© 2026 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

Is it Nithe Skelm that continuously attacks Duke Nicholas, or is Nithe Skelm a 'hired gun' for someone else? Nick and Octavia were sure that continued attacks on them and on the people around them would continue, endangering the lives of their family and the people of Hay-on-Wægn county. It was time to find those responsible and strike back before the entire kingdom became endangered... or even all of Kodu.

Gods Save the Queen

Book 4 Part 3

Stardance

Chapter 21 - An Elf's Purpose

Tanithil Glynrie and Princess Tsarra Naedove were having a life of joy befitting a pair of elven warriors. Every morning Tanithil and Tsarra broke their fast with a meal made from the stores of Rkund Hold. Tanithil was an expert with dried and stored fruit and vegetables, and Princess Tsarra was an expert at baking. She was able to craft anything from the finest cakes fit for a royal ball to survival rations; bread that would last for a good long trek and sustain strength and vitality. "I do not understand," said Tanithil as he examined a small portion of Matkamine, or "trail bread," and remarked, "This is putrid. I was about to break off a piece and snack on it but it smells foul." He wrapped it back up in the kapsas leaf and was about to throw it on the cook fire when Tsarra stopped him.

"Save it, then try again after we exercise this morning, the beautiful dark elf maiden said.

"Why, will it magically heal itself?"

Tsarra just smiled. "Something of that nature. Are we going to joust this day or are we going to cook?"

"Shall we?" said Tanithil as he escorted Princess Tsarra to the large open area that could only have been a gymnasium in ancient days. In there, they collected various items found around the underground elven city of Elsenas that could be used for exercising: weights to lift, cables hung from the overhead beam to climb, and many various swords to fence with. As usual, Tanithil picked up a cutlass and hefted it. Compared to the elven saabel, it was unbalanced; it wore down the wrist.

"Cutlass and buckler?" chuckled Tsarra. "Every day we fence you hoist a cutlass and a buckler before turning to strike with the practice sword. A straight bladed cutlass isn't your sword of choice; you fight with a sabre. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"I owe a human some humiliation," said Tanithil. "He fights with a cutlass using a hanger as a buckler." A buckler is a very small shield used to deflect the enemy's blows, and the hanger he spoke of was a short sword. It had a two foot long blade, honed to razor sharpness on both sides with a cruel stabbing point and a heavy hilt that could be used as a hammer. He remembered Pommy wielding the short-sword with all the skill and accuracy of his primary combat weapon, and occasionally he'd hang it back on his belt, as if bored with it in the middle of a fight.

"That sounds like Pommy," said Tsarra as she took off her gown and bound her breasts with a strip of linen. She didn't mind fencing bare breasted, but it was an unfair advantage over Tanithil.

Tanithil had put down the cutlass and picked up a wooden training blade. "Pommy! You know him?"

"Of course, he brought me here." The air whooshed as Tsarra swung her wooden blade.

"The Duke of Wægn brought you here, Sir Nicholas Stein. I helped him..."

As he was talking, Tsarra attacked. The air was rent with the whoosh and whistle of wooden blades slicing through the air, then with a loud CLACK! they struck each other. CLICK! CLACK! CLICK! CLACK! The fighting grew fiercer, and the cheering from the cloud of fairies grew louder, then finally, Tanithil was able to hook the tip of his wooden sword in the strip of linen, and he pulled back, pulling the linen back with the sword leaving Tsarra topless. "PUUDE!" (touch) he shouted in Mägede Keel, High Elvish.

Tsarra just set her jaw and raised her sword. Tanithil raised his sword and touched it to her sword, and the second bout began. This one started slow; it was more cerebral. Tsarra searching for openings, concentrating on every move of his sword, and Tanithil was trying to ignore the fact that he was fencing with a beautiful dark elf with her breasts exposed. The pace picked up, their swords clacked together as they thrust, parried, attacked, counter-attacked, false attacked, feint attacked... it was a fantastic show of swordsmanship until Tsarra thrust, snagged Tanithil's belt, then shouted "PUUDE!" and Tanithil's kilt dropped to the floor.

"One more," growled Tanithil, and Tsarra nodded in agreement and raised her sword. Tanithil kicked his kilt aside, then raised his sword, and once more he touched his sword to hers, and the third bout began. Wooden swords clacked, and the air whooshed as the battle raged. Princess Tsarra fighting bare breasted, Warrior Tanithil battling bare arsed, among other things bared. The action waxed and waned; two elves fighting boldly until they were exhausted and their wooden swords became too heavy to lift. Eventually, the exhausted warrior elf stopped for a breath, as did the princess. Both were covered in sweat as they panted in the cool underground air. "Draw?" gasped Tanithil as he panted, hands on knees.

When she was able to get her breath, Tsarra nodded and panted in agreement. "Draw. I need a soak." They put up their swords, collected their boots and clothing, and headed for the nearby underground hot spring.

Tanithil has been underground long enough to take the odd nature of this place in stride, but to Tsarra, everything was mind-boggling. As they walked, the passage became illuminated. The light came from no specific place; it was just there. Throughout the areas that she had seen, there's always been that slight metallic taste of magic in the air. Was there more to this corridor than just magical light? "What makes the light here?" she asked as they eased into an underground pool of steaming hot water.

Tanithil eased deeper into the water until it reached his slight beard. He's a powerful elf and has accomplished some amazing things, but growing a proper beard wasn't one of them. "According to the fairies, I make the light."

"How do you make the light?" she asked.

"I really don't know," said Tanithil. "It has something to do with my mood. When I got here, I was filled with hate and anger, and it was dark. I barely had enough light to keep from walking into a wall." He sat up a bit in the water and rested his head on the edge of the natural pool. "Once I learned to relax and actually like this place, more and more light was given. Then you showed up and it's so much brighter now."

Tsarra nodded in agreement. "I was surprised to find someone with your legendary temperament having conversations with fairies. I would have thought you might have eaten them."

"Eat?" shrieked a fairy that was hovering over Tanithil. "BAD TANNY!" the fairy scolded, then it began to chatter in a language Tanithil had never heard before.

"They are incredibly useful partners in the library," said Tanithil as the fairy flew away, still chattering. "They seem to know all languages and can read almost any hand." Then he remembered an earlier conversation. "You said Pommy brought you here? Vesstan Aedi and Duke Stein brought you here."

A smile spread across Tsarra's face when she realized that he didn't know. "Yes, he did."

"I didn't see him anywhere! I was hurried back into the dark tunnel with you the minute I emerged from the temple," insisted Tanithil.

"Maybe we should go to the library and research Pommeraie de la Montesquieu," said Tsarra as she rose out of the hot pool.

Later in the library, Tanithil continued to insist that there was no book that would contain anything about Pommeraie de la Montesquieu. "These books are over three millennia old at the newest!" but Tsarra ignored his complaints.

"Jellywillow, is there a scroll that records events outside of this city?" asked Tsarra.

The little fairy with bright green hair thought for a moment, then said, "Yes... no. Definitely No... yes."

Tanithil kept his calm with deep, refreshing breaths. These fluttering little creatures are both a blessing and a curse. "What do you mean yes and no, Jellywillow?"

"Yes, we have one," said the fairy brightly. "But it ran out of allocated shelf space in the year 904 and stopped recording."

"Is there a scroll that records nobility in the continent of Edux?" asked Tsarra.

"Yes!" said Jellywillow cheerfully. She led them to a separate room filled with scrolls and books. "This is the list of Peerage for Kodu. It is accurate up to... right now!" she said brightly.

"Show me the peerage of Teurnia," said Tanithil. "That's the last place I saw Pommy." Jellywillow led them to a bookshelf filled with books that list the nobility of the kingdom of Teurnia. "I was told that King Ranzau was not a human... I know humans, when I see one," said the elf warrior.

"Lars Ranzau is not human," said Tsarra as Tanithil pulled down a volume and flipped to the entry for the current king of Teurnia. She knew when Tanithil discovered the truth by the way his jaw dropped in shock. "You should have looked at King Ranzau closer." Then she drew up close to Tanithil and whispered in his ear, "Humans do not have a tail."

"I... I thought there were no incubuses," said Tanithil in a small voice.

"I think it's incubi," said Tsarra. "Do not worry about purity, King Lars has four daughters with Queen Rania, all pure elf, and another six daughters with Rania's hand maidens, and Queen Rania just gave birth to his heir, Prince Olav, and he's pure incubus."

"Breaze, where's the book for Breaze? Pommy was head of King Alfrich's royal guard."

"Over here!" cried Jellywillow, and they found the book that the fairy was pointing at.

"Yes! Here it is, 'King Alfrich's royal guard was killed almost to a man, the twelve mounted guards, two palace guards, and Captain Pommeraie de la Montesquieu survived..."

"Here, look up Nicholas Stein, Duke of Wægn," said Tsarra as she handed Tanithil a thick book.

"Here it is, he was born Nick Stein, his name later changed to Nicholas by King Uric II at his knighting ceremony..."

"The king thought Nick was too abrupt of a name for a knight of Uduithia. Keep reading," said Tsarra.

"Yilos' balls!" swore the elf as he read the official account of Nick's childhood in Torwin Armistad. "Dropped off at an empty witches cottage? What high bred maggot came up with that idea?"

"Keep reading," said Tsarra. It was getting close, and she couldn't hide her grin.

"Renamed to Pommeraie de la Montesquieu by a ghost? This can't be true!"

"The last time you saw Pommy he was about eight years younger, without a beard and had two eyes."

"Bloody hells! All eight of them!" swore Tanithil. "I've been trained to best Pommy, by Pommy! He knows all my moves; I will never beat him." It was like all life went out of the elf.

Tsarra came up behind him and put her arms around him, and whispered in his ear, "He's training you to protect his people. That's much more important to Pommy than some silly old grudge."

"This is not a silly grudge; this is a matter of HONOR!" snapped Tanithil.

The princess held Tanithil tightly until he relaxed. "Look, if you fight the duke, one will end up mortally wounded and the other will end up dead, and a baby will be left to run the duchy. And, if you don't die, and you win and kill him, you will be executed for killing a member of the king's royal court."

"Blast," groaned Tanithil.

"Look, I know him. No court on Kodu has a more elf friendly ally than we have in Duke Stein. Vesstan Aedi transported me here via long forgotten roads. The men from Spatz Mountain stayed uphill of us preventing us from using the hidden entrances to Rkund Hold that were up there. Nick harassed them and spied on them the entire trip then found us an entrance in Irla Stein Anore. Name another human that would do that for an elf. When we stopped he would talk to me, tell me what he had planned. How he wanted Elves, Dwarves, and Humans to share in the bounty of the Snowcross Mountains."

Tanithil sighed and said, "When we first met, I was quite unpleasant. I had in my mind a superior race of elves ruling Edux, but the more I study the more I find that there is no superior race of anything."

Tsarra released Tanithil and said, "Here, try this now, see if it tastes better." She handed him the piece of trail bread he had almost thrown away earlier.

After unwrapping it, he smelled the small loaf, and it smelled nice, like dried fruit and honey. He tasted it and it was good. "What did you do with this?"

"Nothing. This is an elven recipe, and your body knows when it needs the nutrients in the trail bread. If you don't need it, if you're just looking for a snack, your sense of smell and taste will rebel." She shrugged and smiled. "It's part of our nature."

"I've never heard of such a thing."

Tsarra glared at him, then her gaze softened. "If you had joined into elf culture instead of trying to purify it, you would have known. This is something passed from mother to daughter, even from queen to princess."

"I have... magic?"

"Of course, let's go to the library and I'll show you." With that, they headed to the ancient library, but on their way, they were accosted by a squadron of fairies.

"Tulip wants you! Come with!" they cried in multiple tongues.

"Where is she? I haven't seen her or Butternut in days."

"Come with!" they chorused, and they led Tanithil and Tsarra down a passage that Tanithil had never followed, which isn't odd to consider; he estimates that he's seen less than a tenth of the underground city, maybe far less than that. They eventually came into a chamber that was full of fairies, more than he had imagined.

"It's like a... hive."

"Maybe," said one of the fairies happily. All along the sides of the walls were little shelves, and each shelf was home to one or more fairies. They had little beds and couches made of anything the fairies could find; most were natural bird feathers and cotton balls, but some things looked like they had been gathered from the abandoned elven city. At one point was a gathering of fairies, and they were singing a happy little song that neither Tanithil nor Tsarra could understand, but the song seemed to radiate joy.

"What are they singing?"

"Ummm... a song," said one fairy; she was certain that was the right answer.

"It is Tere tulemast Laps in your speech," said another as Butternut flew out of the cloud and zoomed to Tanithil.

"It's called Welcome my Child?"

"Poppa! Come with, come see, but talk soft." They were led to a shelf with a little nest, and in there was Tulip with a tiny baby in her arms. The baby was barely the size of a sesame seed and was the most adorable thing that Tanithil had ever seen. As the elf gazed in awe at the precious sight, the proud father Butternut said. "He needs a name poppa, give him a good name."

The only thing that came to Tanithil's mind was, "Sesame Seed."

"That's a good name, a manly name," said Tulip as she gazed at her baby.

"I'm so happy for you," said Tanithil, and they gazed on the baby until their eyes hurt from trying to see something so small. "We need to go, congratulations." As they made their way to the library and instead of researching events and devices, they studied their heritage. As they read, an unnamed fairy fluttered up to them and said, "Momma has work for you."

"She does?" The last time he was given work, Tanithil was summoned to help rescue the princess.

"Yes!" said the fairy, nodding and causing her golden hair to flutter. "Learn of Nithe Skelm."

"What is a Nithe Skelm?" asked Tanithil, but the fairy just shrugged.

"It's not a matter of what, but of who," said Tsarra.

"Name please," said the fairy, which caused Tanithil to chuckle.

"Name please?" asked a confused dark princess.

"When they do a favor for me or a task, their reward is a name," said Tanithil. He turned and considered the fairy. "You realize that you have to remember your name, I tend to lose track."

"I will!" said the fairy brightly.

"Then, because of your beautiful gold hair I name you Nuggets."

"Good name! Thank you!" and the golden hair fairy fluttered off happily.

"Are you sure that it wasn't because of her large breasts?" growled Tsarra.

"If you spend enough time down here alone, even a fairy begins to look good. Thank the gods you arrived."

"Why, so you can look at my breasts?" huffed Tsarra.

Slightly confused, Tanithil moved close and kissed her gently on the lips, then said, "So I can kogema you."

Tsarra gasped. Translated directly into common Torwin, the Mägede Keel or High Elvish word kogema means "to experience" which to a human would mean to get to know a person by spending time with them. But to an elf, kogema is far beyond learning someone's likes and dislikes; it's more spiritual, more emotional, more romantic. It's as close to a proposal of marriage as an elf will get before the actual proposal ceremony.

"Listen, I am crown princess of the nation of Silvanor, I decide who will kogema with me and when! Do you understand me?" They were still standing so close to each other that they could feel the warmth of each other's bodies.

"Yes, your majesty. I will step back and..."

"I didn't say you should stop." Her eyes glittered with fiery passion. "This may work to our mutual advantage. You may continue."

Tanithil set his jaw and hid his emotions. Leave it to royalty to suck the romance out of ardor and leave an empty shell of politics in its wake. "Yes princess." He gestured to the enormous library and said, "This is mostly instructions on how this city operates. Where would we find information on Nithe Skelm?"

"Let's ask around!" she said as she tried to recover her composure.

"There's naught to ask but fairies."

"Apparently you haven't spoken to any ghosts here in the Snowcross Mountains," said Tsarra. "It is said that these are the most haunted lands south of the equator."

"I have seen apparitions in Elsenas, but I never thought to engage one in conversation."

"Let us try."

Most of their time was spent looking for ghosts, and finding one, trying to get it to speak, and if it did, then the next task was to question it about Nithe Skelm. They got little information, but what they found was terrifying.

A few days after Sesame Seed took his first wobbly, unsteady flight, the sound of a bell was heard ringing through the ancient underground city of Elsenas and in the higher reaches of the Rkund Hold. Tanithil and Tsarra had taken a day off from searching for information and were exploring the items stored in Rkund Hold. They saw the damage to several chambers from when Octavia summoned the Orb of Jørn. They found a spiral staircase that led to the surface; there they found themselves in a cage of a gold-colored metal in dense, snow filled forest. "Should we open the gate?" Asked Tsarra as she examined the lock.

"What if we get locked out? It will be days before we find another entrance," said Tanithil. A fierce howl from a wolf nearby caused him to edit his statement. "... if we survive."

They descended back into Rkund Hold, then navigated down into the city of Elsenas as the bell tolled. It was a deep, terrifying note that nearly rattled the mountain, and when a panicked fairy fluttered up to them, it landed on Tanithil's collar and hung on for dear life. "What is that, fairy?"

"You are summoned to the castle."

"Castle? To Waelmore Castle in Waleston?"

"NO! Silly elf! To the real castle! The castle of white!"

"Artafána?" asked Tsarra, and the fairy nodded.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 22 - The Leading Experts

Two elves dressed in leather kilts and vests emerged from a staircase into a long hall bathed in light and painted white. "Welcome," said a nervous human. Telling by his beard and robes, he was clearly a wizard, and from his shaking, he was clearly unequipped to use the sword he was leaning on like a walking stick. "I am Izhar, Assistant Wizard to the court of King Uric the Second. My student is Her Royal Majesty Queen Octavia Anghart of Breaze. May I ask who you are?"

Tanithil looked at the nervous wizard and smiled grimly. "Breaze is no more; her king lies moldering under the ruins of Mariseau Castle."

"Oh dear is it 3431 already? Then my student is Empress Ying Wong Ho of the Xuantang Empire. Her husband is Emperor Long Won Di, the Dragon Emperor..."

"It's 3432," said Tsarra. "Emperor Hau Chung Jia rules Xuantang."

The ancient wizard looked like he had been told that an enemy legion was coming down the hall looking for him. "3432? Already?" He tried to lift the sword at his side but couldn't bring it up. His face was covered in sweat, and he was shaking, and he sagged to the floor.

"Relax friend!" said Tsarra as she propped up Izhar. "I am Princess Tsarra Naedove, heir to the throne of Silvanor. This is my champion, Tanithil Glynrie. We were summoned here."

"Where did you come from, how did you get in?" demanded the terrified wizard.

"We are the guardians of Rkund Hold and the elven city of Elsenas, we were put in charge of securing these ancient passageways by the Duke of Wægn, Sir Nicholas Stein."

"My lady said you would be coming," said a clearly relieved Izhar.

"Who?" asked Tanithil. He was going to finish his thought, but he was interrupted by a powerful female voice.

"Behold, they have arrived, the souls I foretold," came the forceful female voice. There at the end of the corridor was an incredibly tall elven woman with the sheen of a god. Ivory skin, silver hair, glowing green eyes, and wearing a toga with one breast exposed. It was the goddess Saatus, and she looked angry.

Tanithil bowed to the apparition, but Tsarra was stunned. She had never actually seen a goddess before. She had heard talk of them, but never had one appeared in the temples of Silvanor. "Greetings my lady," said Tanithil respectfully.

"Hail, champion. I perceive thou hast acquired a semblance of grace."

Chastised, Tanithil continued. "Lady Saatus, why did you bring us here?"

"I have summoned thee forth in this momentous hour. Attend to the mortal wizard's words, for they speak of Uduithia's peril. Should Uduithia be consumed, darkness shall claim all kingdoms upon Kodu."

It was silent in the passageway; no one dared to breathe as they digested the words of Saatus. The gods are known for many things, but hyperbole is not one of them. In fact, they are known to downplay the horrible truth of something. Tanithil broke the uneasy quiet with his question, "What are our orders?"

Saatus pointed at Izhar, making the wizard tremble with fear. Then she said, "Imbibe the wisdom gleaned by the mortal sorcerer within the Library of Nolmë's. When the sun doth stand but two hours past its zenith on the morrow, journey hence. Seek audience with the mighty of Edux, and enlighten them, persuading them of the impending doom that shadows Uduithia."

"Is there more? What should we do then?" Tanithil knew that she wouldn't say 'then you can go spend more time with Tsarra' but there's always hope.

Saatus's jaw began to tremble, and for a moment Tanithil and Tsarra thought the goddess was going to cry. Finally she softly said, "O Elves, I, in mine foresight, know not where Duke Stein shall place thee, yet I perceive it is of utmost importance that thou heed his commands, fulfilling them with unwavering precision. Only then, mortals, may the Fates grant you a glimmer of hope against the Shadow of Nithe Skelm." With that, the goddess faded from sight.

Tanithil swung the pack off his shoulders and sat down next to Izhar and groaned, then buried his face in his hands. Tsarra sat behind him and wrapped her arms around the elven warrior. "Don't worry, I will be there with you."

"I would rather you didn't," he said softly.

"What? You know my sword skill. At my worst we are evenly matched."

"No... it's not that dear Lambkin." His words shocked Tsarra. He used a pet name in front of someone? A month ago she would have had him executed for insolence, but now, with an unknown doom ahead of them, it made her heart leap. "For years I fought with foolhardy vigor because there was nobody waiting for me to return. The name Glynrie would die with me, so if I were to die in battle, I chose to go out in glory. But now someone waits; kith and kin expect my return, glory or no. Now I need to remain alive, which will make me overly cautious. I may not be as victorious nor as vicious as before, but I will return."

"I know you will return," said Tsarra as she wrapped her arms around her nervous warrior. "I will be there at your side until the battle is over. Only when we have children will I remain behind and roll bandages and await your return, my Tanny."

Tanithil was going to argue with her, but he knew it would do no good. Besides, she didn't say IF we have children; she said WHEN. His head spun with hope for a future with this amazing elf. "I don't remember going into battle before with hope for the future." He held her dark brown hand in his light-skinned hand and said, "What color will our children be? Fair? Dark? Somewhere in between?"

Tsarra knew the answer; in Silvanor there were plenty of light/dark elf marriages, but she felt a need to tease him. "Either light or dark, it all depends."

"Depends on what?" asked Tanithil as he pulled her arms around him.

"It depends who is on top when we have sex."

"Really? That is so..."

"OH STOP!" roared Izhar. "I swear! You two are as bad as Octavia and Nick!"

"If that is true, then the duke and duchess must be an exceptional couple," said Tanithil. He pulled his backpack close and extracted a crystal bottle and pulled the cork, and handed it to Izhar. "Here, quench your thirst."

"Thank you," and Izhar took a deep quaff. "This is wine!" gasped the wizard.

"Of course! You look like you are well beyond water's curative powers," said the elven warrior with a laugh.

"We brought some of the finest Elsenas has in her cellars," said Tsarra as she watched Izhar refill the bottle magically. "How did you do that?"

"A simple spell really, but it's the main reason that wizards must suffer a two drink surcharge whenever we enter a pub in Torwin-Armistad."

<><><><><>

They got little sleep even though Izhar offered them the Duke's luxurious bedroom. They spent their time in the Library of Nolmë reviewing books and scrolls that Izhar had identified, and they read with growing alarm. "Is any of this true?" demanded Tanithil after several hours of work. "This reads like a fevered dream! A sick fantasy wrought by a damaged mind!"

"Try putting that book into the fiction section," said Izhar.

"I will!" vowed Tanithil. He moved to the section marked Fiction in ancient Varresh Keel, the language of Elven Royalty, and tried to put the book on the shelf, but when he got the book near the shelf, the books already on the shelf moved to block the book. "Yilos' balls! What in all eight hells is this nonsense?" he muttered and fought to put the book in the Fiction section. When he finally got it on the shelf, he pushed it into place, but the shelf pushed back. Tanithil pushed the book in; the shelf pushed the book back out. Finally Tanithil gave up and stormed out of the library into the long, white corridor. There Saatus was waiting for him. "What is Nithe Skelm?" demanded the elf warrior. "Is it a god? Is it a human? Is it a vampire? I need to know what I am fighting."

