Chapter 7

Dev was told to find a place to live close by. Lord Benaldin suggest two places that were discreet, and rented to palace workers. He settled on a room at a place called The Eagle's Claw Inn.

For one silver a month, he had a room, and one meal a day. The room Dev had, was located at the back of the inn, on the second floor. It was far enough away from the noise of the customers, so that he was not disturbed.

It was a fairly large single room. It was well, if sparsely furnished. There was a very comfortable bed, a comfortably cushioned chair a table, and an armoire. It had one of those new iron stoves also. It was a small one, but it would be sufficient to keep the room warm in the winter months.

The best part was, it was only a short five-minute walk from the palace. Lord Benaldin got Dev immediately to work. The work he had was strange, though. He was ordered to get to know the city.

He reported to the palace every morning, and Lord Benaldin would suggest a section of the city. This particular morning, he was wandering around the west end of the city. This was where the city received most of the produce that arrived, daily.

From there, it was distributed throughout the rest of the city, by carts and wagons. However, extra was being shipped in for the coming winter. The extra was going into large warehouses.

Two of the largest warehouses belonged to the king. These were already three quarters full, and would be used throughout the winter for the poor. While it would not be very much, per day, it would be enough for them to make it through the winter.

Each section of the city had storage warehouses. The west end was where most of the merchants kept their produce for the winter. The king had a total of eight warehouses, two in each quarter of the city. Most of them contained only grains.

What Lord Benaldin particularly wanted Dev to do was track pilfering. Not to stop it, or to prevent it; but to track it. Benaldin wanted Dev to come back and report in detail, all about the trafficking of the pilfered royal grain, step by step.

Dev had a feeling that Lord Benaldin already knew what was going on. This must be some sort of training exercise he wanted Dev to do. So, he did it. He was able to cast a spell over himself that made people overlook the fact that he was there.

He spent several days watching people receive baskets of grain, which went in the front door of the king's warehouse, and were moved immediately to a waiting wagon at the back. When the king's warehouse was scheduled to receive a large amount of grain, an empty wagon would drive up to the back, and some of the grain entering the warehouse would be diverted to the wagon at the back.

Still, the giant grain bins in the warehouses were filling, despite the theft. After the wagon at the back of the warehouse was filled, Dev followed it to a merchant's warehouse, just one row away from the king's. It would pull up to the front, and unload the grain that should have gone into the king's warehouse.

Dev got the names of all the workers involved, and of the merchant who was receiving the stolen grain. It took about a week for Dev to get all this information collected. He then gave it to Lord Benaldin.

"Lord Benaldin, may I ask a question?" Dev asked hesitantly.

"Certainly. Good report, by the way," Lord Benaldin said.

"You already knew all about the pilfering, didn't you," Dev made it more of a statement than a question.

"Definitely. I have been watching our good merchant and his crew of thieves for several months, now. I wanted to know how long it would take you to figure everything out. It should please you to know you were able to duplicate in one week, what took me six weeks to do," Lord Benaldin said in a pleased tone of voice

"I don't understand. Was this just a training mission then? And if so, why?" Dev asked.

"Devlin, you are in a position to help out the kingdom in a unique way. You are able to do very potent magic. You have military training. You are also one of the finest swordsman in the realm, according to our swordsmaster. And he is someone I would hate to cross blades with.

"Yes, I have been testing you to see how long and how well you would accomplish the goals I set you. You have met and even exceeded my expectations, so far. Devlin, why do you want to stay in the army?" Lord Benaldin asked with a serious expression on his face.

"Why my lord? Why, I love military life. I want to serve my king," Dev answered.

"There is more than one way to serve your king you know. Military service is an honorable occupation to be sure, but I have something else in mind for you. In all honesty, you are much more valuable to me as an intelligence asset," Lord Benaldin stated.

"Intelligence? Well, I know the need for it, but that is not what I am trained to do," Dev said, digging in mental heels at the idea.

"You're better at it than you think. For example, in this test I set you at the warehouse, you cast a spell that misdirected peoples eyes and senses where you were concerned. Do you know how long I had to work to get the right people in place to find out what you did in such a short time?" Lord Benaldin asked in an exasperated voice.

"It seemed the simplest way to go at the time, my lord," Dev responded.

"Well let me assure you, after I get done with you, you will probably be the best intelligence asset in the land," Lord Benaldin said, beaming.

"But the army..." Dev started, but was interrupted.

"Devlin! While I applaud your single-mindedness, you did ask me for my help. That help comes with a price. You can remain in the army if you like, but you will be detached to me for the duration of your enlistment. I will even make you a captain. How about that?" Lord Benaldin asked.

Dev felt insulted, and it must have shown.

"Oh, do calm down. I didn't mean it like it was nothing. You will be in the army, and you will serve a very real and serious function within it. Even the military needs intelligence, Devlin," Benaldin said with a sigh.

"Sorry, I misunderstood," Devlin apologized.

"The problem is, I have to keep you close to me for the time being. Now that you have entered my circle, people are taking note of you. Until I can get you properly trained, I can't let you go anywhere outside of Taslon," Dev was told.

For the next couple of weeks, Dev was taught several tricks of the intelligence trade. Dev started noticing when he was being followed. Some of it was Lord Benaldin training him, other times it was unnamed persons.

He decided to turn the tables one day. He discovered he was being followed, and ducked into an alleyway. He cast the spell that caused people to seem to ignore him, and then carefully followed his follower.

It was interested to note that the man, after losing him, went to the Ralm embassy. Now what would the Ralm want with him or have men following him for? This worried him, and Dev reported it to Lord Benaldin. He simply nodded, and moved on to the next subject.

It was during a chilly fall day when Dev was called to Lord Benaldin's office.

"You sent for me?" Dev said after entering.

"Yes. His majesty is having a ball coming up in a few weeks, and he wants you there as part of his protection," Lord Benaldin said.

"His majesty? Why would he want me? I mean, he doesn't even know me," Dev almost stuttered.

Lord Benaldin stared at him a moment.

"Certainly he knows you, and you know him. You have met and talked to him before," Lord Benaldin replied.

Dev thought for a moment shaking his head.

"My lord, I can honestly say I have never met his majesty," Dev answered knowingly.

Lord Benaldin laughed long and hard. Dev looked at him, wondering what the joke was.

"Sorry," Lord Benaldin said, "But it never occurred to me that you had not discovered by now what his majesty looks like. You met him that day you first came to me. He sat right in that chair, over there," Lord Benaldin said, pointing at the chair.

Dev thought back to that day and it came to him in a rush! That man in his mid to late twenties! He is the king? Come to think of it, Dev had never even seen a portrait of the king, and the stamp of his head on a coin, did not due him justice.

"His majesty has been following your training with interest. He was most impressed with your bit of 'intelligence' down at the border. The map, you know. He watched you're demonstration of swordsmanship in the practice hall, also.

"Oh yes, his majesty knows you, Devlin. Still, it wouldn't matter if he knew you or not. Do you think his majesty knows every person in his guard? There are hundreds of guardsmen assigned to his protection detail. You are very qualified to protect his majesty and if you are assigned to protect him, you will," Lord Benaldin assured him.

Dev spent the next couple days thinking about all the things Lord Benaldin had told him about his work for the kingdom. He realized that while it was true he loved the army life as he had lived it, there was more than one way to serve his king.

Dev did not know what to think about the king knowing he was even alive. There were so many people in the kingdom, important people... and yet the king knew of Dev? Then he remembered that the king had stated Dev's name and troop that day, and had even complimented him about the map!