Authors: Marie Andreas
I looked to Glorinal, but he didn’t look ready to get up yet and he waved me on. With a nod, I tore down the hall. That was me, always running toward things I really should be running away from.
The scream was turning into a gurgle as I rounded the corner to find Foxy grabbing my patroness by the throat, as an army of houseboys pounded uselessly on him. I wasn’t as worried about real damage being done to Qianru as I could have been because Foxy’s other hand was holding her up by her waist. He wanted to scare her not kill her.
“Um, Foxy, is there a reason you’re trying to make my patroness collapse?” Too late. Right as I spoke I noticed that he completed his goal as Qianru stopped screaming and went limp.
“Taryn? What are you doing here?” Even though he had just attacked her in her own home, I noticed Foxy was very gentle as he held her. But if he even noticed the houseboys who were still pounding on his back he gave no notice.
I waved Joie forward. “Please see that Qianru gets taken to her bed and made comfortable. I’ll see to this attacker.”
Joie looked worried, but without direction from his mistress finally decided my guidance was better than none. He nodded and motioned for two of the larger houseboys, which was not saying much, to come forward and take Qianru.
Foxy started to pull her back toward him until I put a hand on his arm. “Let them take her. Like I said, she’s my patroness and you have some explaining to do.” He was acting way out of character, first charging forward to take care of the fire brigade, now attacking people in their own homes.
He let Joie take Qianru, and the houseboys silently carried her down the darkened hallway. I led Foxy over to a large ornate bench in the entry. I wasn’t about to bring him further into Qianru’s house. His actions were going to be hard enough to explain as it was. But I also didn’t want to go outside with this.
Foxy hung his head for a moment, then looked up. “Why’d you stop me? That woman, if she’s the owner of this place, she be the one behind Amara’s pain.”
Qianru was up to something, of that I had no doubt and plenty of evidence flying around all of Beccia. I still wasn’t convinced that she was evil, but rather just an overexcited academic. But Foxy was one of my oldest friends and even if he was under some sort of spell from a certain dryad, I needed to give him the benefit of a doubt.
“How do you know that, Foxy?” I kept my voice low since he was still looking a little wild around the eyes.
“Down below, when you and Glorinal took off, one of the house guards mentioned that it were likely this started at this house—the house where that troll guy vanished from. They said she had a troll when she moved in, did lots of work around the house like he was under a spell, but then he vanished a few weeks ago. Sounded like the one after Amara. Plus there was this.” He reached into his tunic and pulled up a silver chain. An ornately carved piece of wood, about the size of my thumb, dangled from the end of it. It twitched about, but didn’t point in any one direction.
“And that would be what exactly?” It was quite lovely, but I really didn’t see what it had to do with him rampaging against the woman who was providing me with enough income to keep frequenting his establishment.
“This here be part of Amara’s tree. She had a few slivers with her and they be spelled to find more. She gave this one to me as an engagement gift.” He waved one hand around to encompass the white entry room. “It went crazy when I got near this house—someone here is hiding part of Amara’s tree.”
Qianru as the evil master who destroyed Amara’s tree? “One problem, Foxy—okay, many problems—but the first one is Amara said her master was a man, not a woman. Qianru may be eccentric, but I’m pretty sure she’s a woman. Secondly, having a troll in one’s household is odd, I’ll grant you, but not unheard of. Especially in the south, where Qianru is from. She may have just sent him home. Lastly, what if Amara’s tree got made into furniture and sold? There could be parts all over, including here, without anyone being involved in the destruction of her tree.”
Foxy hung his head again. “But maybe you’ve the right of it.”
I wasn’t sure if I believed all the coincidences that would have to happen for my story to be true, but I needed to make sure Foxy did. He was never rash, but something about Amara was making him jump to more conclusions than Harlan on one of his more paranoid days.
I needed to get Foxy out of here before Qianru woke up. Maybe Glorinal had enough power left to do a bit of a mind fog on her. I wasn’t going to discount Foxy’s concerns, but I could find things out a lot better than he could at this point.
“I promise that I’ll find out what’s going on. Glorinal is here too, so we can see what he senses. But I need you to go back to the pub.”
He just sat there with his head in his hands. But the rustling sound coming from the hallway to the left told me we’d run out of time.
“Foxy, I need you to go. She’ll call the guards if she sees you.” I dropped my voice as I was sure by now at least a few hidden houseboys were watching us. He still didn’t move. “They’ll take you away from Amara if they lock you up.”
He was out the front door before the last word left my lips.
I stood and started to walk toward the still dark hall that they’d taken Qianru, but a sound came from the other hallway instead.
Glorinal was walking, albeit stiffly, toward me. “What did I miss?” He wasn’t leaning on the walls, but he was listing a bit to the right. He was still paler than normal as well, and those glorious silver eyes looked like faded glass.
“I’ll have to explain later.” The noise from the other hall was growing louder. I still couldn’t see down it very well. It must be a lot longer than the other side, and Qianru’s room apparently was at the far end. People were moving toward us and while I didn’t hear her, I was sure that Qianru had recovered. “But right now I need you to muddle their minds.” At Glorinal’s questioning look, I pulled his head down and dropped my voice. “Trust me, we need Qianru and her houseboys to be confused, no lost memories, just a bit befuddled.” I thought about the times Alric probably did the same to me. “Elves can do that, right?”
He looked down the hall behind me. “Normally yes, but now…? I wasn’t fully recovered from my illness and breaking the spell bubble and dousing the fire took a lot out of me, but I’ll try. Then we leave and you tell me exactly what I’m muddling.”
I nodded as an extremely annoyed Qianru came tottering into the entryway. Joie and four more houseboys followed along behind, poised to catch her if she fell.