The goddess looked down on Tanithil with pity. "Behold, Nithe Skelm, who possesses the essence of all yet revels in the delight of naught. In realms afar, they revered him as a deity, yet in countless more, they branded him a demon. Know then, that in the genesis of existence, his form did mirror that of mortal human."

"The ancient scrolls read like he's been here on Kodu before and ravaged all creation, but the books also say he never returns to a planet he's attacked before, yet here he is. What do we believe?"

Saatus was silent for a long time, then said, "After Nithe Skelm vanished from Kodu's radiant crystal cities, calamity descended. Innocent Kodu and giant Zigu danced a celestial waltz, exchanging their orbits around Thaal. From this cosmic rearrangement, so much was changed; Kodu is reborn in the eyes of the gods, elves, men, and Nithe Skelm who knew it as Glorious but the gods called it Home."

Tanithil was lost in the flowery language of Saatus, which confused him, so Saatus placed her huge hand on the warrior's head, and suddenly he was far above Treophus. He was among the stars looking down on Treophus, and he saw Treophus with a single moon and the huge planet Zigu circling the sun Thaal. Then he saw a huge dark planet pass terrifyingly close to Zigu. The passing of the rogue planet pulled Zigu toward Thaal, which drew it closer to Treophus. He watched as the gods arrived on Treophus and warned the elves of the eminent danger, and the elves that would listen dug. Dwarves joined them, and they cut cities into the living rock of the mountains, and the gods called Treophus home.

Above the elves and dwarves, moons collided and showered Kodu with fragments, destroying the crystal cities that the elves loved so much. Zigu missed striking Kodu, but Zigu's huge, planet size moon, Aestea, was pulverized when it struck Kodu's single moon Hiphus, creating Kodu's three moons Livi, Kuu, and Rahn, and the rings that circled Rahn, Kuu, and Kodu. The remains of the event showered down on Kodu, destroying everything the elves had built. Cities were leveled, dams burst, rivers were re-routed. The rogue planet that caused the galactic disaster was named Tānlán, and its orbit brings it back every 60,000 years.

Tanithil didn't understand the technicalities of how the planetary disaster happened, but he understood the destruction, the horror of watching the beautiful crystal cities being shattered, of elves being slaughtered in uncountable numbers, the survivors being driven underground until the near constant bombardment ended. Then, emerging from their cities, the elves struck out, their features changing as they sought living space that suited their desires to live above ground, and so Mountain, Forest, and Plains Elves were born. And somehow, near the end of the calamity, humans appeared.

"The shimmering spires of crystal have crumbled to dust, and mankind now treads upon the face of the world. Thus did Nithe Skelm now perceives himself to be upon a plane unknown to him before."

"But you're a god! Can't you stop him?"

Saatus, goddess of fate, looked at Tanithil sadly and said, "I yearn for divinity. Were I divine, fate's path would bend to my will, unshackling us from destiny's rigid course. Instead we must turn to Aen-Belth to save us again. Saehrimnir gave him the knowledge to save us."

"Who is Aen-Belth?" asked Tanithil, but Saatus faded sadly away. He dropped to his knees, his head spinning and in dire pain from the visions.

"Are you well my champion?" asked Tsarra, her sweet voice cutting through the residual noise from the visions. He pried his eyes open and Tsarra was kneeling at his side, holding him close.

"Maybe... she gave me visions..."

"Visions of what?"

"Cities made of fine crystal, elves living together in harmony, then the gods came and warned us of showers of rock from the stars. The showers came, destroying, killing. There's where Elsenas, Rkund Hold, and Artafána came from. Our ancestors dug them out to hide from the rock showers. Dwarves joined us... then Humans arrived. We dug underground cities all over Kodu... or was it Treophus?"

"You should rest for a short while," said Tsarra. "I'll return to reading and check on you."

"While you are reading, see if you can find references for Aestea and Treophus."

<><><><><>

Two obviously shaken elves stepped out of the Æther Portal and were met by Tervis, the god of health. "Doth My essence find thee in a state of grace, My cherished progeny?"

"Huh?" Tanithil was still unable to understand what the gods were saying with their flowery language.

"We feel a bit dizzy, but we are fine," said Tsarra. Both Tanithil and Tsarra were carrying sheets of foolscap covered with their notes in their spidery elven script.

"Thy guide awaits thee in yon chamber," said Tervis, pointing toward a doorway.

"It's freezing in here, aren't you cold?" asked Tanithil. For a god, Tervis looked like a young human male, but he was over eight feet tall and was completely naked. Tsarra closed her eyes and turned her head to avoid looking at his abnormally huge manhood.

"I find the breath of creation, crisp and renewing, a gift granted from on high," said Tervis far too cheerfully.

With that, Tanithil and Tsarra entered the office where they found two elves talking to a human who was clearly a ghost. Tanithil and Tsarra both knew the elves from their brief stay in Irla Stein Anore; they were the Maethor Nos Warrior Vesstan Aedi, who was mayor of the elf village, and his wife, the elven sorceress Seldanna of the Rofir. Seldanna was holding an elven infant. Tsarra peered into the baby's wrapping for a peek at the child. Elf children have been rare over the past few centuries, and settlements like Irla Stein Anore and the elf nation of Silvanor give elves hope that the erosion of their ranks is over.

"Hark, the Elven Princess doth arrive, attended by her valiant champion!" said the ghost. "Your company is quite prepared to embark for the appointed rendezvous."

"Who is this?" asked Tanithil.

Vesstan bowed to the ghost and said, "would you like to tell him who you are, your eminence?"

"I am Grigeor de la Montesquieu, a wizard in service to King Cynbel the Fourth, the one hundred and seventy-third sovereign of Uduithia. Four hundred and twenty-one years have I served as a temple priest within these very walls. I am, by seventeen removes, the great-grandsire to His Grace, the Duke of Wægn."

"You're the one that named him Pommy?" asked Tanithil.

"Pommy, say ye? I bestowed upon that lad a name most regal, a name fit for a duke, I say! Sir Pommeraie de la Montesquieu, if you please!"

"We had better go," whispered Seldanna of the Rofir. "That's a pretty touchy subject." She handed the baby to Vesstan and gave him a kiss, then said, "We need to go, we have six more Æther Portal hops to take."

"Six more? Where are we going? Xuantang?" asked Tsarra.

"No, we're going in the opposite direction," said Seldanna as she led them out into the temple proper. Seldanna was short for an elf, and very slim with tiny ears and ruby eyes showing that she's a plains elf, but she had the silver hair of an advanced mage.

"I take it that you're a sorceress?" asked Tanithil.

"Yes, and with Duke Stein's help, I am learning the medicinal ways of witchcraft." They joined hands and stepped into the center of the four columns that stood in the temple and emerged in another temple.

"I know this place, we're in Silvanor!" said Tsarra. "This is the Temple of Atrix, the goddess of Destiny." She looked around happily and said, "I did not know we could travel so far, so fast!"

"You can't. Not unless you are a temple priest or priestess. Then you may use this method of transport," said Seldanna. "We are traveling by the grace of the duke and duchess, both temple priests, and the understanding of the gods how important this meeting is."

<><><><><>

When they stepped out of the last Æther Portal, Tanithil and Tsarra both felt exhausted, nauseous, and physically aching like they had just lost a fight. A tall, beautiful, curvaceous woman with coal black hair and violet eyes was waiting for them as they emerged. She carried herself regally, but she wore a simple peasant's gown with traces of mud around the bottom hem of her skirt. "Welcome!" she said softly. They could hear someone speaking in an adjoining room. They were in a room of stone that was hot and muggy; the air was scorching, soaking, and thick with the stench of mold, decay, and rotting vegetable matter.

"Lady Stein, so good to see you again," said Tsarra as she rose to greet Octavia. The duchess then turned to Seldanna and gave her a warm hug.

"No, sit, recover. We will need you in a few moments. Sir Tanithil, I'm so happy to finally meet you," said Octavia as she shook the elf warrior's hand. "Nick has told me so much about you. It's so nice to put a face to a name."

"Lady Stein," said Tanithil with a nod to her. "I'm impressed with the openness that you greet elves with. Even signs of affection."

Tsarra and Seldanna glared at Tanithil with anger. "I apologize for my champion," said Tsarra. "He doesn't get out to meet nobility much."

Octavia's expression didn't change; she remained happy to see the three elves. "That's perfectly fine. After this meeting is concluded, you and Princess Naedove must join us for dinner. I'm sure Nick will use that opportunity to explain his ideas."

"But why me?" asked Tanithil, a bit more forcefully than the occasion required.

The Duchess was not phased or cowed by his bold tone of voice. "We didn't reach out to a shepherd for this task. We need someone who can fight, and Nick said you were the only one."

"Who or what do you want me to fight?" pressed Tanithil.

Tsarra and Seldanna both looked angry at Tanithil's rude behavior, but Octavia signaled them to remain calm with an open hand. "That is a fair question, and I wish I had a fair answer for you. The honest answer for you is 'I don't know.'" Before Tanithil could respond, Octavia continued. "You probably know more about our mutual enemy's gammon than anyone else at this moment. You could even face Nick if it got out of hand. It is our prayer that you know of it and won't let the gammon take you."

Even in the heat, Tanithil felt an icy chill run down his back, causing him to shiver. Gammon, the archaic term for deceptive talk, was Nithe Skelm's ability to convince any human, dwarf, or elf to bow to Nithe Skelm's will and obey his orders without question. "So it's real?" he said in a quiet voice.

"Nithe Skelm walks Kodu and is attempting to take Uduithia." Octavia led the elves out onto a balcony that led to an adjoining room. From the balcony, Tanithil and Tsarra could see that they were in a huge stone ziggurat or pyramid over a hundred feet in the air, and below them was jungle as far as the eye could see, and the jungle was overpowering a city below them. "This is the city of Itzamna," said Octavia. "It once was the capital of the Xocurian Empire, now it's mostly uninhabited." She led them into the next room, which was a large conference room filled with people whom Tsarra knew: humans, dwarves, elves, and people that could be werewolves or vampires. Besides Nick, there was only one person who Tanithil knew: the elf warrior Leomaris Autumnfall, chief of royal security for King Lars Ranzau, the ruler of Teurnia.

As they were seated, King Uric was already admitting that his government was infested with a terrible threat. "What threat are you talking about?" demanded Orazio Laurita, the leader of the largest city on the Edux continent. Like everyone else, the heat and humidity were making him edgy. "It's stifling hot here, too hot to dance around the subject if you please." Orazio Laurita never asks a question he doesn't know the answer to, but there's a first time for everything.

King Uric looked uncomfortable and said, "Nithe Skelm." Curses in a multitude of languages were muttered around the room. It appeared that most cultures had heard of Nithe Skelm, but few knew any real details. "What are we talking about?" demanded Ned Darby. "What is a Nithe Skelm and does it have anything to do with the attacks on Duke Stein?"

"It has everything to do with them," said Lady Octavia. "For that reason we brought forth the leading experts on Nithe Skelm, and a victim of his madness, representing the elven nation of Silvanor, Crown Princess Tsarra Naedove and her champion, the Sword Arm of the King, Tanithil Glynrie."

Tsarra and Tanithil looked at each other in shock. Leading experts? "Let's not make the lady a liar," whispered Tsarra.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 23 - A Plan

The two elves rose, and Tsarra spoke first. "Thanks to His Grace, Duke Nicholas, Tanithil and I have had unprecedented access to ancient documents that predate our current calendar, and from what we can tell, predate the arrival of humans on the Edux continent." There were gasps around the room. As far as scholars know, the oldest documents are approximately six thousand years old, and humans were a small part of Edux back then. Where humans come from is anyone's guess.

"Vere did chew fint zuch documents?" demanded Lady Sarafine Elisaveta von Reichenbach, her accent making common Torwin hard to understand.

"We had full access to the technical library of the City of Elsenas, then we were granted twenty four hours of access to the Library of Nolmë," said Tsarra. "We believe what we found was true because we found documents in two different libraries written by two different groups saying the same thing."

The room burst into raucous confusion. Elsenas? The Library of Nolmë? They had been lost for centuries - even longer, millennia! Nolmë contained the history of the elven people; therefore, it was the property of the elven people! Arguments sprang up; bickering between the leaders of the different nations and factions flared. Suddenly Tanithil pulled his dagger and banged the tabletop with the hilt of his dagger as hard as he could, startling the room to silence. "PLEASE!" demanded Tanithil. "We are men and women of action, we are here to resolve an issue, not create more. Let the scholars bicker later, we have a danger to eradicate and we're not going to do it shoving metaphoric blades into each other's backs!"

Fellow mountain elf Leomaris Autumnfall chuckled at the change he had seen in Tanithil Glynrie. "Well said, fellow elf. Let us deal with Nithe Skelm first, ancient scrolls later."

When silence returned, Tsarra continued. "We believe Nithe Skelm was born human-like, but there is no way of knowing what he truly is. His was a world that was nearly devoid of magic. To do anything beyond sleight of hand required vast amounts of preparation and study. Not happy with simple party tricks, Nithe Skelm hungered for power and began to consort with demons. In exchange for the souls of his parents, they transported him to a different world with more intrinsic magic."

"On his new world he learned to gain magical power by instilling fear in people through his ability to convince their leaders to do what he wanted. This was called by the ancient writers as his gammon. Once he terrorized the population and plundered all that he wanted, he moved on to a new world. Each world he moved to became easier and easier to find magic, and his methods of instilling fear and terror became polished. Starting with a small peaceful principality, he takes over the government, then rises militarily. He invades neighboring countries one by one; builds up his forces using their resources and moves on to the next country. He continues this pattern until nothing is left, then he moves on to the next world. To him this is a game."

Tanithil continued for Tsarra. "Nithe Skelm is active in our world right now. This is a magically rich world, and he's probably drunk with power. He has infiltrated the Uduithian government. If he gains full control, he will invade the neighboring duchy of Warwickshire then threaten the surrounding duchies to join peacefully or suffer the same fate as Warwickshire. He will then invade Elbreshowth on the Moor and gobble it up one county at a time. Once he takes Elbreshowth, he will sweep around and take the land that was once Breaze and he will have Teurnia surrounded."

"He will never take Teurnia!" said Leomaris Autumnfall boldly.

"He won't have to," said Tanithil sadly. "He will invade Edhellond, the queen's home, and subject the citizens there to horrors too vile to repeat. King Lars will submit trying to save the last elf seaport. Once Teurnia falls, he will cut off all access to Torwin-Armistad, and starve out the city. He will crush Silvanor and march onto the east side of the continent, and the entire continent of Edux is his. Once he controls Edux, nobody will be able to stop him. In two years' time, he will have drained Kodu of magic and it could take centuries to replace, leaving the survivors here to eke out a living on the bones of what remains."

"How do we know this is true?" asked Duke Lolar Hampton. "I'm not calling you a liar, but I don't want what you're saying to be the truth."

Tsarra softly said, "He's been here before."

"What? That's impossible!" shouted Samrel Oakenarmour. "How can the scourge of all that is good and holy take over our entire world and we didn't know about it?"

"Because it happened over ten thousand years ago," said Tanithil. "The records of his attack are in the Library of Nolmë and the Technical Library in Elsenas. I wouldn't doubt there's more records in Rkund Hold."

"How is zat possible?" gasped Lady Margolotta. "He vas here in pre-antiquity, you sait zat he never conquers ze same world twice yet he is here now?"

"How did the ancient scholars obtain this information?" asked Lolar Hampton. "Were they able to move from one world to the next like Nithe Skelm?"

"No," said Tsarra. "Once he was in power, he began to brag. There's volumes that describe the different worlds he conquered; they are all transcriptions of his bragging. He bragged about moving through time and space to find the choice worlds at their peak of magic, and when asked about why he bragged he told the ancient transcriptionists 'I'm not coming back here so I don't care who knows.'"

"Braggadocious bastard," growled a clearly defeated King Uric.

"We do not know how he does it, but we know for certain that his last visit was a nightmare for all," said the elf warrior. "We even asked the gods and they did not know because they..." He paused, because what Tanithil had to say next would probably be considered blasphemy. "They weren't here back then."

"Heresy!" cried Orazio Laurita. Orazio cared little for the gods, but belief in them kept his city from unwinding into riots.

"No, he's right," said Nick. "The gods came from Aestea, a huge moon that used to orbit Zigu. I read the same documents."

Again, confused questions spilled from an angry crowd until Tanithil banged his knife hilt for order again. "This planet, our home, was a completely different world. It even had a different name, Treophus. Back then, elves were the only race, and there was only one moon. We elves created glistening crystal cities, and they were everywhere, they sprouted from the center of forests, they grew in rocky mountain strongholds. They were built before Nithe Skelm pillaged Kodu, long before the first Stardance."

"How is that possible?" asked a stunned King Samrel Oakenarmour.

Tanithil continued. "Back when Nithe Skelm ravaged our cities, Zigu's orbit was outside of Treophus's orbit, but a rogue planet called Tānlán nearly hit Zigu, but it's passing pulled it toward the sun. It's largest moon, Aestea, struck our only moon, Hiphus and in the end, Treophus was showered with the remains of both moons. The showers of burning rocks destroyed our cities. Before disaster struck, the gods came down from Aestea and helped us build shelters, they called Treophus home, which became Kodu. We elves dug underground cities to escape the coming disaster. The gods created dwarves and other races to help us dig underground cities, I've been in Elsenas, the grandest of them all, for months."

"So why aren't elves and dwarves living there now?" demanded Orazio.

"Because we elves are creatures of the surface," said Tsarra. "Our hearts are on the plains and in the forests and high in the mountains. Once the danger from falling rock was over, we emerged to find three moons instead of one, and rings around the moons and Kodu. We also found humans."

"Where did the humans come from?" asked Leomaris Autumnfall. "There's got to be some kind of explanation for my friend Pommy."

"No one knows," said Tanithil. "That is not the question at the moment. We are not here to fill you with terror; we are here to give you hope."

"What hope could there possibly be?" asked a morose King Uric.

"I don't believe any of this," growled King Samrel Oakenarmour. "What proof do you have?"

"You're absolutely right to dispute our message," said Nick, standing up next to Tanithil. "But Nithe Skelm is not attacking at the top, he's toying with us like a cat with a wounded mouse, taking over our government bit by bit. He has three members of the court in his pocket, two more and he gains a majority. He collects weak, greedy people, people who despise their station in life and feel that they were somehow slighted, the baron that believes he should be a viscount, the viscount that knows he should be an earl. Then suddenly a common man appears out of nowhere and becomes a marquis or duke and moves to the front of the line and jealousy takes over. I appeared out of Breaze not long ago and the king has a new hero and friend and a brand new duke."

"So you think there are going to be attempts on your life?" asked Orazio Laurita.

"There have been multiple attempts on my life, I was taken captive and sold to the Xuantang emperor, I was attacked by bandits multiple times on my own roads, in the month of Nexus armed troops lay in wait for me on my own main road. In early Astra, Octavia and I were held captive in Xuantang. On Celest Ninth I was shot with a poison arrow. On Mid-Winter day I was shot at with a poison dart at the King's Dinner. The next day, I entered a building that had booby traps laid out for me." Nick paused, and the room was uncomfortably quiet. "Would you take the word of a ruler who has spoken with Nithe Skelm?" he asked.

"What ruler do you have in mind?" asked Orazio.

Emperor Jia rose and bowed deeply to the assembly. "I am Jia Hau Chung. Thanks to the blessing of Duke Stein I am emperor of the Xuantang empire. In the months of Whorl, Nexus, and Cosong of last year, I was a student of King Uric. I was approached by three members of his court who tried to convince me that the Duke of Wægn was trying to take over the government and had to be killed. I did not believe them but my mother did. She met with Nithe Skelm and was enchanted by him and she believed his accusations. In the month of Astra she tried to kill Duke Stein and the Duchess but they escaped. The next day while on the run, their son was born in a forest. Weeks later Lady Stein was able to remove the spell Nithe Skelm put on my mother and she confessed everything. Duke Stein showed mercy and love on his last day as Emperor then handed the empire to me." The young man bowed and sat down next to his weeping mother.

For a long moment the room was silent, then Lolar Hampton said, "Why don't you just arrest him? I'm sure that a few hours with Mr. Morose would convince him to find a new world to pollute."

"He's not in communication with people he doesn't own. And when he's somewhere observing a meeting, for example, he isn't completely there," said Octavia. "He's physically somewhere else. We are guessing that he doesn't stay in his body."

"If ve fount his body, coult ve kill it?" asked Lucretia Vladimíra von Reichenbach.

"The goddess Saatus told me that Aen-Belth could probably do it," said Tanithil Glynrie, not realizing who or what Aen-Belth was. All he knew was that in Mägede Keel, the language of Mountain Elves, Aen-Belth meant "God Killer."

"You said we had hope," groaned King Uric. "What possible hope could there be?"

"If you take only one thing away from the meeting, it needs to be this," said Tanithil in a powerful voice. "Nithe Skelm never attacks a world twice, because there will always be survivors who will record the experience," said Tanithil. "Because we have three moons and are now outside Zigu, he doesn't realize he has been here before, and he clearly doesn't know we are aware of his presence." Then Tanithil grinned with what could only be termed as The Joy of the Hunt. "We know he's here. We know how he works. We know where to find him. He may be long lived, but if we can grab him in mortal form he'll die like any other rodent."

Nick nodded in agreement. "We need to find something he's touched; we have a pretty good sniffer on our team. If we can track him down, we may convince him to move on."

"Vot if he says nein?" asked Serafine.

"Then I kill him."

The meeting didn't go much longer. After hearing Jia's testimony, they all realized that there was a problem. Of course, they all knew about Nick's problems. They all had intelligence and were briefed every time a high placed noble anywhere on Kodu was in trouble. Usually the trouble was a drunken shouting match heard by the wrong people, or being caught with a mistress, or being caught accepting bribes from the wrong family member, but multiple murder attempts?

Octavia stood at the four columns that marked the Æther Port and their trip back to West Edux. She shook hands with every person who attended, and some of them got a taste of Octavia's magic as they shook hands. A few received a spell that allowed them to remember the feeling that they had a way to combat Nithe Skelm, but they won't remember any details. The people whom they couldn't trust, like Orazio Laurita, would not remember the meeting at all. Her spell allowed their minds to believe they finally got that long afternoon nap they had promised themselves. Others that were needed and trustworthy, like General Ned Darby, would remember everything.

Tidor Dhukonn was getting ready to lead Orazio Laurita and Ned Darby back to Torwin-Armistad when Nick came up to Ned. "Is there a betting line on me in Torwin-Armistad?"

"Right now, it's five to one against you surviving until Mid-Summers day in Mystara."

"Place a wager on me. My son is going to start walking sometime in the New Year, and I'm not going to miss it." He handed Ned a five-ounce gold ingot.

"They won't take this bet," said Ned.

"If they don't, then they don't have a hair on their ass."

A crafty grin spread across Ned's face. That was an expression from the depths of The Tubes. "Where in the Tubes are you from?" he asked.

"Bell Passage, but I got a promotion. When my father threw me away, he did it on Merchant Way near the temple. If I got picked up by a gendarme, they didn't put me in jail, they just dumped me out on Grease Trap Road and the next day I was back on Merchant Way."

Bell Passage was in the bowels of The Tubes, a true wasteland, a six-foot-wide alley populated by drunks, drug addicts, prostitutes, their Johns, and the Stein family: Nick and his parents. He never knew why his father chose to live there, and it's painful for Nick knowing that his mother got off Bell Passage the way she did, but he hopes and prays every night that she was alive and healthy. Merchant Row, where he spent most of his time after being thrown away like garbage, was relatively safe.

