Chapter 34

 

The First Weekend of December

 

Friday evening after Kevin and Nikki returned from Rhianna’s, Chris asked if there was anything in particular he wanted to bring up at the December council meeting the next morning.

Kevin shook his head. “I hope no one brings anything up except trade requests. It’s been quiet since Alastar took over and I want to keep it that way.”

“You mean since you defeated Gwendolyn. That’s what calmed things down.”

Kevin shrugged. “Speaking of Gwendolyn, I’ve been thinking about those men on that boat. If one of them was from Landoryn, and they’re working together, doesn’t it stand to reason they’re both from Landoryn?”

“I think it’s likely, especially since they were together within a couple of weeks of the raid, but I don’t think we can rule out the possibility that the second man’s a hired hand, or that Caleb’s mistaken and neither man is from Landoryn.”

Kevin thought for a moment. “I think we need to question them, separately. What do you think?”

“If you’re going to pursue it, that’s the next logical step.”

“You still think I should let it go?”

“I’m not sure,” Chris admitted. “I don’t like the idea of anyone connected with those raids walking around free, but the law’s pretty clear according to Chairman Tremayne. If they didn’t participate in the actual raid, they didn’t break any laws.”

“And as far as we know they weren’t directly involved.” Kevin sighed. “At least not in the raid near Bridgeport.”

“So we can’t lock them up. And if you go after them, people are going to wonder what a couple boatmen living and working hundreds of miles from Milhaven did to attract your attention. What reason are you going to give for looking for them?”

Kevin leaned back. “I’m not sure, but definitely not that they might have been involved with the men who pulled those raids. That would put a target on their backs.”

Chris nodded. “So, if you want to talk to them, you can’t be the one who goes looking for them. And if you send someone else, they’ll need a cover story.”

“Before we go any farther with this, I want to talk to Thom myself. And I want you there.”

“All right, but if you send someone else after those men, whoever you send will probably want to talk to Thom, too.”

“And they can, later, after we decide how we’re going to do this. But if those men were associated with those raids in any way, I want them out of Camden.”

~~~~

After they got back from the council meeting Saturday, Kevin asked Chris if he’d noticed anything unusual.

“Like what?”

“Rolan.”

“What about him? I didn’t see him do anything.”

“That’s what I mean. He didn’t do anything at all. He didn’t approach any of the other sorcerers, not even Malcolm. He came in, sat down, kept his mouth shut, and then left when it was over.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“No, just unusual.”

Chris shrugged. “Well, if he’s up to something, we’ll find out soon enough. Now, are you ready for lunch?”

Kevin nodded so the two of them went down to the dining room.

While they were there, Marcus asked Kevin if he had time to take him to Bridgeport for the weekend. Kevin motioned for Marcus to sit down beside him. “Do you think your friend Thom would talk to us about the two boatmen? In private?”

“Sure. You can use my house if you want to. I could tell Thom I need his help with something.”

“When would be a good time?”

“Tomorrow morning would be the easiest,” Marcus answered. “He doesn’t open his shop on Sunday’s unless he’s got a rush order, so no one would notice he wasn’t in town.”

“We’ll meet you at your house around eleven tomorrow morning,” Kevin said. “Do you think that would work?”

“That’s fine. I was planning to come back around lunchtime tomorrow anyway. But in the meantime, can someone take me up there this afternoon?”

Kevin nodded. “I’ll take you as soon as I finish lunch.”

~~~~

When Kevin and Chris talked to Thom Sunday morning, they didn’t learn anything new, but by the time they left, they had no doubt that Thom was convinced Mikos was the man with the key and the one who had told Gwendolyn about Marcus. But no one was sure how Devron fit into all of this.

After they got back to the castle, Kevin and Chris went into Kevin’s office and shut the door.

“So,” Chris said as he sat down. “What now?”

“I want to talk to them, especially Mikos.”

“How do you want to handle it?”

“If we were on Earth, I’d have someone go to Myerston and say we’re trying to find him because a long lost relative passed away and left him some money, but even if that would work on Terah, it wouldn’t work with him.”

