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It did not take long to find all of their horses, which had scattered during the fighting. None appeared to be injured so they were soon on the move again. They did not travel far before stopping for the rest of the night; just far enough to put a small hill between themselves and the dead bodies they were leaving behind.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and by the time they reached the outskirts of Tennel, Patrick was alive once more and complaining about the state of his clothes.
The previous evening plans for entering the city were discussed. As they were officially prisoners, Captain Kelly was supposed to take them directly to the jailhouse, where they would remain until an official from the palace decided what should be done with them. However, as two of the group were Princes and, more importantly, they had agreed to try to get a message to the Queen, Kelly wanted them inside the palace grounds as soon as possible. When Tor asked what the standard procedure for arresting foreign royalty was, Kelly had been forced to admit that there wasn’t one; to the best of his knowledge, it had never happened.
Earlier that morning, one of the youngest guards had been given the swiftest horse and sent on ahead, with instruction to explain the situation to the Commander of the guard. Officially he should report directly to the General, but Kelly doubted that the General’s loyalty was to his Queen, so he preferred to try to get Tor and his men into the city without the military knowing.
Tennel had no surrounding wall so the party were able to enter the city without being intercepted. The original city had a defensive wall around it but, over the centuries, the population had grown so much that shops and houses had to be built outside it. The population outside the wall outgrew the population inside to such an extent that the original city became known as Old Tennel and was often referred to as the inner city. While the palace, courthouse and the best quality inns were located within the walls of the inner city, as was all housing for the upper class, most of the actual workers and their families lived outside. Locally, the people became known as either ‘inners’ or ‘outers’, depending on where they lived and where they were born. While an ‘inner’ could lose her fortune and become an ‘outer’, an ‘outer’ could never earn the status of being an ‘inner’, no matter how rich she became or what titles were bestowed upon her. Her children, however, would be classed as ‘inners’ provided they were born after their mother set up residency inside Old Tennel. Effectively, this meant that to be an ‘inner’ you had to both be born in and live within the surrounding wall.
The main market square was in the middle of the city, next to one of the gates providing access through the wall, making it easily accessible to all classes. There were no laws about where shops should be, but those selling higher quality, and therefore higher priced, goods tended to be in the inner city.
The barracks and jailhouse, for obvious reasons, were not within the wall. Soldiers had to patrol the inner city and were responsible for the protection of the upper class, but that did not mean that the ‘inners’ wanted them living close by. The only exception to this was the Queen’s Guardhouse, where the Queen’s Guards were based. As they were supposed to provide personal protection to the ruling monarch, they needed to be close at hand and the Queen’s uncle, who was slowly managing to take over the country, had yet to find a way of moving them to the outer city.
As they passed along the streets, Patrick was looking around, trying to get his bearings. “Do you mind if we take a slight detour?” he asked. “We are supposed to meet our colleagues at the Red Feather inn and I would like to leave a message for them.”
“Be my guest,” Kelly replied, indicating with his arm the side street they needed to take. While the rest waited outside, Patrick and Tor entered the inn. After a brief conversation with the owner, Tor hastily wrote messages for both Ban and Hawk, informing them they should contact Captain Kelly of the Queen’s Guards. Once the two men were mounted again, the group returned to the main road. A few moments later they ran into the young guard who had been sent on ahead.
He gave Kelly a quick salute. “I was afraid I had missed you Captain.” He sounded out of breath and his horse was panting heavily. “Orders from the Commander. You are to proceed directly to the Queen’s gate. Under no circumstances are you to attempt to enter the inner city through any other entrance.”
Kelly dismissed the guard, who made his way to the rear of the group, and explained the message to the prisoners. “This is good news. The Queen’s gate is our private entrance and leads straight to our headquarters. We will get you inside Old Tennel without having to pass any of the checkpoints.” He then glanced at the women and grimaced. “It does mean we have to take the back streets though.”
“Is that a problem?” Tor enquired.
“Not exactly.” Kelly seemed unsure on how to continue. Patrick saved him.
“Do we have to go through Red Square?” The Captain of the guard nodded.
“And this is a problem because?” Sam asked when the conversation seemed to be going no further.
“It is where the whore houses are located.”
“I think we have all seen prostitutes before,” Ellen commented.
“Not like these,” Patrick replied cryptically. Then he grinned at her. “Think about it. Women are in charge of this city, not men.”
“Oh. I see your point.” Ellen reddened slightly and went quiet.
“Well I don’t,” Sam pointed out.
“Here the prostitutes are male, not female.”
This did not elicit the response the men had been expecting. They had assumed that the three ladies would want to avoid the area, but instead they seemed eager to get there as quickly as possible.
Patrick moved his horse alongside Ellen’s. “You do realise that these men will be wearing next to nothing and they will be flaunting their, er, assets.”
