Ebudae (26 page)

“Blavoci doesn’t live in Dralin,” Gilron
interjected. “He has a large estate along the eastern coast of
Brindlyn. His influence extends from there all the way up to
northwestern kingdoms and he trades by ship and land. He’s more
powerful outside Dralin than in the city.”

“There are more powerful merchants within
Dralin, but Thanzin has been gaining power for him in the last
twenty years or so.” Captain Zephan brushed the disobedient hair
behind her ear again. “They are also slavers, which isn’t
completely illegal in Dralin or the country of Altordan, but it is
considered a disgraceful trade.”

“Worse than disgraceful,” Frath said in
disgust. He had ranted about slavery and the abuse people leveled
against each other numerous times in the past. They were all
familiar with his position on the matter.

The captain acknowledged the statement and
went on. “Thanzin demanded to see Pelya and was brought to me since
I’m your commanding officer,” she told Frath. “He said that Pelya
and her friend Ebudae had stolen property from him and killed
guards.”

“I did not! I stole nothing and didn’t kill
his guards,” Pelya insisted in outrage.

“Weasels like Blavoci and Thanzin consider
slaves property,” the weaponmaster explained. “When you freed those
people, you ‘stole’ from them by their definition.”

“In any case, Master Thanzin wants
compensation for the slaves and the guards. He also wants Pelya
publicly punished,” Captain Zephan said with a miserable expression
on her face.

Frath didn’t remain seated that time. His
sword flew out of its sheath and he looked for something to kill.
Pelya didn’t do anything but sit there, paralyzed by the dread that
weakened her body.

“Would you sit down, you idiot!” Gilron
barked. “There’s no one here to attack.”

Frath looked at him suspiciously and then
looked around the park in case the weaponmaster was wrong. He had
the good sense to blush as he resheathed the sword and sat.

“I explained that his conditions would never
be met and sent him away,” Captain Zephan said in irritation. “He
said that even the vaunted Dralin City Guard wouldn’t be able to
protect Pelya.”

“I’m trying to decide how to best clarify to
him that: yes the vaunted Dralin City Guard
can
and
will
protect our most cherished member. Violence would be
preferable,” the weaponmaster said with a fierce grin and fiery
determination in his eyes. Pelya felt a small burst of hope.

“I agree with violence,” Frath replied
enthusiastically.

“That’s not an option,” the captain said.
Gilron raised an eyebrow at her, so she pointed a finger in his
face and spoke as though she were chastising a child. “No. Bad
Commander. No violence for you.”

Pelya giggled in spite of herself, joined by
the commander’s chuckle.

“There you are, Pelya!” They turned to see
Florsy, Grinkin and Clutz coming toward them with Florsy being the
speaker. The three of them stopped and saluted when they saw the
officers at the table. “Uh . . . Sorry. We didn’t mean to
interrupt.”

“What are you three miscreants doing here?”
Gilron asked. Pelya knew the commander enjoyed the occasional drink
with them sometimes, but didn’t make it a public fact. She also
knew that Uncle Gilron occasionally had them check up on her to
make sure she was safe.

“We uh . . .” Florsy looked at the other two
for help, but none was forthcoming.

“I asked them to help me find out what
happened to the Carnies that were with me,” Pelya explained.

“And when was this?” Captain Zephan asked.
She drummed her fingers on the table, expecting an immediate
answer.

Pelya took a deep breath. “It was the other
night. Daddy was sleeping and I went with them to Carnival. The
tent was being guarded and the guards told Uncle Clutz that my
friends had sold it to Master Blavoci. Uncle Grinkin took me back
to Healing Hall and then they were going to try to get more
information for me.”

Captain Zephan listened carefully. “Have you
discovered anything?”

Clutz usually let the other two do the
talking in most things, but neither Florsy nor Grinkin handled
officers very well, so he relayed what they had discovered.
“Blavoci’s men recaptured the actor Pelya and her friends rescued.
They also took the man’s sister Aphry and her husband Glav and
forced them to sign over their tent and stage.”

“So instead of rescuing them, we made
everything worse,” Pelya said morosely.

“It
seems
that way, lass,” Clutz
said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “But you need to understand
that you
did
rescue him. That made things better. Blavoci’s
men . . . unrescued them and made things worse.”