Ned smiled sadly. Merchant Row is where the small boys hid, the easy prey, the kids that the big kids used for punching bags, the little kids they used to see if their knife was sharpened properly. Nick and his friends hid near the Temple of Saehrimnir; that's where he met a wolf pup named Pepin. Many of his friends got sick from drinking the holy water, but it only made Nick and Pepin sick for a few hours, but the trash cans were always filled with large, moldy pieces of food that had been left on the donation plates.

Ned Darby, top cop in Torwin-Armistad, had grown up in the Tubes also, and he respected Nick for surviving as long as he did. He considered the gold ingot that Nick freely handed him. He could purchase the deaths of most of the city council with this one piece of gold. "We've come a long way, haven't we, your grace?"

"Yes, your grace, we have," said Nick sadly. "Now I have a promise I made to Marlon that I have to keep."

"And that promise is...?"

"To spend my life not acting like my father" and he took Octavia's arm and stepped into the Æther portal. Ned flipped that gold ingot a few times, then put it in his pocket. He knew a few bookies who would take this bet, and he followed Nick out of the hot, muggy jungle and into the Æther portal.

<><><><><>

Nick, Octavia, Tanithil, Tsarra, King Uric, and Queen Elinor stepped out of the Temple in the Woods as the sun sank below Breeder's Peak. It was cooling off fast, and ice was crusting over the puddles. The queen had been completely silent during the meeting in the hot, steamy jungle; a sense of dread had washed over Queen Elinor the entire time. They walked to the Watch House and saw the work that had been done; the porch was jacked up level and propped up, the doors on the barn hanging straight and a new hasp and bolt securing it. Lights were glowing in the Watch House, so they went in to find a feast in progress. The new arrivals from Torwin-Armistad were seated at the head of a long table and were being told stories of "Life With Nick" by Annabell, Bughac, Eryri, and The Boys.

"Where's my baby?" demanded Octavia, and she found him in Trei Metsker's lap as Trei and his wife Erin sat in rocking chairs listening to the stories.

"He took the little lad from Annabelle when we got here so she could prepare dinner and he hasn't put him down," said Erin.

Marlon's little eyes bugged out when he saw Mommy. He started kicking his legs and his mouth tried to form a smile around the nipple on the bottle "Grandpa" Trei was holding, but he went back to nursing on the bottle. "Come on, little man, it's been a busy day. Daddy wants to go home."

Camus von Reichenbach was thinking about the nature of their threat, not the bullies and ruffians on the mountain, but about the murder attempts on the Duke's life. When he got Preston and Annabelle alone to talk, the details sounded like an old Elbreshowth folktale, a horror story featuring Dabra Jeza told to scare the children into bed. Dabra Jeza was an evil witch who lived in a large iron pot in the Tecumrane Slough, a swamp in northeastern Elbreshowth on the Moor. The Tecumrane Slough was thousands of acres of fetid mud, putrid water, and millions of dead trees. The pot had stork's legs that ended with feet like a bear, and she would chase down children and pull them into the pot with her where they would be cooked.

The problem with Dabra Jeza was that she wasn't actually in this dimension. She shifted in and out, which made it quite difficult to catch her because she could shift dimensions and get away. That won't work in reality. It takes so much energy to shift dimensions just once that it left the person shifting exhausted and unable to shift back for a long time. That's why the easiest way to shift dimensions is to rip a hole open and step through. The rip will heal itself and you're there, but that only lets you into the dimension next door, where a powerful wizard like Octavia could follow you and turn you inside out if she were angry enough. Certain wizards spoke of alternate realities, but everyone knew that was nonsense.

Nick and Octavia walked home with Eryri and Bughac and Tanithil Glynrie and Tsarra Naedove. Buggy wanted to ask Nick about the meeting, but everything about the meeting was classified, and just asking about it could jeopardize their plans. Nick would talk when it was time. They led Tanithil Glynrie and Tsarra Naedove up Nana Peacock's Lane and introduced the dwarves to the elves, and all three couples were oddly silent. It had been a long, tiring day for all of them. Buggy and Eryri said good night at the guardhouse, but Octavia said, "Come join us for coffee," so the dwarves followed the rest up to the cottage.

"It's going to be nice tonight, no running around, no worrying about the weather, we can just get some sleep," said Octavia as she stepped up onto the porch. "Pepin?"

The wolf was laying in front of the door on his side, panting. "Pepin? What's wrong?" asked Nick as he dropped to his knees and examined his lifelong friend. Damn! All of his witchcraft and medical training was for farm animals and humans. Wolves weren't included; he was trained to keep them away.

Pepin looked up at him weakly. "Don't know," the poor wolf gasped. "I found a bone by the porch and I munched on that..." then his head lay back down. Nick scooped up his oldest friend, his very first friend, the friend that kept him alive in the dark days of living on the streets and carried him into the house where he sat with the poor wolf on his lap.

"I'll get help," said Eryri, and she dashed off into the night.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Chapter 24 - Spirits of Coprophagia

Eryri arrived at the watch house out of breath. "We need a nose!"

"What?" laughed Harry Neumann. "Why do you need a nose? You already have one," and he reached out and tapped Eryri's tiny nose. The village cobbler has been working on the donated police carriage and saddles since daybreak and, like everyone else, was a bit punchy. The cops broke out the wine to share with their new neighbors, and the party was just getting underway when Eryri burst in.

"Nick thinks someone poisoned Pepin."

"Pepin?" gasped Annabelle, and suddenly she was gone, sprinting to the cabin. Only her cousin Camus could keep up with her. They were at the cottage in just a few minutes, tapping on the door. Octavia let them in and they saw Nick on the ancient and most honorable throne of the Xuantang Empire, holding Pepin's head in his lap; the wolf's body was wrapped up in a warm towel.

"What's the matter, boy?" asked Annabelle as she touched his muzzle.

"I feel awful," groaned Pepin.

"He talks?" whispered Camus.

"Yeah," Annabelle glared at her cousin. "You do too."

"Yeah but I don't... I mean..." Camus met Pepin months ago, the day Nick was found and freed from captivity, Pepin told Camus that he wouldn't speak to him without a lawyer and he swore it was a trick that Ned Darby pulled on him.

"He said he found a bone near the porch, that's the only thing he ate today," said Nick.

"What did the bone taste like?" asked Annabelle.

"It was venison, fresh venison, but... it tasted like copper," groaned the poor, sick wolf.

"Should I give him Milk or something?" asked Octavia.

"I always look it up in Reversing the Unreversible, by Gladimeyer Hornsby," said Camus.

"We still have that!" said Octavia. "I checked it out from the library when Nick was shot."

"What did it smell like, Pepin?" Camus was getting into it now.

"Vinegar, not the good stuff," Pepin stopped to cough, "the stuff you clean pipes with... vinegar and tar... yeah, road tar."

"Got that duchess? Vinegar road tar. Look that up in the olfactory index."

Octavia looked at the back of the thick tome and started flipping around until Camus came in and showed her how to use the table... follow the Vinegar column until it reaches the Road Tar row. The results were Spirits of Coprophagia. "Now turn to the entry for the Spirits of Coprophagia... and it says that it does indeed taste metallic, some say it's like copper."

Together they found that there was no item that could cure the individual, but if the poisoned individual was still alive after 24 hours, they would survive. Octavia's heart sank. Wordlessly, she carried the book to Nick and pointed out the entry. He read it and nodded, then said, "Cheese? Is that all it takes? Bring on the cheese!"

Octavia looked at Nick like he were crazy, but the pleading look on his face begged her to believe him. Cheese was Pepin's favorite snack. If they didn't have a cure for him, he might as well eat his favorite foods until the end. Octavia brought a platter with pieces of several different cheeses. Pepin ate a few, then began to wretch. "Not in the house, let's go outside buddy," said Nick and carried Pepin outside, where he puked up dark bile.

As the wolf was heaving, Annabelle and Camus sniffed around, and they soon found a large bone next to the porch. There was a lot of meat on it, but they could tell in the moonlight that the meat was turning green. They took a sniff and looked at each other. They could tell who had handled it. Lord Slipspring and Lord Cadence. They put the bone in a bucket and covered it with a plank held in place with a brick, then Camus let out with a ferocious wolf howl.

"What was that for?" asked Nick as he carried a confused-looking Pepin back into the cabin.

"There are wolves and foxes around. I just let them know there's a new wolf in town. They won't come sniffing and find that bone later." Camus then turned to Annabelle and said, "Let's go pup, we have work to do tomorrow."

As they left, Nick settled down on the couch with Pepin. The look of hurt and confusion on his face touched Octavia. She knew he needed to spend time with his old friend, so she kissed Nick's forehead and whispered, "shout if you need me." She bundled up their fussy son, then turned to Tanithil and Tsarra, who had been silent through the entire episode. "We have an open room upstairs. Nick has plans to share with you tomorrow morning," and they headed upstairs while Nick stayed downstairs with the groggy Pepin.

<><><><><>

When the day broke, Octavia came downstairs and found Nick sleeping, sitting on the floor with a limp Pepin in his lap. She knelt in front of him and kissed him awake. "How is our patient?" she asked as Nick's eyes slowly opened.

"Weak. He threw up again but this time it wasn't nasty bile. Where are you off to?"

"I'm going to go look for Spirits of Coprophagia," said Octavia as she put Marlon in Nick's arms and handed him a bottle. "I shouldn't be long. He just ate so he shouldn't be hungry."

"We'll be here." The house started to smell like bread as Octavia pulled on her shawl.

"I made some lunch for you," and she picked her staff, Virga, out of the oliphant foot umbrella holder.

"There is coffee on the stove for you and our guests," then she stepped outside. "Virga, wake up. We're going flying."

The huge jeweled eye that is the Orb of Jørn opened and peered around. "Where are we going?" Virga asked soundlessly.

"Our turret," she said, and soon they were flying like a witch on her broomstick. They hung low over the trees as they rocketed toward the top of Black Mountain.

"The duke is a witch, he has a broom," mentioned Virga.

"So?"

"You should convince him to fly it. We could go flying together."

"That would be fun, but he prefers soaring as a bird or a dragon."

"You should learn to do that, then." As the sun rose in the morning sky, they had reached the summit of Black Mountain and its mysterious four foot tall circular wall.

"Let's see what we can see..." said Octavia as she set the base of Virga in a hole in the stone floor inside that ring wall. Slowly, the little walled circle began to rise on a pillar of stone, extending from the mountain. During the Sorcerer Wars over three millennia ago, Black Mountain was one of the tallest, deadliest sorcerers' towers, but it was defensive in nature. Now a sourceress has taken possession of the power of the mountain and has used it in defense of her family, and she is using it again. Like a telescope, the tower extended into the sky, but Octavia didn't notice. Her mind was far away. She gripped the staff and closed her eyes, and Virga opened its enormous eye, and they looked for the Spirits of Coprophagia. First, they saw the bucket in front of their cottage. It glowed with a green tint. Then they swept Hay-on-Wægn County looking for the same glowing green tint. In the entire area north of Breeders Peak, no other occurrences of it could be found. Soon the mountain had risen high enough so that they were looking down into the bowl of Waleston, the capital.

There she saw two instances of the Spirits of Coprophagia. One was clearly in an apothecary, which may have a legitimate use for it. The other was in the basement of a large townhouse near the palace. "Hmmmm, should we burn it or should we glue it in place?" Octavia thought out loud.

"If you burn it, you may burn down the house," said Virga.

"Good thought, let's just glue it in place."

<><><><><>

In the cabin, Tanithil and Tsarra had come downstairs, and Nick gently slid out from under Pepin and laid the sick wolf's head on a folded blanket. "You seem to care greatly for that dog," said Tanithil.

"We were a team. When he was kidnapped my whole world ended. I felt like I had nothing keeping me here so I went to Medical School in Breaze and my tuition was paid for by serving in the royal guard. I concentrated on my swordsmanship in case I get to meet the man who took Pepin."

"He's a wolf," said Tsarra.

"He was a puppy when we found each other and we both drank holy water from the temple so we stayed the same age for four years." Nick smiled and said, "I was five for four years and had a puppy the entire time, it's every boy's dream."

"You drank holy water?" gasped Tsarra. Holy water is a water blessed by the gods for ritual cleansing. During the blessing, the structure of the water is changed, and the water becomes deadly to ingest for humans and elves, and probably wolf pups.

"There was nothing for us to drink. It hadn't rained for weeks so there was no puddles and the gangs would wait near the public wells for little kids to beat up and rob because we were best at begging for pennies. In the winter the puddles were frozen, holy water was all we could drink," said Nick as he offered each elf a cup of coffee. "Thank you very much for everything you've done so far. The meeting with the politicians was one thing, but you need to be prepared in case Aen-Belth fails."

"Aen-Belth means God Slayer," said Tsarra. "You are the only person or elf that has ever killed a god."

Nick sliced the fresh loaf of bread and buttered the slices, and offered them to Tanithil and Tsarra then sat down on the floor next to Pepin and fed him small pieces of buttered bread. He avoided her statement. Instead, he said, "If I fail, your task is to empty this village. There will be a Æther portal tunnel set up between the temple and Artafána. Get everyone, including the Highway Watch, into Artafána, and Tervis will close the tunnel. Meanwhile, Flinar and Shelara Mialen will empty Irla Stein Anore into Elsenas through Taur's Padad, the King's Entrance. The route we used to get Tsarra into Elsenas. On the back side of the mountain Bughac and Eryri will pull their people into the mine and seal every door. When he comes out of Waleston, I want Nithe Skelm to march into empty towns and villages."

"Don't forget me," wheezed Pepin.

"You just go be a wolf and they'll ignore you," said Nick as he scratched behind Pepin's ears.

"I need to go outside," said Pepin.

"Come on buddy, let's hoist you up," said Nick, but Pepin actually growled. "Fine, do it yourself. Let's go out back." Slowly, Pepin got up on wobbly legs and stumbled to the kitchen door. Nick held the door open for Pepin, who stumbled outside, then lay down on the porch. "Are you well?" asked Nick.

"I'm going to enjoy the sun," said Pepin. "It feels nice."

"I'll be inside if you need me," said Nick, and he walked back inside.

"Where is lady Octavia this morning?" asked Tsarra.

"She is..." as he tried to answer the question, they heard a loud siren screaming from outside. The fairies that were singing softly to Marlon suddenly dashed for hiding spaces while Gula, Nick's brightly colored bird, tried to sing along with the siren. "What the hell is that?"

"Momma's getting frisky," called a recovering Pepin from the back porch.

"She's gonna shoot! She's gonna shoot!" cried the fairies from behind the trinkets and jars they hid behind.

Nick stood up and stepped out onto the porch, baby Marlon in one arm, the other hand holding a small bottle for the baby. He was followed by the two elves, and they looked for the source of the screaming. Then they saw a flash of light blaze across the blue sky leaving a thin trail of the smoke of scorched air molecules, it streaked from the very top of Black Mountain and blazed south toward Waleston, a moment after it disappeared behind Breeders Peak the sound of a roar mixed with ka-boom! filled the air.

"The Struvras Arrow!" cried Tsarra. "It has to be!"

Tanithil looked confused. "But that no longer exists, you need the Orb of..." Then he remembered the shattered walls in Rkund Hold and looked at Nick. "You found the Orb of Jørn, didn't you."

"Octavia found it while I was being held in Xuantang. She used it to shoot off my leg," said Nick. He pulled up his pant leg and showed the scar where she magically reattached his leg.

"Hell of a shot," added Pepin, who was now standing, tail wagging.

Again, the banshee wailing filled the air, and they looked up at the summit of Black Mountain and saw a ball of white light above the peak. With a roar, a second shot blazed across the sky and split the air with the sound of its passing. When his ears stopped ringing, Nick realized that the siren had stopped. Soon the local birds began chirping again. When their eyes lowered, they saw two elves seated on horseback in front of the porch. "What in the name of Yilos' balls was that?" demanded Flinar Mialen.

"I believe my wife was taking in some target practice this morning," said Nick. "Flinar, Shelara, this is Tanithil Glynrie and Tsarra Naedove. They will be assisting you in case our worst nightmares come true. Tanithil, Tsarra, this is Flinar and Shelara Mialen and their unicorn mares Breena and Elwyn. They are members of the Highway Guard and they protect the west shoulder of Black Mountain. When all is settled and we return to normal I envision them on the road while you two work above the road looking for bandits and poachers."

"Poachers?" asked Tanithil with a grin. That sounds like a game he'd be happy to hunt.

"Hunting is legal for residents of Hay-on-Wægn county and for visitors with a permit from the duke. If you don't have a permit it's poaching and poaching is illegal, but it's not a death penalty, not unless they shoot at a Highway Guardsman doing his duty... Black mountain is a source of food and fuel for Hay-on-Wægn county residents, regardless of race or species. I believe we should think about opening Elsenas to scholars who want to explore and study."

"We've talked about mapping that place," said Tsarra. "We could get those explorers to map it for us."

"I like that way of thinking," said Nick. "Flinar, Shelara, why don't you show Tanithil and Tsarra around. Start with Irla Stein Anore, show them what being an elf on Morna Oran is all about. Then introduce them around Elm Springs."

"Ever ride a unicorn?" asked Shelara. She could tell from the eager but nervous look in Tsarra's eyes that she hadn't, so she swung off and helped Tsarra into the saddle. Flinar did likewise with Tanithil, and the four elves headed up the path through Nick's farm to the Black Mountain Road, Flinar and Shelara leading their mounts.

<><><><><>

Back in the cottage, Nick changed Marlon, then laid him down on the couch next to a sleeping Pepin, made a sandwich with fresh bread, and began to play his dulcimer. The house fairies sang along, and Gula squawked at each sharp or flat note like a true music teacher. About an hour later, Octavia returned to the cottage. "Did you have a pleasant flight?" asked Nick.

"Yes, how did you know I was flying?"

"Your cheeks are windburned. Did you see anything interesting?"

"Ummm... Eryri and Axemir's mine is still buried under snow but they should be able to dig out the tunnel entrance... the Yeti, Durga, and his mate Jjoti are expecting, they should have a Yetiling in the Autumn, they're getting ready for their summer hibernation... we noticed a pot of Spirits of Coprophagia in a basement in Waleston so we glued it closed." She shrugged, "That's about it."

"I saw the shots, was that how you shot my foot off?"

"That was different. This was how I glued Horatio Tinsmith to the statue in the courtyard of Bet ha-Kise Temple College of Wizardry." She eased into the rocking chair next to him and said, "Come fly with me, the sun is warm, we can have a lovely afternoon."

"If someone will watch Marlon, sure. I'm not wild about flying on that broom, however." Granny Depraysie made a new broom and gave her old broom to Nick, saying that it's the only thing more cantankerous than Nick.

"Why not?"

"It crushes my nuts. Become an eagle, we'll fly together."

"My arms get tired," she replied.

In the end, they put Marlon in a push buggy and walked down to Elm Springs and over to the Watch House to see the progress. The barn was wonderful; they should be able to stable a dozen horses and store several police carriages and a sleigh. There were six saddles for the mounted officers. Harry, the village cobbler, took six mismatched, donated saddles, then dyed them all black and polished them to a luster. He added silver buckles and ornaments, and now they nearly look like a matched set.

Inside the Watch house all was in order; the bunkhouse was set up, the commander's apartment was warm and inviting, and the front desk area looked like they've been housing policemen for months. "Can we help you?" a young volunteer desk officer asked as Nick and Octavia entered through the front door.

"Just looking," said Nick.

"Then I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the sergeant's desk or step outside."

"Thank you officer... what was your name?"

"Simms sir. And yours?"

"Pommeraie de la Montesquieu Stein, but that's a mouthful. You can call me Nick."

"Thank you, Nick... if you'll step aside, we are quite busy setting up."

"Mind if we watch Constable Simms?"

"Not at all."

The guard officers were busy with furniture being re-arranged, walls being moved, and plans on the walls being revised over and over. Then Camus noticed the duke and duchess watching and waiting. "Why are you just..."

"We were asked to watch from out here."

"SIMMS!"

The young constable dashed up to the wily sergeant and saluted.

"Constable, why did you ask the Duke and Duchess of Wægn, the founders of our house to stand outside?"

"Um, I thought, I didn't, I..."

"We didn't identify ourselves, Sergeant von Reichenbach," said Nick, coming to the young man's rescue.

"You're the duke?" the Constable said in a small voice.

"We come to talk about an aerial unit. We both can fly; we can use a broom or feather depending on the circumstances."

"Thank the gods we have a missing child. Most everyone is beating the brush right now."

"Can you watch Marlon?"

"Me?" The sergeant looked around, then shouted, "SQUEAKY!" and Annabell came racing up from the basement.

"I hate it when you call me that," she sputtered.

Ten minutes later, with Marlon in Annabelle's arms, two Black Eagles were fighting for altitude and heading northwest.

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Chapter 25 - The Highway Watch

Nick and Octavia were nearing the Weathersmith farm, and Nick could make out all the details, but to Octavia everything was tiny and hard to see. Soon her question entered his mind, "How can we see anything from up here?"

"Let your eagle look, just let it know what we're looking for," came Nick's answer. He wasn't sure it was the right answer because changing into a different animal felt natural to Nick, but Octavia had to make use of some powerful magic. Apparently, the end result was the same because soon Octavia realized that her eagle could see quite a lot of detail far down below them. Soon they were flying over the farm that had reported the missing girl. "Oh, no..." groaned Nick.

"What?"

"Their farm is near the river. Kids like ice and moving waters." It was over a quarter mile from the farmhouse, but to a farm kid, that's not a long walk at all.

They were soon over the river, and Octavia saw a specter in black shrouds standing on a rock in the river. It lifted an impossibly sharp scythe and swung. It was Droul, the god of death. Octavia cried, "There!" and began to dive. Nick saw it too and folded his wings back and let himself plunge. He fell from the sky, shooting past Octavia, diving toward the half-frozen river. At the last moment he opened his wings, halting his dive, then he changed back to human and dropped five feet into knee-deep frigid water.

Nick found that the little girl's body was pressed up against a rock by the flow of the water. There was no way that she could be alive. He has already snatched a child out of the claws of death; but he will not be able to do it this time.

"I DESPISE THESE JOBS THE MOST," said the morose specter as he sadly watched Nick return to human form inches above the surface of the river, then drop into the freezing water. The duke reached into the river and fought to free the six-year-old from her icy fate, but by the time he wrestled her limp body free, it was far too late. "PLEASE KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR CHILDREN," grieved Droul as he slowly faded from sight. Nick waded to shore where Octavia stood waiting, and a shocked Octavia burst into tears as Nick shook his head, telling her there was no hope for the child in his arms.

The search party heard someone approaching, and hope shot through each of them, praying for the best, but then they saw the worst. The Duke and Duchess were coming toward them, carrying a small, cold, limp body in a white nightgown. A large man broke forth from the party and yelled, "That's my Amy!"

"I'm sorry Harlan," said Nick. "I'm so sorry..." Harlan Weathersmith took the limp body of his daughter from Nick's hands and wailed in agony. The heartbroken farmer carried his youngest home for the last time as Nick and Octavia held on to each other for support. The farmer's tears caused Nick to weep for their agony.

"If we had been here sooner..." cried Nick. "If I wasn't playing dumbass games with the desk at the Police House I may have been here in time."

"We can't save everyone," said Octavia through her tears as she clung to her husband. They knelt alone in the windswept field, wishing they were better, faster. The young parents clung to each other and wept, terrified like every new parent who greets death and fears that the same fate lies in their child's future. They clung to each other until Nick gave Octavia a kiss.

"I need Marlon," he said.

"I need my baby," she said with a sniff, and in an instant, two eagles began their flight back to the watch house.

<><><><><>

Thursday's dinner was a solemn affair that week. As usual for a Thursday, their friends Wayne and Silver Metsker were there. They originally started having dinner together to help Wayne and Silver financially. A dinner with friends and taking home a sack full of leftovers that would feed their family at least one more meal was a financial boon to the couple who had two children and one more on the way. Wayne had pride like his father, Trei, but with the ox trains from the north side of Black Mountain shut down for the winter, his income was severely slashed, and these dinners helped.

