The Inner Seas Kingdoms: 04 - A Foreign Heart Read online

  “Take Wren with you,” Arlen answered.

  Kestrel looked from one to the other.

  “She would be a disaster. She dislikes me, and she’s full of anger. This is going to be a journey that will require stealth and tact from time to time,” Kestrel answered.

  “She speaks the human language perfectly; she was raised as a human, you know. And when she covers her ears with her hair, she hardly looks elven at all. She’ll be a perfect spy in that respect,” Casimo assured him.

  “She’s good with the human weapons, and she has a good heart. She’s on some personal mission; I don’t know what it is, but I know she could be a good helper for you,” Arlen pressed.

  “She’s too much for you to deal with, is that it?” Kestrel asked shrewdly.

  “There’s not much we can do with her,” Casimo admitted. “She should be the second best student we’ve had – after you – but until she learns to control her temper, she’s going to be untrustworthy in the field.”

  “And that’s why you want me to take her into a dangerous, unpredictable situation, because she’s untrustworthy?” Kestrel let a note of sarcasm enter his voice as they started to remove the saddles from their horses.

  “I think she’ll listen to you,” Arlen said. “I think that when it’s the real world, she’ll want to earn your respect.

  “You’ll be doing her a great favor, and us a favor. Otherwise we’re just about ready to dismiss her from the service,” Casimo said earnestly.

  Make her your companion, Kestrel heard Kere’s voice speak softly in the recess of his mind.

  Truly, my goddess? Is that wise? he asked silently, looking upward.

  Take her, Kestrel, the voice repeated, and then he knew that the goddess’s presence was gone.

  “Alright,” Kestrel said aloud regretfully.

  “Really? You’ll really take her?” Arlen spoke in a shocked tone.

  “If we do this right away, and if she even agrees,” Kestrel answered, hopeful that somehow the intransigence of the girl might manage to circumvent the will of a goddess. He didn’t think it was likely, but he held onto a faint thread of hope. He had no faith that a strange girl who seemed to have an instant antipathy towards him would be a useful addition to his actions in the delicate efforts that were looming on the horizon.

  “Let’s go round her up,” Arlen said, “before you change your mind.”

  “Observe how our Kestrel-friend has managed to make it look like he’s doing others a favor by bringing one of his new paramours along with him,” Dewberry spoke to the other imps.

  “But he tried to argue against the girl joining us,” Stillwater argued.

  “There you go, you men trying to stick with one another,” Dewberry rebutted. “He arranged this somehow, be sure.”

  Kestrel shook his head as they walked back to the armory, and then the three of them, accompanied by the imps, walked together to the student housing, where they all trooped up the stairs to Wren’s room.

  “What disturbing delegation is this?” she asked as she opened the door upon their approach. “I heard the sound of heavy steps climbing up here.”

  “You’ve been assigned for your first sortie,” Casimo said.

  “Really?” her eyes opened wide and she looked at the three men with interest.

  “You’re going to go with Kestrel to,” Casimo paused, “where are you going?” he turned to Kestrel.

  “We’re going to go to Graylee City,” Kestrel replied.

  “You? I’m supposed to go on a mission with you? Is this some kind of a sad joke?” Wren shouted so loudly the imps grew agitated, and started circling the confrontation at an increasing speed.

  “It’s not my idea,” Kestrel said hotly. “I’m trying to do Arlen a favor so that you don’t flunk out of the program.”

  “That’s not true!” Wren shouted so loudly that the imps and Dewberry disappeared.

  “Great! Look what you’ve done,” Kestrel said.

  “It’s not true!” Wren repeated. “Tell him Arlen! I’m perfect at human language and weapons and culture.”

  “Tell him,” she repeated after an awkward silence. “This isn’t fair. This isn’t right!” she said.

