Baron Rastan Motra met them at the top of the stairs leading from the passage coming from the courthouse into his manor. He wore excellent clothing, but nothing extravagant. Four Myst soldiers, the Baron’s personal force, stood several yards away, present but unintrusive in their black and grey uniforms
Sammy glanced at them, a new wave of unease assailing her innards. She had not considered that she would come into close contact with Mysts. She hoped she did not run into Leroy, Destay or Vol. She was certain those three had a vendetta against her. She did not know why for sure, but thought it might have something to do with that hog pen incident.
Or maybe it had to do with the manure incident.
Or maybe that one with the bird poop.
Or maybe . . . Sammy shook her head, clearing it of wayward thoughts. The options were too numerous for her to recollect at the moment. She moved so Jenna was between them and her.
The baron bowed with a hand to his chest and said, “My lord, I am surprised. I received your package, but the note indicated an arrival closer to the festival.”
“Yes,” Dista agreed with an easy smile, inclining his head in response. He glanced around, but did not see anyone present who should not hear these particular details. “We were ambushed outside the city walls. Jenna removed several, but they were . . . exceptionally well prepared.”
The Baron’s eyes narrowed, but he remained silent.
Dista continued. “We made it a good way into the city, but seemed unable to find any constables or guards Jenna trusted to approach. We were in a tight straight when this rather interesting young lady accosted us and offered her assistance. Long story short, she got us away from the assassins and had us send that package. Apparently, the note was a feint to gain surprise. It worked marvelously well, don’t you think?”
The Baron looked at Sammy, who shrank behind Jenna. She did not want the Baron to know her face. She had not thought about that consequence either. Shoot, this situation was going from bad to worse.
“You have our thanks, young lady,” the Baron said, smiling at Sammy. “I assume you would like a reward for your help?”
Sammy shrank a little smaller behind Jenna. She did not want him to know her voice either.
Dista gave a soft snort and intervened. “We have already made arrangements along those lines, Baron Motra. I apologize for any inconvenience, but I would like her to stay with me for the present.”
“This is not an inconvenience, my lord. I will see that arrangements are made for a room. However,” the Baron glanced around the hallway, “this is a poor place to hold a conversation. If you would follow me, we can retire to a more comfortable recline.” He turned and strode away down the passage, the prince, Jenna and Sammy following.
Sammy did her best to keep Jenna between her and Dista, while at the same time keeping the woman between her and the Myst guards. She was more successful than one might expect, but also attracted attention to herself doing it. Again, as one might expect.
“Sammy, what are you doing?” Dista finally said, exasperated having noticed her antics even while walking in front of the two girls.
Sammy shot him a look of death and muttered, “Nothing. Mind your own business, stupid noble royal whatever-the-heck you are.”
They came to a large room. Steps in the middle of the floor lead down to a sunken area where an in-the-round fireplace was surrounded by couches and chairs. The Baron lead the way, waving his hand to the seating.
“Please have a seat while we wait for breakfast. The delegates from Tijel are nor scheduled for several days, so there are no matters requiring haste.”
Sammy settled into a chair and made herself as quiet and insignificant as she could. She could feel the curious gaze of one of the Mysts, sure she would be discovered any moment. She took care not to be obvious, and definitely avoided making eye contact with the guards, but she could not resist looking around the room. There were so many different things to look at, and being a bit curious would not hurt anything, right?
As Dista and the baron conversed, Sammy became engrossed in a painting of a large Kaka Bear towering over an axeman in golden armor. A flash of yellow intruded into her personal space without any warning at all, and Sammy cleared the back of the couch and moved fifteen feet on pure reflex. She froze in place now standing all by herself in the middle of the room. Her face went crimson as everyone turned to look at her.
“I apologize if I startled you,” a girl maybe a year or two older than Sammy apologized. Rather petite but probably a bit taller than Sammy, she wore in a yellow floral dress and had full, loose hair that fell in a mass to the middle of her back. She stood a few paces from where Sammy had been seated and her expression showed a bit of surprise, even shock. She tried to smile at Sammy, but there was a bit of a twitch there. She glanced at the baron for support.
Sammy swallowed and looked around. Her eyes crossed that of one of the Mysts. She hated it, but now that eye contact had been made, jerking away would be the worst thing she could do. Continuing to look around, she forced herself to calm down. She had been acting stupid and standing out up till now. This of course was pretty freaking obvious, but still she forced herself to acknowledge it consciously. She had to calm down and act appropriate to the situation from this point on, or they would catch her.
