The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (53 page)

“It’s an option if you need it.”
Glendymere stood up.
“You’re going back to Willow Canyon to pick up Chris and Rhianna, right?”

Kevin nodded.

“Are you using the key, or would you like to fly? I’m going to fly back.”

“Thanks, but I need to get back to the castle before long. The reception’s next week and with Chris and me both gone, there’s no telling what we may get volunteered for. We’re already doing taxi duty. I don’t want to be responsible for too much else.”

“Taxi duty?”
Glendymere asked.
“Never mind. I got the picture. Transportation.”

“Right.”

“Both of you?”

“Joan and Cryslyn are in charge of this thing, and since they both know there are two keys, they figure we can each use one.” When Glendymere looked like he was starting to object, Kevin added, “Don’t worry. I’m using the gate key. Chris won’t accidentally take some minister into the heart of Manhattan.”

Glendymere paused as the image of tall buildings, people, and strange machines filled his head.
“No, we don’t want that.”

“It wouldn’t happen anyway. Chris is careful when he uses the key, but I’ll keep the gate key with me.”

“So I take it you’ll be busy next Sunday morning?”

“Yes, and the next Sunday, too. I won’t be able to work with Rhianna either, but once we get past the wedding, things should settle down. I’ll be able to work with her every week then.”

Glendymere nodded.
“Well, if there’s nothing else, I’m off.”

Kevin shook his head and took out his key as the dragon leapt into the sky.

~ ~ ~ ~

While Kevin was defending against energy bolts, Chris was explaining about the reception and wedding to Rhianna.

After Kevin picked them up and took them to the canyon lands, Rhianna said, “So today’s the last day I get to work on this for the next couple of weeks.”

Kevin nodded.

“I’d like to try to build a storm myself today.”

“All right. I’ll build one first and then you can try.”

Rhianna nodded.

“Just like last week, join with the wind and feel how the storm takes shape.” Kevin nodded to Chris, closed his eyes, and started stirring up the wind to create a small storm.

Rhianna closed her eyes as soon as she felt the wind stir and let her senses take her into the heart of the storm. She watched as the winds swirled and paid close attention to what was happening as the cold air sank and forced the warm air to rise. As the updrafts and downdrafts strengthened, the storm began to take shape. Dark clouds formed and the storm intensified. Lightning snaked its way to the ground and thunder crashed around them.

Kevin let the storm rage for a few minutes and then let it wind down and fade away. When he was done, he turned to Rhianna. “Ready to try one?”

She nodded and closed her eyes. Kevin looked at Chris, gave a quick nod, and shut his eyes so he could watch what she was doing from the inside.

At first Rhianna did well. The wind whistled and swirled around them and soon some updrafts formed as some of the cooler air sank and the warmer air rose. But before she could get a good mix going, she lost control over the wind and things died down to nothing.

She opened her eyes and looked at Kevin with a frown on her face.

He smiled and said, “Not bad for a first try. Ready to go again?”

Rhianna closed her eyes and started over. This time she made it further. She got some clouds to form, but before she could get any rain out of it, she lost control and things fizzled out.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said. “What am I doing wrong?”

“You’re losing your concentration. It’s easy to lose yourself in the wind, but you can’t do that or you lose your ability to control it.”

“But you have to join with it to use it.”

“True, but you can’t let yourself go with it. You have to hold back. You do fine at the beginning. But once you get things started, you’re becoming a passenger instead of the driver.”

Rhianna frowned.

Chris said, “It’s like you’re on a horse and enjoying the scenery so much that you’re giving him his head. You have to hold the reins at all times.”

Rhianna thought for a moment, looked at Chris, and nodded. “I think I see what you mean.” She turned to Kevin. “Do you have time for one more try?”

“All right,” Kevin said, “but then we have to go.”

Rhianna nodded and they both closed their eyes. This time when she got things stirred up, she stayed with it. She didn’t get a thunderstorm going, but she did get a nice little shower out of it.

When she opened her eyes, she frowned and looked at Kevin. “It’s harder than it looks.”

