Agent of the Dragon

Request in hand, Rhysa and Elise left on their errand. Rhysa stopped by her room to put on a tunic bearing Lady Kasteryn’s apprentice mark. It wasn’t much, but she hoped it would reinforce the idea she was running an errand. She could still hear Lord Jayse Amonteus’ voice: “Consistency! Consistency is the key to misdirection. Inconsistencies draw attention. Inconsistencies provide a crack to reveal your secrets. Only by being absolutely consistent can you pass close scrutiny.”

She decided to leave her sword and only carry a single dagger on her belt; she did, however, strap a second dagger to her thigh. No way to hide the motion if she had to draw it, but if she had to draw it, she was in trouble anyway. Lord Amonteus had taught her to strap it to the back of her thigh; she looked in the mirror, and didn’t see the subtle bulge in the drape of the tunic that would alert an observant person to a hidden weapon.

“Clever,” said Elise. “I’ll have to remember that.”

Trust a bodyguard to notice the absence of the bulge and see the implications immediately. “You’ll have to leave your sword here.” Rhysa’s tone was decisive. “Lady Kasteryn wouldn’t send an apprentice on an errand that required an armed escort.”

Elise raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. “Are you expecting to need an armed escort?” She obviously didn’t like the idea of leaving her sword behind.

Rhysa shook her head in answer. “But I want to avoid giving the appearance. The information is supposed to be publicly available anyway. The request is just to cut through the low level bureaucracy. If I did it myself, I would have to keep at the clerks until they gave me what I wanted. I would be remembered because I was annoying. A request from a peer for public information is forgettable--unless there is something to call attention to it. Such as an armed escort for the person carrying the request.”

Elise scowled. “I feel naked without it.”

Rhysa grinned. “I’ve seen you naked. You’re even more confident naked than you are with a sword.”

Elise tried to keep an answering grin off her face, but Rhysa saw the strain around her mouth and in her twinkling eyes. “Very well. I’ll leave it in my room. But I’m keeping my daggers.”

Rhysa nodded agreeably. “You can try the back-thigh sheathe.”

Elise gave in and laughed. “You’re serious about wanting to be forgettable, aren’t you?”

Rhysa nodded soberly. “I don’t know anything is amiss; but if there is, I want to leave no clues of my interest from the very beginning.”

“Huh. Makes my job as a bodyguard seem simple.”

“It’s not so bad. The hardest part is not slipping from suspicion into paranoia or letting either rule your life.” Rhysa grabbed a second leg sheathe from her wardrobe and tossed it to Elise. “Let’s go drop your sword off.” She briefly tapped the magic overlay and hid all three tattoos with an illusion, a technique called Masking. “If I could, I would show Lady Kasteryn’s sigil, but given its size and location, that’s out of the question. Better people think me a simple apprentice by contract.”

The sun shone from a cerulean sky and a breeze cooled the two friends as they walked towards the government section of the city. Rhysa nodded to familiar slaves and apprentices of nearby peers. Most of them waved or nodded back. A few remembered Elise and greeted her as well. The Nobles’ Quarter was large and included the residences of minor nobles as well as peers.

It took them several minutes to make their way to the border shared by the Nobles’ Quarter and the Government District. Over the tops of the buildings, she could see the parapets of the castle where the Royals lived and governed. The sight of the flying standards made Rhysa think of Hallyk, the Royal Prince.

Evidently it triggered similar thoughts in Elise. “Have you heard much from the prince?” She laughed. “I remember when he told you to call him by a nickname. It surprised even the Trio. I thought it meant he was very interested in you.”

“Oh, he’s kept an eye on me. I think he’s happy, or at least content, with my progress. I’m sure Lady Kasteryn, at least, would have heard otherwise.”

“So he hasn’t been around much?”

Rhysa glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye: there was a note of--something--in her voice. Rhysa couldn’t place it yet, but she would keep an ear out for further clues. “He comes around every couple of months.”

Elise looked startled. “Every couple of months? I think he’s more interested in you than you realize. What does he do on his visits?”

“I don’t know. He spends a lot of time with Lady Kasteryn. He only speaks with me occasionally. He still wants me to call him ‘Hallyk,’ though. It’s almost like he’s checking on the progress of a younger sister.”

Elise snickered. “Wouldn’t that be something? You turning out to be one of the Royals.”

Rhysa smiled a little at the thought, then shook her head. “Not a chance. What little I’ve remembered of my past was a lair carved out of a mountainside. I still can’t remember the face of my father or mother. Occasionally, I get images of a dragon who taught me things, but that’s it.”