Still, she could not think what to do. How was she suppose to act in a situation like this anyway? She stood like a deer caught in a beam of light, unable to think or move. The only thing she knew for absolute certain, she wanted above all else to be running and halfway to the other side of the city at this very moment.
“Sammy, come back over here and sit,” Prince Dista said, indicating the couch seat to the right of Jenna.
Sammy did not move, but did answer, “Why should I trust you, stupid noble?” It dawned on her a moment too late that this might not be the best thing to say, all things considered. She was not exactly putting her thoughts of a moment ago into practice at all. Still, too late to worry about it now.
The as yet unidentified girl in yellow gasped, her hands dropping to her sides. “How can you say that to Prince Jerome?”
“Because it’s true?” Sammy said, forcing herself to relax her taught muscles. She had already made the social blunder, and she did not want to back down. Nobles were stupid - STUPID.
“Sammy, you do not need to expound on that,” Jenna said. “Would you please come back and sit down?”
Sammy crossed her arms, hesitating. Finally, once she had brought her body a bit more under control, she nodded and said, “Okay Jenna.” She moved to sit to Jenna’s left, deliberately sitting on the opposite side Dista had indicated. She refused to look at him. This was all his fault.
The girl in yellow continued to stand there, obviously uncertain what to do. She glanced at the baron again and swallowed.
“Sammy, this is Bellastey, the Baron’s youngest I believe,” Dista said, smiling at the young girl to allay her nervousness. It did not work. She turned red and fidgeted.
Sammy knew that the Baron had three daughters and two sons, but she had never thought of any of them as being children her own age. She sighed. The stupid nobles were propagating, how distressing.
Jenna watched Sammy and could see the gears grinding and the conclusions being churned out. Trying to head off the blunt comment she knew would come, she said, “Sammy.”
“You,” a new Myst guard said from a doorway across the room.
Sammy looked over at him and their eyes met. “Sir Knight Carmen Destay!” Sammy said, pointing. “What are you doing here?” She shifted in her seat, ready to bolt.
Jenna grabbed her by the wrist and said, “Sammy, you are a guest here. There is no need to run.”
Sammy relaxed into combat flight mode, stapha surging through her body. Jenna could feel the surge of energy tingling her palm.
“Sargent, this young lady is our guest. I take it you know her from somewhere?” the Baron said, though he himself leaned back with a wait and see attitude. The prince had brought an interesting one into his house after all.
“Yes, my lord,” Sargent Destay said, fist over chest and a slight bending at the waist. “This is the girl responsible for the pumpkin incident in the Sower’s Market last spring.”
“I was not responsible for that,” Sammy protested, adding in a lower voice, “exactly.” She perked up, fire in her eyes, “You guys were already chasing me for no reason, and those donkeys were bored. I could tell. But anyways! If you had not been chasing me for no reason, it would not have happened.”
Sargent Destay walked over to the top of the sunken area. “What about Lady Youra’s inauguration ceremony?”
“I had nothing to do with that, except I did see what happened. And then you guys chased me because you thought I had something to do with it, because I was in that building where it started and you jumped to conclusions, even though I. Had. Nothing. To. Do. With. It.”
“But you ran,” the knight said.
“You chased me. Who would stop just ‘cause she was told to? You would have sent me to the social service goon squad if you had caught me.” Sammy turned her nose up and her head to the side.
“And the Regin Heist?”
Sammy’s head snapped around and she glared at the Myst Sargent. “That was so the Camp, and you know it. They set me up ‘cause they can’t catch me any more than you guys can. Those jerks. I still can’t believe they did that. Still, I gave you those clues and you caught the jerks who actually did it. I was totally exonerated and you know it. Even those wanted posters were removed.”
“My, I did not realize just how busy your life has been,” Dista said, something between amusement and awe in his voice.
Sammy glared at him. “Stupid noble royal whatever you are, I told you I had experience keeping away from the Camp, Myst, Constables, Guilds, Merchants and some other people too. You just don’t know how to listen.
“You never said that,” Dista said, a confused look on his face for a moment.
“I did too, stupid noble royal whatever - shoot, we’ll just stick with stupid noble, stupid noble.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“You did not, silly urchin.”
“Stop, both of you,” Jenna said. She glanced at the thunderstruck Bellastey and gave an internal sigh. “It doesn’t matter, but Sammy, you told me, not Dista.” She turned to the Baron, who was looking at Sammy with something akin to amusement. That was a good sign. “Baron, I do trust that whatever her past deeds, she is a guest now.”
