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invoking_uraniaTitle: The Sun, Half Covered (Chapter 4)
Fandom: Slayers
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery/Action
Words: 23,000 total (3,900 this chapter)
Notes/Warnings: Oh, boy. I started this ages ago. It might be older than my grad school career. I finally finished it for this year's![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
casestory. Art is by sholio. Beta work done by ![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-userinfo.gif)
yuuo. Story may have a Zel/Amelia bias, but I think it can be read as friendship.
Summary: Zelgadis's attempts to settle down are not working well. When Amelia asks him to accompany him to the southern frontier of Saillune to investigate reports of sabotage, it certainly sounds like a breath of fresh air. What he finds is a mess of politics and bigotry, and Amelia's attempts to help are hit or miss... and starting to drive Zel nuts. The two of them must work together to find the saboteur, and hope the discovery doesn't touch off a riot in a town divided.
Disclaimer: Slayers copyright Hajime Kanzaka/Rui Araizumi/Kadokawa/TV Tokyo/Medianet and this derivative work was created without permission.
Index
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The weather had cleared up by the next day, though it was noticeably cooler. There were thousands of little flowers in the grass outside that weren't there yesterday, and grasshoppers and butterflies and other sorts of bugs flew around them, making buggy sounds that mixed with the birdsong of the little brown birds perched on the grass stalks. It was a beautiful day, and it was almost a shame she and Zelgadis would have to spend it working, Amelia thought.
But, the sooner they could get things wrapped up, the sooner there would be time for walking through the grasslands around here and just talking. Or, more likely, heading back to the capital for more paperwork and meetings and brushing off courtiers.
Zelgadis had suggested that she talk to Sholei, while he found Halimeda. 'You know Miss Halimeda better, so it's probably a good idea to get a fresh set of eyes on her. Ask Priestess Sholei about the cloak, and where she was last night. And try to get a better idea of what she's like'. That and the presence of Halimeda's assistant meant that Zelgadis wouldn't have to deal with another human out to be hostile to him because he was a chimera.
She knocked on the door to Sholei's house. No answer. "Miss Sholei? Are you there?"
Amelia had just reached the point of wondering if it would be just to just barge in, in case Sholei was in trouble or something, when the door opened. "I'm dreadfully sorry, Your Highness." Sholei looked tired, despite it being well into mid-morning. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her clothing looked mussed and wrung out, like it had gotten wet and dried while she was still wearing it, rather than being left up to dry. "I was out late last night."
Bingo! "I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Sholei. There was quite a storm last night. What happened?"
"Oh, just a couple of house calls to some of the far-flung farms. Truthfully, it probably could have waited until morning, but the farmers didn't know that. The storm caught me off-guard, and I ended up spending the night at the last house. I did hear I ended up missing Missus Galatei's accident because of it. You caught me as I was heading out." She frowned. "Will this take long?"
"Not long, Miss Sholei."
Sholei still looked worried. "As you say, Your Highness, but I may have to take my leave if it does, begging your pardon. Won't you come in?"
"Of course. I was trained as a priestess myself, so I know how it is." Amelia stepped inside her home. The front room was pretty sparsely decorated. Perhaps Sholei didn't have many guests, or she had been too busy to fill in the empty spaces of the room. Or maybe she liked simplicity. A curtain-covered door to the side presumably led into the town's temple next door, and another curtain probably lead to the kitchen. There was a set of cushions on the floor, presumably for seating, and a futon still left on the middle of the floor. "Only two rooms?" Amelia asked.
"I don't need much space, Your Highness. When I'm up, I'm working. If not, there's a place for me to sleep." Sholei grabbed the futon, starting to fold it to put it away. Amelia took the other side, helping the other woman.
"You must work hard," Amelia said.
"I like my job. And there's no shortage of things to do in town. Even if no one has injured himself, there's always need of a spare set of hands." Sholei took the folded futon from Amelia, and wrestled it back into the cabinet in the corner.
"I'd think that'd be a pretty lonely life," Amelia said. "Without making friends here, I mean. Are you planning on staying here long?"
"I go where I'm assigned. And I'm well acquainted with people. A healer is a welcome sight around here. Most people aren't used to having a priestess on call."
The whistle of the kettle sounded from the other room. "Oh, I forgot about the kettle!" Sholei said. "It's a good thing you kept me, Your Highness -- I might have gone off to the Galateis' without turning that off."
"Let me get that," Amelia said, starting towards the door.
"Princess, I couldn't ask you to do that. I can handle making tea. Would you like a cup?" Sholei asked.
"That would be lovely," Amelia said.
Sholei hurried into the other room, leaving Amelia alone. There wasn't much to look at in the room. The furniture -- the cushions, a small table, the futon, the cabinet -- was a bit foreign in design. Very well crafted, though, based on what limited knowledge she had on furniture. She examined the cutwork on the table, trying to place the design. Southern Elemekian, maybe, or one of their tributary states.
"I have the tea," Sholei came out again, holding a tray. She set it down on the table, and sat on one of the cushions.
"This is a lovely table, Miss Sholei."
