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Chapter Twelve ~Compiled by Catherine~ Father Roger, in his beggar's disguise, takes a seat by the Seventh Stranger's hearth at Daniel's direction. Rowena joins him there and gives him news of Brother John, then she passes him the pouch and its accompanying note, telling the abbot about Antonio's pledge of soldiers and sorcerers to her cause. Roger asks her about Nick, whom he believes to be Nikolai Rhodan. Rowena assures him that Nick is harmless and notes his role in John's rescue. The abbot then takes his leave, letting her know that she has support in other quarters. Rowena heads for the back room, where she settles down with her back against the door and falls asleep. While Rowena has been talking to the abbot, Antonio has asked Simon for his help in locating Simone. The telepath is suspicious, but Antonio explains that he merely wishes for Simon to accompany him on a journey to the Tribal Lands, to consult with some of his tribesmen. Simon agrees, and they head outside to where he's left his horse, Cassie. Antonio whispers to the mare while Simon mounts, then climbs on behind, pointing out the way. Cassie leaps into the road, surprising Simon, and they head out of Ashby. Meanwhile, in Arcadia, Segrand begins his day with breakfast and some quiet thought about the events of the night. He puts his second, Harstan, in charge of the Dog Squadron for the day, then fetches his Hound, Night/Titus, and heads up to the Stronghold, where he meets Leo, who takes him to meet with Simone and Meggan. Simone produces 2 different floorplans of the Stronghold, one older than the other. The older one shows rooms that don't appear on the newer one. With some study, Segrand determines that some of the rooms are part of the Duke's Hall, but the others seem to be in the dungeon. Simone sends Meggan to her quarters, then accompanies Leo and Segrand to the dungeons. Meggan disobeys, following them at a distance; Titus senses the woman's presence, along with Tabby the cat's, and alerts his Companion, who tells Leo just as they reach an unused cell to explore. Meanwhile, back at St. Julian's, Roger hides the pouch Rowena has given him, then disposes of his disguise in the fire. Donning his habit once more, he goes to the kitchen for breakfast. Sending an acolyte for Brother Garvin, a former soldier, the abbot retreats to the bath-house. Brother Garvin meets him there; Roger instructs him to hide a certain chest, along with anything that might raise Audra's ire, should the countess lay siege to the monastery. Once Garvin leaves to take care of that, Roger contemplates a method of getting a message to Andy. Out on the North Road, Andy directs Cat to a discreet path into Ashby. With Tamerlaine acting as scout, Cat guides their horse to the West Gate just as the bells toll for Vigils. They pass only a single guard as they head for Father Patrick's chapel, where Andy has Cat tie the horse to the lych-gate. With that done, the master thief leads the apprentice through the town and up to the back door of the Seventh Stranger. Just as he's about to take them all into the kitchen, someone pulls the door from his grasp, forcing him to dive for the shadows and take Cat and Tamerlaine with him. Upon recognizing Xanax at the door, Andy makes himself known to her. The barmaid advises him to go in the front door, like a respectable fellow, then shuts the door. Andy tells Cat that they'll stagger their entrances into the Seventh Stranger, then he kisses her, leaving the young apprentice thief not unpleasantly surprised. As Andy makes his way to the inn's front door, Harbinger wakes from its slumber; sensing the thief's fear of discovery, it manipulates the surrounding energies in such a way that will prevent anyone who hasn't already seen Andy from seeing him now. Andy enters the inn, encountering Daniel, who of course can't see him. Shrugging off the strange encounter, the thief makes his way to a table by the hearth. Xanax brings him a key and gives him directions to a room upstairs. Andy pays for the room, then sits back to wait for Cat and his ale. As people begin to stir in the inn's kitchen, Maeve awakens to find herself sharing a pallet with Brother John. Rather embarrassed, she rises and checks on her patients, all of whom are sleeping, then she gathers the dirty linens for laundering. At the door, she discovers a cloaked and hooded person barring egress. When the healer shakes her, Rowena starts out of a bad dream in which she has watched Audra torture John, then become his torturer herself; her cries waken Warren and the Flame briefly. She calms herself when she recognizes Maeve and gets out of the way so the healer can