“Yeah,” Sammy said. “You have to give me a head start. It’s only fair.”
“I see,” the Baron said. “Well, it would be bad form on our part to chase the young lady who rescued our good prince, so shall we call a truce for the moment? I believe Prince Jerome has said you are to stay here with him for a time. Shall we say the truce is valid until twenty-four hours after the prince dismisses you?”
Sammy blinked, surprised. She thought she would have to make a real run for it. “I could still escape from them,” she said, challenge in her voice.
“But it’s not necessary, Sammy,” Jenna said. “Do you enjoy always running away?”
Sammy turned and looked into Jenna’s eyes and said in complete deadpan seriousness, “Sort of. It’s good exercise, and they need the practice.” She gave a practiced snaking twist with her arm, breaking Jenna’s hold, and crossed her arms. Still, she relaxed, shifting back in her seat. “Fine, I accept the truce.” She pointed at Dista suddenly, her arm extending past Jenna’s chest. “But only because that stupid noble still owes me rent.”
Dista sighed. Jenna reached up and pulled Sammy’s arm from in front of her.
“Don’t be rude,” she said.
Sammy blushed. “Sorry Jenna.”
“Well, now that this little episode is winding down, how about we get back on track?” Dista said, shooting another smile at the befuddled Bellastey. “I believe you were going to say something to our rather unique, high strung, and opinionated friend here?”
Bellastey gave herself a little shake, composing herself. “Yes, my lord.” She focused on Sammy again, though she did not step any closer lest it cause another scene. “As has been stated already, I am Bellastey. I was wondering if I could show you around the manse?”
Sammy’s eyes brightened with interest, then her face fell with uncertainty, then she shot a chagrined glance at Jenna, then a hostile-you-are-setting-me-up glare at Dista and the Baron both, a suspicious-your-planning-to take-advantage-of-this-aren’t-you look at the knight, and finally dropped her eyes to her lap, blushing. All of which could be easily interpreted by everyone in the room.
“Sammy, please go with Bellastey,” Prince Jerome said. “There are things that I need to discuss with the baron that I cannot do with you here. I have promises of secrets to keep.”
Sammy glared at him, but then stood up. “Fine. You had better keep all the secrets you hold.”
“I so intend.”
“Good.” She glared one extra moment just for good measure and then said. “Stupid noble.” She stepped up to the baron’s daughter. When she spoke next, her voice was sweet and pleasant to the ears. “So, where are we going, Bellastey? Can we see your father’s bedroom?”
“No,” Bellastey said on reflex. She then added, “I’ll show you around the manse proper.”
The two walked to the door, Sammy asking as the door shut, “What about the cellars and dungeons?”
“I suppose,” Bellastey answered with a bit more uncertainty. She shot a somewhat distressed look over at her father. Sargent Destay followed them out of the room.
Sammy placed Bellastey between herself and the Sargent and demanded, “Why are you following us?”
The Sargent maintained a neutral expression as he answered, “I fear what might happen with you running around unattended.”
Sammy blinked, but then nodded. She could understand that point of view, being at least a bit self-aware. Still she said, “As long as you don’t start something, nothing will happen.”
“Hmph.”
Bellastey glanced between the two, uncertain how to take all this. She definitely felt rather uncomfortable standing between the two hot spots. “So you had something to do with Lady Youra’s inauguration, Miss Sammy?”
“Hmph,” Sammy grunted. “I was just watching. I did see those guys setting up for their shenanigans though.”
“Oh?” the Sargent said, ignoring the sharp glance Bellastey shot him. “Why didn’t you do something about it then?”
The street urchin grinned and said, “Well, I can’t say I didn’t do anything.” Sammy put her hands behind her neck, her elbows sticking out from the sides of her head. She deliberately did not look at the knight. “I threw an apple at a certain knight, but then certain someones overreacted. In any case, nothing happened to the stupid noble’s inauguration as everyone was captured.”
“One got away,” Knight Destay said softly.
“Nope. Not a single one of those shenanigan mongers escaped. I escaped, of course, but I have no connection to those.”
“Then why not say it to the judge?”
Sammy glanced at the Sargent. “Why should I? Besides, even though I wasn’t a part of that little plan, you would have sent me to the social goons and they would have sent me back to those bastards. But since we’re under a truce of sorts right now, I’ll say it to the judge for your peace of mind.”
