When work finished that evening, Nedric was glad to see that each and every one of the impressors had adopted the new technique. He wasn’t sure how the over-engineer was going to accept the additional costs but it wasn’t really his problem. He had done what Bethel wanted and if the captain were true to his word then soon a new boardway would be constructed.
It was going to be necessary to visit the captain’s home. Not only because he had to collect his things before he could move to the new accommodations, he also needed to talk to Bethel and see what could be done about finding Elsebeth. He had a horrible feeling that the answer was going to be nothing.
Elsebrianne opened the door to the house and she had a smile on her face as she greeted him. The redness of her eyes however, told Nedric that she had heard the news about the raid. She invited him in and he went to the room he had been using to pack his clothing.
He looked at the juggling equipment in his pack. He hadn’t thought to use it in all the time he had been in Elseth. The next day was end-week perhaps he could go the Black Lion and practice; he might learn some more tricks. At least it would be a distraction from recent events. At the moment life seemed full of troubles and there was nothing he could do.
There was a call from below to let him know that the evening meal was ready and he cleaned his hands and went downstairs. As well as Elsebrianne and Bethel there was a man a little older than himself sat at the table. By his appearance he could only be Elsebeth’s brother Bethan.
Nedric took an immediate liking to Bethan. Although it was clear to him that the family were under a great deal of stress, the man had a genial manner that found the humour in everything that happened. He also had the sense not to cause difficulties by mentioning subjects that could be avoided.
Asking his occupation, Nedric was unsurprised to learn that like his father Bethan was in the army. He had been patrolling the southern borders for the last year or so, which was a particularly easy job as the major problem was with smugglers and they tended not to fight if caught and preferred to pay the fines levied.
Bethan told the story of one smuggler who had been caught bringing lizard hide into the country. When asked why he hadn’t tried to run when he saw the patrol coming, his reply had been.
“No percentage in it. You run, you might get hurt. You get hurt you can’t do business. You lose more money than you pay in fines. No percentage in it.”
The tale wasn’t particularly funny. It was just an observation on reality. It was the way that Bethan told the story that had them laughing. The expression on his face as he imitated the smuggler was comical and the tone of the voice only added to the portrayal. Nedric decided that Bethan would make an excellent wordsmith if he ever wished to leave the army.
When the meal finished Nedric was able to get Bethel on his own. He asked what could be done for Elsebeth. The response was unhappily as expected.
“We don’t know where she is or who has her. We are likely to be at war with Nothering at any moment so we can’t just send men into the country to search her out and we aren’t going to get any help from the Nothering government as they obviously approve of this situation. In short we just have to hope we can win this war quickly and she will stay safe in the meantime. I don’t hold out much hope however.”
As he said the last, Nedric could see the pain behind the professional face. It was obvious that as powerful as he was, his inability to do anything to help his daughter was hurting him, possibly more than the others. The rest of the family and Nedric didn’t expect to be able to alter events this man did, on a regular basis.
He decided to change the subject quickly and instead asked about Rhianna. What was being done to capture her? The answer was similar but more precise to the one given by captain Kranc earlier. The message system had been used to send her description to every guard in the country. There was little chance of her using the main roads to escape and the minor roads would mean that she would take weeks to travel anywhere. By which time her description would be spread completely across the country. She hadn’t been able to get on the boardway. That was one of the first possibilities they had checked. There were guards stationed at the docks and they had seen no sign of her. She had most likely gone to ground somewhere until the hunt died down and Bethel wasn’t going to let that happen in a hurry.
As soon as was polite, Nedric took his leave and walked back across town. He spent the time wondering how he would escape if he were Rhianna. All the obvious routes had been mentioned or closed. He didn’t think that Rhianna was the type to run with no plan but he lacked any insight.
* * *
The next day was clear and sunny. With nothing better to do, Nedric took his pack over to the Black Lion and set out to find the jugglers. It wasn’t that he had forgotten about Elsebeth but there was only so much grieving he could do before his natural energies drew him away from the pain. He was quite looking forward to the day.
