The Wizard's Chalice, page 22
part #2 of Gags & Pepper: Protection Agents Series
“I’ll make sure there is some food for you.” Pepper tugged on the rope in the sequence that Patricia had made up for “Success - Pull me up”.
Pepper had to stand on the table and put the statue and the chalice in a bag that he tied to his ankle. He’d never make it through hole, holding either artifact or the lantern. Patricia returned the answering sequence and up he went. Getting through the hole was the hardest part, but after that he had to move to make it through the rest of the shaft until the light above him began to enlarge, and he emerged from the hole.
Mexius, Honian, Patricia stood on one side with Soxus, Gags, and two guards holding onto Pepper’s rope.
“Success?” Mexius asked.
Pepper nodded. “We found another treasure room behind a hidden door,” he said. “There were five huge statues in a row. The room is a square, twenty feet high and forty feet on a side. The statues looked like this,” Pepper said pulling out the figurine. The statue had folded wings that rose above its human face with a beak for a nose and mouth. The clothes looked like robes with bird claws sticking out from the bottom. He showed Mexius the undecorated bottom. “Solid gold from what I can tell,” Pepper said. “Was the other artifact like this?”
Mexius frowned. “Only Nestus Deliry knows. The explorer sold it to the wizard. Deliry hasn’t even shown it to Lord Quilius. You have something under your cloak. What else did you find?”
Pepper pulled out the chalice. “This. It is gold-leafed, but the writing is what makes this valuable.”
Mexius grabbed it. “This needs to go to Quilius,” he said.
“He knows the old language?” Gags asked. “Isn’t Nestus Deliry a scholar?”
“Not to Deliry!” Mexius said.
Pepper thought that very odd. Something was going on and it looked from Honian and Patricia’s expressions that they knew as much about it as Pepper did.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
~
Gags
~
W ith three others helping on the rope, bringing Pepper to the surface was easy, even though a lot of patience was required as Pepper made his way to the surface. Pepper’s face said it all. He had been triumphant. Patricia had said he had success. Gags didn’t know what success was, but he was soon to find out as soon as he helped Pepper up from the hole.
Mexius was the first to ask questions and the man’s eyes lit up when Pepper pulled out a little statue of a beast. A man-bird of some kind. Gags listened to the description of the treasure room. It sounded more like a temple than anything else.
Pepper’s voice became more excited when he showed Mexius the large cup. Pepper called it a chalice, and Gags admitted that might be the bestword to describe the vessel. It looked too large for drinking, but what drew him were the inscriptions.
He drew closer to Mexius. There was an etching of the same figure that Pepper had extracted from below. Gags didn’t know if that was significant, but it could be. Mexius had a look of disappointment when Pepper showed him that the chalice was gold-leafed brass, but the value wasn’t in the precious metal like the figurine, but in the engraving. What did the words say? He got closer when Quilius’s name was mentioned. Quilius didn’t strike him as an educated man.
Mexius was adamant that the chalice wasn’t supposed to go to Nestus Deliry.
“I’ll take it to Lord Quilius,” Gags said. “Pepper and I can go.”
“Not Pepper,” Honian said. “He is needed to supervise the children.”
“The children!” Pepper said. “They are starving. We need to pull them out so they can get something to eat and some fresh air. It’s awfully close down there.”
“Very well,” Mexius said impatiently. He thrust the chalice into Gags’s arms. “Get to Fetishing and return as soon as you can. Soxus will go with you. Leave now.”
Pepper frowned. “I’d be happy to go with Gags,” he said.
“If you did, we might never see either of you or that chalice, again,” Honian said.
There were too many guards to fight, and Honian was right. Gags had no desire to stick around
“Fine,” Gags said. “We will need a little spending money.”
Mexius ripped the purse from his belt and tossed it to Gags. “There is more than enough for your needs. Return what you don’t spend. Now, go!”
