoint to speed up.  I, of course, looked down.  May Sara eat only sour apples.  I swallowed and felt my stomach lurch.  We were so far over the river, and it has whitewater even more violent than the ones turning my paddle wheel experiment.

I looked back up, come on Laney, pull yourself together.  I exhaled, centered myself then walked the rest of the way with my eyes glued to the opposite end of the bridge.  We stepped off and I hugged Goliath's leg, “See boy?  It wasn't so bad.”

Ranelle said teasingly, “You look absolutely pale Laney.”

I gave her a toothy grin.  “I don't remember asking your opinion, Rain.”  I looked at Roman then quickly amended, “Great Mother.”

She chuckled. “Rain is fine in our group lady.”

I crinkled my nose at her and looked away haughtily as she chuckled again.  I turned to watch the other two cross without any hesitation.  Grr.

Then we were mounted up and continued our downward trek, cutting off the road onto a deer trail just a hundred yards down.  I noted that it was much warmer already, quickly heating toward summer temperatures again as we moved down the foothills.

There are times in your life that are burned into your memory, because something powerfully emotional happened, whether it was great joy, sorrow, or fear.  Fear is the most likely to burn itself in because it is at the heart of the primal nature of mankind.  Fight or flight.  What happened next was one of those moments.  When I think about it now, it seems silly compared to facing down two Adepts at the Monolith, but then again, they weren't threatening to eat me.  The giant grizzly that reared up in our path and issued a roaring challenge was.

The horses spooked and I had to rein in Goliath.  A grizzly could take down a horse, but most likely not one the size of mine.  But it still spooked him.  I wasn't sure what to do.  Did we run?

It started to charge, but I thought bears were afraid of humans.  Rain held a hand back and I glanced back to see the two archers lower their bows.  My instinct was to run, theirs was to fight.

Then what followed scared me as much as the bear.  Ranelle, the leader of the Mountain Gypsies, slid off her horse and stepped toward the charging bear as it bellowed in rage.  She held a hand up in front of her and I could taste just a wisp of her sweet power.  And the bear reared up on its hind legs towering above her.  Mother Luna, it had to have been almost eight feet tall.

It roared down at her but didn't attack.  Ranelle seemed unphased as she just reached forward and placed her hand on the bear's chest and asked in a concerned tone, “What seems to be the problem?  You seem awfully agitated.”

She actually started to scratch the bear's chest and it lowered to all fours and roared at her again then started making a grunting growling sound as she started scratching the bear's ears.  “There, see?  You don't have to be so loud.”  The bear seemed to begin to enjoy the scratching and leaned into her, almost knocking the insane Gypsy woman over.

Rain thumped its shoulder solidly a couple times like you would a pet dog and started scanning around as she said, “Let's see if we can figure this out.”  She looked up and chuckled.  Then looked at the bear and said, “That explains it, ma'am.  We didn't mean to startle your family, your cubs are safe and we'll be moving along now.”

I turned in my saddle and looked up at where she had been looking, to see two cute little grizzly cubs up a nearby tree.  The bear was a mother protecting her cubs, that is why she was attacking.

She gave the bear's ears one last scrub and told her as she turned her back to it, “We'll be taking our leave now.”  Then she saddled up and signaled for us to follow as she moved slowly away from the mother bear.

As I passed, I smiled at the bear and she growled and did a mock lunge that got Goliath to sidestep then we left her behind to mind her children.  It took a couple minutes before I could breathe properly and my heart stopped threatening to burst from my chest.  Adrenaline is cruel like that.  I looked at a seemingly unperturbed Rain and whispered, “You're genuinely unbalanced, you know that woman?”

She smiled and turned her head slightly to me without looking over.  “She seemed upset about something.  She wouldn't have attacked unless we threatened her cubs.”

I nodded as if in understanding and said teasingly, “One hundred percent nuts.”  She seemed pleased at that as he smile grew and she urged her mount faster.

I turned in my saddle to look back at the bear then at the archers who only offered me apologetic shrugs and toothy grins.  Bonkers, they are all bonkers... that was a grizzly!  I grinned to myself and turned back in my saddle and caught up with the Great Mother.

We crested the far ridge of the valley as Father Sol dipped below the Whispering Walls.  It was odd to see him lowering in the mountains instead of rising from them.  We stopped in an alcove in a rock overhang.  I could see the firelight of villages reflecting off of the glassy surface of the Great Sea far below.  It was too dark to make out much.

We fed and watered our horses and gave them long tethers to graze on the green grasses that seemed to grow everywhere in the Hinterland Forest, even with not much sunlight getting through the thick canopy of leaves. It was so different than the west side.

Then we settled on our bedrolls and ate a meal of jerky, dried berries and nuts, and some flatbread that was still soft in the middle.  I stood and stretched and said, “I have first watch.”  Ranelle cocked an eyebrow then inclined her head, then nudged her chin at Penelope, who hopped up and grabbed her bow, heading the opposite direction I was heading.

I inclined my head and went to the top of the overhang to watch the three sisters as they did their monthly dance around each other in the night sky.  I absently wondered if Celeste was gazing upon them wherever she was this evening.  I missed having her by my side.  I saw a bright flash on Mother Luna and I closed my eyes and made a wish upon the debris strike.

I split my time between watching the others sleeping below and gazing at the stars and the debris ring around the Earth.  I grabbed a stick from the ground and pulled my dagger from my boot and absently whittled the wood as I sat to watch.  I wasn't artistically inclined, so my whittling skill entailed making a big stick into a smaller stick, but it helped pass the time.

The sky was starting to cloud over, hiding the sky and darkening the night when Roman stepped up beside me.  I looked up at the man.  He looked haunted as he stared in the direction of the sea then down at me and he offered a hand.  I sheathed my dagger then took his hand and he hoisted me to my feet and I gave him an acknowledging nod.  We'd get Udele back.  Then I made my way back down to camp.  Penelope was arriving back at the same time.  Sara must have relieved her.

We exchanged smiles then I laid on my bedroll and pulled my cloak tight around me, it was warmer than any blanket in the slight chill of the summer night.  I was asleep before my eyes are fully closed.

Chapter 14 – The Great Sea

I awoke screaming, with Ranelle's hand over my mouth.  I blinked away the vision.   The dark knights were in pursuit.  A man wielding so much power.  My world was pain, but I searched for something as I was being pursued.  It was Celeste, something about Celeste.  The vision was clearer and more detailed now, it was getting closer.

The phantom pain receded and I nodded to Ranelle, I'd be alright now.  She uncovered my mouth, there were four sets of concerned eyes looking at me.  I shook my head. “Just the vision again.  There was something about Celeste and a man with great power pursuing me.  There was so much pain.”

Roman asked toward Ranelle, “Transference?”  He didn't know the extent of my visions.

She just nodded once.

I assured her as she looked at me, “I'm fine now.”

She nodded and moved back.

Roman offered up in a low voice, “There was that bearded vrajitor I saw with Mother.  Perhaps he was the one in your vision.”

I thought about the man perusing me he did have a shaggy dark beard shot through with silver and long shaggy dark hair.  I nodded. “It could be.”

We packed up our gear and stowed them on our horses then mounted up.  Ranelle looked back to Roman.  “Where is this island?”

He pointed down at the Sea that now looked even more majestic and daunting than it did from so far off.  “Just south of Fisherman's Point, in the Throat.”  The Throat was one of the two fingers of land that extended into the main body of the sea.

I mentally pictured the map in my head.  It was about a two day's ride around the base of the sea from the Keep and around to the Throat.  It was also where the bard songs told of where the stronghold of Lord Cedric was swallowed by the sea.

Ranelle nodded and turned us south on another marked game trail.  I could see Fisherman's Point below from our vantage point, it was the narrow gulf of water between the two fingers of land.  No more than a half day's ride away.

We continued in silence, moving swiftly.  At one point we had to cross the Ring as we neared the sprawling waters.  Sara took the lead and she held her hand up in a fist, just like we knights did to signal to stop and wait.  A patrol of two knights in the orange and green of Solomon trotted past, heading north.  After a couple minutes, she signaled us forward and we skirted the forest away from the roads into the village.

We ate as we went along to keep up our strength as Father Sol sat high in the sky, it was around noon.  I missed the luxury of Celeste's miniature wrist clock.

We saw cottages and other buildings start to pop up sporadically.  The spacing growing denser and denser as we moved along.  Soon we were paralleling the large fishing village of Fisherman's Point.  It looked the size of Owensdale, and I knew it was one of the smaller towns around the Great Sea.  Only Highland had a larger population than Solomon, the jewel of the Lower Ten.

They had two proper cities in the realm as well.  It would be amazing to see such a metropolis.  One was the thriving metropolis built around the Keep itself, which had more people alone than lived in the entire realm of Wexbury.  The other was Cedric's Gateway on the north banks of the sea, named after the founder of Solomon.

Everywhere I looked through the trees at the village as we passed I could see docks stretching out into the waters with boats lashed to the docks.  I could see sailboats moving about in the waters as far as the eye could see.  And there was a monster of a sloop tied off to one dock.  It had to be seventy or eighty feet long.  It made the Mermaid look like a minnow.  I could see another one coming into the docks farther down the bank.

I whispered to Rain, “Such huge boats.”

She shook her head. “The Altii call it a ship, not a boat.  They even have ships which dwarf those, with multiple masts and sails.  They use them to transport huge loads across the sea, or for large-scale fishing with nets they drag behind them.”

I shook my head in disbelief.  Was there nothing we couldn't accomplish in these modern times?  I absently wondered if Bex's invention of the Auto-Wagon could somehow help ships move more quickly through the waters.

We continued forward and farther away from the road and deeper into the woods as we left Fisherman's Point behind.  After an hour of travel, Roman slowed us and dismounted.  We followed suit and gathered around him.

He whispered, “The Solomon patrols don't go this deep into the throat.  But this is where I started seeing these dark knights patrolling.  We need to move even more stealthily, it would be better if we led the horses on foot.”

We nodded and he took the lead, followed by Sara, Ranelle and me, with Penelope guarding our backs.

Our eyes were constantly scanning the forest, including the trees.  This I could do, I did the local patrols with Celeste and Bowyn from time to time.  They are still giving me the years of training which I should have received when I was but a squire.

An hour later we saw a man in that dark armor and cloak slowly making his way through the trees.  We moved down into a small hollow and waited as our blonde archer kept her bow trained on the unsuspecting man until he passed by.  We all exhaled in relief.  I could hear the creak of Penelope's bow as she released the tension on the bowstring, then she slipped the arrow back into her quiver.

We waited in silence for five more minutes to make sure he was alone and not circling back before we headed east again.

We paused as we saw Father Sol starting to dip below the Whispering Walls.  I was beginning to ponder just how much farther we needed to travel.  Between riding and walking for over four hours, I was wondering just how deep the Throat of the sea was.

Then we paused as the forest thinned a bit.  There was a rocky beach just ahead of us with two dark knights patrolling.  Roman pointed out into the water and I could see an island, not more that five hundred yards out, with the ruins of a great castle stronghold rising up from it like the bones of a long dead ancient beast.

There were a couple towers still mostly intact.  Two-thirds of the outer defensive wall was mostly intact but crumbling, whether, from time or the cataclysm that separated the keep from the land, it was unclear.  Nature had been diligent in reclaiming the island for its own over the centuries.  Most of the ruins were overrun with trees and vines.

Ranelle held her hand out as we hid behind some underbrush.  I automatically withdrew my spyglass from my pouch and handed it to her.  Hey!  It was so ingrained in me from being with Celeste that I hadn't even thought about it.  Why don't these women ever get a spyglass of their own?  I grinned, knowing I really didn't mind, it made me feel useful.  So I waited as she studied the ruins until I could look at them myself.

I scanned the ruins with my spyglass, they were impressive even at this distance, I paused where the main portcullis should have been.  The upper wall had crumbled to block the archway, most likely during the earth rumble.  A small section had been cleared away, just wide enough to walk through.  Two heavily armed dark knights guarded the narrow passageway.  I could see no one else.

There were five large rowboats tied off to the rocky shore of the island and I wondered how many people were inside.  I turned my gaze to the shore and just a way down from the patrol was a pen with possibly twenty saddled horses.

I lowered the spyglass and nudged my head toward the horses.  The Greva acknowledged it.  We were seriously outnumbered if there were twenty knights in the ruins.  We'd have to be smart, stealth was truly the order of the day.

We pulled back and had a whispered conversation.

Roman said, “I see no other entrance, so we have to get past the guards somehow without their notice?”

I started humming the next verse of ‘Ode to the Sea’ as Ranelle asked, “A diversion then?”

Sara shook her head. “Without knowing exactly where Mother Udele is being held, they would realize it was a diversion before we could extract her.  The walls must hold two or three square miles, they must have had a small village in there.  And that narrow passage is a choke point and we would be easily picked off.”

I finished humming the verse and whispered with excitement, “There is another way.”

All eyes turned to me and I explained, “The next verse of the song tells of how the people were trapped but Lord Cedric led them through the bolthole to safety.”

They stared at me like I was speaking an unknown language.  So I sighed and just sang the refrain quietly for them, it had an odd cadence compared to the first verse and it always sounded like there were some lines missing.  Maybe over time, some had been forgotten.

As the gate walls fell

Lord Cedric did yell

To his people, he bid the bolthole

Holding the walls on his back

Growling defiance did he

As his people did flee

Then followed to the boats and he smiled

Twas a great Lord indeed, who saved every last man, woman, and child

Pen asked, “Bolthole?”

Ahh, that was their confusion.  I blushed at having embarrassed myself by singing again.  I asked, “You don't know what a bolthole is?”

Ranelle shook her head and I explained, “Every keep and castle has a bolthole.  It is a secret exit used by the Dukes and Duchesses to escape if the castle is overrun.  They are closely guarded secrets.  There are trained masons in every Dukes guard, who lay the foundations for any new keeps or castles.  So when the other masons are brought in to construct the castle, the bolthole is already in place and none of the workers know of its existence.”

I learned of the location of the one in Wexbury Keep after I was knighted.  All Knights knew of it so they could guard the evacuation the Duke and Duchess if they ever needed to be spirited away.  May that day never come.

There was a false floor on the sub level of the barracks, the stone cover slid aside to reveal a stairway.  The passage below it exited in the large tunnel beneath the castle on the outside of the large iron gates that were sunk into the bottom of the Hawktail River as it flowed through the keep.  A little boat was hidden up in the shadows of the alcove, that they could use to make their way upstream in the shadow of the Grove and get to safety where a contingent of Knights of the realm would be waiting.

I smiled. “Lord Cedric had used his to evacuate the entire village when the main gates were blocked.”  Then I thought about my vision.  What had I seen behind Mother Udele when my point of view changed to face her?  I tried to replay the sweeping, blurred vision.

I was peripherally aware that my power of the spirit started streaming from me like a soft explosion of white mist being pushed away by a stiff breeze.  I could see the vision again, much slower.  I pulled myself out of it before Udele spoke those words that hurt from the power she put into them.

I felt exhausted as the mists faded, but I turned to Ranelle, who looked like a beacon of white as my power disappeared.  I whispered excitedly, “I know where they are holding her!  In the castle dungeon, I saw the bars in my vision.”

The ruling minstrel smiled crookedly at me then turned to the others.  “Now we need to figure out how to get to the island and find this bolthole without being detected.”

Roman offered as he squinted at the island, deep in thought, “If Sora Laney is right, then this bolthole would be on the backside of the island, that is where the towers are, so it stands to reason that is where the castle was located in the keep.”

He looked back toward Fisherman's Point and then to us and said, “There is a Gypsy dock not far from here, one of our fishing access points that Solomon gifted us back yon.  We can use one of the boats to approach the island from the sea, and locate this bolthole.”

We nodded and then Pen asked, “Once we have her, what then?  The alarm would be raised, every knight in Solomon would be on the lookout for us.”

Ranelle studied me with the most serious look I have seen on her face.  She was not the joyful, laughing minstrel I first met.  At that moment, she was the Great Mother of all the Mountain Gypsy clans.  I swallowed under that piercing gaze which seemed to be taking my true measure like she could see inside me to the frightened girl I tried not to show.

Then she asked in a voice that sounded cold and detached like I would imagine from a noble of great standing.  “In your heart Laney, do you truly believe these dark knights are acting on behest of someone else, not the will of the realms of the Altii?”

I swallowed again and searched deep inside.  Beyond my knee-jerk reaction of denial.  Did I truly believe that one of the Lower Ten would actually risk war by perpetrating such an act against the Mountain Gypsies?  That a Knight of any realm would possibly kidnap and torture an old woman who's only crime was loving her people?  Was there anything that our Duke could say to us, that could make our own knights do such a deed even if ordered?  The answer was a resounding no.

I whispered as I shook my head, “We Altii may be young, but we are honorable people.  Sure we have some bad elements among us, and tend toward violence at times, but on the whole, we are decent.  I think these dark knights are operating on their own agenda and Solomon is not aware of their deeds.  I can't imagine what they have taken Mother Udele for.”

She kept studying me then she inclined her head at me and said, “I trust your judgment of your own people.  If we act according to what your heart believes, then I put forth that our best means of egress is to the south, toward Solomon Keep.  We are bound to run into actual Solomon patrols far sooner than we could possibly make our way back to the Meeting Spot while being perused.”

Sara looked at me then Rain and asked carefully, “You would risk us all on her gut feeling?”

Ranelle looked at her with sad compassion and asked, “And how would you suggest we escape with Udele?  If we assume all of Solomon's defenses are perusing us, then it is unlikely we would make our way back to the People, let alone out of Solomon.  We could lay low in hiding for a few days until the search relaxes.  But by then, the People will believe us lost and we will go to war.”

She gave me a sad smile. “So I... will follow Laney's heart.  And we had dispatched a runner to inform Sora Celeste of our plans before we left.  She may well already be on her way here if Solomon indeed is not the culprit.”

She added gravely, “I will not order any of you to follow Laney and me, and neither the People nor I will think any less of you if you choose not to undergo this plan.  What say you?”

Roman said instantly, “Aye.”

Penelope was next as she gave me a smile and nod. “Aye, I follow my Sora.”

Then we looked at Sarafine and she narrowed her eyes at me and took my measure.  Then she gave a crooked smirk and whispered, “You'd go in there alone and stand against all the enemy to rescue her wouldn't you?”

I looked down at my hands and nodded once.

She chuckled and said, “Aye, I'll follow a crazy woman who doesn't know how to back down.”

I smiled up at her and blushed.

All eyes were on me, I could feel them as they weighed me down.  I whispered firmly, trying to keep the waver and tears out of my voice, “Aye.”

Rain grinned and said, “Grand!  What a splendid band of lunatics we are.”

We all chuckled at that then she said, “So we go with Roman's plan.  We should move the horses to the south and keep them hidden in the wood before we go to retrieve a boat.”

We nodded as a the first drops of a summer rain started to fall, the raindrops chilled my face in the cool summer evening.  I would have basked in the rain if I could have, it was such a rare occurrence in Wexbury.  By the time we had the horses hidden in a draw a few hundred yards south, the rain had turned into a torrential downpour as Roman led us northwest to the Gypsy dock.

Chapter 15 – Bolthole

By the time we arrived at the boats, using the light of a torch that burned unnaturally in the rain on the dock to guide us through almost pitch darkness, which was punctuated by blinding lightning and the deafening roar of thunder.  Lighting up the land in visceral snapshots.

The outer realms didn't get much rain but two or three times a year, though it is a common occurrence in the mountains.  Solomon however, was surrounded on all sides by multiple mountain ranges, and I hear they had all types of weather and the four seasons were well pronounced.  They would get these violent rainstorms that helped to feed the Great Sea along with the runoff of the surrounding mountains and the glaciers on Heaven's Gate.

As we arrived at the dock, we were met by a man in brightly colored garb, his skin was a beautiful rich brown.  The silly man had just been sitting on the dock in a chair with his fishing pole.  Fishing off the dock.  He smiled a brilliant smile at us then his eyes bulged wide in recognition and he dropped the pole into the sea as he swung from the chair to take a knee in front of Ranelle.

She laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him as he said, “Great Mother.”

She nudged her chin and the man stood.  He was well built and muscular, his clothing was plastered to his form from the rain and it left nothing to the imagination.  He gave us that bright white toothy grin again, “What can I do for you this fine evening Great Mother?”

She cocked an eyebrow and looked up into the sky.  Our group, except for her and me, looked like drenched rats.  She asked through a crooked smile, “Fine?”

The man responded as he laid on his odd accent a little heavier, “You'll not be havin' better sturgeon fishing weather.”

She chuckled at the man and said, “What is your name?”

He responded quickly, “Alexi, Great Mother.”

She smiled, inclining her head and repeated, “Alexi. We need a boat, have you one to spare?”

He looked back at the small rowboats of an odd design, they were longer and much slimmer than the boats we used on the Dragontooth.  Then he looked at the Great Sea.  It was a stark transformation from the calm glassy surface we had seen just hours before.  There were violent choppy waves covering the surface that seemed to foam with the relentless strikes of heavy raindrops on their surface.

