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  "It's time for your bathing," the boy prompted.

  Tukuli rose with the boy's assistance. His legs were shaky. He was still physically weak. He wondered what else that witch of a cousin had done to him. His anger had him trembling so much that the boy could not hold his weight and both tumbled to the hard floor.

  Chapter 6

  The Caladia elder slammed the flat of his hand on the table. "You are stupid!"

  "Honorable father," his son tried again to explain, "you don't understand…"

  "What is there to understand? You've been kicked out of school again. Get out of my sight. Go! Begone with you. Go back to cling to your mother's apron."

  The young boy blanched at the insult and glanced quickly at the others. No one looked at him. Some had the same glazed look as his father when he first saw him this morning. Something had gone wrong with this group's business, otherwise, his father would have let his latest fiasco go by as youthful restlessness.

  Whatever had happened had been enough to call him and his cousins who had been on a hike in the Kennald Mountains back immediately. He had not been able to find out what had really angered his father, but he had noticed on their return trek, there were more Drosuans in traveler mode than he had ever seen on the road.

  Jac left the room discouraged with his father's usual lack of understanding. He was only suspended for a week, not a life-time. The suspensions were always waived when his father paid the penalty so why was he now being persnickety about it all? He claimed it was not the money and he did say he was pretty wild in his younger days.

  Well, until his father got over this, he would work with Hisopi. He was learning pottery from the blind Coripus. His father did not know, nor really seemed to care that he really wanted to be an artist with work good enough to be displayed in the Queen's Hall.

  His father wanted him to finish college and get a prestigious job in Isor. It was a city whose wealth and never sleeping society boasted greatness to anyone that succeeded in

  landing a job within its walls. The college he was attending had student placement in Isor's local businesses, but someone like Jac, who spent more time playing than studying, knew it was not going to happen for him.

  Jac stopped at the entrance to the Hotel, letting his eyes get accustomed to the brightness of the afternoon sun. A Gustian youth, dressed in the livery of the hotel's messenger service brushed by him. He was twice Jac's size and Jac had to side step quickly. That was when he saw J'un L'Ta talking heatedly with a hooded stranger. J'un L'Ta was to be the next clan leader on Allint. He wondered what was going on.

  Deciding to find out he hurried across the street and found a seat where he could read L'Ta's lips. He wondered what his father would pay for this information he intended to gather.

  "Uhh, let me have ahhhh….ginlish. Up easy," he told the waitress glibly.

  "Not on your life or my job, Jac," she responded, and waited for something more appropriate to be ordered.

  Jac would have moved on to the seductive game with her because that's what was expected among his rowdy group, but a chance to make some money was more important. "Then a mint tea…and a trade clip," he added thinking he could also do with a cover for him being here. He watched the thin form of the waitress nearly disappear as she moved smoothly between customers. He noted she did not come near J'un L'Ta's table even though it was part of her area.

  "That's not the arrangement. That will not do at all," L'Ta lips spoke. "No, no.

  That will not do at all. We had an agreement and you will not go back on it now. There is nothing wrong. It is usual business for the Queen to make such a proclamation. We will just have to concentrate on the other continents."

  The figure in the robe leaned further away from L'Ta as if not interested in what L'Ta was saying.

  "Well you tell your boss that that is our deal. We are a powerful force on this planet and will not tolerate this deceit and display of bad behavior."

  Whatever the stranger said, L'Ta rose abruptly and left the café. The way he walked Jac knew he was beside himself with anger. Jac was surprised he did not singe the stranger or knock him across the street with his powers. Jac shook his head. He was aware that he really knew nothing of Drosuan magic. His cousins and he had no real interest in the spiritual life. They were too busy with the pleasures of the flesh and spending their parent's money.

  "Here you are," the waitress announced.

  "Oh, yeah." He pulled out his identification and handed it to the waitress.

  She frowned at her charge device. "Your father has closed your account."