  “Wren,” Arlen said a moment later, and in his tone Kestrel heard a fatherly concern and advice, “you refuse to listen to us talk about the soft side of spying, of working with people in ways that build long-term value. We hope that going with Kestrel, and listening to his instructions,” Arlen emphasized the words, “will allow you to break through and begin to soften your approach to be useful.”

  “You really mean to do this. You really want to send me with him,” she moaned.

  “I’ll go out and listen and learn, but I’d rather go with someone else,” she spoke up assertively, desperate to try to regain some control over her destiny.

  “He’s the one,” Arlen said. “You’ll learn from him if you’re going to learn from anyone. Now pack up what you want to take with you, and pile the rest in a corner. Belinda will have someone put it in storage for you.”

  “What if I don’t?” Wren almost cried.

  “Then you’re out of the service,” Casimo said with quiet authority.

  She stood there, wanting to defy them, but unwilling to give up her participation in the training to become a spy for the elves. “Alright,” she finally said.

  “We’ll be in Casimo’s office,” Arlen said, then signaled to the others and led them rapidly downstairs.

  “We need to let her have some time alone to digest this,” the instructor said as they walked back to the office to wait for the girl. They stopped once on the way, so that Kestrel could raid the canteen for a supply of food, enough to last Wren and he for two or three days if needed.

  “What do you hear from Castona?” Kestrel asked as they sat and waited.

  “We hear that the people of Estone think you play fast and loose with human women,” Casimo made Kestrel wince.

  “Do either of you know much about the northern elves?” he quickly switched topics.

  “Not much – not as much as we should,” Casimo answered. “Why do you ask?”

  “I thought I met a northern elf once, but it turned out to be an imposter,” Kestrel answered cautiously. “And she said they had good relations with their human neighbors, rode horses, and didn’t eat crickets.”

  “I believe they do get along with humans, better even than we get along with Estone,” Casimo answered. “I don’t know about the rest of the story.”

  Just then the door opened, and a forlorn Wren entered the room. “I’m not going to sleep with him,” she declared resolutely with the first words out of her mouth.

  “No, I’m sure you’re not,” Kestrel said drily.

  “Do you want to know why?” she asked him, ignoring the presence of the other two in the room.

  “Because I’m not going to sleep with you,” Kestrel answered flippantly. He had no desire to listen to the girl recite a list of his shortcomings.

  “I didn’t want to spend my life as a farm girl doing chores and having babies. I want something more adventuresome than that, and I’m good enough with weapons to earn that kind of life. But none of the boys back home would think for a moment about taking up with a girl with spirit,” Wren protested. “So now I’m here, and I’m looking for something better. And it shouldn’t involve just tagging along as your shadow.”

  Although his visit to Firheng had gone better than the visits to Center Trunk or Estone, the twist that had come at the end of the visit; being burdened with an uncooperative partner, had taken the luster off the success. “Now, let’s get ready to go.

  “Dewberry, Stillwater, we’d like to depart,” Kestrel called out.

  “In the future, when we need to depart or arrive, I’ll plan to use this room,” Kestrel advised, as the imps reappeared with Dewberry.

  “We are going to add a new member to out traveling party,” Kestrel told the group. “We’re going to take Wren with us
, and before you say anything,” he looked at Dewberry, “let’s just go to the healing spring without comment, and we can talk there.”

  There was a tittering among the imps, eager to visit the water of the magical spring, where they could soak in the waters and enjoy the unusual properties the spring offered to the members of their race.

  “Since there are five of us here, if the two of you would stand together, we should be able to carry you in a single journey,” Stillwater proposed.

  Wren rolled her eyes, then came over and stood next to Kestrel. “What exactly are we going to do here?” she asked suspiciously.

  The imps lowered themselves down, and began to encircle the pair, while Kestrel opened his arms and pulled Wren into a hug. He felt the soft flesh of her mostly human form press against his body as the imps and Dewberry pressed against them.

  “What is?” Wren started to ask in alarm, her words cut off by the sudden transition that occurred as the magical means of leaving Firheng began, and the dark, airless void suddenly surrounded them.

