Chapter 11: Night Moves

At morning meal a few hours later in Scudara, we spread the story of our vows having been spoken to the by now captivated staff. We said that after a couple of days of 'practice', we were now indeed on our honeymoon, and planned to turn the practice into perfection. That got the laugh I had been expecting, but it also signaled a new level of cooperation from most of the staff.

It didn't hurt that we had been paying as we went and tipping generously.

Sid wanted us to make our foray into the Aligos estate during the dead of night, and that meant we would have to be gone from the Falling Pine during the middle of the day in Scudara.

Our cover was a picnic into the nearby countryside. Twilight, one of the more soft-hearted of the waitresses, gave us directions to a nice, romantic spot downriver a few miles, and away from the trade road itself. Sid had no problems following her directions, since he had seen the memories of it in her mind. The staff packed us a picnic basket, a large umbrella for shade and a large blanket.

Spark was glad to see me, and Grinder was happy to be on the move and to have Sid with him again. We rode in the midday sun, relaxed and happy, but with our senses out. Now was not the time to be getting careless. The spot Twilight had described was even more beautiful than she had painted it. Perhaps it was the day, or the fresh joy of having my husband by my side, but it struck me as an ideal spot. Right up there with the family picnic spot back home.

Once we were sure there were no observers in the vicinity, we jumped to Meadow and left Grinder, Spark and the picnic gear in the care of the stable hands there.

Despite having received all the 'training' we needed direct from Dave McKesson's mind, we spent a few minutes practicing with the Legion Armor. It was odd at first having the hood seal itself around my head, but the advanced vision abilities it was going to offer were essential to the task at hand.

"You've already got better night vision than the average person." Sid said. "Its a part of the Light boosting that you've been getting since we started our quest. But the suit will allow you to see in almost total darkness. Don't ignore your own senses, and your Talents though."

As soon as we had those details taken care of, we jumped directly back to our room at the Windlass. We had our suits on and in their stealth modes already.

<Thoughts only from this point on.> Sid sent.

<Okay.> I sent back.

As far as getting the information we needed went, there was no reason for me to come along, but Sid was going to be concentrating pretty intently on the minds of those we sought. Once we found them, he was going to be digging through memories looking for what we needed. I was going to be there to protect him while his mind was busy.

<With more training, we could be doing this from our rooms in Scudara.> Sid sent. <We are paying now for my decision to turn my back on this side of my family history.>

We jumped, and I suddenly found myself standing on a narrow ledge, with Sid to my right. There was a window beyond him, but he didn't look through it, merely closed his eyes and leaned into the wall. I leaned my back into the wall and began sweeping the darkness around us. There was no sign of anyone or anything. It was the dead of night, I didn't expect to see anyone.

I kept my eyes busy anyway, and swept my senses, my River-specific senses to the edge of the estate. I did find a few people awake along the walls of the estate. The nighttime guards and a few watch dogs patrolling the walls along the inner perimeter. I noted them and kept sweeping.

<Not here.> Sid sent, and with a surge, we jumped again, this time to a small balcony, much higher in the air than the ledge we had been on, but much less intimidating.

<Ahh!> Came Sid's thought, it sounded like discovery. I picked up where I left off, watching and waiting. It was only a moment.

<Got it!> Came the triumphant thought, and an instant later, we were back in the room at the Windlass.

"The second spot was his parent's bedroom." Sid said as we slipped out of the Legion Armor and into our normal clothes. "His father had all the details. In fact, Gamut Aligos is one of the principal financial backers for the effort Fox is leading."

"So where's the secret location?" I asked.

"Cold Crag. Have you ever heard of it?"

"No, where is it?" I asked.

"Its a pocket kingdom between Westhal and Beletara, buried in the mountains of the central plateau."

"Small then?"

"Small, isolated, and unlikely to offer much cover story if we try to make our way there by the normal means."

So we wont be?" I said. "Trying the normal means?"

"Not if we can avoid it." Sid said. "There is some hope there, but not direct. The senior Aligos has not been there himself, but the head of his guard has been, several times."

"This man is not here at the moment, is he." I asked, already knowing the answer, from the look on Sid's face.

"No, he's in Uln, of all places." Sid said.

"Uln?" I asked. The name seemed familiar for some reason.

"Yes, I've mentioned it before. It was where Trunk and I managed to dodge someone's fireball attack while we were out sightseeing in the middle of the evening."

