Chapter 7

James stepped down onto the dock, the Kikker fishing village of Visvang before him.

What the fuck was Shanna doing back here so soon?

The message, relayed by flag from the city, had been not just unexpected, but baffling. Instead of coming directly to Fredrick, Shanna had sailed to Visvang, sent a rider (Piotr, of all people) all the way to Nowy Warsaw, where a cryptic communication was sent to the mainland, telling him to get his ass to the Frog village as soon as possible. Something had happened. Something was STILL happening. Something secret.

That was never good.

Shanna was walking across the village square. Even from here, he could see the seriousness of her movements. Again, not good. James began his own walk down the wooden dock, guards following. Shanna met him as he stepped on to shore.

"You made it," she said, as soon as she was before him. "Good. I didn't know how long it would take, or even where you were."

"I THOUGHT I knew where you were," James told her, unable to keep the exhaustion out of his voice. "Why the hell are you back? What happened?"

"Fucking shit happened, that's what. I got Helmut killed."

He saw it in her eyes behind those glasses. The pain. Soon, he knew, he would be where she was, would have blood on his hands. Maybe he already did. Shaking his head, he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Damn. You OK?

"Oh," she replied, voice bitter, "I'm fine. Bogdi got his arm sliced. Doesn't look infected. Got everyone else home."

"Good. So what's the emergency that drew me away from the other five I've been having fun with?"

Shanna let out a snort.

"You're going to love this."

James looked across the tavern.

Elves.

And not just Elves, according to Shanna. An Elven Princess. A Queen, too, unconscious upstairs, if only a new one with no kingdom to rule. Fucking Elven royalty here a short ride from the new Polish capital. Oh, this was wonderful. Nothing but good things could come of this.

His eyes could not leave the young girl. She was ... inhuman. Yes. That was what came to his mind. Beautiful, but inhumanly so. Someone in some podcast he had listened to, back when such things existed, had said that the most attractive movie stars were only partly human. They were so ... PERFECT, they seemed alien, a race apart. So it was with this one. It was not the skin, the eyes, or the long pointed ears that turned him off. It was her beauty itself. He had never found himself attracted to plastic dolls.

The Princess was seated at one of the many tables scattered around the inn. Her four remaining soldiers stood against a wall behind her, flanked by some of Shanna's men. The Elves were clad in what looked like brown muscle shirts and underwear. It took a moment for James to realize they had been stripped of their armor as well as their weapons. He shook his head. The creature at the table could not be the same race as those ugly things. But, then, for all he knew male royalty was just as beautiful as their female counterparts, and most females were big breasted versions of the ugly males. Nature could be strange.

The girl looked up at him, black eyes wide. There was surprise there, he thought. Maybe a little fear. That wasn't good. A spell casting girl afraid for her life could be dangerous. As he approached the table, James gave the room another sweep of his eyes. Most of Shanna's thirty soldiers were here, armed. Even the injured Bogdi, upper left arm bandaged heavily, stood by the fireplace with his sister. The village Chief stood with them, as did his daughter. Chief Ajani nodded to James. This affected his people as much as it did the Poles.

Returning his attention to the girl, James smiled.

"Hello." He pulled out the chair opposite hers, sitting. He could almost feel her shaking, pushing back in her chair. "I'm James, King of Poland."

"Catty," she said. There was a flute like quality to her voice. He wondered what Elvish sounded like. He would never know, obviously. The magic inherent in him in this world made all language sound like English to his ears, and his words became the native tongue of others. A handy trait for a King, but much was lost. He nodded to her.

"Catty. Welcome to the doorway to Nowy Poland. We weren't expecting you, obviously, but I hope you are being treated well." Both their eyes went to the Elven soldiers. She smiled slightly as her head came around again to meet his.

"As well as can be expected."

"Good, good. Now, obviously, the question is ... why are you here?" He put his elbows on the table, fingers interlocked before him. "As I said, this is the doorway. The question will be whether we let you in."

"We have to enter," she said, voice sad, bitter.

"Why?"

Another sigh. If she thought it was having some effect on him, it wasn't. He kept his gaze unchanged until she spoke.

"It's ... my sister. Jaka. She is sick. I must bring her into your Kingdom, so I can search for what I need to cure her."

"And what is that?"

"A ... book. Of magic, herbs. Our Mother had it, but we could not find it as we were fleeing the castle. Jaka thought Mother had hidden it, although why I have no idea. Surely she could have used it, could have saved herself..."

James glanced over at Shanna. The girl was in the process of wiping her glasses on a cloth. She met his gaze, surprised. They shouldn't be, naturally. If this really was...

"YOU HAVE IT!"

The Elven Princess leapt to her feet, madness on her porcelain doll-like face. Her hands began moving before her, her mouth whispering.

"Renas ... AAHHH!"

A dagger struck one of her hands, hilt first, even as James leapt back onto his feet and away from the table. Soldiers were there a moment later, forcing her thin arms behind her back as she yelled and kicked like a demon.

"Gag her!" Shanna yelled. Something fabric was shoved in the Princess's mouth. Behind her, the Elven soldiers were surrounded, able to only glare at the humans manhandling their Princess.

Within seconds, it was all over.

James looked over by the fireplace. Anelie had a second dagger out, ready to throw. He nodded to her.

"Good throw, soldier."

"Thank you, Your Grace." The girl looked very pleased with herself, an expression which swiftly faded as her eyes went over to Shanna. James followed that gaze. His friend and fellow otherworlder looked disgusted.

"Fuck! Damn it, I'm sorry James. I should have..."

"Distrust has to be earned," he said. "The enemy of my enemy is a still a second enemy, et cetera. It was worth a shot being nice, as I, at least, am a nice person." He turned to the restrained Elf. "I'm not stupid, though."

"We were set up," Shanna went on. "I lost Helmut because I was stupid and..."

"We don't know that," James said. "It could just be a case of a young Princess not thinking things through." He could hear the girl growl around the wadded cloth. Bending down to pick his chair back up, he returned it to the table and sat down again. He waited as rope was tied around her wrists behind her back. "Let's start over. Sit."

The girl didn't protest as she was forced down into her chair. Those black eyes were like daggers, though. James smiled again.

"OK. As I was going to say, before we were interrupted, we do have a book. It may well be the one you are looking for. It might not. God knows we don't know what the hell it is. It was..." He paused, considering. Shanna's spoke behind him.

"Everyone but Bogdi, Jacek, Anelie, out. Duda, call in some more of His Grace's guards. Chief Ajani, you may stay, naturally, but understand that what you hear is under strictest confidence."

"Of course." If the Kikker was insulted, he kept it well hidden. His daughter stayed too, which made sense. She served as his Polish translator, although his own Polish was improving greatly. As Shanna's men, trusted but in no way used to dealing with secrets, were replaced by his own guards, James noticed the Frog girl sliding closer to Bogdi. The movement drew the King's eyes down to her breasts. Nice.