The cottage was small but comfortable. With guests, the entire living room became a dining room, especially if you have a wizard in the house that can expand the table as far as you need it to go. They finished sitting at the table when Nick walked in. He was in a better mood than he had been since they found Amy Weathersmith. He and Wayne spoke, and Wayne pointed out that the child was wearing a nightgown. No child walks barefoot through a winter field in a nightgown to play in a river a half mile away. Something was crooked. Nick had immediately gone to the Police House and demanded that a detective look into Amy's death, starting with an examination of her body.

Silver and Wayne were recounting their days with Nick when they were eight. "Just three kids, running around half naked all summer long," started Wayne.

"Naked? I need to hear this," said Octavia.

"Me too!" cried Wayne and Silver's oldest boy, Trei.

"We spent most of the summer swimming in the pond. Usually our clothes spent the day on a branch drying out and if we had underwear, that's what we wore for the rest of the day," said Wayne. "Nick had nothing, he was wearing rags when we found him in the temple crying."

"Why were you crying?"

"There was no food in the offering plate," said Nick without looking up from his plate. "That's how I fed myself for four years, then I was dropped here and there was no food."

"I took him home with me," said Wayne. "We thought he was a four-year-old girl because he was so small and his hair was so long. My mom shrieked when she saw how dirty he was. 'You go throw her in Creel Creek and wash her off before you bring her in my house!'"

"Truly?" asked a laughing Tsarra.

"Truly," said Nick. "Wayne and Silver both threw me into the creek, ripped my rags off, scrubbed me down, then led me back to the house naked in front of the entire village. When Erin saw me she said, 'Well, I guess we don't need that dress I set out.' I had no idea what she meant."

"He was a really cute little girl," said Silver.

"He was!" agreed Pepin, who was stationed under three-year-old Trei's highchair, ready to catch anything the toddler dropped.

"This meal is truly delicious," said Nick.

"It is incredible," said Tanithil.

"I made it myself," said Octavia softly.

"You did?" gushed Nick, and he gave Octavia a huge kiss, which went on to the point of being embarrassing.

"I take it, she doesn't cook well?" asked Tsarra.

"Her majesty? She doesn't cook at all!" said Silver as she fed some carrots to her daughter Nicole, who sat on Silver's lap. "Queen Octavia was not trained to cook, she was trained to hire a cook."

"Please stop!" groaned Octavia.

Silver just laughed and said, "EVERYONE knows you don't cook."

"Not that, the queen stuff. I was queen for six hours. I never got the chance to have a knave beheaded."

"Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!" cried Silver, which made Octavia giggle.

"It's like this all the time with them," Wayne told the laughing elves.

Nick nodded in agreement. "I dread what's coming up this summer. We're going camping up by Artafána, there's a hot spring that drains into a large mountain lake and the water is always nice and the fish are begging to be caught."

"You dread that?"

"Oh yes," said Wayne. He pointed to Octavia and Silver, who were still arguing over Octavia's queen status. "These two will lie by the lake with their feet in the water and demand cold drinks all day long while we try to catch our dinner."

"That reminds me," said Nick. "I heard that you are working in the Highway Watch."

"Yeah, mostly keeping an eye on prisoners and mucking out stables, but they say I can..."

"I believe that it would be best if you don't work there."

Wayne's jaw dropped. He's got a wife and two children to feed, and Silver can't work, not with two babies and one more due any day! Before Wayne could say something, Nick continued. "If you become a constable and you have to haul someone in for any reason, they can whine 'You're buddies with the duke!' and either insult your ability to perform your duties and had to depend on the duke for a job, or claim you arrested them because I told you to do that."

"Nick, I need this job... we need this job."

"And I will tell you what I need," said Nick sternly. "Since Hugues Du Gouey left, I'm without a manager on this farm. I know you, and I know you can do the job. I also need a carpenter; I'm going to build a pub next to your dad's house. I can pay you there at the same time you're working up here. When you're done building, I'm going to need bartenders and cooks. So what do you say, can you help me out?"

"Uh... yeah!" Wayne was shocked, and Silver looked like Nick had just handed them a stack of gold. Wayne would never accept charity; he would help a friend out. Octavia was incredibly proud of her husband; he figured out a way to help Wayne and Silver and keep Wayne's dignity intact. This would mean she could spend more time with Silver as well. But Wayne had a sense of duty to his village, so he asked, "Sire, I would like to remain as a reservist with the watch house, in case of emergency and the like."

"A reservist? That's fair," said Nick. He pictured Wayne helping shovel out Sieffre Merrick after a snowstorm.

Tanithil and Tsarra watched this interchange carefully. They were part of the highway watch and didn't realize that the duke was so intimately involved with the operation of the Highway Watch. Tanithil was sure that Nick had left something out of his reason for hiring Wayne. Later that evening, after Wayne and Silver went home, Tanithil said to Nick, "I can't help but think that there's more reason you hired Wayne away from the Highway Watch."

"There's a lot that went unsaid," said Nick. "He's a skilled blacksmith; every farm needs a blacksmith. He's great with demi-giants, my workers love him. And nobody tries to kill a farm manager."

"That's it?" demanded the elf.

"I have had nightmares of burying the man who saved me when I was abandoned. I am going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening."

<><><><><>

The watch was a tremendous success in the Duchy of Wægn and the surrounding area. Due to popular demand, extra patrols were put on the West End, allowing full coverage to Midpoint Station in Widdershin, and the East End extended patrols reached outward to the barony of Überskeld, whose people had a watch of their own, and the two Highway Watch forces were combined. Claus Hillingham and his men were overjoyed to be working for Pommy again.

The most dangerous beat was the treacherous Waleston Road as it climbed Breeders Peak; two and three patrols were on the road at any time, either on horseback or in a fast carriage. The duke's travels on the road were always under police watch, especially after Pepin's poisoning.

Against their bodyguards' wishes, aerial patrols continued, and luckily, the next missing child report was a rousing success. Nick and Octavia found the child playing in the woods, completely unaware that he was lost. The look of joy and relief on the parent's faces was worth exposure to the cold, wet weather. The farm couple saw Nick and Octavia guiding their son out of the woods, and the sight was more than any parent could hope for, and their happiness at the return of the son was the salve that Nick and Octavia's souls needed.

On aerial patrols, Octavia usually rode Virga while Nick escorted her as an eagle. On one occasion, they spotted a police surrey chasing a horseman down the mountain. They dove and flew alongside the cops, and Octavia yelled, "What is the problem?"

"He robbed a traveler and stole his horse," said Constable Slumnut, who was training Scott Haven, the miller's son.

"Ease up, we'll stop him and hold him for you," then Octavia and Nick continued down the mountain ahead of the watchmen.

The bandit glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. The police wagon was slowing; he was home free! He dashed onto the switchback ahead and rounded the corner as fast as the horse could carry him, right into the arms of a huge brown bear. The bear was massive and mean, and it was hungry from its long hibernation. The bear plucked the bandit off the saddle of the horse and body slammed him to the muddy road, holding him there with one huge paw. The bandit shrieked in terror as the bear roared at the hapless thief. When the police wagon pulled up, the policemen were greeted with the sight of an enormous bear that was roaring into the face of the bandit. Slobber and saliva from the bear's mouth dripped down onto the bandit as the bear roared.

"We have him from here, thank you deputy," said Trainee Scott Haven, and the bear took his paw off the bandit and meandered into the trees. The bandit was babbling in terror as they handcuffed him and piled him into the rear seat of the surrey, then with a click of the tongue they headed down the mountain. "Good luck guvnor," said Constable Slumnut. "The duke has just set up a duchy court, so you get to be one of the first cases heard."

"He hasn't picked an executioner," said Trainee Haven. "He says any job worth doing is worth doing yourself."

"Most everyone has pled guilty and paid their fine, they were too scared to face him," said Daf Slumnut as they pulled up to a stop where Dame Octavia held the stolen horse.

As Slumnut tied off the horse to the wagon, Scott turned around and said, "They say the duke has it in for bandits cause he was robbed on this exact highway four times last year. Four times! But that shouldn't cloud a man's judgement, should it?"

When they got him to the watch house, Slumnut and Haven led the bandit up to the desk sergeant's desk. "Assault, highway robbery, and horse theft," said Slumnut.

Constable Trainee Scott Haven began reading from his notes. "On this day, the accused, Gregory Pineknot, leaped out from behind a tree and knocked the victim off his horse and stole the victim's purse and horse."

"Hold over until trial," said the desk sergeant on loan from Torwin Armistad, Sergeant Dave Harris. "Unless he pleads guilty."

"GUILTY!" shrieked the highwayman.

Dave looked up at a chalkboard with lines and columns, each line marked with a prisoner's task. He drew a check mark in an empty spot. "Barn duty, two weeks. Lock him up until morning, Tico. Then he can start his new job."

"Two weeks of mucking out stables," said Scott Haven as Tico led the prisoner to his cell. "You got off easy."

Slumnut leaned over to Scott and whispered, "You called the duke deputy?"

Scott smiled and said, "I may not know police work yet, but I know lowlife scum like him. Trust me, by this time next week, every cutpurse and highwayman is going to know in their heart that the duke hires bears to patrol Breeder's Peak Road."

<><><><><>

It was an unusually warm night; winter was gone and leaves were sprouting. Nick was going crazy. He wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, without a police escort. One evening, while sleeping with the window open a bit, the fresh air called to him. "Pssst, Nick, come on," whispered Pepin, "the mountain is calling us."

Not being able to sleep, Nick slipped out of bed. "Just over to Erin MacClenny's cattle pen and back."

"That will work, come on."

They slipped downstairs and out onto the porch and were trying to decide what Nick should change into. Quietly Octavia slipped out of the cottage and said, "I'm going to be a caribou." She stepped off the porch and changed before their eyes.

"How come she flashes and sparkles when she changes, you just change," asked Pepin.

"Silly wolf, it's because she's a girl." Nick sprang off the porch and dashed after his wife as a caribou as well. Actually, the sparkling showed the difference between the magic that each uses to change. Octavia is a source of magic; she invents the magic on the spot that changes her into an animal, which comes with a sparkle. Nick was filled with an ancient Elven magic, so changing into an animal is part of his nature as much as sneezing or shivering on a chilly night.

They bounced and ran through the remaining snow and mud, having a glorious time on a moonless night. It just felt so good to be free! They were almost at Erin MacClenny's farmyard when an owl fluttered down out of a tree and flapped its wings and squawked at Nick. "Thank you Agness!" said Nick and he shouted to Pepin and Octavia who was far ahead of him "There are men at the cottage!"

"Who told you?" gasped Octavia as they dashed back.

"A witch, Agness Dempsey, she enlisted an owl and was watching us." They dashed through the treeline that marked the property line and stopped. Several men were approaching the cottage, making sure to step in footprints in the slushy snow; they were carrying unlit torches. One thug took refuge behind a hay cart and waited for a signal from the leader. Silently a huge Agatean dragon slipped into the air, its golden skin reflecting the dim lights; it's the perfect camouflage for a moonless night.

The thug behind the hay cart was waiting for the signal when he heard a voice. "Hey buddy," said Pepin behind him. "Got a light?"

"What? Sure, hang on..." He turned and saw a huge rack of deer antlers lowering into battle position.

"That's my baby in there!" said an angry caribou as it gored him.

Pepin watched with disinterest as a golden Agatean dragon scooped up two thugs, each with a burning torch, and flew a mile southward. Then it dropped them into the millpond from fifty feet up. The thugs crashed into the ice cold water and went under for a long time. Eventually they surfaced and began fighting their way to the shore. Their noise and screaming alerted the Watch. "What is with these guys?" asked the Torwin-Armistad dwarf detective Gibby Wraithhorn as she ran up to the pond.

"I caught them trying to set fire to my cottage," said Nick. "I threw their torches into the mill pond to put them out."

"Were the men holding the torches when you dropped them in the pond?" asked Camus.

Before Nick could come up with a rude answer, the police helped the men who struggled to shore. As they walked toward the police station, the men both began writhing in pain and they disappeared with screams of agony. At the same time, Pepin and Octavia watched as the man she gored disappeared.

The fourth and final thug was caught by Alphie and Dexter as he ran past the bunkhouse. They led him down to the millpond, where people were gathering. Alphie released the thug, who ran to the cops and threw his arms around Camus and screamed to the policemen, "DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!"

"That's Algernon Clutterbuck," said Annabella quietly to Preston. "He's a palace guard."

"The others looked like guards also," said Preston quietly as Algernon continued to beg for

"Buddy, you're under arrest..." started Camus, but the prisoner continued to scream.

"I'll cooperate! It was all Lord Slips- " and he was gone before he could complete his confession. Camus looked at the other cops, confused, then at his empty hands, then back at the others in confusion...

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Chapter 26 - A Conspiracy Unfolds

Still shocked about the attack on his house and the horrifying disappearance of the attackers, Nick started his week with a quick stop at the Watch House on Monday morning, as he did every morning. Nick needed to talk to Preston Prescott; the memory of what he said about a previous attack was haunting him. Preston reported that the men who shot Nick with a poisoned arrow also disappeared. Sergeant Dave Harris at the front desk looked uncomfortable when Nick walked in and requested a few moments with the Lieutenant. The big sergeant finally said, "Your grace, if you would follow me," and the desk sergeant led Nick downstairs to the holding cells.

In the basement, Preston was standing in front of a cell, listening to Tico explain his actions from the previous night. Tico was a small, wiry man who was useless as a cop but was a jack of all trades around the precinct. When he saw Nick, Tico snapped to attention. Preston walked up to the duke and said, "I'm sorry sir. We've known each other a long time but I've never erred so horribly... I'm ashamed of what I've..."

"Preston, stop," demanded Nick. "Just tell me what is going on." The station chief stepped aside, and Nick saw the cell had a man hanging by his neck with an improvised rope. "By the gods' mercy," groaned Nick. "Who is that?"

Sergeant Harris checked his clipboard. "That, sire, is Mister Pawl Berryman, stepbrother of Missus Caryl Weathersmith. He confessed to the rape and murder of Amy Weathersmith. He made a rope out of his sheet and hung himself."

Nick faced the men and asked, "Who was watching the cells last night?"

"I was yer holiness," said the small, scrawny man. The little fellow was Tazio De Palo, but everyone called him Tico. He wasn't the smartest cop that ever walked a beat, but he's done it without question for twenty years in Torwin-Armistad, and Sergeant Harris vouched for him when he applied.

"Long night and the quiet got to you?" asked Nick.

"No yer majesty. A horse was kicking the shi...uh... he was kicking the living fu... ah... he was really kicking his stable so I ran out to calm him down, then I fixed the damage to the stable and came back. I was gone from the jail but it was Sunday night, I had the entire guard house and horse lot to keep an eye on..."

"Is that true Sergeant?"

"Yes sir," said Sergeant Harris. "Most prisoners just sleep when Tico steps out because when he's around he keeps them up with his stories. This sick shit died alone and good riddance to him."

"Sergeant, prisoners are not allowed to die without my expressed permission," said Nick. He wanted to shout at the three for allowing this to happen, but he also agreed with the sergeant; Pawl Berryman was a sick individual.

"He confessed your grace. He confessed to murdering that baby, she ain't but a month older than my granddaughter Tina." Sergeant Harris gave the report to Nick, who read it coldly, then handed the clipboard back.

"That's true, but I never got the chance to test the veracity of his confession." Tico and Dave Harris looked at the duke oddly, but Preston understood Nick. Nick was a military man first and foremost; he wanted clear, concise facts before making any decision. "What if he was feeling guilty about something else, and confessed just to ease his conscience..."

"Do people do that?" asked Tico.

"Just cut him down and get a wooden box. Preston, can we talk?"

Preston followed Nick out into the police yard where the morning patrols were getting their mounts ready for the day's patrols. "I'm expecting the Duke of Warwickshire, Lolar Hampton and his aide Colonel Handpipe to come in and take a look at what you built. He's supposed to be here today. PLEASE, when he arrives, send someone to come and get me."

"You're not mad about Berryman?" asked Preston, somewhat shocked.

"He was a sick and twisted individual who confessed to raping and murdering his niece before anyone mentioned what Eryri and Gibby found on the child's body. If the family comes in to complain, be the man and say, 'Yes sir' a lot, then give them the body back. I'm going to let you handle the Watch House; I just ask that if there's prisoners in the cage, that we have more than one cop on shift."

"So you're not mad at me?" asked Preston. In answer, he got that look he had seen a thousand times in Breaze. One of Captain Pommy's favorite expressions was, "I will be angry if you don't learn from this." The Duke patted Preston's shoulder and said, "The felon was brought in after hours, someone should have notified you. I trust you to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Thank you sir," said a much relieved Preston.

"Please, keep an eye out for Duke Hampton, I have a new farm manager I have to break in, then Octavia and I will go out to the Weathersmith farm to talk with them."

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Nick spent the rest of Monday working with Wayne around the farm, all the while keeping an eye out for the dignitaries that he had invited. The Duke of Warwickshire, Lolar Hampton, and his aide Colonel Handpipe were coming to review the Watch House and discuss plans to start an exchange program for training, but the dignitaries never arrived. They had planned two full days of talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a visit to the Waelmore Castle in Waleston to observe the Royal Court meeting on Thursday. "Has any patrol heard or seen any hint of the contingent from Warwickshire?" Nick asked the desk sergeant on Thursday morning. "They were supposed to be here Monday afternoon."

"No, your grace," answered the desk sergeant, Dave Harris.

"This is not good," muttered Nick. "He was supposed to be here Monday."

As Nick said that, a winded messenger hurried into the office. "Where can I find Duke Hampton?" asked the messenger. "I have an urgent message from Duchess Hampton."

Nick and Dave looked at each other for a long moment, then Dave scooped up a hand bell and started blowing his whistle while urgently ringing the bell, recalling all watchmen. Meanwhile, Nick took the messenger aside and asked, "When was the last time the duke has been seen?"

The messenger nervously watched watchmen appear around him. "It was Monday sire; I saw him off myself. We haven't seen hide nor hair of him since."

As all watchmen in the house and stable trooped into the muster area behind the desk, they were shocked to see their desk sergeant, Ol' Dave Harris, retired from the Torwin-Armistad City Watch, buckling on his breastplate and helmet. He had his truncheon ready. "What's the problem, Dave?" asked the Watch House Commander, Lieutenant Prescott, as he came downstairs from his apartment.

"We have a missing member of the nobility, the Duke of Warwickshire and his aide were supposed to be here three days ago, there's been no word of them. Now a messenger from Warwickshire has come looking for them," said Dave as he began to lower the bars that covered the windows. The Watch House was going on alert.

Lieutenant Prescott began planning out orders and recalled all off duty constables. "Keep in mind that this is a search and rescue, not a search for a wanted man. Neumann and Metsker, I want you on horseback in plain clothes. You can use the Snowcross Walkers. Search from the border of the Duchy of Wægn and the Barony of Überskeld, in the east then sweep west all the way to the border of Uduithia and the independent Duchy of Warwickshire. Be especially careful in the Barony of Überskeld, it's getting politically sketchy over there. Tell Captain Hillingham only what you're doing, no one else, Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" and the two took off. Don Neumann and Wayne Metsker had been friends all their lives; they work well together and now they get to ride the Snowcross Walkers! The best horseflesh in the stable. Nick was shocked to see Wayne back in the watch house, but he had agreed being a reserve constable was part of Wayne's employment.

"Everyone else. Concentrate on the main road. Keep an eye on the ditches, knock on doors, talk to people. Sergeant Prescott and I need to escort the duke to the palace, so... sir?"

"You should really be here with your men, Lieutenant," said Nick.

"King's orders, sir. Annabelle and I will search the Breeder's Peak road from the watch house to the castle. Dave, you're in charge of the watch house while I'm guarding the duke. Pick your number two and work him hard." Preston was right; the king ordered him to be Nick and Octavia's bodyguard.

Nick turned to Sergeant Harris, a big, plain man with a plain name, but a cop through and through. "Dave if you see or hear anything strange coming over the top of Breeders Peak and headed this way, you send Tico over to the Temple of the Woods and tell the god to start ringing the bell. I want this village deserted by the time they get to the foot of the mountain."

"Aye sir, should I send him on to Irla Stein Anore?"

Nick shook his head and said, "There will be no need for that. I will set up a runner. If anyone needs me, I will be at my farm until we leave for the circus, I mean meeting," and he left the Watch House.

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Thursday court meetings were a workday affair. Nick and Octavia always showed up in denim and flannel, often with the mud of the fields on their clothing and boots, because they had to be reminded that it was time to go. The more they worked on their little farm, the more they fell in love with it. They now have two dozen tiny chicks to replace the full grown brooding hens that died in the storm, but now they have the entire experience of raising the chickens from three week old chicks. Supposedly, one of those tiny puffballs strutting around and scratching for bugs was a rooster, so the cycle will continue. Pepin took it upon himself to guard the chicks from predators, mostly because they were so cute to watch.

However, this Thursday was the last Thursday of the month. The court meetings were always open to the public, but the 27th of every month was a full dress meeting. The king and queen insisted on uniforms for the court members, and they expected everyone to dress as they decreed. They hurried and bathed each other in a big pan in the kitchen, then dried each other off as Marlon sat in the pan and splashed. They hurried, putting on their fancy official uniforms as Preston and Annabelle arrived in the official police surrey.

"You look so damn sexy in that robe," grinned Nick. In response, Octavia gave him a saucy grin and undid a couple of hidden buttons, exposing a full breast, then wiggled her hips. "When am I going to get sole use of them again?" groaned Nick as he put an arm around his wife and gave her a kiss.

"As soon as your son grows teeth." She raised a fussy four-month-old child to her breast. "Until then, you have to share."

The amount of growth that Marlon has done since that horrible day that they fished poor Amy Weathersmith out of the river has been phenomenal. Nick was there to see every inch, every ounce of growth. Even when he was working in the barn, Marlon came along. He even joined the reading lessons at the temple, the hours of painstaking calligraphy, and chatting with The Boys at the blacksmith shop.

That spring they went to every homestead and farm in the Duchy of Wægn and dropped off the tax expectation, which in some cases was phenomenally less than in previous years. One farmer had the money for his tax bill, even though the bill wasn't due until the month of Nexus in the late autumn. Preston and Annabelle came along and met with everyone, and the entire Duchy of Wægn was happy to have Watch Constables on patrol. Now Preston and Annabelle waited outside Nick and Octavia's cottage for the duke and duchess to stop playing around and get in the surrey.

"We're on the way," called Octavia through the window in response to Annabelle's clattering cowbell. "Nick is in the privy and will be done soon!"

"Thank you for letting them know dear!" Nick called from the privy, then he looked at the almanac page he had torn out. It contained an article that he had read earlier about the Spring Stardance. It was supposed to be spectacular. Was he going to miss it for this stupid meeting?

Soon they emerged from the cottage, Nick in his "tin soldier splendor" with glossy black knee high riding boots, midnight blue breeches, a silver waistcoat, and midnight blue jacket with tails. He was carrying a baby bag that matched his waistcoat, and he carried Octavia's wizard's staff. Octavia was wearing her midnight blue wizard's robe with silver shining moons and stars, a matching pointy hat with a wide brim, carrying a baby dressed like Nick, except his boots were knee high black booties. At the last moment, Nick held his free right hand up and whistled. His walking stick, Teivas, flew out of the cottage and into his hand with a slap. He helped Octavia into the surrey and called for Pepin.

"Yes?" asked the wolf, clearly annoyed that he had been called away from guard duty.

"If you hear the temple bell in town ringing, you need to sprint to Irla Stein Anore and tell Vesstan or Seldanna that it's time to take cover. Go with the elves and make sure they enter Elsenas safely." As they left with a few hurried instructions to the farmhands, they were off.