The priestess nodded. "Family heirloom."
"Oh?" Amelia said. "It must be rough for you to be so far from your family. Where are they living now?"
"In Elemekia. Don't worry about me, Princess. I'm not exactly close to them. We had a bit of a disagreement before I came to Saillune for my priestess training."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I could do?"
Sholei shook her head. "It's a personal matter. It'll work itself out, sooner or later."
She took a sip of her tea. It was hot, almost unpleasantly so in the summer weather, unusually bitter, and was heavily spiced. She stirred it a bit with a spoon, and wondered if she could drop a small ice spell into it without offending her host. "Oh, Miss Sholei?" Amelia asked. "Missus Galatei was wondering if you had her cloak? She left it somewhere last week, and she asked me to ask around while I was in town." She took another drink of her tea. Definitely an acquired taste. Preferably with milk and honey to cut the bitterness.
"I'm sorry. I haven't seen it." Sholei stood up, taking a last drink of her tea. Amelia blinked. Her own tea was still hot, and over half full. Maybe Sholei had cast her own ice spell to cool the tea quickly. "I better get along to attend to her, though. She must be in terrible pain."
"Mister Astin gave her some herbs last night, but I think she'll appreciate seeing you." Amelia stood up as well. "Thank you for the tea, Miss Sholei. I'll be going now."
Well, hopefully Zelgadis had better luck. And hopefully she didn't miss anything obvious while asking questions.
* * *
"What do you mean she didn't come back?" Zelgadis looked at Donla, trying to figure out if she was lying. Nothing, which was nearly useless without some idea of Donla's personality.
"She didn't come back. She was caught out in the storm. She just had to ride out last night to check the spells shoring up some of the gullies near the bluffs," Donla told him, rolling her eyes. "She probably spent the night at one of the farms out there. Again. She's been like this all spring."
Or she's our saboteur, and she fled, Zelgadis thought.
"You can come in and sit while you wait for her," Donla said. "I'm out of work until she gets back, so some company would be nice. Did you eat breakfast?"
"Yes, I ate before Amelia and I came into town." He could see what she knew, at least. Donla led him inside, sitting at one of the rickety chairs around the table. Zelgadis eased into the one next to her, testing its weight and putting his back to the wall, and giving him a clear view of the front door. "How long have you been Miss Halimeda's apprentice?"
"Since I came here. Leigh was pretty open about asking for people who knew a bit of magic. Most people didn't know enough to help. And everyone's too busy trying to make their own living to get the training." Donla chuckled. "I didn't really know what I was going to do here, so when Leigh offered to teach me how to help her, I agreed." She folded her hands in front of her. "Mind if I ask you something, Mister Graywords?"
"You can ask," Zelgadis said gruffly. On the one hand, it would make her more opening to answering his questions. On the other, he hated answering questions about himself. Maybe he should have asked Amelia to handle this. Amelia was charming.
"How'd it happen?" Donla leaned forward, studying his face. He leaned back reflexively.
"How'd what happen?" he asked.
"You know, how'd you become a chimera?"
"Do you normally ask people that?" Zelgadis tried to keep from glaring at her.
"Actually, yes." Donla said. "Most people in town are beastmen or humans. There's only a handful of chimera -- me, Astin, a few others. And now Princess Amelia's investigator. So I'm kind of curious about the ones I do meet."
"I trusted someone I shouldn't have, and he did this to me so that he'd have a strong, smart, loyal servant. And as an experiment to see if he could," Zelgadis said simply. He didn't really want to get into the whole business with Rezo, since that would just lead to an argument on whether the Red Priest was as good as everyone said he was. Again.
"Oh." Donla said. "You're part demon too, right?" At his nod, she continued, "were you a spellcaster before it happened?"
"Some. I was more of a swordsman who knew a few useful spells." Before he'd become a chimera, Zolf had handled most of the magic their gang needed, and Rezo had been willing to provide healing... if you didn't mind the guilt of taking the priest away from his work.
"Noticed it helped your magic, too, didn't you?" Donla asked. "I wasn't much of an apprentice when I was human. When my first mentor suggested-"
"Wait a moment. You mean you agreed to being a chimera?" Zelgadis nearly fell out of his chair.
"Well, yes. If it was a choice of being a cheesemonger's daughter who could barely use a light spell, and a great sorceress, then I guess I was willing to do whatever it took. Only, it didn't work; I'm better, but I'm still not very good at magic. Eventually my mentor was brought in by the city's Sorcerer's Guild for his experiments, and no one wanted to teach me any more. That was two years ago. Leigh's the first spellcaster who didn't turn me away."
"And you didn't think maybe it wasn't worth it?" Zelgadis asked.
"Not now that I have a teacher again."
"How can you say that?" Zelgadis asked. "You know what it's like being a freak."
"I'm not a freak, Mister Graywords, no matter what other people say. I'm becoming what I want to be, a sorceress. If that's how you see yourself, it's no wonder you always look like you just sucked on a lemon."
"I do not look-" Zelgadis saw the door open and stood up as Leigh entered.
