A Spell Misplaced, page 31
part #4 of Gags & Pepper: Protection Agents Series
“That’s all I need.”
“He owes Eliza Farris a fair sum,” Otto said. “I think it fair that you settle with her, Lord Dyre, and pay for our passage to Peria.”
“That is all arranged,” Lord Pearton said, “including Farris’s compensation. She knows how to take care of herself, but I will tell Farris that you were looking out for her interests.”
Otto blushed, but he nodded his assent.
“You have a ship contracted?” Gags asked.
“We do,” Lord Pearton said. “It put in two days ago while you were recuperating and emptying the larder at your townhouse. It is a Calessian ship from Veilport, but it sails tomorrow.”
“That sounds like Seppius Darkman has returned. Lucian?”
“He has, and a lovely coincidence it is. Remember, we travel on his ships for free! Seppius is willing to put us off in South Pustule. Ann and I are ready,” Lucian said.
“Are you ready?” Gags asked Miria.
She nodded and stared at Gags. That was more like the old Miria. Her confidence had improved, but with some time on the ship, he hoped they could talk about a future that wasn’t quite so hazy as it was when Miria was first transformed.
~
Gags looked across the rolling sea and then at Miria, leaning on the rail.
“Go to her,” Seppius Darkman said. “You put another country on the right track and paved my way to a few lucrative trade agreements with Baxterton.”
“With Eliza Farris as your agent, I understand,” Gags asked.
“Of course,” Seppius said. “You haven’t talked to Miria since you boarded a week ago.”
“I’ve been avoiding her, I know. I’m afraid that anything I say will make things worse.”
Seppius sighed. “We all know about your reticence. She has even mentioned it.”
Gags took a deep breath and stepped across the deck, putting his hands on the railing next to Miria.
“Are you anxious?” Gags said.
“Of course, I’m anxious,” Miria said with a hint of crossness. “What are we going to do? You know we can’t continue as we left things in Atto. You might not have had much of a break with life, but I did.”
“I offered you to spend some time at headquarters,” Gags said. “You can reunite with He Bin and Pophius. Others will be interested in meeting you.”
“They all know I was a unicorn?”
“And they all know you were Miria, an extraordinary soldier who was a member of Pophius’s special unit. Only a few of us ever saw you in your unicorn aspect.”
“Do you see me as a unicorn?” Miria said.
“I never did. The unicorn was a shell that you were trapped in. I fought for five years to put myself in a position to remove the shell.”
She grabbed his arm and put her head on his shoulder. “You don’t think ill of me, I know. But I can't give myself to anyone until I can shed thinking of myself as a unicorn. Can you understand that?”
“I think I do,” Gags said. “Do you need to go north and reunite with your family?”
Miria snorted. “Not necessary. I don’t even want to appear on their doorstep as Countess Miria.” She laughed. “I never thought I’d have a title.”
Gags sighed. “I thought titles didn’t mean anything, but they do,” he said. “Many nobles disrespect their titles, and it’s hard to find those that don’t. I want to be an example who carries the lessons of virtue into their lives and how they deal with others.”
Gags was surprised by Miria squeezing his arm.
“That is what attracted me to you. Vingus Gags is different from anyone else from his magic to how he approaches whatever he does.”
Gags laughed. “I’ve made loads of mistakes,” he said.
“But you’ve managed to do so with honor,” Miria said.
“I’ve killed people.”
“So have I,” Miria said. “Watch what you are about to say.”
“Give me a chance to show you honor. Come to Yearsend Vale for a while. Let’s go on a few adventures as comrades, not as a couple. There will be lots of opportunities. Then, whenever you are ready, let me know your decision.”
Miria smiled at him. “I can do that, comrade.”
The End
Gags & Pepper Characters & Locations
Characters
The Plight of the Unicorn
Tibbeus Pepper - petty thief
Vingus Gags - magician.