  When they emerged back into the reality of the world, her arms were clinched tightly around Kestrel, clinging to him in desperate fear of the unknown occurrence she had experienced.

  “What happened? Where are we?” she looked up into his face, fearful and disturbed.

  “Kestrel-friend, nap-sitting caretaker, I’m going to go find Jonson and invite him and some other members of the court to come join us,” Dewberry announced.

  The other imps immediately floated away to the side of the spring water.

  “Just leave your clothes over there,” Kestrel pointed to the lawn that stretched across the short distance from the edge of the water to the bushes that grew nearby.

  “What is this? What’s happening?” Wren repeated her questions.

  Kestrel released his arms from their hug around her and stepped away, then dropped his belongings and began to pull his shirt over his head, as the imps all stood on the other side of the spring and quickly stripped off their clothes without any sign of modesty.

  “This is a magical spring,” Kestrel said as he dropped to the ground and pulled off his boots. “The water here has properties that will heal and cure virtually any injury or illness that you may have. This water has truly saved my life; there’s no better feeling than soaking in this water and letting it wash away your aches and pains.

  “And for the imps and sprites, it’s like a, a, I don’t know what to compare it to,” he said as he stood. “They pass out when they touch the water, and then have the best dreams possible.” He reached for his belt buckle.

  “What are you doing?” Wren said wildly. “I don’t want to see you get naked!”

  “Then I suggest you turn around,” Kestrel said calmly. He let his pants fall around his ankles, then stepped out of them and dove into the pool of flowing water, and stroked towards the side where the imps waited impatiently. He wasn’t very concerned about Wren’s sensibilities at the moment; she was an unwilling partner, and an unwanted one. He knew he’d have to forge a workable relationship with her, but there would be time for that later, especially after she entered the pool and relaxed – if anything was likely to drain away the tension and hostility in the girl, it would be this spring water, he thought with assurance.

  He stepped out on the other side of the pool, by the spot that he had shared so many times with Alicia and the sprites. “How many of you have been here before?” he asked the eager quartet. They all shook their heads impatiently. “Then I’ll just lay you in the water in this shallow area, and let you sleep in the water until it’s time to get up and go. Are you ready?” he asked, then picked up Odare. “Ladies first, you know,” he told the others, as he slid the first of his companions into the water, then turned to take Canyon.

  There was a small splash behind him, and he suspected that Wren had entered the pool. As he picked up Killcen, the air around them was suddenly alive with motion, and he heard Wren give a brief shriek of surprise at the arrival of Dewberry with seemingly half of the royal court from Blackfriars, the capital of the imps.

  “Everyone wanted to come Kestrel-friend,” Dewberry said gaily.

  “Wren, come over here and help me start putting the imps in the water,” Kestrel called over his shoulder, as he observed the dozen or more additional blue bodies that were shedding their clothing.

  He kept busy lifting imps and stepping carefully over those who were already soaking and sleeping as he maneuvered to add more of the blue bodies to the sandy cove that he relied on to comfort his small friends. Wren was helping; he saw movement out of the corner of his eye as she observed what he did, then began placing imps in the shallow water as well.

  When the last imp was in place, he dove into the deep water and swam around to the spot where he could lay back against the stones and relax. When he was settled in, he observed the scene around him. There was a vast crowd of imps sleeping in the shallow water, jammed in shoulder-to-shoulder against each other in the small curve of sandy spring bottom. Wren was treading water in the center of the deep pool looking at him warily.

  She had to feel better, he was sure, he told himself as he laid back and closed his eyes to enjoy the warm waters. “You can come over here and rest against the rocks; I promise I won’t bite,” he told her. “And the imps will sleep for as long as we leave them in the water.”

  “How long will you leave them in the water?” she asked, making no move to join him.

