30.

Denrich and Xael's plans are altered

30.

 

The slow, steady movement of the arcane train eventually relaxed Denrich and Xael to sleep and it wasn’t until they stopped at Reese just over the border in Nivervale barony that Denrich awoke.   

Gently he moved Xael off of his shoulder where she had fallen asleep and slipped out of the cabin, curious to see if Hobst had yet to be discovered.    It was nearly dawn and after he’d crept through the dining car, he was relieved to find Hobst’s cabin seemingly undisturbed.

Just as he was turning to make his way back to his own cabin, he saw some movement down the hall and through the doorway into the baggage car.     He slipped into the shadows and watched as a slight form stealthfully left the baggage car and cautiously peered out onto the loading platform between the arcane train cars.   

Denrich knew it had to be Avalynn, so he didn’t bother her but simply continued to watch.     She carefully determined that no one was near the loading platform stairs and then rushed off, disappearing quickly into the pre-dawn twilight.   He silently said a prayer for her, hoping that the misguided girl could find happiness and a better life, even without her own memories.

Heading back to his quarters, he was opening the door to his cabin when out of the corner of his eye he saw movement far up the hallway from where he had just returned.

Thinking that perhaps Avalynn had changed her mind, he glanced up the hall and was alarmed to see eight cloaked men hurriedly slip onto the car.

Feeling a surge of Déjà vu from his first trip on the train, he watched as the men entered the car where Archbishop Hobst’s quarters were.    They spread out, one closing the door from the baggage car, while the other quietly shut the door leading to the dining car, effectively blocking off any view of what they were planning to do.

Denrich didn’t know exactly what he should do.   The men certainly looked threatening and from their cloaked appearance, they did not want to be seen.

But they could actually be men working for Hobst, coming to a planned meeting with him before slinking off on some nefarious business.   Who knows, perhaps they were assassins he was planning to use to kill him and ‘Avalynn’.    

However, they could simply be bandits hoping to rob the train in the early hours while everyone was asleep.   They’d targeted the nobles’ train car specifically.     If they were just dealing with Hobst, that would of course be no problem now, but there were also servants sleeping in the servants cabin at one end of the nobles’ car and he didn’t want these innocent people getting hurt or killed, especially when the cloaked strangers found that Hobst was dead.

 

Therefore he had to quickly act.    He shut the door, turned and rushed through the dining car, scooping up one of the chairs to serve as a make-shift weapon.

But just as he was reaching for the handle to pull open the door from the dining car into the noble’s quarters, there came the piercing scream of a young woman.

Tearing the door open, he was nearly knocked down by two cloaked men rushing away.   The first man pushed past him, but the second one had a short sword in his hand and swiped at Denrich.

He countered by tossing the dining room chair the short distance at the man’s head.   Instinctively his opponent flinched backwards, retarding his attack on Denrich in his attempt to dodge the chair.

He grabbed the man’s wrist, twisting it sideways to eject the sword from his grasp.    As the sword fell from his hand, the cloaked man swung his fist at Denrich, but he ducked under it, letting the blow graze the top of his head as he answered with a fist planted squarely oin his opponent’s nose.   That did the trick; he fell backwards against the side of the cabin, allowing Denrich time enough to scoop up the short sword from the floor before the other men attacked him.

Again a girl screamed and now the other cloaked men seemed only bent on escape.    Archbishop Hobst’s door was slightly ajar, from where apparently one of them had picked the lock.

The six men rushed him together, but he backed into the frame of the doorway, since the narrow space would prevent them from flanking him.

One of the men engaged him with a long sword but he was ready and parried the anxious thrust at him.

Another man stabbed at him, pushing him slightly backwards.

They advanced, but Denrich found the edge of the door, stepped quickly backwards and swung the door closed right in the men’s face.    They stopped the door with their hands, but it gave him partial cover and he set the side of his left foot against the back side of the door so they could not push it open very far.

Desperate to escape, one of the six remaining men tried to push the door open, leaving his arm and face unprotected.    Denrich slashed at his left arm.   He yelped in pain and fell back, stumbling into one of his fellows.   

Denrich used this distraction, pulling the door suddenly open again, which caught the men off guard.   A quick thrust with the short sword caught one of them on the cheek.   It was a minor cut, but the man looked horrified at it and slid backwards.    Out of the corner of his eye, Denrich saw the man he had cut moments ago, laying on the floor convulsing.   Then he knew:  the swords were coated with poison.

Behind him, he could hear the sounds of men running.   If help arrived, then the men - apparently assassins, from their poisoned weapons- would grow more desperate and perhaps kill some of the servants working on the train who came to assist him.