“If he’s who we think he is and he hears anyone’s looking for him, he’ll know the gig is up and take off.”

“Maybe someone should go up there for something completely different, spend the night but ask no questions, like Mikos did his first time in Bridgeport. Then go back later and see what they can find out in a roundabout way.”

Chris nodded. “They’d need a cover story, and for another trip to make sense, maybe it should involve shipping something.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but Thom said Carson handles the scheduling. They’d have to go through him to make shipping arrangements.”

“He might handle the booking, but our two guys deliver all the stuff heading north. As long as whatever they arrange to ship is going north, they’d have a good reason to ask Carson about the men who’d be handling their stuff and insist on an introduction before finalizing things,” Chris said. “But whatever cover story we use can’t tie back to Milhaven, at least not directly.”

“Maybe we could use the district minister. Tie it into something he has to take care of.”

“Any way we could tie this into Joan’s clinics? Maybe make arrangements for regular shipments of supplies between chapels and clinics?”

Kevin mulled that idea over. “That would depend on where clinics are needed around there. Wonder if Joan’s gotten that information yet.”

“I don’t know, but if it’s not in by the new year, that would give us a reason to send someone up there, and as long as the questions are about chapels and sisters, it would make sense that they’re from Milhaven.”

“That’s a long time to wait though.”

“If he’s who we think he is, he’s been hanging around for more than nine months. If he had someplace else to go, he’d have gone a long time ago.”

“Unless Caleb spooked him.”

“In which case he’s probably already gone.”

“True.”

“I’ll talk to Joan and see if she’s gotten a report from that area. Do you know what district that is?”

Kevin shook his head.

“Okay. I’ll look it up.”

“Let me know what you find out,” Kevin said as he stood up. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to get out of here for a while.”

“One more thing before you go.”

Kevin sighed and sat back down.

“While you were gone yesterday afternoon, Tolliver came by.”

“Why?”

“To drop off some quills and ink, but after he left, Ariel sighed and looked at the door. Since he and I were the only ones in here, I asked him what was wrong. He didn’t want to say at first, but I sort of pushed. He knows he’ll be too old to work as a page soon and he’ll have to leave the castle. He was hoping to get a job in Milhaven, but the only job he knew he could do has been filled.”

Kevin frowned. “What job?”

“Nan’s job. He said he’d heard Tolliver was looking for someone last summer and he should have talked to him about it then, but he was having a good time here and didn’t want to leave, but now that that job’s gone, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. He said he knows he isn’t guard or soldier material, knows nothing about horses or farm animals, and the only plants he can take care of grow in pots. Then he asked if I knew of anyone who needed some help managing an office or a store of some kind.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him not at the moment, but I’d let him know if I hear of anything.”

“Sounds like this is a good time to talk to him about Landis.”

“Want me to send him in?”

“No, not today. I really do want to get out of here for a while. Maybe tomorrow if things aren’t too hectic. It would be nice to have that settled.”

~~~~

First thing Monday morning Chris stopped by Joan’s office and told Petri he’d like to see her when she had a few minutes. Before he got to his desk, Joan stuck her head in the sorcerer’s office and asked, “Your place or mine?”

Chris grinned. “Let’s go to yours.”

After they got to her office, she asked him what he needed.

“Have you heard anything from Montuck about the clinics in Grainger yet?”

Joan opened one of her desk drawers, pulled a stack of papers out, and thumbed through them. “No, not yet. Why?”

“How long are you going to wait before you carry out your threat to go get the information yourself?”

“Well, I gave them until the beginning of the new year, so I can’t do anything until at least the second week of January. Why? What’s going on?”

“We need to check on something in Myerston and we were hoping we could do it under the cover of following through on the clinic thing.”

“Can you wait that long?”

Chris hesitated. “To be honest, we’re not sure.”

“Well, if you can wait until the report either comes in or doesn’t, I could very easily go to Myerston myself.”

Chris shook his head. “We weren’t going to involve you in this.”

Joan leaned back in her chair. “Why not? It’s perfect. I can go to Myerston either to talk to the local sister about setting up clinics or, if they don’t have a chapel, I can use it as my test case.”

“Test case?”

“If I’m going to be in charge of setting up clinics all over Camden, I need firsthand experience at setting one up. Myerston is as good a guinea pig as any.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure how Kevin would feel about you getting in the middle of this, although it would be a perfect cover. I could go along as your assistant.”

Joan shook her head. “Not if I go see Montuck first and ask him for a letter of introduction. He knows you.”

“True, but I could still go with you. No one would expect you to be on your own, and since the ministers associate me with a key…”

“Guess you could go as keeper of the key.”

“But once we’re in Myerston I need to be your assistant.”

“Why?”

“Because of the questions I need to ask.”

“You’ll fill me in before we go, right?”

Chris nodded. “Let me know when you hear from Montuck.”