  He opened his eyes and looked at the sun overhead. It was mid-afternoon, and he still hoped to make visits to Graylee City and the manor house where Margo lived in northern Graylee, near the mountains. And there was another place he wanted to go, he realized suddenly, a quick stop that would only take a few minutes. It was an odd feeling to sit and think about planning for events in a day, events that would span trips of hundreds of miles; the imps made the inconceivable possible, and yet he was already acclimated to thinking of their abilities as ordinary parts of his plans yet.

  “I think we should give them an hour or so, and then we’ll have to be on our way. But our imps will know the way here from now on, so we can come back whenever we need to,” he explained, as he closed his eyes again.

  “What do you mean by our imps?” Wren asked.

  “There is a squad of four imps assigned to follow me and assist me in fighting against the Viathins,” Kestrel answered.

  “Assigned? Who assigns imps?” Wren asked scornfully. “You’re just making that up!”

  “The king of the imps makes the assignments. He’s one of the imps sleeping in the spring water right now, as a matter of fact,” Kestrel tried to explain patiently. He would do his best to be patient with the girl now, and expect that she would be obedient when he needed her to be; he would make his expectation clearly understood as well.

  “The imps have been fighting against the monster lizards that invaded the Swampy Morass for well over a year,” he explained lazily, as he let the water relax him. “They believed that they could travel to another land, and find a weapon there to fight the lizards. So Jonson and Dewberry, the king and queen, along with others, went on a journey to find the weapon, and never came back.

  “The sprites and imps sent a rescue crew to try to save them. And then Growelf sent me to help the rescue crew,” he told her.

  “Growelf?” her voice was closer now, much closer. “Growelf?” she repeated the name in a skeptical tone. “The human god sent you?”

  “He did,” Kestrel agreed. “Kai was too weakened to send me, so Growelf stepped in…”

  “Why would Kai be weak, and why would her health have anything in the world to do with you?” Wren asked, less hostility in her voice now.

  “Kai had chosen me to be her champion, and she gave me weapons that were enchanted with her powers, to help me fight the Viathins, the monster lizards as we called them, that were causing Uniontown to fight and conquer all the other kingdoms,” Kestrel told her.

  “Really? You say all of
this like you mean it,” Wren’s voice was very close now.

  “It is what the goddess chose,” he said simply.

  “And so you went to Arlen and Casimo to learn to fight like a human then?” she asked from right beside him.

  He opened an eye to peek, just to comfort himself that she wasn’t standing over him with a knife blade, something he didn’t completely discount. She was lying back against the stones immediately next to him, her profile looking distinctly human, as her hair swept across her head and hid the slightly elven shape of her ear. Kestrel noticed her chest had curves that were highly un-elf-like, with features that rose smoothly out of the water before sloping back down.

  But his attention was drawn to a necklace she wore, a slender silver necklace that held a single opaque, iridescent stone. It looked exactly like the necklace his mother had owned, the only jewelry she had ever worn in the few years she had lived during Kestrel’s life. He raised himself up and bent over to stare at the stone.

  Wren’s hand shot out of the water and slapped his cheek hard, as she pushed him away and then covered her chest with her arm.

  “You creep!” she shouted. “What do you think you’re going to do to me out here with no one around and all the sleeping imps? This is sick!”

  “I was looking at your necklace, not your breasts!” Kestrel shouted back. “You didn’t have to react by slapping first and asking second.”

  “My necklace, huh?” she backed up away from him. “Funny that my necklace just happens to be on my chest.”

  “It looks just like the necklace my mother wore,” Kestrel defended himself. “I’ve seen breasts before, so don’t get all high and mighty. But I haven’t seen a necklace like that since my mother died and was buried years ago.”

  “I’ve got a necklace just like your mother’s because your mother and mine were sisters,” Wren said, gravely now, staring at him. “I’m your cousin.”

  Chapter 3 -- Wren

  Wren could have knocked Kestrel over with a feather. He was so stunned by her pronouncement that he felt himself begin to tremble.