He knew that it was better to end the threat, so he retreated backwards a few feet.

The assassins didn’t wait a moment but rushed through the doorway.   Denrich moved back from the entrance platform between the dining car and nobles’ car, and he was relieved when the men quickly leaped from the train and raced off in several different directions, leaving their injured companions behind.

At that moment Xael arrived, leading a handful of armed servants and two of the conducting wizards who had jumped out of their beds at her call of alarm. 

He quickly told them what had happened and they rushed into the nobles’ car to find a hysterical serving girl being comforted by two older women.   On the floor of the cabin lay both of the men that Denrich had cut with the short sword, both of them dead from the poison on the blade.     The man that he’d punched at first was no where to be found; apparently he had recovered consciousness and had fled with the others.

“Did you see how many men jumped off the train as you were coming to my aid?”   He asked Xael, the servants and the wizards and all agreed that they’d seen five.

“Then all the living ones are gone,” He told them.

They pulled the door to Hobst’s room open and found the Archbishop’s body in the middle of the floor where Denrich had laid him, with the dead assassin’s body next to him.   He’d wrapped them both up in bed covers and sheets so they could throw their bodies off the train when they crossed Niver fjord, but apparently the group of assassins had stumbled upon them and had unwound the coverings to verify the identities.    The two men laid there with the coverings thrown off and it looked strange to everyone who saw it.

“Looks like they killed His Grace as he was trying to get untangled from the bed sheets,” One conducting wizard theorized.

Denrich knew he had to help out that theory so he quickly added, “He killed one of the assassins before the poison got him.    The others were probably trying to take the body of their fellow with them when they heard the girl scream.   Then they abandoned their plan.”

He held his breath, but the men seemed content with that explanation, especially after Xael (in the form of Avalynn) whole-heartedly agreed with his theory.

 

***

 

Of course the whole thing postponed the arcane train’s departure until a full investigation by the authorities in Reese could be completed.     The death of the Archbishop spread like wildfire and there was already a crowd at the Reese train station when his body was solemnly removed by servants, escorted by the bishop of Nivervale and some of his top priests.

As a witness to the assassins on the train, Denrich had to spend most of the day with High Sheriff Suptus Maccel.   Fortunately, as a former High Sheriff, he knew the man well and Maccel accepted his story without question.   To Denrich’s dismay, the Sheriff had heard of his advancement in status and kept referring to him as “Your Highness”.   

It was three in the afternoon before the sheriff found a wizard with a magic staff that could be used to cast a “Question the Dead” spell.   He was rather worried that the magic, if used on the first assassin that Xael had killed, would reveal the truth about Hobst’s death.   

“It can only be used to ask one question to each corpse,” The ancient wizard told them when they asked about it’s function.

“Well, we have three assassins, so that is three questions,”   Sheriff Maccel replied, then turning to Denrich continued, “Your Highness, we’ll get the dead assassins spread out in the common room of the town hall, so feel free to go and join Her Grace.   It will take a while, but I’ll let you know when we’re ready to cast the spell.”

Denrich nodded and hurried outside to find Xael.    She was sitting on a bench in front of the arcane station, smoking a Darx cigarette.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” He said to her softly as he slid down next to her.

“I’m not nearly as addicted as Avalynn is and I have no trouble going days without one, but when I’m nervous they help calm me down.    Since I’m supposed to be Avalynn and she was a heavy smoker when nervous, I figure I’d better look authentic.   I can put it out if it bothers you, Love.”

He shook his head, “No, if it helps your nerves, go ahead.   You’re going to need to keep calm soon - they’ve found an old wizard with a Question the Dead staff.   He says that only one question can be asked from each corpse, but we’ve got three corpses.   They’re getting it all set up now.”

Xael sighed, “You’re worried they’ll ask that first assassin the wrong question.”

“Yeah, if they ask him ‘Who killed you?’ or ‘Who did you work for?’ and he replies ‘Avalynn killed me.’ Or ‘I was hired by Archbishop Hobst.’ Then we’ve got a problem.    Corpses can’t lie under that spell.”

“Well, we really don’t have much choice, do we Love?”

“No, we don’t.   If we don’t both lose our heads for this, it will be a miracle.”

“Relax, love,”   She took his arm and slipped it around her as she nestled close to him, “Now, kiss me.”

“Kiss you?”

She sighed and took his chin, leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.    Her lips had the coffee-like taste of Darx and he found himself kissing her back.    It wasn’t a short kiss either, for her lips parted and her tongue slipped into his mouth.   Surprised, he tried to say something, but she wouldn’t allow it and hungrily kissed him for a long time.   In spite of all that had happened, he quickly found himself enjoying the affection, but suddenly she pulled away.

