The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest (29 page)

She caught the attention of the wench, “I
would like a bath as well I think.  To wash the filth of the
road and the rest away.  Do you offer laundry services?”

“
That blood ain’t comin
out.”  She said, giving Callindra’s stained and much mended
clothing a critical look.  “But don’t look like you
care.”

“
It rained on me a few days
ago, other than that we’ve had a bad week.”  She sniffed
herself and winced.

The woman laughed, “I’ll send my boy.
 He’ll get yer things an have ‘em back for ya th morning.
 Normal bath’s is just outside an round th back less ya want
private?”

“
No thank you, I’m not
finicky enough to require a private bath.”  Callindra said
with a chuckle.  “As long as it’s hot and the water is clean
it’s good enough for me.”

She walked out of the common room and around
the corner.  The smell of strong soap met her nostrils as she
sat in the changing room, first removing her armor and then the
sweat crusted padding beneath it.  When she was unwinding her
breast band, a boy’s voice carried over the half wall that
separated the bath by sex.

“
Hey.  Ma says ya got
some clothes needs cleaning?  Jest toss ‘em over th wall an
I’ll get ‘em done.”

“
Thank you.”  She said,
then frowned, “Can you find me something else to wear in the
meantime?  A robe or whatever’s fine.  We lost most of
our gear just over a week ago, honestly I could really use a few
spare sets of clothes.”

“
Ma can size ‘em an bring ya
sommat.”  He said as she wrapped her clothes in a bundle and
passed them over to him.  “Did ya want me ta clean th armor
too?  I work in th stables so I knows leather
care.”

Callindra hesitated, she liked to care for
her own gear, but was sadly lacking in supplies and time.
 “That would be great, thanks.  I would gladly pay you
for running some errands too if you’d be so kind?  But first I
need to get clean.”

“
I’m th best runner in
town.”  He boasted, as though this were a city that was big
enough to have real errand runners.  “If i can’t get it we
don’t got it.”

She thought about that for a minute and
supposed that finding things in a small town might actually be more
difficult than finding them in a big city in some respects.
 While she was still soaking, allowing the hot water to ease
out the aches from days in the saddle, her runner returned.

“
I gotcher spares …
miss?”

“
I’m sorry, my name’s
Callindra.”  She said lazily, “Can you bring them in here?
 I’m the only one over here right now so don’t worry about
getting into trouble.”

“
What?”  He
squeaked.

“
I don’t want them to get
wet if you toss them over the wall.”  Said Callindra, “It’s no
big deal, but I’m sunk into water up to my neck if you’re
shy.”

“
I ain’t shy!”  The boy
said defiantly, “I just don’t wanna get my head busted if another
girl comes in.”

“
I can protect you if that’s
your worry.”  She said with a chuckle, and he ran in, set down
some clothes on a bench and ran out again before she stopped
laughing.  “What’s your name?”

“
Ardie.”  He said,
“What else ya need?”

Callindra climbed from the bath and toweled
off, “I need a couple spare sets of breeches and shirts, a riding
cloak, some travel rations, a tent if you can find one, and l
really need a whetstone, polishing cloth, oil, and a kit for my
armor too… if it’s not too much trouble.”

The clothes he’d left were skirts and a
blouse, obviously for a girl much younger than herself.  With
a sigh of resignation, she put them on.  It wouldn’t hurt to
wear women’s clothes for a night.

“
Ya, I can get it for ya.”
 He said without hesitating, “Cost ya twenny five
silver.”

She put the clothes on, picked up her
sheathed sword with her baldric and pouches on it and walked around
the screen.  Looking at the boy, she decided she liked him and
handed him three gold marks without arguing.  He stared at
them for a moment, then looked back at her with his mouth slightly
agape.

“
Go on then.  I’m
paying for swift and efficient service.”  She said in a mock
stern voice.  Before she could smile or show that she wasn’t
serious he had run from the room.  Callindra sighed and ran
her hand through her short brown hair.  Maybe she looked more
intimidating than she had thought, although she doubted it while
wearing skirts.

