Council of War (70 page)

"We can discuss this more later," Adolfus said to Baron Stikman. "I have much to do before the next meeting."

"You disappointed me in there, Garth Shado," Baron Stikman said as the Royal Lancer walked away. "I had taken you for being overly ambitious, but I never suspected you of being underhanded."

"There was nothing underhanded in my statements," retorted Garth as he turned to leave.

The baron's hand shot out and clasped Garth's shoulder.

"Do not walk away from me when I am talking to you," scowled the baron. "I have treated you with every respect, and you continually try to provoke me to anger. Why?"

"I have no desire to anger you," Garth replied as he turned to face the baron. "The truth is, I suspect that there is a traitor amongst us. I have already spoken to King Wendal about my suspicions, but he refused to alter the list of attendees to the meeting. I will not endanger the brave men and women of Zara by exposing them to a Federation spy."

"A spy?" balked the baron. “That is ridiculous. Neither Queen Romani or General Skye would betray their countries, and I personally know each man from Korocca. If there is a spy, I would suggest you look to your own ranks."

"Once again we disagree," declared Garth. "Now, if you would excuse me, I must be going."

"You cannot declare that there is a spy among my people and then just walk away," snapped the baron. "What makes you think there is a spy at all?"

"I was in Vinafor recently," Garth sighed as he realized that the Royal Lancer had gotten away. "People there knew that Queen Romani is alive and well, and living in Herinak Castle. Would you care to tell me how they knew?"

The baron's brow furrowed, and he stared blankly at Garth. After a moment he shook his head as if to clear it. "That might be nothing. It could even be a rumor generated by speculation. You cannot claim a spy on such flimsy evidence."

Garth stared at the baron as if weighing a significant decision in his mind. He sighed heavily and decided to gamble. "Your words match those of King Wendal. That does not surprise me as I think you are the real power in Korocca. The king values your advice over all else, and the other barons would support you if you said the Federation didn't exist."

"King Wendal rules Korocca," declared Baron Stikman. "Can I help it if he sees wisdom in my words?"

"Not as long as your words are truly wise," Garth said. "I stand convinced that there is a spy among the king's advisors, and I will prove it."

"And how will you do that?" asked the baron.

"In the meeting a while ago," explained Garth, "Queen Romani named the officer that is leading the rebellion in Vinafor. I am betting that a message of some kind will be sent from Herinak to Waxhaw in the next couple of hours, and that message will result in the death of Major Pezzola within three days."

The baron's eyes flickered left and right as if searching for anyone who might overhear the conversation. "Come to my office," he demanded.

The baron spun and marched off. Garth followed the Koroccan, and they both entered the baron's private office. He closed the door and walked to the chair behind his desk, waving Garth in the chair before his desk.

"You have been holding back a great deal of information," the baron said accusingly. "You claim to have been In Vinafor recently. How can I believe this?"

"I cannot explain that at this time."

"Do you think that I am the spy?" scowled the baron.

"I do not," answered Garth, "but neither do I have a good feeling that what I divulge to you will remain between the two of us. Look, I know that you are just trying to do what is best your country. I am trying to do the same, but I believe our two countries’ interests coincide. You do not."

The baron sighed in frustration. "How can we work together if we cannot trust one another?"

"That is the challenge you and I face," agreed Garth. "I asked for the adjournment not to speak with my advisors, but to catch the spy. It was the only way that I could think of to make you believe me. Now I wonder if even that will be enough."

"If you prove it, I will believe it," stated the baron, "but how would such a message be delivered? Even if a rider could ride through the Forest of Death, it would take him a month to get to Waxhaw. It is over six hundred leagues, yet you claim that Major Pezzola will be dead in three days. None of what you say makes any sense. Can't you see that your words sound like those of a crazy man?"

"No riders will be used to deliver the message," answered Garth. "While I do not know the method that will be used, I suspect it will be magical. I could have a message in Waxhaw within a day and back within two. What can you tell me about the Royal Sorcerer?"

"Sigfrid?" balked the baron. "Surely, you do not think he is the spy? His family is well respected in Korocca. That thought is unfathomable."

