27.

Avalynn seeks to change Hobst's plan.

27.

 

 

A frantic but soft knocking brought an irate Archbishop Hobst to the cabin door.   He was surprised and slightly annoyed to find ‘Duchess’ Avalynn standing there with a troubled look on her pretty face.   Before he could say anything, she had pushed past him into his room which only irritated him more.

“Duchess, what in the devil is wrong?”

“We’ve got to move up our plan, Your Grace.”

“Move up our plan?  What in heaven’s name are you babbling about?  What is wrong with you?  You should be with Denrich now!”

“That’s why I’m here, sir!”  She began pacing around the room, nervously fumbling with a silk purse strapped to her dress at the waist.

“No smoking in here, if you please!”  The Archbishop said as soon as the girl brought out a Darx cigarette.   With an exasperated sigh, she slipped it back in the purse.

“Thank you.   Now tell me Duchess, what has happened?”

“I’ve followed your instructions, Your Grace, but I don’t think I can keep up this charade!”

“Duchess, you’ve only just started; surely you aren’t overwhelmed this soon!   It will be three days before we reach Eastwatch with all the scheduled stops that the train makes on the eastern part of the circuit.   You need to just calm down and keep focused.”

“But everything is moving so fast!   He wants me to spend the night with him!”

Hobst’s eyebrows arched, “Really?   So soon?   Well then, what’s the problem?  Seduce him!   You certainly didn’t have any qualms about who you ‘spent the night with’ while at the High King’s Court!”

Avalynn’s face flushed with a mixture of anger and shame at the Archbishop’s words, but she didn’t dare protest her innocence, for he was right  -she had been all to willing to give herself to any nobleman who might assist her in return.

“This is…different, Your Grace!   Knowing I am supposed to kill him makes it very hard to keep up a casual air around him.    I’m scared to death that I might say something that will tip him off what I’m going to do.   I want to get this all over with, Your Grace!   I need to put this all behind me!   I can’t wait days or a week.   I want to do it tonight!”

“Do what tonight?”

Avalynn swallowed hard then in a low voice replied, “Kill him.”

Hobst sighed in annoyance, “Duchess, you are letting your nerves get the best of you.”

“I know I am, Your Grace!   I’ve never done anything like this before!   I have to get this over with!”

“You need to calm down, Duchess!”  The Archbishop held his hands up, hoping to calm the young woman down, but she backed away.

“No I don’t!   If you want me to do it, I’ll do it tonight on this train!”

Anger flared in his eyes, but he quickly controlled himself and hesitated for a few moments, his mind considering everything quickly.    Avalynn stood there waiting for the cleric to say something and expecting conflict from him.

But the Archbishop scratched his chin and after a few more moments of calculating, a slight smile crossed his face as his temper decreased.

“Alright, Duchess, sit down for a few minutes and let’s plan this out so that it will work the best for our scheme,”   He gestured to a chair and she hesitated for an instant, then, seeing that he was no longer angry, she complied.

Hobst sat down in a chair across from her and folded his hands together on his belly, “Now; tell me how you plan to kill him tonight?”

Avalynn blinked a few times as if she had not thought further than her desire to act tonight, “Why, with the poisoned dagger you gave me to use!”

Hobst sighed in mild exasperation, “Ah, yes, but how do you plan to get Denrich in a place where you could stab him, and what covering story to explain his death have you worked out?”

Avalynn just looked at him blankly, “I figured that I would stab him when he wants to make love to me.   He’d be most vulnerable then, but that is all I had worked out so far.”

“This is quite impulsive, Duchess and in my experience, impulsiveness usually equals sloppiness.   However, if you are indeed determined to complete your mission tonight,  I have some suggestions for you.”

“Alright, I’m listening, Your Grace.”

“You were right when you said he is the most vulnerable while in bed.    If he is most focused on engaging with you, he will be easy to strike.     Make sure he is naked, lying on his back on the bed and it should be dark.”

“But that would mean-“

“Yes, yes, but you are doing this for the greater good of this kingdom… and your duchy, duchess.”

She understood the emphasis and sighed in frustrated acceptance, “Alright, alright - what else?”

“Have the dagger hidden within something you wear to the… er…rendezvous.    Wear something that can conceal it easily - perhaps a cloak.    When you take the cloak off, hide the dagger in the folds of the cloak and place it nearby where you can grab it quickly.    When you have him relaxed in the darkness, stab him quickly after you’ve activated the flow of the poison.    You remember how, don’t you?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Good.   Perhaps this might work - an assassination on a train would give an assassin a way to slip off by simply jumping from the train before the body was found.   The train goes miles and miles away before anyone knows.   We’ll blame Denrich’s assassination on some of Reddric’s enemies - perhaps some of those elven fools who might respond to your traitorous sister’s call.”

Avalynn paled at the mention of her sister but said nothing.