Her blue cape still folded like it was a bit damp, and she quickly hung it up on a hook besides the door, and her boots squelched as she walked over to the two of them. "Why, Mister Graywords, what brings you here, besides having a discussion with my apprentice loud enough to wake the Demon Lord in the North?" she asked.
He hadn't realized he'd been speaking so loud. "I wanted to ask you a couple of questions." He straightened his tunic, and tried to recover his dignity. It was too late to pretend that Donla hadn't hit a nerve when the'd been talking.
"Go ahead."
"I'll go start on work, okay?" Donla stood up herself, and went into the back room. Since she had just told Zelgadis she didn't have anything to do, he suspected it was a lie to get out of the room.
Zelgadis spared her a glance before starting his questions. "Where were you last night?"
"Out," Leigh said. "I had to make sure there wouldn't be flooding in the area. I saw the clouds rolling in, and I thought I had enough time to check everything before the rain started. Turns out I didn't."
"Alone?"
"My apprentice doesn't ride, so she couldn't keep up. I stayed with the Grants overnight, and surveyed the damage before coming back. This isn't the first time this has happened, so I assumed Donla would guess what happened."
"I see," Zelgadis said. He could check with the Grants later, but it still left time for her to be the person they saw last night, even if she had spent the night out there.
Leigh inclined her head. "Wasn't Urice's meeting last night? Did the suspect show?"
"Yes, but she evaded us. Have you seen Missus Galatei's cloak?"
"Hasn't she got it back yet?" Leigh frowned. "She left it around here a couple of days ago. I gave it to Claire Sholei to give it back to her."
"Really?" Zelgadis said. This was something they could check, even if it remained her word versus the priestess's.
"Yes, really," Leigh crossed her arms. "Why? Hasn't she got it yet?"
There was a knock at the door, then Amelia came flying in; not literally, thank heavens, but at a pace that made Zelgadis wonder if she was going to collide with something. "Hello!"
"Amelia," he said, "this is unusual. Weren't you-"
"I was," she confirmed. "When I was heading back, I noticed there was a crowd gathered at the stables. The new parts for the mill have come in."
* * *
Amelia had managed to make her way to the front of the crowd gathering at the mill, where Bartalan, and the miller were talking. Someone else, a very large, trollish-looking someone, was working in the background, removing the crates from the supply wagon that had brought them in. The horses had already been led off.
"How quickly can these parts go in?" the mayor asked.
"With both me and Astin working on it?" the miller -- Pol, that's what his name was, Amelia remembered -- said. "About a week. We can work through most of the day, but I wouldn't trust some of this at night. My night vision's not that bad, but this is fine work."
"What about candles or lanterns?" Bartalan crossed his arms.
"It's a fire hazard," Pol said. "It's probably safe, since we just had the rain, and we haven't been working in there a while, but the flour's pretty dry, and it tends to be a bit explosive in closed conditions."
"Explosive?" Amelia said. "I had no idea."
Pol nodded. "I don't allow candles or lanterns in the mill. Miss Halimeda and Miss Sholei had some light spells they were working on for us, but I didn't want to rush them. Most of their supplies go to getting the crops going."
"Well, if you and Mister Astin don't mind supervising into the night, I'm sure we can-" Bartalan stopped as Mister Zelgadis shook his head.
"Can we talk to you in private, Mayor, Mister Miller?" Zelgadis asked.
"About?" the mayor asked.
"Miss Sholei and Miss Halimeda," Zelgadis answered. "I'd rather not say anything in public, though."
"There's a room in one of the outbuildings we can use," Pol volunteered. He turned back towards the wagon and his assistant. "Astin, just keep unloading things, then wait until I come back, all right?"
Astin nodded, and went back to whatever he was doing, as Amelia, Zelgadis and the mayor followed the miller into a shed. Pol closed the door behind them, then turned to Zelgadis. "All right, what is it?"
"Yes, Mister Graywords, please go on," Bartalan said.
Zelgadis looked a shade uneasy, which surprised Amelia. Normally he was not one to let many emotions cross his features. Stony-faced, though she'd never say that to him aloud. "Well, last night, after Missus Galatei was injured, Amelia and I went to the stake-out as planned."
"And your suspect didn't show up?" Bartalan said.
"No, she did show up, and tried to fake us out by using Galatei's cloak as a disguise," Mister Zelgadis said. "We weren't able to get a good look at her, but she used a flight spell to escape."
"She was human then?" Bartalan said.
Amelia nodded. "I think so. Maybe a chimera, but definitely not a beastman. I'm sorry." Not that a beastman would be better. She wasn't sure what would, besides a mazoku.
Bartalan shook his head. "Either situation would be a problem," he agreed. "The real problem is that the town is divided between humans and non-humans."
"While it's possible someone else is a mage, I think we need to list Miss Sholei and Miss Halimeda as our primary suspects," Zelgadis said.
"Both were heavily screened before being assigned here, I assume?" Bartalan said.