He looked worried when he looked back at her,. “Aye, but these not be the gentle lapping waves of the tide.”

I asked, “Tide?”

He tilted his head at me,. “I can't quite place your accent young one. You know of tidal forces?”

I nodded, of course, I did.  One of the first things about science that mother taught me back in our cottage in the Cheap Quarter is how the earth shifts from the tidal forces from the gravity of the Three sisters as they raced around the planet, sometimes causing earth rumbles.

He said, “Those same forces pull against the sea itself, causing it to rise and follow the Sisters through the sky like a long lost love seeking embrace.  The level of the sea can change almost six whole inches in an ebb and flow each day.”

Wow, I would never have thought it.  I smiled, feeling like I was learning from a scholar.  I loved knowledge and devoured it wherever I could.  That is why the library of the Techromancy Scrolls was like a carnival wonderland to me.

Rain said to the man almost teasingly as she kept one eye on me, “Forgive Sora Laney, she is yet young and has not learned all the wonders of our world.”

His eyes again bulged and he bent at the waist, giving a flourish with his hand, similar to what Dru does when he is being charming.  “Sora, forgive me for not knowing who you were.”  His eyes lingered on my hip as I realized he was looking at Anadele.  I sighed.  Had those exaggerated tales reached even Solomon?

I just smiled at the man and then he stood and looked back at the boats again.  “Would morning after the storm passed be better?”

Rain shook her head seriously at the man and explained why we were there.  He was shocked at the abhorring tale.  Word had not reached this far into Solomon yet nor the call to the Meeting Spot for the war council.

He almost spit out, “The Altii overstep themselves!”  He looked back at the boat and said, “I will captain you over myself.  I know this Sea, she is my mistress, and I can guide you safely.”

Roman nudged his head toward me and Alexi quickly added, “Not all Altii of course, Sora.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned at the man who returned my grin with a toothy smile.

Ranelle said, “Then we must make haste if the dark of night is to conceal us.”

We all boarded one of those long rowboats, Alexi gallantly offering a hand to me to steady me until I sat.  Then he offered a hand to Penelope, who shot him a coy wink and just hopped off the dock and landed deftly on the stern, balancing like the boat wasn't rocking in the violent waves.  He smiled back at her with a little something extra.  Mother Luna, they were flirting and we were on a life or death mission here.  I will not admit to smiling at their antics.

Roman helped Ranelle in and we all settled as Alexi hopped in as gracefully as Pen did.  Then he unhooked the line from a post on the dock and pushed us away with a deft shove by a long oar.  He placed the other oar in a lock and started heaving with mighty strokes as we started rocking violently.  The boat slowly moving through the water.

He grinned at Roman. “Feel free to assist at any time.”

We all chuckled as our archer looked embarrassed and said, “Oh.”  As he slid forward a seat and placed another set of oars in some oarlocks.  Then our slow progress quickened as Alexi guided us out into the sea.  It was pitch black as the lights from the shore faded.  I would have thought us lost if not for the more frequent lightning strikes lighting up the island like haunting snapshots in time, off to our right.

We were giving the island a wide berth.  I noted that water was up to my ankle as the rain and waves inundated us.  I saw a little bucket secured to the boat by a small chain, and started bailing as the men kept pulling us forward with powerful strokes of the oars.

I dropped the bucket in surprise when in the flash and rumble of a lightning strike just overhead, froze a monster just beside me, leaping from the water.  It was a fish like no other.  It was bigger than me by at least a foot.  I must have squeaked because Alexi looked back at me with his big toothy grin as he yelled, his voice being swallowed by the rain and the waves, “Sturgeon.  They thrive on the west banks of the sea.”

I heave heard of and read about sturgeon, of course, the largest freshwater fish to have survived the Great Impact.  But I hadn't reconciled what I read with what I had just witnessed.  The largest fish in the Hawktail are Rainbow Trout and a few Bigmouth Bass, but they were tiny compared to the beast jumping out of the water near the boat.

I looked around and caught a great many of them diving out of the waters around us, frozen in the lightning that seemed to be questing for us.  He said as a bad feeling started coming over me, “The rain drives them to the surface, they think the droplets are insects striking the waves.”

Another bolt of lightning struck just a few feet from the boat as we circled behind the island, my ears hurt from the roaring of the instant thunder as the boat rocked.  Leaving my ears ringing and me half blind.

I yelled out in a panic as I realized what was happening, my body was buzzing with my power, “Electricity likes me, the lightning is questing for me and my power is rising to meet it!”  I saw everything as bright as day, amber sparks were dripping from my eyes as amber power coursed across my form in rivulets to drip down into the boat.

Ranelle and Sara seemed entranced looking at me.  I saw their power raising in them, Sarafine a dim, misty glow, and Rain a beacon in the night as blinding as the lightning.

Penelope said, “By the gods in heaven, she's a lightning rod!  Get us to shore now!”

The men heaved and the boat turned sharply to the shore as another bolt of light, energy, and sound struck just beside me in the water.  The proximity would have fried my companions had the immense static wave from the bolt not sought me out to be devoured by my Adept abilities.  I could feel myself warming up as I absorbed the energy, I needed to dump it into the earth soon or it would damage me.  I can redirect energy but storing it is not one of my strong points.

Twenty feet from shore, the boat struck some of the jagged rocks and ground to a halt.  I yelled, “Everyone stay back!” I fell into the water, finding my footing on the uneven rocks and I waded to shore, the waves slapping me and pushing me against the rocks.  I felt like I was being battered in a sparring match with a dozen Knights.

I stumbled onto the shore as a lightning bolt struck a rock just where my hand had been a moment before.  Shards of rock stung my face and I felt more energy start to burn me from inside.  I pulled Anadele and stifled a scream as I slammed her into the ground, I could feel another massive buildup in the clouds above.

I released all the built up energy and my own through Anadele.  I could feel her heating up even through the glove.  Then the world went virtually dark again as my vision faded back to normal, and the heavens unleashed the lightning randomly.  No longer seeking me. I collapsed keeping myself propped up as I sat on the ground by leaning on my trusty blade.

I whispered to her as I panted, “You saved me again, girl.”  I looked to my comrades who were now slogging to shore.  Alexi waved at us and started moving away from shore.

A concerned Ranelle crouched by my side. “Are you alright Laney?”

I nodded, still gasping and said, “Just give me a minute.

She nodded and said, “Alexi will loiter offshore by the old collapsed pier to the south, where there are fewer rocks, and wait for our signal.”

I nodded back and smiled weakly as I forced myself to my feet and pulled Anadele from the ground, wiping the blade between my fingers.  The mud just sloughed cleanly off my blade and my silk glove.  Then I slid her back into her scabbard, she had earned a rest.

I said with a chuckle, “I hope the storm has passed by the time we get back out.”  This got me some cheesy but worried grins in response.

We quickly made for cover, in case they had a patrol walking the island perimeter, then we ghosted along the shadows of a crumbling wall of the fortress, me more literally than the others as I left a misty trail of afterimages behind as I tried to calm my power.

Before long, the ancient pier came into view, nothing more than a few rotted posts sticking up from the water.  So we spread out and all started looking along the wall.  I thought about that as I ran my hand along it.  That would be too obvious.  The idea of a bolthole is for it to be hidden and keep the royalty safe, giving them a chance to escape.

I looked back at the pier.  Where the boats would be boarded and the enemy could not follow into the Great Sea.  I glanced at my Greva, then darted from cover to cover toward the pier.  It didn't take long until I came to an opening overgrown by nature.  It looked like a sewage outlet, barely six feet around.  An old iron gate with a lock was rusted to its core, but the significant thing was that it was rusted open.  Something... someone, left here when the castle fell to the rumble.

I rejoined the others and said, “I've found it.”

They looked hopeful suddenly and I motioned with my head to follow.  Then we moved swiftly from cover to cover until we reached the stone orifice.

I pointed and they all looked at it. Roman grabbed a stone and the ancient mortar holding it crumbled and the rock came loose in his hand.  “It is unstable.  Time has weakened the structure.”

Ranelle took a deep breath, nodding once and stepped inside.  An eerie white glow illuminated the interior.  I looked inside and saw the light came from her blade which she had drawn.  She was lighting it with just a wisp of power.

The others followed her and I took up the rear, drawing my blade and pulling just the slightest amount of my power to me, and the world lit up as bright as day again.  The stone walls of the circular passageway were ancient and unmaintained.  The slightest touch made mortar crumble, the walls were on the verge of collapse.  If not for the circular shape lending equal pressure from all sides, I had no doubt it would have collapsed a long time back.

We stepped over rubble and dirt from some breaches and had to carefully clear away enough stone from a collapse.  Water dripped freely into that section of the tunnel as the rain seeped through the ground.  Roots hung down like a veil, the most likely culprit in the collapse.  Whatever man could build, nature could take back as her own in less time than imaginable.

More dirt fell as Roman started to hack through the wall of roots.  Ranelle put a hand on his shoulder and made him get behind her.  She brought her power up inside her and she drew a rune in the air.  It held its shape as it drifted in front of her like a specter, then she blew across her hand like she was blowing a lover a kiss, and the mist drifted forward and seemed to bond with the roots.

Nothing happened at first, but I could see the roots feeding upon the rune as they lit up in my Techromancer vision.  Like they were gaining sustenance from the magik.  Then they slowly started moving and parting.  They wove together like a mesh and flattened themselves against the wall and ceiling of the tunnel, lending it their support.

Rain swayed and I steadied her.  I have seen her do some amazing things with her power, but this seemed so simple and it seemed to tire her out.  I gave her a concerned look and she gave me a reassuring smile and said quietly, “I am a brute, explosive, forceful magik, like I used against Sarafine here, comes easy.  But fine and subtle workings like this, where I seek a specific outcome that goes against nature, takes more concentration and power than my most violent attack.”

I nodded understanding, that is why soothing that mother grizzly seemed to tire her out as well.  I understood, because the more I tried to finely control my power, whether it be my Techno Knight power or the spirit element, it was a huge mental effort on my part, whereas redirecting and grounding energy was a simple, if not painful, task for me.

I was beginning to think the tunnel would never end when it started to rise.  We would be well within the walls of the Keep now.  A few yards further and we came to the remains of a thick oak door.  Just slivers of wood and rusted hinges were all that told of its prior existence.  It too appeared to have been in the open position.

I looked down and blinked, there seemed to be a short parrying blade, about the length of Anadele, under the bottom of the mostly rotted away base of the door.  It had been wedged there to hold it open.  Most likely back when the Keep was evacuated.  The others stepped into the space beyond but I tarried and crouched for a closer look at the ancient blade.

Though tarnished with age and neglect, it appeared to be of bronze, not steel so it was in remarkably good shape for being over a thousand years old.  I wiped off the layers of dust and cobwebs on the hilt, the leather bindings had long since turned to dust.  Then my eyes snapped wide. Mother Luna... Impossible!  The stories were true!

Pen stepped up behind me and looked over my shoulder, whispering, “What is it, Sora?”

I smiled back at her then the blade as I carefully dislodged it from under the rotting skeleton of the door and held it up.  It was heavier than Anadele.  It would have been the second, much smaller blade wielded in a swordsman's off hand in two-handed combat.  It was generally used in conjunction with a shortsword or longsword held in the warrior's dominant hand.

I held it, blade down, showing her the hilt as I whispered excitedly, “The crest of Solomon!  This belonged to Lord Cedric!”  I looked at it a moment then at the impressed looks on the people standing around me.  Then I stared at the blade again, exhaled deeply, and slid it through my belt to let it hang from my left hip.

It would be an offense punishable by execution, to handle the blade of a royal.  But I figured that since this royal had died centuries ago, and Solomon would likely hold this as a treasure of their realm, that it was a pardonable offense.  I just couldn't leave it here, forgotten.  It was history, it was knowledge.  It and this bolthole proved out the teachings of the songs of the bards.

In the light of Rain and Anadele, we looked around the chamber and I almost chuckled at the location of the bolthole in the castle.  In the large room, there were hundreds of casks in various stages of decomposition, and some were remarkably well preserved.  On one wall, in a half collapsed rack, were hundreds of bottles.  Most broken from the collapse, but a few still intact, complete with wax seals.

I chuckled quietly. “The wine cellar.”

Roman walked over to the bottles and pulled one out of the latticework rack and blew the dust off of it and wiped away the cobwebs streaming behind it like they protested his handling of what they had claimed.

He grinned and took two bottles and slid them in his pack.  Rain snorted at the man and shook her head, whispering, “That will not be drinkable you know.”

He grinned and shrugged and whispered, “But what a prize it is.

A slight smile quirking at the corner of her lips, she shook her head and mumbled, “Men.”

I glanced at the graceful stone arches and pillars holding up the ceiling, the floor of the level above.  The masons would have been proud to know that their work has held up for so many generations.

We made our way to the door which was intact but suffered from decades of dry rot.  Roman started to push it open but the hinges began to creak horrendously in protest.  My heart stopped beating for a moment and he stopped immediately.  We heard the creak echo through the corridors beyond.

We all looked at each other and listened intently.  We were met only by silence.  I exhaled a breath I hadn't remembered holding.  Then we all stared at the door.  If we forced it wide, the racket it made would surely alert anyone nearby to our presence.

I looked around if only we had some lard or bacon grease to work into the hinges.  I looked back at the broken bottles and then smiled. I laid a hand on Roman's shoulder and he looked back.  I nudged my chin to the side and he moved back.  I whispered, “Bring me as many wax seals from the broken bottles as you can find.”

He slipped away and I looked around then exhaled again as I started pulling my Altii magic forth.  This was something I learned I could do before I ignited.  Like the Techromancers of the Keep, I could roll back the ravages of time on metal to some extent.  Metal, like electricity, liked me.

The room around me seemed to pulsate in vivid, flickering color as I saw amber energy flowing and arcing down my arms.  Amber sparks hitting the stone floor.  I stretched and touched the top hinge and let the energy gently flow from me to the metal.

I watched as the corrosion began to melt and flake away, the orangeish red of the rust darkening and slowly becoming a silverish black.  Time rolling back.  I could do nothing of the metal lost to time, but what remained I was able to revive.  Peeling back the centuries, one at a time.  I had done this with some of the relics of the Before Times, which I had found while scavenging.

Ultimately, it is how I got caught and accused of being a Rogue.  And how I became my Lady's squire.  Prime Techromancer Donovan and Celeste had concocted the plan to keep me from the stockade.

I moved down to the lower hinge and I glanced over to see Ranelle smiling approvingly, and Sara shielding her eyes from the brilliant display of amber energy that only another with magic potential could see.  I blushed and went to work on the hinge.  Once I had done all I could I turned to Roman and took some of the wax he was holding out to me.

I picked up Anadele and just let my small trickle of power seep into her, but didn't allow her to release it.  Instead, I let it build until my blade started heating up.  It was times like this I wish I had more power at my disposal.  The buildup seemed to take forever though I knew it had only been a few seconds.

Then I held the blade on top of the barrel of the hinge and started pushing wax against the sword.  It melted quickly and poured down the hinge like a liquid.  Coating the entire barrel.  I repeated the process above, standing on my tiptoes.  I swear I'll get my comrades for their little smirks as I did so.  They won't even see it coming.  I grinned at them.

Then I finally let my power fade.  I exhaled.  It was a great effort to keep the magic flowing for such an extended period.  But I was happy, it was much longer than I could have hoped to do just two years aforetime.  I was slowly getting stronger.  Donovan and Celeste are always telling me that magic potential is like a muscle.  The more you flex it, the easier it gets, the stronger you get.  One day I may be as powerful as Celeste though she ranks as one of the least powerful Techno Knights of the realm.

The looks of curiosity I was getting from my Greva made me explain.  “Wax is useful.  Ideally, we would use oil, lard, or grease to lubricate the hinge so that the metal does not squeal and protest as it slides against itself.  But in a pinch, candle wax... or in this case, sealing wax...”

I squinted one eye painfully and pushed on the door a little.  There was a slight groan, the drying wax flaked away then with barely a noise but the settling of the old wood.  The door swung halfway open before becoming jammed on the slightly uneven stone floor.

This got me some approving grins and then Ranelle glanced into the darkness beyond.  Then slipped into the corridor, lighting the way, the rest of us following.  Sara paused before she passed through and gave me a sarcastic grin, whispering, “Not bad for a little runt.”

I slapped her shoulder then followed, lighting our rear with Anadele.  Rain looked back and asked, “Where would the dungeons be?”

I shrugged and thought of Wexbury.  There was the jailhouse where the magistrate kept the people who broke minor laws and just required a day or two behind bars for stealing bread, or people waiting to be lashed at the whipping post.  I absently moved a hand back to my shoulders, where the scars on my back started, from my own punishment so very long ago.  Then the main dungeons were in the bowels of the castle.  Where the violent people, murders, and enemies of the realm were incarcerated for life or awaited execution.  I shivered as I added, or the people accused of being Rogues.

I said, “If it is like Wexbury, then on the lowest level, where it is hardest to escape.  So most likely, somewhere on this level.”

She nodded and we proceeded to the end of the corridor.  I was getting a little spooked at the ruins.  It was as if we were walking through the skeletons of the past.  It almost felt like we were committing some offense by not letting this ancient fortress rest.  To sleep through all the ages, not just being history, but living it.

We stopped at another, larger corridor which was dimly lit by a torch at the far end, maybe fifty yards away.  The Great Mother and I let our lights fade.  It took a few seconds for our eyes to acclimate then we moved slowly, silently forward, listening intently as we started to hear distant voices.

After a couple more turns down the labyrinth of corridors, lit by more and more frequent torches, we heard a woman screaming in pain somewhere in the distance.  Mother Udele!  I resisted the urge to go running down the corridor toward the sound.

A door suddenly opened noisily ten feet in front of us and we froze.  We heard the voices of at least a dozen men inside the room.  A burly man dressed in the armor of one of the dark knights stepped through, looking back and yelling in English, “Oh sod off you unruly lot.  I need to drain the snake.”

He slammed the door shut on the hoots and hollers from the others and grumbled as he went about unbuttoning his trousers and started relieving himself right there on the wall in the corridor before he even looked around.

When he did, he froze in a moment of indecision when he saw us all standing there, unmoving.  That hesitation was his undoing.  I stifled an exclamation of surprise as an arrow was suddenly through his throat.  I hadn't even saw Penelope move.

Roman stepped to the man who was silently trying to cry out as his life's blood gushed out of his neck.  He made a gurgling sound and Roman pulled the man's head violently to the side and with a crunch, the man stopped struggling against him and Roman dragged his lifeless body back the way we came.  Depositing him in an alcove.

Sara whispered, “It is only a matter of time before they miss him.”

Rain nodded once and we almost ran down the corridor, letting Udele's screams guide us.

After a couple more twists and turns, we came to a large set of ancient doors that were wedged open.  We heard two voices, a man and a woman inside arguing in English. The woman was asking, “Why haven't you broken her yet?  Liam is getting suspicious of all of my recent outings.”

He said, “The bitch is more resilient than she looks, Aelwen.”

I paled, it truly was Duchess Aelwen.  My heart sank.

Then the man's voice rose, speaking away, “One last chance you Gypsy bitch.  We have started killing one of your clan back in your caravan for every hour you resist us.  Just perform the curse and all of this will stop.  No more pain.  And we will let your people live.”

Then my heart stopped when I heard Udele's voice, slurred but strong.  “You hold no power over me or my kin.  My Soras shall be your end, I have seen it.  Your empty threats will not sway me.”

So that is how they held her, the threat of the deaths of her people.  It was the only way they were able to contain someone as powerful as Udele.  And what was this curse they wished her to perform?

Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a strike, flesh to flesh with a thud.  And Mother grunted.  The bastard had struck her!  I started to move but Rain restrained me.

Then I felt the magiks of the People building and heard Udele hiss, “You want a curse?  I'll give you...”

Then she screamed as I almost went to a knee as a huge amount of Techromancer magic was pulled into the room from the very earth around us and released in a sustained burst.

Duchess, Aelwen hissed out, “Stop it Kennick!  We need her alive!”

The power faded away, along with Mother Udele's scream.

I slumped down the wall in disbelief.  This was bad.  Worse than bad.  Prime Techromancer Kennick of Solomon was involved?  He is known through the inhabitable lands as the most powerful magic user in the Lower Ten.  Only Donovan's power came close.  The only more powerful was the Prime Techromancer of Highland, and possibly the Prince himself if my suspicions were correct.

How could a man of knowledge, a scholar like him use his gifts to do such harm.  Did they not know that they were about to start a war that the realms couldn't possibly win?

Their voices started getting closer and we hid behind one of the massive doors as the Duchess chided the man, “Your plan of using Raneth and Poe as catspaws to unthrone Liam and secure the other realms for us was an utter failure.”

