The Agent (29 page)

Liam looked at Garran riding ahead of them. “Do you really think you can bring down The Guild and retake the throne?”

“I think so. I know it is a long shot, but we have done some amazing things so far. As long as our allies come through for us and we don’t suffer a major catastrophe before we launch our attack, we have a chance.”

“Do you have any idea how Evelyn is doing?”

Adam sighed and gazed off into the distance. “Garran has received a couple of messages. How I have no idea. Apparently, he still has some connections within the diplomatic corps with those who are still loyal to my family. She appears to be all right for the moment, but she is pregnant. Garran thinks it is only a matter of time before she has an ‘accident’ once she produces a son.”

“Everything seems to ride on Garran doesn’t it?”

“Sadly, it does.”

“He looks like a drunken wastrel. Is he able to focus on the mission enough to see it through?”

“I think so. Garran is tenacious when sets his sight on something.”

Garran turned, saw Liam watching him, and licked the apple core suggestively before tossing it onto the road.

“Is he going to rape me in my sleep?”

“It’s not rape!” Garran shouted back at them.

“How the hell did he hear me way up there?”

“I have impeccable eyesight and can read lips!”

Adam sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know, Liam. God help me, I just don’t know.”

***

They pushed toward Dracofort until the sun completely set and blanketed the land in darkness. They camped well off the road, placing a hill between them so any late-night travelers would not spot their campfire.

“Garran, do you have a plan yet for when we reach Dracofort?” Adam asked as he chewed a strip of dried beef.

“I can’t formulate a specific plan until I see what we have to deal with. We’ll use our credentials as Artemisia’s emissaries to get into wherever they are holding Elroy. That will let me know what kind of security they have in place. Until I see the barriers, I can’t make a plan to circumvent them.”

“Do you have a job for me?” Liam asked.

“I do, actually. Do you still have that dress and wig?”

“Dammit, Garran, knock it off,” Adam ordered. “It’s not funny.”

“I’m being serious! Liam can go as my niece. Having who appears to be a teenage girl in our party will go a long way in alleviating suspicion.”

“I suppose that’s not a bad idea, but I really doubt Liam packed a dress.”

“Actually…I did,” Liam said.

“Why would you bring a dress?” Adam asked.

“Because I assume you two will screw this up at some point, and I will need to vanish again. I figured this worked pretty well before and would suffice again.”

“His lack of faith aside, that’s some pretty smart thinking,” Garran conceded. “He has the makings of a decent agent.”

“And your hygiene, drunkenness, sexual depravity, and general manners aside, you have the makings of a decent human being,” Liam retorted.

“You know, you disrupted my planned sexual depravity back in Bale. Keep being a smartass and I’ll put you in that dress right now.”

“Both of you stop it,” Adam said.

Liam held up a hand. “It’s all right, Adam. It is a well-known fact that frequently vocalizing one’s sexual desires is an attempt to mask their deep-seated inadequacies.”

“It’s also a fact that pigs have half-hour long orgasms. I fail to see how either of those is relevant to your point.”

“Is that right? Did you learn that at the university, or did you watch your mother and mark the time?”

Garran stared at the youth, his face an emotionless mask, before chuckling and shaking his head. “Clever. You got me. Adam, do me a favor and go check on the horses. I thought I heard them stomping around, and I don’t want them to pull off of the picket.”

Adam looked between Garran and Liam. “Sure. Are you two all right by yourselves?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Garran insisted.

Garran watched Adam stalk off beyond the light of their fire to check their horses, looked at Liam, and smiled.

“What are you grinning at?” Liam demanded.

Garran’s left fist snaked out and clobbered Liam in the side of the head. Liam flopped over onto the ground and lay still. Adam returned and noted his cousin’s slumbering form.

“The horses are fine. What happened to him?”

“Poor little guy is tuckered out. I think all the excitement finally caught up with him.” Garran stood, dropped a blanket over Liam, and collapsed onto his bedroll. “I guess I’ll hit the hay too. We have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow. You best get to sleep as well.”

Adam looked at Garran and Liam. “Yeah…right. I’ll do that.”

CHAPTER 31

Dracofort sprawled across the wide plateau nearly a thousand feet above the valley floor. It was said that the mountain upon which it lay was once a hundred feet taller, but the quarrying of stone used to build the city, its walls, and castle had effectively lopped off its crown.

Dracofort was Urqua’s capital as well as the kingdom’s final redoubt should any of their frequent wars take a devastating turn for the worse. The road cut a winding, serpentine path up the mountain and was the only way to reach the fortified city. The mountain itself was steep and rugged in every direction.

Garran, Adam, and Liam joined the long queue of carts, travelers, and peddlers. The line of people shuffled forward as the soldiers guarding the massive city gates checked merchant and travel permits and waved them through or turned them around depending upon their papers.

Garran glanced over at Liam, once again in his dress and wig, and found the boy glaring at him, as was often the case. He gave the kid credit for not reporting the assault to Adam and had not mentioned it once during their past few days of travel.