“Who are these social goons you’re talking about?” Bellastey said, utterly lost in the conversation.
“Social workers.” Sammy dropped her arms down and glanced sideways at the baron’s daughter. “Nobles killed my parents for some stupid noble reason thing, and next thing I know the social goons ship me off to some family or other that beats me for breathing. But they are always saying they know what’s best for me, which they don’t, not even a little bit. So I escaped, but they still want to control me.”
“Where do you live then?” Bellastey said, shocked.
“Here and there,” Sammy answered evasively.
As they talked, Bellastey led the way down a hall with rich green and grey carpet. The walls were made of beautiful, ornate oak. Evenly distributed pedestals built into the walls hosted small stone statues. Lights glowed brightly on either side of each statue, others spaced regularly along the ceiling.
Going through a side door, they walked down another long passage that emptied into an enclosed garden open to the sky. Equal-spaced trees surround the garden, each five feet from the wall and ten feet from the next. Seven trees, including the corners made up the shorter walls of the garden, while ten trees excluding the corners made up longer sides. A plethora of different flower created a cacophony of color wherever one looked.
“This is my mother’s garden,” Bellastey said with a bit of pride in her voice. “We all work on it though.” She pointed to one area. “I take care of that area.”
“It’s pretty impressive,” Sammy said, and she meant it. She had never seen anything like it, even back when her parents were alive. “It’s quite beautiful.”
Bellastey smiled, pleased.
“Bellastey,” someone called out. A blond haired boy in his early teens, probably close to Sammy’s age, strode toward them, a girl with the same hair color but a bit younger following. She had a rather disgruntled look on her face. The boy had his hand raised in greeting.
The baron’s daughter raised a hesitant hand to the two as they approached, her eyes shifting a bit as she glanced at Sammy. She had a sinking feeling. “Greetings to you Mik, Leah,” the girl began, intending to introduce Sammy before they could start talking about things her guest should probably not know.
Unfortunately for her, Mik started speaking before she could continue. “Do you know if your dad has found out anything about the missing artifact?”
“Ahah,” Bellatey tried to ignore the question and plowed ahead, “Mik, Leah, I would like for you to meet Miss Sammy, a young lady acquainted with Prince Dista who is visiting the estate.”
“Ah, come on,” Mik said, ignoring the ill-dressed girl standing next Bellastey. “This is important. Mom is not letting its loss go.”
Bellastey frowned, but once again lost the initiative.
“You do know she’s trying to shut you up because I’m here, right?” Sammy said, a smirk on her face. She pointed at herself. “Should you really be talking about losing something like an artifact in front of an outsider? So, when did you lose it? And where. What’s it look like?”
The boy froze, his eyes going wide as he realized his extreme blunder. His younger sister let out a big sigh as she dramatically put a hand to her brow. She muttered, “Mik, really.”
“Ah, come on now,” Sammy said, a grin on her face and eyes a twinkle. “You’ve already let the cat out of the bag. I’m actually pretty knowledgeable about the under-workings. Maybe I can help you find this missing thing of yours. Just you tell me the detail, right?”
Mik’s face began to turn red as he started to cover his embarrassment with anger.
“Mik,” Bellastey began, seeing the beginnings of the disaster she feared bearing down on her.
“Young master,” Sargent Destay said, interrupting the fated disaster. “Sammy may in fact be able to assist. It is certainly true she interacts, hmm, strangely with affairs of the city. I believe she will be accompanied by those able to control her, so it should be okay to continue with your blunder.”
Sammy’s eyes widened, barely able to subvert her open laughter into a snort by a miracle. Truly, God must have reached out and disrupted the flow of reality at that particular moment.
The Sargent turned to Sammy and continued as if the snort had not happened, to the extent Sammy felt a definite level of respect for his abilities. “Sammy, several days ago an artifact was transported through the city proper. It was transported on a special hover cart and taken via the most direct route to the castle. We know it was in the cart when it passed the gates into the city, but it was missing upon arrival.”
Sammy asked a few questions as she internally laughed her heart out at the expression the boy Mik was making. It seemed it happened the day before she rescued Dista and Jenna. When asked, Leah answered for her angry brother. It turned out to be a small box strangely match a certain item she had picked up by chance that very same day.
“I see, I see,” Sammy said with a contemplative tone and thoughtful expression. “Hmm, I’ll have to think about this. There are a number of places to off-load something like that, but I doubt anyone would use them if they knew a stu, er, if the baron was involved.” She then smiled at the Sargent. “I’ll think about it and talk with the baron. There should be a reward for getting it back, right?”