“I know,” she replied, smiling sweetly at him. “Why do you think I am in such a hurry to get there?” Ellen increased her pace, leaving Patrick staring after her.
Ria was riding next to Tor. “I think that is the first time I have ever seen him left speechless,” she commented.
Tor gave her a serious look. “She would not really would she? Not with a whore.”
“Are you saying it is acceptable for a man to pay for sex with a prostitute, but not a woman?” She was joking with him, but managed to keep her tone serious. A smile began to tug at the corner of her mouth as Tor spluttered a reply.
“No, of course not. It is just that...” He went quiet, realising he did not know how to finish the sentence.
Ria laughed at him. “Stop worrying. We want to look, that is all. I have seen you all turn your heads whenever you ride past a pretty girl. It is just the same for us.”
There was no need for Kelly to announce they had arrived at Red Square. As its name suggested, the road split into two in order to go around a large square which had, indeed, been painted red. It contained a number of tables and chairs, the sole occupants of which were male. Apart from the colour of the material, they were all dressed identically. Waistcoats hung open, revealing shaved chests that had been oiled so they gleamed in the sun. The only other article of clothing was a pair of extremely short shorts that clung tightly to the body, revealing well tanned and well toned legs. These, as well as the arms, had also been shaved. Seeing that he was being watched, one of the young men stood up and bent over the table, demonstrating how well the material emphasised his buttocks, leaving nothing to the imagination.
“Wow,” Sam exclaimed. Brin gave her a sharp look, but she did not see him. “That must be the sheerest material I have ever seen. I have got to get you an outfit made from that.” Brin breathed an audible sigh of relief, causing Sam to look at him, eyebrows raised.
“I thought you were reacting to the man not the clothes,” he explained.
Sam frowned, genuinely confused. “Why would I be admiring him when you are much more pleasant to look at?” Brin smiled at her while Seth, who had overheard the comment, pretended to put his fingers down his throat and vomit.
“Why the different colours?” Ria asked. “They seem almost like uniforms.”
“They are,” Kelly replied. “They indicate which house they work for. You will also notice that they are all young, in their early twenties most of them.” Ria nodded. She had definitely noticed that. They were also all extremely attractive. Seeing that he still had her attention, Kelly continued. “These are the trainees. They have not yet built up a reputation so they need to show themselves off to the passing trade. Once their name becomes known, they stay inside and the women have to make appointments with them.” As they talked, they observed a horse drawn carriage pull up beside the young men and an immaculately dressed middle aged woman was helped out by the driver. Selecting one of the prostitutes, seemingly at random, she was escorted to one of the large houses on the other side of the road. The driver handed some coins to the plump, motherly woman who appeared in the doorway before returning to his carriage and driving off.
“They are all gorgeous,” Ellen observed when her gaze returned to the young men still in the square. “Where are those that are not so attractive?”
Patrick supplied the answer. “Red Square is high class. It is on a backstreet of the outer city so the nobles can pretend it does not exist, but most of the clientele come from within the inner city. Very few of those who live nearby could afford one of these.” He indicated the whores with his hand. “Less expensive whore houses can be found in various parts of the outer city. That is where you will find your less attractive merchandise.”
“Can we go now?” a voice called out. Dal was looking very pale and appeared to be avoiding looking at the men on display.
“Of course,” Ellen said, smiling at him affectionately. “If I had realised that you were bothered so much I would not have stopped.”
“I am not bothered, honestly,” he lied. “I just thought we were in a hurry to get to the guardhouse before any soldiers spotted us.”
Nobody believed him, but they were too polite to say so. Some of the guards were sniggering to themselves, but not loud enough for Dal to hear. Captain Kelly gave the order and they headed out of the square. A few streets later, they came to a halt outside a large wooden gate in the wall. Without dismounting, Kelly slowly struck the gate with the hilt of his sword twice. He paused, then struck it thrice more in quick succession before returning his sword to its scabbard. A peephole opened up and was quickly closed again when the observer recognised the Captain.
Silently the gate was opened and they were all permitted through before it was slammed shut behind them. “The Commander is expecting you Captain,” the young guard who had let them in informed Kelly. “Take the horses directly to the stables and they will be taken care of.”
Kelly nodded his thanks. “Welcome to Old Tennel,” he addressed the prisoners. It looked like they had entered a military compound. The buildings surrounding them were obviously all barracks and at the end of the street a number of guards were practicing sword fighting. “This entire area is under the control of the Queen’s Guards and nobody enters without permission. The stable block is this way.” He led the way forward and turned to the left when he got to the end of the building.
“Good grief,” Seth exclaimed when he caught sight of the stables. The building was huge. “You must be able to house over a hundred horses in there.”
