Chapter 35: Secrets, a Spymaster and a Tattletale

Roban walked through Notabir and marveled about the scenery. Norgar roamed the streets talking and laughing but no corpses littered the ground and no houses were burning. A few amazons he heard exchanging war stories with Ghallan Clan warriors, and they were men. He noticed a group of children following him, young children round about Menja’s age. When he stopped and looked at them they squealed and ran for cover, but as soon as he walked on they followed him again. They were not afraid of him, it was a game to them. Roban had to talk to Menja about all this, he was pretty sure it had to be against the balance.

He entered a smithy and looked around. A forge, an anvil, hammers, tongs, he saw nothing unusual. The smith looked at him a little nervously as he strolled through his shop.

“Are you a good smith?” Roban asked.

“I’m a good blacksmith, but no weapons-, armor- or artist-smith,” he answered hesitantly.

Roban nodded. “I want to rent your smithy for a few days, maybe a week.”

“Of course, sire, at your sire’s discretion,” the smith answered bowing and received a coin pouch.

“Don’t talk about it. I don’t want nosy visitors,” Roban said and handed the man another bulging coin pouch.

When Roban left the smithy the smith was smiling brightly.

Roban’s next direction was the town’s marketplace. The market was lively, people all around. Some booths were opened already, selling food and beverages to the many curious onlookers. A few stages were built, a few more in various stages of construction. Artists practiced their daring feats, musicians tuned their instruments and a minstrel rehearsed his song. Notabir was preparing for the festivities.

A fountain stood in the middle of the marketplace. Four fish heads spit water into a stone basin from a pillar in its center. Ayphera had taken seat on the border of the basin and had been watching the activities on the market. Now she was watching Roban’s approach. She wore a long black, tight-fitting dress decorated with opulent golden embroidery. Her coiled whip hung at her hip, fastened to a golden girdle. Her entire entourage was a single young man, but at least it was a very big man.

As Roban came closer, he saw she was smiling and patting a place by her side for him to take a seat. He sat down taking the offered place so close to her. Not close enough it seemed, Ayphera leaned her body into him, her shoulder touched his bare arm, her thigh pressed against his and he could feel the warmth of her skin through their clothes. She looked up at his face and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, her escort stepped closer and she turned her head to watch him instead of Roban.

Roban looked too.

Obviously the young man was a Norgar. He was almost as tall and broad as Roban and also with similar short blond hair. He wore a heavy armor with a long sword at his belt. His hand clasped tightly the hilt of his sword and his face was contorted in anger.

Ayphera stood up and sighed. “Sorry Roban, I just met him this morning. There was no time to teach him proper manners,” she said, and then slapped the man’s face so hard his head spun. “Go! You’ll be summoned if I ever want to see you again,” she coldly commanded, and given the expression on the young Norgar’s face, it seemed her words had hurt him more than the slap in the face. He walked off, with his head hung and dragging his feet.

Ayphera returned to Roban and sat sideways on his lap, probably to even out their mismatch in height. She laid an arm over his shoulder and one of her breasts pressed against his chest. Her fingers caressed the hairline at the nape of his neck, when Ayphera looked straight into his eyes.

“I thought he looked like you, but it was only a superficial similarity.” She sighed. “You have no idea how much I want to conquer and bend the darkness in you to my will. Sometimes I even feel envy for my sister.” Ayphera said and laughed. “Kassja talked to me about our past on Atyseos. I guess she wanted to discourage me. Obviously she doesn’t know me very well, otherwise she would have known she only was fanning the flames of my desire. Then again she is Deception, and maybe that was her goal.”

“You don’t believe there is anything we could enjoy together, without the need for one of us to bend?” Roban asked and put his arms loosely around her waist.

“There might be,” Ayphera conceded, “But enjoyment is so much less than the burning need I feel when I look into your eyes.”

“Shared pleasure doesn’t mean you have to cease trying to seduce me into becoming your obediently groveling love slave. That evidently is a pleasure we already share and enjoy,” Roban replied grinning.

“You’re more witty and fun than I imagined. That’ll become a very exciting chase.” Ayphera said returning his grin.

“Said the fox to the hound,” Roban noted and his grin got even wider.

“Challenge accepted, puppy!” Ayphera announced with sparkling eyes. “Is that why you came searching for me, to open the hunting season?”

“Actually I came to ask for a favor,” Roban answered.