  Jac jumped up and grabbed the device, not believing her. Sure enough. In bold red it said account closed and his father's name.

  "Of all the…" Embarrassed he pulled out his change purse. He paid for the drink but waved away the viewer.

  "Hey, Jac!" Lomoc called from across the square. He ran across the road, deftly missing two Centaurs pulling their produce cart to the public market two blocks up.

  Lomoc threw himself into the chair next to Jac, looked around them in a furtive way and then whispered. "Did you get the message?"

  "That my dad cut me off?" Jac muttered disgustedly. In a couple of days his father would reopen the account, however it meant he could not go partying for a few days because his friends did not loan credits out. You either had it or not.

  "Again? I think I know why your father is so touchy lately." Lomoc looked around again and then leaned forward. "It's what happened on Allint.

  "What? That J'un L'Ta is here?" Jac returned smugly.

  "He is? Then… what they say is true." Lomoc looked stricken.

  "What are they saying?" Jac asked alarmed that he was missing something important. He quickly looked around as Lomoc did, though, he was not sure just what Lomoc was looking for. Jac noted that the stranger was still seated.

  "All Caladia. There are no more of us left on Allint," he stuttered, nearly in tears.

  "What? Don't joke about things like that!"

  "It's true, Jac," Lomac whispered distressed.

  "Why? I don't understand. It can't be." He searched his memory for bits of information he had overheard on clan business. Nothing hinted at the Caladia leaving Allint. All Caladians?

  "Depending on who tells the story," Lomac took a quick look around them and then leaned close to Jac. "from LeMarian at the club he said only Caladia were caught contaminating the ley lines on Allint so they could remain in their valley without having to be Drosuan. Je's version is that J'un L'Ta challenged the leadership of Queen M'Lu."

  Jac would have laughed at Je's version but this was serious. He knew how his species was about bragging and claiming authority when they did not have knowledge enough to be an authority. He had the same impulses; however, his father beat him if he heard him brag on things his father claimed authority on. His father did not tolerate challenges to his role as head of household and being an authority on everything. Did the Holy Ones still have that problem? It was a disappointing thing to hear because he did not want to be an empty braggared for the rest of his life. He really wanted to accomplish something.

  "So, who do you believe?" Jac asked.

  "I don't know. What I do know is that I've been ordered to return home. No more schooling for me. No more chasing the girls. I'll be stuck with the likes of the farmers'

  daughters." Lomac looked as forlorn as his voice sounded. "Father and mother are worried I'll associate with those people that have been disgraced."

  "At least your parents like you. I don't want to go home." Jac wondered what he was going to do when Lomac left. Usually when his father cut him off Lomac was the only one that would lend him funds until his father loosened the purse strings on his account. It was scary to think that if the news was true about Caladia leaving Allint, then he would be sharing his room with cousins he never knew until they found their own place to stay. He wondered if many of them would take to the streets and hawk magic tricks. He shook his head at the image.

>   "For two days you can be a traveler. But don't forget to follow the rules," Lomac warned.

  The five friends had tried to use the way-houses along the Goolong trail last season as a brothel. The caretakers' brand of punishment was embarrassing for the boys, cleaning out the chambers and weeding the garden outside in the bright yellow garment of a repentant. When they returned to classes everyone had heard of their failed exploit.

  There was no female at the academy that would speak to them, which was why they went mountain climbing on a day off.

  "If I stay in any of them, it's going to have to be three days out. Everyone knows us around Glacon. This news doesn't make sense." Then he remembered what he over heard between the stranger and L'Ta. He was now wishing he heard what the stranger had to say.

  "Well, I have to go and pack my bags. I have to be out by this afternoon. Do you want to walk me to the air station?" Lomac asked.

  Jac's attention, however, was on the stranger who was now standing in the shadows and he knew who he was speaking with. "Uhh, yeah. Sure. I'll meet you in the…look, maybe not. I have to check and see what father wants. He's really angry about my suspension."

