Novel 1. Mercenary Company Bright Heads. Story 3. Where all paths converge

Three days before the beginning of spring, Emilia arrived earlier than usual, dressed in her uniform and armor, her sword in a sling.

— I'm sorry, there will be no lesson today, — she said as she crossed the threshold of the lodge. — Her Highness will be leaving in a few hours. Captain Valria and Master Carlon are invited to the palace.

— So suddenly... — the mage, who had been sitting in an armchair with a book, frowned.

— The exact time of the Duchess' departure from the palace is always known only to her and the guardsmen, — the brown-eyed girl replied. — A mere precaution.

— Well, — Valria rose from the table where she had been munching breadcrumbs with milk and picked up her leather gloves from the windowsill. — It's time to go. Dallan, get our bags and horses ready, and meet us outside the gate.

Since the assassination of the last ruler, palace security has been tightened, but the Lady Guardian and her companions were allowed inside without question, as before. After passing the cordegardia, Emilia led the mage and elfish girl not to the main building, but somewhere to the right, along the fence. As Carlon realized with surprise, it was toward the menagerie. The Elvartian menagerie was second only to the imperial one in size and wealth. It occupied three squat buildings, one of which was a greenhouse where thermophilic beasts from the far south were kept in winter. More recently, the living gifts from the overseas colonies had also been housed there-the creatures caught in the damp forests of Ludria were frozen in Elvart even in the summer. It was to this glass-roofed enclosure that their escort made her way. The open door smelled so hot that the mage hurriedly unbuttoned his jacket beforehand. Walking between the aviary, where red-and-yellow birds were jumping restlessly on a fine netting, and the pen with sleepy desert antelope, all three of them found themselves on a circular platform. The door of a large cage overlooked the court. In the cage, a bipedal lizard, already familiar to the mage, sat on the floor, brought as a gift to the late duke, and before the door stood... Duchess Christina the Second in her own right.

— Your Highness, — Lady Emilia bowed to her. Valria and Carlon followed the Guardsman's example.

— Good day, Emilia. Good day, Captain, Master... — The Duchess averted her gaze from the lizard and turned to the new arrivals. — Frankly, I've spent the last quarter of an hour trying to figure out what you're interested in this creature, Lady Valria. I received your letter.

— That's good, Your Highness. — The elf-woman walked rather unceremoniously past the duchess and stopped in front of the steel bars. She tapped them with her bent finger, catching the lizard's attention. It got up from the straw thatch and came closer. He stared at the girl with his unblinking, round eyes. Valria, deliberately slow, pulled her gloves off her hands and tucked them behind her belt. She took off her dapper leather jacket, with its white fur collar, and held it out to the lizard through the bars. The overseas beast took another step forward, raised its clawed paw... and grabbed the captain's hand, sinking its sharp claws deep into the back of her wrist.

— Lady Valria! — The guardian jerked forward, striking her sword, but the elfess stopped her with a gesture. Blood trickled thinly down the girl's arm, pooling at the wrist, but she made no attempt to free it. The captain stared into the lizard's eyes as she continued to hold out her jacket for him. The lizard stood motionless as well, running its claws full length into Velria's flesh. Finally, he hissed softly, opening his mouth, and withdrew his paw. As if hesitating for a moment, he took the girl's jacket, threw it over his shoulders in a perfectly human motion. He leaned forward and ... quickly licked the wounds left by his claws on the girl's arm with his long thin tongue. Then he returned to the couch and sat down, wrapped in his gifted jacket.

— Impressive, — Christine said at last. The duchess' composure allowed her to maintain a nonchalant tone, but it was clear that she was really impressed by what she saw.

— Here we are. — Valria turned to the ruler, lowering her hand. Blood was now dripping down the elf's fingers, dripping heavy dark droplets onto the floor. — Will you honor my request, Your Highness? Will you give the creature to me?

— I think I will, — the duchess nodded gravely. — We'll discuss this matter in more detail when we return from the Empire. But you may consider it resolved in your favor.

— Thank you, Your Highness. — The captain bowed her head respectfully. The mage went to her to examine her wounds, but the Lady Emilia beat him to it. The young guardswoman drew a length of clean cloth from purse on her belt, knelt beside Valria, and deftly worked on her palm. As if unaware of it, the mercenary continued:

— If the throne requires bail, I can offer you my family treasure, a priceless silver watermelon adorned with gilt. But I presume, Your Highness, that you have not invited me to meet you in person only to answer my letter.