“We’ll have to stop the train, of course and go through the motions of an investigation.    Be certain that you toss the dagger off the side of the train after you have killed him and that will remove all evidence.”

   Avalynn nodded, looking a bit overwhelmed, yet at the same time anxious, “Anything else?”

“Wait until near midnight, so there won’t be many porters or servants about.   After you have killed him, quietly go to your room and stay there.   Let someone discover his body.    The servants will have seen you with him earlier in the evening, so be prepared with a story of leaving his quarters while he was alive and well.    Be prepared to act very upset and distraught over his death.   I’ll guide you on everything else - leave it to me.”

“What if they want to use detection magic to find out what happened to him?”

“No-one on the train has any staff or wand that can cast that spell and I doubt that the conducting wizard knows the spells.   If they raise a fuss about using magic, I’ll ‘cast’ the spell for them.”

“But you don’t know the spell…do you?”

“No, of course not!   But they won’t know that - I’ll chant a few arcane words and wave my staff over your head a few times.   If you have to go through this, act as if you are asleep or in a trance when I’m done and I’ll ask you questions about Denrich, so you’d best lie convincingly or your lovely neck will join mine hanging from a scaffolding!”

Avalynn blanched at the thought and swallowed noticeably, “I should have never got involved in all of this.”

“Relax, Duchess, this will soon be behind us.    Remember, you wanted to kill him tonight - I advised that we wait until we disembarked from the train.”

The former princess nodded gravely, “I know; I’m just too nervous to put this off any longer than necessary.  I’m not an assassin, Your Grace.”

“No, no, of course not!   You are a loyal subject of the High King that will eliminate a needless threat from worrying him and his young pregnant queen.    That child is the rightful heir.   Your actions will confirm this and I will certainly be forever grateful to you for your bravery.    Now go and remember - wait until around midnight - that is about an hour from now -before you strike.   I will see you tomorrow when he is discovered.   Go now.”

Avalynn moved to the door, glancing back as she touched the door handle, “I hope I don’t fail you, Your Grace.”

Hobst smiled his best forced smile, “You won’t, Duchess.”

She sighed and slipped out.

 

Archbishop Hobst rushed over to the door and placed his ear to it, straining to hear the nearly inaudible rustle of her dress as she slipped down the hall of the train.    He waited a full minute after all sound of her ceased and then cracked open his cabin door and cautiously peered out into the hallway.    Confirming that no-one was there, he rushed out and headed toward the front of the train where the inexpensive sleeper cabins were located.

The Archbishop went directly to one of the cabins and knocked a very specific knock.   A moment later the door unlocked and he slipped in, to find a tall, shadowy figure standing close to the door with a drawn sword.

“Relax, it’s just me,”   Hobst told the assassin, who lowered his sword.

“What do I owe this pleasure, Your Grace?   I thought we weren’t supposed to have any contact while on the arcane train?”

“There has been a change of plans.”   He told the man of Avalynn’s visit and her determination to kill Denrich tonight.

“So what do you want me to do, then?”   The assassin asked after hearing Hobst.

“Avalynn will strike around midnight; I want you to wait until she has killed him and then, before she leaves his cabin, kill her and make it seem that Denrich mortally wounded her before succumbing to the poison.    Avalynn will take the blame for Denrich’s death, yet she’ll be dead, so she won’t be able to tell any tales.”

“Just have my gold ready by tomorrow evening once the excitement dies down.”

Hobst smiled, “I have a pouch of gold waiting for your worthy hands.”

“I hope so; I don’t like changes in plans.”

“Neither do I, but it will all work out the same.   Remember, be near Denrich’s cabin at midnight and don’t let anyone see you.”

“No-one ever sees me when I’m working, Your Grace.”

“Good - come see me tomorrow evening in my cabin for your gold - I’ll make certain that everyone stays on board the train after they discover their bodies.    The magic powering the train keeps it from moving backwards, so we’ll have plenty of time before I have to face Reddric.”

“Alright - now you’d best go so I can prepare to get to work.”

Hobst nodded and quickly slipped out and hurried back down the hallway, a satisfied smile on his face.

The Archbishop was so pleased with his alteration of the assassination plans that he did not see that the cabin door across from the assassin’s room had been slightly ajar the whole time of his meeting with the killer or that now a cloaked figure moved with the silence of a ghost out of the room and hurried quickly but quietly after the cleric at a safe distance.   

At the entrance to the empty dining car that separated the ‘royal suite’ car from the lesser noble cabins where Hobst and Avalynn were staying, the figure stopped.    Moving into the shadows against the wall near the door leading to the royal quarters on the train, the figure seemed to almost melt into the darkness.

For a long time it did not move or make a sound.   Twice, servants walked through the empty dining car, going on errands, yet the cloaked figure did not stir from the hiding place.