Amelia found herself reddening. "Miss Halimeda wasn't. I think the Sorcerer's Guild just put out a call for any member who could learn the magic and was willing to move. The Temple did assign Miss Sholei here, but I don't know how much checking they did. I'd have to speak to the High Priest back in the capital."
"Screening them doesn't matter now that they're both here," Zelgadis said. "I want to keep both of them away from the mill."
"What about Miss Halimeda's apprentice?" Amelia asked suddenly. "She's also a magic user, and she could be mistaken for a human in the dark."
Pol shook his head. "She and Astin were out helping Missus Galatei. She has an alibi." He chuckled. "Astin told me all about it; boy's got quite a crush."
"Well, that's one person who we can rule out," Amelia said. Their saboteur seemed as focused on making sure no one could pin her down as to the sabotage itself.
"Do you think we should post guards at the mill?" Pol asked. "Astin and I can keep people away during the day if he's not busy on his own land, but last time the sabotage happened at night." He considered. "My eyes aren't what they used to be, but my night vision was the best in my company. But I also can't stay up all night."
"We can ask Missus Galatei," Amelia said with a smile. "Once her leg is mended, I mean."
"And anyone who has an alibi for either last night or the night of the sabotage," Mister Zelgadis said. "Preferably both, in case we have multiple saboteurs."
Amelia grimaced. She hadn't even thought of there being more than one person. "And we should avoid Miss Halimeda and Miss Sholei, obviously. But, it won't solve the problem, though," Amelia said. "Even if the mill is fixed, someone could break it again. Or something else. Until we catch our saboteur, things won't get better."
"It's worse than that, Your Highness." Bartalan gave them all a grave look. "The longer this remains unsolved, the worse things will get in the town. A lot of the human citizens are cool to me, and the beastmen I've spoken to are mixed between worried and angry. If this goes on much longer, some of the young people might try to find any sort of scapegoat. I was worried it would happen when you caught Urice, but Mister Graywords was quick-thinking about that. But if someone level-headed isn't there-" he shrugged.
"Things go up like a powder keg," Pol said. "Boom."
"Oh," Amelia frowned. "You think so?"
"You yourself were telling me how sensitive this is," Zelgadis said. "Hell, even if we find the right person, we might have to work to make sure the town knows it's not some vast conspiracy against humans, or beastmen, or whoever."
"And what if it is a conspiracy?" Amelia asked. It was a horrible thought, but... well, she read a lot of books.
He gave her a grim smile. "Then we improvise. And then you go home to dig out this conspiracy by the roots."
Amelia wondered what he'd be doing while she did that. "I'm not going to lie to people, Mister Zelgadis. They deserve to know the truth of what's happening here. They can't learn to trust each other and become a town if people keep lying to them."
"I didn't ask you to lie," Zelgadis said. "You're a politician, Amelia. Going to be a leader, a queen, probably. You'll have to figure out what to tell them that both lets you sleep at night, and keeps things from turning nasty."
Amelia looked at Bartalan, who was also nodding. She sighed. "Let's deal with this problem first. Then, I will make sure Justice is done. For everyone. How do we lure our saboteur out?"
"She might want to attack the mill again?" Pol suggested. "Before Astin and I repair it."
"But she won't attack when it's guarded," Zelgadis said. "Unless... she seems really interested in framing others for what she's doing. What if we gave her either the ultimate chance, or the ultimate frame?" He grinned like the cat that ate the canary, and started to outline a plan. Amelia had just one change to suggest.
"You're kidding me, right?" Zelgadis said, staring at Amelia.
"It makes the plan a lot more flexible," Amelia said. "And easier to control."
He crossed his arms. "No. The plan as written."
"Stop being so stubborn, Mister Zelgadis."
"If you think it's such a good idea, why don't you do it?"
"Because you'd be more convincing."
"You'll have to order me to. Because I won't do it willingly."
Amelia crossed her arms. "Don't make me do that, Mister Zelgadis! I don't want you to force you to do it."
"No," he said. "You just want to talk me into it, and possibly bully me into it."
Bartalan watched the exchange. "Do you get the feeling that we're missing out on some context?" he asked Pol.
"Something like that," the foxman agreed.
"Mister Zelgadis," Bartalan cleared his throat. "I would appreciate you taking such a risk to protect one of the citizens of our town."
Zelgadis looked away from his argument with her. Amelia tried to look mature and regal, like the way a queen should look, instead of like she was going to throw a tantrum. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was, but, if he was really so against it, she really didn't want to force her friend.
On the other hand, he was technically currently employed by Saillune, which made her able to give him orders.
On the other other hand, she had put him in charge of the investigation. Which meant trusting his judgement. Even if he was doing this because he didn't like part of her plan. "Mister Zelgadis?" she asked. "If it didn't involve you personally, would you take my modification?"
He looked at Bartalan and Pol, as if he didn't want to admit he would take a risk to avoid personal discomfort. "It would depend," he said. "I don't think it would fool our target. If I was convinced it would, then, yes, it would be the better plan."
She smiled. "We'll just have to rehearse both ways, and make the call before we put it into action."
They did end up going with her variant, much to Zelgadis's grudging acceptance.