They walked past in their heated discussion and down the corridor and the man hissed back, “They were Adepts!  Who would have thought a fucking Wexbury archer with no magic potential could have ever taken them down?”

I swallowed.  Shit.  They were behind the rise of the Rogues that killed so many?  What are they hoping to accomplish?  I narrowed my eyes at their backs, keeping my power from flaring and alerting Kennick of our presence.  I smirked, they knew only the official story of what happened at the Monolith and believe that it was Lord Samuel who had slain the two adepts, not me.

The Duchess was just barely taller than myself, she was in riding gear instead of the dresses I usually associated with the Duchesses of the realm.  Her light brunette hair was tied back in a severe braid.  I could taste her power.  I had learned the secret of all the leaders of every keep, which they hid from even their own people.  That all of them had magic potential.  Aelwen had barely more than myself.

I swallowed at the retreating form of Kennick.  He was tall and moved like a predator, not a scholar.  He was the man with the shaggy dark beard shot through with silver and long shaggy dark hair from my vision... pursuing me.  I remembered the power and the pain as I searched as I fled, for something I knew would be there.  He tasted of that same power and it was immense and terrifying.

Aelwen retorted as they turned down another corridor, “We should have started with Wexbury to begin with.  Those self-righteous, altruistic fools are always riding to everyone's aid.”

I couldn't make out his response, but for one word that made the fire of Wexbury flare up inside of me with pride.  “...Donovan...”  They feared Prime Techromancer Donovan.  My lips curled into a vicious smile.

Chapter 16 – Escape

When we could no longer hear them, Ranelle took out a small silver mirror from a belt pouch and slowly extended it into the doorway.  She moved it slowly around looking intently at the reflection.  Then slowly pulled it back.

She held a finger to her mouth before she held up one finger and pointed to the left of the door.  One guard.  I almost felt sorry for the person since I knew what was coming.  Ranelle started building up power but Sara just stepped past her and into the room before any of us could stop her.  Mother Luna!

She started speaking in English, in a loud and commanding voice, “You there, what are you doing leaning against the wall?  Stand at attention!  You are supposed to be guarding the prisoner, woman! Shall I report you to Kennick?  Your armor is in disarray, straighten it up!  No not like that, like this...”

Then there was a glurking sound and then silence then she stuck her head back out the door and nudged her head toward the room beyond as she said in a pleased voice, “All clear.”

We followed her in to find a female dark knight laying face first on the stone floor with her life's blood puddling around her neck.  I felt green, bile rising in my throat, and I diverted my eyes to prevent from vomiting.

We heard the distant thunder, which had been constantly echoing the ruins, receding.  Ranelle shook her head at Sara and hissed, “That was reckless.”

Sarafine shrugged and said, “The Altii knights have been drilled to respond to orders from people with authority.  I figured if I caught her off guard and acted like I belonged there, and was at a higher station, I could get the drop on her.”  The woman scared me, I was glad she was on our side.

I wondered if I would have reacted the same way to a strange woman snapping orders at me.  I probably would have done just as the dead woman had done after a lifetime of taking orders from people above my station as a commoner, and then in my squire training.

I looked around at the large room, one wall was covered with rusted iron bars, divided up by stone walls into ten or twenty large cells.  The other side contained the remains of various archaic torture devices which were no doubt used to interrogate enemies of Solomon.

In the second cell with new chains wrapped around the old rusted out lock and a new padlock securing it, was an old silver-haired woman slumped in a chair, with chains binding her arms and legs to it.  I made a high pitched distressed sound.  She was unconscious and she was covered in blood, bruises, and burns.  I whispered, “Mother Udele!”

The others turned as I ran to the cage.  The woman I respected as much as my own mother, raised her head, she was conscious after all.  She smiled weakly at me through bloody and swollen lips.  “I knew you would come my young Sora.  I see you got my message.”

I was crying now and nodding as the others examined the chains.  My vision blurred and she said softly, “When I sensed your eyes on me, I knew you would free our people.  I was about to give in, but you gave me strength.  Gave me hope that my Seeings were but a possible future.”

She opened her eyes to lock them with mine as she asked in an almost pained, hopeful tone, “Our people?  The children?”

Ranelle answered for me, “Safe.  You lost three men who tried to breach the siege to bring your Soras to the caravan, Alexandru of the Lupei fought them all the way to Wexbury and was able to bring your Soras to liberate your band.”

Udele gave a merciless smile at that as Ranelle just shook her head in amazement, telling the woman, “You chose well.  The Lightbringer?”  Udele's smile grew a little smug at the look the Great Mother was giving her.

Sara said from the body, “No keys.  The other two must have them.”

Ranelle told me, “Stand back.”  I nodded and with the frightening speed she brought up her power and released it in an almost concussive blast the had my ears ringing as the lock and chains simply exploded outward.  Making pinging sounds as pieces of metal shrapnel hit the walls and bars.

It didn't seem to take anything out of her, she was right, she was good at violent releases of the power.  I pulled the protesting iron door open and ran to Udele.  I hugged her then looked at the chains.  Each arm and leg were in irons.  And we had no key.

Ranelle hissed and spat out, “I cannot do the same for these locks, It would most likely kill you Udele.  Maybe we can pick them.”

She looked over at Roman with a questioning look and he stepped quickly forward and pulled a short piece of metal with a hook on the end from a boot.  He carried a pick with him?  He started on her right foot.  As he worked, everyone turned to watch the door, drawing weapons.  It was taking too long.  I sighed in frustration and placed a hand on his arm to stop him and motioned him back.

This, I could do.  It was just metal, and metal liked me.  I reached out and felt the metal in the locks, they were pretty simple, all I had to do was grasp the release with my power... I saw a tendril of amber quest into the metal from my fingers.  It was as if I could feel the internal latch and I flicked.

With a little metallic click, the cuff fell free of her arm.  Within moments, I had the others unlocked and I was under one of Mother Udele's arms and Ranelle the other as we pulled her to her feet.  We were moving fast, back out of the dungeons and toward the bolthole, retracing our steps.  I whispered, “Let's get you home, Mother.”

She smiled up at me and I tried not to wince at the evidence of the abuse she suffered.  She said with a sigh, “That would be nice Laney.  I'm so very tired.”

We had just turned down the last corridor toward the wine cellar when the silence we ran through was shattered by the sound of alarm horns.  Shit!  They had either discovered the body of that first knight or the guard in the dungeon.

Ranelle hissed out, “Rahat!”

We hastened our pace, more carrying than assisting our silver-haired prize along as we heard voices shouting.

Roman spun as we reached the door with Ranelle's power lighting our retreat  He drew his bow and an arrow from his back in one smooth motion and let loose the arrow down the hall just as two armed men carrying torches rounded the corner in pursuit.  With a flick of his blade, the first man deflected the arrow.

We pulled Udele along with us into the wine cellar and I looked around desperately as I let my power trickle into me and the world became bright as day, an amber hue to everything.  We heard more men coming.  I let Ranelle take Udele and I shooed them toward the bolthole as I said, “Go quickly, I'll be right behind you.”

They went and Penelope and Roman took up positions on either side of the tunnel with arrows drawn.  I glanced at the portion of the large lattice rack of wine that still stood then at the doorway and I drew Anadele and lit the room for the others who were squinting as the light from Rain receded down the escape tunnel.

Sara was by my side, looking at me like I was daft.  I grinned at her and stepped to the rack and with two sweeping blows from my blade into the dry rotted wood, it started falling and Sara and I were just able to get out of the way as it came down in a horrendous crash of splintering wood and shattering bottles, blocking most of the doorway.

Sarafine gave me a wicked grin and we ran for the tunnel.  Just as we passed our archers, we could hear the shouts and footsteps of our pursuers reach the blocked doorway arch.  Roman and Pen let loose arrows that whizzed through the air and I heard two clangs at they were batted aside by blades.  Then the sound of blades hacking at the brittle wood of the lattice as our archers fell in behind us and we ran through the rubble-strewn tunnel.

We quickly caught up with Ranelle and Udele at the collapsed area as they made it through the mess.  Roman scooped up Mother in his arms and started forward.  Rain said, “Go with them, all of you, Laney, light their way.”  We all started running again, and I looked back when I heard men in the tunnel now, yelling for us to stop.

I was wondering what Ranelle was going to do when I felt her drawing in power.  Mother Luna!  She couldn't release that much raw energy in here it would cause a...  I blurted, “Shit!  Faster!”  To the others as Ranelle focused her power on the dirt and root ceiling of the cavern.

My ears popped from the pressure as Rain screamed in defiance and released the energy all at once.  The ground shook as it struck and the earth above came crashing down in the tunnel, I glanced back to see her running at us in a mad sprint as the collapsing tunnel seemed to chase her toward us.

Pen looked back and said, “Come on!  We have to go people!”

Then we were in the rain, it was still heavy but not the torrential downpour from earlier, the lightning was nearing the horizon.  We turned as we heard the rumble of the collapsing tunnel and saw the approaching light from Ranelle near the entrance.

She dove out of the entrance and did a graceful roll as the bolthole collapsed and sealed itself in a fury of noise and debris.  She rolled to her feet and grinned at me. “Bracing.”

I'm sure I was pale as a ghost.  I slapped her shoulder hard and chastised, “That was reckless, we could have lost you!”  Then I realized what I did and took a knee with my head down. “Sorry, Great Mother.”

She chuckled as I heard her starting to run, “Less bowing, more running, Laney.”

I grinned and got up and ran with them to the shoreline by the remains of the pier. My eyes acclimated to the night and Sara waved her arms to signal the dark waters that were not as violently choppy as before, but still had rough waves slashing across its surface.

We saw fires being lit all around the ruins as Roman muttered, “Come on, come on.”  Then he nudged his chin and blurted, “There!”

We looked and we saw a boat being batted by the waves, pulled forward by powerful strokes from Alexi.  I saw the determination on his face at the boat slid up to the bank.

Over the sound of the rain and the shouts from the keep, I heard the hollow thud of the boat's bottom striking rocks.  That was the closest he could get.  He jammed an oar between two nearby rocks as Roman waded in, being careful to keep Udele out of the water even though she was already soaked to the bone by the rains.  He lifted her in like she was no burden at all then he held his hand toward us.

We all dashed into the waters, our footing unsure on the uneven rocks below the surface, and the waves batting us around.  He lifted each of us into the boat as arrows started striking the water and rocks around the boat, a couple embedding in the side of it.

With a great heave, he pushed the boat from the rocks and dragged himself aboard, almost capsizing us.  He joined our blonde haired archer in returning fire.  They used what little arrows they had left, sparingly.  I took up the second set of oars and lent what little muscle I had to getting us clear, until Alexi and I had us far enough away from shore that the incoming fire didn't pose much of a threat.

Then Roman shouldered his bow and shooed me away and took over.  I joined Ranelle with Udele, who looked barely conscious.  She looked positively blue.  My eyes shot wide and I pulled off my cloak.  The chill summer air and driving rain made me shiver as I wrapped my spelled cloak around her.

As cold as I felt, I knew it to be worse for her because my leathers and clothes were similarly charmed, just not as heavily as my riding cloak, and I could still feel the chill.  We turned south and skirted the island, heading for our horses.  As we rounded the island, we saw what looked like a couple dozen men rushing to the boats on the front side.  Were there not more?

The analytical part of me grinned thinking that that was all the men they had.  Roman estimated twenty-three men and we took down around fifty surrounding the Gypsy caravan.  Was this all the men that Kennick and Duchess Aelwen had?  We had dwindled their numbers by two-thirds.

Then the primal part of me shook my head.  Twenty-three, well, twenty-one now, were more than enough to roll over our little Greva.  I swallowed.

Then Ranelle exchanged looks with me and we nodded to each other as we took in the situation.  If they made it to the other shore to their horses before we hit land, they would overtake us in moments.  We were as Bowyn would put it, “Knee deep in horseshit with only a spoon and a feather to guide us.”  Whatever in the hell that meant.

Rain said in a calm voice.  “Gentlemen, if you could please hold us as steady as you can.”  They stopped rowing and laid the flat of the paddles on the waves, trying to keep us as steady as they could as the Queen of the Mountain Gypsies stood and brought her arms to her side.

She looked at Sara and me, and said in a toneless voice, “After this, it will fall upon the two of you to defend us from magical assault.  This will do me in.”

She flicked her fingers and seemed to ignite into an explosion of white mist and power.  She started moving her hands through the air gracefully, as she pulled in more magik of the spirit into her from the very lake and I felt some tug from me as well and drift into her.  I shielded my eyes, she was as brilliant as a star in the heavens as her arms did an intricate dance in the air, a sigil started forming, it felt as if it were a tangible thing.  The air began to chill and I saw my breath crystallizing in front of me as I recognized the rune of power.  It was the one the Lupei women had put on my waterskin to keep the water cool.

I started to shake as the cold it radiated seeped through the spells and charms on my clothing.  She wavered a moment, strain on her face.  Then she growled out a challenge and thrust both hands forward at the rune.  Striking it and with a singing tone, it exploded away from her like a comet, leaving a trail of ice in the sea in its wake.

It slammed into the water at the boats which had started their way across to the shore.  It was a crackling explosion of ice that slammed into the boats, freezing the water around them, and stopping their forward progress.  Men shouted in alarm as I just stared dumbfounded.  The amount of energy needed to freeze that much water in an instant was incalculable.  That was the power of Great Mother Ranelle of the Mountain Gypsies.

I glanced up at her as she fell forward toward the edge of the boat.  I caught her and pulled her to me before she could fall overboard.  She was panting and looked pale, I couldn't taste or feel the power that she radiated naturally.

She smiled weakly at me as she sat next to me and said, “That was all I had.  I may not be able to wield any power for a day or two now.”

She looked so weak and vulnerable at that moment.  I just nodded at her with pride for her radiating from me.

Then she addressed the men, “Gentlemen, if you would.  Our horses await.”

They were just staring gape-jawed at her.  Alexi just nodded with bulging eyes and they started bringing us to shore.

I glanced over to the stranded boats as we cut through the rain.  I saw Kennick and the Duchess reach the shore of the island and they looked our way.  I could hear the shriek of frustration from the woman through the rain.

I grinned but then lost the smile when Prime Techromancer started shimmering in copper light and started punching the air in front of him.  Like giant invisible fists were striking it, the ice began exploding and cracking under the blows.  Mother Luna, the man, was indeed more powerful than Poe or Raneth had ever dreamed of being.

Our great lead was diminishing quickly as the first of the boats started moving again just as ours slid gently up onto the sands of the shore.  We quickly got out of the boat, Roman helping Udele along.  She had regained some color and was walking better as my cloak warmed her.

Rain paused as we started toward the draw where we had our horses tethered.  She looked back to Alexi, who was still in the boat.  “Come with us.”

He shook his head and said, “No.  I can do you better on the water.  I will delay them as long as I can.  Fair winds, Great Mother.”

She exhaled then said firmly, her voice laced in sadness, “Fair winds, Alexi of the Aratreya.”

I blinked, he was of Tianna's family.

We stood for a moment and watched as the man started singing a Gypsy tune at the top of his lungs as he pushed back into the Great Sea and began rowing with steady strokes, directly toward the enemy boats.  I bit back a cry and was glad for the rain so no one could see my tears.

I whispered, “Fair winds, Alexi.”

Then we were running toward the draw.

I just listened to myself breathe and to the splashing of our feet in puddles along our path as we ran through the darkness in the rain, not thinking of the brave fisherman we had left behind.  What more could go wrong tonight?

I should have known better than to jinx us like that.  We came to a sliding halt when we came to our horses to see the two dark knights that had been patrolling the shore.  Their swords were drawn.  Our archers could not fire because they might hit our horses behind the men.  Without hesitation, Sara, Ranelle, and my swords were drawn and we separated, Rain between us.

The bigger man, thinking to make quick work of the smallest of us, pressed me while the other drew a second blade and dove between Rain and Sarafine, engaging them both.  He had the skill with a blade I have seen Bowyn display, and the two women danced around him, swords clanging.

I took blow after driving blow from the brute catching his blade on each swing and deflecting it just enough for it to pass me by.  I slapped overreaches away with the flat of my sword.  He used a two-handed attack to swing down on me like he was chopping wood.  I kept Anadele above me as I was driven to a knee.  He was relentless but wasn't really creative or methodical.  It seemed his method of fighting was to overwhelm the enemy with brute strength.

He was panting as I rolled away from a strike and regained my footing.  He did a series of lunges which I scooped or batted, deflecting them just inches from my abdomen.  He was tiring.  He took to closing, to attempt a grapple, I rolled away and came up barely in time to catch my blade behind me to deflect a blow coming down at my head.  I spun and was driven to a knee again by a double-handed overhead strike.

I looked up at the man and Sarafine said from behind him. “Hey ugly.”

The man turned then promptly fell on his back at my feet, dropping his sword to hold the ugly red slice across his neck as blood pumped between his fingers.  He died with a confused look on his face.

I panted and stood, then looked away from him to Sara, who was holding a dagger, almost as small as mine.  The rain was washing the blood off of it as she tucked it into her belt.  I looked at her to the other dead man. Then nodded my thanks.

She smirked and asked, “Why didn't you press the attack?  You just took every strike.  You had exhausted the man and could have finished it easily.”

I looked down at my feet, my cheeks warming as I admitted, “I've never been shown how.  Only how to defend.”

She stared at me dumbfounded for a moment as Ranelle joined her with the same look on her face.  Then a smile slowly formed on Rain’s face as she tilted her head back and gave one of her hearty musical laughs that made me grin.  I shrugged at them and they both chuckled as I stalked away so they didn't see my blush, and I mounted Goliath in one smooth motion.

I reached down and said, “Goliath can carry two as easily as one.”

Roman helped Mother Udele up into the saddle in front of me.  She seemed so fragile just then, not the iron strong woman she had been.  I almost growled at what those animals had done to her.  I pulled her in protectively to me with one arm.

The others mounted up and we urged our horses southwest along the beach, to circle around the Throat so we could head south for what we hoped was the safety of Solomon Keep.  I knew that if Duke Liam was not involved, and our messenger had reached them, that Celeste was most likely already on the way.

My lips quirked into a smile at the thought of my Lady.

Udele looked back at me and smiled and said, almost as if she had read my mind, “She will be here when she is needed.”

She was so certain of that.  I wondered if it were a vision but was afraid to ask.

Then I smirked as we fled into the darkness as the rain started to subside.  “And she isn't needed now?”  She just chuckled and I grinned at the woman.

It was always dangerous traveling at such speeds without even the light of the Three Sisters to guide us, but we got lucky and none of our horses got injured.  It must have been around three in the morning when our horses needed to rest or we would run them into the ground.

The rain had stopped and the clouds were starting to part, letting light from Mother Luna peek through to illuminate the land in a dim, eerie glow.

So we found a draw a couple hundred yards from the shoreline by a small brook, to give them and us a rest.  As they drank and grazed the grass by the brook.  We rested and pulled food from our packs.  Mother Udele ate like she hadn't seen food in a year.  I can't imagine they fed her well while in captivity.

We decided we would move out at twilight, take shifts taking thirty-minute naps to freshen some.

I sat watch with Penelope. Mother Udele stepped over with my cloak.  She was now wrapped in a blanket.  I nodded my thanks and donned it as she sat beside us.  I immediately felt much warmer.  Soaked to the bone but warmer.

I looked at the old woman who seemed to be lost in thought.  “What happened in the ruins, Mother?”  I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

She looked at me then Pen then down at her battered hands.  She nodded to herself then looked up at me and began her tale.

Chapter 17 – Mother Udele

She settled in with her back to the trunk of the tree we sat under and started her story as our eyes scanned the beach for pursuers.  They'd have to stop too or get fresh horses.  No doubt they were closer than I was comfortable with.

Mother Udele looked off into the distance and said, “It was horrific what these errant knights perpetrated upon our people in the dead of night.  By the time the commotion outside awoke me and I exited my tent, that murderous Altii vrajitor had taken out the strongest of our Touched and held a child, young Mikael with a blade to his throat as he faced me while his men killed all who tried to fight against them.  He told me to come with them and not resist or others of my family would pay the price.”

A tear rolled down her cheek as she said the next, “I agreed as long as they didn't kill any others.  The vrajitor hissed out that I shouldn't presume to give him conditions and he...”  She took a deep breath and firmed up her chin and said with venom,  “He slit Mikael's throat there in front of his parents and me.  Then he called out to his men to kill the rest in the caravan.  I told him to stop that I would go with them.”

She glared at some point in space.  “He left fifty men behind to hold the caravan hostage and the rest spirited me away over the Whispering Walls.  They kept me in shackles the entire journey to the ruins on the Great Sea.  That appalling woman, Duchess Aelwen joined us along the way.”

Udele was lost in a poison memory when she relayed, “She had bid them to speak with me alone.  That vrajitor, Kennick, warned me that if the Duchess were to come to harm, he would send word back for his men to start killing one person from our camp per day, starting with the children.”

