Council of War (71 page)

Garth nodded to the fairy, and Pixy began to replay her memory from the point where the hooded man left the gates of the city. The king and the baron watched in rapt fascination as the fairy darted through the air and landed on Tedi's shoulder and then zoomed back to continue following the hooded man.

"There is another fairy?" the baron asked as Button came into view.

"We have several of them," Garth answered.

When the man threw his hood back, the baron gasped.

"Roff!"

"But he has done nothing wrong," stated the king. "It is no crime to ride about in a hooded cloak."

Garth also watched with interest. He had not seen the memory yet. He leaned forward as Pixy followed Roff into the small hut. He watched as Roff attached a small tube to the pigeon's leg and carried the bird outside. Roff faded from the view as the fairy shot into the air to give chase to the pigeon. Pixy played the resulting struggle and the harrowing fall from the sky and then the vision blanked out.

"Incredible," the king said with amazement. He shook his head in disbelief. "But how do we know that what we just watched is real? If these creatures are magical, couldn't they conjure up some illusion?"

"They could," admitted Garth, "that is why Tedi is bringing the bird back to the castle. It is also why I suggested that Baron Stikman check the stables to verify that Roff's mount is gone."

Baron Stikman rose from his chair and hurried out of the room without an explanation. The king took his odd behavior in stride and continued to stare at the fairy. The baron returned moments later and sat down.

"It occurred to me," explained the baron, "that if I was Roff, I would have used someone else's horse. I sent a man to the gates to record the comings and goings of everyone. I also told them to direct Tedi directly here when he arrives. We shall see what the nature of this crime truly is."

"Good ideas," Garth nodded in agreement.

"What other secrets will you now divulge?" Baron Stikman asked. "You have wanted to tell things to just the king and me for some time now. It seems that this is the chance you have been waiting for."

"Very well," Garth agreed. "In addition to the nine thousand men you were told about earlier today, I also have six thousand elves."

"Six thousand elves?" gasped the king. "Are there that many in existence?"

"And they are slaves of the Federation," frowned the baron. "They will not fight because their children are held hostage."

"There are that many, and they will fight," Garth assured the Koroccans. "As for the children, we have a plan to rescue them, but there is no need to detail that as it will not involve any Koroccan help. I also have three thousand dwarves ready to avenge their ancestors."

Baron Stikman sighed and shook his head. "Again you make statements that are unbelievable. Garth, if only you would stick to things we could believe. You actually had me going with the elves."

"Pixy, go get Bitsy and bring her here. Say nothing to her other than I require her presence."

The fairy leaped into the air and flew out the window. The baron looked questioningly at Garth.

"I have only told you the truth," Garth explained. "You fail to believe anything you cannot touch and feel. The dwarves escaped from the Isle of Despair hundreds of years ago. They tricked the Empire of Barouk into thinking they committed suicide, but that is not the truth. They made their way to the mountains of the Barrier and began their civilization over in secret. They have flourished far from the eyes of man."

"And you just happened to stumble across them when no other human in hundreds of years even knew they existed?" balked the baron.

"We didn't stumble across them," corrected Garth. "We actively searched for them. While you and your men are eating fine dinners and holding meetings of importance, my people have spent every waking moment striving to find the armies we need to defeat the Federation. I do not mean that as an insult to you or your people, but rather to show that we have wasted no time here in Zara. We have been in this land for a year now, and we have used our time wisely."

The female fairies flew in through the window and landed on the desk. Bitsy glanced around and then curtsied to the king. She then turned to Garth.

"You require my assistance?"

"I require a brief memory display of the inside of Tarashin," declared Garth.

"With pleasure," smiled Bitsy.

Almost instantly a vision appeared over the table. It was a scene from the round chamber where the king of the dwarves spoke to Garth. Both of the Koroccans gasped and Garth thanked Bitsy. She let the vision fade.

