Chapter 29

"Can we speak freely here, Tarras?"

Tarras chewed thoughtfully on a piece of fruit as he lifted his head and looked around. Nearly every table in the outdoor cafe was full despite the distinct chill to the early morning air. All the ones he could see were occupied by other Lords, all chatting, or debating, or negotiating.

He turned to Janna. "It is unlikely that any of the others will hear us, my dear," he said mildly.

"I wasn't worried about them."

"I don't believe you need to worry about the other. If the Emperor had been intent on using eavesdroppers, he would have used them in private chambers as well. He would already know everything."

"And you're betting on the fact that we would have been arrested by now if that were the case," said Janna. She took a sip of her juice before putting the goblet back on the table and chafing her hands along her arms.

"No, I am betting on the supposition that we would be dead if that were the case."

Janna felt a shiver go through her that was only partially due to the cold. "I heard that the Colosian Ambassador will be arriving today," she said flatly.

Tarras nodded once. "This is true. We hurried him along to Lord K'rinnus' palace, and he arrived there late last night. He's being hustled straight into the Portal not long after first light."

"Tarras, I don't think anything will come of this. Not with the way the Emperor has been acting towards the Noble Lords these past four days."

"I knew from the start it would accomplish nothing. It was merely a chance for a delay."

"Yes, but now things are coming to where I need to do something," Janna said urgently. "Have you come up with anything?"

Tarras plucked another piece of fruit from his platter and considered it for a moment. "Our movements are indeed being tracked."

Janna sighed. "That doesn't help. We knew that days ago. What we need to know is if there is anything we can do about it."

Tarras popped the fruit into his mouth and chewed slowly. As he did, he let out a long sigh. "It is rather frustrating. I believe I know the methodology of Q'yros' spells, but that alone is not sufficient."

Janna hugged her arms tightly to her chest. "So what's the secret? I have to admit, you've been rather mum on these matters the last few days. And scarce."

Tarras considered and smiled slightly. "I am always there at night."

Janna managed to return the smile. "I'm grateful for that. And not just for the sexual pleasure." She paused a moment and added in a softer, huskier tone, "Even as good as it is."

"I always try my best at anything I do, my dear. Though they do say that a craftsman is only as good as the tools he has to work with."

"Then I am so glad you possess such a well-crafted set of tools."

Tarras would have loved nothing more than to spend the rest of the meal trading increasingly bawdy comebacks, but he knew that there were more important matters at hand. "There is no secret," said Tarras. "Simply a bit of cleverness. He did not enchant our bodies. He enchanted our possessions."

Janna stared. "Come again?"

"Think on that a moment," Tarras said as he leaned back in his chair. "We would detect magic on our bodies. But magic on other items is harder, especially if it is faint. What perfect way to track everyone but to place the spell on all that they own?"

Janna's eyes widened. "All? You're not serious."

"Very serious. He likely imbued the endpoint of the Portal with his spell. We would think it no more than a perturbation of the Portal energies if we felt anything at all."

"Even our clothing?"

"It is likely a rather weak magical charge to avoid detection, since it lays upon the body. But it is there."

Janna shook her head. "That can't be right, Tarras. Not to that extreme."

"Why not?"

"I know a little bit about what can and can't be accomplished in magic. What you're talking about would take a great deal of energy. Q'yros is a powerful Mage, but does he have the power to do that and all the other things he has done for the Emperor?"

Tarras paused a moment. Janna had begun chafing her hands along her arms again. He glanced at one of the cafe walls. There were indentations at regular intervals just about head height, each niche containing a wick encased in crystal. "Tell me, Janna, are you a bit chilly this morning?"

"No, I'm gods-damned cold." She turned her head in the direction Tarras was looking. "Well, no wonder, the heat lamps are not lit."

"Exactly."

Janna paused and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"The heat lamps work on magic, in order to project and circulate the heat properly. Most unusual, don't you think, that they should neglect to light them now that we are in autumn?"

"Would that not fall to the Emperor's normal palace Mage?"

"Unless his energies were needed elsewhere."

After another moment, Janna stopped chafing her arms, and a look of realization came over her face. "Because Q'yros is reaching his limits?"

"Precisely."

Janna looked hopeful for a moment, but it was quickly dashed. She sighed heavily and leaned back in her seat. "And in the end, it means nothing, because it doesn't help us now."

"It does mean, at least, that we likely can speak freely," Tarras explained. "He does not have eavesdropping spells in place simply because he does not have the power for it. But yes, unfortunately, it is not a solution to the issue at hand. Which is doubly frustrating as I believe I know where Q'yros would be keeping the information you seek."