She walked a couple of steps before realizing Elise had stopped. Rhysa turned. Elise was round-eyed and slightly pale, her hands tried to hide a slight tremor. “What is it? What’s wrong?” Rhysa shifted to Sight, but saw nothing out of the ordinary--no magical attack.

“You were taught by a dragon?" Elise’s voice was hoarse.

Rhysa blinked at her friend. Something seemed a little off, and the middle of Government District was not the place to be discussing such things. Rhysa threaded her arm through Elise’s and made her voice hearty. “Come on. Let’s get this errand done. I want to have time to enjoy my day off.” Elise looked at Rhysa wide-eyed before shaking off the shock with an effort. She nodded and matched her stride to Rhysa’s as they made their way to the city guard offices.

The city guard offices were nearly empty. Rhysa approached a bored clerk, who straightened and smiled at her. “What can I do for you, Miss?”

Rhysa gave him a distracted smile. “My mistress needs some information.”

The clerk’s eyes flicked to the sigil on Rhysa’s tunic, then glanced at Elise. “Of course. What can I do for Lady Kasteryn?”

“Oh. I’m not sure. She wrote it down.” Rhysa handed him the request.

He glanced at it, pursed his lips, then nodded. “Shouldn’t be a problem, though it will take a while to get the details.”

“Oh?” Rhysa injected disappointment into her voice. “How long will it take?”

“A few hours.”

“I was hoping to get this done quickly.” Rhysa was crestfallen. “Lady Kasteryn gave me the rest of the day off after I did this errand.”

The clerk looked at her, absently fingering the request. “Here,” he said at last, “I’ll put a work number on this. You come back in, say, four hours, and ask whoever is here there’s something waiting for you under that number.” He pulled a card from a stack on his desk and fixed it to the request letter with a piece of bent wire. The card had the number 56 written in large numerals. “I’ll give you a receipt so if I’m not here, the clerk will believe you.”

Rhysa gave him an effusive smile. “Thank you! You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Color rose in the clerk’s cheeks and he looked down at the request. “Yes. Well. You’re welcome.” The obviously discomfited clerk turned and disappeared into the rows of files behind him.

Rhysa kept her smile on her face while she and Elise left the building. It wasn’t until they were three blocks away that Rhysa dropped the slightly brainless smile. She winked at Elise’s slightly disturbed expression.

“You call that forgettable?”

“Oh, it was quite forgettable. Unfortunately for me, I tend to attract the attention of men wherever I go. By playing on certain stereotypes, all they’re left with is the impression of a beautiful, slightly brainless--and most importantly, harmless--bit of fluff. They may remember I was attractive, and even got them excited, but they won’t really remember what I looked like unless I approach them again.”

Elise shook her head in bewilderment. “Damn, girl, but you’ve got nerve. I don’t know if I could trust to something like that.”

Rhysa felt a darkness briefly wash over her. “It’s something I wish I’d learned long ago. Things might have been easier.” The darkness on her heart lifted. “On the other hand, I’ve also learned how to enhance that reaction. A man thinking with his groin is easy to manipulate.” She grinned. “Remind me to tell you a couple of stories about training it. It seems to be a natural ability, rather than actual magic, but it’s still fun to play with sometimes.”

Elise looked at her friend. “You’ve grown and changed since we were slaves together.”

Once more Rhysa felt darkness wash over her. “More than you can possibly know.”

Elise’s face reflected alarm at the change in her friend’s attitude. “Never mind,” she said with determined cheerfulness. “Let’s go shopping.” She peered at Rhysa. “I’ll bet you’ve never actually shopped before, have you.”

Rhysa blinked. “Sure, I’ve bought things at market.”

Elise shook her head in mock pity. “As I said. You’ve never actually been shopping. I know Lady Kasteryn provides everything from food to clothes to materials. But it’s all purely functional stuff. Nice, but functional.”

“No. She provided the sword and daggers, but I replaced the sheathes. I’ve even bought better soaps and oils than she provides.”

“Better soaps and oils. Better sheathes. What about something new? Something that’s not just a better version of something provided?” Elise was enjoying teasing Rhysa.

“I’ve never wanted anything else. I’d rather save the money for when I need it.”

“Have you ever just browsed what’s available for sale? Not with a purpose, just to look?”

“No.”

Elise gave her an I-rest-my-case look, but said nothing.

Rhysa rolled her eyes. “Fine. Show me this ‘shopping’.”

Elise laughed, linked her arm with Rhysa’s, and led her to the merchant’s district.

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