— You are right, Captain. — Christina the Second let Lady Emilia finish, stepped away from the lizard's cage. The others followed her, into the passage between the bird house and the antelope enclosure. — Actually, I just wanted to ask you one thing. You and the master are the only ones who have looked my father's murderer in the eye. You've even spoken to him. You're the only one who can get an idea of him... as a person.

— Oh, yes. — Valria fixed the gold strand that had fallen from her temple. — He stroked my ear, which is part of the mating ritual, by the way.

Carlon, who had also once touched an elf's ears, could hardly keep from exclaiming, "Really?!"

— I understand your irony, — the young duchess smiled weakly. — But I would still like to hear... is he stubborn? Will he want to finish the job, even if he fails and someone else is assigned to do it?

— I have no idea, — Valria shrugged. The colored birds in the aviary grew restless for some reason, started running and flapping their wings, and the greenhouse was abuzz with the kind of shrieks an angry donkey would envy. — But I think this Peter is a narcissistic degenerate who thinks he is the protagonist of a heroic ballad. He has every reason to think he's invincible and all his failures are temporary. If this is about an assassination attempt on you, I'm betting he'll try again. To prove to himself that he's invincible. That he is the protagonist.

Christina nodded slowly:

— That's the answer I was hoping for. What about you, captain? Are you willing to challenge the alien, even if it becomes... financially unreasonable?

Valria didn't answer right away. She pulled a glove over her healthy left hand first, tucking the sleeve of her blouse into it. She shrugged again:

— Maybe.

— If the alien chooses me as his target, the only two forces that can stop him are you and my guardsmen, — the Duchess said frankly.

— And you would have preferred us to take the first blow. — The girl smiled crookedly, pulling on her second glove. — Voluntarily and gladly. Because you can still get new mercenaries, but you can't get new guardsmen.

It seemed to Carlon that Christina the Second's cheek twitched. But he would not bet on it. Nevertheless, the Duchess replied calmly, in a relaxed tone:

— You are very sympathetic to me, Lady Valria. But Jana and I played as children. For as long as I can remember, she has always been there. All my life. In our games, Jana was the knight and I was the princess. I remember one day I was sitting on a gilded chair in my father's office, like a throne. Jana held out her toy wooden sword to me and swore that she would die defending my life and my honor. Then we both grew up. And Jana actually died defending my life. And either of her sisters would not hesitate to die — for my life, my honor. I want to give them as little reason as possible for this noble act.

— Madam... — The flushed Lady Emilia began excitedly, but the young ruler silenced her with a wave of her hand:

— So, Lady Valria, I'll ask you again...

— Don't worry, Your Highness. — Valeria's crooked chuckle turned into her usual charming smile. — When the unworthy Sir Peter comes at you again, Dallan, Carlon, and I will finish him off. And we won't die in the process.

They left the greenhouse alone, Lady Emilia staying with the Duchess. Once outside, Valria shuddered, wrapping her gloved hands around her shoulders. Quietly she cursed under her breath.

— So, according to the results of the meeting with Her Highness Christina the Second, Duchess of Elvart, you have a holes in your palm and no warm clothes, — stated the mage melancholy. — A stunning result for an audience.

— But I have my own overseas lizard! — The girl protested. — And I may be rid of that watermelon at last...

They spent the rest of their time before their departure in one of the innumerable sitting rooms of the palace, emptying a vase of fruit that had been found on the table. Valria had no chance to freeze. The kind-hearted Lady Emilia sent a servant with a winter uniform cloak, judging by the length of it to be her own. It was the cloak the captain wore when the cortege assembled. The first to leave the palace was a column of armored cavalry, followed by the duchess's carriage, carts with her entourage, and carts of convoy. At the back of the line was another cavalry unit. Seven ducal guardsmen rode beside Christina's carriage — and the sight was pleasing to the eye. After all, appearance was also taken into account in the selection of future defenders of the ruler. Naturally, one cannot always tell what a three-year-old child will grow up to be, but in the case of Christina's bodyguards, the recruiters were not wrong once. All of the girls were in their best, real beauties. Their white and blue uniforms and brown boots were flawless, their cuirasses, armlets, and gauntlets gleaming in silver, standing out against the gray armor of the rest of the escort. Since the guardsmen wore helmets only in time of war or street unrest, the girls' heads were covered by dainty blue berets adorned with white feathers. Silver helmets-morions with curved margins and low crests-were, however, secured to their saddles. With a professional eye, Carlo noticed that in addition to their swords, two of the girls carried long, silver-plated arquebuses by their saddles, while the others had crossbows with them. This pleased the mage — it means that the guardsmen can defend themselves not only in close combat.

