Finding Destiny (43 page)

Ellett smirked back. “Neither had I. Not that I’d care to get into a Duel Arcane in earnest with you, but ... if you like, I could teach you how to move during a duel. Once you learn how to move, you’re far less likely to let a physical collapse lead to a magical failure.”

“Isn’t that some sort of arcane secret of the Aurulan Royal Guard?” Mita drawled, twisting onto her side so that she could plant her elbow on the bedding and her cheek on her palm, mirroring his position. “Wouldn’t you get in trouble with your government if you taught it to me?”

“As I said yesterday, a physical
attack
nullifies the results of a Duel Arcane,” he reminded her. “But a distraction doesn’t count. Many a duel has been won or lost based on distractions. Most mages train themselves to ignore anything
outside
the Dueling shield, but very few are prepared for troubles
inside
its circumference. As for any ‘secret’ to the trick, there isn’t one. It just takes concentration and practice.”

“If physical attacks aren’t allowed, then why bother doing it?” Mita asked.

Ellett wrinkled his nose. “Because while they aren’t
allowed
... they aren’t unknown, either. It was a good ... two hundred and thirty years ago? Somewhere back then. A mage from Haida snuck into Aurul, pretending to be a native. He hung around the royal court for a few years, ingratiating himself, then challenged a Royal Guardsman for his position. Back then, it was easier to get into the Guard. He was known, supposedly trusted, and if you were known and trusted, and powerful enough, you could challenge a Guardsman to a Duel Arcane. If you won, you became a Guardsman yourself.

“This fellow cheated. Naturally the Royal Guard screened all applicants under truth-spell, but the fellow wore a special talisman that allowed him to lie and get away with it,” Ellett told her. “Then, once he was a member of the Royal Guard, he started challenging the other members to private duels. ‘Practice duels,’ he called them. Held without witnesses, he was able to move while they were trapped in the effort of the duel, and killed them with a needle dipped in a very toxic poison. Three Guards were declared dead of a heart attack before we grew suspicious.”

“So how did you catch him?” Mita asked.

“My predecessor quietly rounded up a small army of lower-ranked mages and had them scry upon each and every one of his fellow Guards. This man was
very
clever, though. Very skillful and well prepared, as well as powerful. He had cast spells against scryings to make it look as if he was somewhere else—usually in the gardens—while he killed three more Guards, with the intent of infiltrating even more secret Haidans into the Royal Guard. His targets simply seemed to be walking around, meditating, reading, whatever, before they keeled over.”

She frowned. “It’s said the Eyes of Ruul see all. Why didn’t He warn your ancestors?”

“Because the Gods gave us free will. These were things we
could
notice, and could handle on our own,” Ellett pointed out. “Aurul was also embroiled in a border war with Keket at the time, if I remember right, which was probably why the Haidans saw fit to attempt their infiltrations during our distraction.”

“So if his spells were so good, how did they catch him?” she asked.

“The only child of the Seer King, a very young daughter, escaped her nurse and ran right through the illusion of the Guardsman. Naturally, the girl didn’t see anything, because the illusion was only in the scrying mirrors of the Mage-Captain’s spies. But the spies saw it happen, and quickly accounted for every single Guardsman that was both alone and far enough from possible witnesses,
and
who had recently come in contact with the illusion-Guard. There was just one,” he said. “The real Haidan Guardsman was off trying to kill his seventh victim down by the beach, east of the winter palace. My predecessor raced down there with several of the Guards he trusted, caught the man, and ... well, after a bit of rather unpleasant trial and error, found and destroyed the talisman, and extracted a full confession.

“That confession included the means he had used to deceive everyone, and the Haidan identities of four of the new Guards he’d managed to get into place. The others were Aurulans who had beat out the other applicants.” Ellett rubbed at his face, glad such ancient headaches weren’t his. “I thank Ruul that none of them had been assigned all as a group to escort duty, yet, since they were all still being paired with more experienced Guards. If they had been the only ones on duty, the moment they got His Majesty all alone ...”

“Without a son to take up the Seership of the kingdom, the confidence of the kingdom would have faltered and the Haidans would have poured in over the border. I haven’t been too happy with the
current
version of Haidan expediency, either,” Mita offered wryly. “They’ve toned down in the last year or so, but even a law-sayer would have a hard time pinning them down, unless it was to word the law in such a way that benefitted
them
the most. Theirs is not an altruistic deity, and the ways of Hai-shu, Patron Goddess of Diligence, are not always
moral
.

“
Exacting
, but not always moral,” Mita agreed. “Not to throw stones at our own windows, of course, but with that for an example, is it any wonder my people have shied away from picking out a Patron of our own?” she quipped dryly.

“When you put it that way, no,” Ellett agreed. He started to say something more, then stopped and frowned. “Wait ... you said the Haidans have grown quiet over the last year, correct?”

“Yes. They’ve given up testing our defenses for now,” Mita repeated.

He sat up, frowning. “The Haidans don’t give up easily. They’re always searching for something to do. When they have a good king or queen on the throne, they’re a joy to deal with. When they don’t, they’re a pain in the neck. They haven’t bothered Aurul during this reign, let alone in the last year. Yet they still have the same king as before. I can’t imagine his attention would have faded so easily from your people, unless he had something else to focus his attention on ... but I haven’t heard any rumors among the ports that the Haidans have turned their attentions south or west, either.”

Mita sat up next to him, wrapping her arms around her blanket-draped knees. “So the Haidans are up to something. The question is, what?”

“They can be very subtle,” Ellett muttered. He lifted a brow at her. “Maybe they’re the ones behind the impostor Lord Stelled and the fake Aurulan warships?”