A surrey is a carriage with two full width seats, and often it has a top. The police wagon also has a windscreen and roll down canvas sides for the back seat, a squeeze bulb horn and a cowbell for chases. It's the top-notch police interceptor model.

They climbed the mountain to Breeders Peak pass slowly, combing the woods for any evidence of a traveler having gone off the side of the road. As they rounded a 180-degree turn for a switchback, Nick looked up and saw something. "A horse. I swear I saw a horse standing on the summit of the pass."

"We'll find out when we get there, I suppose," said Prescott, but turning around he saw that Nick was gone. He had changed into a falcon and flown off. Before Octavia could make up an excuse, Nick was back.

"Four armed soldiers are at the summit and they're waiting for us."

"What should we do?" asked Annabelle, her hand on her pregnant tummy.

"We are doing the king's work, responding to a standing summons from the king. If they interfere, Octavia is authorized to turn them into a newt. Virga, what do you see?"

The softball size knob at the end of the staff opened its enormous eye, then reported. "Four soldiers. Bailey Fahy, Cam Tennyson, Kole Abbey, Amery Reddie. They're all trainees, they're young and terrified, it appears."

"I know Bailey Fahy. He's Nanny Fahy's grandson, I don't know the rest."

"Roughians," said Virga, "ne'er-do-wells, imbeciles, but Captain Sean Fahy believes they can be trained."

When they reached the top of the pass, the four men surrounded the surrey and ordered them to stop.

Nick stepped out and shouted, "Who said 'stop?' Which one of you?"

"I did," snarled Amery Reddie, the largest of the four. "What are you going to do about it?" There was a puff of pink smoke, and the angry young man became a small, confused lizard crouching on a horse's saddle. He actually didn't turn into a newt, but he thought he was a newt, and his fellow fist-for-hire roughians saw him as a newt.

"I am the Duke of Wægn, lord of health and safety for the kingdom. I am traveling with the Duchess of Wægn, the court wizard. We are traveling on the king's orders and you are interfering with our travel. Who would like to become a newt next?"

"We were ordered to escort you sir!" said a nervous Bailey Fahy.

"On whose orders?" demanded Nick.

"Lord Slipspring, head of security."

Nick was once again Captain Pommeraie de la Montesquieu, the greatest swordsman in Edux, full of power and anger. "He is a viscount! Does he outrank a Duke? Does he outrank the king? DOES HE? " When Bailey Fahy nervously shook his head, Nick continued with a snarl. "Then I shall permit you to lead us to Waelmore Castle, You shall escort us to the king, and you shall introduce us, but do not interfere, or I will strike you down before you can plead for mercy," said Nick, his voice full of thunder and potential lightning. The walking stick in his hand was now a Mithril/Steel cutlass, glistening in the spring sunshine.

Soon they were underway again, and Amery Reddie was back to normal, except for an odd desire to find some moist soil to lie in. The trip down Breeders Peak and into Waleston was uneventful, with no more interference from the boys. "It's good to have you back, Captain Pommy," whispered Annabelle.

"We may get out of this after all," said Preston.

When they got to the castle, Lord Slipspring was furious. He had wanted Nick and Octavia in chains. But these boys escorted them into the castle, up to the throne room and then announced them, "Announcing His grace The Duke of Wægn and her grace the duchess along with the commander of the Wægn Highway Watch Lieutenant Prescott and his wife Sergeant Prescott."

"Get over here. I told you I wanted them in chains!" hissed Viscount Slipspring. The four roughians gathered around the angry lord.

"They didn't want to wear the chains," said Cam Tennyson.

"She turned me into a newt," said Amery Reddie. Viscount Slipspring glared at him until he said, "She turned me back."

"Go get the others out of the dungeon and keep them in chains!" snarled Slipspring as he returned to the throne room.

"Is there a problem Mister Slipspring?" asked Duke Stein, making sure that all understood he didn't call Slipspring a lord for a reason.

"Not in the least," the little man said with an air of false surprise. Nick couldn't stand the man, not because he was short, fat, and ugly, but because he was ugly on the inside. Today, of all days, he chose not to wear the uniform of Uduithia but wore foppish clothing that the arrogant and pretentious peacocks of Torwin Armistad wore ten years ago.

As they entered the vast throne room, the king sat at the head of the table and looked horrible. He was pensive and nervous, and he didn't greet anyone as they came in to sit down. The queen wasn't there; neither was Princess Sophia.

His Grace, Sir Fraser Baltimore, stepped next to Nick. "We are truly in a quandary, my son," whispered Lord Baltimore, the only other duke on the court. "Lords Slipspring, Cadence, and Singe seem bent on war, you and the wizard, Lord Harcourt and I bent on peace and Lord Laird bent on a full pint of whiskey. He could fall into Slipspring's hands at any time."

Nick looked at Lord Laird, the lead lord in the House of Lords, and he was clearly drunk. "What the hell is going on here?" he muttered. Then he looked at sweet Annabelle, glowing with joy at her upcoming motherhood. He's got to get her out of here; today is going to get ugly. "Annabelle, go out to the carriage and see if you can find my magic wand, I think I left it there. Check under the seat cushions. I need it badly. I hope it didn't fall out on the way to the stable."

"Yes your grace," she said with a smile. It was a long walk back to the stable; a thorough search will take quite a long time considering there's no such thing as a magic wand. With the walk back, they should be finished before she returns. Then he glanced at a worried-looking Octavia. She was carrying Marlon... he should have had Annabelle take Marlon too.

"Your majesty," grinned Lord Cadence, the Prime Minister, "I move that we relocate to the Traitors Court."

"Point of order!" called out Nick. "Your majesty, this meeting is open to the public, our people. Traitors' court is off limits to the public."

The king ignored Nick and softly said, "The motion is carried; we shall proceed forthwith." With that he rose and walked to the nearby Traitor's Court, where he sat at the King's seat.

Traitors' Court was, simply put, an outdoor execution chamber. The court was twelve feet wide by fifty feet long, surrounded by ten foot tall walls. There was no roof over the court so the gods could watch the proceedings in the court from above. At one end was a series of seven foot tall posts; at the other end stood a firing squad of archers, and behind the archers were rows of observers' seats. Five men were blindfolded and tied to the posts; their execution was going to happen soon.

Nick and Octavia looked at the posts, and in shock, they recognized the men. The first was a severely beaten up Tanithil Glynrie along with the missing noble Lolar Hampton, the Duke of Warwickshire, and Colonel Handpipe, the head of security for Warwickshire. With them hung the two constables who were sent out to find them: Don Neumann and Wayne Metsker.

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Chapter 27 - Traitor's Court

The skies will be spectacular this day, with Kuu moving between Edux and Thaal late in the afternoon to show off the stars in their springtime glory, and you know what normally happens on this date! In addition, the comet known to the elves as Bellas Perwynn is racing toward Thaal at the speed of over half a million furlongs an hour. It is going to be fun! - Ye Olde Farmer's Almanac Entry for Nebulique 27, 3432

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"By the gods' wounds, what devilry is this?" demanded Nick as he watched the court take their seats behind the firing squad. Stay back, he silently told Octavia. I'm going to need room to work. Then he told Lieutenant Preston, "Stay with the duchess and pray this is over before Annabelle gets back." Then he strode fiercely down the firing line.

The watchmen Don and Wayne were beaten severely and were hanging limp from their bound wrists. Tanithil Glynrie looked like he had been beaten nearly to death and was going to need medical attention. Nick was feeling nauseous. This was an attack on him. The attack on these men was done to make him grovel. They want Nick to submit to Slipspring and whoever was controlling him. Wayne was almost a brother to Nick, and his father is the town blacksmith and probably the most honorable man Nick knows. Trei was a grandfather to Marlon and treated the infant like he were kin. Now Wayne was hanging limply from an executioner's post.

Nick turned to the archers and their audience, shouting, "these men are my family!" But the crowd at the other end of the firing lane was unmoved, so Nick untied the men and lowered them to the ground. As Nick cut down Wayne, he shouted at the king, "Your majesty, you attended this man's wedding!" Nick continued in utter confusion; "You blessed the ceremony!" However, the king remained silent.

He helped Duke Hampton and Colonel Handpipe remove their blindfolds and shouted, "These men are dignitaries! What the hell are you doing? This could start a war!" He glared at the king in anger, then realized that Stefen Roem was standing behind the king. Anger boiled in Nick's veins.

"End this petty drama," said Lord Percy Slipspring with an exhausted sigh. He gestured to the archers, who raised their bows. These longbows were all made from yew wood, which is renowned throughout Kodu for its strength and flexibility. They weren't aiming at the prisoners; they were aiming at Nick. Octavia frowned, and the archers found that they were no longer holding a fine Uduithian yew wood bow. They had an arrow in their right hand and a dead snake in the other. Several of the men screamed in terror and dropped the snakes that used to be a bow that cost them two months' pay.

Octavia felt a sharp stab in her side, and she heard a guard whisper, "That's the last one. One more magic trick and I cut out that brat's liver." Octavia rolled her eyes to the right to see who it was without turning her head and discovered it was Amery Reddie, which caused her to sigh. She hoped he had learned from their last encounter. As Slipspring rose from his seat next to the king, a realization came over guard Amery Reddie. He realized that he didn't belong there, and he walked off to find a pond, or maybe some moist ground to sit in. That's where a newt truly belongs.

Lord Slipspring stepped closer to Nick. He pointed at Duke Hampton and Colonel Handpipe and said, "These two men were caught invading Uduithia." He pointed at Don and Wayne and said, "These two men were spying on our security apparatus." Then he pointed at Tanithil and shrugged, "This one is an elf."

"Duke Hampton and Colonel Handpipe were traveling under my invitation and were clearly abducted. Don Neumann and Wayne Metsker were searching for them under my orders and were detained and tortured. Tanithil Glynrie was patrolling my mountain at my request and was assaulted for the sin of being an elf?" He turned to the king and said, "Your Majesty, as a duke of the realm and sworn to uphold the word of your rule and the constitution of Uduithia, I hereby charge Viscount Slipspring and his cohorts with abduction, assault, and the attempted assassination of nobility. Furthermore, I charge Stefen Roem with the murder of his father, Duke Henna Roem and his brother Fabien Roem."

Stefen Roem began to laugh, but King Uric looked at Nick and shook his head sadly. He was mouthing words, but Nick couldn't hear what he was saying; the king's words were being blocked. Then he heard Octavia's voice in his head. "Honey, something is very wrong..."

"Archers!" shouted Lord Slipspring. "Draw your blades!" and the archers drew their swords and advanced.

Nick smiled. Finally! A little swordplay! He and Tanithil haven't fenced in months, and the lack of exercise was wearing on Nick. Brandishing a wooden walking stick in the same way the archers were clumsily holding their swords, Nick advanced on the archers. It didn't appear that the archers realized Nick was mocking them, but Nick wasn't worried; normally, archers are not trained swordsmen. Being a mountain nation, Uduithia needed its archers to be as good as archers can get, to be the snipers of the highlands, so their training concentrated on archery. Swordsmanship training for Uduithia's archers was infrequent at best.

Nick advanced with his walking stick in his left hand and went straight at the most nervous looking soldier of the five. He danced in close and swung and cracked the man severely on the knuckles. With a scream, the archer dropped his sword. Nick dove through the line of archers, and the dropped sword was in his hand before it could hit the ground. With a lightning fast move, Nick jabbed the disarmed archer in the thigh and sword arm and said, "Run-away little man."

Now it was four against one, and Nick's back was to the king as they fought. The sword he scooped up was a typical archer's sword, a Katzbalger, a short sword with a broad double-edged blade. This wasn't a fencing sword; it was too heavy for fancy sword work. The Katzbalger was for hacking and slashing in close combat. Nick wasn't about to let any of the archers get close to him, nor would he let them get past him and endanger his friends. "It's four blades to one," said the biggest of the four archers as he swung at Nick.

Nick blocked the swing with Teivas, using that amazing relic as a buckler, a shield. He grinned and replied, "I can give you five minutes to find some friends to join you and make it a fair fight."

"Huzzah!" cried Preston. "Pommeraie de la Montesquieu is back! May I join you Sir Gunter?" Gunter was the ancient Breazian title for their army's top swordsmen.

"And ruin my fun?" cried Nick. "Stay by the king's wizard and keep her safe while I take care of the king's light work." As he said that he was meeting the archer's attacks with an ancient Katzbalger sword and a wooden walking stick. Spinning, twisting, dodging, thrusting, Sir Nicholas was unstoppable. Once he was the finest swordsman on the western coast of Edux, Nick lost none of his form.

Octavia watched with an open mouth; she knew that Nick was a fighter, but he walked into a five on one sword fight unarmed, and he walked into it with a smile. She watched with pride as he danced and dodged, parrying almost everything the archers could dish out, and he did it all with a grin. As he fought and slashed and danced around the archers, he laughed and teased the men who were trying to kill him, her, and five unarmed captives. Octavia felt her breath coming in pants; her breasts were starting to swell. Her man was fighting to protect her, and she realized she wanted to rip off her gown and throw herself on her man and make him proud to be a man.

"You insolent bastard!" shouted the archer, and he swung at Nick with an overhead downward swipe that Nick blocked with two crossed blades: the cheap Katzbalger and a beautiful Mithril Steel cutlass. The afternoon sun reflected off the cutlass and blinded the angry archer. "Where the hell did that come from?" he roared.

"I don't want to hurt any of you, now go," said Nick as he deftly dodged the attackers' swipes and jabs and kicked him in the ass. "If any of you are faithful to the king, walk away now!" shouted Nick. "Don't die for Slipspring's lies."

"You are going to die today you child molester," said an archer who jabbed at Nick.

"God's wounds! What, by the deepest hells of Zigu, are you talking about?" snarled Nick as he danced among the swinging blades. With a shriek, another archer lost his sword, and Nick's blade found bone.

"The little girl you sodomized and threw in the river!"

Nick smiled and pressed the fight. "Very nice! A well-crafted lie, Mister Slipspring. I commend your imagination," shouted Nick as he battled the three remaining archers. "You found five herring-gutted bootlickers all with a fine pair of antlers and you think telling them an outrageous lie is going to give them enough courage to stop me?" Nick fanciful words called the archers cowards whose women were cheating on them, and that incensed them to fight more fiercely.

"It served its purpose," called back Slipspring with a laugh. "It got those dart slingers to finally draw their swords like a man!"

"Did you hear that boys? Percy Slipspring is using you like your lady uses one of your stockings monthly." Nick goaded the archers to fight wildly. Being used to fencing with true swordsmen, Nick was laughing as he fought them back easily. They were tired now, and that was Nick's plan: wear them out and make them walk away healthy.

"Aen-Belth!" said a weak voice behind Nick.

"Save your strength friend Tanithil," called Nick. "We will get you out of here soon enough."

"Stop playing with them and finish it," he croaked hoarsely.

"If you insist," and in a moment with moves too fast for the tired archers to block, Nick had stabbed all three in their biceps, making them incapable of lifting a sword. He grabbed the largest one, the fellow with sergeant stripes, by his hair and yanked his head back. He pressed the tip of the Katzbalger against the big fellow's throat. "Yield."

"Never," gasped the archer.

"I'm going to stab you in the throat with a filthy blade, now YIELD!" demanded Nick.

"I can't, he's got my family."

Nick stared into the eyes of the archer and saw genuine fear. "You were just beaten by a one-eyed farmer. The only thing more shameful than that is to know you lost with four men at your side. Get out of here before I change my mind," growled Nick, and he swatted the archer on the thigh with the flat of his blade. Then he rushed to Octavia and hugged her.

"You could have been killed!" she gasped. "I hate when you do that... you're bleeding!"

"'tis naught but a flesh-wound," said Nick, reciting the swordsmen's anthem, but in truth he received quite a few flesh-wounds which he didn't feel through the adrenaline rush. He gave his wife a kiss and said, "Can you get the captives back to the watch house? Have them call for witches to see to these men. We may need witches up here soon."

"Here," she handed Nick the baby, who would normally be watched by Crown Princess Sophie when they were in the castle for meetings. "I'll send some witches up here as well; you may need them." Then she crouched down in front of the five men. "Everyone grasp an arm, grasp tightly." When they all clutched her arms, they disappeared.

"You just declared war on Uduithia, our troops are now marching on Wægn!" Slipspring was practically dancing with glee, while Lords Cadence and Singe grinned at Nick. For his part, Nick was playing with his son, tickling Marlon's ear, while ignoring Slipspring. The head of National Security is a self-centered fop as far as Nick was concerned. He always wore brightly colored clothing with ruffled collars and cuffs, big puffy sleeves and pant legs, and he would wear a bright purple top hat with a wide floppy brim. Slipspring was short, fat, and ugly, and his outfit made him look like a clown.

Something behind Slipspring fluttered, then he remembered what Octavia told him in the sauna during that horrible blizzard... "Watch the shadows."

Suddenly Octavia reappeared and said, "let's go."

"I have to fix this." Nick handed Marlon to Octavia, saying, "you go and take care of Wayne."

"Not without you," said Octavia. She shifted Marlon on her arm and said, "I'm staying wi..." Without warning, Octavia disappeared along with Marlon and Preston. Her staff, Virga, fell to the ground with a bang that echoed off the walls. Then the laughter started. It was Stefen Roem, Percy Slipspring, Silas Singe, and Byron Cadence cackling and laughing, the usual suspects, but there was more. Aaron Cantor, Baron of Überskeld, Festus Carnysmut, Baron of the unfortunately named County Mumbleshire, and the drunken Ignatz Laird, Lord Representative in the House of Lords, joined in the sick laughter while the rest of the king's court remained silent. They laughed so loudly that they almost drowned out Annabelle, who had just returned from the stables. She shrieked in horror as her husband, the father of her baby, disappeared.

"Sergeant Preston!" shouted Nick in his command voice. "Guard your daughter!" And he tossed her the Katzbalger hilt first.

"I'm having a girl?" Annabelle cried.

"Yes, now defend her!" cried Nick as he kicked the dropped swords to the side. "Go find a witch, Mister Slipspring is going to need one very soon."

"Oh, you think so?" laughed Percy Slipspring as Annabelle ran off.

"Watch the shadows..." Octavia's voice came again. Was she telling him something from the beyond? "Use your left eye," she whispered. Swallowing his anger, Nick slid Teivas into his belt and changed his eyepatch, taking it off his bad eye and putting it over his good eye. The change was immediate. He could see so much more when the reality from his right eye was blocked out. He saw men; he saw through men, he could see their bones, and if he concentrated, he could see their souls.

He could see the rot in the souls of the laughing men. Of the king's court, Silas Singe, chief international advisor to the king, had the blackest soul. Stefen Roem had to be the ringleader and Silas Singe his representative on the court. Slipspring was just his clown. Nick opened his eyes wide, and he saw so much. He saw the men who sat near the king with swords; he saw the men who carried flasks, and he saw men in the king's court with envelopes of the drug Skim. It was unnerving for the court to see Nick's golden eye as he raked the crowd. Could he see? What was he looking for? "Watch the shadows..." He looked into the shadows, and something was there.

Slipspring was still laughing riotously, staggering around the floor of the Traitor's Court like a drunken clown. "There's nothing you have that I can't take from you!" he crowed as he sauntered up to Nick. That was a huge mistake. Nick's arm shot out, and he grabbed Slipspring by the collar of his ridiculous gown just as the shadow behind Percy flashed. Nick felt a tug as if he was supposed to go along with Octavia and Preston, but he kept his grip on Slipspring.

Something snapped in Nick; there were no rules now. With Teivas tucked into his belt, he reached out. Virga flew up off the floor and slapped into his hand, and Nick pressed the Orb of Jørn against the side of Slipspring's head and pressed hard until Slipspring squealed in pain, but that was nothing compared to the pain that hit when Virga pillaged his mind. "Where did they go?" Nick demanded. Lord Slipspring shrieked in agony as Virga dug deeper and ransacked his psyche. As Virga ripped into Percy Slipspring's mind looking for a clue to where Octavia went, the sky darkened.

<><><><><>

If you are living in western Edux, you will see an amazing display in the sky starting after the lunch hour. A double full eclipse of the sun by Rahn followed by Kuu will indeed be a spectacular sight that astronomers and astrologers have been waiting decades to see - Ye Olde Farmer's Almanac Entry for Nebulique 27, 3432.

<><><><><>

Sergeant Harris was talking with sweet little old Mrs. d'Marhk, who was standing at the desk of the Watch House to file a report that her cat, Walnut, was missing again. Walnut always comes home when it gets dark, so Dave Harris was certain that she had just come in to talk. "... I was planting my radishes out front, they're delicious in a salad, and they make a nice border plant in front of the lantana, don't you think? I just plant them there to keep the mosquitos away anyhow... but that's when I noticed Walnut had walked away again."

"If you plant some catnip, I doubt Walnut would go out for a walk anymore," said the Sergeant as he wrote up her complaint.

"Do you think so Sergeant Harris?"

The sound of a whistle being blown repeatedly outside interrupted his answer. "Excuse me Missus d'Marhk, one of my boys is having a problem." He stepped out over to the side window and saw John Paulson, a farmer east of town on the main road, had walked into the police yard leading two horses. Volunteer Gustav Duffey recognized the horses and started blowing his whistle. Several patrolmen who were on foot in Elm Springs came running to see what the commotion was about.

"Is there a problem Sergeant Harris?" asked Missus d'Mahrk.

"I believe there is a problem, ma'am. If you would excuse me." The sergeant went outside to inspect the horses. They were both skittish but beautiful chestnut Snowcross Walkers. These were calm, sure-footed horses that were valued by the cops for their smooth-footed gait. They were exceedingly comfortable to ride and were reserved for long duration patrols, like the ride from Überskeld to Warwickshire, the full width of Uduithia. Like the patrol that Don Neumann and Wayne Metsker had been assigned.

"These are the saddles that Wayne and Don signed for," said Gustav.

"Blast," cursed Sergeant Harris. "TICO!" he shouted, and a moment later, as if by magic, the small guy appeared.

"What do ya want, sarge?"

"Put the red flag up. Red over yellow."

"Aye sarge," and Patrolman Tazio De Palo ran up to the front porch of the house and opened a seat box and pulled out two small flags then ran out to the flagpole out front and lowered the flag of Uduithia, a gold dragon over a silver mountain on a blue field. Below the flag fly two smaller flags; that day they were two green flags. He unclipped the green flags and clipped a red flag under the Uduithian flag, then a small yellow flag under that, then raised the flags.

<><><>

"There really is a watch house up here," said Corporal Arto Iivonen as he peered through a telescope. Up here, meaning Elm Springs, is considered uncivilized, unsettled country by folks from the big town of Slate Bottom Creek.

"How do you know?" asked Trooper Sarah McLeod.

Arto handed her the glass. "They have two green flags under the Uduithian flag."

Sarah extended the looking glass and said, "They just changed the flags, they put up red over yellow." She handed the glass back to Arto, who checked for himself.

"Bloody hell," gasped Arto. "Orders are orders, lets ride." They urged their mounts on, but they couldn't gallop; the horses had been walking for a couple of hours, and Sarah's mount was a Phocis pony, only fifteen hands high. It's not a sprinter.

The flag signal was invented by Captain Claus Hillingham, commander of the Highway Watch, and there were rumors that their unmounted partners, Preston Prescott and Anabelle Schultze, convinced Duke Stein to open a house up in Elm Springs where it's needed most. The flag signals are simple: the upper of the two smaller flags is called the House Flag. Green means everything is normal at the patrol house, yellow means that something has changed and patrols need to stop in before completing their patrol, and red means all patrols need to drop everything and come in immediately. The lower flag is the Patrol Flag. Green means continue your patrol. Yellow means something has changed; come check in for new orders. Red means that all patrols have been canceled; come in immediately.

