Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (30 page)

Monika stared off into the distance, at
the guards retreating. “There is something funny going on here.”
She said.

“
Not you, too,” Basha
grimaced.

“
What’s all of the
commotion?” They heard Fato screech, and then looked up at the
falcon flying down towards them.

“
Fato
,
you just missed another fight!” Oaka cried,
shaking his head. “I was nearly killed by Captain Goga!”

“
Oh.” Fato said as he
landed on Basha’s shoulder. “So what else is new?” Fato
asked.

Oaka groaned as Basha said, “I had
a…strange encounter with Gnat,” and proceeded to tell them what he
had heard, even though he knew it might not be true. He just wanted
to hear their reactions, and hoped that they might agree with him
that there was nothing wrong and nothing to worry about.

Instead, they just stared at him.
“Nothing to worry about?” Basha asked again.

“
We need to talk with
Gnat.” Oaka said, and the others immediately nodded.

Janus had been in the grand banquet
hall an hour ago, cleaning up tables like he was doing last night,
but as the group of travelers parted after breakfast, he paused a
moment before trailing after them. He decided to follow the
brown-haired young man, who was apparently the leader of the group
as he had spoken to Lord Fobata yesterday morning after the Black
Wolves had chased them into Coe Aela. The young man went straight
to the stables, as Janus lagged behind, following a short distance
away as he kept himself to the edges of the hallways as much as
possible. Once outside, Janus crept along the keep’s walls towards
the smithy, across the bailey from the stables. He watched the
stables, planted firmly upon a barrel, and faintly heard the dogs’
barking in the kennels, turning his head just in time to see a
slight figure, Gnat he assumed, dash into the stables.

He whistled softly to
himself, and wondered what could drive her in there, when he
heard
…
“Don’t move.” A woman whispered, standing right behind him
with a knife-blade to his throat, or so it felt to him.

Janus paused. “A fine mess.” He
said.

“
What are you doing
here?” The woman asked.

“
The same as you,
spying.” Janus said. They heard a screech in the distance and
looked up at the wall to the silhouette of a falcon perched upon
the parapet. It seemed to be staring at them before it flew away,
chased off by one of the guards.

“
Fato remembers me.”
Janus said.

The woman paused now. “Who are you?”
She asked.

“
Janus is what they
call me.” He said. “The name doesn’t matter.”

The woman frowned, he suspected. “Why
do you talk like that?”

“
I have no other way
of talking, jokes are all I have got.” He said, smiling. “There is
not much more to life than this.”

“
Why do this?” She
asked.

“
I have nothing else
to do. It is a way of earning trust.” He said.

“
Why
…
Who
…
you are no ordinary servant.” She said.

“
I suspect as much.”
Janus said, smiling.

“
Leave them alone.”
The woman said. “They are not to be harmed.”

“
I will try my best,
but I cannot say the same for others,” Janus said, turning his head
towards her slightly. His eyes gleamed as he studied her facade. “I
am helpless here. I must stay low.” He faced forward again. “I
cannot help them anymore than I can be a clown here, my mission
depends on it. Your mission calls for discretion as well, I
imagine, and I believe that you will lose that discretion if you
kill me. I will be noticed if I am missed, if my body is found
here, and I imagine that you will be detained, along with others,
if they decide to investigate what has happend to me. I am
worthless to them except for what I have been charged to do. You
will be safe here if you let me go.”

The other woman trembled, but finally
she lowered her knife-blade slowly. “If you betray us, I will kill
you.” She said.

“
I do not expect
anything less,” Janus said, still sitting on the barrel and facing
straight ahead as he did not want to alarm her. When she began to
back away, he asked, “By the way, what is your name?”

“
Nisa.” She
said.

“
Nisa. Such a pretty
name.” Janus grinned. In the distance, he saw Gnat run out of the
stables, and by the time Basha came out, Nisa was gone. He remained
where he was as Basha left the front bailey, thinking that he was
not spotted, and then Fato flew down to land on his
shoulders.