"But there's no way for me to get it!" Janna said in exasperation. "Not with every item I own spelled to track me. Not with my clothing affected as well."

Tarras nodded and reached for another slice of fruit.

Janna paused a long moment before saying, "Unless I go naked."

Tarras raised an eyebrow. "Naked?"

Janna slowly nodded. "Yes. Naked. He can't track me if I'm not wearing anything, can he?"

Tarras put down the piece of fruit. "My dear, if I did not know you any better, I would say that you are seriously considering this."

Janna looked at him and smirked. "Is that amusement I detect in your voice, Tarras?"

"Amusement. Astonishment. Amazement."

"Anything else beginning with the letter 'A' you want to mention?"

Now Tarras was truly shocked. The look in Janna's eyes left no doubt. She was serious.

Tarras turned himself more fully towards her and leaned forward. "Janna, forgive me for this, but you are insane."

"Any more insane than anything else that has happened? Come on, Tarras, you're the one that's a student of military history. You think Duric has any chance for the element of surprise if the patrols spot him too early?"

Tarras sighed, but otherwise did not respond.

"I have to do this." She paused and smiled. "Anyway, I thought you might like the idea of me parading about the Imperial Palace nude."

"Come now, Janna, all kidding aside, you are not thinking this through. The guards..."

"... are all clustered around the Lords because the Emperor is afraid they're going to lead a palace revolt. You told me so yourself just the other day."

"That does not mean that other areas are bereft of them," Tarras pointed out. "I believe the details of the patrols are in the situation room in the southeast tower. It is where the Emperor would traditionally hold any war-related planning activities. There is likely a guard on duty there, not to mention the occasional guard in the halls."

Janna thought about this for a moment. "The southeast tower? Doesn't the south side of the Palace face the river and a forest beyond that?"

"Yes, true."

"There's got to be a portico or overlook there, some place where I can get in. The west side of the Imperial palace is hardly guarded at all, once you get past the gardens. I can disrobe there in the cover of the foliage and circle around. I doubt there are any guards outside."

"This is insane," Tarras repeated, though in a softer voice.

"Why?"

"Because I am starting to believe it might actually work."

Janna smiled.

Tarras remained humorless, however. All he could see was someone that he had grown to care about putting herself in extreme danger. But he had made a pledge to assist her and not to attempt to dissuade her from a task that she ultimately had to do herself. And the fate of Oceanus was more important than either of their personal considerations. "And what of the guard at the tower itself?"

"I guess I will just have to worry about that when the time comes." Janna grinned. "I suppose I could just seduce him and show him the time of his life in exchange for him looking the other way for a little while."

Tarras smirked. "As entertaining a thought as that might be, it is unlikely to work."

She gave him a pointed look. "Then you could come up with a way to get me past that last guard."

Tarras was silent for a long moment, his gaze not focused anywhere in particular. "And you are not frightened by this idea?"

"Frightened? I'm scared out of my wits about it. Being nude in the hallways of the Imperial Palace gives me just enough amusement factor that I can handle it."

Tarras tried desperately not to smile and failed.

"So it's settled," said Janna. "This is what we will do unless you come up with something else."

"Actually, Janna, I may have one more card to play if things do not go well with the Ambassador."

Janna had pulled her breakfast platter to her. Now that she had a course of action to pursue, she felt like she had an appetite again. "Oh?"

"I have been observing the Imperial legions training near the Palace, at least until they were apparently moved elsewhere two days ago," Tarras explained.

"Yes, you said there was something odd about them but you never explained what it was."

"It is hard to convey to someone who has not done the same research as I have," Tarras said gently. "But suffice it to say, the only conclusion I can come to is that some of the soldiers in the Emperor's legions have been previously trained."

Janna looked confused at this. "What, you mean veterans?"

Tarras shook his head.

"No, that's right, how could they be when there has not been any warfare in over a generation, save for some bandit raids. So who were they trained by? A Noble Lord?"

"I considered that possibility, but it would mean a Lord is colluding with the Emperor, which is unlikely. But it is almost preferable to the alternative, that these are soldiers from outside Oceanus."

Janna's fork clattered loudly to her platter. When several Lords from neighboring tables glanced over to her, she hastily picked up her fork and smiled at them. When they had turned away, she leaned over to Tarras and whispered urgently, " You had better be wrong on that!"

