The Warrior Elf (43 page)

“Blair’s coming to see the house this evening. She wants to move in but she’s not sure she can handle the cooking for both places. I told her not to worry about it, but I don’t think she’ll move in until we get that worked out,” Doreen said.

“Did you talk to Nan?”

“She came by while you were at the castle. She wants to move in tomorrow.”

“What kind of deal did you make with her?”

“We haven’t worked out all the details yet. At first she was like she was at the store, saying she’d pitch in but wasn’t going to do it all. I told her she wouldn’t have to if she’d teach me how to do some of it.”

Rhianna laughed. “What did she say to that?”

“She thought I was joking at first, but she took me seriously after I explained I’d never done any housework because I’d been too busy building fishing boats and running my father’s business.” Doreen shook her head. “I may get more than I bargained for though. She took out a sheet of paper and made a list of chores. When she asked how many people would be living here, I told her it’s just the two of us right now, so she divided the list into three parts and said we can each take a part.”

“Sounds fair to me. When someone else moves in, we’ll redo the list.”

“You’ll still do the gardens, right?”

Rhianna nodded. “Allisandra will have some seedlings ready for me in a couple of weeks.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing right now. I’ll let you know when it’s time to start working on the gardens.”

“Did you find out anything about the food for Saturday?”

“Cryslyn orders the food. When Miranda’s low on something, she lets Cryslyn know and before long, there’s more in the store room. So I talked to Cryslyn. She said if we’d give her a list of what we want by tomorrow morning, she’ll try to have it here Saturday morning, but she did say at this late date she might not be able to get everything we want.”

“What should we do? Put it off?”

“No, we’ll just improvise. It’ll help if Blair’s around though.”

“Let’s see what she says when she sees the house. If she’s interested, I’ll bring up the party.” Doreen paused. “Did you ask Cryslyn how I’m going to pay for this stuff? And for the stuff the sisters brought?”

“She said as far as the stuff from the sisters, those things were gifts, even the hutch, and you don’t offer money in exchange for gifts. She said if you want to pay them back for what they did, you do something for them in return. And yes, I asked what, but she wasn’t any help there.”

“Great,” Doreen grumbled. “I know I need to do something for Jana. Now I’ve got three more women to come up with something for? What about the man who brought the hutch? What was his name?”

“Dayed. He’s one of Laryn’s brothers. I don’t have any idea what you can do for him, or any of them for that matter, but since they made most of what they brought, you’ll need to come up with something you can make for them.”

“Like what?” Doreen asked, exasperated. “I doubt any of them need a boat and that’s all I’m good for.”

“No it isn’t, but we’ll talk about that later. Back to the party Saturday. Cryslyn said she’d deduct the cost of the food from your account. I told her we also want to get some scog from Fenway’s. She said have him send her the bill with your name at the top and she’ll take care of it.”

“Do I have enough money for all of this?”

“I couldn’t come right out and ask, it’s not my money, but from the little she did say, I think you’ve got plenty in your account. She also said when you find something you want at Tolliver’s have them send her the bill.”

“I need to find out how much money I have left. I’m used to handling the accounts and I don’t like not knowing.” Doreen shook her head. “But I can do that later, after we get past this weekend.”

Rhianna stood up. “Let’s go to Fenway’s, get some dinner, and order a keg of scog for Saturday. Myron’s bringing Nikki out later and Rigel said he’s dropping by this evening. He said he wants to see how they fixed up the house, but I think he just wants to see you.”

Doreen blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if we’re going to Fenway’s, let’s go. I want to be back before Blair gets here. I don’t want her here by herself if Rigel shows up. She’s shy, and that might be enough to scare her off.”

“We don’t want that,” Rhianna agreed as they headed down the steps. “We want her comfortable here, especially in the kitchen.”

Chapter 23

One-Year Anniversary

Saturday morning, April 5, Kevin woke up as soon as the sun’s rays cleared the mountaintops. He doubted anyone else realized it, but his first council meeting was the April meeting last year. Today marked the one-year anniversary of his debut as the Master Sorcerer of Terah. And what a year it had been.