"That was King Drakarik of Tarashin," stated Garth. "You will meet him in person when the Council of War convenes. I think you are beginning to understand why I might fear a Federation spy in your midst. If this information was to get into their hands, they would round up the elves and keep them under guard. They would use their hundreds of thousands of soldiers to comb the Barrier in search of the dwarves. They would love to know the names of the patriot leaders in both Tyronia and Vinafor so they could kill them and halt the movement. So much could be lost by saying too much to the wrong ears."

"I am beginning to understand you better, Garth Shado," conceded Baron Stikman. "There truly was never a reason for us to know the details other than our disbelief in your claims, yet our disbelief was fed by your refusal to provide the details."

"It was a circle without end," nodded Garth. "That is why I sought to speak directly to the king or you. I trust both of you. I am trusting both of you. Mention our secrets from loose lips, and many people will pay an unimaginable price."

"Even with the dwarves," interjected the king, "you only have eighteen thousand warriors."

"I have another two thousand in Karamin," stated Garth, "but their representative on the council will be one of my men."

"Why is that?" asked the baron.

"It is complicated," answered Garth. "Only one thousand of those fighters are Karaminians. The other thousand are Rhodans. I left one of my men to facilitate the joining of the two groups, and because he has the means to attend the meetings here, it makes sense for him to represent them, but I do plan on bringing the two leaders up for the initial meeting."

"Surely the fairies are not strong enough to carry them here," posed the baron. "Is there another secret you are holding back?"

A knock on the door saved Garth from answering. Given permission to enter, a soldier escorted Tedi into the room. The soldier retreated and closed the door. Tedi walked over to the desk and removed his pack. He handed it to Garth. Garth peeked inside the pack and closed it back up.

"Did you read the note?" Garth asked.

"No," answered Tedi. "It is sealed, and I thought it best to leave it sealed. I think we all know what it will say."

"The pigeon is in the pack?" asked the baron.

Garth nodded and passed the pack to the baron. The baron gently removed the pigeon and untied the capsule from its leg. He stuffed the pigeon back into the pack.

"What shall we do with it?" the baron asked.

"Open it," replied the king. "Without reading the contents, there is no crime."

The baron nodded and broke the seal of the capsule. He unrolled the small note and nodded as he read it. He passed it to the king who read it aloud.

"Major Pezzola," sighed the king. "Rather short and to the point. Roff has served me for over twenty years. How could he do this to our country?"

There was another knock on the door and a soldier entered and handed a report to Baron Stikman. The soldier promptly left while the baron read the report.

"Roff was confident," he announced. "He used his own horse. He entered the city only moments before Tedi. There is a dark cloak stored with his gear in the stables. I no longer have any doubt about his guilt. I owe you an apology, Garth Shado."

"Apology accepted," Garth smiled thinly, "but I am not sure that means that we are safe to discuss the things we talked about in this room. It is not unheard of for the Federation to put more than one spy into the upper echelons of a country or province."

"What are you saying?" asked King Wendal. "Are you suggesting that we hold the meetings without my advisors?"

"I am suggesting that we make sure of the loyalties of all the attendees," clarified Garth. "I am absolutely certain of the people organizing the twenty thousand men I just mentioned. I have met each of them on my own terms, and I have no fears of betrayal from any of them. Besides, they would be the ones to suffer most from any betrayal. It would not come as a surprise to the Federation to learn that Korocca is preparing for war with them, and they already know that Alcea is. Perhaps we can keep the meetings to generalities and discus specifics in a smaller group?"

"That might work," mused the baron, "but there must be a better way. After our talk earlier today, I checked on the histories of the king's advisors. Three of them have spent time studying in the cities of the Federation, Sigfrid, Roff, and Tyko. With Roff soon to be out of the picture, maybe it would be wiser to withdraw Tyko and Sigfrid from the meetings."

"Tyko and Roff we could do without," replied the king, "but there is too much magic involved in all of this to exclude Sigfrid. We need another way to verify their loyalty."

"Why not repeat what we just did?" asked Tedi. "We could let slip a juicy piece of information and see if anyone outside Herinak learns of it."

"I like that approach," smirked the baron. "I will handle that myself, but outside the confines of the meeting. For the purpose of this coming meeting, nothing you have revealed in this room will be spoken about except the treachery of Roff. We shall burn that note."

