The Troll King (The Bowl of Souls Book 9) (26 page)

They arrived at the palace to find that the guards were in a state of high alert. Elder Qelvyn had vanished from his rooms and a full search was going on for the merman ambassador. Tarah was summoned to speak with the Protector at once. She asked Esmine to stay inconspicuous until her meeting with him was done. The little girl grumbled, but stayed by Gwyrtha’s side.

Xedrion bin Leeths was in the visitor’s section of the palace standing in the hallway outside of the ambassador’s rooms. It was only the second time Tarah had met the man in person. He had a stern countenance similar to his daughter Jhonate’s, and his piercing green eyes seemed to analyze everything they fell upon. At that moment they were focused on Tarah and they were not kind.

“I am not pleased with your actions this morning, Miss Woodblade. I left specific orders with you and your party that you were not to enter the grove. If I had not just received word that Tolynn has taken charge of you, you would be facing a disciplinary council. Believe me, I would not have been as lenient as the Prophet was!”

“I understand, sir, and I apologize,” Tarah replied. She still felt everyone was overreacting, but now wasn’t the time to bring that up.

Xedrion nodded and his expression went from angry to merely focused. “However, at the moment, I require your assistance. You may have heard that our merman guest has left us. I understand that you can pick up thoughts from tracks?”

“I can,” Tarah replied.

“Then I want to know what he was thinking and where he went and why,” Xedrion said. “As much as you can tell me. His door is the one at the end of the hall.”

“I’ll see what I can find.” Tarah crouched and looked at the polished floor. The servants in the palace kept the floors remarkably clean, which was helpful in this case. She could see the light outline of every foot print booted or barefooted.

“I take it your men have been running up and down this hallway while they were looking for him?” she asked

“They have,” the Protector admitted.

“That’s not ideal. If someone steps on a track, they replace that memory with their own.” Many of the prints were overlapping. The barefooted tracks were likely left by servants. The Roo-Tan warriors Tarah had seen wore boots or shoes. “What kind of shoes was the ambassador wearing?”

Xedrion frowned as if unsure, but Jhonate spoke up. “They were sandals of some kind. With wooden bottoms. They made a clacking sound when he walked.”

“Good. That would leave a distinctive print.” Tarah moved slowly down the hallway, touching a print or two to make sure. The prints mostly belonged to worried soldiers wondering how the merman had gotten away. Then she saw it, a striated pattern. She touched several of them. “This is him. He was worried. Something you said in a meeting earlier caught him off guard. He was rushing into the room intending to leave.”

“Do you know what bit of information bothered him?” asked Sir Edge.

“Not yet,” Tarah replied. She stopped in front of the door and looked back at them. “I guess your men have been all through his room as well?”

“They have looked through it,” the Protector said. “But I told them not to touch anything until I arrived.”

“Let’s see, shall we?” Tarah said. She touched the outside of the door, but felt no memories of interest. “Would you mind staying outside until I’m finished looking around?”

The Protector agreed and Tarah opened the door inward. Esmine’s elf child stood there with her finger to her lips. Tarah let the door shut behind her before the others saw.

I thought you weren’t gonna show yourself in here
, Tarah said mentally.

“They won’t hear me or see me unless I want them to,” the little girl assured her. “Do you want me to make your voice quiet too?”

Just don’t show yourself to the others
, Tarah replied, frowning.
And why is it even necessary for you to show yourself to me at all right now? You’re in the staff in my hands for mud’s sake
.

“I like this new form,” the child said, sticking out her lower lip in a cute little pout. “I want to use it.”

Fine, but I have a job to do. Will you please try not to be disruptive
? Tarah asked.

“I won’t be!” she promised.

Tarah started her search of the room. Once again, the cleanliness of the servants in the palace made things easier. She went over every available surface, looking for traces of the merman’s thoughts. She didn’t have to look hard. They were everywhere. He had been a ‘guest’ in the palace for quite some time and had spent most of it confined to this room.

This made the memories a bit jumbled, but eventually, a clear picture began to form in Tarah’s mind. Esmine’s elf child form followed her around as she went through the closet, the washroom, and the bedroom, finally stopping at one of the meshed windows.

She looked at the little girl.
Esmine, will you continue to keep yourself hidden from the others? I know you want to interact with people, but just for now while I’m telling them what I found. I don’t need to complicate things having to explain you again too
.

The little girl pouted again.

I’ll tell you what,
Tarah suggested.
Djeri, Cletus, and Willum are probably nearby in your range, right
?

“Still in their rooms,” the girl said. “Djeri’s pacing around and Cletus is doing tricks with his chain.”

Why don’t you appear to them and tell them what’s going on? I’m sure they’ll be nice and confused
.

The little girl grew a devilish smile at the idea and disappeared with a tiny pop.

Tarah sighed and opened the door, calling the others into the room. “Well, I found out where he’s gone off to.” She pointed at the window. It was about three feet by three feet and covered with a thin fabric mesh to keep the insects out. “Out and down.”

The Protector walked over and looked outside. “There is quite a long drop here and the mesh is still intact.”

“Yeah, but he used magic of some sort,” Tarah explained. “It had something to do with special water he kept in his skin? I don’t know for sure. That part wasn’t clear. But he somehow mushed his body through the screen and went plop into the canal below.”