Index
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter
Fandom: Slayers
Rating: PG
Genre: Mystery/Action
Words: 23,000 total (3,900 this chapter)
Notes/Warnings: Oh, boy. I started this ages ago. It might be older than my grad school career. I finally finished it for this year's
casestory. Art is by sholio. Beta work done by yuuo. Story may have a Zel/Amelia bias, but I think it can be read as friendship. Summary: Zelgadis's attempts to settle down are not working well. When Amelia asks him to accompany him to the southern frontier of Saillune to investigate reports of sabotage, it certainly sounds like a breath of fresh air. What he finds is a mess of politics and bigotry, and Amelia's attempts to help are hit or miss... and starting to drive Zel nuts. The two of them must work together to find the saboteur, and hope the discovery doesn't touch off a riot in a town divided.
Disclaimer: Slayers copyright Hajime Kanzaka/Rui Araizumi/Kadokawa/TV Tokyo/Medianet and this derivative work was created without permission.
Index
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter
The weather had cleared up by the next day, though it was noticeably cooler. There were thousands of little flowers in the grass outside that weren't there yesterday, and grasshoppers and butterflies and other sorts of bugs flew around them, making buggy sounds that mixed with the birdsong of the little brown birds perched on the grass stalks. It was a beautiful day, and it was almost a shame she and Zelgadis would have to spend it working, Amelia thought.
But, the sooner they could get things wrapped up, the sooner there would be time for walking through the grasslands around here and just talking. Or, more likely, heading back to the capital for more paperwork and meetings and brushing off courtiers.
Zelgadis had suggested that she talk to Sholei, while he found Halimeda. 'You know Miss Halimeda better, so it's probably a good idea to get a fresh set of eyes on her. Ask Priestess Sholei about the cloak, and where she was last night. And try to get a better idea of what she's like'. That and the presence of Halimeda's assistant meant that Zelgadis wouldn't have to deal with another human out to be hostile to him because he was a chimera.
She knocked on the door to Sholei's house. No answer. "Miss Sholei? Are you there?"
Amelia had just reached the point of wondering if it would be just to just barge in, in case Sholei was in trouble or something, when the door opened. "I'm dreadfully sorry, Your Highness." Sholei looked tired, despite it being well into mid-morning. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her clothing looked mussed and wrung out, like it had gotten wet and dried while she was still wearing it, rather than being left up to dry. "I was out late last night."
Bingo! "I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Sholei. There was quite a storm last night. What happened?"
"Oh, just a couple of house calls to some of the far-flung farms. Truthfully, it probably could have waited until morning, but the farmers didn't know that. The storm caught me off-guard, and I ended up spending the night at the last house. I did hear I ended up missing Missus Galatei's accident because of it. You caught me as I was heading out." She frowned. "Will this take long?"
"Not long, Miss Sholei."
Sholei still looked worried. "As you say, Your Highness, but I may have to take my leave if it does, begging your pardon. Won't you come in?"
"Of course. I was trained as a priestess myself, so I know how it is." Amelia stepped inside her home. The front room was pretty sparsely decorated. Perhaps Sholei didn't have many guests, or she had been too busy to fill in the empty spaces of the room. Or maybe she liked simplicity. A curtain-covered door to the side presumably led into the town's temple next door, and another curtain probably lead to the kitchen. There was a set of cushions on the floor, presumably for seating, and a futon still left on the middle of the floor. "Only two rooms?" Amelia asked.
"I don't need much space, Your Highness. When I'm up, I'm working. If not, there's a place for me to sleep." Sholei grabbed the futon, starting to fold it to put it away. Amelia took the other side, helping the other woman.
"You must work hard," Amelia said.
"I like my job. And there's no shortage of things to do in town. Even if no one has injured himself, there's always need of a spare set of hands." Sholei took the folded futon from Amelia, and wrestled it back into the cabinet in the corner.
"I'd think that'd be a pretty lonely life," Amelia said. "Without making friends here, I mean. Are you planning on staying here long?"
"I go where I'm assigned. And I'm well acquainted with people. A healer is a welcome sight around here. Most people aren't used to having a priestess on call."
The whistle of the kettle sounded from the other room. "Oh, I forgot about the kettle!" Sholei said. "It's a good thing you kept me, Your Highness -- I might have gone off to the Galateis' without turning that off."
"Let me get that," Amelia said, starting towards the door.
"Princess, I couldn't ask you to do that. I can handle making tea. Would you like a cup?" Sholei asked.
"That would be lovely," Amelia said.
Sholei hurried into the other room, leaving Amelia alone. There wasn't much to look at in the room. The furniture -- the cushions, a small table, the futon, the cabinet -- was a bit foreign in design. Very well crafted, though, based on what limited knowledge she had on furniture. She examined the cutwork on the table, trying to place the design. Southern Elemekian, maybe, or one of their tributary states.
"I have the tea," Sholei came out again, holding a tray. She set it down on the table, and sat on one of the cushions.
"This is a lovely table, Miss Sholei."