leave. Maeve goes to the kitchen, where she pitches in to help with breakfast preparations. By this time, Alexa has woken and left the inn for the woods. Nicholas wakes soon afterward. He goes downstairs for breakfast, but, sensing John's presence, he heads for the back room. Bantam, too, comes downstairs, sitting where he can keep an eye on Nicholas, but before long, he falls asleep under his table. In the back room, John has woken to see Rowena bending over him; he calls out Maeve's name. Rowena reveals herself, then tells him of the arrangement she's made with Barbarella to hide him there at the Seventh Stranger; she also lets him know of the abbot's concern, then asks what Audra has done to him. John avoids the question, then demands to know why she wasn't with the rescue party. Rowena informs him of her part in his rescue; realizing how he's mistreated her, John in his mortification tells her to leave and retreats into silence. While the pair have been arguing, the Flame has awoken. Warren, too, wakes, and they watch Rowena and John confront each other. Nicholas enters at this point to offer his help to John. Rowena leaves, and Nicholas begins to work at healing John's physical injuries. When he moves to treat the burn on the monk's inner thigh, however, John grabs the child's wrist, haunted by the memory of watching a monk abuse a boy. Hearing Nicholas cry out, the Flame gathers her Power to defend him; she releases it harmlessly when John lets go of the boy, but she notices an odd tingling in her fingers. Meanwhile, Cat has followed Andy after the agreed-upon interval, hiding Tamerlaine under her monk's robe as she enters the inn. She's stopped at the door by Daniel's greeting; in order not to give herself away, she signs to him that she's taken a vow of silence, then she joins Andy, letting Tamerlaine crawl under the table as Xanax returns with the ale. Cat performs another dumb-show for Xanax, who heads back to the kitchen, giving the thieves a moment to talk. Andy tells Cat about the room and the bath awaiting them, then says they need to have a serious talk. Xanax returns to take their breakfast orders, bringing pen and vellum for Cat. While the humans have been talking, Tamerlaine has made friends with Pyramis and Thisbe, aka Lucky and Clover, Charley the minstrel's dogs, who are still in Maeve's care. Thisbe decides it's time for breakfast and takes Pyramis into the kitchen, leaving Tamerlaine to hope his humans will drop him something. Just as Xanax goes into the kitchen to get Cat's and Andy's breakfasts, the dogs charge back into the taproom with sausages, which they share with Tamerlaine. By now, Rio is awake. She bathes and heads downstairs. Nick follows shortly, meeting the young tattooist in the taproom. Rio's super hearing kicks in, allowing the girl to hear Maeve in the kitchen. Rio and Nick go in to talk to the healer, running into Xanax's sister Prozac on the way. Rio greets Maeve, discusses the patients, then she and Nick settle down for a bite to eat. Meanwhile, up at the castle, Nikolai the Younger, having replaced his elder twin brother, has made himself to home. He looks in on the still-sleeping Audra, then orders Stewart to post a servant at her door to tend the countess the moment she wakes and goes off to work some magic of his own. The servant assigned is a motherly serving-maid, who ends up in a shouting match with Charley the wandering minstrel. Charley has arrived to demand an audience with the countess, but the spell Audra has put on him makes it impossible for the servant to understand him. Alerted to the disturbance, Stewart hurries back, but is too late. Awakened by the noise, Audra goes to her door and snaps out some orders; Charley follows her back into her room, complaining that "a lately's ponder" is at stake. At his mistress' command, Stewart hauls the minstrel out into the corridor with threats of dungeon-time. Charley easily frees himself and goes on his way, while Stewart rushes off to report to Nikolai. The steward finds the warlock posting more guards around the castle and tells him that Audra's awake. Nikolai reduces Stewart to a quivering mass of subservience and sends him to tend to his mistress, casting a self-mutilation spell on him as well. Down in the dungeons, Minuet and Sebastian are still searching for Vanya. Sebastian's nose leads them to the torture chamber. Minuet spies a bead from Brother John's rosary and realizes his blood stains the stone slab. Anxious, Sebastian encourages her to leave, but before she does, the faerie lets out a banshee-like shriek that splits the stone table in two. They leave the dungeons; Minuet hides herself in the cat's long fur as they prowl the corridors. Sebastian