I winced at that, knowing why she had not used her abilities to escape.  She turned to me with a conspiratorial look and confided,  “I knew that all I needed to do was to stall long enough for my Soras to liberate the caravan, so I have been doing just that, stalling.”

She winced and looked at her hands, most of her fingernails looked to have been torn forcibly out.  “Aelwen asked me sweetly as if none of the murders nor my kidnap had occurred, if I would help her with a problem and curse some brandy for her.  Something that would kill and make it seem it was of natural causes.”

She smiled bitterly. “I refused and she became unhinged, I truly believe that woman is bereft of sanity.”

Then she said, “They locked me away in those ruins and beat me and visited other pain upon me to force me to cooperate.  I heard them talking.  She plans on removing her husband from the rule of the lands of Solomon.  And somehow that would allow them to rule together if it looks like natural causes.  I don't pretend to understand the politics of the Altii.”

I nodded as I thought about it and said, “If he were to be poisoned or assassinated in any other way, there would be an investigation, lead by Highland.  They would surely track it back to them.  But if Duke Liam died of natural causes, then Duchess Aelwen would lead the Keep until such time she remarried, then her betrothed would lead Solomon.  She would have to marry within six months of Liam's death or the Prince would assign a successor.”

I narrowed my eyes and tried not to let the hate into my voice as I said, “By marrying Prime Techromancer Kennick, they would rule Solomon together.”

Mother Udele shook her head and added, “That would be the beginning of the end for the realms, they discussed what they could accomplish with the fighting force of Solomon Keep under their control.  They wanted to take the Lower Ten, then eventually challenge Prince George and Highland Reach itself.”

They were megalomaniacs?  Mother was right, they had to be not right in the head to think something like that had a chance of succeeding.  Then my blood ran cold as I realized their first attempt, using Poe and Raneth as catspaws, had nearly done that.  They had successfully taken over Treth and Far Reach with no one being the wiser.  If it hadn't been for Flatlash and Wexbury, they might very well have succeeded.  A shiver ran down my spine.

I absently wondered if the people of Solomon would let it happen.  I thought about how I viewed the Nobles and Knights of Wexbury just a couple years aforetime.  I had complete trust in them.  They were the paragons which kept us commoners safe from those who would do us harm.  They were beyond reproach and if they went to war, it had to be for a good reason beyond the understanding of a common herder girl.  I would have given them whatever meager support I could without question.  This was a sobering thought.

And these two fools had no idea that they were on the brink of war from with an unanticipated source that would wipe them and everyone else off the face of the Lower Ten.

We had to make sure that Duchess Aelwen's treachery was uncovered.  I excused myself for a moment and went to gently shake Ranelle awake.  Her eyes fluttered open as she instinctively reached for her blade. I placed my hand on hers as she grasped the hilt.  She blinked then relaxed and smiled when her mind emerged from the fog of sleep.

I whispered to her, “We need to get word to the People, lest we fall in battle here.  Mother Udele has uncovered the treachery of the dark knights.  It truly was not Solomon, but a coup attempt by  Duchess Aelwen and Prime Techromancer Kennick.  Above all else the People must know to prevent a war that would cause avoidable bloodshed.”

She looked over at Mother and then moved quietly over to her with me.  She had Udele share again what she had with us.  Then she pursed her lips and said, “Roman.  I know you are awake man.”

Roman looked up from where he was feigning sleep.

She told him, “You are to ride out before first light, to return to the Meeting Spot to tell the conclave what you have heard her tonight.  One rider can make the journey faster and more stealthily than a group.  We will continue to the walls of Solomon Keep.”

He started to argue but she held a hand up and turned her head, saying forcefully and without humor this time, “Decreed.”

The man did not look happy but he exhaled and nodded once.  He knew he was our best chance of getting word to the others just as we did.  He smirked at the Great Mother.  “Sora Laney is right, you abuse your decrees.”

Ranelle grinned at the man and crinkled her nose.  Is the ruler of an entire nation of people allowed to be cute?

Roman looked at the sky then nodded.  He looked at me.  “Wake me when you switch shifts?”

I nodded and he laid his head back onto his bedroll and closed his eyes.

Rian started to move back to hers when I asked Udele, “Why did they target you to do this curse for them?  There must be thousands of the Touched in the ranks of the Mountain Gypsies.”

Ranelle looked down at her hands, giving an almost imperceptible nod.  Udele looked nervously at me then said, “Many reasons.  It would take a powerful vrajitoare to craft a delicate curse like that which had the power to kill.  It is one thing to kill with a flood of energy, but it takes much more power and control to do something so subtle as to not be detected by another vrajitoare or vrajitor.”

She was now looking at her hands too.  “They also needed someone who they could easily extort with the threat of harm to her people.  Plus I am old, and do not have the fight in me I once had.”

She smiled sadly and then met my eyes, hers almost pleading as she whispered, “And I have done so once before.”

I blinked.  This is the woman I saw as a surrogate grandmother.  She was telling me that she had used magik to curse someone to death.  There had to be a good reason... right?  Killing in a fight where it was life and death was forgivable, but to kill someone unsuspectingly... that was murder, right?  I asked carefully the question I didn't want the answer to, “It... needed to be done?  Right?”

Ranelle cut off Udele, who was looking at her hands again. “It was on my order.  And yes, it needed to be done to protect others.  To protect innocents.”  She reached out and grasped Udele's arm gently.  The two exchanged pained looks and nods.

Whatever decision had been made to commit such an act, it was plain to me that both of them understood the gravity of it and it was not something they did lightly.  And it weighed on Mother Udele's conscience.

I decided to let it be.  I did not have to delve into the details.  I looked between the women and saw something I did not expect.  I saw their humanity.  We all have strengths that are balanced out by our flaws.  I had just never saw the two women as having any flaws.

I thought of my own mother.  At one time, I had believed that she had no secrets, no flaws of her own.  I held her as the standard I wished to aspire to.  Then when all this mess with my own magic came to a head, I learned that she had been hiding a whole other life from Jace and me.  That she was not only a fallen noble, but a Techromancer of the nature element as well.

I faulted her for a while for having lied to us children our whole lives but learned that being an adult is much more complicated than I ever imagined.  And decisions we make to keep those we love sheltered and safe, may not always have been the best solution in retrospect.

I loved my mother fiercely, and could see past her... humanity.  I could do the same for these two women who I was seeing as family as well.  Mother Luna knows, I have countless faults of my own.

I exhaled loudly then gave the two a sympathetic smile.  Then I told them, “You two get some sleep.”  I looked to the Great Mother. “I'll wake you for the next shift, Rain.”

It didn't feel odd calling her Rain now that I saw her humanity.  I looked down and smiled at that fact for some reason I couldn't quite fathom.  Or maybe because I felt closer to them, now that I knew that underneath their titles, they were just like me.  They smiled back and then joined Roman and Sarafine at the bedrolls.

Chapter 18 – The Fire of Wexbury

I couldn't sleep much, the rest of the vision had solidified in my mind.  The power lashing out at me and the searing pain as I fled.  I could feel Goliath's powerful strides as his hooves thundered on the ground.  I could feel the wind in my hair.  I was searching for something I knew should be there.  I heard myself ask, “Where is she?”  Then I was awake with Udele's hand covering my mouth to stop my screams.  The vision was so clear I knew it to be the immediate future.  One possible future if different choices from all involved were not made.

Roman silently left camp just before twilight.  The look on his face spoke volumes, he did not wish to leave, he felt as if he were abandoning us.  But he also knew that the People needed to know what had transpired and what was learned.  I knew that the man could make it back to Heaven's Gate.  He had demonstrated that fact once before.

At twilight, we ate what little supplies we had left to keep up our energy.  It didn't matter since we would be close to the safety of Solomon Keep by the end of the day.  I nodded to myself, knowing now what was truly going on here in the Hinterland, it would be safety.  At least one of our fears had been alleviated.

We saddled up.  Goliath looked strong, well rested.  I patted the sides of his neck and whispered, “It is going to be a long day boy, I know you won't let me down.”

Udele handed my cloak up to me and I donned it then reached down as Sarafine helped her up into the saddle in front of me.

I had noted that Rain had just the barest hint of the taste of power to her.  She was starting to recover, slowly, from that titanic display of power the prior night.

We looked to the east as the sky was beginning to take on an orangish tint of impending sunrise and we took off down the beach at a gallop.  We rode up front with Ranelle and Sara and Penelope taking up the rear guard.  We kept looking nervously back as Father Sol washed over us, his rays of sunshine warming the day and chasing away the chill of the rainy summer night.

We had rode for over two hours before we spotted them as we crested a rise on the seashore. It looked like about twenty horses were in pursuit, no more than two miles back.  I urged Goliath to go faster with my legs as I looked back.  The remains of our Greva moving as one unit as our horses started stretching out.  We passed through a fishing village, about the size of Wexbury Minor, hoping to come across a Solomon patrol with no luck.  We couldn't endanger the local people so we charged on down the coast.

Within an hour the enemy had closed the gap to about a mile, I dropped the reins and Udele tried to grab them then relaxed when Goliath didn't slow while I dug my spyglass out of my tool pouch.  I looked and saw Kennick and the Duchess at the center of the oncoming dark knights.  I hissed and turned back around, stowing the spyglass before retrieving the reins.

Goliath was foaming up with sweat and frothing at the bit.  He couldn't keep this up much longer without rest.  The other horses were faring worse as their speed started faltering.  We went over another rise and I moved to Pen's side and yelled over the pounding of our horse's hooves on the ground and their labored breathing.  “Take Mother Udele into the forest before our pursuers see, we'll draw them off.  Our horses are done.”  She had only two arrows left and would be at a disadvantage in a sword fight so she was the best choice, the rest of our blades would be needed.

She looked at me like I had just slapped her but nodded once in grim determination and yelled back, “Yes, Laney.”

I smiled sadly at her.  Now she calls me Laney.

We transferred Udele to her horse on the move, and they veered off and immediately vanished into the cover of the forest.  I patted Goliath's side and said, “Ok my beautiful boy, let's go.”  The rest of us led the chase.  I kept glancing back and was relieved that none of them had split off.  They hadn't noticed we were a horse shy yet.

I felt the earth tremor slightly under Goliath and my body burst out in amber light.  Someone was pulling in huge amounts of elemental earth magic to them.  I thought of the copperish color of Kennick's magic and I yelled to the others.  “Scatter!”

I slowed as Ranelle and Sarafine split off, fanning out just as great stalagmites of stone came jutting up out of the ground where we all would have been.  I heard a shout of frustration and looked back.  Barely a hundred yards separated us now.

I noted they all stayed in a tight group.  Seemingly ignoring the Great Mother and Sara.  A toothy predatory smile spread on my face.  They still believed Udele rode with me on Goliath and were concentrating on me.  I slowed more, giving the others a chance to escape.  I yelled out, “Find Celeste!”

The look the two women gave me was one of mixed horror, defiance, then acceptance.  Rain nodded solidly once and I watched them pull away from me as the enemy gained.  I knew in my heart that Celeste was near.  It was who she was.  The moment the messenger reached her in Solomon, she would have been on the move to come to my side.

I screamed out in agony as whips of copper energy struck out at me from behind, lashing my back in a pantomime of the flogging I had been subjected to when I was but a child.  Goliath sped up and whinnied in pain as they struck him too.  I whispered to the air, “Sorry boy.”

I took blow after blow of that burning energy, I could endure it.  I had suffered worse at the hands of Poe and Raneth.  I could not ground the magics while saddled. So I started taking the energy into me so my poor horse did not have to suffer the pain because of me.

It was excruciating holding it in, I could feel myself burning from the inside.  The man was relentless and tireless, lashing out with power meant to protect, twisting its purpose.  That alone was enough for me to despise the man.  Those with power should use it to protect and nurture, not for selfish or destructive ends.

He had stepped away from all of the ideals that all Techromancers stood for.  He was no better than the Rogues he had pitted against Far Reach and Treth.  If I fell here, I took consolation in the knowledge that Celeste would bring about his end.

I rode on, Goliath was pushing himself beyond his limit, stretching out and pouring on the speed as I drew Anadele and turned around, my entire being was on fire. Just moving added to that pain.  Then I redirected all of Kennick's power I stored through my blade re-crafting it into something I could use.

A lance of amber lightning shot out toward the riders, the Prime Techromancer expended a huge amount of energy to deflect it.  The crackling power pulverized the sandy loam in front of the riders, sending up a cloud of dirt and shrapnel.  It spooked their horses and they slowed.

I grinned and turned to lay closer to Goliath's neck.  Then screamed again as fresh lashes of copper fire slammed into me.  I started pulling it inside again as Goliath began to falter.  I glanced back again.  I had gained some distance with my attack.

I thought of what Ranelle had done the previous night as I took another lash across the scars on my face.  The sting brought tears to my eyes.  I had never mixed my Techromancer magic with the magik of the spirit element very successfully, for the most part, they canceled each other out.

But all my lessons told me that energy was energy, whether magic or electricity.  The same would hold true for the spirit magic wouldn't it.  I could change the nature of Kennick's attacks inside me to feed the strength of the magik of the People couldn't I?

I let my power fade as the world became duller in my normal vision.  I reached deep inside and willed the spirit element forward as I started blurring in the very air we passed through, leaving multiple doppelganger afterimages and white wisps of mist. It was so very hard to do with all the pain and the foreign copper magic building inside with every searing attack from the other Techromancer.

I didn't know how to craft the runes in the air as she had done, but they said they were just focuses that the spells were the manifestation of the intent of the caster.  I took everything I had and pushed out with my intent.

I felt a rushing sensation like the ground was coming up to meet me. It reversed and I felt like I was flying as all of that pent up energy mixed with mine, changing its nature.  An explosion of white mist shot out from me, coating the ground behind me in a thin sheet of ice as the moisture in the ground from the rainstorm and the moisture in the air all froze, leaving a sheet of ice on the ground, almost two hundred yards wide.  It was a tiny fraction of the feat that Ranelle had performed by freezing the very sea in an area twice the size and orders of magnitude thicker.  I smiled at my use of the word I had recently learned.

I collapsed in the saddle, looking back as the horses in pursuit lost their footing, some sliding to a halt and others falling to spin along the quickly melting sheen of unnatural ice.

Goliath was slowing, even more, his lungs heaving mightily.  I exhaled and slowed him a bit more so that his heart didn't burst.  I had gained us just a little time as they men remounted and they crossed my improvised obstacle.

I was panting and gasping, beyond exhausted, I could barely feel my own magic inside, I had almost exhausted it all.

Then the pain began again, as Kennick renewed his assault on me.  I could barely see through the pain as I rode on.  I could take the pain.  Kiennick didn't understand pain like I did.  I could be strong, I could take it.  And he was weakening.  He had been throwing around so much power, I don't think the man knew his own limits.

I searched the shoreline in front of me, I couldn't hold on much longer.  I winced from another attack and then whispered to myself, “Where is she?”  My eyes widened, that was just like like in my vision.

I thought I heard my heart about to explode from the effort of taking in the energy from the attacks when I realized the thrumming that was growing louder wasn't my heart, nor Goliath's pounding hooves.

Like a wave of thunder, no less that a hundred knights came charging toward me from over the rise ahead, shaking the very ground.  And in their middle were the Knights of Wexbury! Bowyn, Bex, Verna, and Kristof.  My Celeste and Alexandru lead the charge!  My heart leapt and my tears started flowing.  She was blazing like an emerald sun as her power rose inside of her.

I saw Duke Liam himself beside my Lady.  The big man's long flowing red hair streamed behind him like a wave of flame, just like the paintings of the Dukes I have seen in Castle Wexbury.  He was huge, like Sir Tennison.

They closed and made a hole as they streamed past me, bellowing their battle cries.  Alexandru was actually standing on top of his saddle shooting arrows as they passed.  I could see the relief on Celeste's face.  And there in her eyes, and the eyes of my kin, I saw the fire of Wexbury burning inside.  They passed me like wraiths going to collect the souls of those who would oppose them.  It was the promise of violence, and finality.

Waves of knights rode past, there were more in this one contingent than in all the realm of Wexbury, and they all wore the colors of Solomon, weapons were drawn.  I slowed Goliath to a halt then took a deep breath, drawing Anadele again and turned around and joined my saviors in battle.  I was a Techno Knight of Wexbury, and the fire burned inside of me as well!

Chapter 19 – Prime Techromancer Kennick

The battle was swift.  Wexbury had engaged the bulk of them as the Knights of Solomon just formed a ring around them, allowing Celeste and the others to fight the enemy.  I couldn't get through the ring, so watched from behind it.  I saw Ranelle and Sarafine mixed into the ring and we gave each other nods of relief.

Bowyn was taking on three at a time with his dual blades swirling around him like a deadly cyclone.  A cocky grin on his face the whole time.  Deflecting blows I didn't know how he knew were coming.

Verna had unhorsed and faced a man Tennison's size.  She caught his blade in the slot of her massive Gertrude and she twisted violently snapping the man's blade in two.  A strangely disconnected portion of my brain thought, “Oh, so that's what that damn slot is for.”

The dark knights were taken by surprise by Bex and Kristof, who had unhorsed as well, standing back to back with powered blades of Bex's design.  They were slicing through blades and electrocuting their adversaries with ease.  I had to smile in pride over the fact that Bex didn't look like he was about to pass out as he usually did in sparring matches.  He looked like a man just then to me.  A Knight of Wexbury.

My eyes were on my Lady as Celeste slid from her saddle, five enemies following suit and surrounding her.  She had a vicious smile on her face as she stepped around in a circle, crossing leg over leg, extending her sword to touch the enemy blades as she turned.  I have seen that so many times.

I have always been afraid for her but she always comes home to my arms.  Emerald green energy arced down her arm and into her blade, green sparks dripping from her eyes as she smiled.  Then her deadly dance began.  She didn't hold back like she did in the sparring matches so that she didn't harm our fellow knights.

I have to admit that the men who faced her now were much more fluid and well trained than the Rouges we had faced together, but even their training was no match for my girl.  It was almost frightening to watch her as she spun and danced through them.  It was odd to watch as she stopped moving after a deadly pirouette, with her blade cocked over her head.  A second later, all of her opponents fell to the ground.

She glanced around then sheathed her sword in her hip scabbard without looking.  The field had been won and the Solomon Knights roared out a cheer.  My eyes scanned the circle from my vantage point high up on Goliath and then they narrowed as I realized that Duchess Aelwen and Prime Techromancer Kennick were nowhere to be seen.

Celeste caught my eye and started to stride over to me with a huge, relieved smile as the knights parted for her.  Then her eyes widened and she screamed, “Laney!”  As the blade thrust through my chest from behind.  I looked down at the bloody blade in confusion as my body started going cold.

I snapped out of the vision as Celeste's eyes began to widen.  I started spinning in my saddle, raising Anadele as I heard her scream my name.  Prime Techromancer Kennick's killing blow was deflected by Anadele's hilt.  She went spinning out of my hand, along with most of one of my fingers as a blinding pain hit me.

The force of the blow sent me tumbling from my saddle onto the ground.  The man dove off his horse to slam into me and we tumbled across the ground.

He started choking me as he attacked with what little power he had left inside him, burning my throat.  His eyes were wide with fury and madness as he shrieked, “You've ruined everything!  You worthless Gypsy bitch!”

I was dimly aware of the Knights of Solomon rushing to my aid as I gasped for breath that wouldn't come.  The Prime Techromancer was going to be my death, I knew it, it was fate that I had already cheated it by deflecting his first killing blow.  He was going to balance that scale now.

I saw my hands grasping his, my white silk glove stained red with my own blood and I came to a realization.  I didn't want to die, especially not at the hands of a man who would bring about a war to wipe out everyone just to have power.  He already had more power than most, he was currently burning away layers of the skin of my throat with it now.

I croaked out as my vision started to darken, “I'm sorry.”

His eyes narrowed and I shot my bloodied hand out to the side and with the last spark of my power, and an amber tendril of power pulled Anadele through the air to me.  He snarled and released my neck and knocked my blade aside with his waning power.

Then he froze and looked down at his belly.  The confusion I had on my own face at my death in my vision was now apparent on his own face.

When he had looked away from me to deal with the diversion of the possible threat that Anadele posed, I had thrust the blade of Lord Cedric deep into his belly.

He looked from the weapon to me and I twisted it, causing him to gasp and cough up blood.  I rolled to my knees, pushing him off of me with the blade.  I stared into the man's eyes as the light left them, so he would know who had killed him.  Something I'm not proud of to this day.

I collapsed, dropping the ancient blade as I looked at my mangled hand, blood gushing out where my index finger should have been.  Consciousness abandoned me as I felt my head being put onto a soft lap and someone stroking my hair as they cradled me.  I smiled.  My Celeste was here... everything would be alright now.

Chapter 20 – Solomon!

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness.  I would just become aware of my back and my neck burning, and my hand aching with a dull throb when the warm peace of unconsciousness would wash the pains away.  I swear I could hear Celeste's voice speaking to me, comforting me.