~~~~

Shortly after lunch, Kevin asked Ariel if he could see him for a moment. After Ariel had a seat, Kevin said, “Chris told me about your conversation Saturday afternoon, and I may have a position for you if you’re interested. It’s not available yet, but will be by mid-summer.”

Ariel’s eyes lit up. “In an office?”

Kevin hesitated. “Not exactly.” Then he explained that Landis hadn’t grown up at her father’s castle and knew nothing about how things worked. “All the provinces are run differently, but some of it’s the same no matter where you are.”

Ariel frowned. “I don’t understand. Is she an heir?”

“How much do you know about her?”

Ariel shook his head. “Just that she’s your apprentice. I heard that when Marcus got shot it was because he was with her, but I have no idea why.” Ariel’s cheeks warmed as a blush crept up. “It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I fuss so much when the others gossip that no one tells me anything.”

Kevin told Ariel about Rolan, the two stories about Tsareth’s death, and Rolan’s determination to see Landis, the rightful heir, dead.

“How can you be sure her father meant for her to be his heir? He died before you came. Did Laryn tell you?”

Kevin shook his head. “Her brother, Robyn, told me, along with about a dozen other people who worked at the castle while Tsareth was alive.” Kevin paused. “Ariel, whether you take this job or not, you can’t repeat anything I’m telling you. If Rolan knew Robyn and I even knew each other, he’d kill him.” Ariel looked skeptical, so Kevin said, “I know some of this is hard to believe. I doubt you’ve ever met anyone like Rolan, but do you remember Shana’s parents? How they looked when they got here?”

“Like they’d aged twenty years since the last time I saw them.”

“So you knew them? Before? When they were living here?” When Ariel nodded, Kevin asked, “Do you know what happened to them?”

“No, but it must have been something pretty bad.”

“It was. Rolan burst into their house one night, grabbed them, and told Shana if she didn’t spy for him, he’d kill them. Then he took them back to Trendon and threw them in a dungeon.”

Ariel’s eyes widened. “And Shana did it?!”

“She didn’t think she had a choice. Rolan’s evil. He would have killed her parents without batting an eye. He’s killed before, more than once, and he’ll do it again. You need to believe that. If you take this job, it’s going to put you in his sights.”

At Ariel’s slight frown, Kevin said, “If you take this job, there’s a chance he’ll find out what you’re doing. And if he does, he’ll want you dead, too.”

“Just what is this job you keep mentioning?”

“Landis knows Rolan’s doing everything he can to find her and kill her, and she knows it’s not going to end as long as both of them are alive. And his obsession with killing her isn’t just putting her in danger. It’s putting anyone and everyone around her in danger, too. So, to put an end to it, she’s planning to challenge him for Brendolanth’s seat as soon as she can. I’ve tried to talk her out of it, Rhianna’s tried, Robyn’s tried, but she’s determined to challenge him. So I’m going to do everything I can to make sure she’s prepared for the duel so that she doesn’t lose.”

Ariel exhaled a low whistle. “Losing means death.”