Sargent Destay eyed the girl for a long moment, but then he smiled. “So you do know something about it. Is it safe, or is it time critical?”
Sammy blinked. Destay was a heck of a lot sharper than she realized. Shoot. She shrugged, “Like I said, I doubt anyone will be going to the normal fences. Probably safe, um, ish?”
The Sargent nodded. “Very well. I will let the baron know you,” he paused and smiled, “might, possibly know something about its disposition.”
A feeling of mirth welled up in Sammy’s chest and she had to grin. “Hope I get a good reward for helping you find it.”
“If you know,” Mik began to said, his voice a bit louder than it should have been.
Leah punched him in the stomach hard enough to bend him over. “Shut up, Mik,” she said and smiled at Sammy. “Please forgive my brother’s indiscretion. We are truly grateful for your assistance, Miss. I trust you and our uncle shall recover the artifact in a most beautiful manner. We truly, from the bottom of our hearts, are grateful, right Mik?” The last two words were spoken with a bit of bite to them.
Sammy watched the scene with glee in her heart. This was the first time she’d seen a noble with true, down to earth common sense. It was almost enough to give her hope for the world.
Mik ground his teeth, but apparently the pain of that punch had gotten through to him. He said through his gritted teeth, “Thank you for your help, Miss.”
“Bellastey is giving me a tour while the baron and Dista are talking,” Sammy said to Leah. “You’re kind of fun, Leah. Wanna come?” She glanced a question at Bellastey. “Well, as long as Bellastey agrees. It’s her house.”
Bellastey sighed and then smiled warmly, overly warmly really, and said, “Sure, why not. Mik, you can come too, but only if you control yourself.”
In the end, Mik agreed to control himself and somehow managed to follow-through.
Later that evening afternoon shortly after eating lunch, the baron summoned Sammy to meet with him again. The messenger led her to a new room, this one a den-style workroom with a desk. A magnificent view of the city lay spread out behind it through a wall-length single-pane glass window. The baron sat behind the desk and Dista sat in a chair facing him, an empty seat next to him. Jenna stood off to the side near two Mysts. When the baron asked her to sit next to Dista, she did so with the cautiousness of a cat at the edge of a pond.
The baron jumped right into the matter without preamble. “Young lady, I have been informed that you may know something about an artifact that has recently gone missing. May I ask how you even found out such a thing had gone missing.”
Sammy sat on the edge of her chair, fully ready to run even though there really was not any place she could run. “Someone blurted it out randomly just this morning.”
“I see,” the baron said, but did not actually pursue the question. “So, I understand you are looking for a reward for helping us retrieve it. What were you hoping for?”
“Fifty gold pieces,” Sammy said without hesitation. She was ready to start the negotiations.
The baron paused, obviously thrown off.
“She’s just starting the negotiations astronomically high to jar you,” Dista said with a big sigh.
Sammy glared at him. “Stay out of this, stupid Dista.”
“No,” Prince Dista replied with a sardonic smile. “Let’s cut to the quick, as I don’t want to spend much time on it. Five silver, which is plenty of spending money, a full pardon for all past incidents and indiscretions, and two text books on glyph magic, which I will choose so they will be useful to you at your current level of ability.”
Sammy blinked. She had not even thought of getting books on glyph magic. She frowned. She hated owing the stupid prince. She let out a big sigh of resignation. She had lost this bout with the jerk.
“Is that acceptable, Baron Motra?” Dista asked, already seeing his victory.
“I can agree to that, but only if we retrieve the item based on her information,” he then looked at Sammy. “Are you agreeable with Prince Dista’s resolution?”
Sammy sighed again and said with a disgruntled elongating of her answer, “Yeeeesss.” She then stood up and pulled up the hem of her dressed and dug into the side pocket of the pants she wore under it. She plopped the box she had retrieved from the road onto the desk and explained what happened that day. “And so, you know, if it hits the ground and no one claims it as theirs, whoever picks it up first owns it. That’s what I believe anyway. Still, since you’re claiming it, I don’t mind giving it up with the appropriate recovery fee.” She grinned at the baron.
Baron Motra sighed and nodded at Dista. “You were right that she’s both interesting and a real pain in the ass at the same time.” Sammy blinked and then glared fireballs at the prince, but he deliberately shifted in his chair and pretended not to notice.