My moments of clarity were getting longer and longer and I was able to push back the pain that was consuming me long enough to look around.  I was on a cot, in some sort of camp, knights were everywhere.  I turned my head which made my neck burn more and I saw Mother Udele sleeping in a cot beside me.  I turned my head the other way to see a worried looking Celeste smiling down on me.  I smiled back at my avenging angel as sleep overtook me.

Men shouting woke me again. “Rider approaching!”

I turned my head to look past the fire that now blazed at the center of the camp in the twilight of evening.  How long had I slept?

The knights parted, blades drawn as a horse trotted lazily into camp with a figure slumped over the saddle.  The horse stopped and a man with rich brown skin fell off to the ground.  I recognized his bloodied form which was breathing shallowly, and I tried to call out Alexi's name, but wound up coughing instead, setting my throat aflame.  I was barely able to rasp out, “He's with us!”

Someone beside Celeste stood and a booming voice with a slight Welsh accent called out, “Stand down!  He is with the Great Mother.  Someone, see to his wounds.”

I turned my head groggily to see the profile of Duke Liam looming behind my Lady.  I smiled and closed my eyes again to let sleep take me as I thanked whatever deities there may be for the safe return of the brave fisherman.

I woke the next morning under what felt like a dozen blankets on that cot with Father Sol warming my face.  I could feel the warm strength of Celeste holding my left hand.  I looked over and she was grinning at me.

She tilted her head and asked, “Can't I leave you alone for just one day without you getting into trouble?”

I shrugged with a grin and immediately regretted it as my neck protested vigorously and painfully.  I winced then said in a voice that was half gravelly growl, half wheezing whisper, “I have a gift.”

She chuckled at me then kissed me lightly on the lips.  I tried to clear my throat and speak again, but it still came out in that hoarse wheezing, “Mother Udele?  Great Mother Ranelle?”

Celeste creased her brow as she looked down at me.  Then she assured me, “They are here, they are fine.  Mother Udele is much tougher than she appears and is recovering well.”

I smiled and nodded stiffly then asked, “Alexi?”

She shook her head. “He's not doing well, he has a fever and suffered many sword wounds, one to his gut.  The doctor from Shoreline says the next forty-eight hours are critical.  If he can survive that, then his chances are good.”  Then she looked back to where I assumed the man was and then to my throat.  She muttered, “If only Sylvia or another Gypsy healer were here.”

I looked at the shadow in her eyes when she looked at me. I rasped, “How bad?”

She exhaled heavily and said, “Second and third-degree burns on your neck. You lost a finger, the doctor says you need a surgeon to do a proper amputation so the bone doesn't injure you further.  And your back looks like strips of flesh were burned out of it.  They look like burns from a red hot whip.”  She winced, she never approved of the flogging I had received as a girl when I snuck into the library of the Techromancy Scrolls.

I nodded and wheezed out, “Kennick was just trying to unhorse me, he believed that I still had Mother Udele riding with me or he would have killed me outright.  But I have had worse lashings.”  I tried to smile.

Her eyes darkened and she scowled at me.  I lowered my eyes.  What?  I thought it was funny.  I squeezed her hand.  I wheezed, “It's alright Celeste, I was never going to be pretty anyway.”

She glared again.  I keep saying the wrong things.  Think before you speak Laney.

She exhaled and stroked my hair, whispering, “Rest your voice.  We're heading for Solomon Keep after we break our fast.”

I nodded.  I was hurt but excited at the same time.  Solomon!  I never thought I'd live to see one of the great cities of the habitable lands.  Jace was going to be so jealous.

I turned my head to look at my right hand and knew why it had the throbbing ache.  My silk glove was not on it.  Instead, it was wrapped in bandages and it looked so odd with only three fingers instead of four sticking out of the gauze. I swallowed back a sob and was instantly rewarded with a sharp pain in my neck.

A familiar voice said, “Ah, the Sora returns to us.”

I turned my head slightly, mindful of the pains and smiled at Great Mother Ranelle.  I smiled and rasped, “Rain.  How are the girls?”

Sarafine stepped up with Pen at her side and she said with a smirk on her face, “The 'girls' are fine.”

I gave them a cheesy smile and wheezed, “Such an adventure.”

Sara shook her head at me and spoke to my girl, “Sora Celeste, you need to teach her self-preservation.  She is always turning into a fight instead of fleeing.”

Celeste had a note of pride in her voice as she said with a smirk, “It is not in her nature to yield.”

They all shared a chuckle at my expense as Ranelle murmured, “Udele chose well indeed.”

I scrunched up my lips like a duckling and complained, “I'm hungry.”

This got more chuckles and with a smirk, as she wandered off to find me sustenance, our blonde haired Gypsy archer said, “Yes my Sora.”

I looked around.  “Is there water?  I need to get this frog out of my throat.”

Celeste handed me a waterskin as she sighed heavily and said carefully, “Kennick crushed your larynx, the doctor doesn't know if you will fully recover.”

I blinked, just great, not only do I show the scars of the battle of the Monolith, but now I'll sound like an old sea-hag from Solomon?  I tightened my grip on Celeste's hand, pulling strength from her.  It didn't matter, if my Lady would still have me.  She gave me a loving smile that seemed to make nothing else matter.

As I inhaled my food, the Knights of Wexbury sat around me as they ate.  They shared what they had learned when they arrived at Solomon Keep.  The Duke was unaware of the occurrences and pledged an investigation.  He shared that over the past five years, ninety Knights of the Realm had deserted.

I swallowed at that.  If there were ninety and between the Lupei caravan and the Dark Knights from the ruins, seventy-five were dispatched.  Though two were captured and took their own lives rather than talk.  That meant that Duchess Aelwen was still out there somewhere with fifteen trained killers.

I sat up.  Wishing I hadn't as with the pressure relieved from my back, the blood rushing to the wounds, waking them up, sent a burning pain through my body.  I glanced over at a stack of my belongings.  My spelled riding cloak which I have had since my first meeting with the Lupei was in tatters, covered in burns and blood.

Celeste followed my eyes and said, “It seems to have taken the brunt of the attacks until the spells failed.”

I nodded, it had always protected me better than my armor ever had.  I had a pang of sadness over it's destruction.  I have always had an irrational connection to the things that I feel are mine.  The things not supplied to me by the realm.  The things I actually owned.

I took pride in them because, in my prior life, it was rare to own nice things.  It is one of the main reasons I will never entertain getting a horse more suited for my size.  Goliath was mine, won out through battle before I became a Knight.  He was my beautiful boy.  We were a team.

Then Verna told of when the messenger from the conclave arrived with word of Udele's location and that I had led a party to rescue her.  Verna chuckled, “I swear that Celeste was on the verge of a heart attack at that news.  She petitioned Duke Liam for a few men to travel to the ruins of Lord Cedric's keep to support your mission.”

Bex joined in with amazement in his voice, “But instead, the Duke pledged his sword and an entire battalion to put an end to the Dark Knights once and for all.”

He grinned lopsidedly.  “We rode hard for two days when the Great Mother and Sarafine came over a rise and bid us hurry, that you were holding off the enemy horde so they could escape.”  He looked over to my girl who was ignoring him but blushing slightly as he said, “Lady Celeste led the charge.”

His grin grew. “You should have seen how quickly the Dark Knights pulled up short when the battalion came thundering over the hill.”

I grinned internally then squinted an eye at Bex.  “Don't think I didn't witness you in the fray.  That was the best I have ever seen you fight.”

He blushed and looked away at the praise.  Verna clapped his shoulder and he staggered forward a couple steps from the force of it as she said, “Here here.”

Kristof just hoisted his mug of something that smelled suspiciously fermented, then took another long tug on it.

I looked around and asked, “Where's Bowyn?”

They all chuckled and I furrowed my brow and Verna said, tongue in cheek, “I believe he and Great Mother Ranelle took a stroll to Shoreline before we start for Solomon Keep.”

I blushed for the young looking ruler and grinned.  She was so bad.  Then I snorted, wondering if Bowyn knew her age.  I could see many older woman jokes in his near future.

Before long, some wagons arrived from the little fishing village I had passed before my rescue, I assumed that was Shoreline. Mother Udele, Alexi and I were loaded up on a wagon and we started the trek to Solomon Keep so that we could recover enough to head back to the Whispering Walls so that Mountain Gypsy healers could see to us.

With the wagons slowing them down, it took us three days to make the journey.  Neither Celeste or Ranelle left my side.  We stopped in a couple small fishing villages along the way.

I was starting to wonder if everything in the realm of Solomon revolved around fishing.  I guess it might since they had the wonder of the Great Sea that took up over a third of their entire holdings.  I wondered just how many fish such a mammoth amount of water held.

I was feeling much better after a fever that came upon me on our first day of travel, it broke on our third day and I convinced all of my protectors to allow me to get up on my feet.  I was afraid that if they all had their way, I would forget how my legs worked.

I was sitting with Mother Udele at the small fire where the porters they borrowed from Shoreline had cooked us a hearty fish stew when Duke Liam walked past.  He always seemed in good humor with a mischievous look permanently on his face.  He reminded me more and more of Sir Tennison.  He called out to me, “Tiny Wexbury, slow down, you'll spoil your appetite for the culinary delights that Solomon has to offer.  We will arrive in just a few hours.”

I shook my left fist at him as I scrunched my nose.  Even Solomon teased me for my height.  I was just the right size thank you very much.  He held his hands up like he was scared then walked away, trailing booming laughter in his wake.

I saw a bunch of his men grinning as he left and I pointed at them in warning.  Their smiles grew as they quickly returned their attention to their meal. I rasped out as loud as I could, “That's what I thought.”  I was rewarded with a round of chuckles.  Celeste just beamed at me over her bowl.

To my chagrin, all of the Solomon Knights took to calling me Tiny Wexbury after that.  If Liam weren't a duke who could have me executed for causing his trousers to fall in public, I'd have my revenge.

As we broke camp after my bandages were changed, I caught sight of Alexandru on his mount at the edge of the forest.  He was looking at me and gave one of his hand flourished bows then faded back into the trees with a satisfied smile on his face.  I wondered if he ever rested in his duties of watching over Celeste and me.

I lost my argument of riding Goliath instead of sitting in the wagon with our injured Gypsies.  I just took in the sights on the cobblestone road we had got onto on the shoreline.  I realized we had moved onto the Ring.  I could see sails dotting the water everywhere, there seemed to be more and more including those giant schooners.

We passed many more patrols who saluted as our battalion escort went past.  More and more buildings started springing up all around us when Liam came trotting back on his charger with Goliath in tow.

He looked at Celeste instead of me.  She had a hard look on her face.  And he said, “Give her the dignity, we have arrived.  Allow her to ride in on her own.”

I looked hopefully at my Lady.  She seemed conflicted but caved when she looked into my eyes and just nodded once.  The wagon stopped and he brought my Percheron beside it.  I needed Celeste's help to slide into the saddle.

I winced but sat tall in the saddle, Anadele hanging at my hip, and the borrowed peasant's clothing on my back.  I must have looked a sight.  An armed raggedy woman on a grand steed.  Celeste mounted up on Canter and rode beside me in her grand Gypsy garb, her head held high.

Owensdale had been the largest village I had ever seen, but it paled in comparison to Outer Solomon.  The buildings started getting more and more plentiful and people came out to watch as a hundred Knights passed by with their leader.  I saw that same look of awe on the faces of the people we passed as I had for the Knights of Wexbury when I was but a commoner.

All of the Knights broke into a canter in a well-rehearsed show of skill and force for their people as we passed.  There were hundreds of crossroads and thousands of buildings.  Some made of proper stone but the preponderance made of wood.  But not cheaply like in the Trough back home, these were sturdily built buildings constructed of hefty timbers and thick thatched roofs.

We passed by not one, but multiple marketplaces along the Ring.  I hadn't known there were this many people in all of the lands of Sparo.  It seemed like there were more people here than in the Gypsy Caravans up at Heaven's Gate though I knew that not to be true.  The construction of the roads by all the buildings just made it seem like it.

I took great interest in the signs of technology that got more and more frequent as we progressed.  There were some of the wind turbines that originated in Wexbury on the top of some of the multi-story buildings, like inns, that we passed.  This indicated that they most likely had electrical lighting and heating inside.  Their outer city enjoyed more modern conveniences than most.

The entire realm was so rich in resources that even their serfs were well dressed.  I noted that they had tall, decorative light posts with multiple globes and ceramic vessels holding the magic spark to power each post.  Such opulence.  I could see why Solomon was the crown jewel of the Lower Ten.

We passed a sawmill that wasn't powered by oxen. Instead, it ran off an enormous electric motor.  There were a series of ceramic containment vessels in an outside rack powering it.  I thought of how we could probably apply the same principal but use the paddle wheel generators to power it.  I absently wondered if my other Wexbury companions were taking note of the things I was seeing.

Then a large stone wall came into view.  It was much taller and older than the walls around our Keep, possibly forty feet tall.  A giant sprawling castle seemed to grow out of the center of the Keep proper, which was about twice the size of Wexbury Keep.

There were twin soaring portcullises with tremendous iron gates raised.  The sheer amount of traffic coming in and out of the Keep was staggering.  The deep resonating thrum of the Keep's bellows powered war horns seemed to roll past us with an almost palpable pressure wave.  I could feel it seeping up through the ground itself, reverberating off the walls of the surrounding buildings.

Everyone parted and made way as the Duke led us through the gates, the people cheering us all on.  We made a display of it. Like a proper parade as we moved through the twisting and turning lanes in the Keep and through the inner walls of the castle.  Only then did everyone relax and I slumped in the saddle from my exhausting effort to remain upright.  I exhaled.  I was done.

We got to the stables and dozens of stable boys came running out to collect the horses and gear from the Knights.  They were a well-oiled machine.  There were also men and woman at the ready with medical kits.  The Duke must have sent a runner ahead.

A stable boy took Goliath's reins and I looked down at the ground, my back ached so much.  Celeste dismounted and put a hand up and I took it as I slid clumsily and almost bonelessly off the saddle and into her waiting arms.  She steadied me on my feet and I whispered, “Maybe riding wasn't such a good idea after all.”

I gave her a sheepish grin and she cocked an eyebrow as if to say, “You think?”

Then she was handing me off to two men with a stretcher and a woman who was pulling a stethoscope out of her black bag that was marked as a medical kit.

As I laid on my side and they hoisted me, Celeste told them, “Watch her back.”

They rushed me toward the looming castle as the woman ran alongside, listening to my heart and lungs.  My Lady never left my side.

***

It was a long three weeks of convalescing in Castle Solomon.  I learned that the Duchess had eluded capture and had disappeared into the mountains of the realm of York with her men.  Word came back from the conclave that they await our return.

The last couple days before I was cleared to travel, Celeste had brought me out on short walks to see the wonders of Solomon.  It was like walking through a fairytale.  The city was so diverse and seemed to offer something for every taste... if you had the coin.  In some ways, it was the most fantastical thing, but in others it seemed sort of hollow and empty.  Through my amazement I came to one conclusion, it wasn't home. I will be forever grateful I lived to witness such a sight as this, but I really missed home.  Wexbury, where all my friends and family were, and everything I knew.

I chuckled at the thought that while I had enjoyed a variety of exotic foods during my recovery, I wondered if it was really necessary to have fish in every meal.

Duke Liam convinced Celeste to allow him to take us out on a boat he called a yacht, it was a large schooner that had multiple cabins in it.  It sliced through the glassy waters of the Great Sea like it was gliding on silk.  He brought us to a point where we could not even see the shore.  He had said, “This is the world that was.  In the Before Times, there was more water on the Earth than land.  This is what it would be like to be on one of those great oceans.  Nothing but water for a far as the eye can see.”  I felt... humbled by it?

My voice never came back to me, it remained hoarse and raspy.

The dead flesh had to be removed from the burns around my throat to prevent infection and I went through the excruciating process of getting the stump of my right index finger amputated properly at the last knuckle.  I will not admit to crying like a child from that pain as I bit down on the leather strap they placed between my teeth.

Celeste tells me that the new burns on my back seemed to anger my old scars and brought them out more prominently.  I could live with it all, Mother Udele was safe, I kept my pledge, and Celeste didn't seem to mind having a scarred woman who was falling apart.  I could do without anything as long as I still had her.

I looked into the finely polished silver mirror in the quarters that Duke Liam assigned to my Lady and me.  I would be forever marked by Kennick, I knew that as I looked at the angry healing burns in the shape of two hand prints on my neck.  Even if we got back to Sylvia, she has shown that she can do very little to heal wounds inflicted by magic.  Something in the residual magic interferes with her healing abilities.

I absently flexed my throbbing hand, missing the silk glove gifted to me by the Lupei, it had always soothed the pain.

I looked over the clothing supplied to me by the castle's lead maid, Marideth.  I still preferred tunics and trousers over dresses, but this dress was pretty, in the rich oranges and greens of Solomon.  It hung lower than the knee length style that seemed popular in the city.  Marideth had apologized, but I was so short that it was either this or the dresses that the young teen nobles wore.

I was excited, this was the day we would start our journey northwest toward Father Stone to rejoin the conclave.  I exhaled with one last look in the mirror, seeing a girl I recognized yet didn't.  I looked away, it does not pay to be vain.  I adjusted Anadele on my hip.  Bex had retrieved her from the sand for me, from where the final battle had occurred.

I felt silly as usual, wearing a sword with a dress, but Ranelle and the other Gypsies would never forgive me if I didn't.  But then I glanced at my borrowed boots and shrugged at my own hypocrisy, my little dagger was in its sheath inside the boot.  All my training as a knight had driven the lesson into me that you should never be caught unarmed.

I looked at the gorgeous redhead in her flowing Gypsy garments who was staring hungrily at me.  I blushed and looked down at my feet as I ground a heel on the floor, feeling bashful.  I rasped out, “Hey now, none of that my Lady.  It was your rule to wait until we returned to Wexbury and I was fully healed.”

She grinned at me, her left cheek dimpling.  “That was extremely short sighted of me.” She stepped in front of me and rested her hands on my hips.  Her eyes seemed to glow slightly with her emerald power.  I blushed, she says she loses some of her control whenever she is near me.  She leaned down and gave me the gentlest of kisses.

I closed my eyes to savor it, still amazed that the person who could bring so much violence to bear against her enemies, could be so tender, so soft, so...  I pulled back and bit my lower lip and said breathlessly, “Mother Luna, Celeste, the others are waiting and you are breaking down my resolve.”

She gave me a toothy grin and offered her arm.  I placed my hand on it, trying to remember a time when she wasn't leading me around like I was a proper lady or something.  Then she led me out to the people waiting in the courtyard.

I smiled at everyone already mounted and ready.  The polished armor of our diplomatic escort shone brightly in the morning rays from Father Sol, looking regal and dignified.  The women of my Greva were looking resplendent in their leathers and riding cloaks. I sighed and looked at Celeste.  Goliath and Alexandru's horse were tethered behind the wagon where Mother Udele and Alexi were resting.  My Lady insisted I rest in our travels back to Heaven's Gate until Sylvia cleared me.

She was grinning down at me.  Then like a proper lady befitting my station, I stuck my tongue out at her and she chuckled.  I loved her laugh, it took away the stress and shadows from her eyes and made he look younger, like the young woman who laid beneath the warrior's exterior.

She led me to the wagon and Duke Liam stepped forward from the ranks of the Solomon Knight's honor guard.  His voice boomed out, “Young Sora Laney of the Lupei. Techno Knight of Wexbury.  A word please.”

We paused and he stepped up to us and smiled down at me.  I bowed to the man. “Duke Liam?”  I glanced at what he was carrying in his hands.  It was covered in a green silk cloth tied with an orange ribbon.

He smiled at me. “Ahh, Tiny Wexbury, are you not a princess of the Mountain Gypsies as well?  That makes us peers.  You may call me Liam.”

I gave him a lopsided smile and said, “Yes your Grace.”

He tipped his head back and laughed, my smile grew.  He looked over at Celeste, “Is your woman always so... contrary?”

Celeste gave him a beaming smile as she rolled her eyes.  “You have no idea.”

Hey!  I bumped her hip.

Then the Duke actually bowed to her and asked, “May I borrow your charge for a minute?”

My girl inclined her head and held her arm out.  He offered his and I transferred my hand to it.  I looked back at Celeste as he led me away.  She just shrugged.

The Duke led me out of the cobblestone courtyard through a smaller arch.  There was a manicured lawn with a little path through beds of flowers.  It was a hidden garden.  He led me to a marble railing overlooking a second tier of the garden and then turned to face me.

The man said in a somber tone, “Solomon owes you a debt we can never repay.  By your actions, you have averted a war that would have spelled the end to not only Solomon but to all the realms.  My wife's deceptions and deplorable actions are inexcusable and my heart breaks learning that she was not the girl I married so long ago.”