“Right. And if one of them dies, I’d rather it be Rolan. But that doesn’t involve you. The part that does is if she wins she’ll be the Seated Sorcerer of Brendolanth, and right now she doesn’t know any more about what that entails than I did. But at least I had Laryn and you to help me. She won’t have anyone. So I’d like to hire you to teach her how to be a seated sorcerer, to explain how things work, what things need to be done, how they get done, and who takes care of what. She’ll know how to use her magic, I’ll see to that, but as to running a province? That’s where you come in. In short, while she’s training and for a while afterwards, I’d like for you to be a combination of Chris, Laryn, and you.”

“Are you sure I’m the right one for this job? I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Kevin nodded. “I know you’re the right one, but at the same time, I hate asking you to do it. You’d have to go where she is, and the only way I can protect her is to keep her in a remote and isolated area that can only be reached by key. There’s a small community there, maybe thirty people in all, but half of those are children. And that’s it. No tavern. No stores, no nothing. Anything you need comes from here. I go out there at least once a week to check on things and see what’s needed. If you accept this job, it’s for the duration, until she’s trained. And I have no way of knowing how long that may take. She’s doing well, so I don’t expect it to take more than four or five years, but I can’t guarantee it. And I can’t guarantee she’ll win if she challenges him. But if she does, she’ll be the Seated Sorcerer of Brendolanth. As to what you’ll do then, I have no idea, but I can promise you I‘ll see to it you have a good job.”

“Can I have a day to think about it?”

“Of course. Longer if you want, but I need to know before too long because if you don’t take it, I’ll need to find someone else. You’re my first choice, but rest assured if you don’t want to do it, I can find someone else. This is not something you have to do. It’s totally up to you. It’s a big commitment, and you’re under no obligation to do it. If you want to do something else, I’ll still help you find something. You’ve been invaluable to both me and Chris.”

“I’ll let you know something one way or the other tomorrow morning, but I do have a question.” At Kevin’s nod, Ariel asked, “If I leave, who’ll take over as head page? I know it’s not any of my business, but Isak doesn’t want it and he’s worried you’ll expect him to do it since he’s worked here longer than anyone else.”

Kevin nodded. “I know, although he hasn’t said anything to either me or Chris about it. Actually, I’m thinking about asking Petri if he’d like to do it. I’d need you to train him before you leave though.”

Ariel smiled. “He’d be good. Do you want me to talk to Isak?”

Kevin shook his head. “I’ll handle that, but not yet. I don’t want to do anything until after Christmas. I haven’t mentioned any of this to Joan, and she’s not going to be happy with me when I do. So keep that and everything else I said between the two of us, okay?”

“Don’t worry. I know how to keep my mouth shut.”

Kevin smiled as he stood up. “If I didn’t know that, if I didn’t trust you completely, I’d never have considered you for this job. Think about everything I said and let me know if you have any questions.”

Ariel nodded as he stood up. “I will. Anything else?”

Kevin shook his head. “Tell Chris he can bring the mail in now, and if there’s any coffee out there, tell him to bring me a cup.”

~~~~

Tuesday morning as soon as Ariel sorted the general mail and handed out the morning assignments, he asked Kevin if he could speak with him. After they were seated in Kevin’s office, Ariel said, “I still think there are a lot of people who are more qualified than I am, but if you think I can do this, I’d like to try.”

Kevin felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He took a deep breath and smiled. He could honestly say he couldn’t think of anyone more qualified to do what he had in mind than the young man seated in front of him. “Thank you. More than you know, thank you.” Then after a brief pause, he nodded. “All right. First things first. Let me talk to Joan. I’d like to get Petri in here around the beginning of the year. Any ideas on who I can put in her office to replace him?”

Ariel hesitated a moment. “I think Elin would be perfect in there. It won’t take care of the fact that when I leave you’ll be down a page, but Elin already knows how to do most of the stuff Joan needs, so it wouldn’t be like starting with someone new. And since Isak and Cameryn would still be here…”

“For a while at least. That’s not a bad idea, and it would make it a lot easier to tell Joan I was taking Petri. Let me think about it.”

Ariel nodded. “Anything else?”

Kevin shook his head. “We’ll talk more about your new job at a later date, a lot more. But for now, thanks for taking it. I really appreciate it.”