Fang Shway in LA (24 page)

“Lauren, I believe you’ll find what you need here. If you tell me what you’re looking for perhaps I can help.”

“I need to learn more about the Einherjar and draug. If they are involved in any way, we will need to know how to defeat them. I’ve asked Jason to join us. He may know something that will speed up our search.”

“Did I hear my name?” Jason said.

“You are right on time. I need to know what, if anything, you know about Einherjar and draug. The vampire I did the mind read on today gave me those names. Unfortunately, I only have a vague notion of what they are.”

“Lauren, I probably don’t know any more than you. However, I’ll contact the council, someone there will know, if you’ll excuse me I’ll see to it.”

“Jason, thank you. Trevor and I will start here in the library. Perhaps, one of these histories will shed some light on them.”

“Lauren, Trevor, good luck and good evening.” Jason said as he strode from the room.

“Trevor, where do you suggest we begin?”

“I spoke briefly with my father upon our return. He suggested that the early histories would be the best place to start. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you where they’re found.”

Trevor turned and headed toward the back of the library. I followed him as he wove in and out of the aisles. Finally, he stopped and started thumbing through some ancient looking tombs.

“Ah, this looks like a good place to begin. I’ll carry these to a table for you.”

I started to protest, but realized chivalry wasn’t dead or dying in Prince Trevor’s world. He carried several large volumes to the nearest table.
Trudging along in his wake, my heart ached for Traygen. I missed him more than my words could express.

“Lauren, my father suggested checking the earliest stories of the Viking raiders. There is rich lore about our countries heroic efforts to repel these invaders. Our lands have never surrendered to an occupying army.”

The pride in his voice made me want to assure him their streak remained unbroken. I took the first book he handed me and sat down to skim it. Trevor picked up another volume and retreated to the nearest table to read. We soon settled into a comfortable silence. The only sound was the crinkling of pages as we turned them.

My eyes were starting to glaze over when I found the first mention of the Einherjar. It was about an incidence in the battle of Carney near the western border of the kingdom. It seemed the kingdom sent a battalion of men to Carney to stop the invaders. Unfortunately, the men were badly outnumbered.
They were routed and fled inland to safety. They retreated in such haste they could not bury their dead. There was great anguish over this fact, but there was nothing they could do. General Ferris, the man in command of the battalion mourned the deaths of so many brave men. He didn’t want to face the king or the families of the dead men. However, General Ferris did his duty moving from one home to another to explain to the families how their loved one had been lost.

When he believed he couldn’t knock on one more door, he did. General Ferris nearly fainted because the man whose death he had come to report greeted him. Thinking he must have been mistaken, he apologized for interrupting the family. Shaking from the experience, he continued on without further problems until he reached the last house. Again a man he thought dead answered the door. Thinking that a mistake had surely been made in the heat of battle General Ferris went home to his overjoyed family. In time he forgot about the entire thing, the kingdom settled back into a period of peaceful tranquility. Unfortunately, the period was short and the kingdom was again attacked by Viking raiders.

The army once again assembled under General Ferris to defend the nation.
Scouts were sent to track the invaders. The Vikings were followed to the southern edge of the kingdom where they inexplicably disappeared. No one could find a trace of them. Unfortunately, the only people in the area were local farmers and they claimed to have seen a legion of the king’s men, but no Vikings.

General Ferris couldn’t believe his ears. The scout reported the only people in the area were part of his legion. He exploded telling the man he was mistaken. He had no men in the area.
Unwilling to believe the scout, he sent a man back to try and find out the men’s identities. It took nearly a week for the man to report back. General Ferris asked the man what he found. The man reported that the men were Helns, Baldur, Aesin, and Kyrie. “General, they told me you sent them.”

The color drained from the general’s face and he barely spoke above a whisper. The scout had to strain to hear him. He asked the man if he was sure. He threatened the scout’s life. Beads of sweat broke out on the scout’s
face.
He swore to the general he spoke only the truth. He said he’d seen them with his own eyes. He claimed to know Baldur. He insisted there was no mistake. The general asked where the men where. The scout told him they’d taken the men to the barracks. The general ordered the men taken to the stockade and kept under arrest.

“Trevor, I think we might have something here.”

He looked up as I spoke and walked over to my table. “Lauren, thank the heavens. I’m ashamed to admit I was nodding off. What have you found?”

I pointed out the passage and waited while he read it. “Well? What do you think? Does this sound like an Einherjar to you?”

“You might be onto something. What else is there? Does it say what the general did with the men?”

Before I could answer there was a knock on the library door. “Prince Trevor there is someone to speak to you and the Lady. He says you were expecting him and his name is Jason.”

“Send him in,” Trevor turned to Lauren and said, “That was fast, do you think it is good news?”

Jason strode into the room. He walked over to where Lauren and Trevor were seated. “Mind if I join you?”

“What have you found out? Does the council know anything about Einherjars or not?”

“It is the council’s consensus they exist and they should be disposed of like any other vampire. Interestingly enough, the distinction between Einherjar and zombies is that Einherjar are handpicked. The vampires pick them specifically for their bravery, while any riffraff can become a zombie. Also, the Einherjar look like they did before they died and zombies are rotting corpses.”

Prince Trevor let out a low whistle. “It makes identifying the Einherjar almost impossible. During the raids people are killed or captured and no one sees it. How can we know if our army has been infiltrated with them?”

“Lauren, you’ve been awful quiet. What are you thinking? Did you find something that might help?”

