"Sgt. Da'Lin, attend me." Lady Fayre's voice was sharp refusing to be ignored. The man carefully focused his eyes on her. "Did you identify yourselves as my men?"
"Didn't need to, My Lady. They knew who we were. Even called Lt. Ty'Ra by name" The people who had been standing around listening to the sergeant, stiffened in anger.
"And still they attacked you?"
"Aye. Said we'd gone far enough. Said there weren't no call for us to go to Cordia." The man's voice had grown softer now and slower as the pain medicine began to do its work. "Said we should just give over our message. Save us the trip. The bastards laughed at us. Didn't laugh for long. Got three of them, we did." There was a long silence and then he said, "Begging your pardon My Lady. We couldn't get through. Just too many of them." He sighed and drifted into a deep sleep.
For a moment the stared at the unconscious man, her face frozen in anger, then she stepped forward and patted his shoulder.
"I'll just have to find another way," she said.
Later that night she and her head steward sat over drinks discussing the situation.
"He's getting bolder," said the Lady.
"Are you sure it was he who was behind the attack?"
She glared at the man. "His boldness is growing. He's becoming more and more dangerous. I have to get the information to Cordia before… "
The steward anxiously worried a fingernail with his teeth. "He's already powerful, what more can he want? It's not as though he can become King. The Pillars protect us from that."
The Lady looked at him broodingly but made no answer.
CHAPTER 17
It was the noise the servants made setting up the tables and the delicious odors of the food being carried to those tables, it was the laughter of Yonny - no, not Yonny… of Little Piet and his dragon playmates that woke Ja'Nil.
She sat up and looked around in confusion. Bright sunlight streamed through the open doors. High up on the walls, shutters were pulled from the windows with a noisy shriek of hinges, letting in more light.
Ja'Nil put her hand down to help her rise from her pallet and realized there was only a slight twinge from her wounded arm.
"You're awake. Good. Come here. I have a lot to do today," said Healer D'Rain. As soon as Ja'Nil stood up, the Healer shoved her back down onto a stool and rapidly unwrapped the bandage she had applied yesterday.
Ja'Nil looked at her arm in amazement. All signs of infection had disappeared and the torn flesh from the dog's teeth was closed, showing only a slight redness that seemed to fade as she watched.
Once again, the Healer ran her orange and red stone over her arm, muttering something that Ja'Nil couldn't make out. "What did you say?"
"It's Healer code, very powerful," said the Healer. She briskly disposed of the used bandage and put away her medicine stone. "Should be fine now. I don't anticipate any problems, but if it becomes painful or you notice any changes in appearance consult with your Healer."
"We don't have a Healer," said Ja'Nil. "Is it a prayer you say to heal people?"
"Prayer?" The Healer looked offended. "Of course not. It's the Gift."
"Healers have a special gift?"
"Of course. How do you think we become Healers?"
"Study? Go to classes, have teachers?"
"Yes, yes, we do all that. But first, we have the Healing Gift; without that the classes would be useless." She stood up to go about her other business. Ja'Nil reached out and caught her sleeve.
"My village doesn't have a Healer. Tell me how to get one."
The Healer looked down in surprise. "One will be assigned," she said.
"But one hasn't been."
"How long?" asked the Healer.
"It's been over two years."
"Your Aristos should contact the Queens's minister."
"We don't have Aristos. We have village elders. They've sent messages to the Queen, but still no Healer comes."
"Interesting," said a pleasant feminine voice.
"My Lady," said Ja'Nil getting to her feet and saluting the Lady with her hands pressed together over her chest.
Lady Fayre returned the greeting. The Healer also stood and bowed her head.
"Good morrow, Healer D'Rain. I'm afraid Bluebuya has need of your services. A nicked wing."
"Again? That child is the clumsiest draci I've ever met." She nodded briskly to the Lady, ignored Ja'Nil completely, picked up her Healer's satchel, and went in search of the nicked dragon.
The Lady smiled at Ja'Nil and said, "I would talk with you, Ja'Nil. Come and break your fast with me."
"Yes, my Lady. Ah… perhaps, there's someplace I can wash?