They entered the yard and were met by a young man wearing a canvas jacket and a midnight blue Highway Watch scarf. He looked at the troopers oddly. "Corporal Arto Iivonen, Highway Watch," said Arto as he hopped off his horse.

"We're from Slate Bottom Creek," said Sarah as she swung off Princess. "Are you the hostler?"

"Yes ma'am," said Gustav nervously. These two handled themselves like mounted calvary.

"Could you please water them? They probably don't need a walk, we've been walking all the way from Midpoint this morning," said Arto as he pulled off his leather gloves. "Let's go see why the red flag is flying."

"Two horses returned without riders," said Gustav, as he led the horses away.

"That's never good," said Sarah softly as they mounted the stairs and walked up to the front desk.

"It's a new house full of new troops," said Arto. "They probably fell off somewhere."

"Can I help you?" asked the desk sergeant.

"We're from the Slate Bottom Creek house and saw the red flag. Rules say we have to stop in."

"Look, if you got time I'd appreciate your help, otherwise I'm going to ask you to move on," said Dave.

Before Arto said something, Sarah answered, "we're just playing messengers today; we'll stay and help out. We served with Pommy, Preston, and Annabelle in Breaze."

"We will have a briefing in a few minutes, just as soon as enough folks get in here," said Dave, and he went back to his paperwork.

Patrolmen entered the house in singles and pairs, and they lined up in the briefing area, and finally Sergeant Harris said, "We have two riders missing Don Neumann and Wayne Metsker. They were out searching for missing nobility and their horses returned with no riders. Does anyone..."

A silent explosion interrupted Sergeant Harris. There was the thump of air being displaced, and the gathered patrolmen were thrown across the room as six people materialized in the center of the room.

"I found 'em!" called Tico.

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Chapter 28 - Nithe Skelm

"Your majesty!" cried Sarah McLeod as Octavia and five injured men appeared in the center of the room.

"Get a witch!" shouted Octavia as she looked around for something to bandage Don Neuman's wounds.

"Already called for," said Sergeant Harris as he lit three messenger candles at the front desk. Messenger candles were something that Nick had invented, and with Octavia's magic, he improved. Two candles are linked via magic, then they go to two different people. If one person lights his candle, the other candle lights at the same time, no matter how far away. Witches often hand purple messenger candles to expecting mothers, but Preston handed red candles to witches. The red candle means "Come quickly, someone is injured."

The wardroom was in an uproar; everyone was talking at once and trying to find out what had happened. Finally, Sergeant Harris shouted, "QUIET! Let's do Police Work. Your grace, what happened?"

Octavia sat up and said, "There is some kind of mutiny going on in the king's court, they tried to execute these men and the duke stopped them. He just fought off five swordsmen and sent me back with the prisoners he rescued."

"That's my boy," whispered Tanithil.

Harris immediately started handing out orders. "Tico, mount up and man your watch station on Breeder's Peak. Warforge, you head up to the duke's farm, tell the giants we need an elf healer, they'll get one. Scott, go downstairs and get that wizard up here. Gibby, break out the big emergency medical kits. Everyone else, breastplates, helmets, and truncheons, and form up outside. GO!"

The "professionals" from Slate Bottom Creek were amazed at the way these amateurs, fill-ins, and trainees fell into line and carried out their assigned tasks. The useless little gnome-like guy, Tico, was racing up Breeders Peak before most cops got their breastplates on. Wandering around the Watch House, he looked and acted useless, but on horseback, he was a natural. And Camus Warforge turned into a wolf and shot up Nanna Peacock's Drive to Nick's farm like an arrow. Everyone had a job and did it.

Duchess Octavia turned to Sarah and said, "We'll catch up later," and she was gone.

A stunned Arto Iivonen turned to Sergeant Harris and asked, "Is there anything we can do?"

"Help the witches when they get here, the young one will be the duke's cousin so treat her accordingly."

<><><>

Tico was atop Breeder's Peak in record time. He was a jockey at Armistad Downs before the Dominus began demanding a bigger cut of the purse - even the legitimate purses. That's when Tico left the races and hired out with the city watch. Ned Darby wanted someone who could move about in the Tubes and not attract attention, and Tico was the man for that. Eventually he teamed up with straight laced Dave Harris.

His job was simple: all he had to do was sit on top of Breeder's Peak and relax, and keep an eye on Waelmore Castle. If a force came marching out of the castle, his job was to light a smokey campfire and skedaddle back to the precinct. Lucky the mountain was covered with tamarack trees, and they dropped needle thin branches covered with nodules where the annual needles once emerged. He tethered Peaches to a tree and gathered a bunch of tamarack branches into a pile, then gazed down on the castle and saw no activity, but a clanking sound caught his attention. Looking down the south face of the mountain, he saw a huge contingent of soldiers marching up the road, and they were almost on him.

Quickly Tico squirted a bottle of lamp oil on the pile of dead branches, then crouched down and struck a flint on his steel knife blade. Sparks flew and soon the flames were leaping toward the sky, but Tico had one more step; he scooped up a huge armful of pine needles. That's easy to do under a tamarack tree because they shed their needles annually and generate huge amounts of dead pine needles. He tossed the armload onto the fire, nearly smothering it, then went for another armload.

"What are you doing?" boomed a voice.

Tico turned around and saw three armed soldiers. They wore breastplates, helmets, shin and arm guards and were armed with bucklers and swords. He dropped the second armload on the fire and turned to the soldiers. "The duke asked me to clean up the Wægn side of the summit, sir, so that's what I'm doin'. Me and Peaches like to come up and do a little camping. I bring her apples and cabbage and we have a good time raking up the mess left by other campers..."

"Enough!" shouted the officer in charge. "I know a liar when I meet one, and you're not very good."

"The best lie is the truth told unconvincingly," said Tico with a cough. Thanks to the pine needles, the fire was sending up a huge white column of smoke.

"I don't think there was much truth involved in that at all," said the officer. "That's a signal fire, isn't it?"

Tico tried to sound unconvincing when he said, "Yes sir?"

"You're trying to warn the folks down in Elm Springs that we are coming, aren't you?" demanded the officer.

"Yes sir?"

The officer grinned and said, "Good."

<><><>

As Izhar came up the stairs with his own medical kit, Bella McTavish swooped in on her broom and landed on the porch. She strode into the police station and looked around. She looked like anything but a witch. She was in her mid-twenties and was beautiful, but had the look of a woman who frequented taverns to torment the opposite sex. Maybe even dance on a table as the night grew late. "Miss McTavish, I'm Sergeant Harris..."

"Missus!" barked Bella. "I earned the title, and I'm not tired of hearing it..." then she saw the five men laying on the floor. "My trainee will be here in a moment to assist." She began looking the men over. She crouched over Duke Hampton, who had been severely beaten and whose clothing was soaked in blood. "Damn, hey buddy, are you with us?" The beaten duke tried to open his swollen eyes and mumbled something in reply. "I'm right here for you, we're going to fix you up." She heard footsteps on the porch, and she called over her shoulder, "My trainee will be here to help."

As Bella began pulling open Colonel Handpipe's shirt, she heard a scream behind her. "Wayne!" She spun around and there was her trainee, Silver Metsker, staring in shock at her husband lying on the floor. She was about to dive to Wayne when Bella rose and stopped her.

"Remember I told you that some lessons were going to be hard? This is one of them. Honey, listen to me. Wayne is going to be fine, you work on that fellow over there, fix him up good as new then move on to the next one. I'll take Wayne and Don on the other end and we'll meet in the middle." Then she turned to Sergeant Harris. "We need ice, send someone over to the icehouse and come back with a helmet full of ice chips. STAT."

"STAT?" asked a slightly confused Dave Harris.

"STAT. It's like ASAP but faster and for real."

Silver looked over poor Tanithil. He was covered with bruises and contusions, but so far no broken bones, maybe a cracked rib. This was a first for both of them. This was Silver's first seriously injured patient, and this was Tanithil Glynrie's first serious beating. He's never been on the losing end of an attack before, and he was learning an entire world of empathy for his previous victims. His only saving grace was that it took six humans and a wizard to take him down. As for Silver, she didn't want to be one of those weak, girly wives that fall apart in an emergency, but that was the father of her babies! He needed her. She gathered all her courage and looked at the fellow whom Bella pointed out. "He's an elf!"

"Elves are just like people, they just got a few extra bits inside. We asked for elf help and they should be on the way. This is a learning opportunity. Can you do this?"

"I... yes," sniffed Silver, and she began to cut away Tanithil's shirt.

"I will help Missus Metsker with the elf," said Izhar.

Tanithil looked at Izhar and huffed a laugh. "On the whole I would prefer the young witch."

"You're still stubborn," growled Izhar as he examined Tanithil's eye response with a candle.

"Is Wayne your mate?" Tanithil asked Silver in a weak, whispery voice.

"Yes, we have two, with number three on the way," she said, trying to keep the horror out of her voice. It looked like someone had tied up this elf and beat him with heavy chains.

"He's a lucky man."

Just then a voice called out, "Sergeant, smoke on the mountain!"

Bella heard the sergeant say, "Send someone over to the temple and ring the bell, it's time to vacate Elm Springs." Then Sergeant Harris turned to Bella and said, "Are these men ambulatory?"

"Not if you want them to live," she snapped, which caused a stifled whimper from Silver. Bella continued to work, wrapping ice in a rag and applying it to Don Neumann's bruised and battered face.

"Blast." He stepped out on the porch and called out, "New plan. Our men can't move, so I want five volunteers to stay here to protect them and the witches. Everyone else, get the civilians to the temple and go with them. I'll stay here with the volunteers." Nobody moved. "Didn't you hear me?"

"We're staying," said Constable Trainee Ed Simmons. "We're volunteering too."

<><><><><>

"Where are they?" demanded Nick as he twisted Percy Slipspring's ornamental collar, choking him.

He almost didn't hear Stefan chuckle from his position behind the morose king. "Your family is in the Põrgu Saar with the king's children," snorted the chief international advisor to the king.

Nick's blood ran cold. Põrgu Saar is ancient Elvish Mägede Keel, which means "The Burning Lands." They don't mean a grass fire that got out of control; they mean the entire Northern Hemisphere. Because of Kodu's annual polar precession, the North Pole is always tipped seven degrees toward Thaal, which is enough to turn every bit of land north of the equator into a roasting hell. Survivors who return report nothing but flat, barren land populated by lizards and huge crabs that fight over anything that contains moisture. People contain moisture, and the creatures up there know it. The giant crabs seem to know magic and will attack anyone deft in magic. Põrgu Saar is a land of nightmares.

The thought of the king's young sons, Exavier and Abraam, along with Marlon in that wilderness made Nick want to kill. "You sent babies to the Põrgu Saar?" Nick has never hated anything in his life other than his father, but he's learning fast the art of hate. As Slipspring withered under the glare of his solid gold eye, he drew Slipspring closer and closer. 'Where is that flickering shadow?' thought Nick. He tried to drive the horror of the Põrgu Saar out of his mind. The beasts and demons that populate the Põrgu Saar feed on life. If those people who tried to kill him were taken to the Põrgu Saar, they're dead now. He's got to work fast to rescue Octavia, Marlon, and Preston... is the king's family still alive?

There it is... that telltale, unique flicker. Nick called out, "Nithe Skelm! I can see you and I know where you are. I know where you've been. I know your tactics. You're not from where real magic rules, and I have the advantage, I am magic. First, I will take away the sun, then I will set the stars spinning, and then I will rip you apart. Return my people now and I will give you a chance to leave."

"Who do you think you are?" came a voice from no visible person. The voice began to chuckle. "Compared to you, I am a god!"

"The children of the elves you tried to erase the last time you were here have named me Aen-Belth, the god slayer!" shouted Nick. Slowly, the sky turned dark as Rahn, the double ringed red moon, began to blot out the sun, and one by one the stars came out.

He had to keep Nithe Skelm's attention focused on him, and not on the sky. He wants to reveal that at the perfect moment. The shadow behind Slipspring was flickering more and more, but Slipspring was fighting against Nick's grasp. "Stop that," grunted Nick. Slipspring gave Nick a curl lipped grin, causing Nick to drive his knee into Lord Slipspring's groin, and Slipspring grabbed his gentleman's area and crumpled in agony.

When the greedy bastard sagged toward the ground from the intense pain, Nick could see the entire flickering shadow. Without thinking, he used Octavia's wizard staff. Virga is a piece of pure Prudent Oak, a breed of wood that absorbs magic, and is the most expensive wood on Kodu. It is topped with a jewel that measured a foot in diameter, and to the dwarves is more valuable than the entire castle. Virga is a self-aware Master Wizard's staff; it's imbued with two millennia's worth of magical knowledge and has more magical power than Nick and Octavia combined. "Virga, my friend, it is time to show everyone your true power."

"I'm ready," said Virga. The Orb of Jørn on the head of the staff opened wide and scanned the room, and concentrated on the flickering shadow that Nick saw. The Orb of Jørn was an eye like no other. The eyeball was made of petrified pure white ivory; the iris was deep blue lapis lazuli, and the pupil was flawless black obsidian, and it could see so much more than a human can see.

When assaulted or pressured, Nithe Skelm found it hard to keep track of which reality was which. His shadow was indeed flipping back and forth between here and somewhere else, but it's not a dimension he's flicking back and forth from; it's a reality. Nithe Skelm discovered that there's more than multiple dimensions; there are countless other realities. In one reality, he's standing in a mountain pasture; the town of Waleston was destroyed ages ago, or it hadn't been built, or it never existed. The castle in Nick's reality was real, but in another reality it was an empty field at the top of a rise to Nithe Skelm. He learned that it is so much easier to bounce back and forth between realities than it was to hop between dimensions. However, he is entirely real in both locations, and if someone figures that out...

Nick brought the most powerful wizard's staff ever created, crashing down on the head of the flickering shadow like he were wielding a patrolman's truncheon. With a flash and a painful sounding bang, Nithe Skelm appeared, a short, fat man with squinty eyes and a large, bent nose; he looked like an angry deep mine dwarf, but he didn't have the charm. As he crashed completely into Nick's reality, Nick leapt forward and grabbed him by the throat. "Return everyone you took before the stars shudder in fear of me!"

Realizing that he had failed again, Stefen Roem ran. He knew he could get out of Waleston while everyone was looking up; there would be a ship he could board at Warwickshire harbor.

Nithe Skelm's eyes rolled up and saw Stardance. The stars shuddered in tiny orbits, but the farther away the stars, the larger their orbits, making the entire sky look like a chaotic dance. In the Snowcross Mountains, this scene was an image of romance, and young parents were proud to announce their child was a Stardance baby, but threatened with death, the celestial image wasn't pleasing at all to Nithe Skelm, in fact it was terrifying.

Adding to the chaos, a blazing comet streaked through the sky, its tail stretching across the black of space, a finger of accusation pointing straight at Nithe Skelm. Then he saw huge glowing rings appear in the sky. What was going on? He didn't know that Rahn was moving aside, allowing the sun Thaal to light up the backside of the largest moon, Kuu, and light up those rings that were once the home of the gods, the moon Aestea. The glowing rings of Kuu filled the sky, and the sight of the stars trying to escape Nick's rage shocked Nithe Skelm; then he felt like he was being lifted. He slowly lowered his eyes to Nick and saw that Nick was gone, and he was in the grasp of a giant golden dragon.

"RETURN THEM!" Nick's roar echoed off the palace walls and carried over the town of Waleston. The dragon shook the wizard and roared again. "RETURN MY PEOPLE NOW!"

"Never," Nithe Skelm finally gasped. Even though terrified of the dragon, Nithe was sure his magic would defeat it, if he could get the dragon to release him.

Suddenly Tanithil's notes came to Nick. "You bragged that you would never return here also," growled Nick. "BUT HERE YOU ARE!"

"I have never been here before!" shouted Nithe Skelm.

"When you were here last this planet was glorious, crystal cities populated by elves. Then, after you ravaged this glorious planet a celestial event pushed Zigu close to the sun, the cities destroyed, the gods took refuge here and called it home and the name changed. Glorious in the ancient tongue was Treophus, but that was changed to home, which is Kodu."

"NO!" shrieked Nithe Skelm. "It can't be!" He always knew that if he returned to a planet, he would be caught, and he knew Nick was right. When you move between realities, you also move between epochs.

Nick held the hate fueled wizard in the left talon while holding out Nithe Skelm's left hand with his right talon. A white-hot breath of flame burst from the dragon's maw and roasted Skelm's hand, and burned it completely off. Nithe Skelm finally realized through the jolting, searing shock of pain that he would not win. As long as Nick held him, he could not shift realities, and this enormous dragon was threatening to bite off his limbs if he didn't return the hostages.

Annabelle stepped forward in shock; she had returned just as Preston disappeared. Is this angry dwarf the cause? "I'm sorry!" the ugly wizard shrieked. "Release me!"

"BRING THEM ALL BACK AND I WILL RELEASE YOU!" roared the dragon.

Through the pain of being squeezed by dragon talons and his hand being burned off, Nithe Skelm looked up and saw the stars pirouetting and the enormous rings glowing overhead. Suddenly, that view was blocked by a burst of flame from the dragon's mouth that painfully scorched the top of his head. The dragon grabbed his legs with the right talon and Skelm knew what it was planning. "They're back! They're back! Release me!"

Preston returned to Annabelle's feet, beaten and broken. While he was in Põrgu Saar, he tried to defend Octavia; she was surrounded by beasts that were hungry for her, for her magic, and for her baby. Weeping, Annabelle kissed her husband, but she looked up when Nick roared, "YOU'RE FREE." He hoisted his arm to the dancing stars and opened his talons, letting Nithe Skelm drop.

It happened in slow motion for Annabelle; she saw the little bastard falling, and she knew that he would survive a twenty-five-foot drop. She leaped up, threw down her sword and ran as fast as she could; she saw that he was starting to conjure as he fell, and she was going to make sure that he wasn't going to get away! After a couple of strides she found it was faster to run on four legs instead of two, and she crossed Traitor's Court with distance eating leaps, her tail swinging in the air, her ears flattened back and her teeth exposed as she ran. With a snarl, she jumped up and got her jaws around Nithe Skelm's neck, just as he was about to disappear.

Nick looked down at the werewolf that savaged the monster that tried to set the entirety of Kodu at war and smiled. He knew deep down that Annabelle could do it. Turning, he saw Octavia crawling towards Marlon; her leg was severely mangled, there were slashes on her face, and her beautiful violet right eye was gone. Marlon was screaming in horror. Quickly returning to his body, Nick saw that Nithe Skelm brought Princess Sophia, but he also brought back corpses. Far too many corpses. One of them was the king's son, Exavier. "GUARDS!" demanded Nick.

"Your grace?" two guards came running.

"Where is Captain Fahy?"

"He's in the dungeon, your grace."

Nick frowned and said, "Send a runner to Ezzie Fahy's house, tell her we need every witch in Uduithia here now. While the runner is running, gather up Baron Singe, Lord Slipspring, Lord Cadence, Earl Laird, Baron Carnysmut and Baron Cantor. Put them in irons, and chain them to a post. Then get some wood and build a pyre, and burn that body that the wolf is gnawing on."

"Aye, your grace."

As Nick wept with his wife and son, Nithe Skelm dusted off his robes and looked down at the bloody mess that the young wolf was gnawing at. "The poor bastard."

"NO ONE HAS EVER SAID THAT ABOUT YOU," said Droul. Droul, the god of death, leaned on his scythe. There was no need to sever the line between Nithe Skelm and his body; the werewolf had gnawed it through.

"That's it then?" said Nithe Skelm with a sigh. "The most powerful wizard in the multiverse reduced to dog food?"

"YOU SHOULD HAVE STUCK TO CARD TRICKS, PEOPLE LIKED YOU THEN."

Former nobles, Slipspring, Singe, Cadence, Laird, Carnysmut, and Cantor were easy to round up; they were gazing at the sky as the sun slowly returned, the double eclipse lasting much longer than the average eclipse. All six ringleaders were in shock; their dreams of taking over an entire continent were shattered, and now a lengthy stay in prison was their future, and somehow, Stefen Roem, the one who designed this coup, the one that reached out and invited Nithe Skelm into their reality got away.

They also wondered aloud how Nick had somehow created a stardance in the middle of the day.

"Am I the only one that reads Ye Olde Farmer's Almanac?" Nick asked no one in particular. Then he shouted, "Guards! Keep them alive. I don't care what it takes. I have plans for them if the king lets them live."

He dropped to his knees next to Octavia and began to examine her. It was hard to keep a stoic, witch-like attitude when examining his wife, the love of his life and mother of his son. She was in terrible shape; her arms and legs were slashed; one leg was gnawed to the bone and bleeding profusely. A slash across that lovely face destroyed her beautiful violet right eye. He ripped off his jacket and waistcoat and saw they were slashed and soaked in blood, then began to tear up his blood-soaked shirt for bandages. How did that happen? Nick was able to rip his shirt into bandages, and he quickly tied a tourniquet on Octavia's mangled leg using a dropped sword to tighten the bandage. He tried to reassure her as she wept, but he felt his own tears flowing.

The guards gathered wood from the kitchen and lit a big pyre at the end of the court, then looked at the duke helplessly as the werewolf continued to chew up the body of Nithe Skelm. Nick gave a sharp whistle and called, "Annabelle! Come here girl! Good girl!" The werewolf turned to the sound of the voice and looked. "Come get Preston! Come here girl! Preston needs you!" At the sound of Preston's name, she began to bound to where he lay, and by the time she got to him, she was in human form.

"You changed!" said Preston weakly. "I'm so proud of you."

"Oh, gods baby, what did they do to you?" Preston was bitten several times and clawed, but not as bad as Octavia.

Nick bandaged Octavia's eye. Then, as he tore his waistcoat up for bandages, he and Octavia kissed, fighting to hold back the tears as Marlon continued to shriek in terror. "Darling, give him a pacifier." He found the baby bag under his ruined jacket and waistcoat, and he found Marlon's dummy quickly. Placing the noocher in Marlon's mouth mellowed the shrieking; the sound of his terror and anger came out of his nose as he gnawed on the nipple. "I built a ward around him, they couldn't get to him while I was alive," wept Octavia as she hugged Nick and Marlon. "They clawed and bit the ward, and they were starting to get through." Marlon slowly calmed down as he gnawed on the pacifier, while his mommy and daddy kissed and caressed him.

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Chapter 29 - The Army

The men of Elm Springs could hear the troops marching down the face of Breeders Peak. They could hear the footsteps and the armor clanking as the soldiers marched toward them. They could track the progress of the army from the dust rising on the road that zig-zagged down the face of the ridge. "Who is the mayor here?" demanded Sergeant Dave Harris.

"Nick is," said someone in the growing crowd.

"Nick can't be mayor, the mayor works for him," said someone else.

"Vesstan can be mayor," said another man. Nobody seemed to care if the nominee was an elf.

"I'm already a mayor," said Vesstan.

The crowd was growing larger. Nick had ordered the village emptied if the army approached, but oddly, nobody left. In fact, people were pouring into the village. Instead of a warning to evacuate, the bells became a call to arms for the people of Hay-on-Wægn county. Three demi-giants had arrived with a wolf; two elves on unicorn mounts joined them, and an actual elf princess had to be held back because the elf she loved was lying on the floor in the police house unconscious.

The Boys, the elder statesmen of the village of Elm Springs, looked at each other and all turned to Sieffre Merrick, the elder statesman of Elm Springs. "I think I was elected once, didn't like it if I recall," said Sieffre. "But if you need a mayor, I'll fill in."

"What about Trei Metsker?"

"Yeah! Trei!" shouted another, and soon the entire crowd was chanting for Trei.

"They're calling for you," whispered Wayne. The young man was lying on the floor of the police station with his fellow freed captives.

"I'm going to stay right here with you," said Trei.