  Lomoc shook his head. "You know you always get in trouble when your ears wiggle like that."

  "I'm already in trouble so it doesn't matter. Make sure you send me a message when you get home. Maybe I'll stop by and we can swap stories…charm the local girls..."

  He was up and moving quickly down the street, keeping the stranger in sight.

  Lomac shook his head and frowned. Life was going to be boring without his usual group of friends around.

  Jac had followed the stranger but lost him at the Eatery Shop. Tired he headed back to the hotel. Stopping short in the hotel lobby he sucked in his breath to control his temper. Jac could not mistake his bags, since next to them were his father's. He was standing alone next to the bags, looking more than irritated.

  "Father, you would never believe who I…"

  "It's about time! Pick up your bags. You're going home. You there!" he shouted at one of the baggage handlers five times his size. He gestured to Jac's bags and handed him a tip and Jac's ticket. "See that his bags get to the station and on the right transport."

  Silently, Jac cursed. He did not want to go home. It was boring. Then he remembered that maybe he could talk his mother into letting him go to Trinimop. The winter fair should be starting about now. Surely, she had something to sell there and knew of a cousin or two that would be going.

  "Where are you going, father?"

  "None of your business! Get off with you! See that you don't give your mother trouble or I'll send your worthless self to your cousin's farm. Maybe he can get some honest work from you."

  Jac suppressed his response. His father was really angry. This time, maybe he did take it too far. His social science project was a parody of the college hierarchy, using . He kept his eyes lowered to the floor to hide his sudden desire to laugh at his joke. Well, he certainly left a name for himself.

  While waiting for his flight out he noticed the stranger getting on another craft.

  Jac quickly exchanged his ticket, and without his bags, rushed into the aircraft before the door was shut. He found a place to sit near the back. Unfortunately, he could not see the stranger.

  Jac was shaken awake.

  "Young man, you've reached the end of your ticket," a steward informed him.

  Jac awoke startled, looking around him. The craft was empty.

  He gazed out of the window. "Where are we anyway?"

  "Clmora. Not too far from the forests if you want to disappear," the steward told him as he encouraged him to move out with a shooing gesture.

  Jac had never heard of Clmora. He felt in his pockets for his purse. It was flat and empty of funds, as he well knew.

  "Is there a traveler's lodge around here?"

  "No. There's a temple about half a day one way and a lodge the other way. You'll be walking in the dark either way before you get there. Best not to travel alone, though staying the night in the terminal could be as dangerous. There are groups from the Black Alliance that like to rob anyone in the terminal at night."

  When Jac walked into the terminal he found armed militia pacing around.

  Obviously, they took the raids seriously. He stopped when he saw the stranger sitting on a bench studying the militia. Jac slid behind a column and wondered what to do now. He looked into the window that was before him and he nearly jumped when he caught the reflection of the stranger. The stranger slid off his chair and moved out the door, looking this way and that, again seeming to note where the militia was stationed.

  "Bit of a nosey guy, wouldn't you say?" a soft voice asked him.

  He turned to look up into the face of a young woman standing behind him. She was beautiful in her militia uniform, ears pricked forward and hairs around her chin quivering with inquisiveness. He nodded.

  "He was on the same flight as you."

  He nodded again, unable to speak; not a familiar experience for him.

  "Can you talk?"

  He nodded vigorously, feeling foolish but still doing it. "I…I'm Jac." He smiled, not knowing what else to say.

  "Where did you pick up your flight from?"

  "Abernite." He then gave her his best smirk and pulled his shorter form as tall as he could. "I was on a break from college." Abernite was a rich resort next to the university so he thought it would impress the young militia soldier.

  "Well, you're a long way from any college city and Abernite-type lodgings. This is all farmland and no traveler lodges nearby since we're a long way from any well traveled road. You expecting someone to pick you up?"