Finding his way to the appropriate room was not easy. Several times he blundered into meetings of different groups and had to apologise. Once he entered a religious service and was extremely embarrassed when the whole congregation stopped and looked at him. In another room a group of girls were being taught some form of dance. There didn’t seem to be anyone around to give him directions so he just kept heading upwards and poking his head through doors.
As he reached the highest floor he could hear an irregular clatter. Things were being dropped but there was no telling what. Nedric’s hopes rose. There was nothing like a group of jugglers for dropping things on the floor. He had seen enough evidence of this in Nigh. He had even come up with a saying ‘If you aren’t dropping you aren’t learning’.
Sure enough by following the sounds he eventually found himself in a large room. Why the place had been built, with its high ceiling and large windows was a bit of a mystery to him. Although it was ideal for juggling it surely hadn’t been constructed for that purpose. The walls bore the evidence that hangings had covered most of the space in the past but they had long since been removed.
There were perhaps a dozen men and women in the room. What they were doing was frankly astounding. Several were throwing clubs between them, the objects moving in precise but regularly changing patterns. One man was smoothly juggling five clubs, occasionally throwing one behind his back; one of the women was doing incredibly intricate things with three balls. The balls seemed to weave in and around her hands in complicated patterns that seemed impossible for a human being to manage. At first Nedric could only stand and stare.
One of the jugglers came over to where Nedric stood. Recognising him as the person who had told him about the group, Nedric gave greeting.
“Glad to see a new face here. Most of us have been coming along for far too many years.”
“Do you all do this as a living?”
“Mainly yes, some of the younger people are only training and haven’t decided that they want to be entertainers all their lives.”
Nedric could appreciate that. He had always found juggling was a way of losing the cares of the world, whether he would ever make money at it was a different matter. He didn’t however want to start practicing in front of such a competent group; his own efforts would look mediocre at best. Instead, as no one was using a diabolo he decided to practice that instead.
It didn’t take him long to realise that he was the centre of attention. All the people who had been juggling with such ability were stopping and staring. It occurred to him that they might never have seen a diabolo before and by now he was fairly competent. He carried on progressing through his routine, which was his method of remembering all his tricks. When he stopped several of them came over to talk.
“What is that? Where did you find it? Can I have a go?”
The questions came in fairly fast and he soon found himself giving a quick lesson. When others were playing with the diabolo he started to practice with his clubs. One of the jugglers gave him a helpful comment when he tried a trick that he was finding difficult and he began to feel more at ease.
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It soon became apparent to him that no one cared when he made mistakes with simple tricks. They were keen to learn something new and were happy to teach when he wanted help but there was no pressure for him to reach a particular standard. The only pressures were internal.
At an unspecified point during the meeting everyone stopped what they were doing and drinks were brought into the room. Nedric was asked about his job and there was quite a bit of interest when he told them what he did. He didn’t think it was particularly exciting himself so he did little to make it sound interesting.
The younger ones were also the most enthusiastic. If this was to be their trade then they needed to be competent. The older performers said that it wasn’t what you could do but rather how you presented it. Nedric could see both points of view; of course he had never performed in public.
After the break Nedric persuaded someone to teach him how to pass clubs. The theory was simple. The two people started at the same time, threw a club to each other, juggled with the caught club and the two that remained in their hands and at the appropriate time threw again. The timing was based on the number of throws made by each hand so in theory all passes would be thrown at the same time. In practice, for the first few attempts Nedric completely lost count.
After a while it began to get easier and he was able to catch the club coming in to him without dropping either of the others. When he was beginning to feel a little more confident the person who was teaching him showed him how to do the same thing only faster.
By the end of the session Nedric was feeling quite pleased with himself. He had learnt the faster form of passing, which was called ‘every others’ and had also been shown a number of tricks that he could learn without too much difficulty. All in all he was feeling quite happy at his progress. As he had hoped he had completely forgotten about everything else.
Walking back through the building he must have been slightly distracted. He had been sure that he had travelled the same route he had taken earlier but suddenly he realised that he was completely lost. As he looked around the rooms and corridors he didn’t have a clue as to where he was or which direction would be best to take.