"He is old enough to have studied in the cities of the Federation," Garth pointed out.

"He did study in Giza," frowned the baron. "In the old days many of our people studied in the southern cities. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I am fishing," Garth admitted. "I am trying to figure out why a well-respected Koroccan would sell out their country to the Federation. The only thing I can come up with is a magical brainwashing during their youth. How many of the king's advisors have studied down south?"

"I know that Adolfus and Bjorn did not," answered the baron. “They are both boyhood friends of mine."

"What about Roff and Tyko?" pressed the Knight of Alcea.

"I am not sure," shrugged the baron. "I do not put much stock in your suspicions in any event. Both of them are respected throughout the land, and contact with the Federation died out over twenty years ago. It is a theory that will not hold water."

* * *

Button watched the man lead his horse out of the stables. The Koroccan mounted his horse and rode out of the castle grounds. Once he was through the gates, he rode into an alley and threw a dark cloak over his clothes. He pulled the hood close about his face, and Button knew that she had discovered the spy. When the man headed for the city gates, Button flew upward and baked sharply to reach Tedi as fast as she could. The fairy darted through the window of Sidney's suite and landed on the table.

"My assigned target is leaving the city by horse," Button reported. "I could use help in case he meets with someone. I cannot follow two people."

"Pixy, accompany Button. I will mount up and try to follow. Check in with me periodically so I know which way to ride."

"We shall corner our quarry and give you directions," Pixy declared boisterously.

The two fairies shot out the window, and Tedi rose to his feet.

"Who is it?" asked Queen Romani.

"Roff or Tyko," Tedi answered as he ran towards the door. "I am not sure which one Button had. Stay here in case Bitsy checks in."

Tedi exited the room in a rush. He ran through the castle and mounted his unicorn in the stables. His haste caused many people to stare at him in wonder, but the gypsy prince gave no thought to the spectacle he was creating. He had a spy to catch. As soon as he exited the city, Button swooped down and landed on his shoulder.

"Northwest," stated the fairy. "He is not riding hard, so you could sneak up on him."

Having delivered the message, Button leaped into the air. The fairy soared northwest and soon caught up to Pixy. The fairies flew side-by-side as they watched the hooded rider in the woods below. The man glanced over his shoulder before turning off the trail. He maneuvered his horse through the trees until he came to a small hut. The man dismounted and threw back his hood. He glanced around nervously and then entered the hut. Pixy flew inside before the man closed the door, but Button hovered over the small building. The door opened again and the man stepped outside with a pigeon in his hands. He threw his hands up in the air and released the bird.

As the bird climbed into the sky, Button raced to head it off. As the bird banked to the west, Button leaped onto it's back. The bird did not care for the fairy on its back and it tried unsuccessfully to dislodge Button. Within a few minutes Pixy arrived.

"We have to bring it down," Button shouted, "but not kill it. Grab the left wing, and I will get the right one."

Pixy dove for the left wing and grabbed onto it. The bird started flapping furiously and Button dove for the right wing. As the bird struggled, all three of them plummeted towards the ground.

"I don't care much for your strategy," screamed Pixy as they hurtled downward. "We are all going to die!"

"You levitate it," Button shouted. "I will put it to sleep."

"Now or after we crash?" yelled Pixy.

"Now!" shouted Button as they crashed through the forest canopy.

Both fairies let go of the falling pigeon and cast their spells. The bird's wings flapped furiously when they were released, but its downward movement was too much for it to overcome before the sleep spell took effect. Fortunately, the levitation spell was not far behind. The pigeon thudded into the ground, but not hard enough to hurt it. The two fairies slammed into the pigeon and bounced off. For moment nothing stirred in the forest, but Pixy eventually sat and shook her head wildly.

"That is the last time I team up with you," scowled Pixy. "Look at the size of that beast. If it had fallen on us we would have been crushed like a flower under an ogre's foot."

"It is only a bird," retorted Button as she climbed to her feet. "Oh, I forgot. You are newly arrived in this land from the soft life in Alcea. Well, you had better get used to the hard life on the frontier. This is Zara, and we are at war."