“What was the meaning of that creature attacking me in my own home? Where did he go?” She slowly turned as if Foxy could have fit behind the potted plant to her left.
Glorinal put his right arm around my shoulder as if in companionship, but I felt him shift a fair amount of weight on me as he started muttering a spell under his breath. It must have worked because Qianru stopped right as she was about to launch another verbal volley and the houseboys all slowly tilted their heads. It was as if someone had put them all in a vat of honey for a few moments, their movements slowed down until they froze. Then Glorinal finished his spell and they all shook their heads.
“Where was I?” Qianru stood up a bit straighter and looked around. “Why are we all here?”
I slid my arm around Glorinal and took a step toward the door. “You came out here at a knock at the door and screamed about some giant bug. It flew off, you collapsed, and the boys took you back to your room.” I helped Glorinal another step forward while trying to make it look like he was moving more on his own than he actually was. “Glorinal needs to get back into town and we were just leaving.”
Qianru cocked her head, not for the first time reminding me of the watcher birds. “Yes, I am not fond of insects.” The current situation was now resolved in her head, so she moved back to Glorinal. “Oh, dear. You don’t look like you should be up. Please, come back to the guest room, my boys can take care of you.”
He squeezed my shoulder, but then leaned away. “That is most gracious of you, but I have many things to follow up on and am well on the way to recovery.” He took her hand and kissed it. “We have to presume that someone set this to attack you specifically, and I will not rest until I find out who was behind it.”
The shift in her face was clear as night switching to day and she nodded vigorously. Obviously, the attack against her home could not go unchecked.
“I will appreciate your help, gallant Glorinal. My people and I will do research as well.” She spun away from us and clapped her hands. “Where is my list of trash items?”
I knew when I’d been dismissed, so I took Glorinal’s arm and started moving toward the door.
“I will see you bright and early on Monday, Taryn. We have exciting things to look into. Glorinal, we would love to have you in attendance if your other duties allow it.” Qianru didn’t even turn around as she led her houseboys back into the recesses of the house.
“We’d better go before she changes her mind.” I grunted as Glorinal shifted his weight back onto me. “You’re sure you can make it down The Hill?”
He pulled back some of his weight and started moving forward. “I’ll find a way down. I agree we need to leave. Their memories will remained fogged, but the spell may need time to settle in—without us here it will be easier for it to take hold.”
Together we hobbled out of the front door. There was a shallow dent in the wood where most likely Foxy’s fist had hit it, but it was subtle enough that hopefully Qianru would just think it had been there all along.
The Hill was now showing far more activity than it had during the fire. Either the idle rich were so determined to remain idle that even threats of going up in flames couldn’t move them, or they had all fled when it started. Whichever, there were now packs of guards escorting their very wealthy masters and mistresses out and about to investigate the damage.
Aside from a dozen or so burnt plants and trees, most of the damage was limited to Qianru’s wall. Clearly it had not only been the start of the fire, but the focus.
“So it was completely magical in origin?” I kept my voice down as we quickly made our way down the winding cobblestone streets.
Glorinal nodded as an entourage drifted by us. “I’d say yes. Perhaps your friend the professor might have insights. She is in pursuit of the study of magic, I presume?”
I knew I wanted Covey to investigate, but I also wanted Harlan and Alric.
“She might have some ideas. I’d have to see if she’s available.” I wasn’t sure how much to tell him. Covey’s work wasn’t secret, but I did wonder how much he knew. Especially since he’d just met her.
“She is on sabbatical, I believe?” My face must have shown shock or concern because he laughed and shook his head. “No, I am not reading your mind. I am a good study of people. She was an academic who was not involved in a class right now, which says sabbatical. She did not appear surprised to meet an elf which implied she is familiar with my people and therefore studies magic.”
We got to a break in the road and I turned. “Do you want to go back to the Shimmering Dewdrop?” He was still leaning on me and that was where I was automatically going.
“I would love nothing more but to be able to resume our plans.” Although it had started during the day, the sun was thinking of drifting its way down past the horizon. “Alas, I think I need to rest and recover. Between the chimeras, the fire, and the mind spells, I am done for.”
“Do you need me to help you home?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing wherever he was living; it would be very problematic if he wanted to see my home as well. At least until I could get rid of my houseguests.
I felt him pull away a bit as we got to the bottom of The Hill. The houses here were still far nicer than my part of town, but they were becoming closer together and smaller in size. A trend that continued the further away from The Hill you went. “Thank you, but I do need to make a few calls before I go to rest. There are herbs I need and I would rather not expose you to that.”
There were places that catered only to magic users. They weren’t as scary as bars that catered to assassins, but they weren’t far behind. A magic sink like myself would be chased out in a minute. Not to mention probably publicly exposed.
“Never fear, I will be taking your patroness up on her generous offer. I shall see you on Monday. I know work is not the same as an actual date but perhaps we could see each other afterwards as well.”
I was disappointed that he didn’t suggest tomorrow as a date, but to be honest with all that was going on in my life a day to deal with things might be good.
“Are you sure you can make it?”
In answer he took me in his arms and provided a very passionate and public kiss. When we finally came up for air he gave me a wink. “What do you think?”
I told my libido to calm down, but that was one heck of a kiss. “I think you’ll be fine, but I may not.”
He kissed my hand this time. “That was just to give you something to think about.” With that he walked down a side road that circled The Hill. There was still a limp to his walk, but he was moving at a decent pace.
Even with all the crap going on around me, I found myself smiling. Once we took care of the sceanra anam, the chimeras, the possibly elven murdering mage, and got Alric his magic back, I could settle down and enjoy a nice peaceful relationship with a drop-dead gorgeous elf.