“You did well today. Don’t try any more storms until we can get back out here though. Glendymere wouldn’t be pleased if you started a storm in his canyon, and neither would the giants. Just practice controlling the wind. The better your control, the easier this will get.”

Then Kevin took out his key and the three of them left the canyon lands.

Chapter 48

Petri's Story

When she returned from lunch Tuesday, Joan sat down to a clear desk. She had cleared it that morning for the first time in weeks, but she hadn’t expected it to still be clear when she got back from the dining hall. Lately the lunch mail had brought a handful of letters as well as messages from staff members and townspeople, all asking for decisions or clarifications for the reception. But there was nothing on her desk.

She turned to Petri, who was dusting the furniture. Joan smiled. He must be completely out of things to do if he’d picked up a dust rag. “Has the lunch mail come in yet?”

“Yes, ma’am. I went out to check when I didn’t find anything on your desk after lunch. Then I checked with Cryslyn, but she didn’t have anything for you. Neither did Neiven, or Miranda. I even checked by Myron’s office to see if they had anything. Nothing there either. I tried to find Cpt. Darrell, but they said he and Chris were sparring.”

Joan leaned back in her chair. “I guess this is the calm before the storm.”

“It’s definitely calm.” Petri moved to the window sills, but before he started cleaning them, he looked at Joan and asked, rather hopefully, “Is there anything else you’d like for me to do?”

Joan thought for a moment and then said, “Yes. Come over here, sit down, and tell me about yourself. I know you’ve worked in an office before. You handle things around here too well for this to be your first office.”

Petri looked uncomfortable, but he sat down in the chair across from Joan. “I used to be a page in Sorcerer Starvos’s office.”

“Wow,” Joan said with a whistle. “I guess our little office is calm in comparison.”

“Not so far,” Petri said with a laugh. “Can I ask you something?”

Joan nodded.

“Are you happy with my work? Is there anything I’m not doing that you want me to do?”

Joan had started nodding her head with the first question, but had to do a quick turnaround and shake her head with the last one. She leaned forward and put her elbows on her desk. “Petri, you’ve been a blessing. I don’t know how I’d have made it through these past few weeks if it hadn’t been for you. Why would you think I might not be pleased? Have I said or done something?”

“No, nothing like that, but I thought Sorcerer Starvos was happy with me too, but apparently I was wrong. He had me escorted out one day, put in with the slaves, and the next thing I knew I was being auctioned off in Glenarbour. I still don’t know what I did wrong.”

Joan leaned back again and took a good, long look at Petri. He was a good looking teenage boy. Dark eyes peeked out from under dark eyebrows, giving him an interesting mix of mystery and mischief. “Just out of curiosity, were any of the pages girls? Or were they all boys?”

“There were six pages. Three girls, three boys.”

“Were you interested in any of the girls?”

Petri blushed. “No, they were older than me. I started working in his office when I was twelve, and the others were already there. They treated me like a younger brother. For the most part, they just put up with me, although a few times they did try to protect me.”

Joan frowned. “From what?”

“Little stuff. Some of the visitors would try to get us to tell them things we weren’t supposed to, or send us places we weren’t supposed to go. The others kept an eye on me to make sure I didn’t mess up. Guess they must have missed the big one though, the one that got me kicked out.” Petri looked down at the floor for a minute. “But there was this one girl. She used to hang around the office. I got the feeling she might have thought I was cute.”

“Oh?”

Petri nodded. “She used to drop by a lot, just to talk. And when I went out to check the mail or run an errand, she’d ask if she could go with me. I wish I could have told her goodbye, but when they took me away, they didn’t let me stop for anything. They wouldn’t even let me get my clothes.”

“Would you like to write to her and let her know where you are?”

Petri considered the idea for a few minutes and then shook his head. “If I did something to make Sorcerer Starvos mad enough to kick me out, he might take it out on her if I wrote to her.”

“How would he even know?”

“She’d probably show him. He’s her father.”