He guessed a direction and took it. He found himself in one of the back corridors of the building. These were long and gave access to many of the rooms via sliding doors. Some of the rooms had peepholes, which he could look through to see what was happening in the room beyond.
Curiosity grabbed him and he looked through some of the peepholes. In most of the rooms some form of gambling was taking place. He saw cards, dice and various other games being played as he randomly chose rooms to spy upon.
In one of the rooms he saw a group of people lying on the floor. Occasionally one of the people would suck at a pipe, which was attached to a bubbling pot that sat in the centre of the room. He guessed that they were taking some form of drug although the looks on their faces were more vacant than pleasured. He wasn’t interested in taking any drugs. He only had to look at some of the people who were on the streets of the city to know where that led.
In another room he espied a man and two women. None of them were clad and it appeared that the man and one of the women were trying to get into a position that Nedric doubted was physically possible. The other woman was trying to help but was being hindered by various limbs getting in the way. Nedric now realised that the idea behind the spy holes was so that servants would bring food and drinks at only the appropriate times. He could see that looking into the various rooms would be an education that he would receive nowhere else. He wasn’t totally sure that it was an education he was ready to receive.
As he walked along the corridor he occasionally saw people in the distance. Each time they were moving away from him and disappeared into a room or down a stairwell before he could ask for guidance. He guessed that they were all servants although there was no uniformity of clothing to suggest that.
It was when he reached a crossroads amongst the corridors that he saw someone that caught his attention. It was more the way she walked than anything else that caused him to try and look more closely. The woman was walking, not the way that others had done with confidence and purpose in their bearing, rather she was walking as though she wished no one to see her. As she opened a door he caught a glimpse of her face. It was Rhianna!
To start he just stood there. He moved towards the door she had entered and then retreated. He had no intention of warning her that she was discovered but what was she doing here. Surely she should have left the city. She must know that she ran the risk of meeting someone who knew her.
He reconsidered. How likely was it that someone who knew her would be walking the back corridors of this place. Her head had been covered by a scarf so only those who knew her well would spot her. Of those who could recognise her, none should be where he was walking. It was probably the safest place to hide in the city.
His best bet was to get help. He had one obvious person to which he could turn. He headed down some stairs and then went through the servant’s door into an empty room. It did not take too much walking to find himself in an area that was full of people enjoying there day off. A quick enquiry from a serving maid and he was heading for the entrance.
Which way to go? Would Bethel be at home or working? It was the end-week and Bethan was visiting. The decision was obvious, he ran in the direction of Elsebeth’s home. Hoping that they hadn’t decided that today would be a good day to wander the city.
He ran through the city. He regretted the pack on his back as it weighed him down. Deciding that time was more important than his juggling equipment he hid it behind a pile of rubbish near a street he knew. Hopefully it would still be there when he had a chance to retrieve it.
Gasping with breath he arrived at the house. His feet sent stones flying in all directions as he pounded along the drive. Without a care for the sweat on his forehead or the speckles of saliva that edged his mouth he pounded on the door, leaning against it as he fought to breathe.
When the door opened he virtually fell into the arms of Bethan.
“I didn’t know you cared.” Bethan stated with a smile.
“Where’s your father?” Nedric had no time for jokes.
“Out walking with mother, I know where if it’s urgent.”
“Well don’t just stand there, come on.” Nedric panted.
Shutting the door behind him Bethan led the way. It was clear that he could run faster than Nedric but then he hadn’t just crossed half the city. They went in the direction of the river. The road towards it was lined with trees and some sort of park could be seen in the distance.
“They like the walk amongst the trees.” Bethan explained. “Father always says that it reminds him of his soldiering days.”
“He’s still a soldier.”
“According to him all he does now is paperwork and meetings.”
Nedric wasn’t going to argue. When you got high enough in any profession it seemed to him that it was all paperwork and meetings. It made him more determined not to spend too much longer with the boardways. At least at the moment he was doing something practical even if it was repetitive in the extreme.
Before they had gone more than a few yards into the park they saw Elsebeth’s parents. It was clear that they were surprised to see the two men running towards them and they stopped and waited beneath the shade of a tree.