In a few minutes after Soxus conferred privately with Honian and Patricia, Gags and Soxus were heading back to Fetishing accompanied by six of the outriders that had shadowed them from Fetishing. It was clear that Mexius didn’t trust any of the guards, but he did Gags.
Soxus wasn’t any happier than Gags. “Mexius commands all the guards. He made it clear to Lord Garish that he and his niece were hostages as much as Pepper.”
Gags nodded and looked back at the guards behind them. “They have orders to kill us if we deviate from the way to Fetishing?” Gags asked.
“That would be my guess,” Soxus said.
“Then let’s get the figurine and the chalice to Quilius as soon as we can before we return.”
“If they let us return,” Soxus said.
“We can try to take all six,” Gags said.
Soxus shook his head. “Not worth the risk. If one turns and flees toward Go-Greva, people will die.”
“We could…”
“There are fifteen guards still at the site,” Soxus said.
“Too many for us, even with Patricia.”
“And Lord Honian. Pepper will be below,” Soxus said.
Gags had to admit that Soxus was right. They would be wary in Fetishing and return to Go-Greva as soon as they could.
The trip was much quicker on the way back to Fetishing without a wagon and a carriage to slow them down. The guards were up to a quick return and they spent the night out in the open, waking up at dawn to reach Fetishing by midday, making the return trip in half the time.
The guards escorted them through the city all the way to the palace, with two in front and four in back, they walked past the guards at the gate and into the palace. They were ushered into Quilius’s study. The guards withdrew. Gags thought it was a small victory that they weren’t killed as soon as they stepped onto the palace grounds.
“You have news?” Quilius said rushing into the room and sitting at his desk.
“Pepper found a real treasure room.”
Quilius blushed. “Real?”
Soxus looked at Gags. “You didn’t expect anything real?”
“Well,” Quilius said. “Nestus has been the insistent one. I brought Mexius in to placate my wizard.”
“With this, he can be placated,” Gags said, pulling the little man-bird statuette out of his bag. He put the figurine on the desk. “This is for you, and I will make a big guess that Nestus has been looking for something like this.” Gags put the chalice next to the man-bird.
Quilius’s eyes bulged. “You shouldn’t have brought that here! Nestus is going to want it.”
“Do you know what it says?” Gags asked.
Quilius shook his head. “All I know is that Nestus said there could be many of those at Go-Greva. They are spell chalices. The instructions for a spell is on the outside, and the magician could put ingredients inside the chalice.”
“A kit of some kind?” Soxus said.
Quilius managed a smile. “I like that. A kit.” He nodded. “He said there were some for transformations. I suppose that little statue is a model of what a man might become.”
“Hence the picture etched on the outside?” Gags said. “You don’t want Nestus to have this?”
“He is capable of anything, including turning me into one of those monsters. He told me what the wizard Eno Banban did in Atto.
“I was there,” Gags said. “I knew the person Banban turned into a unicorn.”
Quilius sat back in his chair. “Then you can appreciate my fears. I promised Mexius a lot of money to keep this secret if he found it.”
Soxus laughed. “All kinds of people witnessed Pepper and Mexius with these artifacts. The riders who accompanied us know.”
Quilius looked up at Gags and Soxus. “You can’t kill them all, can you?” he said, hopefully.
“No,” Soxus said. “I didn’t pay attention to their faces and they left us once we were in the palace.
Gags spoke up. “I have an idea, let me do a rubbing of the chalice. I’m very interested in that spell and I’d like to learn how it can be reversed. If Nestus figures out the language and how to do the spell, I promise I’ll return with the counterspell.”
“That’s a lot to ask.” Quilius looked sick as he said it.
“I am very motivated. My close friend is the unicorn,” Gags said. “Perhaps the spell can work on her.” The very prospect made Gags lightheaded with the possibility.
“I suppose I can let you do that.”
Gags was careful and quickly rubbed a pencil over the engravings and the picture. He carefully folded the paper and put it in his cloak when the door flew open.