"I'm fine. I'm just going to take a nap and I'll be ready for work in the morning."

"No!" demanded Witch Bella and trainee Silver. "You've got a concussion, you stay awake!" they said in unison. Then a proud witch gave her trainee a pat on the back.

"You do that just to torment them don't you," said Wayne's mother, Erin, who was sitting quietly on the side knitting.

"It never gets old," said Wayne, which caused Duke Hampton next to him to chuckle.

"Quiet!" warned Bella. "I'm trying to sew this guy together and I can't stitch him up proper with a comedy act going on."

"I'll be back," said Trei as he picked up his hammer and stepped out into the police yard. He was working when he heard about Wayne and came running with his hammer in his hand. It was good to see the eclipse had finished and the sun back in the sky; that means the witches will fly again. Many of the older girls don't fly after dark. He looked, and it looked like everyone from Elm Springs and the surrounding area was there, and the bell in the temple was still ringing. He had forgotten about that bell. Only the resident god knew how to ring it. He had heard from his dad that the village once told time by that bell. "What is going on?" demanded Trei.

"We just elected you mayor!" cried the miller, Kevyn Haven.

"This ain't how you elect a mayor!"

"Why not?" asked the apprentice ferrier, and assistant miller, Merril Smith. "You're here every day. Anyone that needs anything or knows anything stops by. Ain't no one better. We need a mayor and besides, the duke will never tell you no."

"It's not too bad of a job," said Vesstan Aedi, the elf mayor of the newest village in Hay-on-Wægn county, Irla Stein Anore. "Except now."

"What do you mean except now?" demanded the reluctant mayor. Then he heard the clanking of armor, the stomping in unison, a sergeant calling cadence, and the grunts and snorts from over three dozen horses. As the sky lightened, they could see three hundred men marching or riding toward them... the entire Uduithian army!

The afternoon carriage from the railhead at Slate Bottom Creek halted in front of the Temple in the Woods, and the driver called, "Ten minutes! There's free water out front of the temple!" Then he hopped down and helped one rider who was getting off at Elm Springs with his luggage.

"What's going on?" asked the rider, Antony d'Marhk, grandson of long-time residents Homlette and Ophilia d'Marhk.

The coachman eyed the crowd that was blocking the road and said, "I'll find out." He walked over to the blacksmith, but nobody was there; the anvil was idle, and the fire in the forge was dying. Then he saw Trei in front of the crowd. He walked up to Trei and asked, "Is there a problem? Am I going to be late in leaving?" Then he saw the army approaching.

"Make it a fifteen minute stop," said Trei.

The ferrier, Allyn Evans whispered, "See? Everyone already knows you're the mayor."

"Thanks Allyn. For that, you're the assistant mayor."

Sergeant Harris next appeared at Trei's side, and he looked off into the distance and groaned. "What the hell is Tico up to now?" asked the sergeant. In the distance, he could see the flag bearer and the commanding officer riding proudly in the lead. Between them rode Tico on Peaches, a championship caliber thoroughbred that Tico got by mysterious means, probably illegal, but nobody has reported a horse of Peaches' description missing or stolen. As they got closer, Dave Harris could see Tico chatting with the general happily. There were clearly fifty mounted calvary men and five times that number on foot following the leaders.

"What do you want me to do with these men?" asked Trei.

"Talk to them. Convince them to go kill someone else," said a nervous cobbler, Harry Neumann.

Finally, the leader grew near and called, "First sergeant, hold them up here." Behind him could be heard a loud booming voice call, "ARRRRMEEEE! HALT!" Everyone halted, and the two groups stood eyeing each other. As they halted, the general swung down off his horse and walked forward, tall and proud, then stopped short of the crowd. Still holding his hammer, Trei walked forward, and the men faced each other. Finally, the general spoke.

"You are in charge?"

"I've been elected mayor of Elm Springs. The Duke of Wægn is at Waelmore castle with the head of police right now so I guess I'm in charge by default. Everyone calls me Trei."

"I am General Alexander Donius of the Uduithian army. I have with me the entirety of His Majesties military forces." He slowly pulled his sword from its sheath, then extended the hilt to Trei. "I surrender my army to you."

Trei was caught off guard. He finally said, "We can't afford an army. We depend on volunteers to clear the road in the winter. Why are you here?"

"There was a mutiny in the castle, they took the king's family hostage and he's too kindhearted to do anything but care about their well-being. I got the army out of there before someone forced him to order us to join their coup."

"Let me show you something," said Trei. "You and one of your men follow me."

He led the general and his aide d' camp to the police station as the village stood by, anxiously wondering what they were talking about. Trei led the general into the wardroom, and there on the floor lay the five men whom Nick had rescued and Octavia had transported to safety.

"The elf is the duke's personal game warden; he was attacked and kidnapped while patrolling Breeders Peak for poachers. These two men are the Duke of Warwickshire and his assistant. Your mutiny started a war with a sovereign nation and you are going to have to fight it. There's two police officers; both lads are volunteers; they were searching for the duke and Colonel Handpipe when they were kidnapped, tied up and beaten. All five were tied to posts in Traitor's Court until the Duke of Wægn freed them. Do you want orders general? Here's an order, get back to that castle and fix this!"

The general stifled a gasp. Through the swelling and injuries, he recognized Colonel Ernest Handpipe. He knelt down by the injured Colonel and whispered, "How are you holding up Ernie?"

The injured colonel squinted through swollen eyes. "Hey Al, wish we met under better circumstances... I'm doing as good as can be expected."

"My men had nothing to do with this," said General Donius. "I will pillage the castle guard and find the men responsible."

Colonel Handpipe's voice was harsh and quiet. "I don't think it was the castle guard. The mutineers said the guard were all captured or killed by thugs that the coup leaders brought in off the streets. They got the queen, they got the prince and princess, they got a wizard that does things... horrible things... he gets in your brain!" The colonel was shaking. He grabbed General Donius's breastplate and said, "Don't go back. Take your army and hide in the mountains..."

"Calm down!" ordered Bella, then in a softer voice she said, "Relax Colonel. I have something to ease the pain." She lifted his head and gave him a drink from a cup, then said, "Now you be quiet. This is some potent stuff. I'll make sure you don't start telling secrets."

"Yes ma'am," said the colonel as his terror eased.

The general knelt next to his old friend and said a prayer. Then he got up and stepped out of the police station, gesturing to the witch to join him. On the porch, he said to Bella and Trie, "It's all true. That wizard can do things to the mind. We've seen it."

"They're all saying the same thing, general," said Bella. "They were going to be executed but the Duke cut them down."

"What did you give him in there?" asked General Donius. "It mellowed him out quickly." He was worried that she used Skim or Thyme or some other illicit drug.

"Willow bark tea."

"That's not powerful, my mam used it for headaches."

"It's as powerful as you think it is," said Bella. "The mind is an amazing thing. A few bandages, some sympathetic words, a peek at my cleavage and he thinks it's powerful." She gave a naughty grin and added, "That last bit only works on guys."

Just then, two witches soared overhead. One split off and headed down to Elm Springs while the other one continued east toward Deasil. "Here comes my help, a little late, we got everyone sewed up..." Then Bella saw the witch that just landed. "Grandma?" she cried.

Agnes Dempsy landed on the lawn and walked up to the porch but didn't step up on it. "We're gathering every witch in the kingdom to go to the castle, come on, you're needed. We even got your mother out of retirement."

"I got her broom, how is she getting there?"

"I have spares." Then she noticed the entire army looking at them. Agnes stormed up on the porch and hit General Donius in the breastplate as hard as she could. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Your king needs you! You left him and my nephew there all alone to fight those monsters?" Then she stomped off the porch and shouted, "Come along Bella. You're a witch now, your cousin needs you, he's all alone in there!"

"Nick? Nick is in there all alone?" Bella ran inside and said to Silver, "I'm needed, you and Izhar have it from here. You both clearly know what you're doing." She grabbed her broom and one of the emergency medical kits and dashed out of the police station.

As the witches flew south over Breeder's Peak, the general turned to Trei and said, "I'm headed back with the calvary." They started walking back to the two groups facing each other. I can't take the foot soldiers back; I can't let that wizard get over two hundred armed men. They can bivouac and feed themselves for two weeks. Give them something to do, and I'll be back for them.

"Can they build a building?" asked Trei.

"Best carpenters in Uduithia. They can build a barn, a barracks, an office, a temple..."

Trei eyed the plot of land next to his property. On that open plot of land sat a pile of lumber that had been hauled from the Duchy's warehouse in Waleston. "Can they build something important... like a pub?"

"Best damn pub you've ever seen. We even have professional roof thatchers."

Trei smiled, a thatch roof pub here in Elm Springs... they've hit the big time.

"Colonels! To me!" shouted General Donius. Two colonels swiftly walked up to the general; one was obviously a mounted soldier from the riding hat, the other a foot soldier in armor and with a heavy backpack.

"Colonel Thompson, for the next week or two you will report to Mister Metsker. I want the Uduithian foot soldiers to wait for my return. There are a few projects, like assisting the highway patrol, and he's got a challenge for our building skills. You will return when I, and only I, come back for you. Colonel Metcalf, mount up. We depart in one minute. I want four troopers to escort the daily coaches between Waleston and Elm Springs and six troopers to ride with the highway patrol. The rest will follow me."

That was it. Trei suddenly had two hundred sixty soldiers to deal with, along with an entire town. With a whistle and a shout, forty mounted soldiers raced off, charging up Breeder's Peak, while six led their mounts over to the police stables, and four told the coachman that they would escort the coaches during this time of unrest.

"Mister Metsker, where can we bivouac?" asked Colonel Thompson.

"We can put them in the duke's pasture like we did with Duchess Octavia's forces last year," said Vesstan Aedi.

"That works well, just be sure to brief them on the duke's critters and firewood," said Trei.

"Animals I understand, but what about the firewood?" asked Colonel Thompson.

"It all belongs to the duke," said a wolf that was standing with three demi-giants. Pepin loved the shocked look on people's faces when he did that. Then the wolf dashed off, chasing the mounted calvary. Sometimes chasing horses is fun, but Pepin had work to do.

Trei shook hands with Colonel Thompson and said, "you and your officers can use the guard shack. Get a good night's sleep, because tomorrow we go to work."

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Chapter 30 - Recovery

Two dozen people were brought back from Põrgu Saar, but it's estimated that twice as many were sent. Nithe Skelm sent three children, all boys. Two princes, Prince Exavier, the future Duke of Waleston, and tiny brother Abraam. The beasts ripped them up in front of Princess Sophia and left her alone. She watched the entire scene unfold, which shattered her mind. To protect herself, she shrank back to her five-year-old psyche, back before the world got angry and vicious. Marlon, the future Marquess of Black Mountain, survived thanks to his mother; she put a magical ward around him, but he saw the beasts attacking his mother.

Nick was desperately trying to bandage both Octavia's and Preston's wounds, but he couldn't make enough bandages. "Annabelle, are you wearing a slip?"

"Huh? I don't know... I don't... wait, yes."

"Take it off, we need bandages for your husband."

Annabelle slipped off her underskirt and said, "what do I do?"

"Here, give it to me. Teivas, I need a really sharp blade." Without an answer, a blade extended from the end of his walking stick. He tucked the walking stick under his arm and carefully pulled the skirt onto the blade, began cutting her slip-skirt into one long 3 inch wide bandage. "Roll this, it needs to be rolled up so we don't tangle it and waste time untangling it."

"I can do this," said a terrified Annabelle, and she began rolling up the bandage he was making. "Like this?"

"Yes, you're doing great." She was terrified now because he was cutting the strip so quickly that she was falling behind him in rolling. "You're doing well. When we're done, we're going to sit Preston up and I'm going to bandage this chest wound. Are you with me?"

"Yes," she said nervously.

First, Nick used the blade to slice off Preston's uniform jacket and shirt. "Here we go, let's do this," and Nick lifted Preston up, leaving his shirt and jacket on the ground. With Annabelle holding Preston up, Nick wrapped the strip from Annabelle's underskirt around and around Preston and tied the ends off tight and laid him back down.

"The witches will be here soon, won't they?"

"We can't assume that. We can only hope but we can't just sit and wait. Let's look at this guy..."

With the cries of agony and Marlon's pitiful crying, Nick was having a hard time concentrating until he heard a familiar voice cry, "Holy jumping cat shit!"

"Bella's here," said Nick without looking up from the fellow he was working on. He used the last of Annabelle's underskirt on the man's wounded arm but didn't have enough bandages for his other wounds.

"How do you know? You didn't look."

"Trust me."

With a boom, the metal case of the Highway Watch emergency kit hit the ground, then Bella landed next to it. "Good fucking gods, what the fuck happened here?"

"She sounds like you," muttered Annabelle as she crawled back over to Preston.

"I don't swear like that," said Nick as he turned to Bella.

"Only when you're plowing and can't keep the furrow straight," said Bella. "Holy shit! Lie down! You're bleeding from a dozen wounds.

"Just flesh wounds," said Nick, but he was getting dizzy. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back and someone was shaking him. It was Ezzie Fahy, the unelected leader of the witches.

"Come on Nick... I knew you was with us! Agnes bet me a fiver you was done for!"

"Thanks for your support, Aunt Agness."

"Any time," came her voice from somewhere behind him.

Nick sat up slowly, his head spinning and throbbing. He was covered with well-applied bandages and was shocked to see how many. He didn't feel a single strike all during the fight, nor after either. But now he's feeling every one of them. "Surprised?" asked Ezzie. Marlon had stopped crying and was in the kindly old witch's arms. "This little girl told me you took on five men and beat them all, and I'll bet you didn't feel a single sting. Then you ate a wizard?"

Nick looked at Annabelle, who was sitting with Preston's head on her lap. She was blushing at being caught in the lie. Nick didn't call her on the lie. "Kinda. I threw him to the dogs when I was done. That's his pire over there." Nick looked around, and there were witches everywhere, and all were busy stitching and bandaging the victims of Nithe Skelm. Gentle voices reassuring their patients were occasionally drowned out by a cry of agony.

"You had your blood up, that's why you didn't feel them cuts. I was bandaging up soldier boys when I was that one's age," said Ezzy, pointing at Annabelle. "They're the same way..." then she whooped with a laugh. "That's how I got my first husband!" She had rocked Marlon to sleep, and Octavia was unconscious, and now Nick realized why she had woken him.

"Ok, you might not want to be here for this, but we need your help," Ezzy said as Oma Hallewell washed up a saw from the emergency kit. Nonna Umbra from Vale Wood had a fire made from broken up chairs burning nicely, and a sword blade was in there getting red hot. "You saved the duchess's life with that tourniquet, but..." Ezzy shook her head. "She lost too much hide and meat off them bones."

Nick nodded sadly. He knew what to do; he hated this part, but he hated using the saw even more. Farming was a dangerous profession, and injuries were common, and the biggest killer of farmers is time. If a witch doesn't get to him in time, gangrene will set in. He's assisted Nonna Umbra with several amputations, and they found he was best helping in a way only a genuine witch can help. To be the "Taker."

"Are you ready honey?" asked Ezzy. "We'll get this done nice and quick."

Nick nodded and kneeled over Octavia. His hands were shaking and covered with dried blood, but he had to do this... no one else could do this for Octavia. He put his bloody hand on her temples and softly reached into her mind, looking for the happiest thought, for the thought that gave her the most peace. He kept searching, shaking his head no to let the witches know, not yet. He searched and searched. Their wedding... their wedding night... further back... further...

"Don't look Pom... uh... Nick." Being a gentleman, Nick turned around, and Octavia took off her dress, her slip, and her camisole. Then, wearing only her knickers, she climbed over the gunwale of the boat they "borrowed" and slipped into the water. It was cool and refreshing, and it brought to mind a dream someone else had. "Nick, what is your pond like?"

Nick had slipped into the water, too. "My pond?" came his response from the other side of the boat. "It's over an acre in size. On the north side is a pine forest, on the south side is a pasture where I penned my sheep and goat. It's fed by a stream that comes down off the mountain, and there's a waterfall you can dive off of. It's so relaxing on a hot summer day." It sounded like heaven, and she would eventually find out it truly was heaven on earth.

But that day they were swimming in the western ocean on a scorching afternoon. They were running from men who were out to kill them, but becalmed in the ocean they took off their clothing and jumped in the water to cool off. When they climbed back into the boat, she saw his "maypole" and gasped. But he was a perfect gentleman (damn it!) and the first real pangs of love were flooding into her heart as they snuggled together later on the ocean, under a triple full moon.

Nick nodded his head, and Ezzy said, "Go!" Oma Hallewell started sawing at the bone as fast as her ancient arms could go. Even though Octavia was unconscious, she could feel the intense pain, and it will wake her. Nick's job was to absorb that pain, to take it from her before it woke her. It was horrible. He felt that blade cutting through the bone, but he took every bit of pain from Octavia, but the worst was yet to come. As soon as Oma put down the blade, she folded the flaps of skin over the end of the stub of bone and held them in place with a knife blade and Nona Umbra slapped that red-hot sword blade on the end of Octavia's leg, cauterizing the wound.

Nick was shuddering in agony because it really felt like it was happening to him. He tried to keep Octavia at the dream of floating on the ocean in a sailboat. Finally, he felt a tap on his back, and he swung to the side and vomited from the pain... all the pain... her arms, her eye, her leg, and the exhaustion of protecting Marlon. The agony of watching Preston fighting things, and losing.

"Ya dun good," said Oma as she wrapped clean bandages on Octavia's leg.

"She never come out of it," said Nonna as she put the blade back in the fire. "Let us know when you're ready, we got one more to cut."

Nick groaned and said, "I don't want to go picking through a strangers mind."

"You'll want this one."

Nick looked, and the fellow was wearing a palace guard uniform. He was already unconscious; it was a simple spell that witches used to put someone to sleep for a short period. It's used to ease pain; but it isn't deep enough sleep to survive a surgery. "Leg?" asked Nick?

"Yep, but weren't nobody to put a tourniquet on him so he nearly bled out."

"I didn't have bandages," said Nick helplessly.

Ezzy nodded. "I understand, I've been there. But with this one, you're not going to worry about it when we get that ripped up leg off of him."

Nick knew why so many legs were torn on the survivors; they were kicking at the beasts that were attacking them. "Ok, let's go." He put his hands on the man's temples and he looked for a happy memory... and what he found sickened him. Nick switched tactics and found the man's happiest recent memory was beating Wayne Metsker with a chain, which was better than the memory of the children he raped and tortured. The thug was sent to the burning lands for not killing Wayne and Don outright. Nick saw an image of Silas Singe, the chief international advisor to the king, complaining that they needed another two executioners.

Nick nodded his head, and Ezzy said, "Now!" and Oma Hallewell began sawing. The fellow groaned and mumbled in his sleep; his happy memory became a nightmare. Don Neumann was pinning him to the ground, and Wayne was beating his leg with a chain while the beasts of the burning land waited their turn.

Finally, Nick felt a tap on his back and he backed off the thug in a stolen uniform, but he backed off a moment before Nonna pressed the red-hot sword to his stump. He woke and howled in agony. The thug's body jerked, and Nonna didn't get a proper cauterization, so she had to do it again while Nick held him down. "This is for the children," hissed Nick as Nonna slapped another red-hot sword to his stub. "I'm going to haunt you and you won't be able to get away without a leg." Then he got up and looked for Teivas, his walking stick, and he slid that into his belt.

Ezzy glared at Nick. "Don't ever let me catch you doing that again."

"Doing what? I held him under as deep as I had stomach to hold him. I took more than he deserved, and I made sure that he was thinking of his sins as Oma cut and Nonna cauterized."

"Mister Stein, we are witches, we do not sit in judgement!" demanded Agness Dempsey, who just had to stick her nose into Nick's business whenever she got a chance.

That angered Nick to his breaking point, and he shouted. "Missus Dempsey, I am a Duke, a sovereign lord. I swore a holy oath to my king and to my gods to protect my people and to uphold, defend, and adjudicate the king's law, which means yes, I do sit in judgement. If you don't want me to be a witch, you're too damn late. Take it up with your sister! Now if you excuse me, I have a queen to find." He gave a piercing whistle and held his hand out, and Virga slapped into his hand, and he returned to Octavia before getting back to work.

Ezzy shook her head and said, "You pushed him a bit too hard Agness."

"Nah, I just had to re-light his fire. He was getting soft and he's got more ugly work to do."

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Nick bent and kissed Octavia and apologetically said, "I have things to do."

Octavia's remaining eye opened slightly and said, "Go get to work." Then she raised her chin and pursed her lips, a sign that she wanted a kiss and said, "I love it when you save the world."

"You are worth the trouble," he whispered, and with one more kiss, he went to the king. "My lord."

King Uric shook his head. "I can't... not now."

"My lord. Lean on me and Fraser Baltimore. I'm going to find him and the queen and then we will take care of the kingdom while you take care of your family."

After a quiet word with the king, Nick went in search of the queen. Nobody in the burning land saw her there, and Princess Sophia only said, "Mama didn't come with." First, he stopped by the kitchen and drank as much water as he could hold, then looked about helplessly. The dining area was filled with terrified castle staff. "I once saved the world, but can I save my king?" thought Nick as he looked from face to face. It was grim, the king clung to his daughter Sophia, she was clearly mentally affected by her time in Põrgu Saar, his son Exavier lay dead, their youngest, two-year-old Prince Abraam was nowhere to be seen, but where was the queen? "Where is the queen?" cried Nick. "Has anyone seen the queen?"

"She's alive, I can feel her," said Virga.

"Go find Elenor," said Nick, "the king needs her."

"I believe she is below... in the dungeon."

Nick followed Virga's directions and found himself heading downstairs into the dungeon. "Hello?" called Nick, but there was no answer. Finally, he came to a cell that Virga said contained the queen. "Queen Elenor?"

"Who's there?" Queen Elenor asked. She sat up and looked around. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Nick."

"Oh, Sir Pommy!" she got up and stumbled toward the door, her hands held out in front of her to ward off bumping into something.

"They blinded her!" gasped Nick.

"There's no light down here, your grace," said Virga.

"Oh." Nick just remembered that he had covered up his good eye. He took his eyepatch off and, with his good eye combined with his enhanced eye, he could see everything, but he also recognized that it was dark. "Virga, give her some soft light while I look for a key." Nick wandered around the dungeon for a bit, he found his way to the guard's office with a large key hanging on the wall, a desk, a chair and the only other thing occupying the office was a headless skeleton in a partial suit of armor that sat in the chair. "Are you alive or dead?" asked Nick. Sometimes it's necessary to ask Stan. He likes to snooze.

"I'm not sure, but I am animated," said Stan, but his voice came from inside a box. His head had been removed.

"Where is your head at Stan?"

"On the whole I'd rather be playing a nice game of chess... I think someone put my head in a waste basket."

"I don't see a waste basket. Could you be in the safe?"

"That might be where I am at. Please tell me that my body is whole."

Nick crouched, and there was a small safe under Stan's desk. He opened the safe door, and sure enough, there was a skull in there, still wearing his issued helmet. "Here you are, let's get you together."

"Easy Sir Farmer, don't force it like you would a stubborn plow."

Nick eased Stan's head into place, and as soon as the skull touched the spinal column, the skeleton's hands came up and grabbed his head, and put it in place. "How does it feel?" asked Nick.

"It feels good, I feel whole again."

"Can you walk?"

"Yes." The skeleton stood up and turned to face Nick, and was a bit grumpy. "I've been guarding these cells for two hundred years; I've never heard such insolence... do you ask everyone if they can walk?"

"I'm a witch, I ask everyone questions."

"A witch?!? You're hardly witch material," huffed the skeleton. "A proper witch is a well-aged female. You're but a young buck."

"Don't you believe in equal rites?"

"You have me there, Sir Witch. Oh how good it is to trade barbs with you again Sir Nicholas."