I gave the man a sympathetic look and he gave me a sad smile, then looked back toward the courtyard and smirked a little as he continued.  “She loves you.  When word arrived here at the Keep that you had assembled a five-man strike team to storm the ruins to save Mother Udele, we thought it a fool's errand.  If it was indeed our deserters involved in this plot, how could a single Wexbury Knight and a few Gypsies hope to succeed?”

His smile grew. “Even as we rallied the troops to head north, she assured me that you were more capable than I could imagine and you feared nothing.  I thought you to be ten feet tall the way she spoke.  Imagine my surprise when we came upon the smallest Knight I have ever laid eyes on.  And my surprise grew when we learned that you had succeeded in your mission.”

I blushed as he smiled toward the courtyard again, “I must admit to being curious if the Blade of Temperance of Wexbury lived up to her reputation.  So many rumors about her have circulated throughout the realms, and we knew they couldn't all be true.  I pride myself in the knowledge that we train the finest of Knights here in Solomon, so I wanted to see what Wexbury could really do.”

He shook his head and said softly, with respect in his voice, “I did not expect what happened when she took on five of our highly trained ex-Knights at the same time.  They didn't stand a chance, and I have a feeling your lady was holding back.  The other Knights of Wexbury made short work of the other traitors with those powered blades and that wondrous brute of a woman, Lady Verna.”

He shook his head, I didn't know what to say so I shrugged and rasped out, “The fire of Wexbury.”

He chuckled and said, “Indeed.”

Then his expression changed to something unreadable as he narrowed his eyes. “There are whispers about you too, Penny Lady.”

He knew what the people of Wexbury called me?

His tone got lower, “The whispers of impossible things.  All just rumors and speculation.  I tasted your magic on the field, you have but a tiny spark so I knew the rumors were unfounded.  And you bear more scars than seasoned Knights of old.”

His eyes narrowed more. “I watched as this tiny woman, even while the very life was being choked from her body, killed one of the most powerful magic users in the Lower Ten.  Not with that little spark, but with a blade.”

I shrugged and said, “Most magic users become dependent on their magic and forget about everything else.  He expected me to try to defend myself with magic, so that is what I gave him.  While he dealt with that, I ended him with a simple blade.”

He nodded. “The ability to think while under pressure is one of the most dangerous weapons any Knight...”  He grinned. “...or Sora, can wield.”

Then he stood taller and took a deep breath and exhaled.  “I have my eye on you Tiny Wexbury, I believe some of the whispers I have heard may be true now.  You aren't exactly what you appear now are you?  And that amber energy you call forth?”  He smiled and shook his head as I stood there not knowing what to say.

He chuckled. “I don't expect you to answer.  And any suspicions I may have will be kept private, because, as I said, Solomon owes you a debt I can never repay.”

He handed me the package he was holding.  “A token from the leader of a holding to the leader of a Gypsy family.  An offering of peace.  A Treasure of the Realm.  I cannot give it to a Knight of Wexbury, but I can give it to an emissary of peace from the Mountain Gypsies whom my wife wronged.  And you are a woman of both worlds.”

I looked at it and untied the ribbon and folded the silk covering back to reveal the blade of Lord Cedric.  It was beautifully restored, highly polished and honed to a razor's edge.  It reflected the light of Father Sol as it rested atop a leather scabbard.

The hilt had new embossed leather bindings and the crest of Solomon gleamed on the circular pommel.  Engraved on the blade itself were three crests, the crest of Wexbury, the crest of the Lupei family, and my personal family crest.

I just blinked at it.  This blade was close to two thousand years old, held by Lord Cedric himself, and he was gifting it to... me?  He said, “That is Hera, the long lost sister blade to Zeus.”  He drew his long sword and I realized it was bronze as well and matched the design of the smaller parrying blade.

I scrunched up my eyes and asked a stupid question through my shock, leave it to me to find knowledge more important than physical things.  “Hera?”

He nodded and explained, “Our scholars have learned that Zeus was a god of the great Wizards of the Before.  Hera was his wife.”  He shook his head sadly. “We have lost so much knowledge that we had known even back in Lord Cedric's time.  He had known of those old gods when he named the blades and we have just recently re-learned that lost knowledge.”

I nodded, it was why I lived for my visits to the great library, where I could commune with the Techromancy Scrolls to learn of things long forgotten, to help usher in a new era in these modern times as we quickly catch up to what the Wizards of the Before had.

He smiled at me like he knew the thoughts tumbling around in my head.  He sheathed Zeus and reached for the smaller blade.  “Here, let me assist.”  He took the weapon and slid it into the sheath that I saw also had all of the crests embossed on it.  Then he looped it on my sword belt on my hip opposite Anadele, then secured the straps.

He stepped back to examine me and then smirked, “Tiny, but dangerous.”

I squinted an eye and shook my left fist at him and he laughed heartily.  I couldn't stop myself from grinning at the big bear of a man.

He straightened up again and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword lazily.  “I have arranged for diplomatic escort and a peace envoy to accompany your group to Heaven's Gate.  To help make reparations to the Lupei family.”

He handed me a scroll that bore the wax seal of Solomon.  “This writ is a pledge from Solomon to the Mountain Gypsies.  They need but to call and our blade is theirs in defense and support.  Will you, Sora Laney of the Lupei, accept this burden and deliver it to your conclave?”

The words sounded terribly formal to me.  So I accepted with a somber face and a tilt of my head.  He handed it to me and then a grin split his face, “Good!”  Then he said behind his hand like he was being sneaky, “Now Wexbury is not the only realm to enjoy a special advantage with the People.”  He paused and added with a smirk, “Sora.”

I squinted an eye at him and said, “I smell a rat here.”

He humorously lifted his arms to smell his pits, then winked.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.  Men.  Still, he was funny.  You don't generally expect that from a Duke.

He offered his arm and I took it with a curtsy, saying, “Your Grace.”

He placed a hand over mine and said as he lead me toward the little arch, “That oath goes for you too Tiny Wexbury, you need but just call and the sword of Solomon will come to your aid.  My men will answer to the wielder of Hera.”

I blushed and straightened up as we stepped back into the livery courtyard.  I regarded the man a moment as he led me back to my Lady.  He put up a really good front.  Though I could see the pain from the betrayal of the woman he thought he loved, and his Prime Techromancer, hovering over him like a specter...  I had no doubt that this man could weather it.

As he placed my hand back on Celeste's arm, I caught her eyeballing the other blade on my hip.  I whispered as the Duke stepped away, “I fear you will need to instruct me in dual wielding now.”

She just cocked an eyebrow with a slight grin, then helped me into the wagon.  I vexed her by moving to the driver's seat to sit with Alexandru, who was at the reins, instead of with the injured.

I heard her chuckle as she mounted Canter.  The honor guard fell in line behind us and that signaled the war horns of the keep to bellow in a long uninterrupted ten count as we started toward the Whispering Walls.

Chapter 21 – Conclave

We rode the Ring until close to nightfall, before we departed onto Gypsy trails through the Hinterland.  Our Wexbury Knights flanking both the wagon and Celeste, they really took their duty seriously.  There were ten Solomon Knights and one scholar in the peace contingent with another wagon.

The ground which our Greva had originally covered in two days, pushing our horses, took almost four on the return trip, taking safer paths, traveling slowly with the wagons.  It gave me more time to appreciate the beauty of the land.

We stopped at various waterfalls as we journeyed into the Whispering Walls.  One in particular demonstrated to me once again, that the artistry of nature surpasses anything our artisans could ever hope to achieve.  The water was falling from a sheer cliff face maybe a thousand feet. It caused the falling waters to fan out looking like a ethereal veil.  We had heard the roar of it from a half mile away as we approached.

We had our midday meal there and Dru explained, “These waters are called Angel Veil.  They come from where only angels dare to tread.  This is one of the first wellsprings to feed the Great Sea after the Great Impact.  Breathing life into the habitable lands.  It is fed from the glaciers on Father Stone and the surrounding mountains.”

Then he smirked at me. “I once saw an angel fall from a cliff, not unlike this one, and live.”

I blushed at the man and Celeste shook her finger at the flirtatious man in mock warning.  He answered her with a toothy grin.

Mother Udele was getting anxious as we got onto another trail that looked familiar to me, with Heaven's Gate towering behind it, taking up most of the view.  Realizing that we were above the clouds as I looked around, I saw the glacier pass we had started this adventure at.  I understood why Mother was fidgeting.  She was excited to go... home.

I seriously missed my spelled cloak, I was bundled up in a heavy jacket and a green riding cloak as we moved under the great ice bridge at the summit of the pass.  Celeste had moved to the wall and struck it with her blade and brought me a chip of the ice, saying, “My Lady.”

I blushed and looked at the ice.  It was crystal clear with that blue glow which was just an illusion.  It was hard as stone.  I smiled at her and she winked and then just looked straight ahead as she rode tall in Canter's saddle.  I may have giggled at her.

Verna rolled her eyes at us and stuck her finger down her throat.  Hey, she was worse than us, always making out with her husband in public.  Then I snorted as Kristof rode up to her and presented her with her very own ice shard.  She blushed and pushed him out of his saddle, causing chuckles all about us.  Then she gushed over the ice when he wasn't looking.

When we crested a ridge but a couple miles from the Meeting Spot, we marveled at the incredible sight before us.  For as many gypsy bands who were gathered before we left, the entire valley was now filled with colorful wagons as far at the eye could see.  There were tens of thousands of people milling about now.  It must have been ninety percent of all the Mountain Gypsies in all the lands of Sparo!

Ranelle had our little caravan halt there.  Then she boarded the wagon and had me stand.  She looked me over head to toe and adjusted my two blades on my hips then nodded.  I looked over to see a grinning Celeste leading Goliath to the side of the wagon.  My smile threatened to split my face.  They were going to grant me the dignity of riding to the conclave on my own horse.

I stepped over the side of the wagon to slide onto Goliath's back.  It felt good like it was supposed to.  He and I were a team, and moved as one, something that was as natural to me as breathing now.  I have to admit I have missed being in the saddle on the return journey from Solomon.

Then we led our group down into the valley, Ranelle sandwiched between Celeste and me, our Wexbury knights fanned out behind us, with the others following.  When we first entered the makeshift path through the enormous caravan, through the gaps left between individual bands, all were silent.  Stopping what they were doing in their individual camps to look on in amazement.  Many followed behind all the children that ran along behind our motley crew.

The Solomon contingent looked extremely nervous at the hateful glares they were receiving.  I'm sure word had spread through even this sea of Gypsy wagons that Solomon was not involved in the plot.  It may be just because they were strange Altii, and now the relationship between the People and the Altii were strained close to the breaking point because of what a few had perpetrated on their kin.

Murmurs were flowing through the camps in a wave in front of us as we approached the Meeting Spot.  Then I had to smile as I felt almost like I was arriving home as I saw familiar wagons up ahead, with the brand of the Lupei on them.

As soon as we crossed the imaginary boundary between the last family's encampment to the Lupei, a huge roaring cheer went up.  They started chanting Mother Udele's name and I beamed back to her as she stood strong and tall in the back of the wagon.

Thousands of Lupei crowded in and we had to stop for fear of trampling people.  Mother blinked and asked a woman trying to touch her hand from the ground, “How... how many?”

The woman smiled and said, “With the return of you and the Greva of our Soras, every Lupei is present to herald your return, Mother.”

I looked away as a tear ran down Udele's face.  If I hadn't, I would have started bawling at it, and the last thing she needed was one of her Soras blubbering and embarrassing her.

Someone started yelling above the sound of the crowd mobbing us.  “Make way!  Can't you see that our Mother and Soras have important business to attend?  Shoo!  Make way!”

I grinned and caught Sylvia's eye.  She started to smile but then she went pale as she took a good look at me as the crowd parted.  Then she looked toward the wagon to see Udele and she looked positively green.

Mother called out to her, “Alexi of the Aratreya is in need of immediate care.  The Alti healers could not do much but keep him comfortable until we could return.  I fear he has deteriorated during our return trip.  Please see to him until an Aratreya healer can arrive to assist.”

Sylvia nodded and looked between Udele and me.  Mother Udele reached down from the wagon and cupped her cheek and said, “There will be time enough for Laney and myself later.  Alexi is in need of your skill now.  He took on the entire enemy on the waves of the Great Sea to allow for our escape.”

I grinned at her as a murmur went through the crowd.  She was playing Alexi up, and it was well deserved.  This demonstrated why she was Mother of the Lupei, she played the game well.  I was relieved that Alexi would get the care he needed finally.  He was indeed a hero borne of a commoner, and it rang thru to me like a kindred spirit.

Once the fisherman was unloaded and whisked away to Sylvia's wagon, our group started forward again to the Meeting Spot.  When we arrived, the Solomon knights were surrounded by the Great Mother's stewards with swords drawn and arrows at the ready.

Ranelle just sighed and raised a hand and said in a booming voice over the angry shouts from the gathered crowd.  “Lower your weapons, they are an envoy of peace, they are not our enemy.”

She slipped off her mount as we stopped, the crowd all took a knee as soon as she touched the ground.  She motioned for everyone to rise.

I slid out of the saddle and winced and gasped when my back burned at the jarring impact with the ground.  I staggered but held onto Goliath to steady me.  Celeste was instantly off of Canter and offering her arm.  I took it gratefully.

Alexandru had carefully lifted Udele to the ground and skillfully supported her, disguising the extent of her injuries that were still healing.  I had to smile at the big man, he was such a soft touch underneath all of his bravado.

I looked to the horizon, Father Sol was getting low, we had perhaps another half hour of daylight.  I looked to the east to see the Three Sisters rising in the sky, pale ghosts in the light of the sun between gathering clouds.

We all waited at the edge of the stone arc of the Gathering Spot and I noted that the other twelve Mothers of the conclave were already seated.  Those almost invisible scouts of the People must have seen our approach and informed the Mothers.

Ranelle made a little stay motion behind her with her hand and we stopped.  She strode purposefully to the huge chair on her side of the large wooden table and looked at the conclave, inclined her head in acknowledgment then smiled and sat.

With that, the crowd quieted and you could hear the maddening whispers as the wind threaded its way through the peaks.  She said, “I see word arrived of the success of our mission, and the postponement of the vote until our return.”  She seemed pleased as the women of the conclave tilted their heads in agreement.

Then she stood and looked at the empty chair across from her.  She said loudly to the crowd, addressing them more than us, “Mother Udele, would you please take your place on the War Council to complete the conclave?”

The crowd roared as Mother Udele freed herself from Dru's arm and stepped carefully to the center of the smooth stone arc.  She held up a hand and the crowd quieted.  She said, “Great Mother, with respect to you and my sister Mothers, I am still recovering from my captivity and fear I  am not as objective as I ought be.”

She looked back at me and gave me a wicked smile.  Mother Luna, she was going to... She cut my thought short as she said, “I would appoint my Sora, Laney of the Lupei family as my proxy on the council.”

I sighed.  The last time I sat at the War Council, things didn't exactly go smoothly.

The conclave started protesting and arguing.  We all winced as Ranelle slammed the stone onto the table to get their attention.  She smiled sweetly, which was kind of scary, then said with authority, “It is within the rights of every Mother to name any of her Soras as proxy.”

Then she smiled sympathetically to Udele and said, “Your substitution is accepted Mother Udele.  For the duration of this vote, Sora Laney shall be Mother of the Lupei.”  She beckoned me forward.  Celeste gave my hand a little squeeze and pushed me gently forward on reluctant legs.  Then the Great Mother said, “Someone, please get Udele a chair.”

A steward rushed forward to take Udele's arm and led her to our group as another steward seemed to materialize with a little wooden chair for her to rest upon.

I swallowed and stepped up to the table.  I inclined my head to everyone and some returned the gesture.  Tianna gave me a cute tiny wave then looked down at her hands as she blushed.  I grinned, she was going to be a heartbreaker when she reached the age of majority.  She reminded me so much of myself once upon a time.

Ranelle looked around then said, “We are to pick up where we left off on the vote.  First, we need to hear from Mother Laney of the Lupei on the outcome of her Greva's mission to rescue Mother Udele and her investigation into the Dark Knights.”

I blinked in confusion for a moment, why had she not just told them?  Then I understood, it was protocol.  Since it was technically me leading the mission for both the Lupei and the Altii, I needed to tell everyone what occurred, even though it was obvious everyone in attendance had already heard.

I looked around nervously.  I paused at the horrified look on Tianna's face as she stared at my hand.  I guess the scars from the Monolith and the angry red and puckered skin and black stitches, where my index finger should be, were kind of jarring.  Her eyes traveled up and paused at the burns on my neck.  The poor girl looked sick.  I gave her a reassuring smile.

Then I looked around, Celeste and Ranelle giving me encouraging looks.  I swallowed and said as loud as my horse, raspy voice would allow.  “Our Greva was successful in locating the ruins where the Dark Knights of the Altii were holding Mother Udele.  With the aid of Alexi of Aratreya...”  I paused and gave Tianna a proud smile.

Then I continued, “We were able to free Mother Udele and learn about the origin of the Knights who slaughtered the people of the Lupei and kidnapped our Mother.”

I pulled out the sealed scroll that Duke Liam had given me and held it up high. “It was a rebel faction, not sanctioned by the Lord of Solomon, nor any other realm.  The Duke's own wife, Duchess  Aelwen, and his Prime Techromancer Kennick had schemed to overthrow Duke Liam and seize control of the realm and throw the lands of Sparo into disarray.”

That sparked grumblings and shouts throughout the crowd.  I waited for Rain to slam the stone onto the table like a thunderclap to quiet them down since my voice didn't carry well anymore, even with the aid of the shape of the Meeting Spot.

Then I added, “Those who perpetrated the heinous act have been brought to justice, save Duchess Aelwen and a handful of traitorous Knights.  Duke Liam has sent word to all eleven realms to be on the lookout for the fugitives and a call to bring them to justice.  A heartbreaking act on his part as it is a death sentence on the woman he believed he loved.”

I held the scroll out to Ranelle and a steward stepped beside me, retrieved the scroll and ran it around to her.  “That, Great Mother, is a pledge from Duke Liam himself.  Condemning those who perpetrated the act, and swearing that Solomon did neither authorize nor condone the actions of the Dark Knights.  He further pledges the sword of Solomon should the Lupei or any other of the People call upon Solomon for aid.”

That got some more positive murmurs going.  Some of the women of the conclave leaned over to whisper to each other as Ranelle broke the wax seal and read the scroll, then nodded, holding it up panning it for the crowd to see.  I hid a smirk, she was such a showman, but I understood she needed to be.

I looked back after the crowd quieted and I held a hand out, palm up toward the Solomon contingent.  “He has sent a peace envoy to help to make reparations to the Lupei family and the People, and to discuss relations between the People and his realm.”

The men and women of Solomon bowed.

Then I wasn't sure what to do.  I turned to Ranelle and shrugged.  She gave me a pleased smile and nodded once then she motioned her hand to my chair and I sat gratefully, exhaling in a long sigh of relief.

She stood and her voice raised as she said, “Thank you, Mother Laney.”  She looked around and said to the crowd, “What our modest Femeie de Sabie here failed to mention, was that it was by her hand and blade alone, through great injury to herself, the Prime Techromancer of Solomon was brought to justice.”

There were gasps and exclamations of surprise from the crowd as I glared at the smug wench who was just grinning at me.

Then she added, “Nor that Sora Celeste led a hundred man charge from Solomon Keep to the rescue of our Greva.  They fell quickly to the Lightbringer.  I witness this myself.”

More murmurings of approval seemed to flow back and forth like waves lapping the shore.

I could almost hear the neener neener neener in her voice as she grinned at me.  I would get her for this if it caused a the war between the Altii and the People we worked so hard to avoid.  I just sat there, my skin burning with a blush.

She turned her gaze to the women around the table and it cooled into an almost icy glare as she said, “Now that the investigation and rescue have concluded, it is time to vote...”  She paused and smirked. “Unless anyone would care to challenge Mother Laney for the right to vote for the Lupei.”  There was utter and complete silence at that, it was like nobody wanted to chance to even breathe.  The whispering voices of the mountains seemed to hold their breath as well.

When nobody voiced a challenge, then she gave the toothy grin of a predator and said, “Good.”  She turned to the woman I'm convinced is her real mother, and asked, “How votes the Andrei?  War or patience for the Altii?”

The woman looked long and hard at her daughter then around to the crowd.  She exhaled and she said, “It may not have been any of the realms who committed this act of war, but it was still the Altii.  We have seen them get bolder and more arrogant over time.  This act alone shows that they view us as less than equals.  Something needs to be done to discourage such a thing in the future, the People cannot just sit idly while our people are killed.”

She firmed up her jaw and looked at Ranelle, “Andrei votes War.”

That sort of surprised me and apparently the crowd as I heard a collective gasp.  But the frightening thing was, the woman actually made some sense.  But I thought that the diplomacy that Wexbury and Solomon were offering was a better start to affecting change.

The vote went around some voicing similar opinion, others voicing peace.  By the time it got around to me, the field was split, five votes for war and six for patience.