"I remember it now. Do you know where in Uln to find this man?"

"Yes. His name is Braid Anzi. He's overseeing a group of Aligos technicians who were hired to install a new clockworks in the King's tower."

"Is that going to make it less dangerous, or more?" I asked.

"Potentially more. The last time we were headed there we were told that the King was not the kind of ruler you wanted to get on the bad side of. He has a reputation for taking out his frustrations personally."

"Since we're not wanting to be noticed at all, that shouldn't matter, should it?"

"No, if we're noticed, it wont matter if its the King or someone else." Sid agreed.

"Then lets not worry about it. What's your plan?"

"According to what I've learned, the technicians are staying at an inn called the Purple Sky. The guard, Braid Anzi included, are staying at the Palace. The king likes to keep foreign troops under close supervision in these situations."

So our plan was once again to take a room at an inn, and cast our net for information. This time we had a good idea of the time difference between our destination and the Falling Pine. No more than an hour, two at the most.

Before we could do that, we needed to get back to Meadow, reclaim Spark and Grinder and all the picnic paraphernalia that had accompanied us, and return to the picnic spot.

It was still the heart of the afternoon, and the spot was still beautiful, so we had our picnic after all, and even left some sign of our afternoon's idyll on the blanket to give the staff at the Falling Pine something to talk about. Once we had everything taken care of, the horses in the stable, the picnic materials returned and us in our room, we laid out the schedule. We would wait until after the evening meal to arrive at the Purple Sky. We were likely to find our targets there then without having to wait.

That meant we had time for another bath, and another nap. We enjoyed both. It also meant we had time to make a quick side trip back to Erimon to check out of our room there. We tipped nicely on the way out, and thanked everyone for a nice stay. We were only a few doors down the street when Sid made me jump us back to Scudera.

"You need the practice." He said. "You may have to do that to save yourself, or both of us, one of these times, and its wise to make sure you feel confident in your ability."

It was strange stretching these new muscles, but I had Sid right there in my thoughts, calm and reassuring.

"There's a lifetime of this kind of discovery and growth out there River." Sid said, reminding me again of the future.

"I know. Even if there wasn't, every day with you is new." I answered.

With our presence at the Falling Pines firmly reestablished, we jumped to Uln, to a doorway in front of an inn. We walked through the door and to the counter.

"Greetings. Welcome to the Bright Blanket." The clerk said.

"Greetings." Sid said. "I'm sorry to trouble you, but we are supposed to meet someone at the Purple Sky, and we have no idea where that is. Can you help us?"

The loss of a potential customer didn't phase the clerk.

"Certainly sir." He said with a smile. "If you turn left on exiting, follow the street outside until you reach Cannon Square. You'll know you're there when you see all the cannons."

"Of course." I said with a laugh.

"Yes. At the square, look for the street between Yalt's Bakery and the only building on the square made of red brick instead of gray stone. Follow that street for two blocks, walking on the right side of the street. You should come upon it. You'll recognize the sign - it is all done in reds and purples."

"Thank you." Sid said, tossing a crown to the man. "The Bright Blanket is well served by your generosity."

"Thank you sir." The clerk said, pocketing the coin with a flourish.

We walked up the street, following his instructions. There were indeed many cannons in Cannon Square. They circled it, and every one of them was coated in bright brass.

"Pity the fellow who has to keep this mess shiny." I said.

"Some fellow with a minor Talent probably has a lifetime appointment." Sid said. "It looks too shiny and well done to be the result of manual labor.

"I hope so." I answered.

The Purple Sky was right where the clerk said we would find it, and we could see that this was a big step up in ostentatiousness and opulence.

"Can we afford this?" I asked. Sid actually looked hurt when I asked it.

"Think of what I am, and ask yourself if I could ever run out of gold."

I guess I hadn't thought of it, but it was true. Sid's connection to the rocky depths of Arbor made its treasures easily available to him. Not all rock is just rock, after all.

"Great." I laughed. "I've got all the fish and fresh water I could ever want, and you get all the gold."

"And if we were alone in the desert, or lost in the wilderness, which of us would have the more valuable talent then?"

"Okay golden boy. Lets get a room." I teased, nudging Sid with a hip.

Sid was in his disguise Wizard's robe, and had Dragon's Eye, suitably disguised, with him.

"The Wizard Firestone and companion." Sid said when we reached the inn's front desk. "We wish your best room for the night."