“We’ve got to keep up appearances,”  She explained in a whisper, “Affection will make our story of being together all night more believable, if they do ask the corpses the wrong questions.”

“Oh…I see.”

She grinned, “I didn’t say that was the only reason that I kissed you, Love.”

At that moment one of Sheriff Maccel’s deputies approached to tell them that everything was ready and the wizard was prepared to try the staff on the corpses.

“Let’s go then,” Denrich said to Xael with a nervous arch of his brows.

 

***

 

The three dead men were lying on a long table in the center of the town’s common room, where town business and meetings were conducted.    Xael took his hand as they entered the room and they were led to chairs so they could view the procedure in comfort.

After briefly explaining what the spell did, the elderly mage used the staff on one of the assassins that had last boarded the train.

“Who are you working for?”   He asked after the spell activated.

The dead man’s mouth popped open and in a flat voice, he answered, “His Grace, Bishop Jules employed me.”

There was a surprised murmur from some in the room, but the majority of those present didn’t know the named man.

“Do you know of him, Your Majesty?”   Sheriff Maccel asked Denrich, who grimaced at the title.

“I’ve heard of him.   He’s the queen’s brother… and I guess he’d be the… nephew… of Archbishop Hobst.”

“The nephew of the Archbishop?”   Sheriff Maccel asked, incredulous at the news.

Denrich shrugged, “I had heard that the archbishop had got Bishop Jules his start and remained his patron.    Jules is a rising star in the church - he’s the bishop of Howardford.”

“Howardford is one of the High King’s favorite Duchies,”  Xael spoke up, “His primary mistress is Lady Taye.”

“Lady Taye? Surely not!”   Sheriff Maccel exclaimed, surprised once again, “She’s Duke Ertz’s daughter, married to Lord Fallon Taye!”

Everyone looked at Denrich, who just shrugged, “There are all sorts of…um… unconventional…relationships at the royal court.”

Sheriff Maccel just shook his head, “At any rate; why would Bishop Jules want to kill his uncle?”

“Perhaps he hopes to be appointed the next Archbishop,”  Denrich suggested.

“Let’s see what the other assassins can tell us,”  The sheriff said and they turned to the assassin that Xael had killed.   Xael’s grip tightened in Denrich’s hand and they both leaned forward, anxious to hear what would be asked.

The wizard waved the staff over the assassins head, cleared his throat and asked, “Other than Archbishop Hobst, who else were you hired to kill?”

The assassin spoke at once, “Sheriff Denrich and Duchess Avalynn.” 

The wizard had unknowingly asked the question that would clear them from suspicion and made them seem to be potential victims.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Denrich and Xael, and they managed to hide their relief and instead project faked surprised expressions.

“Thank Yesh that both of you were spared,”   Sheriff Maccel commented and everyone murmured their agreement.

“Now for the last one,” the wizard once again waved his staff, this time at the third killer, “Who else, besides Bishop Jules and your fellow assassins knew of your mission?”

“Bishop Jules’ guards and servants, two priests who I do not know the name of, and, I was told, Queen Jaelabeth.”

The room erupted in conversation, most of it amazed at a plot involving the young pregnant queen.   But Xael and Denrich were even more surprised, for they knew that Hobst was actually the father of not only Jaelabeth but of her unborn baby as well.  

“What do we do?”   Sheriff Maccel asked Denrich after the room calmed down some.

“For now, let’s keep this very quiet.   Jules is powerful and if he finds out that we know, all of our lives could be in jeopardy, especially if he is in league with the queen.”

“We can’t keep this quiet, Your Majesty!”  Sheriff Maccel protested.

“I don’t intend to, Sheriff, but we need to proceed with caution and not just rush to any quick actions.   Remember that the other assassins are free and they will no doubt report back to Jules or the queen.  If we don’t let it leak out that we know who they worked for, we might have some time.”

“The council of bishops will meet soon to vote for a replacement for Hobst, so they should know about Jules’ treachery, especially if he is seeking the Archbishopric,” Sheriff Maccel said.

“Yes, but that won’t be for a few weeks, I’d imagine,” Denrich answered, “Here is what I suggest that we do, for whatever it is worth.    Disband quickly before everyone in town hears of what we are doing.    Spread word to those who knew that we were going to try it, that the staff didn’t work properly, so we got no answers. Tell any royal official that comes around that I will return to court and make a report of what happened.    That should end your involvement and hopefully everyone will leave you and your town alone.    When I get back to the court, I’ll inform the king in private and we’ll see what happens then.   He may not even believe me, but I’ll certainly try.”