Leana Wilter Gags - Vingus Gags’s stepmother
Portia Dapple - wife of Mexius Dapple
Harrowood - special instructor of the Perian magician army.
Pophius Laster - Special Unit leader
The Special Forces Squad:
Wadius Happus
Asetia Workfan
Lucian Rapper
Selcius Kilt
Barian Onion
Miria Dorling – addition to squad after arriving in Tenshing
Shing Tao Tao- commander of Gaolong rebel forces
Toquo - Qualong rebel member
He Bin - Attoan fighting instructor
Eno Banban - wizard-ruler of Gaolong
Li Bo - caravan master
Lord Gu Lir - owner of a unicorn
Yu Ri - merchant in Port Olang-du
Hirmoneus - registrar at convoy compound
Sincinn Handygarb - wagon master in Temperance
Olissa Tincture - traveling magician
Gelius Karkle – lawyer in Karkle Cross
The Wizard’s Chalice
Narcissia Hedgewhistle - Housekeeper
Hamian Distenzia - King Calius of Glorius
Wisnian Orange - wizard for King Calius
Florius - army friend of Gags
Bittian - army friend of Gags
Mexius Dapple – Portia’s husband
Terrius Dapple - Mexius Dapple’s brother
Seppius Darkman - gangster in Artport
Osmian Battle - Artport businessman
Remo Harshly - Artport police minister
Dorian Mulcher - Artport bureaucrat
Patricia Garish - Honian’s niece
Honian Garish - pottery merchant in Basheer, Caless
Baltheus Garish - magician
Soxus - chief guard for Honian Garish
Terzian - chief of rival tribe
Nestus Deliry - Fetishing wizard
Quilius Oleander - lord of Fetishing fief
A Tinker’s Dame
Alius Barnum - book tinker
Dame Gamina Barnum Restinhaus - Professor of Archaic Languages
Tillius Tenpenn - wagon master
Delian Madlock - magicians army councilmember
Noria Darkman - Seppius Darkman’s daughter
Verian Daccoon – Ship’s captain
King Horius Linseed - Protector of Bashing and King of Hosand
Carolia Tempest – sorceress of the Crystal Brotherhood
Rulia Rapper - princess of Yellow River (king’s sister and Lucian’s mother)
Estius Rapper - Consort of Princess Rulia, Lucian’s father
King Venius Shatterset - king of Yellow River.
Cordius Gamelyn - member of the magicians army council
Junius Wrinkle - a general in the Hosandian 4th army
General Mencius Hatter - general of a Yellow River army unit.
A Spell Misplaced
Count Paul Browning – lord of Temperton fief
King David Victory – king of Baxter
Flora Baker – functionary in Baxter Ministry of Rites and Protocols
Lord Raymond Broadbeam – ministry functionary
Lord Peter Pearton – Minister of Rites and Protocols
Prince Francis Victory – King David’s brother
Lord Benjamin Julius – former PM
Ann Pearton – daughter of Lord Pearton
Admiral Dexter West – Lord of Admiralty
Valerie West – daughter of Admiral West
Vincent West – son of Admiral West
Eliza Farris – leader of an underworld gang in Baxterton
Otto Long – works for Eliza
Darlia Westmount – veteran of magicians war
Grant Dyre – captain of Royal Guard
Vincent West – son of Admiral West
Lord Carl – fief lord of Amering in Castlewhit
Locations
Peria - Continent
Bashing - capital of Hosand, one of central Peria’s petty kingdoms
Karkle Cross - small city where Gag’s father is the lord of the Karkle Cross fief
Yearsend – large village close to his manor.
Shatterset – capital of the Yellow River kingdom
Rudderport - Perian port close to the Neck of Peria facing Atto
Temperance – port at northern tip of Peria
Japershing - capital of the Glorius kingdom.
Artport - Perian port on west side facing Caless.
Sheerport - Perian port of eastern side
Fetishing - old capital of the old empire that one ruled over southern Peria.