“Did you learn anything about his intentions?” Jhonate asked.

“He’s a sly fellow, that one,” Tarah said, thumbing through the memories in her mind. “The whole time he’s been here, he’s been thinking of ways he could manipulate the Protector.”

“He did claim to be an ambassador,” Edge suggested. “That pretty much describes his job.”

“In what way was he seeking to manipulate me?” Xedrion asked.

“It’s not all clear. I just catch glimpses,” she reminded him. “But from what I gathered, he’s been trying to get you to agree to meet with his people. Some sort of treaty. He thought about the word treaty quite a bit.”

“Yes, but is it legitimate?” Jhonate asked.

“In his mind it is,” Tarah replied. “He thinks it’s very important.”

“Does he think to trap me at this meeting?” Xedrion asked. He was still looking out the window at the canal below, his face thoughtful.

Tarah scratched her head. “I don’t know. He just wanted to make sure and convince you to go when the time was right. He wasn’t thinking about murder or anything like that, though he did think about maiming the cooks. He really hates the taste of cooked bananas.”

“If he was so sincere about his job, then why did he leave?” the Protector wondered.

“Well, I did find this,” Tarah said, holding out a letter that had been folded and sealed with wax. “It was under his mattress. He thought that you wouldn’t find it until the servants cleaned the room later today. I didn’t read it, but his feelings when he was holding it were sincere.”

The Protector took the letter and broke the seal. As he read it a worried look appeared on his face. He folded it back up.

“What did he say, Father?” Jhonate asked.

“He says that he figured he had accomplished everything here that he was going to accomplish and he was suspicious that I wasn’t likely to let him go,” Xedrion said. “He adds that he has gone to warn his people about the demon army that is approaching and that he will contact me again once his people are ready to sign the treaty.”

“May I touch the inside of the letter, sir?” Tarah asked. “The ink won’t tell me much, but wherever he touched it with his hands . . .” The Protector handed it over to her and Tarah ran her fingers down the page. A slight smile hit her face. “This last part, where he says he meant to warn his people about the demons? He was lying about that. He already knew that they were coming. Is that the information that you gave him this morning?”

“It was,” Xedrion said.

“Then that’s it,” Tarah replied. “His surprise was that Aloysius was here so quickly. He wanted to go back to his people so that he could receive new instructions.”

The Protector cocked his head at her. “You are sure of this?”

“Yes! I mean, he didn’t think those exact thoughts specifically, but when I add all the pieces together it fits. He was waiting for something and when you told him that the army was coming, he knew it was time.”

“Perhaps you are right,” Xedrion said. He took the letter from her and folded it back up before slipping it into his pocket. “But we have no proof that his treaty isn’t real.”

“We know that Aloysius wants to conquer the grove and the ambassador wants to go and speak to him. That has to be part of his plans,” Tarah insisted.

“You did not see that exact thought coming from the ambassador,” Xedrion said. “I can see why you make those assumptions, but I need conclusive proof!”

“But sir, I already know that Aloysius is evil. I’ve seen what he does!” Tarah said.

“That will be enough for now, Miss Woodblade. We have time to verify all your theories,” he replied, his voice steady, but tinged with anger at being challenged by a relative stranger.

“Of course, sir,” Tarah said, bowing her head. She wanted to keep yelling until he got it through his thick skull, but she couldn’t afford to push him further. Not yet. She would find that proof he was looking for and then he would see that crushing Aloysius was the best way for him to make sure that the grove was safe.

“Then what do we do now, father?” Jhonate asked.

“We will continue to gather information from our spies among the Roo-Dan,” Xedrion said. “We can also have Miss Woodblade examine the tracks of their troops. By the time this ‘Mer-Dan Collective’ sends word that this treaty is ready, we will have a better idea how to react.”

Sir Edge cleared his throat. “Um, Protector sir, Gwyrtha says that Hilt and Beth are here. They are heading this way to meet us.”

“Very well,” said Xedrion. “I suppose we should go out and greet them. I have been wanting to speak with Hilt anyway.”

“Oh, this is the Beth I’m supposed to train with?” Tarah asked.

“That would be her,” Jhonate replied.

Sir Edge raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t seen her yet? I assumed that since you were from Pinewood that she would have come to visit you by now.”

“What does Pinewood have to do with it?” Tarah wondered

“Alright, where is Tarah Woodblade?” echoed a female voice from out in the hallway.

They stepped outside of the room and Tarah’s eyes widened in surprise. “Beth Puddle?”

Tarah had known this woman since before her father died. Beth and her husband had always been kind to them and had fed them a few times when they were in town. She had even sent business Tarah’s way after Grampa Rolf died when Tarah was still building her reputation as a guide. She looked good, much better than the last time Tarah had seen her. Which was a good thing, since Tarah had thought she was dead.

“Tarah Woodblade, the hero of Pinewood!” Beth proclaimed, walking towards her with arms outstretched. A sandy haired gentleman with swords on each hip was walking behind her. He was holding a red-headed baby in his arms.

Beth embraced Tarah, then pulled back, beaming. “The survivors from town told me all about what you did for them during the war.”