Liam scratched at the corner of his eye. Garran did likewise as a sympathy itch materialized. Liam smiled when Garran scratched at it and looked away. That was something else he had been doing since the incident.

“Garran, are you all right?” Adam asked.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Your eye is starting to look infected.”

“Is it? It has been itching a lot lately.”

Adam leaned over in his saddle to get a closer look. “It looks as though it is starting to weep a bit. You should have a physic examine it when we get into the city.”

Garran nodded, frowned, and gave Liam a questioning look. Liam flashed him another smile before turning his eyes up the road toward the slowly approaching gates once again.

It was midday when they finally reached the gates. The gate guard studied the papers Garran handed over, his eyes traveling up and down each of the riders.

“Lord Rupert Ellery and Clement Medea. You are here as ambassadors of Artemisia?”

Garran ducked his chin. “That’s right.”

“Are you expected at the castle?”

“No, this is a surprise visit as allowed by the treaty of royal prisoners.”

“Who is she?” the guard asked. “These papers do not mention a third member of your party.”

“She is my niece, Frieda,” Garran explained. “I thought it a grand idea for her to see the splendors of Urqua during her visit.”

“Frieda what?”

“Frieda do whatever you want,” Garran said with a laugh, leaned down, and whispered, “She’s a bit of a slut.”

The guard looked from Liam to the documents without changing his stony façade. “She is not on the papers.”

“Yes, we have established that she is not on the papers.”

“Everyone entering the city must have papers.”

“She is part of an official Artemisian delegation. Send a runner to the castle and have someone grant her permission if you must, but the hour is late, and we have already been waiting an interminable amount of time. I would not want to be the one to interrupt the seneschal’s meal as well as create international tensions between our two nations.”

“Next time, bring her papers,” the guard said and he handed back the documents.

Garran made to take them, but the soldier did not release his grip.

“What is wrong with your eye? Disease is not allowed into the city.”

“Even if it has papers? I’m not sick. A bug flew in it is all.”

The guard stared at Garran a moment longer before letting loose his grip on the documents and jerking his head toward the city. Garran and his small entourage nudged their mounts to a walk and entered the city. The differences between Dracofort and any other city in the in the nine kingdoms was numerous. It was truly a foreign land, and only Sorne could compete with it for its stark contrasts.

The streets were clean, and traffic ambled along in an orderly fashion. The right side of the street and sidewalks was for traveling one direction while the other side moved oppositely without exception. City watch stood on nearly every corner to ensure that no one broke the rules.

Garran pointed to a suitable lodging house not far from the fortified bastion that served as Urqua’s center of government. The lodging house provided rooms for travelers, but unlike similar establishments to the south, it had only a small dining room for guests instead of a large common room. Nor were the rooms small and individual. This required them to rent all six beds so that they could ensure that they were alone in the room.

“So, what now?” Adam asked as he tossed his traveling pack onto one of the empty beds.

“Assuming Elroy is being held as a political prisoner in accordance with the treaty, then he is likely kept in one of the towers, secure but reasonably comfortable. Adam, can you use your magic like you have done before to make people not notice us? We should be able to walk him right out of the doors.”

“What kind of guards are we to expect?”

“There are likely one or two men guarding each door leading out of the tower. Assuming there are three or four floors attached to the tower, we could expect to have to pass by four to ten guards.”

Adam shook his head. “Very unlikely. I cannot make four people look like three. While I might make them not recognize Elroy for who he is, seeing four people come out of the room when only three entered is going to spoil any trick I can conjure. I also recall that Urqua employs several sensitives. If we happen to come across one while using any kind of magical disguise, he or she will know immediately.”

“But you could make Elroy look like one of us and get him past the guards?”

“Probably, but only as long as none of them are a sensitive.”

“All right, there’s nothing we can do about the sensitives except hope to identify and avoid them. I have a plan. You two hang tight while I go for some supplies.”

“Damn it, you always do this!”

“And you always complain.” Garran reached out and pinched Adam’s cheek. “It’s our little ritual.”

Adam slapped Garran’s hand away. “I complain because something bad always happens!”

“Not always.”

“Last time, you almost died.”

“Technically, I did die.”

“The time before that, a psychotic woman kidnapped me and almost turned me over to The Guild.”

“You left out the part where she kicked your ass.”

“She was a trained agent with exceptional fighting skills.”

“You always have an excuse, don’t you? You’re not alone, so even you shouldn’t be able to muck it up time.”

“So these things are my fault?”

“I’m glad you agree. It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong, and an even bigger one not to hang himself in shame for getting beat up by a girl. Stay put. I’ll be back soon.”

Garran left before Adam could utter another complaint. Liam locked the door behind him and flopped onto the bed, casting his wig onto the nightstand.

“This is so typical of him!” Adam fumed as he paced around the room.

“Relax. We’re in a locked room in the heart of Urqua. Did you know that Urqua has the lowest crime rate of any nation in the nine kingdoms? Well, except for Sorne, but that’s just because there’s only like five things that are illegal there.”