“Ohh, trying to exploit your prey before you even caught her?”

“I’m hurt you think of me like that. I have to ask for a favor, but I’m offering something in exchange I’m sure you will very much enjoy.”

“I am listening.” Ayphera breathed so close to his mouth that he could feel the moisture on her lips.

Athea had mustered almost all the young women of their family at the spacious interior garden of their luxurious townhouse. The few she had not summoned were suspended for a reason, as Hassika was to find out.

“Where are Roban, Menja and Jenaya?” She asked.

“For varying reasons they can’t be trusted for my plan to be successful. In this scenario Roban is a hostile intelligence. Menja is a needed objective but also suspect of fraternization with our enemy, most likely a double agent. Finally, Jenaya is our secret enterprise,” Athea explained painstakingly.

“What?” Ynerca asked dumbfounded.

“She’s a fourteen year old girl and wants to play spymaster for a while,” Iane answered mockingly.

The others erupted in laughter, mostly because of the gaze Athea cast upon Iane; full of annoyance but with a pinch of guilty pleasure.

“May that as it be,” Athea stuck out her tongue at Iane, “You are my spies and I have orders for you. Most importantly, we have to keep Roban and Jenaya apart for the next three weeks.”

“But Jenaya needs his blood. Every three days I’d guess, given the time she was less enthusiastically jumping his bones. Nowadays it seems she could last longer without his blood than without his boning,” Meyra pointed out matter-of-factly.

“You’ve to pardon Meyra, she becomes always a little grumpy and rude around her time of the month,” Chalissa explained.

“Of course she’s excused. Since Iane came to live with us, it’s only fair that everyone else is always excused for practically everything.” Athea replied sympathetically. “And her point is a good one, but I’d be a bad spymaster if I hadn’t thought of it. Jenaya’s need for Roban’s blood is a problem that needs a solution similar to another issue that needs to be solved as well. Let’s ignore them for the moment.” Athea said.

“What about her need to be boned?” Ynerca asked seriously, although most others apparently found her question funny.

Athea rolled her eyes. “Fine, let’s jump to the reason for all the secrecy and underhanded planning. An army of vampires from Gol-Gunthay is marching towards Notabir and will arrive in three weeks’ time. Their Prince wants to wed Jenaya and you’ll help me to ensure it will be a very happy wedding.” Athea stated.

That caused a new round of happy laughter, but it slowly died as more and more of them realized Athea was not joking.

“Shit!” Hassika cursed.

“Suddenly this spy game doesn’t look so exciting anymore,” Ynerca agreed.

“So once again you want to sacrifice Jenaya?” Denyssa asked, the sound of her voice and the expression on her face were rather sad than condemning.

“She won’t feel like a sacrifice, to the contrary, she will be a very happy bride,” Athea countered.

Her last statement earned her many expressively displayed emotions, and they varied greatly. On some faces there was anger or anxiety, and on others disbelief or disgust.

“Think about it!” Kassja loudly demanded. “This is for the best, especially for Jenaya. Do YOU prefer to sacrifice your friend?”

Silence answered her question.

“Is there really no other way?” Denyssa asked pleadingly.

“I am the way,” Athea answered coldly.

“If Roban becomes suspicious and asks me, I cannot deny him.” Iane warned.

Athea nodded. “That’s why it’s of utmost importance that we keep him distracted, and that’s what I want you to do, all of you,” Athea ordered.

“How?” Rhabina asked.

Hassika snorted and some others laughed rediscovering their humor.

“Sorry,” Rhabina apologized and blushed.

“You have your orders, you are dismissed,” the spymaster commanded haughtily.

Menja was the next one on Athea’s agenda. She found her at the gardens behind their house. She was avidly listening to Esthera. They both sat resting with their backs leaning against the dozing Bosko and surrounded by their Antussie honor guard.

“Zeza! Aunt Esthera is telling the story of the Antussie, you have to listen too, it’s magic!” Menja excitedly called for her when she caught sight of Athea.

Athea sat down next to Menja joining them and sharing their comfortable backrest.