“
Fato, you should not
be here.” Janus said, glancing around to make sure that no one was
watching him.

“
What’s going on?
What happened with that woman?” Fato asked, staring
around.

Janus shook his head.
“She’s with the group you’re traveling with, I
imagine
.
”

“
She’s not with my
group!” Fato exclaimed.

“
Quiet, Fato. She is,
or at least she’s watching out for them.” Janus said. “Who are
they?”

“
They’re
travelers, on a quest for Tau’s Cup.” Fato said.
“And they’ve got Black Wolves, and who knows what else after
them
.
”

“
You should have told
them to stay away from Coe Aela.” Janus said.

“
You try telling them
that!” Fato cried. “And I couldn’t expose myself to them, I’ve
got
secrets
, you know.
”

“
Everybody has
secrets,” Janus said, shaking his head. “Go back to your
friends
,
tell them the truth for once. The brown-haired fellow just
headed towards the back bailey a few minutes ago
, just after Gnat left
.”

“
Basha
.
Gnat.
” Fato said, staring up into the sky.
“Is there still a gruelmoff around here?”

“
I don’t know, I
assume so.” Janus said. “Avoid the tower where it
resides.”

Fato flew off to find Basha, after
making sure that everything was clear.

Janus sighed, it was
a hectic day. He could not believe everything that had happened,
and this group
!
H
e did not know who they were, what they
were supposed to be doing, but they were causing quite a stir in
Coe Aela. He thought they might be important, or it might be just a
bunch of hoopla over nothing. He hoped that they would be okay, and
that he would not get caught up in their wake. He had to make a
speech to Marlo, what would he say to the steward about these
newcomers?

“
Harmless?” Fobata
exclaimed, reading the report his steward had handed to him a few
moments ago. “How can he
…
harmless?” He exclaimed, pacing
back and forth.

“
What is the matter
with you, my lord?” Goga asked reluctantly, not wanting to get into
details. He sat in the corner of the study he and Lord Fobata went
to almost every other afternoon before dinner, currently drinking a
bottle of wine by himself. Most afternoons Fobata and Goga would
play a game of chess, or drink and talk about the daily affairs of
Coe Aela, occasionally touching upon issues of national importance
that might concern their duties to Doomba.

Of course, today had been a little bit
different, since this was the second time they had met in here
today. Fobata quite liked the study, imaging himself to be a
studious man who enjoyed reading all of these books, wrapped up in
affairs of the contemplative mind beyond the realms of mortal,
flesh-and-blood men. But Goga was rather indifferent to the place,
never having been a book reader and unable to imagine what sort of
joy Fobata might get out of them.

He only attended the meetings with
Fobata here in the study because he could expect to get some wine
out of the deal, and a break from his tedious duties guarding a
backwoods castle that saw little if any action. He also enjoyed the
change of venue from the outdoors, which could always be counted
upon to provide some discomfort he had not expected even as it
varied from day to night, season to season, with hot and cold
weather. It might be cold and damp in the castle on occasion, but
at least this condition was constant and he could change it.

“
Someone--my steward,
who I put in charge of the task of spying on the newcomers, ordered
another servant to do it instead, and in this report, that person
declared they are mostly harmless.” Fobata scoffed. “Harmless? I do
not think so. Do you think so?”

The mundane affairs of bureaucracy,
always passing along the task for others to accomplish until they
failed. Goga shrugged. “I cannot say for sure.” He said. “I did
duel one of them not that long ago. He didn’t seem that much of a
threat to me.” He chuckled. “Of course, this fellow had some luck
in prolonging the fight,” He frowned to himself, mulling over the
wine. “But it was quickly ended.” He remarked. “I could have killed
him, but I didn’t. Aren’t you proud of me?” He sneered.