— It's a good thing we're traveling by land, — said Valria, following the slow moving wagons out of the gate. — It would have been safer for Her Highness to travel by sea... but I would have refused. Stuck in the middle of the water on a piece of rotting wood... Brrrr... — She shivered.

— I didn't think there was anything you didn't want to do with your life, — the mage grinned.

— Actually, there are quite a few things I'd never want to do. Though most of them are very intimate matters... — the elfess spotted Dallan at the end of the street leading their horses and waved to the sergeant. She waved back. — So the journey begins with the first step. I'll bet you a slap bet, how many days till we're in trouble? My money's on ten...

* * *

Valria received her honestly lost slap on the eleventh morning of the trip. Fearing revenge, Carlon showed considerable guile. He delegated the slap to Sergeant Dallan. She spared no mercy for her friend...

The ten days that the elfess had envisioned passed unnoticed. The first week of the ducal cortege traveled through the lands of Elvart, from city to city, from castle to castle. There was virtually no overnight stay in the field, though Valria and Carlon agreed that it would be easier to ensure Her Highness's safety that way. Lady Emilia, after listening to them, agreed, but noted that if the new duchess avoided her subjects, it might make a strange impression. So the route was not changed.

The mercenaries faithfully earned their money, working side by side with the guards. At each stop, Valria calculated the positions where a shooter who wanted to get to Christina might be sitting, checked them out, placed secrets. Carlon set magical alarms, looked for traps along the route and in the staging areas — after all, there were other threats besides an alien immune to magic. Dallan simply stayed close to the duchess. The Master feared at first that the sergeant might have trouble with the guardsmen, but nothing terrible happened. When the green-eyed girl joined the escort, she simply exchanged nods with the other bodyguards and that was it. The mage began to suspect that the nods to the guardsmen had some hidden meaning, incomprehensible to an outsider.

On the eighth day, the mountains loomed ahead. The low, wooded mountain range that bounded Elvart to the south belonged to the home principality of Valria. The border of elven lands was not marked in any way, but before sunset the caravan was met by a group of elven riders. They gave Christina the Second greetings from the forest prince and offered to lead the people through the pass. The duchess, of course, agreed. Valria frowned as she watched their conversation.

— What, you don't like having someone older than you around? — The master wondered sarcastically. The elf riders looked his age, which meant they were about four hundred or five hundred years old. The captain only snorted in response.

And soon the journey for the mage was not only peaceful, but pleasant.

The pass that bisected the mountain range was well traveled, with countless trade wagons stretching across it from the seashore to the Empire and back year round. The elves, of course, had lavished the place with supplies of taverns, stalls, stables, and so on. The Duchess' train had made a long day's stop at the highest point of the pass, and Carlon took advantage of the respite to break his own commandment to never trade with elves. A shop adorned with a carved sign, "Gifts of Kan," caught his eye. Elven god Kan patronized healers, and his gifts were called all sorts of medicinal herbs, mushrooms, and moss by the pointed-eared forest dwellers. The mage decided for himself that the risk of going broke justified the benefit — here for sure he could find in fresh form some ingredients that are usually sold dried. Mentally preparing himself for a fierce bargain, the wizard crossed the threshold of the shop... and found that the bargainers inside were already bargaining without him. One of the girl guardsmen was arguing with the young, snub-nosed elf behind the counter. Carlon only knew her by name. Lady Maria was a tall but thin blonde with almost white hair, very pale delicate skin, and, unexpectedly, bright blue eyes. She was half a head taller than her sisters and had the longest hairstyle among them — her straight hair fell below her shoulder blades in a ponytail. He'd exchanged a few words with the blue-eyed lady over the past week, nothing more. Now, he was astonished to realize that she was trying to buy the ingredients for a simple heartburn potion. She didn't have enough money for the whole kit, solely because the elfish saleswoman had jacked up the price fivefold.