“Is unrescue a word?” Grinkin asked
Florsy.

“I’m pretty sure it is. Remember, Clutz is
the brains of the group,” Florsy responded.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that part,”
Grinkin replied.

Clutz rolled his eyes, causing Pelya to
giggle. He squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry to tell you this,
lass, but Lizor the muscleman was murdered.”

“No.” Tears of loss and sorrow came to
Pelya’s eyes. “No. I liked him. Please, Uncle Clutz. He didn’t die
. . .”

“I’m very sorry, but he did.” Clutz squeezed
again then released the shoulder as Frath drew her in and held
her.

“Is there any evidence that leads to
Blavoci’s men?” Captain Zephan asked.

“No. It was . . . I better not go into
details, but there was nothing we could use.” Pelya didn’t see
Clutz gesture at her or the others nod in solemn agreement.

Clutz continued. “There was another member
of the troupe named Juggles.”

Pelya sat up at that and wiped her eyes.
“Ebudae liked him and he helped us open the slave cages before
running off with the others. Tell me he wasn’t killed,” she
pleaded.

“Not at first,” Clutz said. He furrowed his
brow while explaining as though confused about the events. “We
learned that he informed on his friends and on the two of you to
Blavoci’s men.” He pointed at Pelya, who frowned at the news. “Then
the next morning, his body was found by a friend of his and he had
a single, precise wound through his chest.”

“You make that sound like an assassination,”
Gilron suggested.

“Yeah, and there were four other bodies in
an alley, all killed exactly the same way. It’s nothing like the
work of Blavoci’s men. They’re sloppy,” Florsy said. “Plus the four
men had nothing to do with any of this.”

Clutz looked at Pelya as though not wanting
to say the next part. “Your friend Ebudae came to Aphry’s tent at
Carnival a few hours after you left. Captain Fallamer investigated
the deaths and learned that she met up with Juggles after leaving
us.”

“She wouldn’t have . . .” Pelya wasn’t so
sure, but the way the men died didn’t sound like Ebudae.

Clutz shook his head. “Captain Fallamer
doesn’t think so either and Ebudae isn’t a suspect. But it’s a
mystery to her who would have done it or why. We didn’t volunteer
any of our information, which could get us in trouble if she finds
out.” He looked worriedly at Captain Zephan and Commander
Coodmur.

The captain waved off the concern. “We have
bigger problems. Blavoci’s man, Samael Thanzin, is demanding
reparations and insisting that Pelya be publicly punished.”

“Over our dead bodies,” Florsy said before
the other two could make similar vows. Their hands were on hilts
just as Frath had done.

“We’re trying to avoid that sort of thing,”
Captain Zephan said in exasperation. “There are no enemies here, so
everyone can keep hands off your weapons.” She stared them down
until they had hands behind their backs, far away from the swords.
“Good then. So, does anyone have any ideas as to how to solve our
little problem that
doesn’t
consist of the entire City Guard
storming all of Blavoci’s holdings?”

All the men looked at each other and thought
deeply. None of them came up with an idea. Pelya wasn’t sure they
would like hers, but she threw it out anyway. “I want to go make
sure Ebudae’s safe and then go rescue Aphry and Glav.”

It was unnerving to have them stare at her.
She concentrated on her hands in her lap. Captain Zephan was the
first one to speak. “You are in grave danger and your first concern
is rescuing people you barely know, people who abandoned you and
slaves to the dark, dangerous ruins underneath Dralin?”

Pelya looked her in the eye. “Yes. They’ll
be tortured and sold into slavery. They don’t deserve that. Nobody
does.” She tugged on her braid. “I don’t know what to do about
Master Thanzin. I’m sorry I put myself in danger and made so much
trouble for all of you. I didn’t mean to.”

They protested her words until Captain
Zephan shushed them. “If you were a full member of the Guard, I
would chastise you for being so foolish.” She glared at Frath.
“It’s the sort of thing your father would do, the sort of thing
that leads to falling down stairs I’d imagine.”

Frath looked away innocently. “What a pretty
bird,” he declared, looking at a purple-crested red bird tugging on
an early worm a short distance away.

“Uh huh.” She turned back to Pelya. “If you
were a full member of the Guard, you would have gone in with a unit
at your back since you’re smarter than your father.”