Go-Greva - ancient capital of an even more ancient empire, now a ruin
Baffleshing – capital of Happlyever
Hardcastle – fief and large town in the Hosand kingdom
Merona – port city in the kingdom of Calica
Atto - Continent
Tenshing - capital and main port of the Ochre kingdom on Atto
Gaolong - wizard-ruled kingdom
Pilan - capital of the Gaolong kingdom aligned with the wizards
Dershao - Attoan kingdom
YinSho - capital of Dershao
Port Olang-du - 2nd largest city in the Tarling kingdom
Pakingoru – seat of Pakingoru fief
Caless – Continent
Veilport - Calessian port facing Artport
Basheer - Feybeerian city of the Gagareen
Rezzura - ancient capital centuries older than Fetishing - now a ruin.
Naneera - small city of the Feybeer
Oroia – Continent
Baxter – Oroian kingdom
Baxterton – capital of Baxter
Temperton – fief of Count Browning
Goldworthy – Oroian Queendom
Sweetwood – capital of Goldworthy
Whistlane – fief of Tyronia
Dimple – Oroian country
Greystone – capital of Dimple
Castlewhit – Oroian kingdom
Gettering – capital of Castlewhit
Amering – fief of Castlewhit ruled by Lord Carl
Codgerton – principal town within Amering
Pollerton – port within kingdom of Langia
~
Comrades in Magic
Excerpt from Book Five
~
Chapter One
~
C oming home never felt so good, Duke Vingus Gags thought as Otto Long, and he followed the small carriage carrying Miria, Darlia, Lucian, and Ann. The ride from South Pustule was serene compared to traveling in Oroia, where they had just been, saving Miria from a life as a unicorn.
The air carried the familiar scents from Perian trees and plants. The food was welcome after a few months of Oroian cuisine, although Gags never thought badly of Baxterian food. He wished there had been room in the carriage, but the passengers’ belongings were stuffed around them. He and Otto made the trip less tedious by swapping stories.
When Gags crossed into Yearsend Vale and recognized the road, he broke into a smile. Gags looked forward to a few weeks’ rest, catching up with the Gags & Pepper Protection Agency and his friends. He only had one worry: what to do about Miria.
As they entered the long drive to the hunting manor that served as the agency’s headquarters, Gags frowned. He had expected guards out in the field at the side of the manor, but the estate was silent as if no one was around.
Gags rode ahead and jumped off his horse at the front door. He tried the latch, but the door was locked. In his excitement, he failed to notice a posted notice at the side of the entry.
The Gags & Pepper Protection Agency headquarters have been temporarily closed pending disposition of the estate of the late Vingus Gags. Address any inquiries to Tibbeus Pepper, 7 High Street, Yearsend.
Gags cupped his hands to look through a window. Everything looked intact except for a scattered pile of papers on the small dining room table. The rest of the manor appeared abandoned.
The carriage passengers alighted and gathered at the front door. Lucian walked to the front door and frowned as he read the notice.
“Balderdash!” Lucian said, ripping the notice from the wall. “It’s on to Yearsend! Get back inside, ladies. We will get to the bottom of this.”
Gags pursed his lips.
“What is wrong?” Miria asked, walking back to the carriage.
“Do I look dead to you?” Gags asked.
“No,” she said.
“Show her the notice,” Gags said to Lucian.
“Oh. There is a misunderstanding,” Miria said with narrowed eyes that mirrored the feelings behind her words.
“Maybe none of my messages made it through,” Gags said. “Let’s talk to Pepper.”
~
The village of Yearsend looked pretty when the leaves were starting to turn, but the beauty was lost on Gags as he led the carriage into the town. Number 7 was an unoccupied shop when Gags had left Yearsend months ago.
Gags tied up the horse and walked inside. Portia Dapple, the agency manager, stood up, amazed, as Gags entered.