The Lady turned to her servant. "Mar'Taina, show Ja'Nil where the jinny is."
"This way," grumbled the servant. "Supposes you don't know how, do ya?
Don't know how?
But the question made sense when she was shown into the jinny, a tiled room with the oddest chamber pot Ja'Nil had ever seen.
"Ya don't squat over a jinny, ya sits. Like a chair." Mar'Taina proceeded to show just how it was used. Then she showed a blushing Ja'Nil how to open a little gate in a brightly colored tube, which allowed water to rush down from a large container so that Ja'Nil could wash her hands.
Ja'Nil was enchanted. What luxury. There were even thick fluffy lengths of multi colored cloth with which to dry one's hands.
"Now don't be wasting the water playin' with it. Remember the Lady's waitin'
on ya," said Mar'Taina before marching out. Ja'Nil was relieved to see her go. Emptying one's bladder was not a group activity among the Fisherfolk. Still, it must be wonderful to live with all these modern luxuries.
* * *
The Lady was seated at the High Table waiting for her. Was Ja'Nil supposed to sit or stand? Would she be served food, or was she supposed to go to the kitchens and fetch her own? A sophisticated life, she was beginning to see, was just one complication after another, even if you did get to use that beautiful jinny.
The Lady solved the problem by pointing to the bench on the other side of the table and saying, "Sit there."
Ja'Nil sat.
The Lady then ordered one of the hovering servants to "bring our guest a hardy meal with which to break her fast."
Within moments a large bowl of yellow mush with a small puddle of dark brown syrup nestling in its middle was placed in front of Ja'Nil. Also scrambled Gundi eggs, half a Red Melon and a mug of warm, creamy mare's milk with nutmeg drops sprinkled on top.
Ja'Nil dug in like a starving woman. When she came up for air, she found Lady Fayre sipping something hot and fragrant while she eyed Ja'Nil over the edge of her ruby-colored cup.
Ja'Nil looked down at the table. She had eaten everything eatable. All that was left were dirty plates. What must the Lady think of her?
"The children seem very fond of you."
Ja'Nil nodded.
"They trust you. Even Sa'Ari, which considering her suspicious nature, is truly remarkable."
"She didn't have much choice," Ja'Nil felt compelled to point out. "I was all they had."
"Sa'Ari is a good judge of character," continued the Lady.
Remembering how Sa'Ari had adoringly latched on to O'Keeven, Ja'Nil was not inclined to agree. Both she and Sa'Ari were as dumb as dumb could be.
Ja'Nil had not expected to talk about the children. Actually, she had had no expectations at all. She was just grateful for the food and being given a place to sleep. And of course being able to see the healer about her arm. She took a surreptitious glance at the arm again. Yes, it was completely healed. Maybe a healer could have saved Cho, even as badly crushed as she had been. Meanwhile, the Lady had asked a question. Something about the children trusting her.
"Ah, the children… "
"They trust you because you delivered."
"Delivered?"
"You not only did what you promised, but also what you implied," said the Lady, smiling her pretty cat-like smile. "Admirable."
 
; How does one get to be so sleek and elegant, wondered Ja'Nil. What she wouldn't give to be able, with a mere gesture of her hand or an upturning of her lips, to create such an atmosphere of both serenity and power. Unconsciously, she tried to imitate the Lady's graceful hand gesture. Somehow, the mug out of which she had drunk the mare's milk connected with her hand and was knocked on its side. Luckily, it was empty. Ja'Nil turned scarlet.
"Will you be taking the children to Cordia?" asked the Lady.
Ja'Nil looked up in horror. "To Cordia?"
"That is where their father is."
"But isn't he, that is, couldn't he come here?"
"Certainly. If he knew they were here. They have always been a very loving family."
"Ahh… couldn't you… that is, couldn't a message be sent telling their father they're here?"
"Excellent idea," said the Lady with her gentle smile. "It will be no trouble at all keeping the children safely here while you go on to Cordia. You'll be able to travel much more quickly on your own."