tracks Vanya's scent to one of the bedchambers. Minuet opens the door, and Sebastian leaps onto the bed to rouse the girl, who wakes and calls her master's name, believing the cat to be one of Nikolai's enchantments. Minuet makes herself visible and asks Vanya if she's all right. They discuss some of the previous night's events; Minuet remains ignorant of the truth of Vanya's presence in the torture chamber. Vanya mentions the Flame, explaining that she is a sorceress when the faerie asks. She then offers to get Minuet out of the castle; the faerie declines, as she wants to explore further while she can still use her magic within the castle, but translates the offer for Sebastian's benefit. Back in the town, guards have been dispatched to search for the escapees. Sergeant Henks sends Percy Petal to search the inn, while other squads are sent to St. Bridget's Abbey and St. Julian's Monastery. In the Seventh Stranger, Cat and Andy are making short work of breakfast. When begging from Cat doesn't work, Tamerlaine follows Thisbe and Pyramis into the kitchen, where Thisbe charms Nick out of some of his breakfast, which she shares with Tamerlaine. Having finished her meal, Cat asks Andy about the promised bath. She sees Percy enter and starts to panic. Andy calms her, keeping an eye on the guard. Harbinger, sensing her upset, probes the young thief's mind; this makes Cat nauseous to the point where she fears she'll vomit. Her reaction causes her to think she's lost her nerve. Andy continues to soothe her; Harbinger searches her mind for a good memory while it shrouds Cat the same way it did Andy. Percy heads for the kitchen; Rowena, who's been to see Barbarella again, catches sight of him as he enters, then tries to make her way calmly to the back room. Andy sees her cloaked figure and thinks this person looks familiar, but he's not sure. Cat, meanwhile, has begun to calm down, eased by the sudden memory of Brother John teaching her to play draughts as a child. At last, sure that Percy's attention is elsewhere, Andy leads Cat upstairs, noticing Rowena heading for the back. Halfway up the stairs, he realizes Tamerlaine isn't with them. When Percy enters the kitchen, all 3 dogs react with hostility, though Tamerlaine's growls are engendered more by worry about his companions in the taproom. Maeve cautions the guard about the dogs, and when Percy requests keys so that he can search the inn, she gets them from Prozac and proceeds to escort the guard in his work. She meets Xanax in the taproom and advises her in code to get everyone out of the back room. Meanwhile, John and Nicholas have been talking about the boy's healing powers. The monk notices Warren and the Flame, recognizing the warrior and realizing that the woman looks vaguely familiar. John is about to ask Warren for his help with the exhausted Nicholas when they're interrupted by Rowena bringing news of Percy's search. While she organizes their escape, Nicholas protests that they must bring his brother, Bantam. Warren decides to fetch Bantam, while the Flame helps Nicholas and the others. Rowena arranges to meet the warrior at the green cellar door across the courtyard. The Flame goes out the window first, at Rowena's direction, then helps John with Nicholas. She sends the boy to the cellar door while John and Rowena debate who's to go next. John slides out the window at Rowena's insistence, refusing help from either her or the Flame, who pulls him to his feet just as they're joined by Rowena; all 3 head for the safety of the cellar, joined by Gemile, who's just emerged from the barn where she has spent the night. Back in the kitchen, Rio decides she and Nick should leave, but before they can go anywhere, Julianne appears, offering help. Alarmed by this clone of his wife, Nick bolts from the inn. Tamerlaine turns on the sorceress to protect the others. Julianne tells Rio that she'll help find Nick; Rio doesn't trust her, but agrees after the sorceress mentions the Sibling, Rio's unknown half-brother or -sister. Tamerlaine debates with himself, then decides they need canine help in finding Nick and accompanies them. Tamerlaine tracks Nick through the town, finding him in the woods near the West Gate. He sits down to await Rio and Julianne. Seeing Julianne approaching, Nick runs back through the town and into the inn, where Percy's search is underway. Upstairs, Cat hears the guard and Maeve coming after them, and she looks to Andy for a plan. Maeve leads Percy to the far end of the upper floor, where the search of the bedrooms commences, causing much consternation among the patrons. As they move down the corridor, Maeve senses the presence of Andy and Cat, but can't see them, as she lets Percy