"Please call me Nick. In a few minutes, we are going to lock up several nobles that attempted to dethrone the king and throw Uduithia into war against Warwickshire and Elbreshowth. I would appreciate it if they didn't get much sleep."

Stan gave Nick a lipless grin. "My specialty Sir Nicholas!"

"I'm going to escort the queen out and reunite her with the king. Please stay here. I'll be back with the key."

"Stan we're going to need some light down here, not a lot, just enough for them to see that you're a... a bit slim."

"I intend to enjoy it Sir Nicholas."

The cell door opened, and Nick led Elenor out and up the ancient stone stairs. "What happened here?" she asked.

"Your highness, I..." Nick couldn't do it. He couldn't form the words that conveyed the horror of the experience. He finally said, "The chief international advisor to the king tried to plunge Uduithia into a war with Überwald. Lords Slipspring, Singe, Cadence, Laird, Carnysmut, and Cantor teamed up with an evil wizard from another world."

"I hardly think any of them are bright enough to plan a coup de tat. There had to be more," said Queen Elenor.

Nick swallowed and said, "It appears that Stefen Roem was involved."

"I thought you killed him in Xuantang," said Queen Elenor in a scolding tone of voice.

"I saw him here minutes ago, but I think he fled." As they mounted the stairs, Nick stopped at a landing and stopped his Queen. "Ma'am... I have to warn you, the king... he's...... I'm sorry, I can't..."

"I am your queen. I order you to tell me everything." It was the first time Elenor ever had to say something like that.

"Ma'am... Exavier is gone, and Sophia is... she's not good, ma'am."

"What do you mean, gone?"

"The wizard sent many people to Põrgu Saar, including your children. Exavier passed away; several people came back..." Nick was having problems keeping it together.

Elenor held her composure and demanded, "And Abraam?"

"We don't know... he didn't come back."

He led her to the Traitor's Court where King Uric sat with his daughter, now talking on a four-year-old level, and the body of his son, Prince Exavier. The king looked up at Elenor and burst into tears. She crouched down and hugged her husband while her twenty-four-year-old daughter, the heir to the throne, babbled baby talk.

Nick recognized a few of the other dead bodies: a couple of nobles, some guards, several members of the household staff, but no Prince Abraam.

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Chapter 31 - Aftermath

"Driver! Why have you stopped?" demanded Silas Singe, former advisor to the king.

The driver of the coach opened a small hatch and shouted down through the hatch. "The palace gate is closed."

"Drive around it, man! Must I do all the thinking here?"

"I don't think the general would like that, sir," said the driver.

"What general?" spat Percy Slipspring.

"Me," said General Alexander Donius of the Uduithia First Armed Calvary as he opened the door of the coach. "Why don't you gentlemen step out and we'll walk back to the Castle and rest up for a bit before talking. I hear the bread and water diet really helps," he added, and he poked Percy Slipspring's belly with his swagger stick.

The six members of what history will call the Nithe Skelm coup climbed out of the coach and saw they were surrounded by forty angry horsemen with pikes leveled at them.

<><><><><>

Nick checked on Preston, and the poor cop was in horrible condition. Preston's legs, arms, and wrists were broken, but so was his mind.

"The demons..." his eyes were shadows of horror. "They keep coming!"

"Fix him!" wept Annabelle.

"Let me try," said Octavia, and she pushed herself next to Annabelle and placed her hands on Preston's temples. "Thank you so much, dear Preston," muttered Octavia over and over, and slowly he began to relax. "I don't know if he'll ever talk about it, but he was a hero. He saved Marlon and me..."

"What... what was it like?" gasped Annabelle.

"It was hell," was all Octavia could say, and she started crying and went back to hugging Marlon, who was calm. That shattered Annabelle's world. Octavia was the strongest woman she had ever met, and she was now crying like a schoolgirl.

"It's ok," said Annabelle. "All we need is time." Her grandmother told her that often, and in the end, she was right.

"I'm ugly, I can't walk, he's going to hate me."

"Nick? If you think that of him, then you don't know your own husband!" insisted Annabelle as she rubbed Octavia's head. "He will love you until the day he dies. You can tell."

Nick was watching the tearful reunion with King Uric and Queen Elenor. They held each other and wept while Sophia cheerfully said, "Hi mommy!" as she had done twenty years ago, before her brothers were born. Over in the throne room, Nick heard a commotion, and he headed over there for no other reason than to give the king and queen some privacy. "Lord Stein!" The general snapped to attention and saluted.

"Sir, please, I only rose to the rank of Captain in Breaze," but Nick returned the salute.

"Your grace, we have six persons of interest. Would you like to interrogate them?" asked General Donius.

"Mister Morose would be better at that then I ever would. I have six private waiting rooms ready for them. Follow me."

As they headed downstairs, General Donius ordered one of his men to give Nick a riding jacket to wear, because all he had on was trousers, boots, and, as the general put it, "a damn fine collection of stitches and bandages."

With a pair of guards on each man, Nick led the six conspirators down to the dungeon where he locked them up in cells with an empty cell between each of them. "Your butler, Stan, should be around shortly to help you get uncomfortable. Breakfast is gruel, dinner is a gruel sandwich, you get one bucket it will be emptied weekly, please don't spill it."

"Lord Stein, you can't..."

"MISTER Cadence! Until you can produce a healthy, happy Prince Abraam and Prince Exavier, you will sit here and wonder what happened to your entire family."

"I had no control over Skelm! It wasn't my fault! It was all Stefen Roem!" His shouts and cries continued as Nick returned to Stan's office.

"Damn that bastard!" shouted Nick as he kicked Stan's door.

"They're all locked up your grace," said a confused general.

Nick kicked the door again. "No, Stefen Roem. I'm so stupid! Bruce Buckner warned me about him at the Mid-Winter dinner. He murdered his father and brother to get the title of Duke of Wægn. A friend told me he had hired a wizard to start a civil war down here... a wizard from off world he said. I thought the guy was crazy... Fuck!"

"Why are you beating up on yourself?" demanded Stan. "And why are you kicking my door?"

"I could have prevented this whole thing!"

"How?" demanded Stan and General Donius at the same time.

"I would have done something had I known." Nick hung the key up and said, "They're ready for you, Stan."

Stan took the key and said, "What about the house guards, your grace?"

"Pardon?"

"The palace guards, they all in B - Block."

Nick took the key back from Stan and handed it to the general. "Please release the prisoners in B - Block and have your men give them any assistance. Stan, your new visitors in A - Block should be ready for your introductory briefing."

"This is my favorite part," said the skeleton. Stan lit his torch and hummed a cheerful tune. As the army troops released the palace guard over in the B - Block cells, Stan walked slowly down the A - Block corridor and he peeked into the opening of each of the big wooden cell doors. As he looked, the glow from his torch invited the light deprived prisoners to look at the barred window in their cell door to see a human skull glaring at them. Stan glared into the cell until he was rewarded with screams of terror before moving on. "It's the little things that make this job rewarding."

Returning upstairs, Nick bumped into Bailey Fahy, the young trainee guard, and asked, "Are there many off duty guards?"

"Lots! The king gave most of us the day off; Lord Cadence told us."

"Recall the entire guard, anyone that wasn't locked up. There's been an attempt on the king's life... go!"

Young Bailey gave him a strange look, and not knowing exactly what to do, he followed Nick into the throne room, and he peered into Traitors' Court. With a gasp of shock, the young trainee dashed off to recall his fellow guards.

Nick returned to the Traitors' Court and sat down next to Octavia, who finally was able to calm down. Marlon was nursing gently, which calmed her nerves. He sat behind her and hugged her, but he started to shake. He held poor Octavia and tried to calm his nerves, but she said, "They need you."

Nick looked over at the king and queen, who were trying to calm their daughter Sophia, and they were being barraged by questions from nobles and staff. "Damnit..." He got up and stood over Queen Elenor and said, "Excuse me, but the royal family needs their privacy. If you have a question ask..." he looked around for Lord Baltimore, the most senior of the nobility, but he wasn't in view. "Ask me." He was suddenly barraged with questions. Looking around at the scene, physically and mentally shattered people lay here and there, witches stitching the injured returnees, mangled corpses, the remains of a well chewed wizard smoked and smoldered on a funeral pyre... "Let's go inside."

In the throne room, Nick glared at the crowd. "If you ask me for something you can handle on your own, you'll spend the night in the dungeon. First question... Anyone?" He was left with a few staff people who wanted to know what the king expected. "Anyone out there in the Traitor's Court who is injured is going to spend as much time here as they need, so start setting up rooms... do we have enough rooms?"

"There are over fifty available rooms, your grace."

"Stretchers, we need stretchers. Beg borrow steal, whatever it takes," said Nick, "and prepare for a royal funeral." The crowd gasped, and Nick said, "We lost Prince Exavier and Prince Abraam." The shock ran through the staff, and some ran off weeping. Nick remained firm as tears rolled down his cheeks. The memories of Exavier playing with Emperor Jia at his farm were burned into his memory. Little Abraam splashing in his pond with his mother... it's too horrible to recall. "Keep it together Pommy," he told himself.

With the returning palace guard and the forty calvary men manning stretchers, eventually the Traitors' Court was cleared of the dead and wounded. He threw more wood onto the funeral pyre for Nithe Skelm and several amputated limbs and spit on the flames. Heading back into the throne room, Nick felt like he had never seen this place before. Somehow it has grown dark and evil. He gazed about the immense room and saw a familiar face at the far end peering in the door; it was Harold Lorechester, Steward, Chamberlain, Marshal, and head butler of Waelmore Castle.

"The duchess would like to know if you are ready for dinner, your grace."

Nick was so tired, but he was hungry. "Yes."

"Come, your family waits." Harold led Nick to a section of the palace he's never been to before. As they walked, Harold said, "His majesty may not recover, he has no progeny. He has no one to leave the throne to when he passes."

"He can adopt an heir," said Nick as Herold led him down a dark hallway. "It's an old Traenian custom." They turned a dark corner, and Herold opened a door. "This is kind of out of the way," said Nick.

"It will be hard to find you, and just in case someone you don't want to see is prowling the palace," said Harold with a knowing smile. "Out the door across the hall is the stable, you can be gone in minutes." And with a bow, Harold was gone. Inside the door was a warm, cheery apartment with two bedrooms; in one bed recovered Preston, in the other bed lay Octavia, sitting next to her was a fourteen-year-old maid named Magdalana and she was playing with Marlon, trying to get him to laugh. A central room had a meal laid out for the two couples, and Annabelle was already spoon-feeding Preston.

Nick loaded a plate with roast beef and vegetables and sat down on the bed and fed his wife. When they were done eating, he curled up around her and Marlon and slowly became a black Sadhana Tiger. His soft, glossy black fur and resonating purr helped drive the memories of the Burning Lands away.

<><><><><>

The next two weeks were hell for Nick. He was acting king as far as he was concerned. He answered petitions with the king's permission, and he occasionally flew home to check on his farm and the Watch. With their commander and detective sergeant missing, Nick was sure all would devolve into chaos, but that didn't happen. The constables listened to Dave Nelson and Camus von Reichenbach and came together as a brotherhood.

Nick presided over the Week of National Mourning for the two princes and was the go-to man for all questions. "Where is the king's chief of staff?" demanded Nick.

"Lord Ponder is one of the ones that came back dead," said Harold Lorechester.

"Ok, Mrs. Moxie, you're currently in charge of housekeeping?"

"Yes, your grace."

"You are now my chief of Palace Staff. Harold, you are now my aide-de-camp."

"But..."

"No buts, Uduithia needs you. Serve or sit in the dungeon, those are the only two options I have available at the moment."

"Yes, sire."

"The people are demanding to see the princes," said Nick. "Let's set up two small white caskets in the main hall and a family portrait between them and let the people pay their respects." Then, turning to Sean Fahy, he said, "Sean, this will probably be toughest on you. Your troops are going to be my go-to guys. I need a guard on each coffin, door guards, and people to control the crowd. The Army will take care of standing guard and keeping any lines moving and the Highway watch is sending an honor guard, they can help. Also, I need you to send someone to the Slipspring, Singe, Cadence, Laird, Carnysmut, and Cantor families and let them know that I cannot promise them protection."

"Cannot or will not sire," asked Sean.

Nick just frowned and said, "tell them that they may want to find exile outside of Uduithia."

Lords Harcourt and Baltimore helped a lot during the next two weeks, and Octavia helped wherever she could. She created two magic urns that held pure white flames that flickered and sat at the foot of the two small coffins. When someone donated a wheelchair, Nick wheeled Octavia to the King's apartment, where she could spend time with Elenor and Uric. Nick got back to his apartment that evening and found Octavia on the edge of tears. "What's the matter, darling?"

"I tried to ease Sophia's pain. I read her memories, and I saw what happened to Abraam."

"What happened?"

"The beasts in the burning lands... they ate him." Octavia burst into tears. She saw the event from Esmeralda's memory: the beasts attacking, Abraam screaming, the beasts fighting over his corpse, and Exavier was next. Now she knows why the crown princess has mentally retreated to her childhood. Octavia cried long into the night, even with the Sadhana Tiger cuddling her.

Every day Nick went down to the main gallery where the two small caskets were sitting. They were in the middle of the gallery where the band plays during events. There was a line of mourners that wound back and forth, and hundreds of subjects stood in line for hours. The gallery was silent except for stifled weeping and sniffling. He stood watching and hating himself for not preventing this.

Nick entered the king's apartment. The sorrowful king sat studying his hands in his lap. "Your majesties," said Nick.

Uric looked up from his lap; his eyes were hollow and dead. "What is it Sir Pommeraie?" asked Queen Elenor.

"Please come with me," said Nick, and he led the couple to the main gallery where, if possible, the lines were even longer. They saw dignitaries from all over the Snowcross Mountains and the Pirangi Plains. Then Nick saw the Emperor of the Xuantang Empire, young Jia. The young emperor looked completely shocked; his mother had to hold him up.

"What... what is this?" asked the king softly.

"It's love, sire. The people love you and weep with you."

Uric and Elenor watched the mourners approach the tiny coffins guarded by pure white flames, two guards stood by the coffins, their armor polished to mirror brightness, the men actually fought for the chance to stand guard over their little princes for hours at a stretch. Uric held Elenor close as someone noticed them and called out, "We love you, sire!"

When Jia reached the coffins, memories of classes together and playing with Exavier at Nick and Octavia's farm overwhelmed the young sovereign, and he threw himself on the ground, weeping. "My brother! My brother!" Weeping just as hard as Jia, Nick scooped up the young emperor and carried him back to his apartment, where they could rest.

<><><><><>

After two weeks, the king called a meeting of the remaining court. The king was cold and businesslike. "First, the barony of Überskeld will become a fiefdom of Wægn, as will the barony of Thrash. Sir Nicholas, you have the entire northern side of Uduithia to manage."

"Thank you, your majesty," said Nick, not feeling thankful at all. Wægn was now 50% larger, with an added level of bureaucracy. It meant more tax money, but that meant hiring collectors.

"I will provide you with the names of the families that will take over. I want Thrash and Überskeld to be run as successfully as the rest of Wægn."

The king wasn't messing around. He looked at Lord Baltimore and said, "The viscountcy of Stormchester is now a fiefdom of Pellingham. I expect our southern borders to be as secure as our northern borders. Additionally, I have informed the Parliament and the House of Lords that their replacements for mister Cadence and Viscount Laird will be honest, loyal to the crown, and patriotic to Uduithia. If their replacements do not meet these requirements, I will dissolve parliament and the house of lords."

"Your majesty," said Lord Harcourt, Earl of Mallburg, "Lord Laird was not part of the insurrection... was he?"

"No, but he did not rise to the defense of the crown, either. I can't have weaklings in my court."

All members of the coup were removed from noble society; their families were in exile. Dissolving parliament wasn't much of a threat; the people of Uduithia want a king to run the country, not a committee. Why else have a king? The people of Wægn enjoy having a competent duke to run their duchy; however, many didn't realize how lucky they were.

"My new head of National Security will be Earl Buckminster Hargrave and my international affairs advisor will be Marquis Nathanaël Cyriaque. They will be joining us next week." Nick smiled when he said that. He knew that Nathanaël had ties to Elbreshowth, he may even be a werewolf, but being married to a cousin of the king, his loyalty to Uduithia was not in question.

The king continued. "Sir Nicholas, the crown extends its gratitude to you for everything you've done..."

"I've done nothing, sire," said Nick sadly. He was still kicking himself for letting it happen and letting Stefen Roem get away again.

"Duke Stein!" roared the king. "I will decide when you have done nothing; after all, I've become an expert at doing nothing myself. For your bravery and your actions, you will be awarded a second Uduithian Medal of Honor, which grants you the Kings Warrant."

"Thank you sire." He leaned over and whispered to Frasier Baltimore, "What's a king's warrant?"

"Pommy, you never cease to amuse me," chuckled Lord Baltimore. "The King's Warrant allows you to grant knighthood on whomever you declare to bestow it."

As the meeting drew to a close, Nick said, "Your highness, I need to return to our home, I need to visit Thrash and Überskeld, and our chief of detectives says her work is piling up on her. Lady Octavia will be recuperating with friends in Xuantang."

"Thank you, Duke and Duchess Stein. I'm sure your folks at home are missing you."

<><><><><>

Ned Darby placed an enormous bag full of gold coins in front of Nick. "I placed that bet for you."

Nick looked at the heavy canvas sack and sighed a deep, sad sigh. "It's not enough to buy the king's smile back."

"Pommy, you are doing the only thing that a friend can do. You're standing by him through thick and thin. Eventually he'll pry his way out of the nightmare, and maybe the queen will too."

Nick looked at the sack and sipped his drink. "You got some balls on you to bring that much gold into the Lethal Cod." The Lethal Cod was a bar in the Tubes two blocks off Bell Passage where Nick was born. There was a sign above the bar that said, "Please, No Killing During the Dinner Hour."

"You could at least buy me a drink," said Ned.

"Sure," and Nick fished around in the sack of coins. "Do you have change for a doubloon?"

<><><><><>

Lady Octavia spent longer in Xuantang than she had expected. First, it took her a couple of weeks to get used to the eye they gave her. It was originally made for Nick, and it matched his azure blue eyes, they take months for the magicians of Xuantang to create, so Nick said, "If you can put up with being called complete heterochromic, go ahead."

"It's not like a man would notice," she said, and she lifted the eyepatch to show off her blue eye. Nick could clearly see the difference, but if she believed men couldn't notice...

"I think it looks dashing," said Nick.

"See? They painted my nails too." She adjusted Marlon in his carrier, then grabbed Virga in one hand and Nick's arm in the other, and stood up. The new leg they made for her looked perfect. "And I can kick you again!" she said happily.

"Come on, it's time to go home. The entire village has a surprise for you. Are you two coming?"

Jia picked up some of Octavia's shopping bags and said, "I want to see the magic dog!"

His mother, Ning, rolled her eyes and picked up more bags (they went shopping a lot) "I am ready." They slowly walked from the residential area of the palace to the throne room and stepped into the Ætherportal. They immediately emerged in the Temple of the Woods where Tevis, the god of Health, was there to greet them, along with Grigeor de la Montesquieu, the ghost of Nick's grandfather seventeen times removed.

"You look well, duchess," said Tervis.

"You do too," said Octavia. "And thank you for wearing a loin cloth."

"Your husband insisted."

Nick whispered into Octavia's ear, "There are some things I can't compete with." They stepped outside the temple on Luminex 14, 3432, the first day of summer. Everyone in the village was there to cheer and say hello. Nick led Octavia into the crowd and said, "I'd like to introduce you to our mayor, the Honorable Trei Metsker."

"Mister Mayor? How impressive!" said Octavia as they shook hands. "I knew you were doomed to greatness."

"I knew you two were going to do this," growled Trei, then he tickled Marlon's chin with those great fingers of his.

"Wait, there's a new building on Main Street," said Octavia as she noticed a building on the corner of Main Street and Breeder's Peak Pike.

"When the army was bivouacked here, they made Trei and I an office to work out of," said Nick. "It's great for reading lessons also."

Octavia looked at the building. It had a thatched roof like their cottage, so it will be nice and warm in the winter, huge front windows, and a front door between the windows and... a sign? "Hey! That's a pub!"

Nick grinned broadly. "Of course, what do you think of the name? Trei and Wayne picked it out. "

Octavia covered her natural left eye and stared with her new right eye. She was able to get closer and closer without actually moving closer, and she read the name with ease.

"The One-Eyed Duke."

For the first time in many weeks, Octavia began to laugh.

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Epilogue

The first day of the month of Nexus was warm that year, perfect for a Harvest Festival. In the old days it was called Mole Chaser's Day, and it was the climax of the harvest season. In Hay-on-Wægn county they still celebrate the day. People from all over the Duchy came to the capital village of Elm Springs to celebrate and welcome their new brothers and sisters in the Baronies of Thrash and Überskeld to being part of the Duchy of Wægn. With the addition of those two holdings, Wægn became the largest duchy in the kingdom in land size, but still the smallest in population. There were games and prizes, a parade, there was a Mole Chasing contest (won by a fellow from Briar Glen) and a large beer tent where food was served, drink was sold, and the proceeds raised went to the new watch house in Pennshire on the west end, and funds to move the East End watch house from the middle of downtown to the railroad district of Slate Bottom Creek.

Nick missed much of the celebration. He had a first-time mother in labor and a nervous father in full panic mode, and no amount of soothing could calm him down. He eventually called for a second witch, Matilda Potts, to entertain the husband, Preston Prescott. Octavia showed up with Marlon to help, too.

When Annabelle finally entered the final stages of labor, Nick had Preston hold Annabelle up in a semi-seated position. "That helped a lot," said Nick.

"How many times have you done this?" asked Preston.

"A few," said Nick. In fact, in his first year as a witch, he delivered over a dozen babies. This second year is getting off to a great start. "This is my busy time of year," said Nick. "There's something about Yuletide to bring out the babies in Nexus. It's almost like a harvest festival for people."

"Will you shut up!" screeched Annabelle as a huge contraction came over her.

"Here comes baby, it's got its mother's hair." A movement to his left caused Nick to glance to the left, and there on the side of the bed was Marlon, peeking over the side, watching everything. "One last one, Annabelle, give me one last push."

"I can't do it," gasped Annabelle. "I have nothing left."

"You can do it, little girl," said Nick. "I'll help and fill this room with Dingaroo scent, and we'll see what you have left. "

Annabelle glared at Preston with eyes of murder. "You Told Him???" she screamed, then suddenly the last contraction hit.

"Here it comes... here it comes... annnnddd... you have a daughter!" Matilda helped Nick with the umbilical cord. "Give your daughter a name, daddy!"

"Annette!" called Preston through his joyful tears, "her name is Annette!" As little Annette cried in shock and terror, the witches washed up the baby, and she continued to cry out her anger and fear.

"That's a magnificent set of lungs on this one!" laughed Nick as he handed the baby to his friends. Annette's crying caused Marlon to start crying too, and he scrambled over to Octavia as fast as he could on hands and knees.

"It's ok, she is just scared, see? She's looking at her mommy now." Marlon took his mother's words to heart, but he gnawed on his thumb and considered the issue. He finally scrambled off his mother's lap and crawled over to the bed where Annabelle and Preston were admiring their new daughter.

He pulled himself up and stood at the side of the bed, taking in everything, his eyes wide and his mouth a little o of surprise. "Do you want to see?" asked Preston, and he lifted Marlon to his lap, and Marlon considered the little blond girl laying on Aunt Annabelle's chest. Was she looking at him? Her little hand moved toward Marlon, neither by intent nor by accident. It just moved, and Marlon leaned forward and put his hand on hers.

"Her name is Annette," said Uncle Preston. "I'm sorry, but she won't be able to play for a little while."

Neither Annette nor Marlon knew it at the time, but they had an entire lifetime to play ahead of them.