“Loyal to my princess.” After a glance at Kendra to make sure it was okay to continue sniping at him, I said, “Have you heard any good rumors or even a few true facts we should know about? Or, did you travel to this miserable city to stand in the cold and damp for pleasure?”
My barbs missed as he casually brushed them aside with a tilt of his chin. “Do you have specific rumors in mind that you wish to know? There are so many juicy rumors floating around this port that the largest of the ships in the harbor could sail upon them if they were water.” His smirk at his choice of colorful words usually enchanted both of us. In truth, he always had a way to turn and twist words to his advantage.
In our past encounters, Avery had always been busy with palace intrigue and politics, and he was perhaps the best at it of all the servants. Even when the palace was located several days away, he searched for advantages he could use in the future. Still, there was certainly news he would know of Mercia that we didn’t, and that could help us. His greatest ability was to ferret out tiny threads of rumor and truth and weave them into a tapestry of interest or fact. While rivals, we served the same crown.
In my most pleasant voice, I said, “No doubt you’ve heard about the Mage War we’re engaged in, and how they kept the last dragon penned in a cave and drew on its strength for their personal benefit and the source of their magic. What you may not have yet heard is that we believe they used that same magic to make our king ill, on his deathbed some say, and four people in this city intended to replace him with a double who now lies dead in the rubble of an inn here in the port. Kendra has freed the dragon and prevented the future misuse of magic, and we think our king may have healed with the release of the dragon but have not yet heard if that is true.”
There was a lag as Avery processed obviously new information. He shifted, so his body faced me, instead of only his head and eyes. “Meaning the king may rule for many more years, and you believe me disappointed?”
“Are you?” My question was pointed, direct, and honest. He was the head servant to the Heir Apparent, the son who would be the next king.
He thought about that for the space of a few breaths, and that action of consideration made me like him more than at any time since we’d first met. It told me he was thinking about the answer instead of stating the obvious first thought that entered his mind. If the king died, his position would be instantly elevated. He would serve the new king, a position more powerful than all but a few in Crestfallen. Few would dare cross him. Yet, he was also loyal to the old king—in his own manner.
He said, sounding sincere for a change, “That would be wonderful news if he lives. Have you dispatched messengers to know for sure?”
“Princess Elizabeth rode to Crestfallen and is returning here as fast as possible, and if there is any change in his health, she will know.”
He sighed, “That will take days. Too bad you couldn’t have kept one of the damn mages alive or in captivity, so he could use his magic powers and ask the mage we left alive at Crestfallen about it.”
I felt Kendra’s eyes boring into the back of my head. She said coldly, “Two questions, Avery. Without convoluted answers. Are mages able to speak to one another over long distances? And is Twin, the young mage we left at the palace able to do it?”
Avery placed one foot on a raised wooden sidewalk and leaned closer, his hands braced on his knee. “I thought you already knew the first, and the second is, yes. While Twin lacks many of the flamboyant abilities of the other three mages at Crestfallen, he is excellent in passing messages over a distance.”
Kendra said, almost as a dismissal, “We are staying at the Blue Bear Inn if there is a room available for us. Would you care to join Damon and me for dinner and open, friendly conversation?”
“Open?” Avery asked, pretending puzzlement. “Friendly?”
She continued, “Conditions in the kingdom have changed in the past few days, and I suspect there will be more in the coming days that will touch us. All of us. It would be nice to know that all we do in the future supports your Heir Apparent—and also our present king. Together, we can perhaps identify and stand unified against the usurpers.”
Again, he hesitated, and again, I understood and appreciated his reluctance to make snap decisions. We had been bitter political opponents of a sort for ten years. Things like that do not change overnight. He had little reason to trust us, other than that we may now work towards a common goal that may help him in his efforts on his unknown quest.
He said, “If you cannot find accommodations at the Blue Bear, leave a word with the innkeeper, and I will find you for dinner. In the meantime, there are several interesting rumors for me to sniff out.”
He turned theatrically, and his cloak swirled out in a manner that told me he must have spent many afternoons in front of a mirror practicing the spin to get the perfect effect. He threw us a wide self-satisfied smile over his shoulder as he walked purposefully away.
“That went well,” Kendra said.
“Better than we had a right to expect. Avery may not support us, but it seems he understands we are on his side—or at least, we are on the side of the crown, no matter who wears it,” I agreed.
“He’ll make a better friend than an enemy.” She spurred her horse in the direction of the inn, and hopefully the redheaded girl waiting for me. The people moving about their business on the street in front of us moved apart as if we were a snowplow pulled by four sturdy oxen. They stood aside and silently watched us pass with undisguised interest and more than a few whispers. None cheered, jeered, or changed expressions at all. They all knew from rumors who we were, they knew some of what we’d accomplished with destroying Mercia, and they didn’t know if their lives would change for the better or worse because of us. They were wary.
Oh, there were a few who flashed tentative smiles our way, here and there a hand waved slightly, and more than one attractive young woman tried to catch my eye. Young men tried to get Kendra to notice them, but her focus remained fixed directly ahead until her eyes flicked in the direction of a tall, thin young man with a neatly trimmed beard. She had a type.
At the inn, we turned our horses over to a pleasant stable boy of eight or nine. He promised to put them in clean stalls next to each other for company. He would provide all the feed and water they wished for a single small copper coin and brush them for another. We left the horses in his good hands and made our way to the front door.
We quickly found the innkeeper. He was short, round, and his cheeks were as red as the morning sun in summer. He was the sort of man who never settled down to rest. His hands moved constantly. His eyes darted from place to place searching for small things to be done for his customers, and often his motions silently directed his employees to needed tasks. His toe tapped to a silent tune that was probably playing endlessly inside his head.
“We’re full up with the overflow of refugees from that dragon flattening Mercia. But, I got myself an idea,” He told us with his accented good humor.
With that, the innkeeper hustled across the room and talked to a man sitting by himself at one of the smaller tables. The man shook his head vigorously at the innkeeper and tried to go back to his meal. The innkeeper moved closer, spoke again, and the man’s head shook a second time. The innkeeper didn’t stop. He leaned even closer, and his voice rose. The third time, the man slowly nodded. A large copper coin quickly changed hands, and the innkeeper returned.
He said with a lopsided grin, “The fine gentleman at that table over there has graciously agreed to share a room with another. That means I have a single room the two of you can have.”