“What’s all this about.” It was Bethel who immediately started questioning Nedric. How he could convince anyone that he was just a captain was beyond Nedric’s ability to understand.
“I’ve seen Rhianna.”
“Where.”
“The Black Lion, a back room.”
Before he knew it Nedric was chasing Bethel. Bethan gave a quick glance to his mother who urged him to accompany them by a wave of her hand. Needing no extra incentive he quickly caught the other two.
After a short while Bethel stopped running and instead broke into a fast walk. Nedric was more than thankful he kept telling himself that he would exercise more. All this running would kill him quickly.
It soon became clear that Bethel’s destination was not the Black Lion but rather the military headquarters. As soon as he reached it he was giving orders. The guards at the entrance were used as runners and by the time they reached a meeting room a group of officers was beginning to assemble.
“I’ve information that the spy Rhianna is in the Black Lion.” He glanced briefly at Nedric. “I want the entire building emptied and everyone leaving checked to make sure we get her. When you’ve emptied the place I want a search conducted of every room. Starting at the top floor and heading down.”
He looked at one of the officers. “You’re in charge of guarding all the doors. Get a copy of the plans to help.” There was an emphasis on the word all that Nedric caught.
Bethel directed his attention to another officer. “You conduct the search. You are only looking for the spy; anything else is of no importance. Check that none of your soldiers is bribed and warn them before hand that they will be checked. Anyone any questions?”
None of the officers said anything and the room cleared as quickly as it had filled. The three of them were left alone. Nedric was impressed by the speed of it all. Clearly Bethel was part of an extremely efficient service.
“Won’t there be a huge protest about this?” Nedric asked.
“Who from?” Bethel was smiling as he spoke.
“Surely the owners will complain about it even if none of the customers say anything and I can’t imagine that the customers will be quiet.”
“The customers will have few complaints, they will just be asked to leave and any tavern has the right to do that. As for the owners, they won’t say a word.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because the military owns the Black Lion?”
“What!”
Bethel explained. “It is my job to know what is happening in the country and ensure it stays safe. When we aren’t at war with anyone then the biggest risks to the country are crime, drugs and spying. One of my predecessors decided that you couldn’t eliminate all of these things and that the best that could be done was to keep it in check. He decided that the easiest way to do that was to centralise everything. He authorised the purchase of the buildings that compromise the Black Lion and then had it extensively altered.
Inside that building are more than a few rooms that their users think are hidden. I have people watching everything that happens inside them and therefore know much more about the state of the country than others would expect. I still don’t learn everything I want but it helps me to keep the country together.”
“What was that about guarding all the doors?”
“Along with the obvious exits there are various less obvious ways in and out of the building. We know every single route. The difficult thing with the order I gave was that if the guards watching the less obvious routes were spotted then others would begin to guess how much I know. The officer I spoke to will use his best men to ensure only the one we want is captured and not all the other detritus that use the secret ways.”
“Seems like everything is going to be easy, so why are you still looking worried.”
“Because I don’t know what might go wrong.”
The waiting was the hardest part. After half an hour or so Nedric went into the city and retrieved his pack. He was happy to see that it was exactly where he left it. He was less happy that it had been covered in vegetable refuse. It would take a good clean to remove the smell. Getting back into the headquarters presented no difficulties as he had been smart and obtained authorisation from Bethel.
After a wait of several hours Bethel, Bethan and Nedric were relieved to see Rhianna brought into the room, the guards escorting her dragging her between them. She looked nothing like her normal haughty image. Her clothing had been torn in places, her left cheek was beginning to show a bruise and when the guards released her she dropped to the floor and cried. For a second Nedric almost felt pity for her. Then he remembered that she was a possible route to Elsebeth and his resolve hardened.
When Bethel spoke to her she shivered. Someone had obviously made it clear that they wanted information from her. She had quite clearly decided that she was going to tell them everything she knew. Bethel wasn’t in a hurry, he wanted the complete story so he made her start at the time she had been recruited and let her tell things in her own way. As she spoke a number of things became clearer. In retrospect Nedric could not believe what he had missed.