“Or they could be from another country, or they could be independents working together, or they could be independents working separate agendas ... though considering some of the things ‘Lord Stelled’ has said
could
be construed as subtle threats, they’re probably working together,” Mita said. She picked a nub of lint off of the top blanket and flicked it away. Her tanned brow furrowed. “The more I think about it, the more everything seems to be coming to a head, like he’s planning on ‘encouraging’ us to pay high import/export taxes permanently, in order to ensure our ships are never attacked by Aurulan vessels again.”

“Either that, or it’s an encouragement to get Jetta Freeport and the Aurulan government embroiled in a war, which could be politically advantageous for another country,” Ellett pointed out. He placed his hand on her linen-draped back and rubbed gently. She leaned into him, making him feel good. Making his rod twitch and regain some life to it, too. Sighing, he focused his mind on the problem at hand and continued. “The
good
thing is that your prior attacks have been remarkably polite. Very few injuries, very few lost lives. And you don’t scuttle the ships or seize them, sending the crews out in longboats to try to make it to some shore. You just round everyone up, transfer the cargo, damage the rigging so they cannot pursue quickly, then set them free as you sail away.”

“We’re vengeful, not stupid,” she muttered, nudging him with her elbow. “Besides, ever since we turned to trading for our main source of income, we’ve always known it hurts worse to hit someone in their wallet than to hit them in their stomach.”

A mischievous thought crossed his mind. Ellett eyed the woman at his side. “Oh, really?”

She lifted her chin from the arms clasped around her knees, loosening her grip on them. “
Yes
, really.”

“Even when you attack them like
this
?” Pushing her back onto the bed, Ellett raised her nightshirt and wormed his head down between her arms and legs, raspberrying her belly. She shrieked, laughed, and fought back.

Somewhere in there, his night trousers got torn at the hip and her shirt pushed up over her head. When Ellett finally managed to pin her to the mattress, fabric-tangled arms secured in place over her head, his rod had wound up pressed against the warm, slick folds of her loins. From the warmth in her eyes and the way her hips flexed, rubbing herself against him, he knew she wouldn’t protest. But he had to ask.

“May I ... ?” he inquired politely, nudging her gently.

Mita smiled. “Be my guest.”

More mischief made him grin. Prodding carefully, he sank in the tiniest bit and said, “My, what a lovely, warm entry hall you have. So very
welcoming
.”

That sparked another fit of laughter in her, which squeezed the head of his shaft. His eyes rolled up into his head. Delving deep, Ellett rode her spasms of laughter until they became shudders of pleasure. For both of them.

Collapsing in the bliss of aftermath, he remembered to brace some of his weight on his elbows and knees. But it was alright; she cradled him close, stroked his braided hair and his sweat-damp shoulders. Pressed her lips to the side of his throat. He liked that. Drawing in a deep breath, he shifted enough to the side to rest on the bed, though he pulled her close.

“You are an incredibly beautiful, funny, intelligent, passionate woman,” Ellett murmured in her ear. “And I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun with anyone. You make it special.”

The casual look in hazel eyes melted and her mouth curved into a smile. Looping an arm around his shoulders, she pulled him close enough to kiss the tip of his nose. “I like you, too.” Her smile spread into a grin. “Even if you are a land-man. And I’ll take you up on that offer to learn how to move during a Duel Arcane.
And
teach you how to be a proper ship’s mage, in exchange.

“One of these days, you Royal Guard types just might have to know these sorts of thing for real, after all. Plus, if we’re to put our two lands on even footing with plenty of trust shared all around, someone should teach you how to do it right.” Her smile took on a touch of shyness. “That, and it’s a lovely excuse to spend my free time in your company, since we still have a few days of sailing ahead of us before we reach the city. If you don’t mind?”

“I’d like that,” he told her, knowing it was the truth.

SIX

Bo’sun Jukol stepped between Ellett and the gangplank just as the Aurulan started to follow Mita down to the dock. The middle-aged man eyed him up and down, taking in Ellett’s plain blue linen clothes, then sighed. “I don’t know if you’re right about the ambassador up there, but you’ve done right by the Captain, teaching her your land-man tricks. And taking shots from her, and being polite to the rest of us, despite, ah ...”

Ellett offered his hand, cutting off the other man. “My pleasure.”

“Right.” Clasping it, Jukol shook hands, then clapped him on the back. “Watch your land-man legs on the dock for the first few moments, or you might fall off into the water. If you’re a diplomat for real, it’d be a shame to lose you.”

It wouldn’t have been diplomatic to point out that Ellett had spent the last several nights in the captain’s enchanted bed, and had grown used to the transition from sea to stability and back. Instead, he nodded, eyed the walled city waiting for him, balanced his duffel bag on his other shoulder, and picked his way carefully down the rail-guarded ramp. This was a city of mages and merchants, farmers and sailors, all of them self-reliant, independent, proud, and wary, and steeped in the magical traditions of half a dozen lands, plus the various spells they had developed on their own.

What he wanted to do was meet this Guardian of theirs who led ... Ellett stopped dead, just two steps onto the boards of the wharf. Someone or something was scrying him.
Enemies do that when preparing for an ambush or setting up a battlefield ... but this is a deeper probe. A specific probe, with parameters that feel different. But, how?

Mita came back to him, weaving around several of the
Jetta’s Pride
crewmembers who had been given leave to disembark now that they were at their home port. She gave him a concerned look. “Ellett?”

He raised his hand to ward off her questions, but the tendrils of the scrying spell seized on his name, digging their hooks into it. Dissecting his identity. A flash raced outward in the next heartbeat, so faint that if he hadn’t been staring down at the boards of the dock, and thus at the shadows of the sailors making their way ashore around him, he wouldn’t have seen it.