When Ranelle asked me, “How votes the Lupei?  War or patience for the Altii?”

I surprised myself by pausing with my answer to think.

I looked up and wheezed out, “I have listened to my sister Mothers on both sides of the vote and have found wisdom in both.  I agree that the people who implemented this act of war need to be brought to justice and this type of vicious attack discouraged.”

I hear exclamations of disbelief bubbling up all around me and I held my maimed hand up for silence and to my surprise they complied.  “But... those who did, have already been brought to task, or will in the near future, the Duchess cannot run from everyone in the inhabitable lands forever.  And I believe that diplomacy and the sharing of cultures, of education, is the answer to a better harmony between the Altii and the People.”

I sighed and said, “I am a woman of two worlds, of two people, and I desperately wish them to come together for the common good.”  I thought about what I was about to do but was consoled by the fact that the war vote needed to be unanimous and it had already failed.  So I held my chin up and said, “I cannot in good conscience vote on this issue, as I am conflicted by my own dueling morals and cannot reconcile them.”

I looked around and rasped out, “Lupei abstains.”

The crowd exploded in shouts and exclamations, everyone started talking at once.  The conclave was again whispering to each other and I felt ashamed until I looked back to see Celeste with that loving look of pride that makes heat swell up inside me.

I glanced at Ranelle and she had an odd look on her face like she was thinking intently then she inclined her head with a smile on her face that made me exhale the breath that I hadn't known I was holding.  She struck the table loudly twice with the stone and the chaos settled.

Then she turned to the final member of the conclave like nothing had occurred and she gave the girl such a sweet, encouraging smile and scrunched her nose, saying, “Hi Tianna.”

The girl waved and blushed as she said, “Hello, Great Mother.”

I absently wondered if Ranelle had children of her own.  In all the time we spent together and all the stories we shared, I realized that we had never talked about our families.  The way she treated Tianna made me think she would make a great mother.  No pun intended.

Then Ranelle cocked her head almost cutely and asked, “How votes the Aratreya?  War or patience?”

The girl looked pensive as she weighed the question far more seriously than someone of her age should have to.  Then she glanced at me and said, “My sister Mother Laney has given me much to ponder.  But as the facts she herself has shown us, no realm was responsible for the attack on the People.  Do we hold the realms responsible for marauders or Rogue attacks when those groups are not affiliated with any realm?”

She shrugged. “Do not the People bring those foolhardy enough to threaten our own to justice?  Is that not what Mother Laney and her Greva demonstrated in Solomon by doing just that?”

She sighed and looked much older than she was as she said, “The Altii are yet young, and just like any people, we Gypsies included, have good and bad individuals.  We have seen the valor in Mother Laney and the Lightbringer as did Mother Udele, or she would never have blood bonded with her Soras.”

She smiled over to where Udele sat outside of the arc.  “Mother Udele is among the oldest and wisest of us, so who am I to argue her wisdom?”

Then she looked straight at Ranelle. “I wish to see a world for my children and my children's children, in which the Altii and the People live in harmony, possibly sharing our cultures so that we both may grow.  If we hold all Altii responsible for what a few have done, does that not make us less than what we were?  All our centuries of finding peace within ourselves would be forfeit.”

She turned in her chair to face the crowd, her eyes looked watery as she said loudly, “Aratreya votes patience.”  The crowd cheered the young woman and she turned back and looked at her hands, blushing.

I noted that Ranelle's mother was looking at Tianna with a very thoughtful look on her face.  The young one had struck a nerve with the woman and it looked as if she might be reevaluating her stance on the subject.

Ranelle was sitting far back in her chair, beaming at the young Mother.  She sat forward and slammed the stone on the table and announced, “The bid for war has failed to meet a unanimous vote, with five votes for, seven against, and one abstention.  The People shall continue our tradition of patience with the young Altii.”

She then boomed out, “So say the People!”

The council and the crowd roared back, “So say the People!”

Then Ranelle slammed the stone on the table again.  People started to move into the arc but she held up a hand, stopping them, and everyone obediently stopped to listen as she regarded Tianna for a long moment before looking up. “Mother Tianna brings up a fascinating point with her comment about the blending of our two cultures.  Knowledge is power, the People would not have survived this long without gathering and protecting it.  I propose that we begin a cultural exchange with the eleven realms of the inhabitable lands.  An emissary exchange so that we can learn from each other and educate each other in our respective ways.”

There was a murmur rippling through the crowds.  People were nodding and most looked excited or curious though I did notice a few who looked as though they had just licked a lemon.  Ranelle looked at the council, none seemed opposed to the idea so she said, “Decreed!  I now call this conclave concluded.”

Then she looked at me and her face softened as she said, “Now would someone please get Mother Laney to her healer before she falls over?  And let the celebration feasting begin!”

The crowd cheered and flooded the smooth stone arch.  I reached a hand out toward Tianna, offering her a smile.  She smiled back and took my mangled hand, I gave hers a reassuring squeeze and let go.  She did good, I knew her parents would have been very proud of her.

We stood and I was not surprised to find my Lady standing there with a radiant smile and offering her arm.  I accepted with a head tilt as I laid my fingers in the crook of her arm.  Ranelle and our group joined us, and she started to lead us back to the Lupei camps, flanked by stewards parting the way for us. Alexandru mostly carrying Mother Udele without making it look obvious.

Ranelle yelled to me over the noise of tens of thousands of people trying to talk over each other.  “I just about fell out of my chair when you abstained Laney.”  She gave me a crooked smile that was half smirk, “Until I realized the genius of it.”

She traded mischievous looks with Celeste when I retorted in a loud raspy wheeze, trying to hide my smile, “I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about, Great Mother.”

She bumped our hips, forcing mine into Celeste's, and said, “I was wondering what you hoped to accomplish with that then I realized it was like you said, you are a woman of two worlds.  No matter how you voted, it would appear as though you were favoring one of your people over the other.  That would cause friction no matter your vote.  But by abstaining, you showed us that both people, both cultures, were equally important to you.  And the war vote had already failed at that point.”

I looked down at my feet and blushed, fighting a grin as we walked.  I glanced up to see Celeste beaming with pride.

Ranelle tipped her head back and laughed heartily, then said, “I knew it!  You are a sneaky and intelligent woman Laney.  You would make a fine diplomat.”

I shook my head fervently.  “Oh Mother Luna, no.”  That would be the worst possible fate for me.  I couldn't handle even one day of the politics that Duke Fredrick or Prince George have to put up with each day.  Everyone chuckled.

When we approached the familiar wagons of the Lupei, Sylvia came rushing up and said, “Shoo, off with you all now.” She looped arms with Mother Udele and me.  She squinted an eye at the Great Mother and said, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, putting these two through the strain of the conclave without proper healing first.”

Ranelle opened her mouth to argue but Syl just pointed a finger at her and narrowed her eyes.  The ruler of the Mountain Gypsies knew when she was outmatched and held her hands up to her sides, palms out in surrender as she chuckled and inclined her head to our healer.

Sylvia just raised her chain and marched us to her wagon mumbling, “You two are worse than a couple children.  You should know better.  Especially you Mother.  Now into the wagon.”

We both said in unison like scolded children as we glanced at each other to exchange smug grins, “Yes Sylvia.”  We were rewarded with slaps on the backs of our heads as we entered the wagon and we chuckled.

Sylvia spun and braced an arm across the door, barring Celeste from entering.  She pointed out and Celeste hung her head with a grin of her own and marched back down the fold down stairs as the woman I was starting to see as a sister told her, “There's not enough room for everyone, you'll see your girl soon enough.”  Then she almost slammed the door.

She paused with her back to us then turned with a wicked gleam in her eyes as she cracked her knuckles.  She looked between us and examined the most obvious of our mostly healed injuries and asked herself, “Which one to start with.”

Chapter 22 – Home

It was two days before Sylvia let me out of the wagon.  After she had done what she could that first night, she moved Mother Udele to her own wagon and confined her to bed.  It was another three days before she finally told us that she could do no more for me.

As I feared, since most of my injuries were inflicted by magic, she couldn't fully heal them, but she could do a little.  The burns on my neck now look like angry red hand prints with minimal scarring.  She was able to heal my larynx partially.  My voice is still raspy and wheezy, but much better than it had been.

My back will forever hold the brands of the magical lashing beside the scars of the physical one, Celeste says it doesn't look so bad, but I can see the anger and need for vengeance in her eyes so the scarring must look terrible.  Vengeance she can never have as I had already eliminated the perpetrator.

The ache from my amputated finger had been removed entirely and the skin healed without a scar.  It looks as if I had never had it at all.  That saddened me in a way, there was nothing to show for the loss.

Mother Udele fared much better and was her old energetic, cryptic, and obstinate self.  Even her fingernails had regrown under Sylvia's care.

By the time we were ready to travel back to Wexbury Keep, only the Lupei and Ranelle remained at the Meeting Spot on Father Stone.  After a good maple porridge to break our fast, Sylvia came into her wagon with two large stacks of clothing in her hands.

We sighed, knowing it was futile to argue so we submitted to the ceremony, allowing her to clean and dress us in the most amazing Gypsy dresses I have ever laid my eyes on, they glowed with hundreds of runes and charms.  I paused looking at the green piping down the sides of the dresses, wasn't that the Great Mother's color?

Syl smirked when she caught me looking at them.

I asked, “What's this about?”

She lightly slapped my fingers away from them and wordlessly slid on a new three fingered white silk glove that took away the aches and pains that I have lived with since the battle of the Monolith.  It was just as heavily charmed as my last one.

After she armed us and checked to make sure our swords hung correctly at our hips, she presented me with a new riding cloak to replace my destroyed one.  This one was a dark forest green and it had lighter green piping on it as well.  I could feel and taste the powerful castings on it that felt as if they were woven into every fiber of the cloak.

I admit I was mesmerized as Celeste was washed down and dressed.  It never ceases to amaze and warm my body and soul when I see her in all her natural beauty.  It is always hard to reconcile in my head, how someone who looks so femininely graceful can be possibly the deadliest person I have ever met.  That just made her more... sexy, and desirable to me.  She caught me looking and blushed from her head down to her toes and it was endearing.  Oh, how I love that woman.

When Sylvia looked us over when she was done, she nodded in satisfaction then scolded me.  “I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Laney.  You insist on taking as much damage as you can each time we meet.”

She looked at Celeste.  “You need to take better care of her.”

Celeste rolled her eyes and said like she had said it a million times, “Yes, Sylvia.”

Our healer companion beamed and said, “Good!  Now out with you, I'm sure Rain has some words for you.”

I echoed my Lady's words in the same resigned tone, “Yes Sylvia.”

She chuckled out as she opened the door, “I like the sound of that, I could get used to it.”  Then she glurked as Celeste shoved her shoulder, causing her to stumble out the door.  We were treated to her gleeping laughter.

Then we stepped outside, my entire form ghosting like a wispy wraith under the weight of all the spells, it was disconcerting because it followed with every motion now.  I thought the effect was bad enough before, but every Touched of the Lupei had apparently been involved in weaving the runes and charms on my clothing this time.

It was odd, the valley that had been an ocean of Wagons looked untouched as if it had only been a dream.  The only wagons in evidence belonged to the Lupei.  While an impressive number on its own, it now seemed somehow small compared to what we had witnessed when all of the clans had united.

The people gathered in anticipation of us starting our journey gave a little cheer that just made me smile.  They always made me feel as if I were actually somebody.

Ranelle was standing there with her stewards by her lone wagon with two support wagons.  I felt sort of sad about that.  I learned that all she does is travel between all of the bands of all of the clans to address any concerns any may have.  My thought that she was alone and apart from her people, was closer to reality than I imagined.

She had shared that since Celeste and I were of the People now, and our cultural exchange emissary for Wexbury, Sarafine of the Lupei, would be in Wexbury Keep, it was her duty to visit us from time to time as well.  I smiled at that, it would be good to see her.  She was traveling to Wexbury with us to set up the cultural exchange program, she would visit all of the other realms to do the same after she leaves Wexbury.

She smiled at us then got a mischievous look on her face and asked, “Soras?  Why are you not in proper dress?”

I furrowed my eyes and looked down at myself as Celeste did the same.  She chuckled and stepped up to us and put a hand out.  A steward stepped forward with a green silk sash for the dress.  I looked at it and the two crests it embroidered on it.  One was the crest of the Lupei family, but the other one I didn't recognize though it seemed familiar for some reason.

Ranelle followed my gaze, then she smiled and explained, “That is the crest of the People, symbolizing the unification of the thirteen families.  It is the symbol of my position.”

My eyes snapped down to her scabbard.  That's why it seemed familiar, the crest was embossed in the leather on it.  She reached around me and tied the sash around my waist, with the ends visible showing the crests.  “And this signifies the highest honor among us, it marks you as a hero of the People, a campion al poporului... how do you say?  Champion of the People?  It ties you to the Great Mother much the same way your blood bond with Mother Udele ties you to her.  Any of the People who see it will treat you as they treat me and follow your command.”

I blinked at that, not knowing what to say as she tied a matching one around Celeste's waist.  Rain grinned at Udele who was standing beside Sylvia and her children, then at me and said, “Now that selfish hag Udele has to share you with the rest of us, my... Soras.”

I doubt I could have blushed more than when my ever growing foster family cheered again.  I whispered to the woman, “What did I ever do to you?”

She tilted her head back and laughed then said, “Just enjoy it, woman, you both earned it.”

Celeste was standing tall and strong.  Taking it as a high honor instead of the curse I knew it to be.  Now more people would know our names and I was happier living in the shadows with the woman I loved.

We mounted up.  I was happy that even with my maimed hand I was able to mount Goliath smoothly.  I was feeling one hundred percent again.

I did a double take when our Wexbury Knights mounted their own chargers.  Ranelle had walked past them and absently grasped Bowyn's hand and let her fingers brush lightly with his as she passed by, giving him a little wink.

I shook my head at the grinning man when he mounted and came up beside us.  I crooked a finger and he sidled up and I slapped the back of his head, which just made the man's grin all the fiercer.  I just rolled my eyes as Celeste laughed at our antics.

I told the man, “Don't let it get to your head, she's only using you for your body.”

He snorted. “This is me, Laney.”

I nodded and said emphatically, “Exactly.”

He chuckled and retook his flanking position.

When the Great Mother was in her exquisite barrel shaped wagon, they started down the mountain heading west to the Keep.  We followed.  I was acutely aware of the stragglers we had behind us who decided to follow.

I glanced around the forest, knowing that somewhere Alexandru had his eyes on us, ever watchful.

As we traveled, I wondered at the fact that I had seen so many incredible things and have now traveled half of the Lower Ten in my lifetime and saw such awe-inspiring things as Heaven's Gate and the Great Sea.  I had never thought I would have such great adventures when I sat tending my chickens with mother and Jace a couple years aforetime.

I glanced at my hand and exhaled.  Everything has a price, but I believe the price for seeing what I have seen, and meeting so many phenomenal people has been worth it.  I know now that I have truly lived and made a difference.  I felt there was only one thing missing in my life at that time.

Celeste instinctively rode closer, she always knew when I needed to know she was there.  I blurted out without looking at her.  “Do you ever intend to ask me to be your bride?”

She didn't look at me either but I still caught her smile in the peripheral of my vision.  “I did not think you wished that or I would have asked the day you were knighted.”

I grinned, still not looking at her, and quipped, “For someone so well educated, you certainly are dense.”  Then I urged Goliath faster.  I smiled hugely at the laughing woman who hurried to keep pace.

Then she finally turned her head and started to ask, “Laney?  Would you...”

I turned to her with a little smirk.  “Not this instant you silly woman.”

She shook her head and replied playfully, “You are so confusing at times.  I swear.”

I nodded and agreed, “Yes you do... frequently.”  I was rewarded with another heartfelt laugh from my Lady.  We rode in silence with my heart swelling, at least, two sizes.  A grand adventure indeed.

***

When we crested the rise through Wexbury Minor and the walls of the keep loomed off on the horizon.  I hesitated, Goliath sidestepped when he felt my trepidation.  Celeste gave me a warm smile as I fought off my blurry vision as my eyes watered up.  It never ceases to affect me like this, as spectacular as our adventures are, there truly is no sight as emotional as home.

I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and then got back in step as we watched the outer patrol head toward the Keep at breakneck speed.  The people of Wexbury Minor had all stopped what they were doing to gape in awe as our procession went past.  I had never seen Bex, Verna, Kristof, and Bowyn sit higher in their saddles.

We heard the Keep's warhorns reverberating across the land as we arrived near the gates and the wagons spread out, Ranell's wagons fell back with the others and she joined us on her steed.  Then we sat as over a hundred knights streamed out of the gates and formed a line in front of us.

I blinked in surprise Duke Fredrick was at their center in the armor of Wexbury, and to his right was Prince George himself, in elegant armor.  He was still in Wexbury after all of these weeks?  Celeste faded back when I had not noticed when Duke Fredrick and Prince George rode up to us to challenge.  It was silly but technically we were visiting dignitaries until we donned our armor of the realm again.

I looked over at the empty space where Celeste had been.  Why that sneaky...

The Duke said, “Greetings Lupei.”

I swallowed and said, “Greetings Wexbury.”  I looked around, what was I supposed to do now?  I shrugged internally and almost asked, “The Lupei have come to Carnival at the Keep.”

He inclined his head and said, “Welcome.”  Then he grinned.

Oh, thank the stars in the heavens that was over.

I smiled at the man then I got bold and greeted the men, “Fred, George.”

They inclined their heads and I grinned backward and shrugged.  Wheezing out meekly, “I have brought my family for dinner.”

They looked at the stragglers that had followed me home, and the two men laughed until they were crying.  What?  Sure the four hundred and ninety-two gypsy wagons with two thousand four hundred and sixty Lupei, our entire clan, may have been a bit much, but I swelled with pride and finished my thought.  They were mine.

Epilogue

I spun under a strike, Hera and Anadele whirling about me in a series of blocks an parries as I instinctively stopped and deflected each deadly strike from my three opponents.  Two bladed combat was becoming easier and easier to me.

I crossed my blades in front of me to stop a pulverizing downward strike from a heavy double-handed sword then I spun away below a lunging attack from another attacker, ending in a low crouch with Hera behind my back, to deflect the blow I knew was coming.  The other two had been pulling my attention with their sustained attack, allowing the third to get behind me to strike.

It all happened so fast, and my own ghost images blurred to catch up with me.  I stood and extended both blades to my sides and slowly turned, forming a circle of mist I dared my opponents to step into.  It also served to give myself a feel for my range.

I bobbed down, slipping left, then right, blurring with the motion as that double-handed sword sliced down through the afterimage and sparked on the ground with a solid clang where I had feigned to be moving.

Tennison laughed. “Hold still damn you.  It's bad enough you are such a small target, but your bizarre afterimage blurring is disconcerting.”

I giggled as I stopped a whirling backhand from Brenda and deflected Verna's Gertrude away with a glancing parry.  I rasped, “Not likely big man.  You'd destroy me in seconds flat.”  For once I didn't feel outclassed and fighting for my life, this felt almost like an elegant and graceful dance to me this day.  Was this how Celeste felt every time she was in battle?

Verna growled, “At least remove that vexing cloak so the effect isn't so pronounced, I can barely tell which one is really you.  I have to watch your shadow on the ground so I can't get in my best strikes.”

I chuckled as I spun while sidestepping, eliciting a triple clang of steel on steel.  Anticipating the move because it was a classic Celeste maneuver to gain some distance, I almost ran into Tennison's broad chest.

I gleeped, then felt cold steel on my neck and Brenda chuckled out, “Got you, you slippery little sneak.”

I lowered my blades and we all backed up and sheathed our weapons.

Celeste came walking up and nodded at me grimly. “Better, you still need to remember to have one high guard and one low as you do that.  Remember, the idea is to create space.  If you had a low guard with Hera, it would have forced Tennison to take a step back and you wouldn't have been trapped like that.”

I nodded as Verna told me, “You improve by the day Laney.  I think the balance you gain from the weight of each blade makes you a little more sure of your moves.  Though your foot positioning still needs work.”

Then she added with a voice full of mirth, “At least I think it does if I can figure out which blurry Laney is the real one, that is almost an ultimate defense as long as you keep in motion.”

I turned to the sound of another nearby sparring match.  Sarafine was grace in motion as she slapped a blade away from one of the two new squires with a leather gloved hand.  Both new recruits were young Techno Knight ascendants.

Young?  They were only over two years my junior, just past their age of majority at nineteen.  Had I ever been that young?  It seemed another lifetime ago.

I had to grin at the boys, both commoners taken on by Knights of the Realm under the new Wexbury Spark Program for serfs like me who developed the affinity for magic.  My mother, Lady Margret, and I had convinced the nobles to adopt the concept and had the program instituted last year.

Instead of detaining and imprisoning and disappearing commoners who developed a spark, Wexbury instead embraced them and gave them a choice.  Either they join the ranks of nobles as a Techromancer scholar, or they can be squired by a Knight of the Realm to defend Wexbury and its allies with their gift.