She wandered through the common room, the
minstrel was playing a livelier tune now that the Countess had gone
upstairs and more than one man tried to pull her into some kind of
a dance before they noticed the sword slung over her back.
 Instead of heading straight to bed, she walked back to the
table where her friends were lingering over their tankards and sat,
signaling the wench for her own ale.

“
Excuse me -“ Tryst stopped,
his cheeks reddening slightly, “Callindra, I hardly recognized
you.”

“
Ha, you owe me!”
 Cronos said, pointing a finger at Vilhylm, “You said she’d
never wear ‘em!”

Vilhylm passed over a stack of gold coins and
Cronos gave one to the serving wench who was bringing Callindra’s
ale.  She took it and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“
One for sizing the clothes
for her.”  He laughed, seeming to be tipsy and focused his
attention back on Callindra “I thought that was gold gone sister!”
 

“
Don’t mind him.”
 Vilhylm said, noting the dark look on her face.  “But
you really shouldn’t sit like that in skirts.”

“
I’m no damn lady.”
 She snapped, taking a pull from her tankard and ignoring the
winds that tugged at her clothes and made the torches dance.
 “I’ll sit however I want.”

The common room went completely silent as all
eyes were drawn to the top of the stairs.  The Countess Adbar
stood there, clad only in a thin silk robe that did little to hide
what lay beneath.  One slender finger beckoned and Vilhylm
rose as if summoned by magic, even leaving his pack and cloak
behind.

Watching him go, Callindra felt nervous.
 She was surprised to find that she actually distrusted the
Countess, although she couldn’t say why.  It wasn’t as though
she begrudged her friend a tumble, she certainly had no designs in
that direction, but it was hard not to dismiss the feeling as
simple jealousy.

“
Another round on me.”
 Cronos said, and fixed her with a sloppy grin.  “Since
you were kind enough to win me some gold and I am feeling a bit
generous.”

Rather than give into her feelings of fear
and mistrust Callindra gave over to the comfort of good ale, good
company and a warm taproom.  It had been a long time since
they had been able to enjoy themselves and they had all earned
it.

Chapter 24

Something awakened Callindra at full alert.
 She wasn’t sure what it was, but Brightfang was half out of
his sheath before she had finished sitting up.  Padding across
the room on cat’s feet, she saw the pre-dawn glow on the horizon
and shook her head.  It was probably just another dream
brought on by too much drink the night before.

She walked to the basin next to the window
and poured water into it from a pitcher, splashing some of it on
her face and rinsing out her mouth.  A slight noise outside
her door caught her attention and a gust of wind blew through her
open window, whirling around the room for a moment before calming.
 Gods she felt jumpy this morning.  She blamed the cursed
skirts.  They were too long and kept threatening to tangle in
her legs if she took her normal strides.

Yanking the door open, she startled Ardie who
had just set a stack of packages down.  “I got yer things
miss.”  He said, almost tripping as he tried to walk
backwards, bow and not drop the steaming bowl of porridge and the
mug of light ale he was holding in his other hand.

Callindra realized she had partially
unsheathed her sword again and sighed in exasperation.  “Sorry
Ardie, I’m a little out of sorts this morning.  Thank
you.”

She took the breakfast he offered and gave
him a silver coin.  He shook his head and held it out to her,
“I still owe ya change miss, ya ain’t gotta give me nothin.”

“
Nonsense.”  She said,
waving a distracted hand at him.  “Now move those packages in
here so I can pack them in my saddlebags.  And I told you my
name is Callindra.”

He looked at her, his mouth set in a firm
line, “I don’t need no charity.”

“
I don’t need the money.”
 She said, “Besides I like to reward a good assistant.
 Unless you’re telling me you don’t think you’ve earned a
little extra?  In that case I can certainly find more work for
you.  I’m sure my horse needs combing and my saddle could use
a polishing.”

He scuffed his feet, “I done it already.”