"No," objected Garth. "That note must be delivered to Waxhaw."

"Why?" asked the king. "I thought you just went through all this trouble to prevent it from being delivered."

"No," smiled Garth. "We went through this trouble to expose a spy. Queen Romani intentionally stated false information in the meeting earlier today. Major Pezzola is an officer working for the Federation. He was caught trying to infiltrate the patriots. I wanted to uncover your spy, but I could not risk the lives of Vinaforan patriots to do it. When that message is delivered, Major Pezzola will get his just reward."

"You have played this game before," chuckled Baron Stikman. "I think I am going to enjoy working with you, Garth Shado."

"I guarantee that you will find it exciting," grinned Garth. The conversation came to a halt and Garth looked at the two men. "Where do we go from here?" he asked.

"We go have our meeting," said King Wendal.

"I will have Roff arrested right away then," offered the baron.

"No," King Wendal shook his head. "I have something else in mind."

* * *

Everyone assembled in the meeting room and waited for the king to arrive. When the door finally opened, King Wendal marched into the room with a squad of soldiers. The soldiers split up and formed lines on both sides of the table. One of the soldiers placed a pack alongside the king's chair as the king sat down. The king glanced at each of the attendees, purposely not allowing his eyes to linger on any one of them more than the others.

"It grieves me to report that we have a traitor in our midst," stated the king as he continued to scan the faces of everyone.

Although his eyes roved over everyone, he paid particular attention to Sigfrid, Roff, and Tyko. As silence hung in the room like the dull air in the eye of a storm, most of the Koroccans narrowed their eyes and stared at the Alceans with suspicion. Roff, however, stared at the king as if trying to determine how much the monarch knew.

"It would be the honorable thing to do to stand and admit your guilt," the king said to no one in particular. "Your service to Korocca has been exemplary until now. End your service honorably."

The Koroccans realized that the king was not speaking about the foreigners. They began to eye each other in confusion. Finally one of the barons could stand it no longer. He rose to his feet and faced the king with his fist placed over his chest.

"I pledge my life and my loyalty to you, King Wendal. I am no spy."

Like a wave striking the beach, the barons stood one after the other and pledged their loyalty. When it came their turn, the king's advisors did the same. King Wendal pressed his lips together and shook his head. He reached down and picked up the pack. He reached into it and pulled out the pigeon. Roff's eyes grew large, and he began to sweat profusely. The king shoved the bird back into the pack.

"A true man is capable of admitting his mistakes," said the king. "You, Roff, shall die like a dog."

Garth was watching the drama with interest. What bothered him was that Roff was not the only Koroccan sweating excessively. When Roff leaped from his chair to flee, he hung on the back of Tyko's chair as if asking for help. As the soldiers grabbed Roff, Garth stood up and walked around the table to stand in front of him.

"Who else is helping you?" Garth asked.

Roff didn't reply, but his eyes flicked towards Tyko.

"I didn't write the note," pleaded Roff. "I just delivered it. I beg for leniency, King Wendal. I am just a pawn."

"Note?" asked Sigfrid. "Is there a note?"

King Wendal help up the capsule and nodded.

"May I see it?" asked the Royal Sorcerer. "Perhaps I can tell something from the handwriting."

"Can't we just get this traitorous scum out of sight and get on with the meeting?" interrupted Tyko. "The stench of his presence is overwhelming."

The king looked at Tyko and frowned. He handed the capsule to Sigfrid. The Royal Sorcerer opened the capsule and looked at the note. His brow creased heavily. He rolled the note and shoved it back into the capsule and handed it to the king.

"That is not Roff's handwriting," stated the Royal Sorcerer.

"Do you know whose it is?" asked the king.

"I do," answered Sigfrid.

Tyko jumped up and tried to race for the door, but Garth was ready for the move. His foot streaked out and tripped the Minister of Law. He pounced on Tyko's back and pulled his arms back. The king looked at the Royal Sorcerer, and Sigfrid nodded.