“It may be difficult to keep this totally quiet, Your Majesty,” the sheriff said to Denrich.

“Let’s try our best,” Denrich replied and for whatever it was worth, his new status as the b*****d son of the king seemed to give him the final say.   They discussed the cover story so all of them would agree with each other if asked.

Then, as dusk fell, they disbanded.    Denrich and Xael returned to the arcane train, declining an offer from Sherrif Maccel to stay the night at his home.

 

Xael slipped by the spot she’d hidden in the baggage car before she’d moved against Avalynn, Hobst and the assassin so she could retrieve a small backpack of her things that she’d taken with her when she’d sneaked aboard the train.

“I guess I’ve inherited Avalynn’s stuff,”   She said as they entered the former princess’ quarters in the nobles’ car.    Denrich sat down at the writing desk as Xael opened Avalynn’s heavy wardrobe, “You should see all the dresses she has in here!   She has impeccable style and taste in beautiful clothes.    I’ll wager that half of her father’s wealth was invested in this girl’s clothing.   The wardrobe is too big to take to your room, but I worry about leaving it here in case one of the servants decides she needs a fancy gown for a ball.  But what can we do?”

Xael emerged carrying several dresses over her arm, “This will do for a few days.”

“I hope Avalynn is making it on her own - she could not be used to life without servants and fancy things,”   Denrich said as Xael added a large gold jewelry box to her load.   The former sheriff frowned slightly as he watched her struggling to carry it along with the dresses and she happily gave the box to him.

“I’m just keeping it safe for her - there are some very expensive pieces of jewelry in there.”

“Of course you don’t plan on wearing any of them,” He kidded as they made their way back to the royal train car.

“Are you insane?!   I’m going to wear all of them!”  Xael replied with sparkle in her eyes.    The longer that he looked at her, the less that she seemed to closely resemble Avalynn, though at first glance anyone who had known her would swear she was the former princess.   But Xael’s mannerisms were different.

As soon as the door closed behind them in the royal quarters of the train, Xael tossed down the pile of clothes onto the writing desk, clutched the pendant of her mother’s and softly chanted a spell.   A pink glow covered her for an instant and when it faded, her skin, eyes and hair were all her own again.

“I need a break,” She told Denrich, “I thought you might feel more comfortable spending the night with me rather than Avalynn.”

Denrich nodded, “As long as someone doesn’t burst in here and see you.   In the dark, you could pass for her, but in daylight, there is no mistaking - you are lovelier than Avalynn.”

Xael’s crystal blue eyes twinkled, “Avalynn is a very beautiful young woman, love!”

“Yes, but you out shine her, Xael,” He replied and she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“You are a charmer, love,”

He blushed slightly and she rummaged through the pile of Avalynn’s clothes until she found a silvery gown.

“Look at this wonderful thing!”  She said to him, “It is metallic - but it is lightweight and very flexible like cloth!”

“Elven Adamanthium weave,” Denrich told her, “Made by Elven tailors with the help of armorers.   It is similar to Elven chainmail, but with thinner wires and a tighter weaving pattern.    Only queens and princesses wear such expensive dresses, and that one is probably the last one constructed for any Elven princess.”

“Really?”  Xael’s eyes were sparkling, “I will wear this one then - but it looks like some sort of night gown.”

“Perhaps it is - I’ve heard that Elven women would wear metal weave dresses and gowns just as they would wool or cotton clothes.   This is the first one I’ve actually seen, though.”

Without a moment of hesitation, Xael began slipping out of the dress she was wearing.    Though he longed to watch her, Denrich turned his head and stared down at the writing desk while she changed.

“We were very lucky with the choice of questions that the wizard asked those assassins today, weren’t we?”   She spoke as she worked her way out of one of Avalynn’s dresses.

“Yes, but I’m afraid our good fortune will be short lived when the assassins that escaped report back to their master.”

“But what could they really do, love?   They were there to kill Hobst and found him already dead along with an assassin that they knew was not one of their own.    I’d guess that would puzzle them and that they would wonder who killed him.   But would they expend too much time and trouble finding out whom it was?   Jules and his sister could pretend to be outraged at his death, of course, as he was their uncle.    So perhaps they could conduct a search in the name of getting justice for their family.”

“Yes, and I’d suspect they’d use that to explain their interest.   But they will also know that we have the bodies of some of their assassins and that might make them very nervous.   They will fear the use of magic on the corpses.   If they think we don’t have the magic to try that, they might feel more comfortable to find who killed Hobst.   But if they think the authorities here will seek magic to question the dead assassins, then they may play it cautious.   However, if they realize that we got some information from them, then they’ll be in a tight spot.”