“You found a chalice?” Nestus Deliry said, his eyes were almost too bright with excitement. He spotted the artifact and grabbed it off Quilius’s desk, but then as he examined the cup his expression dimmed. “This is in an old tongue,” he said.
“Go-Greva is an ancient place,” Gags said.
“Do you know how to translate this?” Nestus asked Gags.
Gags shook his head. “I haven’t the foggiest,” he said. “Quilius said it might be a transformation spell.”
Nestus narrowed his eyes. “Not for you to know.” He turned on his heel and left the study with the door wide open.
“And he works for you?” Soxus asked Lord Quilius.
“Somedays I think so,” the lord of Fetishing said.
“Can we return to Go-Greva?” Gags said. Mentioning that his friends were held hostage might not be the right thing to say, he thought.
Quilius hefted the figurine. “Solid gold?”
“Pepper said so,” Gags said.
The Lord of Fetishing smiled. “You may go. Have Mexius write a report of what he had found. Two rooms, you say?” Quilius asked.
“At least two rooms,” Soxus said, “but quite a bit of it isn’t solid gold.”
“A few more of these and it won’t matter. Then you’d best be on your way.” Quilius said.
Gags took that as a dismissal, and he and Soxus retrieved their horses, and rode out of the castle grounds as quickly as they dare.
Once on the other side of the huge square, Gags looked for the best-looking public house. If Lucian had his say, that would be the one he would pick. He Bin wouldn’t care and Pophius didn’t mind a higher quality of drink. They tied their horses in front of an inn, but they had just passed their destination on the previous block.
Gags walked into the pub and surveyed the patrons. In a corner lurked a familiar figure, burly, but obviously short for a Perian.
“Success never came so easily,” Gags said.
Soxus and Gags approached the table and let He Bin, the Attoan, look up and grin.
“This is Pepper? Pophius said he was a little guy. Your friend isn’t little.”
Gags laughed. “That’s because this isn’t Pepper. Meet Soxus. He works for a Basheeran merchant.”
“Basheeran?” He Bin asked.
“Basheer is a city in southern Caless,” Soxus said.
“I’ll tell you more. Where is everyone else?” Gags asked.
He Bin cleared his throat. “Well, there is a complication.”
~
Gags had to sit down. He closed his eyes tightly as he was hoping for good news. “What complication?”
“Lucian and Pophius were in an altercation in the market,” He Bin said. “I was sleeping at our inn, at the time, and they were arrested.” The Attoan took a deep breath. “We were waiting for you. It’s not like they couldn’t fight their way out, but that would mean we’d have to leave this mildewy city.”
A few of the patrons turned to look at He Bin, having overheard his description of their home.
“All right. Do you know where they were taken?” Gags asked.
He Bin frowned. “No. That’s why I’m sitting here drowning in sadness and despair. The ale is exceptionally good and sadness and despair is as good of an excuse as any.”
“Then let us drown a little,” Gags said with a smile. “Pepper will be severely disappointed.”
Soxus shrugged and almost smiled.
“How did you find out they were arrested?” Gags asked.
“The innkeeper slipped a message under my door. We’ve been staying in a four-bed room.”
Gags let his shoulders droop. “Did you ask the innkeeper?”
“Should I have?” He Bin said. He sighed and nodded. “I should have. I’ve been relying on Lucian to be the smart one for too long.”
Gags nodded. “You have, He Bin. Time to exercise your brain. What should we do next?”
“Talk to the innkeeper and wring some details out of him.”
“Since we have no other leads, I think you’ve come up with the right answer,” Gags said.
The ale came, and Gags let He Bin and Soxus introduce themselves to each other. Gags took the opportunity to order some food. Soxus ate lightly, but He Bin and Gags finished what was served.
The introduction phase was over, the food was consumed, and the ale was about gone. Gags rose from his seat.
“Time to find the little string that will take us to our friends,” Gags said. “Show us to your inn.”
The inn was the same one where the horses were, and the three of them found the innkeeper supervising the beginnings of the evening fare.