“Did you not hear what happened to me before?”

“I heard you got your ass handed to you by a girl.”

“She was a woman, not a girl, and she fought like the devil!”

“Whatever makes you feel good about yourself.”

“As if you would have fared any better.”

“I put you and that grubby agent down, and I would have gotten away if he weren’t a freak of nature.”

“You talk awfully tough for a boy in a dress.”

“It’s a disguise. There’s nothing unmanly about it.”

Liam bolted upright and Adam spun toward the door when the handle shook. Liam grabbed his wig off the table and plunked it onto his head as the key rattled in the lock before falling to floor with an ominous clunk. Liam shot from the bed when the lock clicked free and the door opened.

Two large men pushed into the room and closed the door behind them. One gripped a truncheon in one hand, and the other wielded a large hunting knife. The one with the club closed on Liam and grabbed him by the upper arm with his free hand.

“Don’t make a peep, and this will go smooth as silk,” the knife-wielder said as he approached Adam. “Hand over all of your coin and valuables, and no one gets hurt.”

“You see!” Adam railed. “Garran’s gone ten minutes and already someone is in the room pointing weapons at us. Every damned time!” He faced the man holding the knife. “Well, the joke’s on you. Garran left with what little money we have, and none of us has anything but the clothes on our backs. So, you and your friend can kindly piss off and go fornicate yourselves to death in whatever back alley from which you crawled.”

“You got a mouth on you, boy. Best clamp it shut before I shut it for you—permanently.” The thug kept his knife pointed at Adam as he emptied their packs onto the floor. “You got more than the clothes on your backs it seems. That’s some nice garb in your bags. That means you got money.”

“We do not have any money, I assure you,” Adam insisted.

“Maybe not on you, but it means you’re somebody, and someone is sure to pay for your safe return.” The man looked to his cohort. “Grundle, pack up those fancy clothes. They’ll fetch a bit of coin. Then see if you can find something to bind these two with. They’ll tell us who’ll pay to see them returned.”

Liam met Adam’s eyes and nodded. When Grundle let loose of Liam’s arm, the youth spun, brought a knee crashing into the goon’s groin, and delivered a swift punch to his throat. From somewhere beneath his dress, he materialized a dirk and pressed it to the man’s neck.

Grundle’s partner took a step back, waving his knife between Adam and Liam. “Hold on now! You let him go, girl, or I’m going to stick your friend!”

Adam glowered, his temper coming to a boil. “How are you going to do that when you can’t see?”

The man’s face showed a moment of confusion before Adam’s magic took effect. He cried out, dropped his knife, and pawed at his eyes.

“What did you do to my eyes?” he cried. “I can’t see!”

Adam retrieved the knife from the floor and brought the heavy handle down onto the back of the man’s skull. The would-be thief and kidnapper fell to floor and did not stir.

“You’re god-touched?” Liam asked. “Is that why you can’t take the throne?”

Adam nodded curtly. “It is.”

“Yet you still got beat up by a woman. That’s even sadder.”

“You let a woman beat you up?” the criminal kneeling in front of Liam chortled.

“Shut up!”

***

Garran strolled through the door and ducked the waste bucket hurled at his head. The wooden bucket rebounded off the doorframe and rolled across the floor.

“Every goddam time!” Adam shouted.

Garran dropped what appeared to be a pair of deflated bladders slung on one shoulder to the floor and tossed a small wooden box and a laden sack onto the nearest bed. “What in the hell are on about now—other than your period, obviously?”

“Not ten minutes after you left, two thugs barged in here and tried to rob and kidnap us for ransom!”

Garran looked around the room. “What thugs?”

“The constabulary took them away hours ago,” Liam said.

“All right, so a couple of local crooks tried to pull one over, but you obviously took care of it, so why are you whining?”

“Because I told you something like this would happen!”

“What was I supposed to do? There are preparations I need to make, ones that are far easier to facilitate without dragging you through the city like a mother with a retarded child.”

“Preparations like what, visiting the local brothel?”

“I wish! Do you have any idea what that costs in a city where prostitution is illegal? Well I do, and the price is so outrageous it makes what almost happened to you look like a petty crime. Maybe I should have left you with better security than a boy still going through puberty, but apparently it was sufficient.”

“Sufficient?” Liam said. “I am more than sufficient.”

“Look, kid, you’re wily little bugger, I’ll give you that, but this is adult stuff here, so don’t embarrass yourself trying to show everyone how clever you are.”

“I’m clever enough to get you to give yourself pink eye.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’ve been sticking your hand in the crack of your ass every night while you slept then got you to rub your eye through mirroring. It’s the subconscious compulsion people have to imitate the gestures of another.” Liam reached up and rubbed his eye.

Garran stopped his hand in mid-motion as it drifted toward his face. “I know what mirroring is! How do you know what it is?”

“I was the first son of a noble house and third in line for the throne outside of Adam’s immediate family. Father thought it important for me to study psychology as well as governance and finance.”