Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

“We will be all right,”supplied Arik.

The conversation ceased as theyapproached the gate through the outer wall. Garth’s eyes roamedeverywhere. The guards on the gate wore standard Targa uniforms andthey were very young. People roamed the streets with a casualattitude and there didn’t appear to be any omen of distress hangingover the city. Fredrik, Arik, and Tedi picked up their pace and putdistance between themselves and Garth, while Tanya and Niki laggedbehind. They were three separate groups traveling who just happenedto have entered the city at the same time. Nobody would give it aserious thought.

The city had grown tremendously sinceGarth was here last. The outer wall did not exist then and most ofthe buildings between the two walls were new. Garth had seensimilar things all over the continent. People were abandoning theirfarms and land and moving to the cities for protection. The banditshad become brazen and well organized and a single farmstead was tootempting for them to leave it alone for long. In normal times theresults would have been disastrous because the farm output woulddrop precariously, but these were not normal times. The constantlack of sunlight since the Collapse had already destroyed mostfarming. Cows, pigs, and horses were now raised in cramped quartersclose to the cities. Smaller animals were even raised in people’syards.

Garth saw the three boys far ahead ashe and Kalina turned down an intersecting street. The Palace Shadowthat the boys were going to was probably the fanciest inn in thecity and was next to the Royal Palace. Garth and Kalina would bestaying in much more modest accommodations, with Tanya and Nikisomewhere in between. The Golden Sword was not far from the Swordand Shield and the girls followed Garth’s turn.

Garth passed the Golden Sword andcontinued on a short distance to the Sword and Shield. After theydismounted, Garth told the stableboy he would be staying if therewere rooms available. The young boy took the reins and nodded.Garth and Kalina entered through the back door, which led to ahallway instead of the common room like many other inns. Garthgazed down the hallway to the small counter where the innkeepernormally stood. A young man he did not recognize looked back athim. Garth signaled that the man should come to him and hedid.

“Can I help you, Sir?” theyoung innkeeper asked.

“You are very young for aninnkeeper,” Garth commented.

“Inheritance, Sir,” theinnkeeper replied without emotion. “What can I do foryou?”

“We require a room with a viewout the front,” Garth answered.

“Sorry, Sir,” came the quickreply, “our rooms are mostly long term and the front ones arealready occupied. May I have your name for the ledger,Sir?”

“Kyle Agrat,” Garthreplied.

“Thank you, Sir,” theinnkeeper said as he headed for the stairs. “If you follow me, Iwill show you to your room. My name is John and I will do whateverI can to make your stay more comfortable.”

John marched up two flights of stairsand opened the door to a room and promptly left. Garth and Kalinawalked in and put their packs down. Kalina walked to the window andlooked down at the street below. Garth gently took her arm andpulled her away from the window.

“This room is in the front,”Kalina said. “He said he didn’t have any front rooms.”

“They will always say thatunless your name is Agrat,” Garth chuckled. “I wasn’t sure thatthis place was still run by the Spiders or not because I didn’trecognize any of the young faces.”

The Spiders were a secret spyorganization for Targa before the Collapse. It was set up by PrinceOscar Dalek and General Gregor, who was a Colonel at the time, togather information on the Black Devils. It was so secret that evenKing Eugene did not know it existed. Within moments of theirarrival the door opened to admit a man and closed again.

“You old renegade!” thenewcomer greeted as he walked over and embraced Garth and thenembraced Kalina. “And you brought your lovely woman to embarrassthe rest of the city ladies, too.”

“Some things never change andyou, Larc, are one of them,” Kalina smiled. “We have missed friendslike you.”

“You have been missed, too,”Larc sighed as he sat on the floor. Larc never sat above floorlevel in any of the front rooms since before theCollapse.

Garth and Kalina followed his exampleand ignored the chairs in the room. “Tell us what has changed,Larc,” Garth requested.

“Too many things havechanged,” Larc let out. “I assume that you heard about King Byronand Queen Marta or you would not be here. The Contest of Powergrows stronger every year. Assassination of Council members is thenew fad and someone decided it was time to include the King in thelist. We got Queen Marta out in time.”

“Where is she?” Garthasked.

“I don’t know,” Larc admitted.“You know how the Spiders work. I handed her off to a contactoutside the city. He handed her off to another who was known tohim, and so on. The only way to find her is to repeat the processand every one of those contacts would have to agree. The chance ofone of them breaking is slim, two never.”

“Well, at least she is safe,”Kalina said.

“As safe as can be,” Larcstated. “The Council several years ago started this mess. KingByron was ill and the Council ruled in his place for severalmonths. During that time they managed to change some of the lawsthat restricted their power and as a result they eliminated theKing’s influence over the country. I don’t need to tell you thatAlcea is a dead issue. They passed a proclamation that the officialname of the country is Targa and the city is Tagaret. They havedreams of reestablishing the Kingdom of Targa in its entirety andthe only thing that stops them is each other. As soon as one groupgains prominence, another group cuts them down. We can’t even keeptrack of who is in what group any more because they change theiraffiliations quicker than they change their clothes.”

“Why does the Army stand forit?” Garth asked.

“The Army is a joke,” Larcgrimaced. “The Rangers were the first to be eliminated. They werefolded into the regular Army by Council decree. Most of them wouldnot accept it and quit. A year later, they did the same thing tothe Red Swords. A lot of them accepted the change, but many othersdid not. Since that time, however, even the ones who accepted ithave retired or quit. The Army is full of youngstersnow.”

Garth nodded as it confirmed hissuspicions. “What happened to the leaders of the Rangers and theRed Swords?”

“Mitar Vidson and DavidJaynes,” Larc stated. “Why do you want to know?”

“You think you are a sly one,Larc,” Garth laughed, “but you just told me that they joined theSpiders. I would like to talk with them. Their help is going to beneeded.”

“So you know about GeneralGregor, then,” Larc said. “I will not let you talk those two meninto committing suicide. I know they will gladly sacrifice theirlives to free the General, but they are too good tolose.”

“I do not want them to freethe General,” Garth stated. “I will do that with my own men. I wantto talk with them about the heir.”

“Your own men!” Larcexclaimed. “You have come up in the world. I can send any wordabout the heir to them, if it is important enough.”

“Do not be stubborn with me,Larc,” Garth said gruffly. “I have possession of the ProphecyChildren.”

Larc stared at Garth like he had grownwings. “How long have you had them?” Larc asked. “Do you have bothof them? I should have known by now if you have had them for anytime at all. Are you positive?”

“I have never seen youflustered before,” Garth laughed. Turning more serious, Garthcontinued, “You are not the only one who can keep secrets, but youwill keep this one until I give you leave otherwise. I mean it,Larc. One word and I’ll cut your organization apart man byman.”