"I hope that I am. But if suspicions were raised sufficiently among the other Lords, it might cast more of a pall on the Emperor's plans. Because if it is true, it is clear that the Emperor is seeking to keep it a secret."

"Hellfire, of course he would want to keep that a secret. That's tantamount to the Emperor colluding with a foreign power. That's treason."

"Yes, but try telling Z'haas that," said Tarras. "He does not seem to understand or care that in the case of a treasonous Emperor, a coup is actually considered legal."

Janna put down her fork and rubbed her temples. "This just keeps getting worse."

"Again, perhaps not, if the Emperor has a shred of sanity left to him."

Janna looked up. "And how much are you betting that this is the case? Or more to the point, how much should I bet?"

Tarras paused to finish off the last piece of fruit on his platter. "I believe you should bet on being rather chilly sometime in the next day or so," he said resignedly.

"Well?"

Vanlo had only just stepped across the threshold, the door still open behind him, when an impatient Lanno posed the question to him. Vanlo smiled good-naturedly and let the door close behind him as he strolled in. "I believe it is customary to start with a greeting," he said. "Good morning to you, Master Lanno."

"Good morning to you as well, Master Vanlo," Lanno said with an exasperated sigh. "Now, will you tell me?"

"Do you not wish to hear our agenda for today?" Vanlo asked as he headed into the treatment room. Lanno followed in somewhat peeved pursuit. "We have a good number of regular examinations to perform today, and there will be several Kaylaxxa treatments."

"Blast all that," Lanno declared as he stepped in front of the older Healer.

Vanlo looked at him. "Oh? I thought you were rather enamored of giving those treatments. I can take over that duty for you if you wish..."

"Argh! You're doing this on purpose!"

Vanlo did not reply, but the secretive smile on his face as he stroked his beard gave Lanno his answer.

"Tell me or I will go look myself."

Lanno started to turn towards the back room. Vanlo caught his arm.

"Well, at least that got some reaction from you," Lanno said acidly.

Vanlo let go. "My apologies. It was just a little bit of fun to break the tension."

"Yes, but at my expense."

"You really ought to be less sensitive about that."

"Look, never mind my character flaws, okay? You said last night you might have some news for me this morning. Now tell me or I really will go look myself."

Vanlo raised a reproachful finger. "Please, do not even joke about that. We must not draw attention to my quarters in any way. We are fortunate that he has not attempted to search it."

"And how do you know he has not done so already?" Lanno countered.

"I moved the apparatus into a cabinet before I began," he explained. "Just inside the door, a delicate glass orb is balanced on a wedge. If one opens the door without placing one's hand at the right place under it to catch the orb, it will fall to the floor and shatter. So far, the orb has been present and intact every time."

Lanno raised an eyebrow. "I have to admit, that's rather clever."

"It is a crude method. And it is a gamble. It assumes Jollis will not be thinking that a Healer would conceive of anti-tampering methods. In any case, the experiment is nearing completion. I should have a definite result before dusk."

"But how is it looking now?"

Vanlo looked thoughtful for a moment and lowered his voice before responding. "It appears that the hypothesis will be confirmed, that the hair found in the Jonalla does indeed belong to Jollis."

Lanno's eyes widened. While it made sense to him, he had secretly hoped that it would not be the case. But now that it was, he felt a righteous anger come over him. "So Jollis was the one that forced that potion on you. That bastard."

Vanlo raised a hand and gave Lanno a serious look. "Please restrain your anger, Lanno."

"And why should I? What he did was reprehensible. He could have done a lot more damage to you if he had messed it up."

Vanlo sighed. In a way, Jollis had already done a great deal of damage. He had made the Healer doubt himself at a critical moment, when Amanda's lifeblood had been draining away from that crossbow bolt. Fortunately for her, he had managed to push aside those doubts and do the right thing.

Yet it was a continuing struggle to keep that doubt at bay. Any time he forgot something, or made a small mistake, he had to reassure himself all over again. Jollis had stilled something far worse than his Portal sense. He had managed to shake the Healer's confidence.

This was something he would mention to no one, not even Roquan. And it was why he was still hesitant about bringing that other matter to Roquan's attention, the one concerning his revelation about a side-effect of the Draught.

"If my theory is proven at the end of the experiment, we will bring the matter before the Overlord," Vanlo said firmly. "This is his Manor, and his jurisdiction. It will be up to him how the matter will be handled."

"If he believes you."