  That brought him back to reality. Maybe he could say he got on the wrong flight.

  That would not be putting him in a good light with her because the truth was silly.

  But he never got a chance to say anything more. She turned to respond to a hail.

  The soldier nodded to someone that was out of sight and then turned back to him. "We're expecting a raid here tonight. You're highly suspicious and like the cloaked fellow that just left, we plan on making sure you aren't up to mischief." She saluted when a uniformed Elf joined her.

  "He gave his name as Jac. He picked up the flight in Abernite." She saluted again and left Jac to the Elf.

  "Do you have business here?"

  "Well… look… I… it was just a spur of the moment type of decision. I saw this guy and was curious and followed him."

  "What made you curious about him?"

  Jac rubbed his face tiredly. His neck hurt looking up at the Elf. "In a food bar in Abernite he was with a Caladia Holy One and they had a disagreement."

  "Who was he speaking with?"

  "J'un L'Ta."

  There was silence for a few moments and then the Elf gestured to a couch.

  "Tell me exactly what you saw," he ordered in a soft compelling voice.

  Jac woke to yelling and clashing of heavy objects. He thought maybe he left his viewer on and flapped his hands around to shut it off, falling to the floor entangled in a blanket. Rolling into a sitting position, he saw men dressed in black and red uniforms trying to break into the terminal. Frightened he crawled to hide behind a post. One of the militia was sprawled unconscious near him, his club clutched in his hand. Taking a deep breath for courage, Jac crawled over to the body and pulled the three fingers loose. It was small enough for him to use; however, he had never seriously fought anyone with one of these. He only dueled with wooden sticks, and it was for sport. Standing up he looked around for someone to help. He spied the young militia woman fighting off two soldiers that were taking an unfair advantage to Jac's way of thinking. He rushed over to assist her but did not get far. He ran head long into the stranger that was swinging his club to attack the Elf. Both became entangled, and the Elf continued his progress to help the young woman. Jac gallantly struggled with the larger stranger whom he reached only his waist, surprised that his adversary was not
fighting well, and then realized that the stranger was being immobilized with a law enforcement restraint. Jac stepped back to let his target collapse, then looked around for someone that needed aid. He saw another militia member down and about to be beaten so he sprinted toward the person ready to use his body as a weight to knock the attacker off balance.

  The Elf examined the bandaged head of the young Caladia while waiting for him to come back to consciousness. The healer was on her way. Light gray eyes blinked open.

  The monks had also been notified that they had prisoners for them to reeducate.

  "Jac, you were very brave for a college lad."

  Jac groaned at the aches and pain. "No one ever said being brave hurt so much."

  "We like to keep that out of the stories," the Elf told him smiling. "No, don't rise yet. The healer has arrived and is starting on those that need immediate attention."

  "Oh. Well, that's okay. I don't think I could sit up anyway."

  "Stay awake. You have a head injury. Emaila, keep Jac company. Don't let him sleep."

  The Dwarf moved over to stand next to the couch Jac was on and looked him over. "Heh. Took him head on, didya?" He shook his head in amusement. "I can see myself getting away with that but a young Caladia like you…" He chuckled in amusement. "That is something."

  "I can't remember what happened," Jac complained.

  "You ran right into his fist." The Dwarf showed him how the fist gripping the club hit him right in the forehead. "You did well young one. They were not expecting us to be skilled nor for us to be more concerned with their capture than killing. Killing!" he growled angrily. "It's against the Queen's Rules. They'll be spending time in the monks'

  cells being brought to their senses."

  "Just what do the monks do with killers?"

  "Banish their darkness with kindness," he laughed, and then added somberly. "I really don't know. I've seen a few of the previous members of the red shirts back on the streets changed. Embarrassed about their crimes. They seemed like they were interested in doing restitution. But these foreign black clad soldiers…I've not heard what becomes of them. It's the Queen's worry." The Dwarf looked up as the healer stepped near him.