Wine of the Gods 05: Spy Wars (4 page)

Winter Solstice
1361

Village of Ash, Foothills Province, Kingdom of the West

Rustle turned eight on the last and shortest day of the year. Or as she liked to think of it, the first and
longest night.

The Witches had had their usual all night ceremony at the hot springs, and by dawn Rustle was trying really hard to not be whiney. She'd had the option of staying with Havi and Daddy, so she couldn't whine. That was the deal. When she got so tired she was whiney, she was to not whine, but rather walk over to her blanket on the nice warm rocks and go to sleep. The sky was no longer truly black, or even dark blue. It was delicate shades of pearly gray, a bit of pink, a thin line of spectacular blue. She walked to her blanket and lay down, watching the sky as the sun rose. When the whole sky was nearly blue, she watched the big birds flying over. She looked carefully, and being a child, didn't question what she was actually seeing. She walked over to her mother and pointed. "Look! A whole big family of dragons."

By the time the witches got back to the village, the dragons had already landed.

The Elder Sisters had gone ahead, so the younger witches were left to deal with fifteen cranky children. Rustle considered herself a big girl, not requiring care, Ask, on the other hand was so little that she could ride piggy back on Rustle, and the two girls had so much fun they were wet
, cold, and muddy and had nearly forgotten about the dragons by the time they were home. Grandmother Happy rushed off, and Mommy got all of them hot chocolate, a hot bath, and a warm bed in record time before rushing out to the front steps herself. Ultra and Ask went right to sleep, but Rustle wiggled out of bed and slipped out to sit quietly on the porch. In her experience, as long as you didn't bother anyone, they wouldn't bother you.

Somebody had gone and gotten Daddy and the Sheep Man. They and Great-grandmother Answer were talking to the Mommy dragon. The little dragons were yawning and fussing and whining a bit. Then the Sheep Man waved his arms and the Mommy Dragon turned into a lady, and one by one the little dragons turned into little girls and boys.

They looked cold with no clothes on, which was probably why they went in the Tavern.

Great-grandmother went with them, and Grandmother and Mommy came back.

"Well, it looks like we have our Mayor back. And the children should be an interesting addition to the school!" They walked inside, still talking. They hadn't noticed her and Rustle pondered the warmth value of her wet coat and boots. She was cold, and the street was still a bit muddy from the rain last night. Surely they were dry enough?

In the Tavern she found a corner and watched the little dragon children. There were a bunch of girls and just a few boys, and they were really messy eaters. Various people were handing out hot drinks, and a cup came her way. She looked up and the Auld Wulf winked at her. Next to her Daddy, he was the handsomest man in the Village. She was going to marry him, when she grew up. The cup contained soup, nice and meaty, and she started wondering what dragons ate. Well, meat of course, but what did baby dragons eat? Not milk. Dragons weren't mammals. They had scales. Maybe they couldn't even eat chocolate! Maybe they ate bugs, like lizards? Or mice and rats
, since they were bigger?

She finished her soup, watched the grownups try to get the little dragons into clothes and finally curled up and went to sleep. She sort of woke up when her Daddy picked her up and delivered her back to the witch's house.

The next day all the dragons came to school. The dragons were only six years old, and didn't know how to read. They didn't even know how to draw.

Rustle got to play with them, and show them how to draw. At first they wanted to eat her. They stopped when she punched their noses and pointed out that they didn't have proper teeth for eating people anymore anyway. Then they wanted to eat the chalk, and then the slates. Then they kept trying to pick her pictures up off the slate. Some of them sort of scribbled.

"They're little babies. Worse than Ask," Rustle informed the frazzled Miss Nina.

"Yes, they certainly are," she gave Rustle a hug. "And you are a very big helper."

The next day they got to watch a house being built.

The dragons were all excited because it was their house. It had a basement and three floors and an attic. The first floor had all the usual stuff, the second floor was the dragon mommy's floor. The third floor had nine bedrooms for the girl dragons, and the attic had three for the three boy dragons.