A number of young stable hands had appeared from inside the building, armed with buckets of water and brushes. One of them heard Seth’s comment. “One hundred and twenty to be precise,” he said proudly. Once the horses had all been led inside, Captain Kelly dismissed the guards who had accompanied them on the journey and indicated with a wave of his arm that the prisoners should follow him. Damos and the rest of the platoon headed directly towards a stone building on their left, which, from the smells emanating from it, was probably the cook house. Samson looked at it longingly; it felt like days since he had last eaten, though it had actually been no more than a few hours. When he turned his head back to the direction Kelly had taken, he glimpsed Ria turning a corner. Nobody else was in sight. Growling to himself, he ran quickly after them.
Kelly led them directly to the officer’s quarters, where those of sufficient rank who were unmarried had their rooms. All sleeping quarters were in the upper two storeys while the ground floor was taken up by a number of studies, a small library and a large dining room, currently empty. Kelly invited them all to take a seat at the table. He knew word of their arrival would already have been sent and that the Commander would arrive shortly.
Sure enough, as soon as their posteriors touched the base of their selected chairs, a door at the back of the room opened and a tall, imposing, man strode into the room. “What mess have you brought me this time Kelly?” his booming voice sounded across the room. “Your man said you had brought me some royal prisoners who wished to see the Queen. Not much chance of that happening, good man, and you know it, so why have you brought them to me instead of the Duke?” He almost spat the last word. His bushy moustache twitched as he spoke, making his whole face appear animated. There was no need to ask which Duke he was referring to.
Kelly , who had not sat down, made himself more erect as the newcomer made his way towards him, but offered no salute, making Sam wonder whether this was his Commander or not. Her unspoken question was answered. “Commander Galloway, may I introduce their royal Highnesses Princes Tor and Cirren.” The two men rose as they heard their names and Galloway inclined his head towards them.
“I have been told that you are under arrest for murdering some soldiers and stealing their horses. Did you do it?” No beating around the bush with this man. Recognising that the Commander wanted to get straight to the heart of the situation, Tor outlined the facts, stating them in a clear, precise, unbiased fashion.
“Sounds like self defence to me,” Galloway stated when Tor had finished his explanation. “Does this incident fall under my jurisdiction?”
Kelly shook his head. “Unfortunately not Commander.”
“Damn and blast. Guess we will have to find another way to sweep it under the carpet then. Does anyone else know who they are or why they are here?”
“We hope not Commander. No word was sent ahead as far as I am aware and we avoided the military checkpoints.”
“Good. In that case, by my authority, I hereby find you not guilty of all charges. Strictly speaking I am supposed to hold a proper court, review evidence, call witnesses and other such nonsense, but I am sure nobody here will insist on me following proper protocol.” A stunned silence followed, which Galloway took as agreement. “Kelly, organise some refreshments, then let us get down to the business of why these people are really here.” Kelly went to the door and called out the Commander’s instruction to a waiting guard before shutting the door behind him. Galloway turned his attention to Tor and Cirren. “You want to see the Queen. That will not happen. You will get no further than the Duke.” His animosity towards the Duke ran very deep and he was about to spit on the ground as though mentioning the title had left a nasty taste in his mouth when, for the first time, he noticed the three women.
“Good gracious, man. What are you doing bringing women in here? This is no place for the fairer sex.”
His comments were aimed at Captain Kelly, but it was Tor who replied. “My apologies. They are with me and, as we were all under arrest, we could hardly leave them behind.”
“All under arrest? Whatever for man?” He looked at Ria. “You miss,”
“Ria,” she politely informed him.
“Are you telling me that you are also responsible for killing those soldiers?”
“I only killed one,” she replied honestly. Galloway looked like he was suffering a stroke he reacted so badly to what he was hearing. Ellen rushed over to examine him, but he shooed her away when he managed to get his breath back.
“And she looks like such a nice young woman,” he commented under his breath. Suddenly he jumped up from his chair as he felt something wet and cold touch his ankle. Samson, who had been hiding under the table, was curious what all of the noise was about and poked his head out to take a look, causing his nose to come into contact with Galloway. The Commander stared at the wolf.
“Now this is going just too far Kelly. It is bad enough being invaded by women. I will not have my compound playing host to mutts.”
Tor gave an embarrassed cough. “Actually, he is a wolf and is another member of my party.”
“For a Prince, you have some very strange companions.” His eyes were on Modo as he spoke. Galloway tried his best to ignore the animal under his chair by pretending it did not exist, but Samson had turned round and now kept hitting his legs with his swishing tail. “For goodness sake, somebody get this creature away from me before I have it sent to the kitchens to become part of tonight’s dinner.”
Bellak called Samson over to him. Galloway waited for him to saunter across the room and lay down before giving a small grunt of approval. He was used to his orders being obeyed and it was nice to see that even animals with lower intelligence, in his opinion anyway, knew their place. “Now where was I? Oh yes. First we need to discuss how you plan to obtain access to the Queen, then we will find rooms for you all, though where we are going to put the women I do not know.”