“Antussie women are very rare and even smaller than the men but they have wings like bats and they can fly. They only fly at night, and they search for corpses left after a fight, of course battlefields are the best. When they find a corpse they cry for the dead, and where the tears of an Antussie woman seep away in the ground a special flower will grow. It’s a beautiful flower with dark red petals, as delicate and also formed like feathers of a little bird. They are called Mourning Widows. Bees love these flowers. When they feed the Queen Bee with a Mourning Widows’ nectar, the Queen lays a special egg. A worker bee takes the special egg and drops it on a graveyard. Some weeks later a new Antussie hatches from the egg. I became the Queen of the hive because all the bees in my country bring the special eggs to me. I have a very large graveyard behind my palace.”

Menja eyes were glazed over with wonder and awe when Esthera finished her story.

“What a lovely story,” Athea complimented smirking. “It makes you want to visit a graveyard and dig for special eggs.”

“Is there a graveyard in Notabir?” Menja asked getting even more excited.

“I’m sure there is, but sadly Antussie women only live much farther down to the South. They don’t like the cold of the North.” Esthera answered and Menja pouted disappointed.

“I guess graveyards are much cozier in the warmth of the South,” Athea said in a voice deeply laced with empathy. “Now I’ve to abduct Menja for a while, I need her.”

Back in the house Athea led Menja to her room to talk.

“Menja, I need you to know that all we’ll talk about now is a big, big secret,” she said in earnest.

“Ouh, I really try, but I’m still not very good at keeping secrets. Daddy tricked me today and I blabbed. He is a big bad meanie,” Menja reported.

“Oh, what happened?” Athea asked sympathetically.

“I was telling daddy that I now always know where he is because Ghania always knows...”

A little while later Menja finished her minutely detailed report of the morning happenings.

“I agree, your daddy is a big bad meanie,” Athea summarized grinning. “I’ve an idea. When I tell you a secret, you let Ghania keep it, and if someone else tells you a secret, you try to keep it. Then you tell me all about your secrets and we compare who the best was at keeping them. Like a sparring practice to become a better warrior,” Athea suggested helpfully.

“That sounds like fun, I really want to become a better warrior,” Menja nodded enthusiastically.

“Then let’s start. In three weeks there will be a really big wedding, and Jenaya will be the bride. That’s a big, big secret and Ghania has to keep everything secret I tell you about it now,” Athea solemnly revealed.

“Wow, a real wedding, I never was at a real wedding,” Menja gushed, suitable impressed. But then Menja knitted her brows and asked, “But whom will Jenaya wed? There has to be a bride and a groom on a real wedding.”

“That’s part of the big secret. Jenaya will wed a Vampire Prince from Gol-Gunthay.”

“Are you sure? I don’t think daddy will like that,” Menja asked doubtfully.

Athea tilted her head and looked at Menja quizzically. “Don’t you think Roban wants Jenaya to be happy? She is your daddy’s daughter just like you and Ghania, and she loves the Vampire Prince very much.”

“I and Ghania will wed daddy when we’re older.” She announced with conviction in her voice. “Jenaya should do so too. Does Jenaya love the Vampire Prince more than daddy?” Menja asked and frowned.

“Denyssa is right, your daddy has a bad influence on you,” Athea grumbled under her breath. “Your daddy can’t wed Jenaya, he has to wed ME. But we can’t wed before I turn sixteen, and then I want a baby ... Although that is just a silly Norgar law, so why should I care ... Now you have me totally distracted from the things I wanted to talk to you about.” She huffed.

“Can’t daddy wed us all, you and me and Ghania, and Jenaya, and Denyssa, and Ynerca, and...” Menja proved not to be as easily distracted as Athea.

“I get your point,” Athea interrupted. “We’ll talk about that another time, when you’re much older, at least seven and a half,” she groaned.

Athea took in a deep breath trying to refocus. Suddenly the corners of her mouth dropped and she looked very sad, even if her facial expression came across a little forced.

“So you don’t think there will be a big wedding?” Athea asked Menja and deeply sighed. “That is so sad. I was so looking forward to the big party; the music, all the delicious food, the dancing, and all the presents.” She sighed again.

“Ouh, music, and dancing, and food, and presents,” Now it was Menja’s turn to mumble. “Presents, what presents?” She asked a little confused.

“It’s tradition to give lots of presents to the wedding couple. They get presents from all the people attending the wedding. I’ve heard a merchant from the Manthakin Empire wanted to come with puppies, even girl puppies. I thought that maybe Bosko would like some girl puppies, and we could buy him a few. But if there is no wedding, then the merchant won’t come.” Athea sighed once more.