Ebudae (10 page)

“What do they need information about?” He
was irritated, but more than that, he was fearful.

It was then that Aphry and the others came
walking up the aisle between the clothes. “They want to know what
happened to Jovias. Tell them the truth, or . . .”

It was a brilliant bluff, but Ebudae had no
idea if it would work or not. It seemed more likely not to,
especially when Aphry narrowed her eyes at the sight of the girls.
Before she could speak, the costume maker did. Not only did he
talk, he gave away all the information, making Ebudae very curious
about what the man had to hide.

Joma spoke to Aphry. “I told Jovias that my
supplier in the North Market District was holding his costumes.
Lothlum, the playwright, paid me good money and threatened my
business if I didn’t do it. Lothlum had a couple of new goons with
him. I’ve never seen them before. It was probably a trap, but I
didn’t ask any questions.”

Aphry leaned over the counter and took Joma
by the collar. “Why didn’t you tell Karla this before?” she hissed
in fury. Joma’s guard had followed them in, but the presence of
Lizor smacking the metal staff in one hand sapped him of
courage.

“Because I don’t know what they’ll do to me.
There was something about those goons.” The costume maker began to
panic. “I didn’t know they were going to do anything bad. I’ll tell
you where he is if you promise to leave me alone.”

Aphry put her nose against his. “Tell me why
I shouldn’t just kill you?” The words were almost a whisper because
she was so far gone into anger.

Pelya put a hand on her arm. “Because you
need him to tell you where Jovias is, and then you need to get to
Jovias. Killing Joma would take too much time, plus you’d have to
explain all that blood to the Guard.”

It worked. Aphry didn’t take her eyes off
the costume maker, but she did back away. “Where is he?”

“I told him to go to a warehouse on the
corner of Deep Street and Palvaros Place in the North Warehouse
District. That’s where Lothlum and his goons told me to tell him. I
swear I didn’t know what would happen.”

“Lothlum has been trying to take our stage.
It’s a prime location, but he already has ten others. I don’t know
what he’s trying to accomplish,” Frank said.

“What can you tell them about the goons?”
Pelya asked Loma. Aphry turned to look at her with narrowed
eyes.

“They wore yellow tunics with three diagonal
black stripes. Their swords were short and curved, which seemed odd
to me,” Loma said.

Ebudae opened her mouth to say what house
they were, but shut it, not willing to mention it in public. If it
was
that
house, things were very bad indeed.

“So we go to the warehouse at the corner of
Deep Street and Palvaros Place,” Glav said. “I have a bad feeling
about this.”

Aphry jabbed a finger at Joma. “So help me
if you’ve lied.”

“I’ve told you everything I know,” Joma said
with hands up defensively. “I swear it.”

Aphry spun on her heel and led the way
out.

Chapter
6

Ebudae and Pelya followed Aphry along with
the rest of the group. When they reached a nearby park, Aphry took
everyone aside to a clear area shaded by trees. The sun was low
over the buildings on the western side of the park and its light
through the smog cast a dirty tint to everything. Ebudae realized
that there was never any smog at the manor and wondered if it was
another of the many enchantments on the property.

“You two,” Aphry pointed at the girls, “I
told you to go home. Explain yourselves.”

“You’re our friend, not our mother. Just
like you help your friends,” Pelya gestured at Frank and Karla, “we
help our friends.” Pelya put hands on hips and took a step forward.
“I may be young, but I’ve spent my entire life learning the ways of
the Guard. That includes investigation skills and questioning
techniques.” She looked around at the others. “I’m also a
highly-trained fighter with black belts in three styles of
hand-to-hand combat and I’m a master swordswoman, second
level.”

Pelya
never
told anyone about her
skills. She considered it boasting and also liked to make people
underestimate her. She was one of the youngest swordmasters
anywhere. Having achieved second level was extraordinary. The fact
that she had told Aphry those things showed how much she wanted to
join the search.

“How old are you?” Glav asked in awe.

“I’m fifteen,” Pelya answered testily. “I’m
young, yes, but I know how to use my strength.” She turned back to
Aphry. “I know you don’t want to babysit us, but we’re quite
capable of taking care of ourselves and will be of use to you as
we’ve already proven at Joma’s Costume Shop.”