Mom and Dad did most of the work, showing the witches how they'd built all the bridges and roads in the New Lands.

One of the boy dragons fell on top of Rustle.

"Primo, you are being stupid. You're human now, you can't fly."

"But I want to." He stuck his lip out and pouted. "Being a dragon is more fun." He tried to turn his head far enough to look at his back and fell over again. He was silly, but he had the best hair, red with gold streaks.

The biggest girl dragon nodded. "We get to eat anything we want to." She had black and silver hair, which was pretty nice too. She'd been hunting.

Rustle pointed at her hand. "Let the frog go."

"No! It's MINE." She bared her teeth, then shoved the frog in her mouth and crunched down on it.

Havi made gagging hand signs behind her back.

"Septimus, you know you aren't supposed to catch and eat
things any more." The Mommy Dragon crossed her arms and tapped a foot.

Septimus swallowed. "Humans are stupid. They should be food."

"And that, young lady, is why you are going to have to be a human for ten years."

The young lady rolled her eyes, but kept her mouth shut.

Rustle shrugged away the frog. There were more important things, after all. "What color are you going to paint your room?"

Septimus and Primo blinked at her. "Color?"

"Yeah, come here, I'll show you." Rustle led the way home. "I have to share my bedroom with Ultra and Ask, but it's kind of fun. We just decided we didn't like green any more and changed it to purple."

She led them through her great-grandmother's house. "The grownups have their own rooms, so they can meditate and stuff. We got the room on the end so we each have our own window. This one is mine. I helped make the quilt."

The dragons gawped a bit at all the colors, the lavender walls, the three shades of purple rug, the curtains, and especially the quilt.

"Come and see my Mom's room. She likes green and blue, see?" The oceanic blend was duly admired, and then she brought out the cookie jar.

"Bugs?" Primo looked hopefully at his cookie.

"Raisins. I'll bet that now that you are human you'll
like different kinds of foods."

Havi reached for one. "Umm, it's got walnuts in it too."

"Dragons don't eat fruit and nuts." Septimus said.

Rustle smirked. "Have you ever tasted sugar?" She took a bite of her own. She'd helped cook them, and they were nice and chewy, just the way she liked them.

"What's sugar?" Primo sniffed the cookie, and finally took a bite. He blinked. "Hey, that is pretty good."

Septimus nibbled, took a bit more. Stuffed the whole cookie in. "Good!"

"Septi, you need to learn some manners. Want to have a tea party?"

The two dragons were ready to try anything, and even put up with the lessons on manners. So long as there was sugar in the tea, and the cookies kept coming.

They had a very fun winter, playing with the dragons, and Rustle worried just a little bit about missing them when they went back to the wagon.

The best thing about summer in the wagon was that Mommy and Daddy were both there all the time and so was Havi, who, even though he was almost a year younger than her, was quite smart and one of her best friends. During the summer they got to pretend that he was her brother and they got to ride Blackberry and Inky a whole bunch.

But this summer they were staying home, because of the new babies. Aunt Question had hers first, a little boy, because she was a wizard and could have boys. Mother's baby was going to be a girl, because she was a witch and witches only had daughters.

Next summer they'd probably go off in the wagon again, but that was all right, she'd probably be sick and tired of dragons by then.

They borrowed Harry's old nag for the riding lessons. The bony decrepit dun had pulled Harry's muck cart forever, and carted children around whenever asked. Even he snorted a bit over the scent of dragon, but happily carried Primo around the nearby hills with nothing but pets and scratches in return. Eventually all the dragons tried riding, but only Primo graduated to a regular horse and rode frequently.

7 Ramadan 1362yp / W
inter Solstice 1361 Local

Fascia
, Auralian Empire, Target Forty-two

Ahja had considered the Princess overwhelming in the Ambassador's office. Now he was rapidly redefining the meaning of overwhelming. Her four companions were bright enough. But the Daughter of the One glowed like the sun.