"Like you tackle pigeons everyday?" countered Pixy. "Dream on."

"Maybe not pigeons," replied Button, "but it is a dangerous life here. You don't have to believe me, ask Tedi."

"Tedi!" the two female fairies shouted in unison.

"I forgot all about him," Button said as she quickly flapped her wings to see if they were damaged. "Watch the bird! Don't let it get away."

Pixy watched Button shoot into the air. She rose to her feet and warily walked around the pigeon. Just to be safe, she cast another sleep spell on the flying beast.

* * *

Garth was sitting with Sidney and Queen Romani when Pixy flew in through the window. The fairy told her tale of the fight with the pigeon with a dramatic flair that would have won her rounds of applause if it had been told in court. Bitsy looked on skeptically, but Garth was not concerned about the embellishments.

"Where is the pigeon now?" he asked.

"Tedi is bringing it back to the city," answered Pixy. "He thought it best if it was delivered to you intact without the message being unsealed."

"He thought correctly," Garth replied. "Into my pocket, Pixy."

"That is my pocket," frowned Bitsy.

"Right now I need someone who was actually there," replied Garth. "You stay with Sidney."

Pixy climbed into Garth's pocket and the Knight of Alcea left the room. He made his way straight to Baron Stikman's quarters and found the baron just leaving.

"We need to talk," Garth said to the baron.

"It will have to wait," the baron replied. "It is time for the evening meal. Are you coming?"

"The meal can wait," Garth shook his head. "It is right after the meal that we are to convene the meeting again. There is no time for food, and I think King Wendal should join us."

"After the meal," the baron replied with annoyance.

"I have the proof that you both requested," Garth declared. "You might also want to send a man to the stables to note whose horses are unaccounted for."

"What are you implying?" the baron asked with concern.

"I am stating that your spy just tried to send a message," answered the Knight of Alcea. "The evidence is on its way into the city."

Baron Stikman stared at Garth for a moment of indecision. Without speaking he turned and strode away from Garth. He marched down the corridor and banged on a door. The door opened and a soldier stuck his head out and stiffened when he saw who was knocking. The baron spoke softly and the soldier nodded. Baron Stikman turned away from the door and returned to Garth.

"Into my office," he said gruffly. "The king will be with us in a moment."

The two men entered the room, and the baron closed the door. Before sitting in the chair behind his desk, he dragged an overstuffed chair in front of his desk and moved it next to the stiff wooden chair. He pointed to the wooden chair and indicated that Garth should sit. Then he walked around the desk and sat in his chair.

"This had better be good, Garth Shado," Baron Stikman said roughly. "Dragging the king away from the evening meal is not something I would wish to do more than once."

"I think both you and the king will find it shocking," Garth assured the baron. "Are you having a man check the stables?"

"He is on his way right now. Are you going to tell me who the spy is?"

"I am going to let you discover it for yourself," smiled Garth.

King Wendal opened the door to the baron's office without knocking. He closed the door and promptly sat in the overstuffed chair that Baron Stikman had set up for him.

"This is highly irregular," the king opened with annoyance. "What is the purpose of dragging me away from the evening meal?"

Baron Stikman looked at Garth for the answer.

"Both of you have questioned how I manage to get information so quickly from all over Zara," Garth began. "I am going to reveal that to you now. Please do not be alarmed."

Both of the Koroccans frowned in confusion as Garth stuck his finger into his breast pocket. Pixy leaped out of the pocket and landed on the desk. She curtsied to the king, and he stared at her as if he did not believe his eyes. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes and looked again.

"What is it?" asked Baron Stikman.

"She is a fairy," answered Garth. "Her name is Pixy. She is one of my secret weapons. I ask that knowledge of her existence not go beyond these walls. I have been hesitant to reveal much because it would hinder what I do, but this is so important to both of our countries, that I felt it was time for you to understand what we are up against. Fairies have many unique capabilities. Besides their ability to fly, they can recall their memories and display them for others to see. You are about to see such a memory replayed before your eyes."