Vanlo turned to Lanno. There was a hardness to his eyes, but he kept himself calm. He knew that if he could force himself to look at the comment objectively, it made sense. Despite his relationship with the Overlord, and the trust that had been placed in him, it was not going to go over well that the Overlord's trusted Tradesman was a spy working for his own ends.

"Yes, there is that," Vanlo said in a flat voice.

Lanno did not comment. He knew as well as Vanlo what the implications were. As soon as Vanlo came out with his accusations, he was marking himself as a target again. Without knowing what Jollis' motivations were, there was no telling what his reaction would be.

And that made the man very dangerous.

Q'yros was already feeling weary as he trudged down one of the passages inside the Emperor's private inner sanctum. The crisis was definitely taking a toll on him. He was already directing the Emperor's court Mage to lend his energies to Q'yros, much to the younger man's consternation. He was already complaining about falling behind in routine magical tasks around the palace.

Q'yros did not like the situation, either. He was frustrated at both Tarras and Janna. Tarras was annoying him with his constant excursions near restricted areas. If he did not know any better, Q'yros would have said the Noble Lord was testing him. Whereas Janna was annoying him by not doing anything at all. He had been sure that Janna would be under orders from Duric to do something disruptive, but so far it had been the opposite.

It had bothered him so much that he had re-cast the more power-intensive spell he had originally used just to replay Janna's passage through the palace. This turned up nothing. She moved about the palace normally, and stayed out of areas she should not be. It was possible she was making Tarras do her dirty work, but he was not doing anything overtly wrong, either.

Now his frustrations were compounded by the fact that the Ambassador had arrived and had already been waylaid by Lord Uras, and now Z'haas was nowhere to be found. Or more accurately, he was nowhere to be found in the places Q'yros had hoped he would be.

Instead, the Mage found the Emperor in the last place he had wished to find the sovereign.

The Emperor was kneeling before the self-styled shrine to his deceased brother, the images in the burnt pearl playing out once more. Q'yros saw that the quality of the images had deteriorated even further from when Z'haas had first shown it to him.

Q'yros did not like the implications of that. It meant that the Emperor had been watching the images over and over again. It explained why Z'haas had been spending increasing amounts of time holed up in his inner chambers.

"My Emperor," Q'yros said softly.

Z'haas gave a start as if he had not heard that someone had stepped into the tiny room. He quickly straightened up and waved his hand over the orb. "Yes, what is it?" he snapped.

"The Colosian Ambassador awaits your presence."

Z'haas paused, then lifted his head and turned around, setting his eyes hard. "Very well. Let's get this over with."

Q'yros had no time to inquire what that meant before the Emperor had pushed past him and started walking briskly towards the audience chamber.

"It is a tragedy that the Noble Lords require a crisis of this magnitude to make their presence known to our good neighbors to the west," said Lord Uras as he stood with the empty Imperial throne behind him. "We should have taken a far more active interest in affairs of state before this. You have my sincerest apologies, Lord K'rassan."

The man standing before Uras, a somewhat lean, nervous-looking fellow with dark hair and spectacles, gave Uras a look of mild surprise. "Then you are not in favor of conflict between Oceanus and Colos?" Lord Garra K'rassan asked the Oceanus Lord.

"We have yet to hear a solid reason for it. Oceanus will never hesitate to defend itself, mind you, but only when such defense is necessary."

"The Colosian Monarch, His Majesty Flarros Z'kinna, is quite concerned about this," said Lord Garra, a quaver to his voice. "He does not understand how this has escalated so badly. It is his belief that the only grief your Emperor had with us was strictly limited to trade policy."

Uras nodded gravely. "The Noble Lords have heard only vague suppositions. We are hoping that this meeting between us and Emperor Z'haas will clear things up."

"His Majesty is prepared to be generous with terms. A war is unthinkable. We have little means to stop an attack from the east. All our forces are committed to the western frontier."

Uras' eyebrows rose. "Oh? Are you having some difficulties?"

"Some of the island nations off the west coast of the continent are making warlike noises. Colos is allied with some of them and is being forced to choose sides."

"Terrible situation to be in, you have my sympathies."

"Lord Uras, have you any insight to offer me before Emperor Z'haas arrives?" asked Garra. "Really, I am at a loss. I was pressed into ambassadorial service at the last minute, when it appeared that your Emperor was not bluffing."

"You believed this was a bluff?"

"Of course we did! We simply thought Emperor Z'haas was attempting to put pressure on us to change our trading policies, considering that his first action was to terminate trade with us. It was only when he repudiated all relations with us that we grew wary."