"Lissa, this is complicated," Belen folded in. "None of mine can interfere with this."
"If I send any of mine, I have no idea what will happen," Wylend ran a hand through his hair. "My Warlocks have a tendency to kill first and then request an explanation. And if the Green Birth discover the child is not my heir, he could still die in any number of ways."
"Don't you worry, I'll go myself," I stood up angrily. It was clear to me that nobody else was worried about a tiny comesula. "I'll go to Vionn and figure out what's going on. I'm warning you now, if I don't find anyone worth saving there, I'll take the planet apart. I don't care who it is. And if they've hurt Toff, well, so much the worse for them."
I jerked the skirt of my dress away—Erland had stepped on a part of it. Erland tried to stop me, but he had no hold over me. Nobody did, when I went to mist and then to energy and pulled even more power from the planet itself before rocketing toward the world its inhabitants called Vionn.
* * *
"Her leathers, blades and boots are missing." Drew was angry. Nobody had thought to tell any of them until the following day. Erland slunk in and passed along the information. Garde was furious, as was Gavin. Connegar and Reemagar folded in and they didn't look happy, either.
"At least the Green Birth will not harm the child themselves," Reemagar sighed. Aurelius had arrived to calm Gavin, who looked angry enough to dismantle the palace. With Garde's help.
"Belen won't let us help; he says this is outside our abilities according to the rules," Drake grumbled. He'd already had a talk with Dragon. His father informed him that unless Lissa's life was in danger, he couldn't go.
* * *
I had my clothing, my blades and a few extras rolled up in a large duffle bag I'd brought with me. The line I stood in stretched fifty people long as sunlight bore down on the flagstone-covered courtyard of King Rindil's castle. I'd done some Looking—Rindil had allied himself (and Farus, his country) with the Temple of The Red Hand on Vionn. The Red Hand was very close to what Solar Red had been in the beginning—only Solar Red had perfected their maiming and killing techniques over the centuries. Red Hand's temple was on the nearby continent of Ialus, two days away by ship from the shores of Farus, where Rindil ruled as King.
The Pelipu, Head of The Red Hand on Vionn, had somehow convinced Rindil that killing off the Green Birth Fae was a good idea. He would rid Vionn of the Fae (who were demons, in his estimation) and Rindil and his nobles could get their hands on the richest farmland on the planet. Now, Rindil was recruiting soldiers for his half of the army—he and the Pelipu were sending armed troops to kill a race that wouldn't lift a weapon to fight back.
Citizens of Farus stood in a line, signing up for the army. Most of them looked poor and were dressed in rags. A few I saw didn't have shoes. It was obvious that Farus was going through hard times, which explained why money from the Pelipu and his temple had tempted the new King of Farus. It didn't matter that many from Farus coexisted with the Green Birth Fae, and that the half-Fae children would die with their Fae parents. The whole thing made we want to curse. Instead, I was about to join the army, just to determine whether anyone involved in this one-sided war deserved to live.
The army took males or females, which was a good thing. At least they weren't backward about that and honestly; I think the newly crowned King would be happy to get anyone he could. Most waiting in line to join the King's army didn't have any experience at all. It didn't matter—what experience did they need to go after someone that didn't kill? Whenever I thought about Toff, who was stuck somewhere in the middle of it all, I felt sick.
"Name?" The Sergeant was tired and grumpy; he barely bothered to look at me when I reached his table. A scribe sat next to him, making out the records.
"Liss," I said. I had my doubts that many of these could pronounce more than one-syllable words, so I shortened my name.
"From?"
"Seaport."
"Have your own clothing, or do we need to provide?" the Sergeant gruffed. He was middle-aged, bald, had two teeth missing in front and looked as tough as shoe leather.
"I have my own," I said.
"I have need of a runner and bodyguard," someone walked up behind the Sergeant. "What is the name?"
"Says Liss," the Sergeant didn't sound complimentary as he looked up at the newcomer. The one who stood behind him was tall—nearly as tall as Tony—and was handsome, even with the scar that ran down the left side of his face. He was dressed in black, head to heel, and was clean and didn't smell, like everyone else.
"Liss," the tall man said, "do you stay this clean most of the time?"
"Yes, sir. As often as possible. If water is available, I will most certainly be clean."
"Good. You're with me. Mark it down, scribe."
That was how I came to be hired into King Rindil's army as Captain Solis' runner and bodyguard. He'd hired me sight unseen, just because I was clean. I also discovered by Looking that he preferred men and was in a long-term relationship. However, he was on unstable ground and he knew it. Farus didn't mind same-sex relationships, but the Pelipu didn't see things the same way. The Pelipu and The Temple of The Red Hand were causing rumblings, and soon all of Vionn might hold the same prejudiced outlook that the Pelipu did. Solis was protecting himself by hiring a female as his bodyguard. Most might think he'd hired me for obvious reasons and not look past that.
I trotted along behind Solis, whose legs were longer. Not that it bothered me; I could outwalk him anytime. I just didn't want to draw attention to myself. If the Pelipu didn't like g*ys, he sure wasn't going to like what I was.
"Do you have weapons, Liss?" Solis asked as we walked toward a sea of tents below the castle.
"I have weapons. Sir."
"You don't have to call me that unless we are around others. Then it is proper."
"Of course."
"I had no idea that anyone from Seaport was so polite," Solis observed.
"Generally I'm not polite," I said. "I just didn't want to frighten you right away." That made him laugh. I was speaking the local language—I'd had that talent for a while, now. Pheligar had given me all languages except High Demon, and that one I'd learned with difficulty and on my own. Turning away from those thoughts, I focused on Solis again. I wanted to ask him what he thought about the war. I wanted to ask when the army would head out to conquer the Green Birth and the citizens of Farus who coexisted with them. That would be overstepping my bounds, so I kept my mouth closed and those questions to myself.