“
I’m proud of you,
Goga.” Fobata muttered, not really paying attention to his captain
of the guards as he stared at the report like it might change ink
color, or the intent of its message. “Something is wrong here.
Terribly wrong.” He remarked to himself. “I don’t quite understand
it, but I feel like we’re not doing something right. That we’re
forgetting or overlooking something very important and
valuable.”

“
Oh, grow up, Fobata,
you’re just being paranoid.” Goga muttered. “Perhaps this whole
measure of action is unnecessary in the first place. Have you ever
stopped and thought about that?” He asked, shaking his
head.

“
You know what I said on
the matter this morning, captain,” Fobata said stiffly. “I believe
we are doing the right thing, the necessary thing, when I have
messed up far too many times in the past to afford another mistake.
If they want this group of children, then I shall arrest them. I
have no choice. I am merely acting upon orders, and that is the
only meaning I can find in this whole irrational endeavor.
Understood?” He asked.

“
Completely. What can
go wrong?” Captain Goga asked.

“
I don’t know. I’m
afraid.” Fobata said.

Goga scoffed. “You’ve got that
right.”

“
I’m serious here.
It’s plaguing me, this sense of unease.” Fobata said. “It’s sort of
like I’m squeamish, but I’m not. I have to face this great big
thing and I have no idea what I am dealing with here. I’m not ready
yet.”

“
My lord, you are
forty years old, and you are being naïve.” Goga remarked. “You have
to face it, whatever this thing is, and completely destroy it, or
else it will destroy you. Do you understand me?” Fobata silently
nodded. “Good, now I’m going to the stables,” Goga said, getting up
from his chair, leaving behind an empty wine bottle. “I must tend
to my horse.” He burped. “Excuse me, my lord,” He said, leaving the
study.

Fobata sighed, and rubbed his cheek. “I
need to shave.” He muttered to himself. “If my wife was still
alive, she would have told me so,” He said, glaring at the empty
spot Goga had occupied. “No thanks to you.” He said.

Goga went down the front hallway of Coe
Aela, staggering a little bit as he sang, “I embrace the
darkness...”

Chapter 11: Gnat’s Run

Release me, and I will run, as fast as
I can;

Release me, and I will go, as far as I
can;

Release me and I will be trapped in the
fear

L
eft behind.

--
Song of Running,
Tarak

It took awhile for the group to locate,
and arrange surreptitiously to talk with Gnat, but finally she met
them just before sunset in the boys’ room to deliver more blankets
for their beds. “First of all, I want to apologize for what’s going
on.” Gnat said. “I am not involved, never was a Follower of Doomba,
yet I still know that I should help you all.”

“
How did you find out
about this, Gnat?” Basha asked. “And what exactly is it?” He added
for emphasis.

“
Servants like me
often go unnoticed here. Sometimes, we hear things when others
don’t know we’re there. A message came several weeks ago, but I
only heard about it this morning. Lord Fobata and Captain Goga were
meeting in a study where I was cleaning up, which they normally
don’t do, and I hid myself inside of an armoire when I heard them
coming. I didn’t want to be seen by them, especially Goga, he
just
…
anyway,” Gnat said, clearing her throat. “I heard them
talking, well, arguing. Goga was complaining to Lord Fobata that
they had expected a group to arrive on Markee 14. They had been
warned by this Lord Crow that they had to beware of this group
because they would be bringing a lot of trouble with them, and the
only group that arrived were you guys.” Gnat said.

“
Lord Crow.” Fato muttered,
shifting on his perch.

“
Is that the only
reason
,
Markee 14?” Basha asked. “That is both pretty vague and
specific.”

“
I know it doesn’t
make much sense,” Gnat said, “But it’s true, that is what they
said. Even they doubted it, especially Captain Goga. He didn’t
trust this Lord Crow person, said he was their ‘old friend’
sarcastically, and even
…
” Gnat frowned. “Bloodlines.
There was something about bloodlines. Somehow Lord Crow had the
most to gain, and Captain Goga was at the bottom of the
pile.”