The priestess nodded. "Family heirloom."
"Oh?" Amelia said. "It must be rough for you to be so far from your family. Where are they living now?"
"In Elemekia. Don't worry about me, Princess. I'm not exactly close to them. We had a bit of a disagreement before I came to Saillune for my priestess training."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I could do?"
Sholei shook her head. "It's a personal matter. It'll work itself out, sooner or later."
She took a sip of her tea. It was hot, almost unpleasantly so in the summer weather, unusually bitter, and was heavily spiced. She stirred it a bit with a spoon, and wondered if she could drop a small ice spell into it without offending her host. "Oh, Miss Sholei?" Amelia asked. "Missus Galatei was wondering if you had her cloak? She left it somewhere last week, and she asked me to ask around while I was in town." She took another drink of her tea. Definitely an acquired taste. Preferably with milk and honey to cut the bitterness.
"I'm sorry. I haven't seen it." Sholei stood up, taking a last drink of her tea. Amelia blinked. Her own tea was still hot, and over half full. Maybe Sholei had cast her own ice spell to cool the tea quickly. "I better get along to attend to her, though. She must be in terrible pain."
"Mister Astin gave her some herbs last night, but I think she'll appreciate seeing you." Amelia stood up as well. "Thank you for the tea, Miss Sholei. I'll be going now."
Well, hopefully Zelgadis had better luck. And hopefully she didn't miss anything obvious while asking questions.
* * *
"What do you mean she didn't come back?" Zelgadis looked at Donla, trying to figure out if she was lying. Nothing, which was nearly useless without some idea of Donla's personality.
"She didn't come back. She was caught out in the storm. She just had to ride out last night to check the spells shoring up some of the gullies near the bluffs," Donla told him, rolling her eyes. "She probably spent the night at one of the farms out there. Again. She's been like this all spring."
Or she's our saboteur, and she fled, Zelgadis thought.
"You can come in and sit while you wait for her," Donla said. "I'm out of work until she gets back, so some company would be nice. Did you eat breakfast?"
"Yes, I ate before Amelia and I came into town." He could see what she knew, at least. Donla led him inside, sitting at one of the rickety chairs around the table. Zelgadis eased into the one next to her, testing its weight and putting his back to the wall, and giving him a clear view of the front door. "How long have you been Miss Halimeda's apprentice?"
"Since I came here. Leigh was pretty open about asking for people who knew a bit of magic. Most people didn't know enough to help. And everyone's too busy trying to make their own living to get the training." Donla chuckled. "I didn't really know what I was going to do here, so when Leigh offered to teach me how to help her, I agreed." She folded her hands in front of her. "Mind if I ask you something, Mister Graywords?"
"You can ask," Zelgadis said gruffly. On the one hand, it would make her more opening to answering his questions. On the other, he hated answering questions about himself. Maybe he should have asked Amelia to handle this. Amelia was charming.
"How'd it happen?" Donla leaned forward, studying his face. He leaned back reflexively.
"How'd what happen?" he asked.
"You know, how'd you become a chimera?"
"Do you normally ask people that?" Zelgadis tried to keep from glaring at her.
"Actually, yes." Donla said. "Most people in town are beastmen or humans. There's only a handful of chimera -- me, Astin, a few others. And now Princess Amelia's investigator. So I'm kind of curious about the ones I do meet."
"I trusted someone I shouldn't have, and he did this to me so that he'd have a strong, smart, loyal servant. And as an experiment to see if he could," Zelgadis said simply. He didn't really want to get into the whole business with Rezo, since that would just lead to an argument on whether the Red Priest was as good as everyone said he was. Again.
"Oh." Donla said. "You're part demon too, right?" At his nod, she continued, "were you a spellcaster before it happened?"
"Some. I was more of a swordsman who knew a few useful spells." Before he'd become a chimera, Zolf had handled most of the magic their gang needed, and Rezo had been willing to provide healing... if you didn't mind the guilt of taking the priest away from his work.
"Noticed it helped your magic, too, didn't you?" Donla asked. "I wasn't much of an apprentice when I was human. When my first mentor suggested-"
"Wait a moment. You mean you agreed to being a chimera?" Zelgadis nearly fell out of his chair.
"Well, yes. If it was a choice of being a cheesemonger's daughter who could barely use a light spell, and a great sorceress, then I guess I was willing to do whatever it took. Only, it didn't work; I'm better, but I'm still not very good at magic. Eventually my mentor was brought in by the city's Sorcerer's Guild for his experiments, and no one wanted to teach me any more. That was two years ago. Leigh's the first spellcaster who didn't turn me away."
"And you didn't think maybe it wasn't worth it?" Zelgadis asked.
"Not now that I have a teacher again."
"How can you say that?" Zelgadis asked. "You know what it's like being a freak."
"I'm not a freak, Mister Graywords, no matter what other people say. I'm becoming what I want to be, a sorceress. If that's how you see yourself, it's no wonder you always look like you just sucked on a lemon."
"I do not look-" Zelgadis saw the door open and stood up as Leigh entered.