As he got dressed, he thought about all the adventures and misadventures of the past year. It was a wonder he’d survived. And to think, a little over two years ago he’d been an accountant sitting in a cubicle handling other people’s money. He’d kept his mouth shut and done as he was told. The biggest risk he took was driving to and from work. His evenings and weekends were spent eating takeout in front of the TV or computer. He could have counted his acquaintances on one hand and there wasn’t even one person he considered a friend. His life was predictable, easy, and incredibly dull.

Kevin shook his head as he pulled on his boots. He preferred the life he was living now, even with all its headaches and risks. He hadn’t seen his godfather since he woke up on Terah, but he owed him a big thank you for lifting him out of his life on Earth and dropping him into this one. He hoped he’d be able to tell him that in person one day.

He left Nikki in her crate at the stable and made his way across the river to the willow grove to run through his morning routine.

Chris was up early, too. He was well aware of what day it was and memories of last year’s meeting flooded his mind. He hadn’t been sure they’d make it out of there alive once Kevin and Rolan started in on each other. As Chris stood on his balcony and watched the light of Kevin’s magic rise and fall over the treetops, he smiled. Kevin was in good form that morning, strong but smooth, just the way Chris liked it.

When Chris walked into the dining room on his way to the kitchen for coffee, he saw Laryn standing out on the patio gazing towards the willows. He opened the door and walked out to join her. “He’s in a good mood this morning.”

Laryn nodded. “I was thinking back to last year about this time.”

Chris grinned. “I was so nervous that morning I couldn’t eat.”

Laryn laughed. “And for you, that’s saying something.”

“What’s got you up and out so early today?” Chris asked as they headed into the dining room. “You aren’t usually around until after breakfast.”

“My stomach’s a little upset. I’d like a cup of ginger tea but I’m out of ginger. I’m sure Miranda has some though.”

“Hope you’re not getting sick. Why don’t I send a note to Theresa and ask her to check you out?”

Laryn shook her head. “It’s probably something I ate. I feel fine otherwise. If it gets worse, I’ll see one of the sisters.

After Laryn got some ginger and Chris poured two cups of coffee, they headed their separate ways. By the time Chris made it back upstairs, Kevin and Nikki were back.

“Marshall’s not in yet,” Kevin said. “Does he ever take a day off? I think he’s kept Nikki every day since she’s come here.”

“I mentioned it to him once, but he said if he had a day off, he’d want to spend it with Watson and Nikki, so what was the point? I told him if he ever found something he wanted to do, or someplace he’d like to go for a day, we’d make arrangements for Nikki, not to let that stop him. He said he’ll let me know, but I doubt he will.”

“Maybe I should get Neiven to talk to him about it. Everyone needs a day off.”

“Yeah,” Chris said. “That’ll be real convincing. Neiven hasn’t taken a day off since we got here.”

Kevin shrugged. “Maybe Marshall needs some friends, some kids his own age to do things with.”

“He’s not like the other kids,” Chris said. “But if you offered to let him spend his days off with Kyle, I bet he’d go for it.”

“Maybe that’s what we should do. Remind me to go see Kyle and see what he thinks. At least it would give him a change of scenery.”

“And what would you do with Nikki on those days?”

“She can go with him.” Kevin finished his coffee. “Ready to go downstairs? I’m hungry.”

~ ~ ~ ~

While Kevin was working in his office after breakfast, Joan knocked on the door. “Got a minute?”

Kevin nodded, finished writing the message he was working on, and then looked up. “What’s up?”

“It’s about the slaves Gwendolyn gave Bianca,” Joan began as she sat down. “Karl wants to write Gov. Cranson and set up a transfer, but he’s not sure the governor knows anything about it. She didn’t contact us through the usual means.”

“No, she didn’t, and I’m not sure we should go through her assistant either. Myler might not have any idea what’s going on,” Kevin said. “Tell Karl one of us will find a way to speak with her today and see how she wants to handle it.”

Joan nodded and stood up to go. “You do realize this is the anniversary of your first council meeting, don’t you?”

Kevin laughed as he stood up, too. “Can you believe it’s been a whole year?” he asked as the two of them walked out of his office.

“I think the better question is can you believe it’s only been one year? An awful lot has happened in that time.”