“You. You’re alive,” Portia said before putting her hand to her mouth.
“Thanks for noticing,” Gags said. “Who said I died?”
“A letter came from South Pustule. Pepper has it,” Portia said. Her astonishment turned into a gush of relief. “You are alive!” She hugged Gags and kissed him on the cheek.
“And who is she?” Miria asked, walking through the front door with Ann Pearton and Darlia Westmount.
Portia knitted her brow and disengaged. “I’m Portia Dapple.” Portia examined each of the women before speaking again. “I hope Miria is one of these ladies. They are all magicians, and even I can see that.”
Lucian stood behind and came forward. “This beautiful blonde lady is Ann Pearton. We are betrothed. I’d like to introduce Darlia Westmount, a former scout in the magicians army, and this,” Lucian grinned, “is Miria Dorling, the former unicorn Gags rescued from Oroia with a little help from his friends.”
“A lot of help from my friends,” Gags said. “Where is Pepper?”
“On a short job with Soxus, Patricia, and the guards who stayed on. Most of our people left, including Dame Gamina, when we were evicted from the manor.”
“Who evicted you?”
Portia took a deep breath. “Galius Karkle.”
“He has turned betrayer?”
“No, not at all,” Portia said. “Lord Ottavius Bottle is behind the eviction.”
“Who is Lord Ottavius Bottle? Is he the new fief lord taking my place?” Gags asked.
“He is the fief lord of Puddlebottom and was conveniently away when the coup happened. Galius thinks Bottle was in the thick of it but covered his tracks well.”
“Is there a place we can all sit?” Gags asked.
“The pub two doors down has a private room. We’ve used that before. Let’s see if it is available,” Portia said.
They waited for Portia to lock the storefront and found seats around a well-used table in the private room.
Portia told them about a detachment of the royal guard arriving and insisting on their exit until Gag’s affairs were completed. Galius Karkle had stalled the process until Gags’s death could be verified in Oroia.
“That’s not going to happen. I left in the new king’s good graces,” Gags said.
“It didn’t sound that way,” Portia said. “The note came from Castlewhit.”
“We need to send for Galius,” Gags said. “I spent most of my time in Baxter, where the new king resides.” He ran his hand through his hair and then sighed. “We had a few troubles in Castlewhit, but we made it through, all of us, including Otto, who is guarding the carriage along with the driver.”
“I know your story is much longer than that,” Portia said. “I wish I could get back into the manor, but Galius said that no one should enter until everything was settled.”
“I’ll ride to Karkle Cross. There is no sense in dragging everyone else. Can you get rooms for everyone in town?”
“I will,” Portia said. “Get something to eat as long as you are here. The food isn’t bad.”
Gags grinned. “I know. This isn’t my first visit. Where is Pophius?”
“He is at the army headquarters. Lord Bottle couldn’t get that closed. I’ll get him over here,” Portia said.
“Who will come with me?” Gags asked. “I don’t want to wait for a messenger.”
“I’d rather stay, Gags,” Lucian said. “I don’t want Ann left alone.”
“No, she won’t,” Darlia said. “I think Otto, Gags, and Lucian should go.”
“I’ll travel to Karkle Cross. I’ve been traveling in tight quarters ever since South Pustule. I’d like to see Gags’s domain, anyway,” Miria said.
“You can come, but I can’t guarantee your safety. There is an enemy I’ve never met anxious to attach my domains to his,” Gags said.
“I’m not a fragile flower,” Miria said.
“You look fragile enough to me,” Portia said, “but it is your choice, not Gags’s or mine.”
Miria smiled at Portia. “It is my choice,” she said as if she had discovered something exciting. “I’ll have to change my clothes.”
“There is a small residence above the agency that we don’t use,” Portia said. “You can store whatever you don’t take with you there.”
The food came, and despite Gags’s words to save some of the stories for later, Portia was given a summary of the Oroian adventures.