Her blue cape still folded like it was a bit damp, and she quickly hung it up on a hook besides the door, and her boots squelched as she walked over to the two of them. "Why, Mister Graywords, what brings you here, besides having a discussion with my apprentice loud enough to wake the Demon Lord in the North?" she asked.
He hadn't realized he'd been speaking so loud. "I wanted to ask you a couple of questions." He straightened his tunic, and tried to recover his dignity. It was too late to pretend that Donla hadn't hit a nerve when the'd been talking.
"Go ahead."
"I'll go start on work, okay?" Donla stood up herself, and went into the back room. Since she had just told Zelgadis she didn't have anything to do, he suspected it was a lie to get out of the room.
Zelgadis spared her a glance before starting his questions. "Where were you last night?"
"Out," Leigh said. "I had to make sure there wouldn't be flooding in the area. I saw the clouds rolling in, and I thought I had enough time to check everything before the rain started. Turns out I didn't."
"Alone?"
"My apprentice doesn't ride, so she couldn't keep up. I stayed with the Grants overnight, and surveyed the damage before coming back. This isn't the first time this has happened, so I assumed Donla would guess what happened."
"I see," Zelgadis said. He could check with the Grants later, but it still left time for her to be the person they saw last night, even if she had spent the night out there.
Leigh inclined her head. "Wasn't Urice's meeting last night? Did the suspect show?"
"Yes, but she evaded us. Have you seen Missus Galatei's cloak?"
"Hasn't she got it back yet?" Leigh frowned. "She left it around here a couple of days ago. I gave it to Claire Sholei to give it back to her."
"Really?" Zelgadis said. This was something they could check, even if it remained her word versus the priestess's.
"Yes, really," Leigh crossed her arms. "Why? Hasn't she got it yet?"
There was a knock at the door, then Amelia came flying in; not literally, thank heavens, but at a pace that made Zelgadis wonder if she was going to collide with something. "Hello!"
"Amelia," he said, "this is unusual. Weren't you-"
"I was," she confirmed. "When I was heading back, I noticed there was a crowd gathered at the stables. The new parts for the mill have come in."
* * *
Amelia had managed to make her way to the front of the crowd gathering at the mill, where Bartalan, and the miller were talking. Someone else, a very large, trollish-looking someone, was working in the background, removing the crates from the supply wagon that had brought them in. The horses had already been led off.
"How quickly can these parts go in?" the mayor asked.
"With both me and Astin working on it?" the miller -- Pol, that's what his name was, Amelia remembered -- said. "About a week. We can work through most of the day, but I wouldn't trust some of this at night. My night vision's not that bad, but this is fine work."
"What about candles or lanterns?" Bartalan crossed his arms.
"It's a fire hazard," Pol said. "It's probably safe, since we just had the rain, and we haven't been working in there a while, but the flour's pretty dry, and it tends to be a bit explosive in closed conditions."
"Explosive?" Amelia said. "I had no idea."
Pol nodded. "I don't allow candles or lanterns in the mill. Miss Halimeda and Miss Sholei had some light spells they were working on for us, but I didn't want to rush them. Most of their supplies go to getting the crops going."
"Well, if you and Mister Astin don't mind supervising into the night, I'm sure we can-" Bartalan stopped as Mister Zelgadis shook his head.
"Can we talk to you in private, Mayor, Mister Miller?" Zelgadis asked.
"About?" the mayor asked.
"Miss Sholei and Miss Halimeda," Zelgadis answered. "I'd rather not say anything in public, though."
"There's a room in one of the outbuildings we can use," Pol volunteered. He turned back towards the wagon and his assistant. "Astin, just keep unloading things, then wait until I come back, all right?"
Astin nodded, and went back to whatever he was doing, as Amelia, Zelgadis and the mayor followed the miller into a shed. Pol closed the door behind them, then turned to Zelgadis. "All right, what is it?"
"Yes, Mister Graywords, please go on," Bartalan said.
Zelgadis looked a shade uneasy, which surprised Amelia. Normally he was not one to let many emotions cross his features. Stony-faced, though she'd never say that to him aloud. "Well, last night, after Missus Galatei was injured, Amelia and I went to the stake-out as planned."
"And your suspect didn't show up?" Bartalan said.
"No, she did show up, and tried to fake us out by using Galatei's cloak as a disguise," Mister Zelgadis said. "We weren't able to get a good look at her, but she used a flight spell to escape."
"She was human then?" Bartalan said.
Amelia nodded. "I think so. Maybe a chimera, but definitely not a beastman. I'm sorry." Not that a beastman would be better. She wasn't sure what would, besides a mazoku.
Bartalan shook his head. "Either situation would be a problem," he agreed. "The real problem is that the town is divided between humans and non-humans."
"While it's possible someone else is a mage, I think we need to list Miss Sholei and Miss Halimeda as our primary suspects," Zelgadis said.
"Both were heavily screened before being assigned here, I assume?" Bartalan said.