Since then, three commoners have ignited, all more powerful than me of course.  Valerie Thatcher chose to pursue the academic training of a scholar under the tutelage of the Queen of the Scrolls herself, Emily.

Jerry Weaver and Seth Weaver both wanted to follow in my footsteps as Techno Knights, to defend those who could not defend themselves.  The identical twins had ignited on the same day, just months before they turned the age of majority at nineteen.  Just weeks after the new program was announced to the population.

The two were practical jokers and consistently tried to confuse the knights as to which one was which.  They were always grinning with mischief, their shaggy auburn hair hiding their chocolate brown eyes.  Celeste and I could always tell, though, I'm not sure how, but I think it may be the subtle differences in the taste of their magics.

Sara was busy teaching them the proper way to thrust and sweep.  Both boys kept leading with the wrong foot.  The Weaver boys were both infatuated with the exotic looking Gypsy woman, so I'm pretty sure they screw up on purpose so they get to interact with her more.

She often joined us in the courtyard for training sessions, because “This cultural exchange emissary position is so much bullshit.”  She learned that word from Bowyn and has adopted it as her go to profanity.

She looked almost elegant in her light leathers, her hair braided and tied around her throat.  She caught Seth's blade as it slashed past and she yanked it out of his hand.  Shook her head at him, not even bothering to correct him again about using a loose grip on his hilt, it can see you disarmed easily, and in a fight, disarmed is as good as dead.

She tossed his blade back then started blocking and parrying their best shots at leisure without looking as their Knight, Perry, chuckled.  Sara looked back at us and said with incredulity in her voice, “Defense, defense, defense.  That is all you are drilling into Sora Laney.  When will you teach her to attack?”

I winced and squinted an eye and the chorus of, “Never!” Came from all the knights in the courtyard, followed by chuckling as Celeste squinted and pointed, sweeping her finger across the courtyard.  Well fine, she didn't exactly point with that particular finger, but it sounds more ladylike than her actual action.

When she looked down at me to see my cocked eyebrow, she just smiled and engulfed me in a warm hug.  I melted.  I never wanted out of my fiancee's arms.

Now that was an ordeal, when she finally asked a couple months back, on the last day of the Lupei's month of Carnival at the Keep.  Mother and Donovan were gushing over us, making me think you could actually die from blushing so much.  But it got worse.

We chose the third anniversary of our meeting, after the turning of the year on the fifteenth day after Three Sisters Conjunction.  Pastor Emery has agreed to officiate our marriage.  Ranelle informed us that she volunteered to preside over the Gypsy union ceremony so that the People would recognize it as well.

As self-conscious as it all made me feel, I can not wait until the day I am truly Celeste's and she mine.  So I think I can suffer through two ceremonies.

We commoners had a much simpler ceremony with neighbors, family, and friends.  The two to be married would join hands as each of the parents wrapped a ribbon around their clasped hands.  The two would exchange a vow of love for each other then it was done and a party for the neighborhood began.  Each person donating what little food they could scavenge for the celebration.

The day the Lupei left to head back to the mountains, they left behind a brand new wagon that looked like a small cottage on wheels like Sylvia's, with no explanation.  When we went to examine it, we discovered the crest of the People, the crest of the Lupei, and both the crests of the house of Celeste and house of Laney branding it.  We found a letter from Ranelle on the little table by the door of it, stating that it would not do for Soras of the people to not have their own wagon.  I took great pride in it, it was another thing I could view as mine.  Well, ours.  I smiled.

Sarafine's chuckle brought me back to the present, as she turned to the squires, shaking her head at us.  With two quick swipes of her weapon she disarmed the twins and then sheathed her sword telling them, “For the final time, mind your grip, or Sir Perry may allow me to start carving little pieces out of you.  I'm sure you would learn quickly in that case.”

The two responded in unison, having discipline drilled into them over the past few weeks, “Yes Lady.”

She smirked at the boys and said, “I'm no Lady.  Practice and improve and I might allow you to call me Sara.”

The boys beamed as they picked up their blunted practice swords from the ground.

She walked over to us and I leaned in and bumped shoulders with her, whispering, “Must you tease them so?  You know they are sweet on you.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “You say that as if it is a bad thing my Sora.  They are of the age of consent are they not.”

I just stared at her in surprise, mouth agape.  She chuckled and shoved my shoulder, causing me to arrive back in my Lady's arms.  I mumbled in mirth, “No Lady is right.”

She chuckled as Jace came sprinting into the courtyard.

My brother shared a grin with me.  He was growing so very fast, mother told me that it only gets faster as time seems to speed along as we move through life.  Then he announced loudly, “It is about to begin!”

A murmur of excitement filtered through the courtyard as we all started quickly toward the livery where stable hands were preparing dozens of horses.  Goliath saw me coming and trotted over to me, dragging a poor stable girl along in his wake as she tried to restrain him.

I gave her an apologetic look and she grinned toothily at me and stepped back when I ghosted as I leapt and grabbed the saddle horn, pulling myself up into the saddle as Goliath started into motion before I was even fully seated.

The others caught up with me.  I tried not to grin at the fact that my beautiful boy and I were first out of the gates.  Celeste, Verna, Sarafine, and Brenda caught up and chuckled at me.  Sara said to them, “She needs a small head start.”

Brenda nodded. “Just a little.”

I wheezed out as I shook my fist at them menacingly, “All right string beans, no short jokes.”

I saw the procession of knights behind us who were just as curious as I was as to how Bex's latest scatterbrained scheme was going to end up.  Brenda followed my gaze then looked back at me and said, “I hope he doesn't break his fool neck this time.  I'm sort of attached to it being in one piece.”

I nodded and we all picked up the pace.

The Keep looked like a ghost town, with barely anyone milling about on Lord's Way or the Crossbar.  As we approached the main Portcullis, we witnessed most of the population of the keep on both sides of the great archway.

It was like Carnival all over again.  The people parted as we knights approached and we headed outside the gates and handed our mounts off to porters.

Celeste gave me her arm and grinned at me.  “He certainly is making a spectacle of this.  I would say this is simply a folly, but our Lord Bexington has a way with surprising people.”

This made Brenda beam in pride for her man, but I saw the worry too.  For every success in his schemes, he has ten failures and they are usually quite spectacular.

I grabbed the nervous woman's hand and gave it a squeeze before dropping it as we made our way through the crowd.  Most of the vendors from the market were outside the walls, just like for carnival, peddling their wares.  The food carts were popular.

I took a deep breath of the crisp fall air and smiled.

We walked through the crowded, makeshift market, idly looking at all the wares as we passed, when a giggling band of children came winding through the crowd, chasing each other as they had mock-knight battles with the little painted sticks they held.

One turned around as she bumped into me, a little bucket over her head like a helmet that was halfway covering her eyes.  She looked up and cutely tipped the bucket back so she could see me and her eyes went wide.  I almost giggled at her reaction as she was torn between standing at attention and bowing.  She settled for standing at attention and saluting with her improvised sword.

I had to grin down at Misty Cobbler.  She had paper armor tied to her with string.  My smile grew bigger as I saw the crests she had scrawled on the paper with charcoal. The crest of Wexbury, the crest of the Lupei, and my personal crest.

She gave me an excited smile and said, “When we play knights, I'm always you, my Lady.”

I crouched and grinned at her.  She had silver paint on one side of her face, shimmering like my scars.

I asked in my hoarse tone, “Is the Junior Regiment up to mischief?”

The girl was adorable.  Since the day I first met the little one, she has aspired to be a knight.  She says that she want's to make a difference.  Celeste and I have been in talks with her parents, that if she is still adamant about becoming a knight when she turns fifteen, I would like to foster her and take her on as squire.

The excitement on their faces was priceless.  That meant that their daughter would attain the rank of noble, as would they.  It was a dream all of us serfs shared.  One that I had attained by pure happenstance.  They cried tears of joy for their daughter, any parent's dream.

So I took pride in the little girl who reminded me so much of myself.  And the care and empathy she displayed for her fellow villagers was beyond what someone of her years should have.

She nodded and saluted again, “Yes, my Lady.”  Then she cocked her head at me as she stuck her stick into the sash of her dress and reached out hesitantly with her hand and traced my scars as they seemed to sparkle in the sunlight under the weight of all the Gypsy magik on my person.

She took off the little white glove she had on and reached for my silk glove, I let her, she seemed to not see me as the damaged person I was.  She took off my glove and looked at my hand as it started aching and throbbing.  She examined the lump where my finger had resided then smiled and put her little hand against mine.  Mine was only a third again as large as hers.  She matched my fingers with her index finger hanging.

Then she started putting my glove back on as she got a serious look on her face. Then placed her hands on the scars on my throat as she exclaimed. “I will defend the realm and the People just like my Sora Lady one day.”

I nodded at the little one, getting a little misty as I rasped out,  “I know you will one day, and you will make us all proud.”  I reached up and pulled off the necklace I was wearing, it was an old cracked crystal I have kept around my neck since the days I started scavenging.  I looped the leather strap over her neck then pulled her long hair out and over the back.

I said, “This always brought me courage and luck, two things you need to lead the Junior Regiment for me.”

She looked at it in amazement and I froze.  I heard Celeste gasp.  The crystal was glowing a faint pink.  Like it did when it glowed amber in contact with my skin.  My squire to be was not going to be a Knight of the Realm but she was a sensitive!  She may become a Techno Knight!

I couldn't reign in my huge smile as I reached into a pouch and pulled out a handful of violet penny vouchers and handed it to my little cobbler.  “You know what to do with these?”

She saluted and accepted them with one hand as the other children ooo-ed and ah-ed.  She drew her stick and said, “Yes my Lady!”  She turned to her little band of mischief makers and said, “As Knights to be, we must attend to our people.  One penny voucher to each family!”

They all took some and they disappeared in all directions to hand them out among the crowd.

I just grinned and watched them go.  Sara was shaking her head as Celeste beamed at me.  Our Gypsy friend said, “You are so good with children, you should foster some of your own.  They love you, you know?”

I nodded and rasped, “I love them too.”

Then we turned back to the task at hand and made our way to the front of the crowd where Bex was checking over his new Auto-Wagon design while one of his challengers stood near the starting line.  There were nineteen more of the fastest horses of the realm spaced ten miles apart all the way down to Flatlash Keep.

When the argument arose that Auto-Wagons could never replace horses came up, our silly Lord Bexington pitted my old hay wagon against the fastest riders of the realm in a race to Flatlash.  My wagon was almost unrecognizable now with all of the improvements and additions he has made to it since he first rode it into Dragontooth Lake, almost breaking his own fool neck.

There were signal fires placed at each relay point that would be lit when the contest was over.  White smoke if the horses won and black for Lord Bexington.  They were the signal fires used during times of war, and we would know within forty-five minutes about the outcome.  I was optimistic that he could actually pull it off.  I had chased the wagon through Lord's Way when Bex couldn't stop it, and could not keep pace with it on Goliath.

Brenda walked up to him and lowered the round glass goggles to protect his eyes.  She kissed him and said, “For luck.”

He just beamed at that then she backhanded his gut and said as he oofed, “If you get yourself killed, don't come crying to me.”

He turned his goofy smile on the rest of us.  I couldn't help grinning at the gangly man though he was starting to fill out a bit with wiry muscle from his time on the training grounds.

I rasped, “Good luck.  And what she said.”

Someone shouted out, “Five to one on the riders.”

Bets started being thrown around, the preponderance on the riders.

Celeste didn't even turn to see who started the betting pool, she just looked intently at Bex and then a smile grew on her face as she raised her hand and waved it back casually as she called out, “Five gold on Sir Bexington's contraption.”

Shocked gasps came from all around, then the betting started to sway more toward Bex's favor. The late betters only getting two to one odds.  Side bets had even odds that Bex would either break down, be run off the Ring or head in the wrong direction.  Don't laugh at the last one, it has been known to happen with our scatterbrained, brainy knight.

I turned and started chuckling as I looked back to see Pastor Emery writing down all the bets.  I called to him, “Double my Lady's bet would you please Pastor.”

He winked at me and nodded once, then to the disappointment of those around, he called out, “Betting is closed,”

He stepped beside us as he tucked the little tome he had written the bets in into a pocket on his robe.  He grinned at us while keeping his eyes on the wagon.  “I have four penny on the lad myself.”

Celeste grinned at the man, her eyes twinkling with mirth as she asked, “Aren't you supposed to be a holy man?”

He squinted merrily and touched his nose and said, “Tisn't anything that says I can't make a little coin for the church.”  Then he crinkled his nose as he patted his pocket, “The Church always wins.”

We chuckled and then quieted as Duke Fredrick and Duchess Lucia themselves stepped up to the line of chalk in front of Theodore, the court's messenger on his small mustang, Lightning, and Bex atop the Auto-Wagon.

Fred looked around and grinned in satisfaction at everyone who had shown up for the spectacle, it was like a giant Keep wide party atmosphere.

Donovan stepped up beside us with an adorable looking Emily on his arm and exchanged smiles of greeting with us as he whispered, “There are a lot of scholars in the crowd interested in the outcome of this race.  It could have a greater impact than you know, regardless of the outcome.”

The Duke looked at the competitors and said in his powerful tenor, “You know the rules, a race from Wexbury Keep to Flatlash Keep.  First one across the finish in Flatlash will be named the winner.  No interference with you competitors will be allowed.”  He looked intently between the two, and each gave a nod.

Then Fred looked to his wife as he said, “Grand.  Then Lucy, if you would?”  He moved aside as the Duchess stood in front of the two and lifted her hand, it held a handkerchief.  She smiled at the crowd and dropped it.  The instant it hit the ground the competitor's lurched to a start.

Theodore bolted past the Duchess in a clamor of hooves.  The Auto-Wagon stuttered and stopped moving immediately.  Bex looked at the lever he was holding and pushed it back and forward as the crowd started laughing.

He looked back at the containment vessel and then the control block beside him and he kicked it with the side of his boot.  Sparks flew everywhere then the rear wheels of the wagon started spinning frantically sending sparks up from the wheels on the cobblestones.

When the wheels found purchase, the wagon went flying past the Duchess sending Bex tumbling into the back of the wagon with a high pitched wail.  He just barely got back to the two steering levers in time to prevent the contraption from heading off the Ring into the orchards while the crowd laughed again.

I smiled smugly as they stopped laughing as soon as they saw how quickly he was gaining on the rider.  We watched until they disappeared over the horizon at Wexbury Minor, then the music started up somewhere and we turned to the party.  It would be at least eight or nine hours, around dusk, before we would know who won.

The Duke and Duchess joined us as we started toward some of the merchant carts.  We bowed to them and Lucia, who had a vicious, one-sided feud going on with my mother, but had oddly taken to championing me on occasion, asked, “Do you think the boy can really do it?  I mean, horseless wagons, really.”

I turned my head and nudged my chin toward the auto-wagons tending the orchards and said, “His designs have already been put to good use in the realm, with other realms quickly adopting them.  He may be a little...”  I thought of the most diplomatic word I could and supplied, “Erratic.  But he is quite gifted at coming up with technology to overcome a great many things.  Just look at the powered swords that a lot of our Knights favor.”

Then I tilted my head and said, “Whether or not he wins or loses today, as long as he finishes, it will prove his concept that horseless travel is possible, just like in the Before times.”

She shook her head bemusedly at me and said, “You are always so optimistic, it must skip a generation in your family.”

I ignored the dig at my mother, it was best to pretend it never happened.  One day I would learn what transpired between my mother and the Duchess to make our ruler harbor such spite.  But it may be a long wait, mother it seems, carries more secrets with her than I ever have.

We decided to wait it out, I was having such fun at the impromptu celebration.  Then before long we stopped at one of the food carts for a late lunch as Sara visited with the Instructor of the Keep, Jacklyn about how they could include some of the Gypsy teachings into the lessons of the children of the Keep.

I followed my nose to some delectable smelling meat.  It was those skewered meat and vegetable sticks that most of the Knights favored.  I handed out the food to our little band, paid the penny and a half, and then frowned at my food.  I looked around to all of the commoners around us, my brow furrowing.

Celeste asked quietly, “What is it, Laney?”

I frowned and looked at my food again.  “I get so used to being able to buy what I want when those around me have troubles just feeding their families.  This is more than most eat in a day.”  Then I smiled and looked to the vendor and asked, “How much for everything?”

The pleasantly plump woman looked confused and asked, “My Lady?”

I smiled and clarified as I wheezed out, “For all the food in your stores here.”

The woman blinked and I chuckled and reached in a pouch on my belt and produced a gold coin.  “Will a gold do it?”

The woman's eyes went wide and she started nodding furiously, her eyes locked on the coin.  I flipped it to her and she caught it deftly.  I said, “Free food to any who ask until you have no more then.  This is a celebration.”

She nodded again and bowed, “Yes Penny Lady.”

I felt much better after that and took a big bite of the savory meat from my stick.  Celeste seemed almost to be glowing as she looked down at me.  She gave me a smug smile as we walked over to eat at some impromptu plank tables someone had set up.

I smiled and wondered again if I could do more than the penny voucher program that we had set up in the village, to make sure that people could afford food or needed items once a month.  Celeste, the knights in our diplomatic escort, and I had gained a hundred horses armor and gear as the spoils of battle from our adventure in Solomon.  It put over two hundred more gold in each of our coffers.  Maybe I could up the voucher program to be weekly now or spread it throughout the realm.

I shook my head at the memory of the messenger from Solomon, who had delivered the news from their Keep, that since I had been the one to kill Prime Techromancer Kennick, that as spoils of battle, I had been awarded his lands on the Great Sea.  To say I was shocked was an understatement.  That made me a landholder and noble in two realms.

I was somehow not surprised to find that Kennick's holdings included the island and lands around the ruins of Lord Cedric's stronghold.  That explained a lot, how the dark knights were able to stay undetected for so long.

I quickly had Bernadine draw up papers requesting that Solomon make the island a Treasure of the Realm, open to all the people of Solomon.  And to appoint a steward for me to preserve and maintain the ruins.  Duke Liam's response made me blush.

We had just finished our late lunch and were telling stories and joking around. The bells on the wall started clanging when a man's voice bellowed over the noise of the crowd.  “Smoke!”

I looked quickly to the sky to the south, and indeed, smoke was rising into the sky.  I blinked then looked at Celeste who looked at her wrist clock.  She mumbled to me, “Just less than five hours?  Given the time between signal fires then it was done in four!”

Mother Luna!  We stood and made our way to the front of the crowd who were chattering in excitement.  I just shook my head as I stared at the black smoke rising into the sky.  Bex had done it, he had traveled at the unimaginable speed of fifty miles an hour down to Flatlash Keep.  I smiled and swelled with pride for my friend.

Can you imagine?  I felt as if there truly was nothing we could not do in these modern times!

I exhaled and thought of the next great adventure that was in store for the human race as Celeste stood beside me and took my hand in hers.

The End

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Novels by Erik Schubach

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Books in the Techromancy Scrolls series...

Adept

Soras

Masquerade

Westlands (2017)

Avalon (2018)

Books in the Urban Fairytales series...

Red Hood: The Hunt

Snow: The White Crow

Ella: Cinders and Ash

Rose: Briar's Thorn

Let Down Your Hair

Hair of Gold: Just Right

The Hood of Locksley

Beauty In the Beast

No Place Like Home

Books in the Djinn series...

Cursed

Books in the Drakon series...

Awakening

Dragonfall

Books in the Valkyrie Chronicles series...

Return of the Asgard

Bloodlines

Folkvangr

Seventy Two Hours

Titans

Books in the Bridge series...

Trolls

Traitor

Unbroken

Books in the Fracture series...

Divergence

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Novellas by Erik Schubach

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The Hollow

Books in the Paranormals series...

Fleas

This Sucks

Jinx (2017)

Short stories in the Fixit Adventures...

Fixit

Glitch

Vashon (2017)

Descent (2017)

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Short Stories by Erik Schubach

(These short stories span many different genres)

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A Little Favor

Lost in the Woods

Rift Jumpers: Faster Than Light

Scythe

Snack Run

Something Pretty

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Romance Novels by Erik Schubach

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Books in the Music of the Soul universe...

(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

Music of the Soul

A Deafening Whisper

Dating Game

Karaoke Queen

Silent Bob

Five Feet or Less

Broken Song

Syncopated Rhythm

Progeny

Girl Next Door

Lightning Strikes Twice

June

Dead Shot

Music of the Soul Shorts...

(All short stories are standalone and can be read in any order)

Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker

Wallflower

Accidental Date

Holiday Morsels

Books in the London Harmony series...

(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

Water Gypsy

Feel the Beat

Roctoberfest

Small Fry

Doghouse

Minuette

Squid Hugs

The Pike

Flotilla

Books in the Pike series...

(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

Ships In The Night

Right To Remain Silent

Books in the Flotilla series...

(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

Making Waves

Keeping Time