“
Consider it payment then.”
 She said, “Now go away unless you want to help me get dressed
as though you were my maid?”  Artie bolted as though she’d
asked him to scrub chamber pots.

-

Callindra was just returning from a brief
practice in back courtyard of the inn when she heard Vilhylm’s
voice ringing out through the Inn.  

“
Where is she?  Has she
been taken?”

“
Vil, it’s too damn early to
be so loud.”  Cronos muttered, looking up from where he nursed
a mug of ale and nibbled a plate of sausages in the common
room.

“
Took who?”  Callindra
asked, stealing one of Cronos’s sausages.

“
I guess the Countess wasn’t
in her room this morning.  Her carriage is still here though,
she’s probably out…”  He waved in the general direction of the
town.

“
You think that someone like
her has just gone out, what, shopping?  In a town like Maple?”
 Callindra laughed, “You must be suffering from the effects of
last night’s drink.”

“
Whatever.  She was
more trouble than she was worth anyway.” Cronos
grumbled.

“
I’d better go and see
what’s going on before he breaks something.”  Callindra said
with a sigh.

When she arrived at the top of the stairs,
she saw Tryst standing at the door to the room Countess Adbar had
been sleeping in.

“
Calm down Vilhylm, I’m sure
this isn’t what you think.”  Tryst was saying, trying to calm
him down, “Let’s just take a moment to look at things before
jumping to conclusions.”

She looked at the room and noticed several
things that didn’t seem right.  “Tryst, I think he may have
something here.  Look, this door was broken in from the
outside.  That window has been broken as well and from here
it’s an easy drop to the roof of the stables.  Nothing is
missing but that only makes it more suspicious don’t you
think?”

“
Exactly what I’ve been
trying to say!”  Vil exclaimed, “See?  She understands
what I’m trying to say.”

“
I know a stable boy.
 He will be able to tell me if anyone came or left last
night.”  Callindra said.  “Why don’t you come down and
have some breakfast and I’ll go talk to Ardie.”

Vilhylm allowed himself to be led down into
the common room while Callindra went to the stables.  Ardie
was laying unconscious on the floor, the side of his head swelling
from a harsh blow.  She knew better than to move him, instead
running full speed back into the common room.

“
Tryst, he’s been hit on the
head.”  She said, quiet enough that only he could hear, “Can
you come take a look please?”

“
Who?”  Tryst looked up
from where he was giving good attention to a plate of eggs, bacon
and fried potatoes.

“
Could you just… come with
me for a minute?”  She asked, meeting his eyes.
 “Please?”

The priest rose with a nod and followed her
to the stables.  He knelt next to Artie and ran his hand over
the boy’s head.  After a moment he muttered a few things that
were either prayers or curse words… maybe both.  Callindra
bent over him, her brow furrowed in concern.

“
How long ago did this
happen?” Tryst asked.

“
It couldn’t have been more
than an hour.” Callindra said, “He brought me some supplies just
before I did my morning Korumn.”

Tryst continued to mutter and a gleam of
Power trickled from his fingers and settled over the boy’s
head.

“
Is he going to be all
right?”  She whispered and almost made a very undignified
squeak as the boy’s eyes flew open.

“
Miss Callindra, I knew
you’d come!”  He exclaimed, throwing his arms around her waist
and burying his face in her midriff.

“
Uh.”  She said,
blushing crimson, “Well I didn’t really do anything.  Tryst is
the one who saved you.”

“
No need to be modest
Callindra, you are the one who brought me.”  Tryst said,
hiding a smile.

“
Artie, we need to know who
did this.”  Callindra said, ignoring her burning cheeks and
holding the boy out at arm’s length.  “Did they do something
with the Countess Adbar?  She is missing.”

“
Yes!  They rode in
this morning after breakfast and asked about the Countess.
 When I told them she was here they hit me on the head.”
 He began to cry in hiccoughing sobs, “When I tried to stop
them, they hit me again and my head got all swimmy and I felt sick
and I just knew you’d come to save me.”