The man looked at Gags and Soxus. “Those aren’t your friends.”
“You are right!” He Bin said. “We came to Fetishing to meet Gags, here. Now I have to find out where my friends were taken.”
“They were arrested,” the innkeeper said.
“And?” Gags said. “What happens to arrested people in Fetishing?”
“They are put into the city jail,” the innkeeper said.
“Which is where?” He Bin asked, winking at Gags.
“It is on the Little West Road, not far from here,” the innkeeper said.
“How did the city guard know where my friends were staying?”
He Bin put his face to his hands. “I must be getting old.”
“Not old enough,” Gags said with a grin. “You just needed reinforcements,” Gags said, turning back to the innkeeper.
“Now that you mention it, the guards sent someone with the message. I think they were people who work for the wizard,” the innkeeper said. “They are scarier than the lord’s guard.”
“How can you tell the difference?” Gags asked.
“Uniforms. The wizard’s people wear black uniforms,” the innkeeper said.
Gags thought for a moment. “So, a messenger dressed in black delivered the message?”
The innkeeper nodded.
“Are they in the habit of taking people off the streets of Fetishing?” Soxus broke his silence with the question.
“It has been known to happen with Nestus Deliry’s people. No one would dare stop anything the blackcoats were doing. If they took them, I don’t know where they are. It is common knowledge that the wizard doesn’t use the palace dungeons.”
“Is there anything else you noticed?” Gags asked.
The innkeeper shrugged.
“Thank you,” He Bin said to the innkeeper before the three of them exited the inn. “What next?”
“You tell me,” Gags said.
“We find a black uniformed guard and follow him.”
Gags nodded. “The note said they were abducted in the market?”
“Can we believe the note?” Soxus said. “I don’t trust anyone here, including the innkeeper.”
Gags thought for a minute. “I’ve met the wizard, and I wouldn’t trust him, either. He had heard of Pophius as well as me and probably Lucian and you,” Gags said to He Bin. “Somehow someone recognized them as threats.”
“Sorcerers?” He Bin asked.
Gags shrugged. “Maybe. If that’s the case, Deliry is a wizard in the enemy sense. He was on the council that ran the army.”
“A traitor?”
“The war is over, so traitor wouldn’t be the right word. A budding criminal? I think that would fit,” Gags said and then smiled. “Lucian is better with right words.”
“Was Pophius doing any investigating?” Gags asked He Bin.
“We were all doing some investigating, trying to find out if you ever made it to Fetishing, and we discovered, just before they were taken, that you had been here with friends of the local lord.”
“Which is true.” They headed toward the market while Gags brought He Bin up to speed with the big picture.
“Why don’t you find the local lord and get Pophius and Lucian freed,” He Bin asked.
Gags pursed his lips for a bit. “The wizard and the lord are not on the friendliest of terms. I’d rather deal with only one of them.”
“And the wizard is the easier one?” Soxus said with doubt in his voice.
“No, but the four of us have magic with He Bin and you a little less, so. It looks like Nestus Deliry is still subservient to Lord Quilius. With Pepper and your charges as hostages, we will have to tread lightly.”
“There are two people in black. A man and a woman with the bodies of magicians,” He Bin said, pointing across to the market.
“Shall we follow them?” Gags asked.
“I will, if no one else does,” Soxus said, walking briskly across the street, letting He Bin and Gags catch up.
Soxus didn’t walk directly toward the two sorcerers, so Gags and He Bin went a little slower.
“Shall we split up?” Soxus asked.
“In sight of each other, but apart,” He Bin said. “That is what my expanding brain has told me.”
Gags chuckled. “Good.”
They went down separate market lanes and the pair began strolling through the market. Gags guessed the two had a relationship by the way they walked closely down the lane and how they talked intimately while looking at merchandise. Gags wondered if he should confront them while they were in such good moods, but just as he was about to approach them, three more black-uniformed guards joined the couple.