“Hey!” Frath protested to the chuckles of
the other men.

“It’s true,” the weaponmaster pointed
out.

“Fine, but I’m prettier.” He stuck his
tongue out and made a face.

“You keep your delusions to yourself,”
Captain Zephan said with a smirk. Going back to Pelya, she said,
“If you rescue those people, it will make Thanzin all that much
more determined to harm you.”

“He’s already determined to do so. We need
to send a clear message that Pelya is never to be messed with,”
Gilron said. “Men like Blavoci and Thanzin think they can do as
they please and intimidate everyone until they’re put in their
place.”

“I don’t want to make the problem worse, but
I just
can’t
leave Aphry and the others as prisoners or
slaves. I just
can’t
,” Pelya insisted.

“I know how you feel,” Frath said. “It kills
a piece of me whenever I’m not allowed to help someone in danger. I
wonder how many pieces I have left.” He stared at the brightening
sky, oblivious to the fact that his eyes began to glow.

Everyone else exchanged glances, but said
nothing about the effect. “We’d be willing to help,” Florsy said.
“They’re being held in another warehouse on the edge of the Western
Livestock District next to the Western Slum District.”

“Someone would have to talk to our sergeant
of course,” Grinkin said with a glance at the weaponmaster.

“That’s a terrible place.” Captain Zephan
shook her head. “I can’t agree to that. There are better uses of
time and Guard resources.”

“I think it’s an excellent idea,” Frath
said. They turned to him in surprise. “Thanzin isn’t going to leave
Pelya alone, so we need to send a message. Let me take the boys and
rescue those Carnies. We’ll take Pelya to Ebudae’s where they’ll
both be safe.” He began tapping on the table to emphasize each
section of the plan. “Rescuing the Carnies will send a message that
we’re going to go directly against them. We’ll take the
highest-ranking person in this warehouse and drag him in front of
Thanzin as a warning. Then we’ll make it clear that all of
Blavoci’s holdings in Dralin will be considered a direct threat to
the City Guard if he makes one more move against Pelya.”

“I like it,” Grinkin said. “Let’s do
it.”

“That’s a terrible plan!” Captain Zephan
disagreed.

“I have to concur with the captain,” Gilron
said. “And considering we outrank everyone, we win.”

“I’m not going to sit here while Pelya’s in
trouble!” Frath yelled, smacking his hand on the table. “I will
kill everyone in Blavoci’s organization and then take Pelya far
from Dralin if that’s what I have to do to keep her safe.”

“Calm down, Sergeant,” Captain Zephan
ordered. “Do
not
deliver ultimatums to us. We’re not just
your commanding officers, we’re your friend and Pelya’s.”

Frath relaxed, somewhat mollified. “I’m
sorry. I just won’t allow anyone to hurt my daughter.” Pelya buried
her face in his chest and listened to his voice rumble in his
torso. “I
have
to do something. People like these dogs don’t
respond to reason. We’re going to have to make them fear for their
lives.”

“He’s right about that,” Gilron agreed. “We
need to convince him that messing with the Guard is a bad
idea.”

The captain shook her head. “At the same
time, he’s not important enough to mobilize the entire guard. It
would draw attention to bring in too much power, attention that
would make powerful people question the wisdom of keeping Pelya in
the Guard.”

Pelya sat up. “There are other ways to
intimidate a criminal, which Thanzin is. People who kidnap others
and make them sign over carnival stages are criminals.” She pointed
at her father. “Daddy says that criminals always leave clues
because they secretly want to be caught. We can rescue Aphry and
the others and then get them to testify in exchange for protection.
Ebudae and I can do that because Guardspeople might not be able to
get away with certain things.” She ignored the narrowed looks
everyone gave her at that suggestion. “Then we can get records of
everything Thanzin has ‘purchased’ at Carnival recently. If Uncle
Clutz and them find out where Thanzin keeps hidden records or logs
of those purchases that show wrongdoing, then Ebudae and I can
liberate those as well.”

“We’re perfectly capable of finding and
liberating them ourselves. We can even make it look legal. There’s
no way I’m letting you put yourself in danger,” Florsy
insisted.

Captain Zephan sighed and put her face in
her hands. “You shouldn’t say things like that around me.”