Aphry opened her mouth to answer, but Glav
interrupted. “I’m willing to accept that you can take care of
yourself, but what about Ebudae? She’s hardly capable of handling
danger. Although if she throws some of her coin, it might distract
the guards for a moment.”

Pelya stepped in front of Ebudae and grabbed
a wrist. “I am her guardian and protector. She does not leave my
side.” Ebudae realized that Pelya didn’t want her to tell the group
she could do magic. “She won’t slow us down at all.”

There was silence for a moment while glances
were exchanged. Aphry set her jaw for a moment and studied the two
young women. “Alright. You want to be big girls, so be it. As you
said, I’m not your mother, so don’t expect me to hold your hand. Is
that clear?”

“Crystal clear,” Pelya replied. She squeezed
Ebudae’s hand excitedly, but didn’t show it on her face.

“Alright, so we’re going to this warehouse.
What do you think we can expect?” Aphry asked the group.

“It belongs to Master Blavoci, a powerful
merchant whose business spreads throughout the world,” Ebudae said
before anyone else could speak. “He has holdings everywhere from
the Kingdom of Grint in the north to Brindlyn in the east.” She had
a tutor that made her learn incredibly boring details about the
nobility and other people of power in Dralin.

“Exactly how do you know that?” Glav asked
with incredulity.

She ignored the question. “He maintains a
military force of about three thousand soldiers. They’re scattered
throughout the territories where his caravans and ships travel. The
soldiers wear yellow colors with three diagonal stripes and are
well trained. Not as well as the City Guard, but not to be taken
lightly either.”

Frank snapped his fingers. “The goons with
Lothlum wore those tunics.”

“If this man is so powerful, how dangerous
is breaking into this warehouse going to be?” Glav asked. He was
beginning to look worried.

Ebudae shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.
It’s doubtful he pays attention to one warehouse. There are
officers of business who probably take care of matters and Lothlum
may be one of those. I would recommend being subtle though.”

“We
have
to save Jovias, Aphry,”
Karla pleaded. “Even if it’s dangerous. I’ll take responsibility if
there’s trouble.
Please
.”

Aphry nodded. “Fine, but we’re going to be
careful. We’ll try to talk our way in or sneak in. I don’t want to
get into a fight. It seems the only trained swordsperson we have is
a fifteen year old girl.” She breathed in and exhaled slowly.
“We’re all good in a scrap, but we’re going to avoid that even if
it means running away. Is that clear?” Everyone nodded. “Let’s go
then.”

She began walking up the street they were
originally on. Pelya coughed and said, “There’s a faster way to our
left. We’ll be safe with as many people as we have in our
group.”

Aphry stopped and bowed, indicating Pelya to
lead the way. The irritation in the gesture was clear.

Ebudae hoped they weren’t too mad. She liked
having friends and didn’t want to lose them so soon. In the ruins,
Pelya had a tendency to make plans and lead the adventures. It was
interesting to see the same thing happening here with these people
too.

The neighborhoods they walked through were
much seedier and dirtier than Ebudae liked and she noticed their
companions looked nervous as well. “What a fun place,” Glav said
behind them. “I must take my next date here for dinner and a
murder.” Ebudae laughed along with the others, relieving some of
the tension.

Pelya led them onto a main street with more
traffic and fewer shadowy places. Aphry saw where they were and
took the lead again. “That was shorter, but I think we’ll take a
safer way back,” she told Pelya, who nodded and moved back to
Ebudae.

Juggles stayed on Ebudae’s left side. She
wasn’t sure how to feel about that other than the fact that she
liked his company. The fact that she liked it made her nervous
though.

There were numerous warehouse and market
districts throughout Dralin as it was a major hub of commerce in
the world of Ryallon. The North Warehouse District was one of four
named after each compass point of the city. Some of the buildings
were the size of small houses while others took up entire blocks
and rose four and five levels.

