4

Fem crouched in the shadow of the wall. She could hear John’s breathing beside her, his falcon perched on his shoulder. Jeb’s quick panting was right in her ear. The plan was fairly simple, go in leave a dagger over the offending baron’s head, one in his study, and leave. John was along to chaperone. Fem thought about the last few weeks. After the symbol had magically etched itself into her palm she and John had left the pub. He had taken her back to her tower where she got a nice little surprise. Not. While she was away the rest of the Keepers had moved into the unoccupied living quarters on the third and fourth floors. Furthermore they had transformed her smithy into a kitchen and dinning room. Fem had to give them kudos for efficiency, but not out loud.  

            Instead she had stalked up to her room, where she found that all her things and her shrine had been moved. Naturally she had stormed back down to the new dinning room, where John had promptly told her to settle down. He had rather patiently, explained that she was not the boss and that the boss, in this case bosses, had the top two rooms. The shrine had been thrown out.

            Fem was rather outraged at that, but she got the point. She was now the underdog. There goes the good life. In the subsequent weeks the Keepers taught Fem about politics and how to maneuver through them. There were six other Keepers besides John. If it looks like a coincidence that that was the exact number of free rooms in the tower, it wasn’t. Even if Fem hadn’t agreed to the spot, they would have still gotten the tower. Blast them she thought.

            The second in command was a short man named Kiev.  He was an ex-body servant of a small family, so he knew how to get all the latest gossip. He was the go-to guy of the group. The job actually suited him. With an oval face, brown hair and brown eyes he faded into the background. He was bonded to a large crow. In charge of checking the information was an equally short woman who could have been Kiev’s twin, she was actually his sister, but back to the point. Her name was Kas, not an original family, and she was the one who broke into the house to get the damning evidence. Being a former locksmith, this was fairly easy for her. Not only that but she was also bonded to a monkey that was good with locks. Garth usually went with her. He was a former architect who was in charge of mapping out the entire house. Poor guy wasn’t bonded to anyone. Shan, was the inventor. He came up with all sorts of neat gadgets to help us on missions. His owl companion suited him perfectly.

            Teax was our legal aide that helped us with the cases against the nobles who didn’t cooperate. He stayed in his library cum bedroom most of the time with his large bloodhound. Now there was an odd mix. The last member of our motley little group was Marge. She was the public face of the Keepers, along with her small terrier. She went to court cases, and received our orders from the king. So this naturally made her the person who was in charge of the group. John was the one who delivered the messages, so Fem was in his charge.

            Her first mission was a baron who was getting a little uppity. Some one had told the idiot that he would make the better king. So the man had of course begun to gather followers, and he was becoming a major problem. So he was going to get a message tonight. Garth and Kas had already scoped the place out, and Fem had the map memorized. John had hypnotized her so that it was imbedded in her memory. She picked up a canvas sack and reached inside. Large sticky slabs met her probing hand. Grabbing one and pulling it out she gagged as the smell hit her. It was a large cut of meat that was smeared with poppy oil.

      She lugged it over the fence and heard something gobbling it up. After waiting five minutes she threw another one. There were four dogs total and she wanted to make sure that the dominant dog didn’t get all the drugged meat. When Fem heard the last heavy body hit the dirt she lugged herself over the fence, landing silently on her feet. Taking a quick look at her mental map she headed towards the mansion on the grounds. Several close run-ins later she was at the base of the building. Fem was in the kitchen garden; completely walled off from the rest of the gardens. Using garden vines she climbed up onto the adjoining wall. From there she was able to grab onto the eaves of the roof.

      A guard walked out of the kitchen. Fem held herself in the shadows of the eaves; Jeb rested on another. The guard looked around and shrugged.

      “Jake,” giggled a maid. “Come back in here.” The guard shrugged again and walked back into the kitchen. Fem soon heard moans coming from the room. She sighed and swung herself up onto the roof. According to the map there were three big fireplaces in the house. One in the banquet hall, one in the library, and one in the master’s bedroom. Most nobles these days had fairly large chimneys these days; in order to let more smoke out. The baron was no exception. For someone of Fem’s stature this made entry easy.

      Fem walked carefully over to the chimney leading to the library. It was the one that Kas had greased for her. She lifted the chimney cover off smoothly and set it on the tiled roof. Taking out a piton she gently screwed it into the stone. It was one of Shan’s inventions. A special ball tip released a thin coating of acid when pressed. This helped the piton screw into stone but wasn’t so corrosive that it ate away the stone completely. Piton fastened Fem tied her rope around it and dropped the end into the gapping hole.

      “Jeb,” she hissed. The monkey came scampering along the peaked roof. “Scout,” she said pointing. He swiftly climbed down the rope, and after a few minutes scampered right back up. Reaching her shoulder he pulled her short hair twice; the signal for all clear.

      “Go back to John,” she told him. Jeb obeyed immediately. Fem watched him go, then lowered herself into the library.

      The library was not singularly impressive. In fact it barley constituted as a library. Fem quickly moved to the opposite wall where she found the door to the study. She opened the door cautiously and peered in, nobody was there. Slipping in silently she placed the dagger where it could be seen and slipped back out. Fem crept up the stairs to the baron’s room. His door was locked, but that wasn’t really a problem. She carefully lifted the latch. Snores drifted out to her; he was defiantly asleep. She walked up to his bed, placed the dagger and jumped. His eyes were wide open, but he wasn’t moving. She could see his chest rising, but he wasn’t moving. Fem waved a hand in front of his face. Sighing internally she turned to leave; he just slept with his eyes open. The way back to the library was clear and Fem was soon loping back across the extensive lawns of the baron’s estate.

      Fem had just hopped the fence when John came out of the shadows. He frowned. “Where’s Jeb?”

      “I sent him back to you.”

      “He’s not here.” This was not good. Fem began to hop over the fence again, but John stopped her. “Leave him, he’ll find his way back.” He turned and walked away. Fem gave one agonized look back at the house and followed him into the shadows.

۞

      Fem couldn’t sleep that night, and the next day she looked awful. Jeb had not come back and Fem was beginning to feel how she looked. Even the news that the baron had become a cheerful supporter of the king did not cheer her. Who cared about the petty games of the nobles, the king was corrupt and his court not much better. Fem had lost her best friend and she felt like a ghost. She could still feel him, but he had not come back. For the next week she hardly ate anything. The rest of the group didn’t say anything, for the first week. After the second Jeb still hadn’t come back and Fem had almost botched a job. Marge, of course, exploded. In fact she almost looked like the original owner of Jeb. Only skinnier. This of course made Fem feel even more horrible.

      It was after another week of this that Marge came home with the bad news. Jeb had been found playing with one of the baron’s daughters the morning after the message had been delivered. The baron had been outraged at first, but his wife had been quick to point out the benefits. So that day the baron brought a present to the king. A present the king was now besotted with. That present was Jeb.