The attendants danced down the aisle, spreading and folding their fans, twirling and leaping, all frothy packaging for the exquisite woman pacing slowly down the center of the
Amma's throne room. When the Daughter of the One reached the designated spot, the dancers froze, fans spread and still, framing a work of art.

Princess Rior stood perfectly still, her dress all pale exotic silks, more than modestly cut. Her beauty drew every eye, and Ajha could see that a fair percentage of the crowd was trying to not show a physical reaction to the sexual allure of a woman with the full Power of the One. And a strikingly beautiful one, a rare pale blonde, brilliant blue eyes contrasting with warm golden tan complexion.

It was an incredible honor for a complete outsider to be chosen to marry a Princess. The Amma actually shifted on his throne. The background information claimed that never happened. Ajha kept his face still. The aura of a Princess had nothing to do with her physical beauty; a blind man would have been able to locate her with ease.

As the representative of
the One, Ambassador Alre was standing on the central sunken floor they'd just crossed. In a corner so as to not obstruct the Amma's view.

He stepped to within ten feet of the Princess and knelt. "Princess Rior, may I present the Amma of Auralia, Solti of Soltis, Ally of the One, Linton Liliam."

The Princess inclined her head. "Amma, I greet you with expectations of a long and joyous marriage."

The Amma smiled. "Princess, the expectation is shared."

The Chamberlain, called a Backa, here, stepped forward and announced the date and plans for the wedding. Six months, to ensure that the invitations had time to reach their recipients, and the lucky recipients had time to reach the city of Fascia in good time.

Plenty of time for the i
nside spy, Hoon Withione, to check out the palace and grounds, while the Info team surveyed the city and the country. They would all study the natives and start developing useful sources of information. And find the cracks and insert the wedges, just in case the One wanted everything to crumble.

Ajha studied the golden youth who stood disapprovingly to one side. Paxal Gold. He had a strong magical presence that he was just now trying to mask. Or perhaps he was shielding himself from the Princess's allure. The rumors that the Amma had befriended
one of the so-called gods appeared to be true. Or, perhaps just a magician passing himself off as one of the mythological gods of the natives. Edmo had said that they would have to see if he was useful, or should be eliminated with the rest of the false magicians. Why he called them false, why they were considered dangerous rather than potential assets, hadn’t been explained.

Ajha glanced back at the Princess's entourage. Hoon was immobile, eyes down cast, glow at a low level. Her job here was not just as Rior's assistant, although that was what they all believed, Rior included. Ajha's uncle, high in the Directorate
, had dropped a hint in a note. Hoon was an agent of the One. She'd watch both outside and inside. She'd carry messages and packages for Rior, but she'd have additional reports to pass along. Reports on parts of the World Rior wouldn't encounter, and reports to the Ambassador on the part of the Amma's world that was closed to him. She bore the title of Servaone, Servant of the One, as if she bore less than eighty percent of the genes of the Prophets. But in truth she was also a princess, possessed of double copies of every magic gene, and equal in power to Rior, even though she would never allow herself to project the sensuous attraction of  the Princess. As a servant, she would have a lot of freedom of movement denied the pampered Princess, and she'd be using it.

And if Rior strayed, fell in love with her husband
, or worse, a man not her husband, there would be a tragic accident. Or, of course, if the Amma proved difficult, and a son a better prospect as an ally . . . there would also be an accident.

Ajha held his position and watched the
natives in the background as the diplomatic dance wound down. Gold was still staring at the Princess. His shields were up so hard now Ajha wouldn't have realized he had power. Interesting. When alerted and covering, his vulnerable lower frequencies got covered too. Magical attacks were only going to work with surprise, or overwhelming power. For now though, the Amma stepped forward and kissed the tips of the Princess's fingers. A trio of eunuchs appeared and escorted her away, attendants following demurely.

The One World's takeover of this target had begun.