“I’m not sure. There are references to men presumed dead who were later found alive. So, it could be Einherjar or just a mistake. Jason, are the Einherjar like vampires in that they don’t have a heart?”

“Yes, but it would be very dangerous to get close enough to tell.”

“You think? Gee thanks, I’ll try to remember that. Seriously, Jason is there anything that could help us identify them?”

“I’m still working on it. But, in the…”

Jason stopped in the middle of a sentence and we turned to face the door. I heard yelling and the sound of running feet. Something or someone was causing a commotion. A man burst into the room and knelt before Prince Trevor.

“Begging your pardon, Prince Trevor, I bring news from our northern army.” The man handed the prince a roll of parchment.

“Thank you, get some food and water while I read this.”

The man nodded, bowed and left.

The prince untied the parchment and began reading. His hands shook slightly and his jaw clenched. “I need to see the king immediately. Lauren, Jason read this and I’ll fill the king in. I’ll return as quickly as I can.” Trevor handed me the parchment, turning he left the room.

I unrolled the parchment and gave Jason one side. We read in silence, neither of us spoke. I reread the message and then looked at Jason. “What do you make of this? I assumed they had the raiders pushed back into the sea.”

“It might be that some of them escaped to the north and then regrouped. Equally, as troubling, I think is that they know a lot about what is going on in the palace. It doesn’t look like they found all the traitors. ”

“No it doesn’t. Traygen was afraid of this. He mentioned it in one of his last letters. We’re going to need to be careful, so we can trick the traitors into revealing themselves.”

Just then the doors opened and Trevor burst back into the room. “I’ve advised my father of the developments. Because of the circumstances I believe it best to get my father out of the country. His life is in danger until we catch those responsible.”

“Jason, can you take the king to a safe place? Put him under the council’s protection.”

“Of course, if that is all right with you Prince Trevor.”

“Trevor, until we know who is responsible I think we need to assure your father’s safety. He simply isn’t safe here.”

“Lauren, I agree as much as it grieves me to be without his wise advice. He hasn’t recovered enough from his wounds to take care of himself. I’ll let him know and see that he’s prepared to travel. ”

“I’ll go with you Trevor. The sooner we get him out of here the better.”

They left to take care of the king and I paced. Who is behind this and where are you my love. Tears slid down my cheeks and grief threatened to overwhelm me. A whirring noise made me look up. Tokem.

“Lauren, don’t worry we’ll find him. We’ve been in tougher spots. I have some news that might make you feel better. I’ve spent the last day more or less fluttering undetected around the castle. Looking for anything unusual that might help us find Traygen or the traitors.”

“Tell me, have you found something?”

“I believe so. On several occasions I’ve noticed members of the king’s guard have slipped out. It seemed unusual because they didn’t all go. When I followed them, they tried hard to make sure they weren’t being tailed. However, I tracked them to an underground chamber off a storeroom.”

“Could you tell what they were doing or if they were meeting anyone?”

“No, they closed the door before I could sneak in. I waited for nearly an hour for them to leave. I didn’t recognize any of the king’s guards, only their uniforms. However, I did recognize Leglus. He was one of the men Prince Trevor indicated was one of the last to see Traygen alive. He slid out the door and looked slyly around before he fled down the hall.”

“Did you see anyone else?”

“I waited a few minutes and then I darted into the room. It was empty. He was the last to leave. I tried to catch up with him to see where he’d gone.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find him. I decided to come tell you what I’d found.”

“It is good that you did. Can you show me the room? Maybe I can find something. A clue or anything to tell us what they are up to.”

“Certainly, eyes like an eagle that’s me,” Tokem said as he puffed up his chest.

I laughed for the first time in days. “Thank you Tokem, I needed that.”

“Needed what?” Trevor asked.

“Trevor, we were just coming to find you. Did Jason get your father safely off?”

“Yes, he didn’t want to go, though he could see our point. I’m not sure how long we can keep him there. Now what were you going to tell me?”

Tokem recounted his story as we headed toward the storeroom. It took us a while to find the room and to make sure we weren’t followed. The room was empty and we went inside, closing the door. Trevor found a torch and ignited the wick which illuminated the room.

“This is a storeroom for the servant’s quarters, which is why it is abandoned. We haven’t had indentured servants for ages.”

I looked around the small room. It was empty except for a couple of overturned crates. The crates were empty and had obviously been used as chairs. We were careful not to move anything in case the men used the room again. We left by as indirect a route as we’d come. I don’t think anyone followed us. We decided to gather in Trevor’s private quarters. Until we could be certain who to trust, our options were limited.

“Trevor, I need you to think hard about who we can trust. Ideally, it should be as few people as possible. Until, we know who is behind this.”

“Fargon was Traygen’s most trusted ally. He will know who else we can trust.”

“I’ll go find him.” Tokem offered.

“That is a good idea. Go now and bring him back as quickly as possible.” Prince Trevor said.

I waited for Tokem to take off before I spoke. “Trevor, do you have any ideas about who is behind this?”

“Prince Warren is under arrest and he is not allowed any visitors. However, it could be some of his men or advisers.
Honestly, I really don’t know it could be anyone.”

“Who would your brother have confided in?”

Trevor ran his fingers through his hair and sighed before answering. “His adviser’s name is Steros. Personally, I’ve never liked the man but, to be fair he has never done anything that I’m aware of.”

“Where is he? Was he arrested with Prince Warren?”

“No, he wasn’t with the prince at the time. It never occurred to us to detain him. I’ll send someone to try and find him. Meanwhile, I’m sending for General Wingo. He will need to prepare the troops for battle.”