Joan chewed on her lips to keep from saying anything. She had no doubt as to why Starvos sent him away. His daughter was interested in him and Starvos didn’t approve. She thought about explaining it to him, but she wasn’t sure if it would be better for him to be confused over why he was removed or bitter over the injustice of it all. It might be best to say nothing for now. She’d tell Karl later and see what he thought.

“Well, all I can say is Sorcerer Starvos’s loss is my gain, and I’m very glad you’re here. Now, why don’t you go see if Ariel has a complete list of guests so we can compare his to ours? Myron and Chris will go by Ariel’s and I’d hate for someone to be missed.”

Chapter 49

Wednesday, November 20

When Cpt. Yardner checked his mail Wednesday morning, he had a message from Fasil in Milhaven.

Cpt. Yardner,

During the morning hours of the first Monday in November, we received information that Landis would be in Milhaven at the Chapel of Light around lunchtime. Saryn took up a position that gave him a clear view of the backyard and settled in to wait. Since we had also been told Myron had assigned a guard and a sorcerer to accompany her, Saryn used his first arrow to neutralize the sorcerer. He was about to take a shot at Landis when an elf intervened and disabled him. If we had known about the elf, we would have adjusted our plans, but no one mentioned anything about a third escort, much less that it was a warrior elf.

After Saryn was treated at the chapel, he was removed to the local jail and imprisoned there. The next morning we heard the prisoner had died during the night. We didn’t want to ask too many questions, but no one seemed to have any details anyway. As far as I know, Saryn’s death was a result of his injuries.

As of this writing, no one is actively looking for us and our location seems secure. However, Landis is no longer in the area and it seems unlikely she will return any time soon.

We await your instructions.

Fasil

Cpt. Yardner read through the note twice and set it down on his desk. An elf had been with Landis. He wondered if the elf had been one of Hayden’s children. Rolan had no idea who Landis’s foster parents were, and Cpt. Yardner wanted to keep it that way. The last thing any of them needed was for Rolan to send a band of killers into North Amden.

Finally he got up and walked down the hall to Rolan’s office. “Is he in?” he asked the pages.

No one spoke, but they all nodded.

“And his mood?”

Again, no one spoke, but from the looks on their faces, Cpt. Yardner had his answer. “That bad, huh?” he said as he knocked on the door.

“Enter,” Rolan bellowed.

Cpt. Yardner opened the door. “Good morning, sir.”

“What’s good about it?”

Cpt. Yardner shrugged and closed the door. “It’s not raining.”

“What do you want?”

“We received a message from Fasil in Milhaven this morning.”

Rolan perked up. “Did they get her? Is she dead?”

Cpt. Yardner shook his head. “She was there, but only for a day. Saryn was in a good position to carry out your orders, but he didn’t know Myron had assigned an elf to accompany her. If he’d known, he could have adjusted his plans, but in the end, he lost his life and Landis was whisked out of town before they could make another attempt.”

Rolan slammed his fist down on his desk. “First time anyone’s even seen her and they botch it up!” He jumped up and stomped around the room. “If they hadn’t killed Saryn, I would. Such incompetence!” He swirled around and glared at Cpt. Yardner. “Where were the other assassins? Why weren’t they there? Why didn’t someone get Landis?”

Rolan stomped around behind his desk again and plopped down in his chair. He shook his head and frowned so hard his eyebrows met over his nose. “How hard can it be to kill one girl? She can’t even defend herself yet. She’s an easy target. What’s it going to take to get this job done? Am I going to have to do it myself?”

Cpt. Yardner sat quietly letting the storm run its course. When Rolan ran out of steam, Cpt. Yardner asked, “What are your orders now?”

Rolan looked at Cpt. Yardner with a completely blank look on his face. “What?”

“Your orders. What would you like for me to tell Fasil and the rest of the assassins to do.”

“My orders haven’t changed. She showed up there once, she’ll show up there again. And the next time they get the chance to kill her, they better not mess it up!”

Cpt. Yardner nodded as he stood up. “As you wish. I’ll inform them nothing’s changed.”