"On my own? I have no idea how to get to Cordia." She couldn't possible go on her own. She was so turned around and lost in this great wide country. Before this Seven Hells of a trip, she had never been more than five miles from her home and frankly, if she ever managed to get back, she never again intended to go even three miles from the village.
"I will give you a map," said the Lady in her kindly voice, as if she were doing Ja'Nil a favor.
"Oh." Ja'Nil looked around for a distraction but all the food had been eaten and the dishes removed by servants. In fact, aside from two soldiers near the doorway, the large hall was conspicuously empty. Where had everyone gone?
"You object to taking the message? I assure you the children will be well cared for in your absence."
"No, no. I'm sure. I mean, obviously you can take care of them. Better than I can."
"Good," said the lady. "Then it is agreed."
"Well-"
But the Lady hadn't finished speaking. "I would consider it a great favor if you would also carry a message for me.""To the children's father?"
The Lady shook her head. "To the Queen."
To the Queen? Ja'Nil only just stopped herself from laughing. "I doubt I would be able to see the Queen, my Lady."
"She is a dear friend of mine. I will arrange it."
"Oh."
I just broke my fast with a dear friend of the Queen?
No one in the village would ever believe this. But she didn't want to go to Cordia. She didn't want to be responsible for the Mummer children. She had had enough of the wide world; all she wanted was to go home, back to her safe, little world.
The Lady was watching her shrewdly. "Is life so wonderful in your village?" she asked.
Ja'Nil swallowed nervously and looked away.
"Someone special is waiting for you at home?
"Special?"
"Perhaps a young man?"
"No," said Ja'Nil. "There's no one. I'm not… that is… I haven't had my adult ritual yet."
"Ahh. That's why you must rush home."
Ja'Nil was not going to admit that no one was willing to pay for her ritual. That no Fisherfolk man would even think of marrying her as a first wife, probably not even a third wife. True Aunt M'eer had said she could have the goods in her cottage if she went to Cordia and brought back a healer. She didn't even know how much the goods were worth? Enough for the ritual? Without an official ritual she would go through life neither adult nor child. Never a citizen, always an outsider. Could she bare that?
If she acquired the services of a healer for the village could that be her ritual fee?
But how does one go about getting a healer?
Suddenly she remembered Lord No'Sila's words; "One petitions the Queen."
"If I go to Cordia, of course, I will be honored to carry your message," she heard herself saying to the Lady.
"Good," Lady Fayre, rose briskly to her feet.
Ja'Nil continued to sit.
"Perhaps, in turn, you could give me a hint about how I should go about obtaining the services of a healer?" Ja'Nil was amazed at her own temerity. By the Lord, she was actually bargaining with the Lady of Redbird Keep!
Lady Fayre smiled approvingly and sat down again. "I will do more than give you a hint," she said. "For your service to me, I will ask the Queen to find you a healer."
"Really!"
"Really. The fact that a healer was not automatically sent to your village is just one more item to add to my message."
Ja'Nil looked at her uncertainly. "The Queen is interested in whether or not a healer was appointed to a little Fisherfolk village?"
"Yours is not the only village that finds itself abandoned by the government,"
The Lady stopped smiling. Her light pleasant voice suddenly became grave, her expression positively grim. "Something is going on in the Queendom: separate little rebellions; a breakdown in the laws; disorder throughout the countryside; vital work going undone. Washed out bridges not being replaced, roads in disrepair.
Do you know that there are people starving in Cancordia? We are a rich country yet daily farmers are thrown off their lands, reduced to penury, come begging at the gates of Redbird Keep. There is no drought, there are no floods, yet people are starving."
The Lady paced around the high table, Ja'Nil watching her in amazement.
"Public officials and professional practitioners are not receiving new assignments; local elections canceled; warlords daring to see how far they can push out their borders; and nobody is stopping them." The Lady abruptly sat down, gripping her ruby colored cup so hard that Ja'Nil was afraid it would shatter in her hand.
"I thought that was just the way things are," said Ja'Nil weakly.
"Everyone just accepts and believes that evil is unstoppable. Out of all this chaos, you are the only one who has come forward to do something about it," said the Lady.