Xael came over to the bed, dressed in the incredible elven metallic gown that she had taken from Avalynn’s stuff.    She was breath-taking to look at and he could not say anything but just stare at her beauty.

“You know, there is something I thought of,” She said as she sat down on the bed, then turned and slid over and across him until she was lying on top of him, propped up on her elbows, “Jules and the Queen could simply make-up a story and claim that they have knowledge of who hired the assassins and who is responsible for Hobst’s death.   If they did it right, they could convince the King and that would end most of the speculation, unless the authorities here - or us- challenged this.”

 “Yeah,” He simply replied,  overwhelmed by her nonchalant physical familiarity with him.  The coolness of the elven mesh of her gown contrasted with the warmth of her body pressed against him and he didn’t dare shift his torso as it would send through him such a wave of desire for her that he’d lose control.

Xael seemed unconcerned with her effect upon him and just happily continued speculating about Jules and Queen Jaelabeth.

“The puzzling thing to me is why would the Queen want to kill off Hobst?   I saw them, love, locked in perverted sex and she seemed as eager and willing as he was.    For a woman to feel that for her father and then be impregnated by him would surely mean that she has powerful emotions for him.”

“Yeah, but there is a fine line between love and hate.    Perhaps she learned from him how to manipulate, lie and betray.”

“Hobst fathered Jaelabeth with his brother’s wife and he later killed her mother when she found out about his incestuous relationship with Jaelabeth.    Maybe she actually resented her mother’s murder.”

“Or it could be that there is something between Jules and Jaelabeth.”

“Could he be Hobst’s son?”

“I don’t know - he is older than Jaelabeth and who knows when Hobs started his affair with Jaelabeth’s mother.    But he’s at the very least her half-brother, though everyone thinks they share both parents.”

“So she’d not have any moral reservations sleeping with her half-brother after her affair with her father?”

“Probably not at all,” Denrich shook his head, amused at the irony of their discussion of the immorality of Hobst and his family as Xael lay on top of him.

“So… what are we going to do?”

“Sleep…we need to maintain believable innocence in this whole thing.    We have to constantly think ‘how would we act if we knew nothing more than everyone else?’.   So we stay on the train until we get to Eastwatch and do what we were supposed to do as Avalynn and Denrich.”

“I’m just not quite sure what Avalynn was supposed to do, love.    If Reddric was just using her, then he’ll still be trying to use me.  I’ve never even been to Baylcothrom!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be with you.”

This reassured her and she leaned down and kissed him on the lips.   Pulling back slightly, she grinned at him.

“I’m really making you nervous, aren’t I?”

“Yes, I’ve not shared such intimacy with anyone.”

“Well, get used to it, love; we need to stick together.”

She nestled down with her head against his chest.   She was so comfortable lying against him and he found himself immensely enjoying her proximity.    Not knowing what to do with his hands, he began stroking her wonderfully long blonde hair.    Xael purred happily at his touch.

“That’s better, love,” She said, “I could get used to that.   I’ll have to teach you how to braid my hair.”

“Xael, I’m afraid this…intimacy… will lead to a…um… physical relationship.”

She giggled at his careful choice of words, “Well I certainly hope so, love!   But not tonight - we both have too much on our minds.”

“Xael, I should tell you something rather embarrassing.  I’m…um…I’m not..uh…not as…experienced…as you are in…um…”

Again she giggled, “Clearly you are a babe in the woods, love!   You’ve looked halfway scared to death of me since we met.”

“You are rather overwhelming.”

She took it as a compliment like he had intended and she hugged him slightly, “Overwhelming people is the easiest way for me to stay in control, love.    But don’t worry, in case you can’t tell, I am genuinely attracted to you.”

“Really?”

“You sound surprised.   You are a very handsome man, love and there were numerous female eyes staring at you even before you were revealed as Reddric’s b*****d.”

“I never knew that - I haven’t really had any time for any relationships.”

“You’ve never had a lover before, have you?   Or even a girlfriend?”

Denrich flushed red in the face, but didn’t deny it, “No, Xael, that is one area that I am completely inexperienced.”

She reared up on her elbows and grinned, “Good, that will make things easier for me.”

“Easier?”

She just smiled secretly and sank back down against his chest, gently scratching his forearm with her fingernails.

“We had better try to get some sleep, love.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure if sleep will come easily tonight.”

They laid there quietly listening to a soft rain falling against the roof of the car and within five minutes, both were sound asleep.