into her room for a cursory search. Downstairs, Warren finds Bantam asleep under the table. He wakes the boy, who demands to know what the warrior's done with Nicholas. Warren assures him that his brother is safe, then tells him about the guard searching the inn. Bantam demands that Warren take him to Nicholas. In the cellars, Rowena reveals a hidden room. The Flame ushers the others inside, then goes back up to the courtyard door to wait for Warren. Rowena's alarmed when Nick, who's found the cellar door in the kitchen, arrives; she orders the Flame to leave her post, while Gem makes Nick sit down and shut up. The Flame returns with the news that Warren' s found Bantam; the 2 Cucurrullos have been communicating by thought. Rowena wonders about the Flame's ability and asks her if she knows of any other guards in the area. The Flame assures her that Warren won't let anyone follow him; all the time she talks to Rowena, she's talking to Warren mentally. Meanwhile, in the woods, Julianne explains her resemblance to Nick's wife is what causes him to keep running. She agrees to stay away from Nick until after Rio's found him again; Tamerlaine starts off on Nick's trail again. When Rio and the dog have gone, Conner, a leopard enchanted into human form, leaps out of the tree where he's been observing things to confront Julianne. As guards spread out through the town, a squad invades St. Bridget's abbey. While the soldiers start their search, Sister Giavanna and Sister Magdalena offer to escort them through the abbey, since they don't want the tranquility of the cloister too much disturbed. They accompany the nasty sergeant and his men through the dormitory, the infirmary, the apothecary, and the abbess' quarters, despite Mother Assumpta's protests that she's not harbouring any criminals. After some verbal sparring, the sergeant gathers his men in the courtyard to hear their reports while Giavanna and Magdalena lead the other nuns to the chapel to pray for the fugitives. Elsewhere, as forces converge, the Goblin King is awakened from his long slumber by his son, whom he then sends into the forest outside Ashby. He observes his son, the Life-Bringer, for a while, then sends out several crystal spheres to seek the Mages of the old bloodlines. One returns with images of a cave; the Goblin King puts it in his mouth and tastes the magic of Lorcan, the Flame's mentor. Sensing the Goblin King's magic, Lorcan has strengthened his magical defenses, and in his dwelling, he enters the realm of visions to seek the Flame. A second sphere returns to the Goblin King, bringing him news of Audra and Nikolai. At the castle, Stewart has informed Audra of Nikolai's impeding visit to her chambers as she eats breakfast.. She dismisses him just before the warlock arrives. They discuss reinstating the magical wards of the castle, then Nikolai tells her of the arrival of Tarik and Prentis. Now, while talking and sharing breakfast with Audra, little Nikki realizes that he has truly taken his brother's place and kisses the countess. Though she enjoys it, Audra notices something different about his kiss, but decides to ignore it. At that moment, Nikolai sense they're being watched, though he doesn't know by whom; Audra suspects Rowena as she summons Stewart again. Now, at mid-morning, Simon and Antonio reach the Tribal Lands. Antonio leads Simon into his village, taking him to a cool grotto with a pool where he can rest and refresh himself, introducing the telepath to his cousin Claire, a journeyman healer of the Tribe. The mage leaves Simon in her care while he goes to meet with the Tribal council. In Arcadia, Rafe the bounty-hunter arrives at the Ragged Tiger, the inn run by the local Thieves' Guild. After the proper codes are said, he's taken to meet Ramsall, the Guildmaster, and he reports his sucess (or lack thereof) in tracking down Cat. Ramsall's alarmed by the news that his wayward apprentice has made it to Ashby, but extracts as much information from the bounty-hunter as he can before killing him. Meanwhile, Arcadia guard Martus and his Hound have arrived at Ashby castle with news for Nikolai. Stewart has him wait in the kitchens while he answers his mistress' bell. He appears at Audra's chamber door with a bandaged leg and torn trousers; the countess senses Nikolai's magic lingering about the man. She orders Stewart to send Tarik and Prentis to the gardens, where she and Nikolai will meet with them. Stewart then informs Nikolai of his messenger's arrival; Nikolai decides to meet Martus in his chamber. Stewart returns to the kitchen, sends a maid for Tarik and Prentis, then leads Martus and Iago/Storm to Rhodan's chamber. <<
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