"And your companion's name?" The clerk asked. Good for him. He was refusing to treat me as superfluous.

"Sparrowhawk." I answered.

"Firestone and Sparrowhawk. There will be a deposit required in advance, sir."

"Because I'm a Wizard!" Sid said, pretending to get his feathers ruffled.

"No sir, because you wish our best room. There are some rare artworks in that room, and our trust document with the owners requires it."

"Of course." Sid said, sounding placated. "How much is the room for a night?"

"One hundred crowns, sir."

"A hundred!" Sid said loudly. "And the deposit?"

"Half that amount sir."

"Here is the entire one hundred." Sid said, pulling a sack of coins from his robe.

Of course the clerk had to count the purse, and I saw him surreptitiously run a handful of the coins past a certain spot on the counter. They probably had a counter-spell working to detect magicked coins.

"Lotus!" The clerk called. A lovely young woman, probably a couple years older than Sid or I appeared a second later.

"This is the Wizard Firestone." He and the lady Sparrowhawk have taken the Crown suite for the evening. Please show them to their room, and familiarize them with the amenities."

"Yes sir!" She said smartly. "Do you have baggage sir and madam?"

"No my dear. Wizard's travel light, as a rule." Sid said, managing to sound sage beyond his years.

"Of course sir." Lotus said with a giggle. "Please follow me."

"We were led up three flights of stairs, the inn's top floor. There were only three doors at the top of the stairs, two on the left and one on the right. Lotus opened the door to the right and took us into the room.

"There is a sunstone light here, by the door," she said, "and another by the table in front of the window. The bedroom is through this door. There are sunstone lights on either side of the bed, and another in the private bath, which is only accessible through the bedroom."

"This is your own private meeting room, with room for a dozen to sit comfortably. Sunstone lights are in the ceiling of this room as well.

We got the grand tour. The bed was big enough for six, and the tub in the private bath looked to be big enough for that many as well.

"There is hot and cold water available in both bathrooms." Lotus told us. We saw the second bathroom when we returned to the main sitting room. "This pull by the table will call your private attendant. The kitchen is open to you twenty four hours a day, as is the bar, if you decide not to join us in the dining room for meals."

"Thank you Lotus." Sid said, slipping her some coins. Ten crowns, it looked to me.

"You're welcome sir. If there are... other needs you might need met, please ask for me."

The little bitch actually licked her lips when she said that.

"Thank you, but there is all the woman I can handle standing here beside me." Sid said. "And if I truly understood your offer, she will tell you I am all she needs as well."

She had the nerve to lick her lips when she glanced my way, but cast her eyes down and said. "Of course sir. I understand."

"Spirits!" I said as soon as the door was closed behind her.

"Well, there is a lot about Uln I find unpleasant, and I'm finding more each time I come here."

"We won't be coming back here if I have anything to say about it." I said.

"Yes dear." Sid said. The way he said it brought my tone of voice back to my own ears. I laughed.

"Guess the shine isn't off this newlywed yet, is it?"

"Nor do I hope to ever see it go." Sid said, pulling me into his arms. "Which do you want to try out first? He said. The tub or the bed?"

"How about bed, tub, bed?" I said, snuggling in.

And so it was.

Surrounded by opulence, confronted by decadence, I was instead happy to be awash in love.

I should have come to feel familiar with River's body by now, with her manner, with the way of her, but it had been as if we had each come to these recent days as newly met. We laughed and explored, conquering and being conquered in turn with each others passion and our own, and all awash in a sea of love.

I would share my memories of this night with River, some day in the future. I would show her the River I saw now. The tall, naked goddess of a woman with rippling, taut muscles under soft, soft skin who walked towards me like a cat stalking its prey.

"You are mine forever, you know." She said as she threw herself atop me.

"A happy prisoner," I said. "and what a pleasant fate it is."

Those memories would last a lifetime, perhaps longer. But they had moved us into the time when we needed to act, and so we lay still in the darkened room and I cast my mind out, taking River's with me this time. No need to remain behind and watch over me this time, and there were more lessons to learn about the gifts and the changes that having touched the Light made in them.

The technicians were a floor below us, and towards the back of the inn. There were six of them, four men and two women, and we found the best possible news in the mind of one of the women. She was romantically involved with our Captain Anzi, our target. The current situation had the two of them frustrated to no end, and they found almost no time to be alone.