Then a second figure - graceful and wearing a revealing white gown-- came through the door from the noble sleeping cars, heading purposely toward the royal suite.    Long blonde hair flowed around her shoulders and a green cloak was clutched tightly in her arms.   A trail of Darx smoke followed her as she had a stub of a cigarette clenched between her pink lips which she seemed to be trying to hurriedly finish before entering the royal suite section of the arcane train.

She paused at the door, nervously taking massive drags on her cigarette.     Unseen by her in this anxious state, the cloaked figure rose up from the shadows like a phantom from behind, and then advanced silently but quickly upon her.

The girl only saw movement at the very last second and turned just in time to see a small wooden club come down smartly on the top of her head.     She let out only a frail peep and slumped to the floor, unconscious, the butt of her cigarette falling from her lips.

The cloaked figure leaned over and began dragging the unconscious girl back into the shadows, then scooped up the Darx cigarette butt, crushed it out and deposited it on the nearest table in the dining car.

Concealed again back in the shadows, the cloaked figure lowered the hood, revealing long blonde hair very much like the unconscious girl’s tresses.    The cloaked woman knelt down and worked quickly; first checking the wound of the girl.   Satisfied that she was not seriously injured, but was only knocked unconscious, she unfastened her cloak, and then scrutinized her gown for a few moments.

Suddenly the door at the far end of the dining car opened and a servant, perhaps thinking he had heard something, peered into the darkness for a full minute.    Not seeing the two women or hearing anything, he finally shut the door and almost at once, the blonde who had attacked the other girl began slipping out of the woolen dress that she wore.     It took her only an instant, then she knelt over the unconscious girl and with no little effort, removed the close fitting gown from her, as well as her silk slippers.   

Immediately she slipped the girl’s gown on, finding her bosom larger than the girl’s which resulted in an extremely tight fit.    The slippers were a perfect fit and as soon as she had donned her clothing, she slid her own wool dress and low leather boots on the girl.    She then fastened her cloak around the girl’s neck and glanced at her for a few moments.   Shaking her head, she slipped a ring off of her pinky and slid it upon the unconscious girl’s third finger.     The ring flickered a pink flash of light, even in the shadows, which made the lady smile in satisfaction upon seeing it.   Taking the girl’s hand in hers she knelt down close to her ear and began to speak.

“You will not remember who you were.    All your memories will be gone.    Your name is Xael; you don’t remember anything else, only that you are far from home, very scared and wanting to find some place safe to hide.   You have heard of a convent called St. Catherine’s and you will ask around and seek to go there.    You will conceal your elven ears and not completely trust the humans.    The nuns of St. Catherine’s are trustworthy, however.   You will go there and ask for sanctuary until your memory returns.    It will likely never return, so you will decide to become a nun.    Whatever you do, do not remove this ring from your finger, for you know without a shadow of a doubt that if you do so, you will immediately die a painful death.”

The girl made a slight moan, revealing that she would soon regain consciousness.

“You will hide from everyone on this train, as you know someone tried to kill you.    Hide in the baggage car and as soon as the train makes its next stop, sneak off and find your way to St. Catherine’s convent.   Only there will you be safe.   Remember, your name is Xael and there are a number of people trying to kill you, so stay as low key as you can.”

Again the girl moaned slightly, and so the blonde lady let go of her hand, then went over and scooped up the bundled cloak that the girl had been carrying.   Unwinding it, she was not surprised to find a very distinct dagger.   The lady pressed the gem in the pommel, careful not to touch the blade.     She watched the blade coat with a dark oil-like fluid.   Once it was coated completely, she slipped it down to her side and then rushed across the room to the door leading to the noble’s cabins.

The door had no more than closed then the unconscious girl began to stir.   Groaning, she sat up, her hand feeling the huge welt on her forehead.    For a few moments she sat there trying to remember what had happened, but quickly realized that her entire memory had been erased.    She knew her name was Xael and that someone - or some group- was trying to kill her.    She also knew that she was on the arcane train and that she had to get off as soon as she could.     But where would she go?   She could not remember where she lived.    She wore a somewhat fancy wool dress and simple boots and had a cheap ring on one finger.

A woolen cloak was fastened around her neck.

But she had no weapons and someone had attacked her and apparently thought they had killed her.

She had to hide until she thought of a place she could go.    But where?

As she stood up on wobbly feet, she could dimly remember that there was a luggage car attached to this train - perhaps she could hide there until the train stopped some place.   Then she could sneak off.   But where would she go then?    She kept remembering something about a nun named Catherine.     No, it wasn’t a nun, but a convent!   St. Catherine’s convent!    She would go there and seek sanctuary until she regained her memories.     But she’d have to find out how to get there.   

More pressing for the time being was concealment, so on trembling legs, she timidly crept out of the dining car, relieved to find that the noble’s luggage car separated the dining car from the noble cabins.     First making sure no one would come through either door in the luggage car, she wiggled behind a huge pile of stacked luggage in one corner of the car.   Then she sat down with her knees drawn up to her chest and her cloak thrown over her.    For hours she sat perfectly still until finally she fell asleep.