"Me? But I just want a Healer for my village."
"Exactly. Listen to me, Ja'Nil. It is neither immutable fate nor random chance," said the Lady. "No, what is happening is very deliberate. Someone is behind all this. Someone with the power to interfere with the workings of the government in both big and small ways. Even to the point of sending sorties into Dragonland, inciting them to reject the truce that has been in effect these five hundred years. The Ambassador, Bluebuya's father, has been denied access to the capital. In effect, this is an unofficial declaration of war."
"War with Dragons!"
"We barely survived the last one with them. Dragons are very efficient and deadly warriors."
Ja'Nil tried to imagine a seething mad, fully-grown, Bluebuya. She shuddered. It was not a pretty picture. "But… who's doing this?"
The Lady shrugged her elegant shoulders. "Someone with unbounded ambition."
Ja'Nil was exasperated. After all she had been one of the victims of this person of 'unbounded ambition.' Her back still ached from the guard's whip. "Shouldn't the Queen be stopping him?"
"She will, if she knows who it is. If she is aware of how fully the country is being undermined; how her people are being neglected, abused, even slaughtered."
"Isn't it her business to know? How can she not know?"
"Communications have also broken down," said the Lady. "If the Queen is informed of as many specific incidents as possible all at once, not scattered over months, she may be able to identify the traitor. That's why the message you carry to her will be so -" She stopped suddenly as if realizing she was saying too much. "You will go?"
Ja'Nil nodded, yes.
* * *
The next morning, after she had broken her fast and was packing the extra tunic, leggings and blanket Lady Fayre had provided, along with a freshly baked ham roll with two pickles, all wrapped in thick linen, the Lady came by to wish her "clear roads and haste in the Lord."
"Oh, by the by," she added, as she casually removed a thick green and gold ring from her forefinger. "When you see the Queen, give her this as a tok
en of my affection."
Ja'Nil held it in her hand. It was very heavy and not very pretty. The Lady also handed Ja'Nil a rolled parchment sealed with a pictograph of the Redbird Clan.
"This ring is proof that the message comes from me. It's something the Queen and I have been doing since we were children. You know, secret messages, mostly about boys we liked, or girls we were jealous of." She laughed, no doubt remembering the passions of her youth that had been of life and death importance then, but seemed so silly now.
Ja'Nil looked at her in amazement. What the Lady was describing was so foreign to her that she might as well have been talking Dragonese. Ja'Nil clutched the ring in her hand. What if she lost it?
"It's all right for you to wear it," said the Lady reassuringly. "I am fond of it, but the world will not end if you lose it. We used to call it our courage ring. Whenever one of us wore it, we swore we had the courage of a Trytore."
"What's a Trytore?" Ja'Nil asked.
"They have become very rare."
"Doesn't sound like courage is a survival trait."
The Lady leaned forward and took Ja'Nil's hands in hers. "It is," she said. "Believe me, without courage there is only servitude. Put it on and tell me if you don't feel as if you could conquer the world."
Carefully Ja'Nil slipped the ring onto her forefinger. It was heavy and ugly. Did she feel braver?
"A perfect fit," said the Lady. "When you give it to her, say to the Queen, 'Lady Fayre has wired you the truth'."
"Wired?"
"Just an expression," laughed the Lady. "One of our secret words."
"Oh." The whole thing was beginning to seem very childish to Ja'Nil.
"Another thing," said the Lady. "Try not to get it wet. It is made of parchê and will not survive in water. A silly thing really. Now, do you have everything?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Just follow the map I've drawn. You should be there in a day or two."
The children, along with Bluebuya, the baby dragon, stood watching. She turned to say good-bye to them. Little Piet sucked his thumb and looked worried. Jari got tears in her eyes and hugged Ja'Nil as if she would never let her go.
"What if you don't come back?"
"But Sweet, your Da will be coming for you. And Lady Fayre will take good care of you until he gets here. Which," she hurried to add, "will be just a few days from now." Lord, she hoped that was true.
"What if you don't find him?" asked Jari. At this, Little Piet began hiccupping and crying.