Most of the people traveling along the
streets were laborers in sturdy work clothes worn loose to combat
the heat. Wagons, small and large, clattered along behind heavy
workhorses and oxen. Caravans coming from major highways rumbled
along, making it difficult to maneuver through traffic. In the air
was a riot of conflicting scents emanating from the wagons and
warehouses in addition to droppings from livestock and the odor of
unwashed bodies. The heat and humidity made everything worse and
threatened to overwhelm Ebudae.

Aphry stopped at an intersection and looked
in all directions. “I have no idea where I’m going.”

Pelya closed her eyes. “Turn right and
follow the road past seven more intersections. That’s Palvaros
Street. Then you’ll turn left. Three more intersections will lead
you to Deep Street.”

“How in the world do you know all of that?”
Karla asked. “Do you live around here?

“I’m a member of the Dralin City Guard,”
Pelya said proudly. “At least I will be once I reach age. Anyway,
part of the training is to study maps of the city and I have most
of it memorized. I had to learn some mental tricks to do it, but
it’s mostly easy now. As far as where I live, all of Dralin is my
home.

“And here I thought the tent was a nice
place. I’ve never had an entire city as my home,” Glav said with a
wry twist to his lips.

“Yeah, and I thought memorizing lines was
difficult. I’d love to hear some of those mental tricks,” Frank
added.

“Let’s go,” Aphry said, leading the way.
They followed her again. Glav chuckled behind them. “Since you’re
dressed as a bird wizard, Karla, perhaps you should fly ahead and
scout for us.”

“I’m not a bird wizard,” Karla replied
haughtily. “I was once Treyloo, Guardian Bird of the Forest, but
have been imprisoned in this mortal body by malevolent kings so
that they may cut down the forest for farmland. Our play shows the
evil of kingdoms that continue to destroy beautiful forests for
human greed.”

“I think your makeup looks beautiful,”
Ebudae told her. I love the sparkles.”

“Thank you . . . what was your name
again?”

“Ebudae, granddaughter of Lady Pallon.”

“Thank you, Ebudae. I like your dress. I
also noticed that it glimmers when the light hits it just right.
You wouldn’t happen to have runes sewn into it, would you?” Karla
asked shrewdly.

“That isn’t a question I’m going to answer.”
Ebudae hoped the woman would leave it alone.

“Uh huh. That’s what I thought. There’s more
to the two of you than meets the eye.” Karla waggled a finger at
them. The others gave the young women appraising looks.

As they turned onto Palvaros Street, Juggles
said, “Without them, we’d still be in the tent wondering what to
do.” Ebudae and Pelya smiled gratefully at him.

The words had an impact on Karla. “Yes. That
is very true. I’m glad for their help.” Murmurs of agreement came
from the others.

“Do you have a plan, Aphry?” Pelya asked.
They were getting close.

“We get to the intersection and walk by. See
what guards are there and what openings there are. Half of us will
go one way and the other half will go the other way. If it’s not
dangerous, we go around back and meet at the opposite corner.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me,” Glav
said, walking by her side. “Who leads the second group?”

Aphry smiled at him. “You do. Take Pelya,
Ebudae and Juggles. That will give both sides good fighters, but
remember not to fight unless there’s no choice.”

“Will do.” He leaned in for a kiss, which
she gladly returned.

They were dismayed upon reaching the
intersection. Each corner had a building with placards that showed
the yellow with three diagonal black stripes. They took a few steps
back and gathered by the wall of the one next to them.

“Well, hopefully they didn’t quarter him and
put a piece in each warehouse,” Glav said. He received only glares.
“Sorry. Not all of my jokes are tasteful.” He didn’t look sorry
though.

“So which one did he visit?” Frank asked,
looking around. It was difficult to see the ones along their street
because a wagon train was traveling by. The sound of ironbound
wheels and clattering hooves pounded the cobblestone and echoed off
the stone walls. The noise was beginning to give Ebudae a
headache.

“He went to the one across Deep Street,”
Pelya said, pointing to the building.

“Just how do you know
that
?” Aphry
asked in exasperation.

It upset Pelya. “Because that’s the one with
an office inside judging by the normal windows in the front, closed
doors and two guards in front of it. The others all have open doors
and workers moving in and out.” She held her arms out to the side.
“Look. Your brother goes to talk to a rival and disappears. It’s
going to happen in a place that can be controlled without any
witnesses around.”