Amelia found herself reddening. "Miss Halimeda wasn't. I think the Sorcerer's Guild just put out a call for any member who could learn the magic and was willing to move. The Temple did assign Miss Sholei here, but I don't know how much checking they did. I'd have to speak to the High Priest back in the capital."
"Screening them doesn't matter now that they're both here," Zelgadis said. "I want to keep both of them away from the mill."
"What about Miss Halimeda's apprentice?" Amelia asked suddenly. "She's also a magic user, and she could be mistaken for a human in the dark."
Pol shook his head. "She and Astin were out helping Missus Galatei. She has an alibi." He chuckled. "Astin told me all about it; boy's got quite a crush."
"Well, that's one person who we can rule out," Amelia said. Their saboteur seemed as focused on making sure no one could pin her down as to the sabotage itself.
"Do you think we should post guards at the mill?" Pol asked. "Astin and I can keep people away during the day if he's not busy on his own land, but last time the sabotage happened at night." He considered. "My eyes aren't what they used to be, but my night vision was the best in my company. But I also can't stay up all night."
"We can ask Missus Galatei," Amelia said with a smile. "Once her leg is mended, I mean."
"And anyone who has an alibi for either last night or the night of the sabotage," Mister Zelgadis said. "Preferably both, in case we have multiple saboteurs."
Amelia grimaced. She hadn't even thought of there being more than one person. "And we should avoid Miss Halimeda and Miss Sholei, obviously. But, it won't solve the problem, though," Amelia said. "Even if the mill is fixed, someone could break it again. Or something else. Until we catch our saboteur, things won't get better."
"It's worse than that, Your Highness." Bartalan gave them all a grave look. "The longer this remains unsolved, the worse things will get in the town. A lot of the human citizens are cool to me, and the beastmen I've spoken to are mixed between worried and angry. If this goes on much longer, some of the young people might try to find any sort of scapegoat. I was worried it would happen when you caught Urice, but Mister Graywords was quick-thinking about that. But if someone level-headed isn't there-" he shrugged.
"Things go up like a powder keg," Pol said. "Boom."
"Oh," Amelia frowned. "You think so?"
"You yourself were telling me how sensitive this is," Zelgadis said. "Hell, even if we find the right person, we might have to work to make sure the town knows it's not some vast conspiracy against humans, or beastmen, or whoever."
"And what if it is a conspiracy?" Amelia asked. It was a horrible thought, but... well, she read a lot of books.
He gave her a grim smile. "Then we improvise. And then you go home to dig out this conspiracy by the roots."
Amelia wondered what he'd be doing while she did that. "I'm not going to lie to people, Mister Zelgadis. They deserve to know the truth of what's happening here. They can't learn to trust each other and become a town if people keep lying to them."
"I didn't ask you to lie," Zelgadis said. "You're a politician, Amelia. Going to be a leader, a queen, probably. You'll have to figure out what to tell them that both lets you sleep at night, and keeps things from turning nasty."
Amelia looked at Bartalan, who was also nodding. She sighed. "Let's deal with this problem first. Then, I will make sure Justice is done. For everyone. How do we lure our saboteur out?"
"She might want to attack the mill again?" Pol suggested. "Before Astin and I repair it."
"But she won't attack when it's guarded," Zelgadis said. "Unless... she seems really interested in framing others for what she's doing. What if we gave her either the ultimate chance, or the ultimate frame?" He grinned like the cat that ate the canary, and started to outline a plan. Amelia had just one change to suggest.
"You're kidding me, right?" Zelgadis said, staring at Amelia.
"It makes the plan a lot more flexible," Amelia said. "And easier to control."
He crossed his arms. "No. The plan as written."
"Stop being so stubborn, Mister Zelgadis."
"If you think it's such a good idea, why don't you do it?"
"Because you'd be more convincing."
"You'll have to order me to. Because I won't do it willingly."
Amelia crossed her arms. "Don't make me do that, Mister Zelgadis! I don't want you to force you to do it."
"No," he said. "You just want to talk me into it, and possibly bully me into it."
Bartalan watched the exchange. "Do you get the feeling that we're missing out on some context?" he asked Pol.
"Something like that," the foxman agreed.
"Mister Zelgadis," Bartalan cleared his throat. "I would appreciate you taking such a risk to protect one of the citizens of our town."
Zelgadis looked away from his argument with her. Amelia tried to look mature and regal, like the way a queen should look, instead of like she was going to throw a tantrum. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was, but, if he was really so against it, she really didn't want to force her friend.
On the other hand, he was technically currently employed by Saillune, which made her able to give him orders.
On the other other hand, she had put him in charge of the investigation. Which meant trusting his judgement. Even if he was doing this because he didn't like part of her plan. "Mister Zelgadis?" she asked. "If it didn't involve you personally, would you take my modification?"
He looked at Bartalan and Pol, as if he didn't want to admit he would take a risk to avoid personal discomfort. "It would depend," he said. "I don't think it would fool our target. If I was convinced it would, then, yes, it would be the better plan."
She smiled. "We'll just have to rehearse both ways, and make the call before we put it into action."
They did end up going with her variant, much to Zelgadis's grudging acceptance.
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