As Kevin started to answer Joan, the door to the main office opened and Rhianna walked in. He glanced towards Rhianna and nodded. “True.”

“Well, good luck today, and don’t come back with any more challenges,” Joan said as she started to leave. “I don’t think any of us are ready for you to be involved in another duel.”

Rhianna’s eyes widened as she stared at Kevin. “What?! You killed another sorcerer? Can’t you find some other way to deal with your sorcerers?!”

Elin’s face turned red, her eyes grew stormy, and her hands fisted on her hips. “Don’t you yell at him,” she blurted out. “Don’t you dare yell at him!”

Isak’s eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped at Elin’s outburst. He stood up and looked around the room, searching for Ariel, but it was Ariel’s day off. Isak was the senior page. It was up to him to defuse the situation, but he didn’t have a clue what to do.

Elin clenched her teeth and her fists tightened as she raged, “That woman came in here and grabbed me and Chris! She was going to let Rolan hurt me to make Chris tell him where to find Landis!” Tears flowed down her cheeks. “I’m so glad she’s dead!”

Petri was working in Joan’s office when he heard Rhianna raise her voice. When he heard Elin, he ran across the hall. As soon as he cleared the doorway of the reception area, he hissed, “Elin!” When she looked at him, he frowned and shook his head.

Elin looked into Petri’s eyes and took a deep breath. She unclenched her fists, dropped her arms to her side, and said, “I’m sorry,” without taking her eyes off Petri. Then she ran past him into the hall.

Petri caught Joan’s eye and mouthed, “I’ve got it,” as he turned and followed Elin out of the room.

For a moment, no one moved. Then Isak slowly sank into his chair.

Rhianna took a long, slow breath and looked at Joan. “I didn’t know. Is that why you’ve been teaching her how to use a dagger?”

Joan nodded. “She was snatched, right here in this office, and tossed in a dungeon. It destroyed her sense of security. She’s trying to find it again by learning to defend herself.”

Rhianna nodded. “I know I’m the last person she wants to talk to right now, but when you think she’s ready, I’d like to talk to her, maybe offer to help her train when you can’t.”

“I think she’d like that, but you’re right, not right now,” Joan said with a weak smile. “I’ll go see how she’s doing.”

As Joan turned to leave, Rhianna looked at Kevin. “You should have told me.”

Kevin motioned towards his office. After he and Rhianna were both inside, he shut the door. “To be honest, I try not to think about it. But you’re right, I should have told you.”

“Well, I came by to remind you to set something up with Judith.”

“I know,” Kevin answered. “I thought I’d tell her I need to speak with her on a private matter.”

“You need to go there,” Rhianna said. “If she comes here, she’ll have time to do something to the woman before you get there.”

“I know.”

“Let me know how it goes.” Rhianna paused before opening the door. “Did Gwendolyn really come here, to your office, grab Chris and Elin, and throw them in her dungeon?”

“Not exactly. She grabbed Elin, but the reason she ended up with Chris was he was trying to break her grip on Elin when she turned the key, so he ended up going as well. But yes, she did throw them in her dungeon.”

“And she was going to give them to Rolan?”

“That’s what she told them, although there’s a bit more to the story. I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

“And you got them out of there?”

Kevin nodded.

“I’m looking forward to hearing it,” Rhianna said as she opened the door to go.

After Rhianna left, Chris came into Kevin’s office and shut the door. “Did you see what happened out there?”

Kevin just looked at him.

“I mean with Petri.”

Kevin frowned and sat down at his desk. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“I didn’t think you did. Rhianna was between you and him. I think we’ve got our next head page.”

“Petri?”

Chris nodded.

“But he’s not much older than Elin. He’s too young.”

Chris shook his head. “When he came in, he immediately sized up the situation, shut Elin down, and when she left, he told Joan he’d take care of it.”

Kevin leaned back in his chair. “Good instincts.”

“Very good instincts,” Chris agreed. “Meanwhile, Isak stood there with his mouth hanging open. Joan’ll hate us for it, but we need to start grooming Petri to take over in here. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to hang onto Ariel.”

“Do you know something I don’t?”