Sam stared at him in wonder, trying to work out if he was serious or if he was like the beloved uncle who was always chiding his nieces and nephews to leave him alone, but smiled at them whenever their backs were turned. Tor, for one, was taking him at face value, assuring him that the ladies would be happy to share one of the officer’s rooms, if one was spare. Galloway did not seem happy with this but, as the only alternative was the guard’s barracks, he agreed that it was the best solution for the time being.
Cold drinks and fresh fruit were delivered, which they happily ate and drank while talking over possible alternatives for getting to see the Queen. As soon as he learned that they also needed to gain access to her private garden, he laughed louder than Kelly had done. He had a deep, rumbling laugh that reverberated around the room.
“I am glad we amuse you,” Patrick said dryly. “But I assure you that we will get what we need from the garden; we just have to work out how.”
“I like a man of conviction. So what plans are currently under consideration?” It was at this point that Patrick’s confidence and determination faltered and he had to admit that so far none of them had managed to come up with anything.
“In that case, I will have my top men work on it.” Galloway gave a list of names to Kelly, who went off in search of the men. He returned in a surprisingly short time with all five in tow. Discussions began in earnest, with various options being suggested, thoroughly argued through, then ultimately rejected. Dinner was served, but the talking continued. They eventually came to the sombre conclusion that it was going to be impossible for either Tor or Cirren to meet with Queen Tibia. It was suggested that Patrick dress up as a whore and say he was sent as a gift for the Queen. He was not amused. He refused to express his opinion on what he would be expected to wear, or almost wear as he put it, as there were ladies present and he would not be able to adequately articulate his sentiments without using language that would offend them. Much to his relief, he was told that Tibia never indulged in pleasures of the flesh so the idea would not have worked anyway.
The only real option open to them was to get someone into the palace as a servant, though even that would not be easy. All servants, from the Queen’s personal maid down to the young girls who emptied and cleaned the chamber pots, were personally vetted by the head housekeeper, who was in the pocket of the Duke.
“Do we actually need to get into the palace itself?” Sam asked. “Or will just the garden be good enough?”
“For the quest,” Tor replied, “we need access to the garden. For the good of the country, we need access to the Queen. I made Captain Kelly a promise and I intend to keep it.”
Sam was not so easily dismissed. “From what I have been hearing, Tibia spends at least a little time in her garden every day, even when it is raining. Why not kill two birds with one stone?”
Tor looked at her thoughtfully. “She may be on to something,” he finally concluded. “If one of us managed to get into the garden and speak with the Queen, do you think she would insist on seeing a visiting couple of Princes if she could be convinced that we are really here?”
The question was aimed at Galloway, but it was one of his men who answered. “I am certain of it. My sister works up at the palace. While she herself never has direct access to the Queen, she has overheard her complaining on numerous occasions that she wished she could speak with rulers of other countries. She once tried to send out invitations, but the Duke managed to intercept them and produced fake letters of response. All declining of course, due to ‘other commitments at the present time’.”
“So how do I get into the garden?” Ellen asked.
“Who said you were going?” Patrick queried.
“Who else knows what the flower we need looks like?” She had a valid point. While any of them might be able to convince the Queen that Tor and Cirren were in the city to visit her, only Ellen would be able to fulfil the other need for invading the garden.
“Alright. You go in,” Tor reluctantly agreed. “Now how do we get her into the garden without anyone seeing her?”
They talked late into the night, but finally a plan was formulated. With the help of the guard’s sister, Ellen would sneak inside the palace. She would take some hot coffee to the soldiers who guarded the entrance to the garden. It would be laced with a hallucinogenic drug, making them susceptible to a spell Bellak knew that would enable Ellen to pass by them without being seen or heard. This was highly dangerous as Ellen would have to ensure that she was seen by no other servants. If anyone spotted her, she would probably be reported to the housekeeper and arrested. The safest time would be before the kitchen staff, who were always the first to rise, were awake. It was also the ideal time to take the coffee to the soldiers as they would be in the middle of their watch and would be grateful for something wet and warm to slip down their throats.
Due to the lateness of the hour, it was agreed that it could not be put into action the next day. Ellen would need to get some sleep and the guard needed to speak with his sister. Tor and Cirren decided they would follow the proper diplomatic route and present themselves to the palace first thing in the morning, requesting an audience with the Queen. It would alert the Duke to them being resident in the city, but that could not be helped. They needed as many people as possible to know that they were there in case there was someone inside the palace who would tell Tibia the truth if she questioned them. Also, Tor wished to meet the Duke and this would be the perfect opportunity. He wanted to assess the man, to see if he was indeed as big a threat to Tibia’s reign as he was being led to believe. If that was the case and he could convince the Queen that she needed to take control, it would probably result in civil war